wheee!

Oh my.... one can only dream

Nicer than my first apartment....

Oh look! Progress.... The door panel was badly damaged and the fine amount of finessing it back to flat is a slow process. The quarter panel weld joins are fairly straight forward.

It was under $100....

An image company owns the original artwork of the rising sun on a stained linen background. I purchased the individual rights to print it for my particular application. Anyone can purchase the rights to use the image based on their individual needs. Cost is based on use and distribution etc. As this was for a vehicle wrap, hidden 98% of the time and not used for commercial profit etc it was relatively cheap. As a photographer (a previous lifetime ago), I have no issue paying for someone’s artwork. *I do not claim to own the image rights of the rising sun graphic, just the specific application of it on the stained linen background. I do not have copyright or any restriction stopping someone from buying the same image and using it the same way. I would just hope that people would respect the individualism I have created in my car.

Finally have the rear hatch panel smoothed out through the complex radius along the length. Yeesh.

So continuing the mirror adaptation, I decided to JBWeld the washers and nuts to the reinforcement plates. This way I can just slide the plate in place and tighten down the bolts. Then I fibreglas reinforced behind the old mounting holes and fibreglassed over the top as well. On top of that was the fine filler and sanded smooth. This matches nicely to the other side. Optical illusion if you think the holes are spaced different. Just camera angle and hole size.

It’s growing on me...

They are both more of a wide view mirror than stock applications. I think this is a feature of the "racing" style...

I think so. They suggest painting the mirror housing alone and leaving the stalks black but I might just leave it all black. I’ll think on it and decide once the doors are painted.

Been there before!

So another of my long planned purchases finally arrived. I had been covering the BRE racing mirrors for a while and pulled the trigger a couple of weeks ago. First of all, they are very cool. However they need to mount closer to the fender than the stock position. That means drilling new holes. No big deal because the stock holes are too wide anyways. My first problem I quickly discovered is that the door is very “closed in” near the front of the window area. Hard to get a finger in there let alone nuts and washers. But the real issue at first was that the backing plates were not drilled to same spacing as the mirror mounts! Poor quality control there. Other than that, I am super excited to have them finish mounted on the doors. A couple pics of the drivers side mounted to the stock position before I drilled new holes and closed up the old ones.

If those grammatical Errors are part of the original response.... scam. I don’t like the sounds of this One Little Bit! Proceed with caution.

Found an ad for it here using all the same pictures... I think this is a scam. If you think otherwise, ask for a photo of it with them holding a banana or something ridiculous to prove they have it. https://carbuzz.com/news/someone-stuffed-a-corvette-v8-in-this-old-datsun-240z

This car has been pieceed together by the looks of it. A 73 VIN with a 280 Z front grill? Run....

Try hybridz. They specialize in the heavily modified cars. This one is a long way from having been a 280Z... The front grill says 280Z, the taillights are 240 style. Not uncommon.

Yup. The factory welds are a little bulgy in those areas. Most likely factory.

The edges and insides are done. The outsides are actually really good except for the Taiwan fender in a couple spots. The headlight bucket stamp area was too narrow a diameter to for the bucket so that had to be built up. The edge where the bumper notch was curled inwards too much, and the edge near the top of the door at the body line was dented in that could not be pulled out easily. That needed some filler. The driver side is almost a done deal as it fits very well. The back hatch had too many waves from all the dents and abuse it had received. The multiple colours of filler let me see where I have done previous spot levelling. It’s not very thick at all, but I’m trying to get it as flat (smooth) as possible in the curved natural form. Lots of long block work.

Oh the glamour! Such fun! [emoji58] Let this be over soon ... I have too much OCD.

Somewhere a hundred pages back or so, I said I was looking forward to the bodywork.... was I on glue? The long block is amazing but it is tedious on vertical surfaces. I need more sandpaper and more of the “icing” filler that goes on so nice.

Thank you for your service Mike. Your generation inspired mine to serve in your honour and footsteps. My combat tour with the Taliban in panjwaii will never compare to the hardship and loss you endured in Vietnam. I lived in a concrete bunker on a reinforced mountain with internet, hot food and showers. Yes we were surrounded by enemy at all times and were attacked daily, but were supplied and defended by incredible modern weapons. As a current Warrant Officer, I remind my troops daily of the sacrifices of previous generations and the current “day care” mentality of the military. Again, hats off to you and your generation.

Now run a line to a beer keg and I’ll be down to help paint...

I understand that you see this in a way that might hurt some people's feelings. I understand that there are some who may feel upset at seeing a flag from an "enemy" country on our soil being displayed as a point of pride. As a soldier, I bear no malice towards the enemy soldier. No hate or love. He is merely doing his duty same as I am. If we meet on a field of battle, our lives are of no consequence to the meaning or reason for war. We are responding to the call for duty from our leaders, in their job of guiding our country and making these types of decisions. We are but meat in the machine. Therefore, I have no ill will towards the Japanese people or their symbols of a bygone era. The symbolism of the "Rising Sun" is an honourable tribute to the birth and creation of a nation with hopes and dreams of creating a better place for their people. What I draw from this, is that I have created a "rebirth" of my car in tribute to the original nation that invented this incredible machine. And in that rebirth, my hopes and dreams of where this car will take me (physically and spiritually) are represented for the world to see every time it sits at a car show for others to admire (and criticize!). I hope that no one is offended in the way that you describe, but I am pretty sure I will not be displaying my car at car shows hosted by WWII veterans of the Pacific. If so, I will gladly close my hood and offer my apologies along with an offer to buy them a beer (or two).

Well the worst of the body panel work was between the import fender and the headlight bucket on the passenger side. I did the best I could getting the panels to match and then resprayed the fender end before getting them bolted back together. Moving on....