charliekwin

I'm running a ZX housing on my 78. Nissan moved some of the sensors around in the housing, but it works fine. That housing would probably fit in a 76 too (confirm first!), so that might help with your search.

Count me among the group that thinks the price is low. I still have a Craigslist alert for Z cars in my area (which isn't great for selling prices, obviously) and follow BaT pretty closely. Other than "trending up," it's hard to get a really good sense on the market, but maybe the most reliable indicator for pricing that I've noticed is condition. Cars in very good or better shape go for big (for Z car) money: $20-30k+; cars that need a bit of work tend to go for far less. Originality doesn't seem to be a major factor in prices; neither does the year. My working theory is that Z cars don't yet have the same kind of intrinsic value as a collectible item that a lot of the other classic cars have. I think for many people, the value is in how "cool" they are. So knowing that you're looking at a minimum of $10-15k to do a very light restoration and body/paint on a "fair" car that costs ~$10k, it makes a ton of sense to just buy the finished product and save the trouble (and probably some money).

Having looked at a bunch of steering wheel pictures, I've decided that finger dents on the back of the wheel are the way to go. I like how Nardi did it on this one: I think I might be able to get that kind of profile with a drill, sanding drum, and some cleverness. That's a 390mm wheel, which is just slightly bbigger than the 280z wheel at ~380mm, but I think I might go a narrower on the grip. The Nardi looks a little fat for a car like the Z.

Every now and then I stumble backwards into something that makes me feel more clever than I probably am...the webbing qualifies here. Once the webbing is done I'll wrap it all with something like bicycle handlebar tape. Then I'll sew on a cover. That'll be the tricky bit.

Next entry in the list of Projects I'm Not Smart Enough To Avoid: the steering wheel. It's in bad shape, and after the dash went back in, it became even more obvious just how bad it was, and harder to overlook: auto parts store cover over electrical tape over masking tape over whatever was left of the original foam. So, having watched a bunch of YouTube videos on steering wheel upholstery and having more enthusiasm than ability or common sense, dove in: stripped everything off and removed the flaking old paint. The spokes were sprayed with some rattle can Rustoleum. I'm now in the middle of building up the wheel. I searched Home Depot for anything I could use to replace the original padding but came up empty -- all the foams I found there weren't dense enough. I dug around the garage and found a bunch of old nylon webbing and thought to do this: It seems to be working so far. When I tried for the second layer, it was feeling a little less solid than I'd like, so I soaked it with resin. I need to do at least one, and maybe two more layers of the webbing, but I'm at a bit of a crossroads now: I can't decide what shape the wheel cross section should be. Round would be easiest. My G has more of an oval shape, which I never bothered to notice until I started working on this project, and it seems that's how many wheels are shaped. I could also try and put in the finger indentations, but don't have any idea how I would go about doing so. I also don't know how thick I want to make it. Some unexpected decisions to make here. Ultimately, it'll be covered in leather. I got this nice piece from Springfield Leather Company for $35 shipped. So far, it's the only expense I have in this little project.

I'm about 40 miles away from Huntington Beach, but as far as places to go, it's not so bad Can't make it out that far in the next few days, but I've been trying to get a couple days off next week and could probably make some time. Shoot me a PM if you're still looking for help and I'll see if I can swing something.

Wow, I checked this right when I (apparently mistakenly!) thought it ended at $28,500, and that was already higher than I thought it would go for. I think $36,000 is a new high for a Z car on BAT.

Fixed up some of the interior pieces this weekend. Biggest project was the steering column clamshell, where two of the screw "thingies" (pretty sure that's what they're called) on the side were broken off, as well as the one in the middle. Turns out that the promo pens we got at the office a while back can be cobbled into a very suitable replacement and are made of a plastic that ABS cement will bond to. The clicky part of the pen even worked as a stopper for the male end on the top of the clamshell. Fiberglass reinforcement on all the new bits and over the cracked areas. Then everything sanded smooth and painted with Krylon Fusion to match the center console and applied some Raammat to give the pieces a bit of solidity. I was unreasonably pleased with how well it all came together. I also fixed the coloring on the dashboard badge and on the edges of the center vents using a silver Sharpie; I think that was a trick someone around here mentioned. Worked great! And finally freshened up the lettering on the combination switch and on the floor temp, fuel and map lights. The interior -- finally! -- is halfway presentable. That abomination of a steering wheel and new door cards ought to be the last big things I take on in here.

I'm just outside Pasadena and usually drive on Angeles Crest/Forest headed up toward Palmdale, but not much in the video looked familiar so maybe they went the other direction. It's been a long time since I've hit the Tujunga Canyon roads or continued east toward Wrightwood. Some exploring may be in order!

I really enjoyed the video and might have to add that channel to my list. Helps put a few of the things that my own car does that I've wondered about -- rattles over bumps, the half beat needed between shifts, etc. -- in perspective. Wish I knew what road that is so I could go drive it myself!

It's rather tautological, but probably the biggest reason it went for so much is that apparently there were two people who really wanted it. That said, there's a lot about the modifications to the car that are -- what I'll call for the sake of brevity -- "right." I wouldn't black out the chrome, but I'd put an L28ET in my car tomorrow if I could. For someone who isn't too concerned with originality but doesn't want to take the soul out of the car, there's a lot to like here. I checked the auction history and this one is one of the very highest priced Z cars that's sold on BAT. A 280Z BRE tribute car at was the highest $34k and a 240z race car sold for $28. Non-stock Z's seem to do well on that site, but I don't know what that might mean for broader trends.

Thanks for the comments guys. It's definitely not a stock look and I'd be lying if I said it was my first choice, but given my talent* and resources/budget, it was the way to go. I still like the idea of covering in vinyl in some way and might revisit that when I get to the audio system, but the results are acceptable for now, especially when I compare it to what I started with: Regarding the LEDs, I picked up a package of 20 BA9S lights that were sold as replacements for a 4W bulb on eBay for a couple bucks just to test them out and liked the results. Tons of sellers have them; they look just like these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/20Pcs-Xenon-White-BA9S-Interior-Map-Instrument-Panel-Dash-Gauge-LED-Light-Bulbs-/252729348168?hash=item3ad7d7d048:g:sw8AAOSw2xRYfuNy&vxp=mtr and drop right in. If the pot growing forums are to be believed, painting the cans white helps with the even illumination. These lights are brighter than the stock bulbs, but not by much (I took the photo in a dim garage, with long exposure). The brightness seemed just right when I did my one test at night, but time will tell. There are also much brighter LEDs available (I think mine are supposed to output 5 lumens; the brightest are almost 100!) that I've seen some people use. They're blinding, but I guess I understand the motivation: *Talent, in retrospect, may have been slightly overestimated!

God help me, this'll be the last post on flocking a dashboard, because I'm done with it. Persistence kind of pays off though, so remember: if at first you don't succeed, try like eight more times, until you run out of patience and materials! Now that it's all said and done, I ended up getting the best (not great, mind you) results by spraying some slightly thinned Rustoleum over the already-flocked dash. I can live with the results for a while, even if they aren't perfect. If anyone else wants to do it, I still think my general advice of "don't" is probably best, but with the experience I had, I the conclusions I've come up with are as follows: An even coat of paint/adhesive is really important to achieving a good. Brushing doesn't seem to work well (some of the photos show the brush strokes fairly well). Spray it on. A thick layer of paint works better. Thin layers dry too fast. There's a very small Goldilocks zone though: too thick and it'll run. I think the size and complex shape of the Z dash are just not well suited to flocking. Getting the right amount of glue on there and getting the whole thing covered is much more difficult than I expected it to be. I got tired of taking the same pictures, but here's a few of the final flocking steps, before and after. This was also my chance to work on the gauges. They all got a thorough cleaning, paint touched up, and I scavenged the better bits and pieces -- lenses, brackets, etc. -- from the spare set from the other dashboard, and shot flat white paint on the insides of the housings to (maybe) increase reflectivity. I never liked the green, so all the filters were removed and the bulbs replaced with LEDs. Only snag in the whole thing was discovered after reinstalling the dash: the tach bulbs didn't work! The whole thing came back out and I found out the tach bulbs, for some reason, were getting -12 volts. Swapped the wires on the pigtail and all is good. Pretty happy with how they came out. One more "while I'm at it..." job: the fusebox surround had really seen better days, so I used it as a template to make a new one. I covered it with the same vinyl I've used on some of the other interior bits, which I think looks better than just painting it black. By some minor miracle, all the holes actually managed to line up. It's the little things.

The job on the left rear quarter is really bad. Looks like the right may have had some work done too, but it's hard to tell from the picture. Overspray all over the muffler and maybe the engine bay as well (if I wanted to be generous, it could just be the camera having trouble) makes me think the car got a cheap, full respray. My spidey sense is that the car is worse than the seller is letting on and he sent it off to a place Earl Scheib to put lipstick on the proverbial pig hoping to make a few bucks off a sucker. Think of it this way: the difference between a running car and a non-running one is probably a few thousand dollars. If a $70 fuel pump and two hours of effort would get the car to run, why hasn't the seller done it?

Well, it sure looks like a better candidate than the last one. Blue California plates are a good sign: it means the car has been in California for quite a long time (possibly since new; we switched to white plates in 1982). I consider things like the original (I believe) radio and shift knob as positives, not so much because of originality for its own sake, but more because the POs have kept the thing together. On the other hand, it's kind of dirty, and you'd kind of hope that the owner cares enough to take 10 seconds to wipe it down before taking a picture to sell it. All told, based on the pictures, the price seems reasonable enough as a starting point. Getting it transported would probably offset whatever reduction you might be able to negotiate. Personally, I wouldn't have the nerve to buy a car sight unseen, but that's just me.

Well, I flocked it again and had somewhat-better-but-still-not-great results. I've been trying to touch up the most obvious blemishes, but I may be slowly and meticulously making things worse... BUT, there may be hope yet! I just came across this page: http://www.kwicklabs.com/FiveCootsFlockingExperiment.htm and picked up three interesting points: Even flocking something as small as a duck decoy, it's very hard to get a great finish. So maybe I shouldn't feel so bad about having trouble with a whole dashboard. Recoating and reflocking makes for better results. That's what I noticed in areas I've tried touching up, too. Plain old Rustoleum works just as well as the Donjer adhesive. I've got plenty of that. Might give it one more shot (starting to sound like a broken record here...) if I think I have enough fibers left to do the job.

The #1 bit of advice I would give (and I've had just one project car for two whole years, so clearly, I'm well-qualified to be giving out advice!) is to buy a car that's running that you can drive. The world is littered with dead projects where well-intentioned people took on either more than they could handle, something they didn't want, or both. It is so easy to let a project get away from you, especially if it's your first time doing this. A car that you can drive at least gives you a reminder of why you're going through the trouble to begin with, and if you decide you're actually not that interested in it after all (which happens a lot) will be far easier to sell.

There's a lot that's fishy here: strangely cropped photos and photos that don't show much, what tuning needs to happen here? (i.e. does it have an aftermarket ECU?), and a missing key (that's kinda suspicious). I'd probably keep looking.

Ha! Having noticed what's worked and what hasn't, I think the main issue is the glue drying out before the flock goes on. Even having worked quickly (<10 minutes) in cool temperatures doesn't seem to have been enough. I've got one more shot at it tomorrow -- mainly because I'll probably be out of materials afterwards, so I gotta make it count! -- and I'm going to recruit the wife to be an extra set of hands to both cut the time down even more and keep the glue on the unflocked areas fresh.

Kind of how I feel about it too Cap. I've done plenty of projects that are ostensibly harder, but none have given me this much trouble. Glutton for punishment that I am, I'm sanding it off again. Definition of insanity, right?

Well, I've tried this four times now, and four times the results have been lacking. Amazingly, of all the things I've tried with over the years, glue and fuzz is the one that's gotten the better of me. So, if there's anyone else out there who's thinking about flocking their dash, my advice at this point is: don't.

I haven't powder coated anything, but I assume the gun charges the powder in the same way the applicator charges the flock. Unless they have that applicator as well, there's probably little help there. There are companies that do flocking professionally, but for some reason the majority that come up when searching are located in England. Anyway, I brushed off the flock this evening and even though it didn't come out like I wanted (again), I'm considering this last attempt a successful failure. The good news is that the Hail Mary worked: on the hard edges, the new flocking blends in seamlessly; and on the top of the dash, the line between new and old is barely noticeable. I can live with it. It still didn't flock well, but I think it I just need to use a little more glue next time.

Like you, my 280z is the only one I've driven so I don't have any direct comparisons to make, but I agree with a lot of that... It definitely smells. I have to pass smog, and do easily, but there's still a lot of that smell -- no wonder smog was so bad a few decades ago! I did a lot of soundproofing, and have cut road noise pretty significantly. It's quieter than my wife's 2005 Escape in that regard, but engine/drivetrain noise is louder than our other cars. The interior is noisy as hell though. If I go over a bump or up a driveway, I think everything in the car rattles. I'm going to work on that, but I think it might just be the way things are. Unlike yours, my Z is a heck of a lot slower than my DD (2007 G35S sedan). On the other hand, it is more fun!

This flocking dashboard... I tried thinking about this rationally, and before stripping the dash again, considered the following: Although mine didn't come out great, photos I've found of other DIY flocking jobs I've seen have similar flaws. Without the electrostatic applicator, it's really hard to get much better than a just-decent finish. Perfect is often the enemy of good. This is maybe a C+ job sitting here on the bench, but the dash in the car is a solid F. It might not be great, but it's a big improvement over what I have. I'm not sure I have enough material to do other interior bits and the whole dash a third time. Flocking was always my Plan B. Sometime down the line, if I ever want to try my hand at upholstery, I can pull the dash back out and strip everything off in just a couple hours, so why drive myself crazy? So I threw it in the car just to see if, with all that in mind, I could live with the flaws. And...not really. In the car, in daylight, some sections look kinda shabby, like a threadbare rug. (Naturally, the less-visible parts like the end caps and bottom section came out great!) The span above the glove compartment in particular really stuck out. So I took one Hail Mary shot: carefully sanded off the offending section up to some natural edges and followed the curve on the top as best as I could, then re-flocked. It's very hard to tell until the excess gets knocked off, but I know I --somehow!-- avoided any egregious mistakes like drips or spray brush marks, so I'm cautiously optimistic about my chances here. If it looks half-decent or better, I'll touch up the trickier areas around the gauges. If not, well, third time's a charm?

I presume you already know this, but just to cover all the bases, muriatic acid is just hydrochloric acid; maybe you can find that? Otherwise, acetic acid will also dissolve rust, albeit much slower. If time isn't a factor, that'd work. Phosphoric acid won't dissolve rust, but will neutralize it. Electrolysis is another option if your inner Mr. Wizard wants to come out.