Zak's Z

Nice to see you back. You can hang out here all winter now that you put your car away for the season.

Hey looks good Mitchell. I think thats the best color Z also. It must feel good to finally be (almost) done.

Having exposed bare metal was the biggest problem with taking a long time, but I wasn't down to bare metal until a year and a half into it. I completely stripped the car down to a rolling chassis and had to take off about 3 layers of paint and some bondo. Before I did that I got new frame rails, floors, rockers put in...so really it wasnt time all spent prepping for paint. Really it only took 2 months once I got down to it. And my neighbor and I worked on this after work and at least one day on the weekends. Once I did get down to bare metal and there was no rust, I prepped the metal with Metal Ready then cleaned the area and shot rattle can primer on it to protect it while I finished the rest. For the engine bay I took it down to metal prepped the metal with Metal Ready, cleaned it and used POR-15 on it. Then I used a spray gun and shot their 'Tie Coat' primer over it (all products from the same company to ensure proper adhesion). To be honest most of the work was getting under the wheel wells and inner fender area. There was 36 year old rubber-type coating that media blasting wouldnt touch. I had to use a heat gun/torch and heat it up and scrape it off, then wipe it down, repeat. Next removing old body filler was a pain in the a$$. Again it was easiest to heat it up and scrape it off. Im glad I took it all off because I found out my drivers door was repaired POORLY and rusted through the repair so I got a newer door. And most importantly, those few little rusted spots got fixed so now I know my paint wont start bubbling up from rust spots. My car being repaired before and a bit more rusty than it should have been, is probably an exception and I should have started with a cleaner car from the get-go. It was a lot of work to do properly, and quite a few times I wanted to just mask a problem or take a shortcut. But I took my time and did it right. I saved money doing it myself. I learned as I went (I think I learned quite a bit too!). I got to hang out in my garage and drink beer with friends while we 'worked on the car'. I got a whole new set of tools after those couple of years and I (mostly) enjoyed doing it.

It took me 2 summers to prep my car for painting! I started to just sand down one of the PO's previous paint jobs, then you start to find putty and flaws...so you sand a little more...then you see a bit of rust you must attend to. Then I media blasted it...then I took a drill and sanding disks to the whole car and before I knew it I was down to bare metal. Then I took care of ALL rust, and got the bodyshop to do the rest of the prep and paint. It can be a long process if you do it correctly. And you can get in over your head so plan ahead as to what result you'll be happy with. Are you planning to leave in all the glass, interior, etc? Just want a quick repaint over whatever lies beneath? Are you going to paint the engine bay while your at it or settle for different colors in body and under the hood? Plan ahead before you start and you'll miles ahead of the game. That way whatever you decide can be done right the first time. Just my opinion from my experience.

...as a sidenote. I work in Toronto, and you used to be able to go into a 'pawnshop' and get some great deals. Now, they are all but extinct and theres no more great deals to be had because now everyone has the means to sell to a global market.

1) Sellers from Buffalo NY who say they won't ship to Canada! 2) The Paypal system that resolves a dispute in your favor and get you NONE of your money back after getting screwed by a seller. 3) The 'new' ebay motors display and search format. Im sure I'll think of other stuff...

Carl, I'm not sure if a flash was used for my pics as the painter took them. But the first pic with the battery door was taken with my iPhone and no flash in the body shop, not in the well lit paint booth. Mine was the original 918 orange, I saw a difference when he opened up the rear storage lids. I'll post more pics after its painted in some natural light.

ya, im going to have to replace all my grommets. i guess all the little rubber pieces are going to add up fast. The pic you posted of the ppg 72000 110red looks alot more 'red' than mine! This color is odd because it looks different in every light. Thanks for the part #'s. Are they all still available from Nissan?

Yes very nice pics. If you have more on a website like photobucket or anything please post the link, I could look at those all day.

