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The advantage in pricey top end paints is the number of tints available for them and the amount of "solids" suspended in them. The tints make it easier to match to what you want now and years down the road to make up for fading in touch-up work. The solids allow you to achieve the color in the least number of passes. If you buy PPG Omni at half the price of PPG Deltron, it might take twice as many coats to get the same color and depth you want, so be careful. The Clear Coat is the same. Deltron DCU2021 Clear is expensive, about $225/gal "kit", however, it has a lot of solids in it that makes it go down smooth and quick. My paint store guys tell me to buy the Deltron Base Coat and use Limco Clear ($125/gal "kit"). The Clear is not as critical as the Base and is intended to be "sacrificial" anyway. Another thing to consider for those wanting to do a "sympathetic restoration" of the 240Z is that a Base Coat / Clear Coat system will be drippy glossy and not look at all original. It would be best to go with a Single-Stage paint, which is effectively BC and CC mixed together, still requiring a catalyst/hardener. The guys in the paint store will tell you it won't be as durable as BC/CC because a micron layer of CC provides ultra-violet protection of the pigments beneath. The damaged layer can just be compound away as required. However, my argument is that these cars are long past the day when they were kept outside apartments and dorm rooms in the elements by twenty year olds. We only bring them out on nice days and pamper them, so the Urethane paint, which is incredibly durable to begin with, will last a WHOLE lot longer than the original paint. The cost of Single-Stage might not be cheaper than BC/CC, so prepare for that, and it's a bit more challenging to shoot, but the look is more in keeping with original. PPG makes a Urethane Enamel Single-Stage paint called Delstar, which is good for matching the original Enamel look.

Paint has changed significantly in the last 20 years... heck in the last 5 years! Whatever paint brand you learn first will probably be the one you'll stick with, so pick a good one. PPG is the one I use because my local paint shop carries it and PPG is consistently high quality. PPG has many lines (systems) of paint from economy to top-end. As previously mentioned, the DP epoxy primers are excellent and provide tough, bare metal protection. Recommendation is to put it on the clean metal surface prior to any Bondo work. I know this is a foreign concept to old school bodymen, but it's PPG's recommendation. Plastic body fillers have improved greatly in the last 10 years too. The paint Spec Sheets are the only thing you should follow, not the advice of friends, or Internet car forums . Print them out and keep them in a notebook in the garage for reference. Do not try using catalysts/hardeners from different systems, or manufacturers. Also, once opened, the catalysts/hardeners absorb moisture and begin to break down. You won't realize the mistake until you shoot the paint and see it do strange things as it cures. Use only fresh catalyst/hardener, that is, only buy what you know you'll use on that job - 1/2 pint, pint, quart, etc., and date stamp the can, so you know when it's ripe for disposal. A couple of months is probably OK, but ask your paint dealer. I've used the PPG Omni "economy" line for chassis parts that don't show, and it's good stuff, and much cheaper. PPG is coming out with an improved Omni that I'm considering for one of our "daily driver" projects' exterior paint. I still like the more expensive Deltron (DBC/DCC) for more serious work. They also have a line up from that, if price is no object. Good luck!

I'd take them to your local auto parts store and have them turned before putting them on the car. Many cheap foreign made drums and rotors are warped from the factory.

For any who was curious about what's under the silver/black CHOKE decal. No doubt Datsun heard that Americans couldn't figure out what that little symbol was, even though it's on the Choke Knob too! There are a number of hobbyist decal making kits that use an ink-jet printer which might be able to replicate the original design on silver mylar film. Otherwise someone might be able to PhotoShop the decal and have a professional printer make them. I'm sort of leaning toward filling in the lines with white paint, like it was intended to be.

Blasphemy

How can you live in Kansas and not be rusted through everywhere?!

I think we are in agreement. At some point only serious collectors and museums are interested in some cars based on the cost required to restore it. I doubt if the 240Z will ever reach that status, unless it was lucky enough to have been owned by Steve McQueen, or Paul Newman.

