CANDYBLUE2+2

It's 1979, my friend and I are on our way to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for a Trans Am race. Tooling down the Interstate in my 78 Chevy Monza with a nasty little V-8, speedometer pegged @ 85mph...thats right, that's as high as it went then, (gas crunching days) probably faster, but who knows! In my rear view mirror, I see what looks to be a string of headlights comin on pretty fast. So I pick it up a bit more, and the headlights keep comming on. Well, I'm not one to want to be busted going over a 100 so I let up a bit, since I wasn't too sure of my speed anyway. And in what seemed liked just a few seconds SIX of the prettiest little sports cars I'd ever laid eyes on blew by me and my buddy like we were parked...All Z's in case you hadn't figured it out by now. I knew then that I had to have one, and when I realized I was just blown off the road by a straight six, I knew the Japanese had something going on. It would be nine years before I could fullfill that wish. Now Iv'e had my 74 for 19 years and it's been quite a ride. Just wanted to share my Z story with you all...Hope you enjoed it.

Todays birthdays... just for fun, I devided the toatal age by the eight members listed and came up with an average age of 46.4 years. Is this any indication of membership age averages? Geez, I don't know, maybe if we hire a study group and pay them goo gobbs of money we'll find out in 6 months or so...I better quit now, before I bore myself sillyLOL

OK I have two rather decent snaps I took yesterday at the shop, lighting isn't all that great and the front can't be seen as well as I would like, but It'll have to do for now. I'll start working on an album soon.

Mike W, Try www.southernstatesglass.com I deal with them on a daily basis and have recieved very high quality glass time and again for both my customers as well as my "Z" nuts. Most recently got 2 windshields 240 and 260, probably the same and 2 door glass for my 2+2 260, still in the O.E.M. packaging from the 70s. Pricing is excellent too.

Also note the thickness of your application of seam sealer in this area. Too heavy and you may have a time getting the drip rail back on. Keep it thin and even and all should go well. And let it dry as long as possible before applying primers or paint.

Just a second. The type of sealer you use may not be wipeable with a tac rag. Some tinted sealers will dry quick and can be wiped accordingly, while others will remain a wee bit tacky and should not be touched. Find out from your paint jobber what youv'e got and wether tacing it off is adviseable. Everything else you said sounds like your ready to give it hell,,,Go For It...John

Just curious how'd it turn out? Hope you got a new hood..I don't like body fillers in this area due to all the engine heat, and the fact that sometimes hoods get closed too hard. Work on a hood is something that takes alot of consideration and planning, especially since ours are so long...

Thats real nice dude. Funny thing, I'm currently doing a 77 280 for a customer and she wants the same color A17. Now I know just how good it will look when I'm all done:)

I wanted to make sure that I was reading this thread correctly. The whole car will be yellow? If so, don't do what so many before you have done and ended up regretting. Ever seen a yellow paint job that had what I call "Green Spots"? Thats what you get with yellow over either the unprimed areas, or the primed areas, depending upon the sealer coat or lack of a sealer coat. Confused? You should be...Do what I do, and I guarantee you will love the results.Yellow is a pisser of a color to spray evenly without the help of a white ground color.That's right...spray a coat or two of white base, just like you would if you were painting the car white, let that dry a good bit, enough to be able to run a basecoat tac rag over it, then follow up with your yellow and watch how much easier it will be for you to achieve the best yellow finish in town! Good Luck and happy spraying!!!

Without knowing very much about your particular specs and requirements, I can honestly say that I've done some for as little as $1500 and as high as $12000. Thats a relatively easy job on up to a heavy rust bucket with lots of welding, etc... Good Luck and start saving those pennies.

I'm gonna copy thread #7 for my personal use. That is an awesome response if I ever heard one, KUDDOS to the author...And Base/Clear will far outlast and outshine any single stage job in my book. You gotta love that orange, to not change it, and it looks like you have a fine car to start with, nice and sound...Mine was the same orange when I purchased it in 87, then it went black (twice), now it has a nice 3-stage Candy Blue, hence the authors name..

I like the example shown in the earlier thread. I say go for it! I personally like 1/4" pinstripes on either side of the big stripes too. I had seriously thought about doing that to mine as well...but got lazy after applying all those other coats of paint. However, now that it's all done. I may go back in there one day and have at it...Good Luck with your decision.

I'd love to give you a photo, but I don't have anything available @ the moment, maybe Carl can help.

I just started a complete refinish of a 77 280Z and must say, if you want a lighter bumper, go carbon fiber...the O.E.M. bumpers are not as heavy as they may look and I don't think converting to a 240 bumper would save you that much weight. Just a thought. BTW, I'll have it all done in about one month, as promised...see ARGG 2 weeks thread.

See thread #22. I couldn't have put it better myself. The only exception being that paint jobs (25-35) a week...if I paint a bumper, thats a job, a fender and door, likewise... The general public might think that your actually painting 25-35 whole cars a week. If thats the case, your either running a Macco or Earl Shieb, or you have an incredibely large building/staff,etc...Sounds like your a good deal loaded up with work on the other coast. The weather here has been too nice and were kinda slow right now, that and I guess the driving habits may be improving!

I'll have to take a few soon and when I do, I'll try to post them somehow somewhere. I'm not real clever with this computer you see (old man of 48), unless someone here can educate me or just show me the way to doing that. It would be much appreciated.

Now that you have them off, look to see if there might be tiny little razor blade like clips inside the moulding. If there are, don't loose them as they are tough to get and if you try to reapply the moulding without them, they won't stay on long. Trust me I know alot about those little buggers!

Did I miss this one? CARS...the latest Disney animation...this was incredibly good and I'm not a big Disney guy...and the 2003 Italian Job was definitley every bit as good as the original 69 movie. Gee, imagine that a MINI Cooper movie being plugged on a Z forum.. Winning, a Paul Newman Indy car flick from the mid 60s wasn't half bad either. And if you haven't seen Speedway the IMAX film by the Andrettis you ain't seen nuthin yet...

I got tired of searching for the rubber that those big ugly bumpers needed to be complete, so I did a 50's look...got rid of the rusty old crabs, welded up the mounting hole and seams, and smoothed it all out...now shes a bumperless 2+2 that if you can ignore the quarter glass, almost looks like a coupe...yeah, it's that much shorter.

WOW. Heres a thread that sounds like a whole lot of good and not so good experiences have been had. I can't find fault in any of the responses I read. So many of your experiences sound exactly like so many of mine. Before I achieved my current position, (The Boss). It wasn't uncommon to see others handle customers just the way you have all mentioned. With that said, I'll not repeat any of the sound advice I've just read. I would like to say that it took me approximatley 4 years to do my own car...Somedays you just don't feel like messing with it...Thats me...If mine would have been a customers project, I may have been able to pull it off in 2 years. Keep in mind, engine work and interior is not commonly done at the body shop. Also, mine was a total resto/mod job!!! If your promised a timeline, then you have every right to expect something to have been done in two weeks. To not even been moved is a total lack of respect to the owner of said vehicle. Thats this guys opinion. My personal method of doing an old car is frowned upon by most and excepted my those who really give a damn and expect high end results. What I do, to keep it profitable for me, and ensure the highest level of quality work for my customer is run a time card on the project...It keeps track of the actual time spent on the vehicle and gives the owner an accurate measurement of the time spent on there vehicle. I'll discount the labor rate a bit because I'm only gonna put time in when I can afford it..(when the insurance work is slow)...yes this is the only way I can accomplish this type of work and not go broke. If I can find a better way to do it and keep everyone happy, I would...so far, I haven't found that yet. This method works for me and my very picky clientel. In closing, if you can find someone in the bodyshop industry who tells the truth, sticks to timelines, does quality work every step of the way, has nothing but your interest in mind at all times, wants to establish themselves as a dedicated pro that truly gives a damn.etc...TELL HIM I'D LIKE TO GIVE HIM A JOB. And if you'd like to qoute me, feel free, John

I really hope I can help here. If you haven't yet solved your radio, hubcaps problem. I have an O.E.M. radio thats missing the antenna switch from a 74. Last time it was in the car, it did work. The original wire connectors are still intact. If appearance is all that matters, you can do what a friend of mine did with his, remove the face of the radio and put velcro on the backside, then attach it to your updated system. Looks O.E.M., but thats about it. I also have 4 wheel covers from the same car in relatively good condition. Make me an offer, email or PM. I'll never use them and if they can be put to good use somewhere else I'd be happy. Not doing anybody any good sitting in the corner.Oh yeah, almost forgot, also have four O.E.M. steel rims with Kelly Radials with lots of miles left on them, make an offer if interested.

Alright now. After having read all 4 pages of this thread and admittedly not looking at all the diffrent urls, I have come to my conclusion on this matter, if of course anybody is interested. Ive been painting cars for nearly 30 years, and I've used just about every brand and make of paint thats come down the road. Even with all the fancy "spectometeres, cameras,and what nots" that all the paint makers have come up with, even with 30 plus more years of paint refinement and improvements, and now what is possibly the next new step in automotive painting, restoring, whatever you want to call it, waterborne basecoat paint. These chemists are paid goo gobbs of money to do this stuff (making colors) and they can't get it perfect year after year. So what do they do. More often then not, they create a slight variation in last years color, rename it, apply a new color code and wallah, "we" have a color matching problem all over again. Again, after reading all the comments and opinions, I can't help but ask my next question. Whos judging these cars? And if they are so well informed, why haven't they responded yet? I have only judged a few times in my life and let me tell you all, it's alot of fun in more ways then you could imagine. The learning by itself is awesome. Everyone is an expert to some degree or another. Point is, do what looks and feels right to you and get on with the rest of the project. Have fun and drive the crap out of that thing. That is what its all about afterall. Why get it sooo perfect that all you want to do is put away in some airtight container for another 30 years, and then be way too old to enjoy it? NOTHING LASTS FOREVER.

Points taken. Thanks for the input, and I hope your responses will encite more to reply as well. It's an interesting subject no matter how you look at it or what side you take. Good Luck and many happy motoring miles no matter what you choose!

I tried getting on this site the other day and couldn't. Something odd going on I guess. Anyway, I took a look at the Hybrid Z site and maybe I read it wrong, but is there some problem between this site and that one where V8 converted Zs are concerned? Seems like it from all the bashing going on from the hardcore V8 guys. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be a moderator here, but I did at one time seriously consider the switch myself. If I hadn't already put all my spare change into the existing engine, I might have done it too. Now, I guess I'll never know as I am genuinely satisfied with the results...especially the look, performance and overall sweet response from onlookers when they see all three of those pretty Webber Carbs sitting under the bonnet. Just another opinion, and you know what they say about those!!!