jackboxxx

Nice SX...drove one of those to San Francisco once from L.A., great ride, lotta fun to drive. How good was the "fit and finish" on the bodykit you got for it? (and what kind was it) I paint them all the time and see a lot of them not designed all that well.. (gaps where it should fit tight up to or against the body etc..) also which Maaco painted it?

KYB's for sure based on what you are looking for in "ride"...my car has "lowering" springs that drops it about an inch, but the ride is still smooth, yet when you hit a turn you can feel the difference the springs make controlling the body roll.

Hard to say...but it appears some sort of Mental disorder could run in the family.:stupid:

it is what you can expect Did I mention that im pretty darn close to Motorsport auto as well... so I can get and install parts on my way to work that you might wish to have replaced after painting

Try this one on for Size! http://www.bbgraphics1.com/73z/infineonvideo.mpeg

well Ive got about 15 or so owners that im good friends with across the country, and would be willing to help any of the Z people out in setting up paint jobs. The owners I know, are in: So Cal. (me) San Leandro/San francisco area, Bremerton Wa. area, San Deigo Ca. (el cajon) St Louis Mo. Indianapolis IN. 3 in Texas, dallas, houston, & Pasadena TX . Ashville NC Waterford CT Laurel MD and 1 friend in Canada... if I can help just let me know

Well, I do have a friend in a place called "Ashville? NC...who just built a Maaco shop there a few months ago, Is that close enough to you? Id be happy to give Brad a call when your ready...

ok ok I got those pics uploaded finally The drivers side of the car looked WORSE that the pass. side before we painted it, and at least 1 dent on every panel. Also a couple rust spots at the bottom of the fender & door, roof was dented, so was the area around the dr. side taillight. my bodyman put a days work into it, then all I did was let the "paintline" guys do thier normal sanding/priming/masking prep work to it. the sanders did what we call "value prep" sanding. its a sanding / primer/sealer package that about 99% of the older cars really need. then we shot it with Sherwin Williams Paint, Single Stage, "ambassador" paint. (our lowest price paint service) the one that you see on TV for 249.00. I tried to pull the orginal factory color mix but because it was a "leaded" paint (used in 1971) I couldnt mix the exact factory paint "recipe" I was forced to do a color matching. Anyways let me know what you think. The old and crusty side view : front view: back view: little puffy clouds, good reflection... another back view showing old crusty unpainted side: Back view Pianted side: side view painted: frontish view painted:

Im good friends with one of the Owners in Indy, which shop did you take it to? If its Sam Awad's (owners name) shop I can call him and put in a good word for your car

They will if you bring it ready to go or pay them to take everything out.. personally, I would remove the interior components myself, if i was dropping off a car at a bodyshop. (knowing how brittle those interior parts can be in a Z car)

Just wondering which Maaco this was? was it the one in bremerton Wa.? And as far as what answers you were looking for, sounds to me like you spoke to a sales rep or someone who really dosnt know his job and how easy his bodyman can do simple de-trimming things like headlight buckets etc for a bodyman thats easy money...hell its just 4 screws...ea.

Hey Bob! 1st time ive seen you post in here your car looks great with that new paint! I'll upload some of the of those 50 / 50 pics up when I get to the shop today dont have any on the home computer I painted and threw that car together in 3 days I guess I got kinda sloppy and missed cleaning up that rubber. I was up till 1am the nite before the Temecula show...

but but your only 800 ish miles away

Thank You Sir

Im sorry to hear about your bad experience, and yea there are bad owners out there, I bought my Maaco from the black sheep of the maaco chain, who really burned a lot of people in my area. there are creditors calling, angry customers coming in looking for him etc...its quite a challenge trying to get this store back in good graces with the commiunity around me. (I only bought this franchise because it was the only one available in So. Cal.) Maaco also has contracts with UPS, DHL FED EX, the US postal service and other large companies to paint thier vehicles. Also, the corporate office does have a customer service dept. to handle issues of unsatisfied customers, even if it comes down to bringing the car to another maaco center to be repaired...then the orginal maaco that did the work will be charged for the repairs...