This is a very complicated question, since there are many factors involved. The first question any buyer should ask is, "What the car will be worth once restored?" If it's a one owner, low miles, low serial number (first couple hundred off the boat) OR it was owned by someone famous, or a race team for "provenance", then that ramps up the desirability tremendously, regardless of what it would cost to get to a "10-point" car. Second, are you able to do all the work yourself, or do you "farm out" the pricey work, especially body/paint? If you're a restorer the cost/benefit ratio is different from the guy who's not too handy and has no tools. Third, is it worth YOUR time to get it there? Even if you're a restorer, you want to start with "good bones", even if it means waiting a few years for the right one to come along. What good is it to "restore" a car that's almost entirely reproduction metal, especially if it's not notoriously famous? As the old saying goes, "I still use my grandfather's hammer, but I've replaced the handle twice and the head once." Case in point: Back in the 70'w I met an old gentleman who was an incredible hobbyist restorer of Model T's and A's. He'd found a very rare Ford Model "R" in a field in Oklahoma and decided it was worth restoring. The problem was, it was only half there! He fabricated half of that car from scratch by himself. Few people are willing, or able to do that today.

If it has a really low serial number that makes a big difference.

Give it back to grandma!

Can you use the old panels as a rough trimming guide? (assuming your car had them). You might be able to pass some wood dowels through the rivet holes as alignment pins to mark the new panels. Just a thought. Good luck.

Ah yes, the infamous "Flying Doorstop" . I know where there are about 15 of those parked looking for good homes. However, the worst Triumph has got to be the Stag. Stay well clear of that one, as B-L had really lost the recipe for mechanicals by then, plus the totally enclosed chrome door window frame made it look like you were driving around in an aquarium.

Sort of expensive, but well worth a try is 3M Adhesive Remover p/n 089084, available at most car parts stores. I bet MEK will also take down anything you have hanging there, but that is some potent stuff. You can get that at any hardware store.

The Lucas derision is a bit overdone. We've had MG-TD, MGA, MGB, and XKE, and the main problem with Brit car electrical systems is twofold: A) Point ignitions and Electric Fuel Pumps. The last time I checked those are pretty common problems on most cars of that vintage, except US cars still had mechanical pumps up until fuel injection started taking hold in the 80's. Both of those problems, along with an alternator upgrade, will make a British car as reliable as any of the era. These "upgrades" sounding kinda familiar???

What exactly does he want to know? The TR-6 is one of the most desirable of all Triumphs and in "Show" condition sell for >$16k. It has a strong 6-cylinder and if he's lucky will come with the electric overdrive manual transmission. They have rust issues like every Brit sports car, but all parts are readily available through Moss Motors and British Victoria, among many.

cygnusx1, Did you use a wood stain for an original look? If so, what was it? Also, did you use Marine Spar Varnish for a finish? (As you can guess, I'm in the middle of doing mine right now!)

I had a set of those on my car back in the mid-70's. They were known as Vector mags.

Is there a source for the bulb sockets? Both my Backup Lamp sockets are badly corroded and need replacing. Thanks.

This site, with its highly knowledgeable members and archive of useful information, eventually saves Z owners time and money. Pitching in a few $$ whenever you benefit from it is appropriate. Posting useful tips and information is equally beneficial.

PR, now you know why it's critical to clean the block! All that crud really reduces cooling efficiency. As mentioned, you should take the block to an automotive machine shop and have them "cook", flush, and replace the freeze plugs.

If strict originality isn't an issue, a good undercoating material to use on top of the POR-15 is 3M Body Schutz. It's a rubbery material that's sprayed on (you can get cheaper guns than what 3M sells), and it can take the heat of being near exhaust pipes. This will cover up any sheet metal/welding "anomalies" you might have and give you some good sound deadening. We're about to put this under the cab of my son's resto-rod truck.

You're right, on closer inspection it does look like bedliner material. Wonder what he was thinking?

It's missing the console. That's the sound deadening material underneath it.

I paid Lowe's a premium for some "stainless steel" bolts a couple of years back, and when the bolts got wet they rusted. Real stainless will not rust, unfortunately, the junk coming from China is not real stainless. I sincerely hope these bumpers are truly made of higher quality material than what shows up at Lowe's/Home Depot.

EBay seller "reddat" sells all sorts of NOS rubber body plugs. You might be able to find them cheaper through other parts suppliers, however. Just search "Datsun 240Z Rubber Plugs" and you'll pull up several sources, including "the-z-connection".