Nissanman

Well, it does look pretty bad:rolleyes: However, If you intend to keep the car and are determined to repair it, and why not, I say go for the surgery. It is a fair bit of real estate to cut and shut, but it can be done. I would be careful about supporting the body in a few critical areas prior to doing the work, just to retain its' shape and alignment. As you may already realise, the floor pans and rails are available from vendors, good place to start:) It is not hard to cut patches to extend the floor pan up into that toeboard area, it is a simple curve without any difficult pressings. Just make sure that the integrity of that chassis rail is restored before doing it. It really is just a matter of:- 1. taking lots of pics. to help the reconstruction 2. careful removal of the rotten parts back to a decent thickness parent metal panel 3. cut and shape replacement panels from the appropriate thickness zinc annealed sheet 4. rebuild the area from the inside out. I know there is a lot of work in each and every one of those steps but if you want to keep it..... Can you weld? If you can then you will be able to do most of the repairs, otherwise you will need to enlist a Shop/welder to do it for you. For some consolation, have a look at the state of my '65 SP310 in my Shutterfly site:tapemouth:tapemouth It has turned into quite a challange:rolleyes: My bottom line to a question such as yours is: - "It's only metal, it can be repaired":devious:

Short trips like what you describe can cause the oil to darken up quickly. It, the engine and therefore the oil, needs to get up to operating temperature, often, and stay there for a reasonable length of time. This allows condensation and contaminants to be burnt off. The less a car is used, the more often the oil needs to be changed. Even on a regularly used car, I try to change the oil and filter at no more than 5,000Km intervals. I don't think being an old car has much bearing on the situation, unless there is another contributing factor, like for example, too rich mixture. Short trips once again where you barely push in the choke, if you have one, could cause fuel to be diluting the oil:rolleyes:

I can't comment on the preparation for POR, since I have never used it. If that is what POR say in their destruction sheet, fair enough:) However for conventional painting, the metal prep is done to neutralise any remaining rust and prepare the surface for etching. It needs to be washed of and itself neutralised with clean water. The last steps prior to applying the etch primer, is a good wash down with Prepsol/Silicon Off wiped off with another clean rag, then a wipe over with a Tack cloth. There is no point in using Prepsol prior to Metal ready:rolleyes: The painting is the easy part:cheeky:

You MUST use Prepsol, Silicon Off, or a similar product prior to painting. It will remove silicon, grease, oil, all the nasty contaminants that you may have left on the surface. [The major contributor of crud is the human hand:finger:] You wipe it on with a saturated rag and wipe it off with clean rag in one fluid motion, one rag in each hand. I use paper towels but you have to then make sure the fluff is removed. You need to use a tack cloth anyway so that is when the towel residue is collected:paranoid: Then a quick squirt of compressed air, through a water trap, and you're good to go:)

That was easy to fix then:) That's cool, the info is now available to anyone else who may have a problem. Happy cruising:D

Here is what you need: - This replacement was bought in Oz so don't quote the P/N you see.

Well, at great expense to the management......

Yes, that is a typical problem area. The panel that runs across the rear of the car is spot welded to the main tub. It is notorious for moisture seeping in between the two panels and doing what you see. To fix it properly you would have to unpick the two panels, repair the underlying one [which I'm sure is damaged], then weld in a new or repaired top panel. Alternatively, the rustout can be removed by some selective keyhole surgery and a patch welded in. The second method is not recommended, it is only delaying the inevitable and will probably have to be repeated as new rustouts occur. Also, the area above the exhaust tailpipe is prone to rotting out really well. A combination of the moisture creep and exhaust fumes will do it:angry: I have some pics. of the repair panel but this Forum is playing silly cows with attachments at the moment, I'll try later:rolleyes:

That is a technical term like "come in spinner!!"LOLLOL Sure, if you are confidant about dealing with ELECTRICKERY, you can give it a go:nervous::nervous: Most peeps I speak to are not very happy to do battle with it, your choice:rolleyes: The procedure is a little detailed, but it appears that at least 2 people have access to the info. you require. Just say if you want a copy:)

True, the Metal Prep, as we call it, needs to be neutralised with clean water once it has done its' job. I find that if you wipe the surface well and dry with paper towels and spray liberally with metholated spirits [de-natured alcohol] you can evict the moisture quicksmart. I use a pump pack to squirt and spray the metho into all the nooks and crannies to displace any moisture. Follow that with compressed air [through a water trap] to force dry the metho. Warm to hot weather is great since the metho will evaporate very quickly on its own. Then a thorough wipe over with Prepsol [silicon Off, De-greaser etc.] and the yellow/tan colour comes right off and the metal is squeaky clean for etch primer. All this is well and good, but the environment at the time must be warm and dry. Cool or humid and you are going to have a battle to get it right:angry:

Do you mean you are going to use the callipers or the PADS? I wouldn't bother getting the you beaut slotted rotors if $$ is an issue. Spend the $$ you have saved on some good quality pads and the standard rotors should be fine:)

"tuned", I've never heard it described that way before:) Yes, the reg. can be adjusted to do the right thing, but, I would suggest you let an auto electrician do it with all of the necessary whizzbangery meters connected at the time. Ideally, the alternator should be outputting 13.8-14.6V no more. Please don't disconnect the -ve battery terminal when the engine is running, can be really bad for the alternator and regulator:hurt:

OooooH Ahhhhhh, is that PAINFUL:cross-eye:cross-eye

We here in Oz are having a Federal erection on the 24/11/07. Last I heard, we, the eligible votors, are still required to vote. We have compulsory voting here in Oz, at both State and Federal levels. Like you folks in the US, we have basically a 2 Party System. I do spare a thought for those countries whose people are TOLD HOW THEY VOTED, sometimes in advance of polling day:devious: At least we have some sort of Democratic process:rolleyes: That doesn't solve the dilemma of quality of choice. BUT, at least we HAVE a choice:) I don't believe that not voting at all is a "choice" by the way. If there was ONE THING I learned in High School, it was that NOT voting or deliberately voting INFORMAL, was the worst insult the eligible voter can pay a Democracy. End of rant.....until further notice:classic:

....and it might be as simple as a new washer on the drain plug:devious:

For tyres and wheels:- http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html For tyres: - http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Num num engine:)

I read it somewhere, and I'm not making fun of anybody here, of an announcement over a P.A. at a hardware store that went along the lines: - "Cud summun hep me wit a will barrr?? which I think was, "Could someone help me with a wheel barrow?" I have a friend who runs an automotive workshop and he has shown me some of the emails he gets from people enquiring about parts/services etc. Some of the grammar and spelling is ABYSMAL [ihope I spelt that right]. He categorically refuses to reply to those people:mad: Unfortunately, the younger generation think it's cool to communicate like that. It noys the hell out of me:tapemouth

Well, we need at least an engine number to confirm what it might be:rolleyes:

Been here, done this: - http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19053&d=1185672999 Thread is here: - http://http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27304

I believe the whole setup is FREE when you buy a 2007 Yamaha YZFR1 motorcycleLOLLOL http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/Galleries_IndividualPhoto.aspx?Gallery=870&Main=11&Sub=19&Image=25833&PostBack=1&Media=1

It's amazing what a little piece of tubing with a flare on it can do:classic: Now all you need to do is fit some variable length trumpets which change the horn length for different rev ranges:rolleyes:

Possibly the only changes you will need to do will be the oil pressure sender and the coolant temperature sender.

I may be wrong, but I don't think you need a harness. Unless the one in the car has been damaged or butchered, [no reason to suspect this] all you need should already be there. The hazard flasher proves that the wiring and power is sweet in that respect. The turn signals however use a different relay. Each relay is a 2 pin device. Hazard relay wires are GW [Green/White] and BL [black/Yellow], turn signal relay wires are W [White] and G [Green]. I think:nervous::nervous: The relay or the indicator switch gear may be the problem. Switch the hazards on and trace where the relay sound is, the turn signal relay is probably close by it. It might be as simple as a harness plug not fully inserted. If you have some electrical knowledge and a decent Multimeter, should be relatively easy to find and fix. Factory instruments on the Z's are electrical. If they are all intact and we make the assumption that they are indeed operable, it will only be the engine senders that are the problem. If you determine a problem with the harness, simply run new wire as mentioned above. You will need the correct tools though and a decent wiring schematic applicable to the vehicle. I have the Haynes Manual and the schematics are absolutely AWFULL to read. I could scan it and eMail it for you if you are really desperate:rolleyes:

I wouldn't have thought that it would need very much done on it to get all that stuff working again. You are probably only needing to deal with an incompatibility issue with the engine gauge senders and the existing wiring harness connectors and gauge characteristics. For the gauges, maybe it would be more desireable to fit mechanical replacements. I personally prefer mechanical gauges to electrical anyday. If you wish to retain the existing electrical gauges you may need to retro fit the senders that were designed for the original 280Z engine, i.e. non-EFI stuff. That is not a big deal. Providing the wiring is still intact, once the senders are replaced all should be well. As for the indicators, you will just have to do some fault finding of the system. Do a methodical check of the entire system, power, relay, wiring connectors, column switch etc. There is a member on this Forum who re-furbishes the stalk switchgear if that is found to be cactus. Bottom line: I wouldn't let the faults you listed get in the way of a good deal. My '73 240Z had an L28 EFI engine fitted to it when I bought it [with twin Hitachi/SU carbs] and it went like a scalded feline, auto trans and all:devious: