RJK

GOT IT IN! Thanks for all your help! Not nearly as bad as I thought. The soap and plastic cable trick really helped. Actually did it by myself!

Thanks guys! Super helpful. Got the trim in last night(got one tear on the corner, but hey, what are you gonna do). Gonna have a go at install today.

Hi all-I am about to try to install a new windshield in my '72 240z(just got a new paint job!), and I have one question. I feel like I've exhausted the forum resources(both here and elsewhere) of tutorials on how to do this, so I think I've got a fairly good read on the job(rope in gasket, gasket on glass, trim in gasket, lubricate, windshield into car) however, I have one question: in all of the posts I came across, I don't ever recall anything about an actual adhesive. I would assume that a silicone sealant would be appropriate, but I don't want to assume anything, as I understand it can be a very challenging job. So, should I do a bead of silicone windshield adhesive around the window frame first, or does the windshield really just live in there by pressure alone? Thanks for the help!

patcon: where are the lead joints? luckily, i didn't do any dry sanding, and all the wet sanding i did was paint.

gotcha. thanks guys. yea, the "bridging" i was getting in primer while going over the body to get it smooth and straight drove me nuts at the one joint. this idea of loosening the scoops, but leaving them in place, is perfect. gonna do that. any other tips/tricks before paint? obviously i have the glass/trim out. not painting engine bay at this time. single stage, no flake/metallic.

hey all, got a paint question for you. so i will be painting my '72 240Z this spring/summer, and am neck deep in prep work. i'm feeling really good about where i'm at, but have one question right now. i pulled one of the headlamp enclosures/sugar scoops to deal with some cracking on it. i've got that fixed, but while it's off, i started thinking....during my prep work/priming, i found that the seam between the fender and the sugar scoop just looked generally.....crappy, when painted. parts of the seam show distinct separation, but in other places, the primer kinda "bows" from one to the other. i just found it looking generally shitty. so it got me to thinking; should i pull the other one, and have them painted separate from the car, and THEN re-install? or should i send it to paint with them both intalled? (also, any other tips/tricks/notes to consider before i send 'er out?) thanks for any thoughts, RJ

thanks. If I pull the entire hinge mechanism by itself, am I screwing the pooch, in regards to resetting it? If I'm not in danger of opening a rats nest up, I might as well try pulling the bolts all the way out, and seeing if I can get it to seat properly by hand.

Hi all-so I have my 240Z almost completely blown apart to prep for paint, and most of the gapping looks pretty good to me, however, I have one outlier: the passenger corner of my hood sits about 1cm high, and about .5 cm forward, from where I'd like it to be. Looking around, I don't think I can shift the headlight panel without displacing the gapping somewhere else. If I could get the hood to just sit LOWER at the front right corner, that'd mostly do what I want. I have the bumper and grill off, so I can access the hinge bolts with the hood closed easily. I tried gently to loosen the bolts that hold the hood to the hinge(can't shift it), as well as the bolts that hold the hinge to the body(also, wouldnt shift), and had no luck. It's possible I didn't loosen them enough-Maybe 2-3 full turns?-I didn't want the whole hood to start swimming. Any tips for gently sliding the hood hinges around a bit? Thanks!

ah, got it. is masking them off a crazy idea? maybe i could pull it off with an exacto knife...

agreed! i love the 918 orange, but i think this is the right car to deviate, since it's no longer a true matching #'s car anyway. oh, one more question: easy way to remove the headlamps?do the two screws you can access from the front come out? they look to me like calibration screws.

man, this car is EASY on tear down! wow! door squeegee chrome piece came out super easy, as did rear window. the door lock is really the only piece that i'm up in the air on trying to pull or not, but i might as well. it'll make for a really clean paint job. i decided i'm going for it. the bronze is just too cool to me, and i think this is an appropriate body style for it. now i just need to figure out what color code is gonna be the closest... here's a pic of the car before i started pulling the trim off. exactly as it came to me.

killer. thanks!!!

Thanks Jim!!! I think I've got it all dialed, save for: -door handles. it looks like i can mask these off and still shoot clean at the door recess. yay or nay? -chrome along the door/window. do those pop easy like the drip edge? thanks!!!

Greetings all. First off, a quick introduction. After looking for a long time, the "right" 240z came up for sale locally recently. Originally a Texas car, it has no rust whatsoever. It was a 1972, with all the mechanicals restored. A new 2.8L short block, rebuilt head, new carb/suspension/brakes/radiator. Interior parts were either restored, or originals were in great shape. All in all, the only thing the car needs in paint and a windshield. So we came to a fair price, and I took it home last week. Very excited! So here's my question: 1-are there any tips to pulling the front and back glass, and locking mechanisms? I want to do this gently, and find there's always helpful tips from folks who have done it. The side markers popped off nicely, but I can't reach the hatch button from the inside without removing the soft panel(plastic pins are holding it in place, do these just force out with a flathead?), and don't wanna destroy anything in the process. door hardware; is there an easy way to pull these? 2-paint color: it is currently a matte black "quick spray" over factory orange. it'll need some prep work attention, but I am not planning on going down to bare metal, just the right prep of the chip areas, and pulling glass and trim where applicable(any tips appreciated!). here's my big question: should I repaint in factory orange, or is this finally the chance to do a dream color, Lancia Stratos bronze? i know that factory orange would probably be better for the cars value, but i'm wondering if since this isn't a true "numbers matching" restoration, maybe now is the time to take a little liberty with the orange? if you have a vote either way, i'd love to hear it. thanks for any help you can offer!