EScanlon

KMack has pointed out the perfect starting points. I would also add an oil change to this. Before you get into a valve adjust, run the engine for a while. It may be premature to get into it to adjust stuff. As far as the spark plug wires, buy those first, then I would address the dist. cap / rotor / points, and finally the spark plugs. Just my preference, but surely someone else may have a better reason. My reason is simple, the wires usually cannot be fixed, so replacement is the only option. The cap can be cleaned up, contact areas cleaned up and filed smooth, rotor and points as well, although that takes some care, but the spark plugs can usually be cleaned up, re-gapped and made to work a bit longer. So save your money and replace those items that NEED replacement first, and then get into the other stuff. 2¢

As Paul Harvey says. That makes a HUGE difference. I've used both the "Aircraft Stripper" in the light blue can with the airplane on it and Jasco Paint Stripper. Can't really say one is better than the other, other than the Jasco seemed to "dry" quicker and required a second coat on some really overpainted panels. Based on cost, the Jasco is usually available in any Paint store, home or car, and it is MUCH cheaper than the Aircraft Stripper. However, the Aircraft Stripper WILL work down to the metal and stay active longer. It is a bit more expensive but in the long run will pay for its cost in the speed and depth of it's action. Sorry for the "short" response, but you would be surprised how many times that exact question has been asked by people who have very little knowledge of what they are getting into. I speak for the majority (I think) when I say that the last thing we want to do is give Good advice that due to the lack of a knowledge base is applied wrong and then we find out that the job went all bad. If you are using Epoxy primer, you can usually paint within a short time period WITHOUT having to sand. If however, you plan on leaving the individual panels in primer until you are ready to do the final job you will have to sand it so the paint will adhere properly. Be aware of one thing, don't wait for weeks as the metal beneath WILL rust. Epoxy primer and other primers are not sealers and will allow the moisture to get to the metal. In fact if you can give it a quick light coat of PAINT on top of the primer, and then wet sand it off when you are ready to paint, you will be money ahead. Hope this gave you the answer you were looking for, sorry if at first it sounded as a brush off. And you are absolutely right, the advice about reading a book and then going to paint was not what I meant. What I meant is go read a book and see just how big a job you are talking about. Having worked on cars for years you know what I mean. How many times have you heard of someone buying a car and wanting to blueprint their engine, thinking that it will be cheap, quick and give them tons of power?

Hey Rick, no offense intended, I hope none taken. What I meant is that for most people who have not examined what it takes to get to the headlights on the 240/260/280, it is a very rude surprise to discover what they have to do. For the benefit of others, the headlight lamp comes out of the car from INSIDE the wheel well. Typically the screws (yes screws) have had the benefit of years of road grime, salt, splash hitting their heads and it is a major MAJOR Pain you know where to get the screws out. Then you have to contend with brittle wiring casings and rubber plugs and gaskets just to get the headlamp out. Most of the time, in my experience, the problem with a DIM headlight is corrosion at the Headlamp Wiring Connection either where it hooks up to the wiring harness OR at the fuse box OR at the light switch OR at the grounding point. So Rick, trust me, I did not mean to say your advice was off base, just that changing out the headlamps is more than just a couple screws, swap and replace. Again, my apologies if it came out harsher than I intended.

All good suggestions so far, but no one has noted that you should do the good old clean out the contacts on the fuse box before you tighten the clamps. Simply twirl a piece of fine grain sand paper inside the clamp for the fuse to get rid of any corrosion that may be causing problems. Check your wiring the same way, probably have a corroded plug someplace and that's what 's causing the problem. As far as swapping the lights right to left and vice versa, if you haven't done it it is easy to recommend, if you HAVE done it, and you don't tell these guys what's involved, you're a sadist. (Sorry Rick, but you know what a b*tch it is to get to the headlight bulb and replace it, and to do it 3 times in succession........) I would FIRST check the fuses, connections and wiring BEFORE I just willy nilly decided to swap the locations of my headlights JUST to check if one is not working properly. 2¢

When I see posts such as this one, I ask myself, if the person really knows enough to address everything behind their question. Stripping a car to the metal is ONE way of getting a good paint job, but it is not necessarily the BEST way. Most people have no concept of the time, money, effort, and consequences (yes consequences) of stripping a car down to the bare metal. Are you absolutely positively 100% sure that you know what you will find beneath the layer(s) of paint you will remove? Any prior repairs? What about repaints and minor primer filler (red cap)? Know anything about replacing seam sealer? How do you plan on neutralizing the stripper? How are you going to re-galvanize or protect the metal? Know anything about self-etching primers, epoxy primers, high-fill primers, sandable sealers, and non-sanding sealers? Are you changing the color of the car? Will you then be painting the engine compartment, door jambs, beneath the carpet? This may be way more than what you wanted, and it isn't meant to be a flame or a slam, it's meant more as a big red flag to those that have been contemplating this as a "quick fix", which it is NOT. But the nature and scope of your question leads me to believe that you're not that familiar with the territory. If you are looking for a quick answer, then I'll suggest you first go to the Public Library and look up a few books on painting cars. THEN, dig in. 2¢

Know what you mean. In warm weather the thinner evaporates almost as fast as Gatorade goes down. I know that it is a big chore, but the advantage of removing all that glue is that when you apply the new glue and then apply the headliner you won't have any lumps. Good Luck

Maybe you misunderstood what I meant by dampen, I meant get the rag ...moist, but NOT dripping with thinner. The reason for the eye protection is that you may knock off a bit of the glue either before or after you hit it with the rag with thinner and in either case it doesn't belong in your eye. Now the thinner will also evaporate, but you can continue wetting, wiping, and little by little you'll get it done.

