motorman7

I did exactly what @siteunseen mentioned above. It looks great and is the closest I have seen to the original. Although, I did use the 'Bulldog Spray adhesion before the paint coat.

Yes, this really was a tough choice. I talked with my paint guy at length about the two options. We went with the two stage in order to have a more durable finish and simpler touch-up if needed. We also wanted the paint to really shine and standout. Durability is also why most of the undercarriage is powdercoated, the underside is POR-15ed, and I put clear coat or matte coat clear over some parts (like aluminum). Otherwise, in 4 or 5 years the process needs to be repeated. Ideally, it would be nice to have the restoration look perfect for another 40-something years.

Yes, the larger black piece that looks like a dome is plastic. The rubber disc shaped piece is below. The plastic part tends to disintegrate and the rubber piece hardens. The parts that are below the body are usually in great shape since they are not exposed to the elements. It's just those upper parts that are a problem.

@nix240z: Would be nice to get the rubber/plastic below that as well if available. Time takes its' toll on plastic and rubber.

@nix240z: Yes, I will pick up one as well. I would be hesitant to get a used one as I am sure the plastic is incredibly frail, like my current one. My current one is like eggshell, and is held together with super glue.

I could use one of those finishing nuts as well. Did not see any on @nix240z site. The nut part on my antenna is fine, its the plastic that is not good.

Well, things are getting close to the end here. Still waiting on a few parts to come in and the revised center section of the exhaust to be completed then she will be about ready to go. Miguel came over today and did the final polish on the paint which actually looked pretty amazing before he even started. After about 6 hours of polishing with three different compounds and pads, the paint is absolutely incredible. Not a single scratch or swirl to be seen. There are a couple pics below, but they do not do the paint justice. I will have to wait for a nice sunny day and take some pics here to really show the quality of the paint job. While Miguel was doing the polishing, I painted the rear carpet which really looks great. I was a little skeptical of how it would look, but it really looks like new carpet. I should get the new luggage straps in from Jay in the next couple days to complete the back hatch area. It should look great once these are in. Also got the hatch plugs coming in as well. Got the horns refurbed and installed. Also put in the final fender screws and touched those up with paint to match.

I finished the hubcaps and installed them. Also put in the new speaker. Took the car out for a small photo shoot. For some reason I thought the best conditions for photographs was with over cast skies, but I don't think that is the case here. Everything reflects off of the paint. Should have taken the photos when it was sunny..I guess. As you can tell, I am not really a skilled photographer. Anyway, here are a couple pics.

Yes, she's a beauty! Very well preserved. Original equipment is always very nice to see.

Around 4 years and no cracking. The initial paint that was sprayed by the shop directly on the urethane and started flaking off in less than 3 months.

I sanded the urethane air dam with 600 then 1000 grit. Then sprayed on Bulldog, then sprayed on final paint. No primer

I used Bulldog Adhesion promoter on my Yellow Z urethane Air dam. Works pretty well, much better than paint on plastic. https://www.amazon.com/ADH-PROMOTER-15OZ-AERO-KLE-ETPO123B/dp/B005IUBMS6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1515617607&sr=8-1&keywords=bulldog+adhesion+promoter

Yes, nice to have the correct battery cables in. So much nicer. I stripped all of the hubcaps and prepped a couple for paint with the green tape. Unfortunately I ran out of paint, so will order some more from Amazon. The first one came out nice.

Here are the new battery cables installed. The ty-wraps are not stock, but it looks a bit nicer this way.

Got the radio and heater/vent control panel in. Radio lights up and works. The antenna control switch also works and runs the antenna up and down nicely. Interior is just about finished, just a few rear panels to finish. Will also add the sound deadening material in the back panels. Got the battery cables in today. They look very nice. Will take pics of those tomorrow.

Yes, will do that tonight. The open part of the hook is toward the center of the car.

Just a few quick updates. Got the new starter in. I put the old starter and new starter side by side just to see the difference. New one looks much better in the car. Did a gentle sand on the stick shift knob with 320 grit then stained with Red Oak wood stain. Put a clear coat over that. Got the OEM style muffler tip that Jay makes so at least the muffler looks fairly close to original from the back end.

Hi Steve, The car belongs to a gentleman up in the Bay area who is the original owner. I believe his plans are to hold on to the car and take it to shows. Hopefully, he will keep me abreast of how the car fares. Yes, this is true. Fortunately, it is my preferred hobby and I really enjoy the work. With all that goes on in life, working on a Z is therapy for me.

This came in today. Thanks @Zup! This is a work of art. Will install tomorrow.

Thanks again everyone, things are coming along nicely. Got a lot of the interior in as you can see in the pics. Most electrical is working except for blinkers so will have to troubleshoot that. My meter shows that I am not getting power to the turn signal lever. Kind of weird because all the running lights, headlights and dome light work. Will play around with that today. (Edit: that was a quick fix, one small bullet connector near the fuse panel...all better) Also will be detailing hubcaps, horns and stick shift knob. Found a nice pretty new starter from @Zup along with the correct battery cables. I am looking forward to those coming in. That should really set off and complete the engine bay.

I took her out for the inaugural drive round the cul-de-sac. Had to watch out for the snow and ice in the corner but....oh wait, I live in SoCal. It's 80 degrees and sunny. (Just had to throw that in for the East coasters). Anyway, car is running great and is very nice to drive. Now I just have to finish up a bunch of details and she is good to go. Boy, it drives nice! Love having the new shocks and bushings. It is very smooth. Looks like the short engine video is loading. Feel free to turn the sound up Engine Vid.mp4

Another Z article out. Always an interesting read. http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/street-smarts/is-nissan-killing-z-retrospective-article-1.3723803

Thanks for the contact! I just sent him an e-mail.

I know. I am on e-bay quite a bit looking for those, but very hard to find. Jay at JDM parts has some of the repro pieces but not the whole system. Also hard to find OEM battery cables.

IT'S ALIVE!!! Yes, she is up and running! Very nice to have the car running. The motor sounded very nice and smooth. There was a little popping out the exhaust, not sure what that is from, but still need to set the timing. It was getting late so I will do the adjustments in the next day or two . I took a video of it, but it is 18MB. I will have to figure out how to make a lower res video so I can get it on the site here. It started up fairly quickly. I used my vacuum pump to suck the fuel up to the fuel pump, then just turned it over from there. It started up in about 15 seconds which was great. Although as perfect as this may all sound when I post here, I did overlook two things. I forgot to put a hose clamp on the fuel return line just below the fuel pump. This dumped about a quarter cup of fuel on the floor. Also did not have the oil filter fully tightened. Dripped about a tablespoon of oil there. Surprisingly there were no water leaks. That is usually the culprit. Anyway I fixed those two items and shut it down for the night. I got a ton of stuff done today. I got the exhaust painted with high temp paint and installed. I will change the tip to the OEM slant style when it arrives. For now I threw on the chrome tip that came with the exhaust system. I got a lot of the interior done. I like the OEM jute that the car came with, so I just cleaned it off and re-installed it. And, the carpet is very nice so I installed that also. The only concern is the rear hatch carpet is faded. I will have to see if I can get that dyed. Otherwise, it is in very good condition. I installed the door weather stripping and threshold finishers. I tried to repair the plastic on the door finishers but that did not work very well. Fortunately I had a nice set so I put those on. Also got the choke cable installed along with the stick shift handle. I got the rear brake cable cleaned up and installed and the drive shaft as well, before the exhaust of course. Got the clutch cylinder filled and bled. Also got the battery cables in along with the hard to find battery cover. Anyway, pics are below.