Travel'n Man

Zbane- I've been there before, one hell of a road. Car clubs from all over the nation travel days just to drive on it. My sister lives in Cullowhee and part of my job takes me there monthly. I would much rather trailer the Zcar to the event and then enjoy the twisty's. My X5 is much more enjoyable on the interstate for 3 hours from the Boone area than to have all those loose pebbles eating up my paint on the front of the car after the 12" of snow we had last week. It will take months to get all that crap off the roads,.........you know what I mean.

Carl, What brand did you end up buying. I've got an event at "Tail of the Dragon" I want to go to but I really don't want to have my car on the road for 3 hours driving over to the western most part of my state. I am looking..........

Marc- Welcome. My first 240 was white. I really though about painting my '72 white but I'm glad I kept it original. Keep us updated with pictures and progress. I'm sure all of us can share stories and ideas with each other.

Fold up Car Trailer, who would of thunk it?? http://www.kendonusa.com/folding-car-trailer-demo.htm

I also purchased the MSA kit for my '72. Everything went on fine. My doors and strikers were off and the body shop tech put everything on and then the doors were adjusted along with the strikers. My doors are firm so you have to close them firmly, (just short of a slam). I did put a Dynamat Extreme sound deadener into the body of the door so I have a nice solid sound when the doors are closed.

They way you want to handle your glass is the only way to go. Get it all removed and then have the paint shop do their thing. Once you remove the metal trim from around the front and back glass go over to your local big appliance store and get a large cardboard box, from a washer or refridge. Be very careful with the metal trim pieces that surround the front and back glass. Once removed I taped mine to the large pieces of the box for storage. These pieces will bend just by looking at them and this was the best way I could come up with for storage (mine was in the shop for 2 years). Be careful re-installing the front window. Several members have broken going in and the front windows are expensive. I had a glass shop put my front in and yes they did break the first one. Thank goodness their insurance covered the broken glass and the second went in fine. The front glass is heavier than it looks, its best if you have somebody to help you get it removed. I wrapped mine in a blanket and stored it in the same position that the glass sits while it is installed. At the end I did end up puting in new glass in the front (my original glass was pitted, dinged, and damaged) and after all the body work and paint, I hated to put in a second rate front glass. Mine was $323.00 installed There are little screws holdinging in the side windows (once you get your plastic interior trim removed) be sure not to lose them - I could not find anybody that had these screws and ended up using a replacement screw. Nobody can see them once the interior plastic trim goes back in. The weather stripping kit from MSA does work well. Good luck and keep us posted with pictures.

Martin, From one '72 to another, welcome! I as well owned a '73 back in '78. It's hard to get these cars out of our blood. This is my fourth one and by far my favorite. It's been quite the journey in the restoration process and still evolving.

Pascal, Welcome from the Carolina's.

I've been using this site for over two years now and just realized how much money this site has saved me on my Z car fetish, I mean restoration. I would like to challange more people to have their names in red and get to be a supporting member. Everytime I do something to my '72 that I have learned from this outstanding group of individuals I'm PayPal'n at least $5.00, if not more! If all of us were to do that we could ensure this site to stay up and keeping our Admin happy and upgrading servers and resources. I'm not saying to donate everytime we help somebody or participate in a conversation, but when the site benefits us with improving our cars we need to but a portion of our savings (vs. using a mechanic and garage) back into the site. With a little from a lot of us I'm sure that would add up to a good chuck of change at the end of every month, to ensure the site keeps on growing! Your name will look a lot better in red, don't you think, who's up for the challange?

Great looking car....keep the color, very 70's!! Looks great. A good body shop should be able to use the camera gizmo and shoot the color and make a close to perfect match (age, fading, and all). Those camera's gizmo's are the cats meow for matching old colors with new paint. Once it is completed I'm sure it will look great. Ask around and get the best body / paint guy you can. It's worth a little more money and time to have a great job. If they are just painting the hood and an inspection lid that should not be too big of a deal. Keep the pictures coming with the updates.