You might try good old lacquer thinner on a rag. Dampen the rag and wipe the larger clumps. Note that this WILL dissolve the glue, and if you work quickly you will get it off, if you work slowly, all you will succeed in doing is moving it from one spot to the next. You might also try either mineral spirits, or 3M Adhesive Remover. Mineral spirits may take a lot of elbow grease and the 3M stuff might be not only spendy but also hard to find. If all else fails, Acetone. This evaporates REAL fast, and you will have to work very very quickly, but it will also remove the glue. NOTE: USE EYE PROTECTION AND A BREATHING MASK. The fumes from these can literally light you up. Good Luck

As far as buying an off the shelf replacement antenna, you need to know that the majority of antennas out there may not be wired according to the car's wiring design. The original antenna used the ground AND two wires to operate it. The antennas I've found at the parts stores typically use two wires INDEPENDENT of the ground, i.e. they do not require grounding. The original Z antenna reversed direction depending on which of the two wires was "live" with the other "wire" being the ground. Newer antennas invert the polarity to the pair of wires to reverse the operation. The problem is apparent ONLY if you use the original antenna switch or the car's wiring. If you've changed the radio, or are planning on rewiring the antenna circuitry, then by all means, go find one at the car parts store, it is much cheaper than trying to repair or replace the original. 2¢

Hey Rick: This may be totally a moot point, but check the microfiche if you have it, if not check for when the change was in the brake system. I seem to recall a conversation regarding the change from one year to the next where the brake master cylinder went from servicing the front half of the brake system with the REAR half of the cylinder to servicing it from the FRONT half. This may be the situation you are looking at. I'll have to do some research, but I'm pretty sure that it was right in the 71-73 era. 2¢

In the KISS principle method: Have you checked to make sure that the unit is plugged into the wire harness?

From the original post, and the specific mention of rust, I presume you are talking about the Steel Rims that were original to the car. That being the case, Rick has it exactly right. Sandblast both sides, then my preference is to use an epoxy primer. Simply due to the ease of adhesion, and the fact that you can get the self etching, and in most cases I am familiar with, you also get the benefit of not having to scuff / sand before topcoating as long as you do it within a certain time frame. Then apply your choice of paint, whether enamel or lacquer. Personally I prefer the enamel. You're not going for a candy apple finish on your wheels, (and if you are, then we must shift gears completely), you're going for color and protection from further rust. Enamel is a little bit more friendly in a harsh environment than lacquer. Lacquer can chip very readily and once chipped tends to continue flaking at that spot unless repaired. As far as wire brushing, I would first strip whatever paint you can from the wheel with paint stripper. Then neutralize that stuff, and THEN wire brush what you have left. Then primer, followed by paint.

What Eastwood is selling is a color match paint to the original style of paint in the 70's, 80's etc. It is a satin silver with high silver content. Very pretty and very specific to those years. Same thing with the black, if you aren't looking for a specific color MATCH, and that is the key word, then you can use any paint you want. The problem with most of the ~other~ paints is how durable they are in a given environment. Wheels are notorious for getting a lot of grime on them as well as brake dust. Both of which are notorious for causing problems with paint. Also don't forget that although they don't get as hot as an engine manifold or the like they do get hot, so keep that in mind when you get your paint. As with all paint jobs, make sure you prep the wheels right and you should be fine.

2MZ, Did you mean 1/8 or 1/18 scale? The reason I ask is that the Kyosho ARE 1/18, and their cost is nowhere near 80 bucks each, I think I bought mine for just under $30.00 each.

There is another way of tackling this monster. It will eventually make it much easier to remove and reinstall that vent flap box. However, it does require a bit more work to get there. The problem you are having is that you are trying to do all this work WITHOUT removing the dash, commendable but not the easiest way to do this job. If you were about 30" tall, and could snake up there, it would still be a tight fit. The fresh air flap is mounted to the bottom of the cowl bucket and there is a putty gasket there. The fan / motor are easier left on it and remove them as a unit. The ducting to the defroster vents might be blocking access to the cowl bucket, and in addition to that you are trying to avoid the glove box. Personally, although complicated, it isn't HARD to remove the dash. With that out of the way you can effect a proper and complete fix and it won't give you any trouble in the future. It will take you about 2 hours (because of the learning curve) to remove the dash, then about an hour to fix what you need to fix in the flap box (2 if it needs rebuilt), then about 1.5 hours to reassemble. 2¢

