mlaw7

A word of caution. This only applies to 1970-73 240Z's, so I would imagine the adjuster will most likely ignore it given that your car is a 1974 260Z. Don't waste your ammo! Something like this that covers your specific model will do you much more good. My $0.02.

Not true. At least here in Texas. It is NOT up to her to settle this and in fact, she really has no say in the matter after a claim has been filed. Her insurance company has the right under her policy to handle the claim as it sees fit, subject to its duty TO HER of good faith and fair dealing. They are under no obligation to settle with you. Especially if they have the weight of the law in their favor, which in cases like this - as a general rule - they do. Not that laws can't be changed. They can be, either through the legislature or litigation, but that's another (related) story. Moreover, not all insurance companies are the same. Same for adjusters. Some are relatively fair to deal with and some of them are notorious for making you file suit in order to get a fair settlement. Even though it often costs them more money to defend a lawsuit ... Sometimes these kind of cases go all the way to trial, and even further. A possibility you have to consider is that you may be in for a long (and probably expensive) court battle if you're going to stick to your guns on this.

Man, I am really sorry to hear about this. Despite what he or she may want you to believe, the insurance adjuster does not necessarily have the final say in this matter. Especially this early on. So don't let him or her bully you! Shoot me a P/M if you'd like to discuss this further.

Uptown Park works for me. Floorboard rust areas are all fixed and POR-15 applied to the floorboards and transmission tunnel. Removing the tar paper on the floors and transmission tunnel was the most fun I've had in years! With all the interior trim and carpet out, I've been applying Quietcar soundproofing (by brush) to virtually every interior piece of sheet metal, including floors, transmission tunnel, firewall, under the windshield around the defroster vents, rocker panels, doors, around the quarter windows, behind the speakers (as far I can reach), hatch riser, under the rear deck, spare tire well, behind the antenna, rear panel around the taillights and inside the hatch (behind the vinyl finisher). Three coats so far and I'm planning on two more this week before replacing the rubber plugs, heater control vacuum valve/hoses, replacing the deteroriated foam insulation in the A/C and blower housings, re-installing the dash (all gauges cleaned and fitted with brighter bulbs), installing the new carpet kit from Chester & Herod and re-installing the seat belts, interior trim and console. Bolt in the seats and she should be good to go. So, barring any unforeseen events, anytime after next weekend should be good for me. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone! Can't wait to see your cars too!!

Mike, Very nice find indeed!!! I'm very interested to hear the results of your comparison between the original C&H carpet and the reproduction sets you got from them. Your thoughts about the overall quality and fit of the carpet kits they are now offering would also be most appreciated. Michael

I agree about the use of chains. Very good point about using them to secure the car once it's on the flatbed. What I'm mainly referring to though is when the wrecker driver attaches a chain to the car to pull it onto the flatbed itself. I've never seen anything else used for that purpose. That alone can cause a lot of damage to sheet metal and bumpers. Once the car is on the bed, most times I've seen the straps you're talking about used around the wheels. Now that you mention it, I'll insist on them if I ever have to use a wrecker again. Thanks for the pointer.

If you're going to have her towed, here are a few thoughts. Definitely use a flat bed. Bring a few towels or other soft materials to use as a cushion between the chain and your car. Especially if the chain will be attached to one of the tow hooks in the front. The positioning of the tow hook can also make a big difference as to any contact it may have with the valence or bumper. The front valence panel (underneath the lower grill) is directly in the path of the chain and/or hook when it tightens. It is thin sheet metal and it doesn't take much pressure from a towing chain to mess it up. If it's being pulled from the rear, put some cushioning between the chain and your rear bumper. And make sure the driver goes real slowly as the chain gets taut. It may have to be repositioned one or more times until there's no contact with your car. Or at least minimized and cushioned. I've been through this numerous times with wrecker drivers. It's not their car and for the most part, they just want to get it on the truck and wherever it's going so they can do another run. He or she isn't going to pay much attention to what that chain will do to your car, and chances are probably couldn't care less. I've had to stand my ground very firmly a number of times on this. Once I had to tell the AAA driver to either do it right or take his chain off my car. He didn't want to be bothered with taking that extra bit of care but eventually did when I threatened to report it to AAA. On the positive side, I have had a couple of drivers who at least appreciated what it was they were transporting and were willing to work with me on this. I've attached a couple of photos to show you what I'm referring to. This particular time I did not have any cushioning material but made sure the driver positioned the chain and went slowly so as not to damage the valence. Either way, if you take these precautions I can assure you that you'll be glad you did!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday weekend! After I removed the tar paper from the floorboards of my '78 coupe, I noticed a hole with a grommet on the passenger side underneath the hatch riser for a pair of wires colored black and green. The inner diameter of the grommet is approx. 1/2". These two wires run through the grommet to the underside of the car. I didn't trace them back but that's not the issue. What struck me about this was the fact that there is a lot of clearance around the two wires inside the grommet through which you can very clearly see the ground. Which to me means that water and other foreign substances have a big entry way into the interior of my car right there. The attached photo shows these two wires running underneath an archway in the riser to the grommet. I didn't have my camera handy to take a closer photo of this. So my question is whether this is way it was designed or is there something missing? It just seems strange to me to have this big open hole in the underside of my car. Thanks!

