1978 260z restoration

[thebarracuda]

As a retirement gift to myself I decided to get my Z restored.  It's a RHD 1978 260Z that I picked up when I was stationed in England.

I've pulled the engine and dropped it off for rebuild, got the tranny rebuilt and stripped the interior, doors and glass.

I've done some exploratory grinding on the paint after finding a bunch of bondo under the door.  I thought I was upset at how much rust I found until I discovered that I had structural amounts of bondo.  I'm technically and mechanically inclined but lack the experience with metalworking. I'm fine with paying someone to do the things I can't but I can't bring myself to pay someone to do things I can do. I'm at least committed to getting it down to bare metal but where is a good place to begin?  What tools do I need? It looks like the cutoff wheel I'm using might dig into the metal a bit too much to be practical.

 

https://imgur.com/gallery/KhHyMl8

https://imgur.com/gallery/2domfao

 

This is when I first bought it around 2002

 

[heyitsrama]

Chad nice to see that you made if off reddit and onto here, I think you can start off with an angle grinder and some stripping bits.

Something like this might help remove the paint, not sure how effective it is on the bondo.

https://www.amazon.com/Abrasive-Grinders-Flaking-Materials-Removal/dp/B07K19L38B/ref=psdc_552584_t2_B000VRS8YM

Note that the diameter of the disk i linked is 100mm ~= 4"

If you dont have  a angle grinder, harbor freight makes a cheap one (i bought 2 so i dont have to change disks in the middle of working)

I was reading on another forum that you can use a propane torch and a scrapper to remove bondo sections off quickly. Maybe try that in a small section.

 

Did you plan on retaining the sunroof?

[thebarracuda]

I did see a few youtube videos of people cooking the bondo with a torch then scraping off huge chunks, I think I'll try that once I get the paint off.

I'll pick up a few of those up next time I'm at the hardware store.

I'm nt sure about the sunroof, I sort of like the look but it leaks a little and I'm not a fan of the sun always beating down on me.  If I need a new roof I will not cut a new hole. If I can get away with the one I have, I might keep it but I'm leaning on no.