mriz

Don't forget about the suspension/brakes/electrical/fuel system if it's been sitting awhile. Those also take resources to fix so by the time you finish those things ,that money could have bought a better Z. The best advice I have seen is to be patient pay up front for the nicer car or that money will just be spent on parts for the lesser Z. Just look at the picture below. Best of luck

Thanks for all the input. It's easy to not think of the obvious somtimes. I'm sure you are correct Bad Dog in that he probably dosn't want his work over prep work he didn't do. I'm just looking for a daily driver quality job as the car will be outside under a cover most of the time. Macco's quality is dependant on who happens to be the painter at that point in time in my opinion. There aren't very many car shows in the area but a drive in an hour away does have a cruise night once a month. So that is definetly worth a try as someone has to know sombody .Around here restoration friendly shops are few and far between. Even my friends brother who owns a shop dosn't want to be bothered with it. Carl As you stated in regards to level of quality and products mabye thier business may not be set up to deliver what I need which is a +- 2k job. My "mint" car had hidden collision damage so 2k is the limit. My time window for painting if I have to do it is until the 2nd -3rd week of September. The weather can change quick and my wife gets the garage back in October.Thak for that link Jimmy Z and Again thanks for the replies.

The compressor is the weak link at 8.6cfm and a gun that I was told is compatible although not the optimal setup. The setting up the gun is the hardest part of all but it does work. I can step up from Omni because I want to shoot as few coats as possible with my marginal equipment. I would rather not paint it myselfe as I had done a temporary job a year ago after some bodywork to keep it from rusting. I wanted to drive the car to see what it needed before finishing the rust repair and spending money on a good paint job. I feel the car is worth a $1500 paint job but around here I guess it's not worth thier time. All the prep is done and I would have it taped off before transport.

I didn't think of hiring just the painter ,so I'll look into that option also. Thanks for replys.

My neighbor up the road from me has a body shop so I stopped in on the way home today to see about painting the Z. He said he was not able to do the job because he has too much collision work lined up and would not even quote a price . Hint taken. His recomendation was go to Macco for $750 and have them do it but he said it would only last about 3 years. The car is prepped ,no windshield ,bumpers,badges,locks so it would need to be towed around for prices. He doubted any shop in the area would touch it although I will ask around. He said if I paint it use a single stage solid color for my needs as BC/CC would be too difficult to do at home with my equipment. So any opinions on single stage solid colors as to how they look on a Z.Probably going with a dark shade of blue. Thanks

I've taken mine off the 77 a few times. Easiest way is to remove the wheel. Then take out the fender liner,remove the headlight and unbolt the the bumper end from the fender. Leave the headlight scoop on ,it's easier to remove off the car if needed.Remove the side lamp then unbolt the lower front valance and the rest of the bolts are where Escalon stated.

It would have taken retirement money to buy it . This one was no project, it looked as if he was on his way home from the dealer in 1970. I would have gotten more info such as vin but he didn't seem too interested in discussing the car. Wonder what it would go for?

While I was at the bank this morning an XRAY yellow 70 Z pulled in. A rare sight in CT. It was in excellent condition, never restored origional owner. He has kept exactly as it came from the factory since new . Unfortunately he did not have much to say about the Z and said he has kind of lost intrest. But did say he has owned all types of cars and this one was his baby.

I was a bit suprised in the gap between prices. For $250 I'll scrap the fender but at $400 I'll put the time in to fix the old one. I'll make some calls this week to another dealer. Thanks

I need a new Lt front fender for a 77 280 and was wondering if anyone has experience with aftermarket vs OEM fenders ? OEM is about $384.00 with aftermarket being about $200 plus shipping. Is the fit of OEM worth the difference? Pick and pull or parts cars are not options in the Northeast unfortunately. Thanks

SOLD to the first buyer.

The 300 is a great car but when both were on the road I always took the 280 out first so hopfully no remorse. Thanks for responses . Jim

I had to finally make the choice between the 280Z and 300ZX.the 280 is half apart in my garage as it gets patch panels welded in along with many WIAT things. The 300 is ready to go cruising anytime in luxury. Not enough room or time for both...... The listing on the 300ZX comes out tomorrow in the regional paper. I just can't part with that S30. for some reason.

I had a similar problem with my 77. It turned out to be a bad connection in one of the tail light bulb sockets due to corosion.

20 minutes from the house .They usually have an older camaro or a vette sitting outside but mostly overpriced late model cars. I'll stop by next week to check it out if I can.

First , I would not drive the car until you find out why. You may damage other components including yourself. I know you said the bushings are installed the same but take another look .Theres probably a reason the TC rod was loose besides oversight. I can't think of another reason besides the bushing installed with the offset the wrong way.Search CONTROL ARM in the meantime and I'm sure someone will probably have the answer.

Vac diagram if you need it.

Yes, that operates as it should. It's just when I connect the vaccum lines to the solinoids I hav eno vac pressure.

Today I replaced the heater core and vac lines as they were not even close to the diagram from what the PO. had done. Problem is I can only hold vacuum pressure with the S line from the heater control manifold connected directly to the vac source on the engine. All functions work properly an dholds cav pressure . Once I connect the Ac solinoids the system no longer pulls vac pressure .The bottle does hold pressure on it's own so I am at a loss as to why no pressure. It's a 1977 with factory AC if anyone can help .Thanks

I was wondering what everyones thoughts are on this product from Duplicolor. Premixed with no recoat window and inexpensive. Without a proper garage for winter storage and less than perfect panels I can't justify an expensive paint job on this car yet.This seems like a good DIY alternative for now and I know you get wht you pay for. I am going to weld on door skin patches soon and will need to do somthing by fall. I found on my bc/cc job the lack of proper lighting and space was my biggest downfall and this may be more forgiving for an amateur. http://www.duplicolor.com/products/paintshop.html

I think Zdriver.com has a tech section for the Z32 and possibly 300ZX.com. Do your homework as far as the auto transmission as they were a weak link from what I have read. There were some things to look out for on the early 90 Z32 which is covered in the articles also.I have a 96 NA 5spd no T-Tops which I enjoy driving but selling due to lack of time. Parts are easier to come by but tougher to work on.

Mike B thats exactly what I am looking for. Thanks

Will, there is a local company near me appropriatly called "The nutty company" of Derby CT.They do have a website but I do not know how specific it is. Send them a email or if you like I can get there this wekeend to see if they have it.

Aside from safety features low profile is important so I only have to run the other cars up on a few 2x10's to get the jack under them. Looking online this morning Sears has a low profile aluminum for $99 ,but not in stock of course.

I will look into the aluminum because I do have to carry it back to the 280 and the 3ton was heavy. I just looked at a few this afternoon and all they had were the ones with the narrow width. You are right Gary they don't look safe at all. I'll try our Costco equviliant for one this week as the front end rebuild is ready to be started. I always use jackstands and back that up with a grid of 4x4's under the rails as a backup when pulling on those stubborn bolts. Thanks for the replies.