Patcon

Do you prefer one car over the other? Do you drive them both or just one or almost none at all? As I get older I look at all the Z's I have and feel like I will not have the energy or free cash to keep them all road worthy and put miles on them. I think as time goes on I will reduce my fleet to what I am willing to keep up with. Charles

I was looking trying to find out what well restored cars go for. I am all for the cars going for good money. I have seen very few sell in that price range recently, 5 years ago many car makes were higher but many have since retraced a lot of that.

I would love to help but I struggle to find enough time to keep my business running and my family happy. That's why it takes me 6 years or longer to do a restoration. I think if you find a good welder it will be easier. Also flapper disks sometimes work better to knock down high welds than hard discs. They are a little harder to aim though. Also if I need to knock down a lot of really tall welds I use a die grinder with a 3" wheel on it. Just work it back and forth. When you get most of it off it will be rough looking just use a hard disc or a flapper wheel to smooth it out. Glad to help it makes all of my personal frustration worth while... C

FWIW One thing to remember is that here in the deep south as opposed to the south west or the high country is cars will rust even if they are in the barn. If the paint has already been compromised then the humidity in the air is enough to cause the car to look like that. The bigger problem is the mold in the interior and the rusting inide the body cavities than the surface rust on the outside of the car. Charles

It could be the prep is an issue. They don't like rusty metal. I have a 2" 90d air grinder that I run down both side of the metal quickly to expose clean metal. I don't ever wiper my work down, that me be a character flaw. I don't really know what is the best product to wipe it down with and then huff as I burn it and I also have had no issues as long as the metal is shiny. That weld looks a lot better than the others and the metal had some heat in it to discolor like that. Did you start at the bottom and work up? It looks hotter at the top. They still look a little "ropey" I like to see my welds lay down a little smoother on the sides. Some times it my wire speed sometimes its my heat. I know that if the welder you are using has no gas option you are going to be frustrated. I couldn't believe how much easier it is to weld with a better and larger machine. C

You are in an expensive part of the country for this kind of work. Shop rates here in SC are $50 an hour or so. I don't know about there. The parts are $700 or so at least and the I would think a good shop could do it in 40 hours or so. To be safe I would figure $3k. That is a WILD guess. The car would need to be very special to me for that. I have a 56 VW that my dad bought new in Germany, now that he is gone it is at the top of my collection and I will spare no expense to get it right. Does this car mean enough to you to justify that kind of expense? 1978 280z and 2002 5.3 engine 1975 Nissan 280Z both of these could be candidates and I did a 10 second search on craiglist in Phoenix. All of the rubber will be bad on the cars from the heat, but the metal will be good. All the metal on your car is bad but the rubber is probably not. For less than $2000 (car + shipping) you could have either of those cars shipped to your door. That's a lot less than you can fix your car for. You have to decide how attached to your current car you are... Also you could by a car from the south west and get the body and interior right before you start moving parts over. Charles

I noticed that several of the cars had items that were not correct. They all look pretty clean, but from what I have seen most clean Z's don't trade in these price ranges. The 280zx even more so...

What is the duty cycle for the welder you are using at the current setting? If I was trying to figure that out I would try more heat, unless I started to blow holes in it. I had a century 100 and it made welds like that. It had like a 3% duty cycle so by the time you got going you needed to wait for it to cool. If you didn't wait you got welds like that. My buddy caulled them "drunk monkey" welds. I bought a Hobart 210 last year for my xmas present. Night and day. I have always used shield gas. You could get a small bottle fairly cheap. When I weld in patches like this I don't try to make a bead. I make a weld that take 2 seconds or so maybe a 1/4" in diameter to 1/2" long. I have to adjust my speed to make sure I get a "bacon sizzling" sort of sound. I then spot weld every 8-10" apart. Cool things as I go. Then go back by the first spot weld and make another weld right by it. When its all done I grind it down if I have any big holes I MIG them up. If they are just pinholes, after I prime I smear some tiger hair fiberglass over the seam and smooth it down sand it off. It makes the seam water tight. I have the paintucation CD's and that's the way he demonstrates. My problem has benn that on some areas of my car the factory metal is so thin I blow holes in it even at my lowest settings. C

Those rails are pretty bad. The area at the sway bar probably won't take much of a patch because for it to have a rusted a hole the metal had to get very thin so all the metal that is left is also very thin. So when you go to weld in your patch you will get lots of burn through and the patch will only be a string as the metal its welded to. You really need complete front rails and bad dog rails under the floors. C

I was surfing around on Hemmings and came across these. Some are interesting some are really ambitious to say the least 1972 Datsun 240Z Coupe offered for auction | Hemmings Motor News 1971 Datsun 240Z for sale | Hemmings Motor News 1973 Datsun 240Z for sale | Hemmings Motor News 1971 Datsun 240Z for sale | Hemmings Motor News good luck on this one, I'm not sure the same in a 240z would be worth this? 1980 Datsun 280ZX for sale | Hemmings Motor News

I have some old epoxy primer. I used some the other day. I wanted to test if it had cured properly. I wiped it down with some lacquer thinner and it started coming off. Should lacquer thinner cut cured epoxy primer? Charles