Right you are brother. you know its funny, i get people coming thru the door daily who see the advertising on TV for 249 and get very offended when I tell them thier car needs a bit of work before I can paint it..(im usually just talking 100-300 dollars worth of prep work) (they usually have the nasty peeling or cracking paint...) let alone bodywork..which I have to ignore so often (everyone thinks they are an expert when it comes to how those little dents are UNimportant to fix...prior to painting...) then we paint thier car black... and every single dent stands out like a sore thumb... perfect example: a guy comes in the other day, in a 90's camaro Z28, red, we write up a 1200.00 repair order...800.00 of it in bodywork, only buys the 249.00 basic paint, and 129.00 for basic prep work...(extra sanding / priming) now the Z28 came with a base / clear paint orginally, but he just wants the basics as the vehicle is going out of state w/ his kid to school. ok fine, parents do this all the time for thier kids and thats great, buuuuttttt...this car is a 75% fiberglass & plastic car...the quarters are steel..the rest of the car isnt. so we give him a disclaimer, saying how we cant warranty the plastic and fiberglass painting without special prep work, the guy says fine and signs it. so, we do the bodywork and paint the car, we all think it looks great considering the money spent, clean flat and shiny w/ good reflection, so good, that when the customer arrives to pick it up, he arrives in his other car, a custom truck, with a 5-10,000 dollar House of Kolor Kameleon paint job on it. turns out this guy is a major gearhead & mechanic and starts picking apart the paint job. saying things like the color is light and dark...and keeps pointing out the bottom portion of the car, above the rocker panel area.. which if you know how that style camaro is shaped, its very curved, with that part facing downward towards the ground...so the asphalt is reflecting in the paint, making it look darker..I point this out...he wont listen..this goes on and on for like 30 minutes...he wanted me to repaint the car..which there was no reason to, and on a 249.00 paint job theres no profit allowing me too anyways. (unless there is really something wrong with the paintjob in the 1st place, then I would..) so ended up giving him his 249 back, no warranty on the paint since he got it for free. point is, the guy tells me he just wants a coat of paint for his sons car, whos going away to school, then has his own car with a several thousand dollar paint job, and expecting his sons to look that good as well. I guess im kinda offtrack and venting sorry...

uh oh...I think you are misinformed.. As a Maaco Owner I will try to shed some light on what Maaco does or does not do. It needs to be said that Maaco is a privately owned company, and all the Maacos across the U.S. and Canada are privately owned franchises, since they are franchises, they are required to operate within specific guidelines laid out by Maaco Corporate...or could lose thier franchise... though there are owners out there that dont follow the corp guidelines as they are supposed to. these franchises will be targeted and eliminated from the chain as Maaco is undergoing some major changes that will require ALL the centers to do work at a certain quality level more akin to that of a collision shop rather than like a "earl schieb" or "one a day paint" type shop. All Maacos will have to be "certified" in the very near future or be eliminated from the chain. Ok, in regards to what Maaco does or does not do.... Ambassador service: (single stage enamel paint just like a 240 came with...) Maacos cheapest paint service, Nationally advertised on TV for 249.00.... prices vary...some shops sell it for a bit more...299 329 etc... What is done for 249.00?? well, this depends on the current condition of your cars paint, if its just old and faded for example, we are just going to (depending on what state) powerwash the car, or hand clean the car, remove some items like emblems, then, machine & hand sand the vehicle to a 320grit smoothness all over, then mask off everything, windows, lights, bumpers etc...then put it in the booth apply a primer/sealer, then paint the vehicle, then bake it, then take it out, de-mask it, and detail it. We dont require that you mask off the car yourself... We do sand the car... We do use a primer/sealer on the car prior to painting... We generally make 2-3 passes (coats) around a car when painting. Maaco is not "getting away" from bodywork, in fact we are moving more towards doing more..targeting "spotwork" specifically...minor hits..fender benders on late model cars... all Maacos do bodywork...almost all do serious collision work as well... the majority of Maacos have frame machines as well. Will your car be perfect for 249.00? nope...not a chance in hell any paint shop can make your 25-35 year old car look perfect for that kind of money. but it will look much better than it did. Now that being said, its time to help you understand other paint issues, 1st, being this is a classic Z forum, most of the owners here have 20 yr+ old cars...most of these cars if in orginal condition, are restoration projects needing quite a bit more than 249.00 worth of painting..(my 3 240s included) a restoration shop may charge 5000-10,000 to restore the body and paint of a classic car, a collision shop may charge 2500-5000 to do a 1st rate base / clear paintjob. for example: my nice 240Z, the blue one, which I searched for for several months, has no rust to speak of, orginal shiny blue paint, garage kept all its life, and has about 120k miles...it needs: 20ish dings straightened: 20x $22.50 = $450.00 bodywork then about 8 hours blocking on each side of the car, 16x$45.00 = $720.00 bodywork $300.00 in sanding/prep work, hand & machine sand, prime then hand wetsand entire car to say 400grit. then mask and shoot it with my paint of choice..I would have no problem painting it with single stage ambassador paint if i park it in a garage..so lets add $249.00 for paint.. so, 450+720+300+249= $1719.00 plus tax of course... $1750.00 for a Z in pretty decent shape... if you have other issues, costs can raise the price alot.. strip bad vehicle paint to metal. (per panel..) 100.00 rustwork...cut and weld... one 2"-4" spot 90.00 dents... one 3"x5" dent 45.00 dent on bodyline add 1 hr. so, lets look at a bad case...say 4 dents, a few parking lot dings, say 10, 4 rust spots, and real bad paint needing the whole car stripped to metal... dents = 180.00 4x45 dings = 225.00 10x22.50 rust = 360.00 4x90 strip = 800.00 (8 major panels) block = 720.00 sand = 300.00 paint = 249.00 Total: = 2834.00 add for base /clear 850.00 add for colorsand /buff 350.00 *of course these costs are just examples, prices very alot from car to car... some need more of 1 thing and less of another..my average "nice" paintjobs with some work needed are 1500-2500 dollars. my average "cheap" paintjobs are about 400-500 dollars...the average Maaco paintjob in california hovers around 850-900 dollars..nationally the average is about 650.00 or so.* Maacos use one of the following paints, Dupont Sherwin Williams PPG This is the choice of the owner of the center...I use Sherwin Williams, mainly because they are local to me, so I get great support and service. I also prefer the way Sherwin Williams single stage paints lay down on a car they seem to be easyer to apply, nice and flat and shiny. for base / clear I think dupont probably lays down a bit better, but sherwin williams is just as good quality but a touch harder to lay down. with any classic car, I personally would "detrim" the car before bringing it to a paint shop, pulling all emblems, marker lights, bumpers, headlights, mirrors, etc.. ok ive typed enough i think...heres a couple pics of a car we did, 499.00 presidential single stage paint service, 200.00 for the stripes, and a few hundred for bodywork... My painter carlos, Me in the middle and the owner on the right.