Well said! In a way, it's the same with vintage guitars. I like to think of it as the fragrance of "classic." Or put another way, an olefactory patina.

When using the ventilated air or A/C in my '78, I've noticed that there is a LOT more air flow through the right center diffuser than the left. With the blower at full speed, the right side blows nice and strong while the left side is pretty anemic. What's strange to me is the fact that the air source for both diffusers is the same. Now that I've got the dash out I've looked inside the evaporator housing that sits right behind the diffusers and cannot see anything that would cause this. I thought this may have been due to a leak in the duct system. The left duct coming off the evaporator housing fits nice and tight and is in good shape. Also checked the fitting of the short duct and foam wrapped plastic elbow for the driver's side dash vent. While everything seems to be OK, I can't say it's 100% airtight. I've also checked the heater vent door on the driver's side. It seems to close pretty tightly but again I can't say that it's 100% airtight. If either or both of these are leaking air, would that be enough to draw the air flow from the left center diffuser? Has anyone else had this issue? Anybody have any insight into what might be going on here?

Count me in! I'm in Memorial and should have my interior all together in the next couple of weeks, sooner if at all possible.

Love that red color! That's exactly what my goal was for my '78 coupe. And with new seals and weatherstripping, I've got the same issue with the doors and hatch. Any idea how long it generally takes for new seals/weatherstripping to break in? I imagine the climate must have a lot to do with it.

Hi Jeff, She's absolutely beautiful. Great color and very very nice work indeed!! Michael

That is awesome dude!! I know the feeling of watching a project like this unfold and I'm thrilled for you! It is really wonderful to see how you resurrected this baby. And hats off to you for standing up to the insurance company on the property damage claim. Can't wait to see her when she's finished!

Does anyone have any recommendations on how to get rid of that old musty odor lurking in the nooks and crannies of a 30+ year old Z car? My goal is to get the car's interior as close as possible to how she smelled when she rolled off the showroom floor sometime in late 1977-78. I've got the entire interior, dash and carpet out and have been cleaning dust, grime and STUFF from as many places as I can reach. Have also cleaned up the dash, seats, door panels, vinyl trim and plastic interior trim pieces as well as the inside areas of the rear quarter panels, hatch area and behind/underneath the dash area back to the firewall. I've also let her air out quite a bit, in addition to the time she spent at the paint/body shop. My car smells a lot better now as do the interior trim pieces and door panels. However, I can still smell lingering traces of that funky odor here and there. For example, I haven't been able to completely get it out of the door panels or the seats. I know that the new headliner and carpet will make a big difference, as will new seat covers when I'm able to get them. Is there some product out there that will do the trick? Am I asking the impossible? How do you clean the hardboard on the door panels and rear deck? What about Lysol?? Has anyone out there had any success with this?

Thanks Mark! I forgot about two other rust areas. Neither of them were evident until I removed the door seal and floor insulation. The front edge of the driver's side door jamb had a rusted out area about 5" long that was hiding behind the door seal. It started a little lower than the door jamb switch and ran down toward the rocker panel. Also found two more small rust holes in the passenger side floorboard. One is about 1/2" and the other is about 1/8". Both were completely hidden underneath the tar paper and weren't visible from underneath the car. At least to my untrained eye. Funny thing is the driver's side floorboard is virtually perfect! Go figure ... Moral of the story (as so many of us here have already learned): Inspect your Z car THOROUGHLY for rust! While I'm sure they do exist, a true rust-free Z in original condition is very rare. These cars are way too precious to let any more succumb to the rust monster. Especially when it can often be fixed and then prevented from ever coming back. Can I get a witness?

Thanks! That's exactly what I did - took care of all the mechanical/electrical/hydraulic issues first. Then waited ... and waited ... and waited ... until I could afford to get the body work and paint done. Oh yes, and waited some more ... The entire job was right around $5k, which included 1. replacing the sunroof with a solid piece 2. windshield/hatch glass removal and installation 3. removing/reinstalling the driver's side door, hatch and hood 4. replacing the lower driver's side door hinge 5. installing the weatherstripping and seals 6. repairing numerous rust areas (some of which were not evident until the fenders and headlight buckets were removed) 7. repainting the louvres and Black Pearl side mirrors 8. removing/reinstalling the bumpers, quarter windows, locks and side trim 9. bodywork and two-stage paint Rust areas were 1. the hatch sill (pretty bad) 2. passenger side floorboard 3. upper front portion of the passenger side rocker panel 4. lower front edge of the passenger side door jamb 5. front of the passenger side inner fender (mating to the headlight bucket) 6. driver's side rocker panel 7. around the sunroof 8. under the battery tray (not too bad but would have been a disaster if left untouched) 9. and a few other minor spots here and there. Hopefully in a week or so I'll have the floors coated with POR-15, the interior soundproofed, carpet installed, and the dash/interior back in place. Final step will be to give the wheel wells and undercarriage the POR-15 treatment.