I don't seem to have one of a 240z carcass. I have one on 280z but it looks different. A brake standoff might work I have a few of those but they seem to be longer. I could potentially shorten one or send you one to shorten and add an new whole in it. C

You need a decent MIG welder something with a 80-90% duty cycle for the first 2 or 3 heat settings with shielding gas. I have tried smaller cheaper welders before but they get too hot and the weld quality goes all "wobbly". That is probably the biggest thing you will need along with a large assortment of clamps, grinders, sanders, cut off tools etc. and hopefully somewhere dry to work heated is even better. I haven't done any full frame rails yet but I would think it will take 40 hours or more to get the metal work done, then epoxy primer at least. That will help with the rust. I have seen frame rails for $495 (Charlie Osbourne maybe??) but I don't know if they will fit your car or not. I have done a good bit or metal work on these cars and I believe front frame rails are probably the most intimidating, because if they are not done right they will affect tire wear and the safety of the car. Also many time the outside of the frame rail can look fine or minor surface rust but the inside of the rail with be all eaten up and the metal is much thinner than in 1976. If your car is a north east car look at all the places on the frame rails that are not water tight and imagine road salt getting down into those for the last 35 years. I tend to agree with others here. There is a lot more rust than you have found yet, even though I hate saying that. C

There are a number of salvage yards in Spartanburg county that have some old Z's. I don't think any one will sell you a complete car because most of them don't have titles any more and they are concerned about selling them whole. I have asked a few times and never found anyone willing to do it. The best bet is to find a parts car if you really need that much. Otherwise go to a salvage yard and get what you need. Charles

This was an interesting ad. I found it last night when I couldn't sleep and was fighting my "Diseaze" It is a good bit of money so it would really depend on what parts he has and whether they are worth $6k. If I didn't have so many projects I would go look at it. 1970 Datsun 240z

Absolutely agree on the interior protection. Drop clothes work good for this. Grinding tends to put little pieces of metal all over the inside of the glass which is no good. Welding too but the grinding throws the metal every where. That's why I like the body saw so much because it doesn't throw sparks.

I made vertical cuts along that edge every 2-3 inches or so. I took a heel dolly that has a round end and worked all of that along there to make it round like the factory pans. I use zip screws and screwed the pan up where it goes along the rocker the seat cross member, etc lapping it over the tunnel metal. Then I took a body saw (mini air powered sawzall) and cut both the floor and the tunnel at once. That gave me two pieces of metal that were cut to exactly the right length. I did the cutting a little at a time. Cut 4 inches or so and tack it in. Then cut some more. Hammer and dolly as you go. I would make a cut error on the side of too long fit it and cut again if necessary. I didn't make the last cuts up front until I had almost the whole pan tacked in.

I might be able to cut one of those off of a car if I have a good one. Provided you cover postage... Charles

I agree with Stanley. The triples are great if you can get them tuned but I would start with the down draft Weber if they will run. The triples are probably worth more than the whole car the way it sits. Rust could be a significant problem from the looks of the hood. How long has it been sitting in the yard? I had one like that sitting in the yard for a long time and it accelerated the rust under the car. Let me know if you need anything. I think your budget for getting it running is highly optimistic but we will see. There is a lot that needs doing. Don't start taking it a part until you have a good plan and know what your getting into. There are many cars out there that have been taken apart and still are because the owners under estimated the time and money to get it back together. Get it running and sorted first. PM me if you need anything, I have owned Z's for 25 years and have taken several all the way a part. I know Z parts better than any other car I have ever worked on. Charles

Booster is my first concern. I would think an external leak would show up on the floor. C

Be careful when welding on the tunnel side. I had my son be the fire watch, we were constantly putting it out. There tends to be a lot of grease in there and it would be easy to light it off. Also move around when you weld and use air cool it off or you will "oil can" the floor. C

On my floor pans the tunnel side had very straight bend lines while the factory tunnel has a very curved compound kind of line. So I made a cardboard template that lined up with the rocker edge and traced the curve. I then transferred the curve to the new floor pan. I made a series of cuts into the floor pan from the edge and using a hammer and dolly rolled the edge up like the original following the new curve. Worked great. I did not plug weld that seam on my car I butt welded it instead because I wanted to avoid a seam that could holds moisture and if prepped and painted right it would be less noticeable. If you have area that don't want the reshape just right. Tack in the spots that flush up and dolly to make the rest comply. C

I am all for doing it yourself. I am also planning on painting my Z at home in a self made booth. Booth is just about finished. Just be careful as some of the paints are very hazardous for your health. You really need a fresh air system to prevent exposure to isocyonates (?). Respirators don't normally get all of it and can leak if fitted poorly and they also can only absorb so many VOC's. Also be careful with your vent fan. Explosions are bad Charles

I am all for doing it yourself. I am also planning on painting my Z at home in a self made booth. Booth is just about finished. Just be careful as some of the paints are very hazardous for your health. You really need a fresh air system to prevent exposure to isocyonates (?). Respirators don't normally get all of it and can leak if fitted poorly and they also can only absorb so many VOC's. Also be careful with your vent fan. Explosions are bad Charles

Spartanburg,SC