Now this is a good idea...Ive been pulled out of many jambs by AAA over the years...though funny never had to tow a broken down Z...always the wifes car, or my sons...but nice to have those free "tows" that come with the membership. Again I'll mention proper tools to fix/replace any of the external parts on the motor...metric sockets & wrenches, screwdrivers, pliers/vicegrips/sidecutters duct tape & electrical tape too if your wiring is in questionable condition, perhaps a couple feet of wire as well...if thats the case. carefully examine your fuel hoses for cracks (especially the small float bowl hoses under the carbs...) a fuel filter might be a good idea too. I got stuck once on the highway because of this but had a spare on board and was back on the road in 10 minutes. If your Z is a daily driver now im sure youll be fine but it never hurts to be prepared on a long summertime drive like this. well im off to drive my 60 miles to work in my Z...

Coolness Me and one of the old school 510 guys from the Hemet/San Jacinto area are heading down together in the AM. he just got his 510 out of mothballs err storage after many years and may be needing some parts. See ya all there.

A couple of my 510 friends have mentioned a getogether / meet at the Datsun/Nissan building on the 21st of this month...sort of a final farewell to Nissan being headquartered here in So Cal. thing they say...anyone heard of this or going to attend?? maybe this is it? UFO SoCal All-Datsun Swap Meet -- at Nissan Corporate headquarters. (18501 S. Figueroa St in Gardena CA. 90248. Where the 110 and the 405 freeways meet.) All Datsun owners are invited. ?

hmmmm did this guy screw up the vin # or ? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/71-Da...QQcmdZViewItem but the vin # would indicate a 03/70 build date....wouldnt it? not a 71. rear vents and side markers also indicate a 70....

Ahhhhhh I see..thanks Carl.. ohh by the way, I sent in my car info for the registry sometime back in the early to mid 90's.....but somehow the info never got to you Im IZCC # 346 by the way..

just wondering, but what is or how do you tell a series I dash from a series II Dash? I always thought the series I had the blank plug where the lighter goes in the series II?

Mr. Saint, Is your console "fuse access" door the one that holds your defogger switch like in xrays picture?? the reason I ask is because my 71 Z has the defogger switch down in the middle of the console near the choke lever. If you have the same as I do, then maybe i can help. Ive taken out my console several times, and the harness and choke cables run up the left underside of the console, the choke cables keep going thru the firewall, but the defogger harness stops just past the front end of the console on the left side. If you look around that area under the radio, behind the fusebox kinda, you should see that same little white plug like in xrays picture. it should be right there where you can see all the wiring thats going to the fuseblock, it just branches off a few inches. if you have the switch up by the fusebox, the plug should look the same but if might be in a slightly different location, but fairly close to the back of the fusebox area as well.

WHAT! You cant really do that?? That was like one of my favorite parts of that whole movie...damm...