EScanlon

Why? Are his fonts starting to wear out? I can send him one or two if that's the case.... ta-bump-bump :

OK, we'll not go into the unadviseability of removing the paint with a grinder. But now that you have gone and done it, (See Ollie?) you have literally forced yourself into a paintiing "corner". It will take several shots of Medium High fill with sanding between them before you'll be happy with the smoothness of the panels. Trust me on this one, what doesn't "look bad" when you are up close on an unpainted fender turns out to look like a golf ball cover when you paint it. When you spray primer you are addressing 2 jobs. The first is the chemical bonding to the metal. This ensures that the metal will not slough off the paint at the first flex or chip that occurs. The second is to provide a film agent that covers all of the bare metal to where the paint can adhere to the primer. Usually most bodymen will shoot medium fill primer as their standard primer and low fill only for revealing low spots in a panel. This is due to the fact that since you need to scuff the primer to provide the mechanical adhesion for the paint, you might as well add enough material so that as you remove it it smooths the whole surface of the panel. The problem with this technique is that it is very easy to "double shoot" a trouble area in a panel, willfully over-shooting the primer almost to the run / sag stage in the hopes of shooting once, and then sanding. Any panel shot in this manner needs at least 24 hours in a HEATED Booth in order to evaporate all that solvent carrier. If you let it sit overnight at room temperature, I will guarantee that the primer below is still not set. If you start sanding, because the top feels ok, you will very quickly note that you start picking up these little "boogers" (sorry, it's what they get called. Those of you who choose to re-read that last word several times...well.....geesh!) Those little "boogers" are actually thin pieces of skin from the primer that are starting to clog your sandpaper and worse yet, cause the still uncured primer to mix with water or get dirty. You're better off using a good etching primer with low fill. Shoot the car completely and shoot your NEXT coat with some compatible HIGH fill primer. This primer is designed to shoot plenty of sandable material in one coat and still cure overnight. It is more desireable to let it sit in a heated booth, but you can still work it within 24 hours. Primer as it looses it's solvent "shrinks" or more accurately, looses the "sponginess", and just like a wet sponge, as it dries it maintains it's coverage but it isn't as thick. This now leaves the bonded material ready for sanding for smooth. If you shoot the high fill, when it cures it will have smoothed over what 3 solid double coats of medium fill would have. This makes it very time consuming to sand out, but the results are that a panel that is ~wavy~ or just has a few "dingies" can actually be made to look smooth with this method. Hopefully you didn't use anything less than 36 or 48 grit. Hope this helps. Enrique

Tom got MikeW's Goat!! He didn't type anything! E

What I meant by the 2 vs 1 bulb, is that the ones on e-bay currently show that there is only ONE bulb for the City Light portion of the lamp, whereas the lamps I bought have TWO bulbs. Now, in addition to those bulbs, which are the ones that create the "halo" effect, are a set of "Xenon" gas H4 lights, meaning that they aree the replaceable "halogen" style of lamps. They are brighter than the original lamps, but don't know how much more so. I wired my Halo's to operate with the Parking Lamps, that way at dusk when I typically run with the Parking Lamps on, they would be illuminated. I'm not sure if the single bulb in the ones on e-bay would light it up enough to provide a "halo". Bill is correct in that they are just a pair of 5W side marker bulbs and not designed to light up the street. Their function is to look cool! 2¢ Enrique

Victor: In your description of how to hook up the module is where the tach gets disconnected. The tach has a loop circuit that it reads in order to give the RPM. Without both leads connected it can't read anything. Mine has the original 240 Tach and the e12-80 module and it works fine. 2¢ Enrique

You're talking a much higher end of lights than these are. These are basically replacement lamps and not the HID with Ballast etc that you've read about elsewhere. Enrique

2MZ' is correct. The type of paint and how much paint you put on are all factors. I prefer to let lacquer sit overnight and then give it a color-sand, before clearcoating. That way your clear highlights all your work best. With Enamel, typically you are better off shooting one or two coats just like it were the next shot of color. You have to be careful though, most clear tends to super activate and flow out the base color when shot in this manner. This really helps the gloss, but it makes it tricky to avoid a run or a sag. Depending on the manufacturer, you can usually wait up to 2-3 hours after a color coat and still have the clear coat stick properly and better yet, still flow out nicely and minimize your orange peel. The biggest problem you run into with this method is making sure that you can keep an eye for the "wet line" and not overshoot it or once again it will run / sag. Now if you're shooting with spray cans...then just wait a normal amount of time between coats and go for it. Clear in a spray can tends to evaporate as fast as paint and rarely do you cause a problem unless you get too greedy in the amount of paint you lay down. Take it easy and allow it to flash before you shoot the next coat. Hope this helps. Enrique Scanlon P.S. Thanks for the compliment Gema.

