geezer

One thing I have noticed about pictures taken by an amateur such as myself, is how bad a particular part or item can look in an Ebay ad, when in fact the part or item is actually in very good condition. The opposite is true for someone who is blessed in the art of photography. They can make a 25 footer look great and entice more people to bid. I would never rely on Ebay pics alone to make a judgement of a cars condition. We have all heard the horror stories. I'm sure some great deals have been missed also, where a well kept solid survivor didn't show well in the pics. If interested, go look it over or have someone else, who's opinion you trust check it out.

Is the transmission out of the car? If so, install the trans mount or a temporary crossbrace to maintain the proper tunnel width as it can flex quite a bit. Other than that, it sounds like youve got a good plan. One thing I overlooked was the carpet clips on the old floorpan. I'm not sure if they were worth saving or not, but my seat riser mounts were rusted badly and not salvagable. Have you seen this link? Good Luck! http://www2.zhome.com:81/Classic/240ZFloorboards/ChrisFloorboards.htm

Hi Bob - Tabco is the manufacturer of these parts. They won't do a run of any particular part unless there is a healthy demand for them. Normaly the void can be filled by dealers such as Mill Supply Company and others for a while but the supply does dry up eventually. I ordered both sides of the outer wheelhouse tubs from Mill Supply because I could not get my calls returned from Tabco. It still took a long time to get them. I can't remember exactly how long it took, something like 6-8 months, I think. I did post about it at the time. You are going through the same as I did back then. I have no idea who the reseller is in Canada who stocked up on these parts, but Charlie Osborne would be one of the likely suspects. Use the contact method he has on his website. He always gets back to me within a few days. PS - The outer wheelhouses were the best made parts I got that originated from Tabco. They fit like a glove.

Ken - I love the SilverBullet240Z and what you are doing with it... DRIVING IT! You are a true inspiration to us who are just getting into Z's and hoping to put some serious milage on our cars and smilage on our faces.

I've never bought any or used it and only learned of it from an ITW Devcon rep who spoke only of using it in automobile manufacturing. I don't know what "home use" panel adhesives are available today, or the cost. I would be interested in trying some. Here is a link with some part numbers from GM you could inquire about. I just figure it's worth researching the different available products and I can see how it would help with a repair such as yours. http://www.goodwrench.com/gmgoodwrenchjsp/gmspo/Chevrolet/HHR/2006-2008/25_Metal_Panel_Bonding.pdf

It is easy to mask the damaged, rusted out area, but a permanent repair is needed in this location, that is sealed and will not trap water or allow water to enter the cabin. I would suggest researching some of the panel bonding adhesives that are on the market today. This would be perfect for bonding replacement pieces that you can form and set in place, without any welding. No risk of fire. Totally waterproof too. I haven't tried it myself yet but I did have a long discussion with an ITW Devcon representative who had me sold on these adhesives by the time we finished talking. They are being used by automobile manufacturers to bond various panels and components together that in the past were spotwelded or wire welded. This way you can neatly cut out the rusted section from the engine compartment and expose/remove the rust damage inside and fabricate the required pieces and bond into place. The beauty of this is, the adhesive bonds metal to metal and seals the seam at the same time. Worth a look.

In your pics you can see the bead rolled section that runs right through the rusted out area. Anything a few inches below the bead roll, which is there for structural ridgidity can be accessed from inside the car under the dash. Any damage above this would have to be cut out and repaired from only the engine compartment side unless you drill out the spotwelds and remove the cowl top sections. This illustration may help, but it is for a RHD. Just visualize the assembly reversed with the chimney on the other side for a LHD. I would cut out all the rust and replace the metal. Definitely more difficult to repair on a car that the dash is still in. You are looking at the tip of the iceberg. Rust settles in the seam where the cowl top sections join and are spotwelded to the cowl and quietly, gradually gets worse, absorbing & trapping moisture. After repairing the metal, sealing the seams, and ensuring the water drains, is very important.

Not sure...it wasn't our turn to watch you today.

Any reproduction piece that makes my car look or perform better is OK in my book. Reproduction parts are a nessesary means for many of us to replace missing or less than visually appealing parts. The supply of NOS is drying up at a remarkable rate and the NOS rare parts that are available are priced so high as to make reproductions more feasible. Bring them on. The more reproductions available, the better the pricing will be. All the fake Mona Lisas in the world haven't brought down the price of the original, have they? If you want to play the 100% original game, thats up to you, but nobody can dictate or stop anyone from bettering their cars with the use of reproduction parts.