Dave- I have to agree with Mike W. It really depends on your budget. Find a great body shop and take the car there and let the techs tell you what they can or can not do. I don't think any of us can judge paint from a picture (yea, we all like to look at pictures, but I don't think a qualified answer can come from a picture when you are dealing with paint and surfaces). I'm sure somebody can recommend a shop in your state that is qualified to do your body work, the price on the other hand is bound to crazy. Oh, by the way, don't be in a hurry, 99.9% of all body shops make their money with insurance jobs and turning a production quota for their owner. You may be able to find friend of a friend that can do the work for you. You can call your local PPG paint store and see if there is anybody that does minor paint and body work on the side in your community. The PPG paint stores knows who does good work and who doesn't. My body shop had my car for two years.............all it takes is time and money. Be sure to get a couple different quotes........spring is almost here!!

I just installed all new panels in my interior a couple of months ago. That panel was very difficult to get into place. I did warm mine up and bent it into place. I did not have to trim any at all. Make sure all your speaker and antenna connections are finalized. I ran some sound deadener on the metal as well. The back taillight panel I trimmed a lot. Good luck.

Seafoam is great stuff. I always keep some in my garage.

Dan- It all depands on how much money you have to play with. If you have limited means than make her road worthy and enjoy your $750 spent. If you have the funds to complete the Z fantazy then find a car worth restoration and use the current as a donor. If I ever do it again, it will be with a donor parts car, the individual parts prices will kill you. A local salvage yard will lessen the pain quite a bit. Somebody had to have done a fast bondo paint job just for a fast sell, so I would really wonder how long before the bondo starts poping out due to moisture under it. I personally would not elect to keep that particular car. You have 1/2 the battle won with a great donor car for only $750 (with an uncracked dash not to mention the rest of the car).

Welcome, it's kinda like an infectous diseaze, the Z bug, once it gets ahold of you, it will have its way. Welcome to a great journey of repairing a great car and let other appreciate what we all know. Be sure to use the "search" feature and then if you can not find your ultimate answer just ask. There is some extremely talented and knowledgeable folks on this site. There is no way at all I could have transformed my car with-out the help of this site. My father as well has helped me pittle with my car two years ago in the summer (my garage is too cold for him in the winter) and it has been some great time spent for us. Keep us posted with pictures and good luck.

Let the projects begin..............great find!! Keep us updated. I always keep my eyes open as I am travel'n every week with my job. I have yet to find a "cobra in the barn", but there is still time (great book in case you have not read it).

Damn, I just replaced mine and I was browsing the MSA website and just ran across this new item for their inventory........... Code: 30-3051 Price:$324.95 http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/SBC1B11/30-3051

IM71Z- I have one lower window molding (original Nissan part) left over from my last project. If you are interested let me know and I can see what side it belongs to and we can figure out a price(PM me). The black protective tape that protects the stainless steel has never been remove and the part has never been installed. Somehow I got two of one side from somebody and can not locate my invoice so I can send it back..............let me know

I've got a couple extra as well.............PM me with phone number if needed.

Congratulations!! The biggest "high" of my life and I'm sure your's as well!

After reading this thead about doin' nothin', I felt a little guilty about taken my windshield motor and linkage out last week, cleanin' & greasen' and then letting it sit and it not back in the car.........I reinstalled the assembly this morning and now I feel a sence of accomplishment of finalizing the now working wipers. Another project completed. NOW...........I'm going to do nothing!

Good luck on your newly acquired project. I believe I would get the rust resolved first and get that cancer stopped as soon as possible. The engine can not hurt the balance of the car were "rust never sleeps". FWIW

Once I removed mine (like Arne and Mike said with a razar blade) I taped mine to a large cardboard box cut out piece so I could store it and the metal not get damaged. I went to Sears and got a washer box they were going to throw away. These parts are very flexable and have to be handled with care and stored the same way or you will get bends in them that will not come out. Good luck on your project!

Mike, She is going to be a beauty!! Be sure to forward some pictures once you get her back together, great color. Another nicely preserved early Z car. Can anybody let me know why Nissan stamped the lower rear valance with the offset stamping opposed to the center of the rear car?? Mine and all the others are that way and I've yet to make since of it?? See picture above^^^^^.