No electronics. Just a couple wires to hook into the circuit of your choice. In my case I hooked into the parking lights. Enrique

Go to a Full Automobile Paint store. They will usually be the ones to cater to the body shops Ask / look for the Flexible Bumper Repair Kit by either Marson or Bondo or Evercoat. You can get it in either the yellow or black formulas. Enrique

In the early 280, with the "sugar scoop" headlamps, and the same fender from 240 on, the front headlights had a metal "acorn" or cup that held the headlamp, holder and adjusting mechanism attached to it. The wiring also went through a hole in the acorn. These then were mounted to the backside of the front fender with a rubber gasket. I don't recall right off the top of my head if it's the fender that holds the screws for the acorn or the other way around, but there were no Plastic acorns to the best of my knowledge. 2¢ Enrique

Or even more critical, a disbalance between the front and the rear hydraulic systems of the car. Check your fluid levels, you'll note that they are in two containers above the Master Cylinder. If uneven, you'll get that response. It's the system telling you that the brakes aren't balanced front to rear. 2¢ Enrique

Yes it can. It will make it blush, that's the term for what happens to the primer. 2¢ Enrique

Bondo always gets a bad rap. It's not bad if used properly. Read this post: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1591&highlight=Bondo Enrique Scanlon

I've used all those methods. Which one is the easiest is my favorite. Which one depends on the car and the work to be done to it. Call it a dumb answer, but it is what you do in a body shop. Enrique

First off, are you sure that you have a current draw when the battery is connected or are you just hearing a CLICK when you connect it. To test, put a trouble light between one post of the battery and it's connector. If the lamp lights, you have a draw on the battery. Now start unplugging and replugging items until the light shuts off. That isolates the item causing the draw. The clock draws some, but usually that is so minor as to not light it up strongly. I had this problem with the Accessory Relay which is part of the ignition circuit on the 71. It basically disconnects several items that should NOT run when you're starting the engine and energizes those that DO need to be energized. In my case, the relay had frozen in such a manner as to continually drain the battery. It also clicked when I would reconnect the battery. Hope this helps Enrique Scanlon

Hey, I did the same thing! That's the main reason I posted. What at first seemed like a simple rubout with some polishing compound, turned into felt cones, wheels, different grades of rouge and liquids, more rags than you can shake a stick at and several sweatshirts stained beyond repair. If I ever need black zoot camouflage I have enough shirts for a baseball team. Do yourself a favor and find some metal protectant. This will help maintain the shine and make it easier to polish it out when they start to oxidize again, and trust me they will. About the only way to guarantee that it will take years is to have a clear coat either baked on or anodized on. I use a product by MAAS which is a metal protectant. There are some polishes out there that purport to do the same, but having tried half a dozen brands or more, MAAS Metal Protectant does the job better than anything else. Hope this helps. Enrique Scanlon

Hopefully you figured out that it's the cable's from the heater control that need to be removed at the items they control and not removing the heater control assembly from the heater control panel. Enrique Scanlon

Does the switch control the speed of the fan when you use it to turn it "on"? If so, then you either have a short in the wiring that's allowing it to receive juice when it shouldn't, or the motor has been wired incorrectly. There's another post on the heater motor. Read through that and see if that helps you get yours fixed. 2¢ Enrique Scanlon

V12 is exactly right. The 260 picture is the 2+2 which is somewhat of an "odd" critter. Funny that they chose to show that picture for the 260 instead of pointing out that both the 260 and the 280 were available in a 2+2 model. As far as finding a 240 in the "Rust Belt" be prepared to spend a LOT of money! And then, be prepared to find that there is hidden rust and possibly other problems. It isn't impossible to find them, but just be aware that you are literally looking for a pearl in your oysters at a fast food restaurant. You'd be better off looking for a car out of California, Arizona or New Mexico. You may still have some problems but you will spend less for the vehicle and probably have fewer MAJOR rust problems than from a vehicle on the East Coast. 2¢ Enrique Scanlon

As far as an organized club with dues and meetings...we're not there yet. At least as far as members of this site and an outside organization. For the most part, we've been trying to get together, and hopefully this spring will see some activities and runs being planned. If you are looking at an organized club with plenty of outings and the like, there is Northwest Z Club which meets in Salem (Kaiser if I recall properly). They meet the first Wednesday of the month, which is why many of us in the northern part of Portland and Vancouver find it hard to get down there. Here's a link to their website: http://www.northwestz.org/portal/handler.cfm Hope this helps. Enrique Scanlon

Get one! Just be aware that parts for them are even harder and more expensive than the Z's. About the only "gripe" I have is that they don't have the same legroom as the Z, but haven't yet gotten into the interior far enough to fix that. Mine is currently in the garage slowly getting restored. Enrique Scanlon

As advice for the next person to attempt this: First off, unless you have tons of time and energy, be aware that polishing metal is time consuming and it can take hours to get a reasonable result for your effort. It is very easy to get in to the project with only "a little polishing" in mind and find yourself with a full blown resurface, smooth and polish operation that takes a dozen or more hours each. Next, with that in mind, take it in small steps that you perform on all the pieces you'll be doing it to. In this manner you won't be stuck with the odd piece having had more / less work than the rest. Just my 2¢ Enrique

Here's a link to an eBay auction; http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2467295441&category=33656 E

As far as the pivot arm rubber gasket, get a piece of a truck tire inner tube. These are typically a bit thicker than your standard auto tire inner tube. To find one, you can usually find shot inner tubes at truck repair facilities. Then, find one of the flat sides, trace the base of the pivot arm, cut to fit and punch the holes. It will do the same or better job. If you have an old gasket, it makes it easier and faster. As far as the rubber mounts for the w/w motor. Go check at your better hardware store. They typically have rubber grommets for use to pass wiring through sheet metal. Find one with the outside diameter INSIDE the rubber to fit the hole in the w/w motor mount. Don't forget that you also need a brass or steel tube inside the mount to prevent the rubber from being crushed. The purpose of these rubber gaskets is to isolate the motor vibration and rocking action from the car. Good Luck Enrique Scanlon

I've seen replacement panels come up on eBay once in a while. They typically start at $130 or so. Kind of spendy, but they do have the correct dimensions and the raised surfaces and the important cutout for the lock mechanism. Smokey is right, it probably started from below and worked it's way up. Very common problem. Depending on your metal working skill and your body repair abilities this may or may not be a big problem Good Luck Enrique