Thats all I was looking for. Thanks guys. I just wanted a quick 2nd opinion while theres still time to fix it. 'pretty close' and 'decent match' are good enough with all the variables in the color displayed. Next week its getting finished then finally I can get her home. Theres that point when it was stripped down to metal and it all looked so far away from getting done where I was thinking about just not bothering finishing it, but Im glad I kept at it all.

No, not bad at all. I like it.

The bodyshop is finally painting my Z. I went down to see it and so far just the interior was shot, no clear on it. Im going for the 110RED and I gave him the PPG single stage code for it. He got that mixed then did a color-match for the 2 stage paint. The pic of the finished Z is from ZHOME's color gallery, so I was kind of using it for reference. I know the color will look different with clear on it, and inside lighting makes it look different. But does that look a bit TOO orangey?? The pic with the battery door in it has clearcoat on the battery door, so I assume thats what the finished product will look like.

Ya, prices aren't fantastic.. but I also had a problem with a gasket kit i ordered. They shipped me out another right away. Good customer service.

I don't think for a minute it will stop the calls, but if it helps I'll be happy. The problem with legislation like this is it has no real teeth, and enforcing it will be a problem. You can't stop a PERSON from harassing another person over the phone without court orders to the phone company to obtain phone logs. Then you actually have to prove it was that person and lay a criminal charge then the whole court process has to happen. Now to be able to fine a business with some decent technology who calls you a few times is simply not going to happen. You really can't expect whatever governing body to act on one phone call and try to lay a fine on some company over it. There would have to be many many complaints, probably repeat complaints... and then court orders and interviews would have to happen. Then phone records would have to be parsed and linked back to a business. Then they would have to be located if still around. Most businesses that are hit with by-law type fines just pay it as the cost of doing business and continue on. Im not sure what it means to a company if they are flagged and fined under this legislation, but if its anything that will impede business, I assume they would want a trial/hearing to dispute the fine or reduce the charge/fine. And like E said, anyone outside the US is exempt, and there are lots of exceptions. ALSO.. anyone using VOIP or IP based technology will be damn near impossible to track as they don't have to register proper address info to obtain the the number and they can conceal and spoof numbers also. But seriously..I hope Rogers stops calling me every week to sell me a home phone service.

Ron, I tried to sign up yesterday bright and early, but the site was wonky and displayed the 'experiencing technical difficulties' message. But I got on today. There is also another service at www.ioptout.ca that claims to opt you out of services like Rogers and other companies that already have your info.

Welcome to the site! I'm sure when you're done wading in all the info you'll make up your mind as to what you want in a Z car. Pretty much everything you might need to know is probably here somewhere if you search for it.

I never saw that ad before. I chuckled when I saw that guy's hair.

Oops. I realized after I posted that I already looked at those. Looks very good. It was worth the wait.

When i stripped all the PO's previous paint on mine, my inspection lid screws were also the original orange color of the car. I clearly remember it was awkward trying to get all the paint off of that area.

Jeff, make sure you post some pics when you get her back!

I was talking about the metal lines. If you can just buy sections for replacement, what size are they??

Yes I was wondering this also. I have new lines for brakes, but I thought Id replace the fuel lines while im at it.

Jeff, I dropped my car off - free of paint, total bare metal last year October. I also told him take as long as you want, do it between jobs. So it will be a year they've had it. I knew going in it would take at least 6 months. They have done alot of little things to make it 'correct' and there was some metal work that had to be done. Im not complaining because while shes been out Ive redone the motor, and done alot of little things. No complaints at all here. For the price I'm going to pay, I did well. EDIT: I just re-read your post and saw the 2006. Wow. I would be more than a little impatient after 2 YEARS!

I dropped by the body shop today, and its actually almost ready for paint. Im sure it will be a couple of weeks still...but its close now. The hood, doors and hatch just got their final wetsand, and the body is pretty much done. They just finished all the the little metal 'patches' where needed and the seam sealer has been applied. Theres one or two little things they have to address still. I had my phone and took a few pics for all to see. I have decided on the 110 Red, and he's going to match the color next week.