We have a public weigh scale a few blocks from my home that I can weigh my car every day if I want. Do you have one nearby? It might be fun to post your progress by writing the cars weight with driver along the roofline where a race driver would typically have his name or maybe lettered on the front fender and cross off the previous weight with the next weeks weight. Just thinkin'...too much..OK, I'll go away now! PS - No fair taking parts off the car either, thats cheating!

Thanks for the headsup even if it might be too late. I'll see if they will improve on the price I paid, after the fact. It depends on how much they value my business I guess.

Don't you mean $380.39 US? I just bought a set for another member and the total with the taxes was $490.41CAD or $387.36US. There can't be that much of a price difference between dealerships.

I'm no expert on the subject but 30lbs in just over 3 months seems a little aggresive to me. Probably, the best course of action would be a consultation with your doctor first and a nutritionist second. You should develop a daily exercise schedule that you can adhere to. My doctor tells me that a steady regime of walking is the best thing for me. Whatever methods you use to reach your goal, it should be a "life plan" and not just a 3 month marathon to win a bet. I know it can be tough. Before retiring I never gave a thought to weight gain. I was so active that it was not a problem. I'm sure that your wife is only concerned about your health and well being and a bet is just her method of getting you to respond. I've always heard lower but steady progress is better. What is the significance of June 21-09?

There are a good handful of active members here that are older, and a lot more right behind you, so don't feel so bad. I'll be 59 this year and can relate to your story, as it sounds a lot like mine. It was a little more than a year and a half ago that I also had a heart attack. A warning shot across the bow, that limited my abilities somewhat even though the passion for the hobby never wanes. This is my first and only Z other than a parts car but I have admired them since I first saw one in the showroom of Downtown Motors here in the summer of 1970. A friend of mine bought that 240Z, which was reminiscent of Randy Mally's Green/Butterscotch Z. It was the first one I drove and it left such a lasting impression that I decided to make this my retirement restoration project. Taking longer than originally anticipated but moving forward.

How did they do it? One hold the handle and the other two turn the car? Just kidding guys...Happy Birthday Carl!

Ask some of the questions you have. Although information may be lacking in the archives of this site, there are a lot of knowledgable members that frequently read these posts. I might even be able to answer 1 or 2.

HaHa! I've seen all 3 of those guys before and if anyone can figure out how to roll up the window...they can!

Thanks Dan. Although I knew about the bulletin and the start date for the clips, the fact that my car originally had the retainers was lost on me. I guess I just didn't connect "much earlier" with my car and I now have replacement floor panels.

AHA! I did learn something today. I replaced the floor pans in my car (11730), and did not notice the retainers on the old floor before I cut it out. Guess I need some of those too! Thanks for clearing that up Arne.

Hmmm, maybe one of those Nissan time warp anomalies. I pulled that info from Technical Bulletin-TS72-56 issued June 13, 1972. Maybe I'm interpreting the bulletin wrong? Could it mean that previous to HLS30-77533 they came from the factory installed already?

You would need to weld in the retainers also. They weren't used until 1972 beginning SN HLS30-77533. The clip itself must be made of spring steel? That would make it more difficult to reproduce, but someone here might be up for it.

Seems like quite a stack of cash for only the 3 pieces. See if you can negotiate a better deal, like getting the spook painted also. You won't want to keep it high gloss black.

Or maybe body color along with the new airdam would look nice. Whatever color you choose for the bumper, the dent can be removed first. Seems like a good price for all you got.

If someone has taken the time to locate and paid the exhorbant cost to use an NOS part, that has to count for something. Some kind of special consideration should be made while judging, to be used in the event of a tie perhaps? The problem with the reproductions being so well done and indistinguishable is only a problem for the judges and participating owners who are competing. The rest of us benefit from top notch reproduction pieces that have become available. I don't think creating a seperate judging catagory is the answer. I ultimately would side on what benefits our cars appearance and furthers the hobby. Otherwise, where is the incentive for someone to spend the time and money to produce high quality reproductions instead of just mediocre parts that are not show quality, but only good enough to get by.