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davewormald, I couldn't agree with you more. Touchscreens are a very poor substitute for well placed, tactile buttons that you intuitively learn to reach for without looking at it - my previously and currently owned Subarus and Toyotas (and 280Z, of course) seemed to do this pretty well. The Golf Mk8 is likely the shining example, in my opinion, of one of the most poorly executed infotainment and vehicle control systems, but BMWs are pretty bad too. I agree there is much irony in the fact that operating one of these poorly designed control systems is not considered distracted driving because takes more time and focus than a terrible driver would expend upon trying to check texts or make a phone call on their smartphone. Unfortunately, we can only defend ourselves against those who don't take driving seriously. Maybe the solution is putting all of them in driverless, automated vehicles. Being a Mechanical Engineer, I have wondered often where the high point of analog/mechanical excellence is in automotive design and at what year we reached that plateau. We've certainly passed that point now, and I guess you could make the argument that when EFI entered the picture, that may be where the line is drawn. Still, my fuel injected 280Z gives me feedback that most modern cars have filtered out. Even though most vehicles now on the highway accelerate faster, the modern metal just doesn't have that visceral feeling that mashing the accelerator, the throttle linkage extending, and the L28 roaring in response. Older cars have a sense of urgency and connection that has been lost on modern cars, in my opinion. I guess that brings us into the car manufacturers getting into adding fake features to modern cars. All I want to ask is why would they choose this route? To me, this is providing a half-assed solution that no one is really going to want or respect, akin to adding silly modifications that provide no performance value, yet the installer will swear up and down that the car has more horsepower because they added a silly yellow sticker. I hate the fake exhaust sound pumped into the cabin because it is fake and serves no purpose other than to fool the passengers. If you want me to feel more connected to the road, make me a car that has an analog dash, ergonomically well placed controls, and that I can work on myself as needed. Unfortunately, no one will ever make a new car with these features, because too few people would by it. "The world has moved on," as Stephen King says.

You could adopt me! I'll show an interest 😁

Do yourself a big favor and get the Nidage Borescope from Amazon for less than $30 and look up inside the frame rails through the drain ports. You might be surprised by what you find. Also take a screw driver and tap along the bottom frame rail and see if you find soft spots. It’s a blue tooth setup that’s pretty cool. At least you can see what you have to work with.

So again I believe I've answered my own questions. No thanks to my FSM. I good search here on the site have explained what I need to do. Apparently there are screws under the door seals on the "A" pillar that need to be remived in order to remove the windshield trim. Thanks again to Classiczcars site.

All very helpful information! We’re celebrating Thanksgiving a day late so will give it a look tomorrow. Thx to everyone who provided information! The pictures were amazingly clear and detailed. I need to remember to have decent lighting when I’m taking pictures—definitely makes a big difference. Thx, Greg

Do you have better quality/clear pics of the floor? The shots you posted are either unfocused or poor quality, so it's really hard to tell what's perforation & rust vs. shadow/tar etc., since we can't zoom in & get any clarification. For the underside, unless you remove the undercoat you mentioned as being added, you are not going to know how extensive the rot is. It's been my experience it's always worse than what is apparent. In this pic, it looks like the rust & perforation goes all the way across the from of the floor beneath the pedals. In one of the other pics, it looks like coffee can under the seat rail. If you are doing it yourself, and have some prior MIG/TIG experience, it's really just a question of stripping all the undercoat, cutting out all the obvious rust back to clean metal, then evaluate whether you can patch or if you need to replace entire panels. The metal used on these seems to be very thin gauge, I'm surprised how easily the outer panel flex on my 75.

I've been in a few Tesla's, and they weren't very interesting to me at all. I got a demo of the 0-60 acceleration in either Insane or Ludicrous mode (can't remember which), and it was quite surreal, but it didn't compare to accelerating an IC engine through its gears, even though it happened in a third of the time. Silly developments like this one tell you that there are people who will never see electric cars as a replacement for their IC-powered toys: "For those who find electric cars a bit boring, Toyota engineers are working on a realistic-feeling fake manual transmission as a possible feature. To be clear, a manual transmission on an electric car would serve absolutely no purpose. It would be just for fun, an add-on for people who like shifting gears in their gasoline-powered cars." I've also seen articles talking about manufacturers adding engine-like sounds to their cars. It's hard to imagine the people they're aiming these "innovations" at being "fooled". I'm an electrical engineer. I've spent most of my career in software businesses. In my opinion, auto manufacturers have always botched up electrical systems, and have been even worse with more sophisticated electronics, and (especially) user interface design (post-physical dials, buttons, and switches). Modern "infotainment" systems are abominations. It's one of those glaring hypocrisies that we levy heavy fines for distracted driving when someone touches a cell phone while driving, but expect people to adjust the cabin temperature or change the radio station on one of those things. Give me an early Z dashboard any day (even with the cracks).