MikeW

If you enjoy working on cars and want to do this as a hobby then go for it. If your goal is to end up with a very nice 240Z then be aware that you're better off buying the best that you can afford. In other words, pay $10,000 for a car that someone else has put $20,000 of work into. I know that's sad but I'm sure there's quite a few of us who have invested more than the car's actually worth. I'm probably close to breaking even on the money if you don't count my time.

Even then I wonder how they can be sure to eliminate all air pockets. Presumably they attempt to rotate the shell while submerged.

While I've never been there - or even heard of the place - a quick Google search turns up this: http://www.pgathrills.com/shop/shopping.cfm It appears that the park is closed for the season and that new prices for 2006 have not been determined yet. They do show that you can get season tickets for $67.50 each. At most amusement parks that I've seen a season ticket pays for itself in about 2 days compared to the daily admission price. I've heard that places like this make enough money from parking alone to run the place and that the ticket prices and concessions are pure profit.

If you're talking about the trim that holds the black window squeegee I found that aftermarket version (I can't remember if I got it from MSA or VB) is much thinner and cheaper than the original and doesn't go on very well. It tends to get wavy when it's installed. I mainly needed new pieces because the rubber was dry and cracking. I ended up removing the rubber from the new units and installing it back on the original trim piece. It would be much better to find OEM replacements in my opinion.

Thanks. I've only had it for a couple of years now so I can't say how well it will last in the long run. For now it looks really good. In my case, the interior was originally tan and a previous owner had dyed it all black without me even realizing. After 20+ or so years the black was rubbing off in spots but I can't say that it was all that bad. I carefully tried to remove as much of the black as possible using acetone and cotton balls. I then prepped it all as well as I could using SEM soap and then SEM vinyl prep (at least on the vinyl). So far it seems to be holding up well. I just did a quick test for you. I turns out that I had some extra plastic panels. I had dyed one of them before realizing that it wouldn't fit in my car. The right side rear quarter panel plastic has a bulged out area that covers the expansion tank. This was apparently re-designed at one point because the first panel I dyed wouldn't fix over the tank. I needed a panel with the bigger bulge which was quite obvious when I compared the two side-by-side. I just took that piece and had to rub on it fairly hard with some coarse sandpaper before the gray came off. Since I have extra dye it will always be easy to touch it up in case it does get rubbed or scratched.

Wimp. Just push the pedal harder.

Uh, that's actually my interior. The carpet, headliner, and seat covers are "silver gray" from Too Intense: http://www.toointenserestoration.0catch.com/ The door panel vinyl, pillar vinyl, and plastic panels in the hatch area were all dyed with SEM Medium Gray #15393. The dashboard was restored by http://www.dashboardrestorations.com.au/ and they used a small scrap of the seat cover vinyl to match the dash color. Here's a better shot in my gallery: http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=11942&cat=500&ppuser=3294 You're correct, the flash does throw it off a bit.

But wouldn't it be cool to be able to go sit in your car and pretend you're actually driving ...

It seems that you're not the first to ask this question. A google search for JB Weld Australia turned up a bunch of hits. One of them mentioned this: "I have found that Australia wide at any Kmart that has a paint section, you can buy JB weld for just $16."

That's what I did. Frankly your floor pans look pretty good compared to mine and most of the others I've seen. Once you get all of the tar off you can use POR-15. Be sure to follow the directions. When you use the marine clean and metal ready you need to rinse with water. It seemed really weird to me to having a running garden hose on the inside of the car but that's what you really need to do. Much of it will go out through the drain holes but I also used a wet-dry vacuum. It really gets the water out quickly. After the coats of POR-15 I used Dynamat and then another layer of foil backed insulation for an additional sound and heat barrier as well as a bit of padding under the carpet for comfort.

As I recall there's a difference somewhere along the line regarding the under-seat straps. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? I can't remember the details.

It reaches the dome light and rear window defroster fine but there's still too much slack?

Aren't there bendable tabs that hold the harness in place along the floorboard just inside the door opening?

Hey, I used a "liquid glove" product when I did the same with mine. Works great. However, I can certainly appreciate just paying someone else to do the work.

They actually look good to me already. The lip part is the easiest to do. Have you thought about doing them yourself?

I don't think any kind of filler material would be strong enough. Those bolts require a lot of torque to keep the mechanism in place. I don't think you'd be able to weld them closed without damaging the sheet metal of the body. Why not just tap them up to a slightly bigger bolt size?

For those of you who haven't seen it yet, Microsoft now offers a mapping program similar to Google maps that provides both maps and satellite images. It takes this one step further, however, and offers low-altitude aerial photographs of certain cities in the US. You can even view the aerial photographs from all four compass directions. They literally took multiple photographs from different angles. http://local.live.com When looking in San Francisco at the offices of M5 I actually was able to spot the white 280Z in question. Here's the direct link to that image: http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=37.750605~-122.395487&style=o&lvl=2&scene=1223181

Clearly this car was designed for the US market: LHD, temperature control in Fahrenheit, and an XBox 360 - none of which are even remotely popular in Japan.

Katz is merely a member here, not a supplier. He happens to live in Japan and happens to have what is one of the most technically correct restored cars around. Have a look at his gallery and search for some of his posts and you'll see what I mean ...

That page has always seemed extremely limited to me. I take it he actually sells way more than what's shown?

Considering that you live closer to Japan than I live to MSA and the other California-based vendors listed it seems like parts places there might be a good option for you, at least in terms of shipping costs. The communications barrier might be a bigger problem although we do have a number of members who might be able to help you out there. It would also help if you could list some of the specific parts you're in need of.

Ah, that makes sense. I forgot all about the steering.

Out of curiosity why would that be? I know the throttle linkage is different and the battery and master cylinders are swapped but I thought everything else was the same between LHD and RHD with regard to the engine and manifolds.

I hope you're not trying to do it the hard way but rather you simply consider turning the steering wheel to one side and removing 4 screws a pain ...

Keep in mind that there's a huge difference between "gas" fumes and "exhaust" fumes. I sometimes smell gas after filling up and making a hard turn. The gasoline is obviously sloshing around inside the tank and getting into a hose that needs replacing. Exhaust fumes are more difficult to track down and fix since there are so many ways for them to get in. This is the more common complaint. It's not clear to me from the original post which of these is the problem.