Which panel did the guy have? I see 1 panel that definitely needs replacing, the one from the light indent all the way to the valance. The light openings and the top panel for that are possibilities but they look saveable. The one that will need to be fabricated is an L shaped piece that will go between the spare tire well and the back of the bumper mounting plate. Both of those will need to be pulled back and fix or replace the mounting beam(s) Mind you, I'm quoting real worst case scenario because I haven't looked at the car proper, just your pictures. Since the guy you took it to has a correct panel for your vehicle is a good sign but only if he was the one to get it and not by the owner of the other car that was in there getting fixed. Why not ask the shop for the number of the guy who had the 240z fixed and ask him his opinion of the shop? That might be the best clue and / or information. Don't feel bad asking for references, you ARE hiring him to do work for you, that makes you the boss. The key thing is that it IS repairable. Is it a nasty hit in a hard to fix area, unfortunately yes. A good body man can either straighten or replace the metal involved. A good chunk of it just needs straightening, but again it depends on the skill and time available from a good body man. So the key question in all this, is who is paying for it? Keep us posted.

Sadly, there is some hidden damage there that MUST be replaced if you're going to enjoy that car again. In front and above the bumper mounting bolts there is a rectangular cavity that runs the width of the car. This goes from the right most seam between the cargo floor and the side panel where the plastic interior part mounts to all the way to the left side. This is strictly a reinforcement strut for the cargo area, but it also provides some critical sice to side structure for the Gas tank and rear end mounts. It is not difficult nor even hard to fix, but you have to know it's there. You can see it's presence and condition by looking at the damage to the spare tire well. The bumper can be replaced, although good re-chromeable blanks are getting scarcer. I would definitely take it to a specialty body shop. They'll be the most expensive, but they may be the only ones that can REALLY fix this car.

The jury will always be out on bondo. Where years ago, metal craftsmen would carefully and laboriously restore the sheet metal of a car using pick hammers, slap files, melted lead and very careful cooper like techniques, that has been simplified to grind, slap a coat of hardening polyesther resins and shave and smooth to fit. Sadly, very few of us can afford the former treatment, and must instead rely (at least on our newer cars) on simple replacement, whereas those vehicles for which off the shelf replacement parts are no longer available, we must therefore resort to this "lost" art. The main reason your "patch" isn't sticking may be because of the difference in expansion coefficients, or it may be as simple as that your hood is "washboarding". That's a term for what happens when the metal panel is pushed against the normal contour and it "pops" or / "boing" into an inverted, or deformed contour. This is common on large flat panels. Roof, Hood, Hatch, Doors, Side Panels etc. The patch will not be able to stretch / shrink when this happens. It eventually gets cracked / loosened enough that it suddenly "pops" off. You need to bump back that "dent" while shrinking the metal. This is where body men use that "meat tenderizer" hammer / dolly. Depending on what needs to be done, sometimes doing a quench shrink is what is required. Until you've stiffened the metal again you are going to have a problem. There is also another technique whereby you counter strike the dent in order to eliminate the washboarding, although you don't shrink the metal and you still have a sizeable thickness of bondo. Not the best of repairs, but it is an Earl Shive Technique. 2¢

If you are truly looking at "stripping" the car down to it's bare bones in order to do a proper color change, then DEFINITELY take the front quarter panels (aka fenders) off. There are at least 7 problem spots on the fenders that I can think of. All of these are a major PITA to deal with ON the car, and relatively easy OFF the car. And I am sure that others can think of additional items to this list. 1) The space directly under the headlight "scoop". Almost impossible to get up there and do a good cleaning job, let alone rust-proof if not rusty, or remove rust if there. Pull it. 2) On the fender just back of the headlight "scoop". Moisture gets trapped between the fender and the scoop. Many shops and back yard mechanics fail to use a bit of caulking there to avoid water staying there. 3) Area around front turn signal lenses (early 240). 4)The cup for the headlight. This is right in line for debris off the wheel, I'll bet it's rusty on the top half. 5) Fender "wing" that extends to the windshield just above the door, between the cowl and door. This is reinforced on the back with the support member that is visible when the door is open. Very little true rust-proofing done at the factory here, and it is susceptible to dirt and grit from the wheel well area. 6) The fender support just back of the wheel. This is usually NOT painted from the back side. If it rusts through you now have major problems. Back side is impossible to see from wheel side OR the door side. Only way of addressing this piece is to remove the quarter panel. 7) The front most section of the rocker panel. The cowl area "bucket" drains right on top of this. (stupid design) and is a prime and notorious problem rust area. Best open it up now to make sure you can fix what you might find. Lastly, the non-hardening caulking (dum dum) and the closed cell foam fender support is bound to be shot, both need replacing on just about every car I've seen. They are an integral part of the weather sealing system and so often the first to be ignored and forgotten. Another item that should also be looked at are the rubber fender seals. In my opinion, these are practically worthless as seals, but they do try to prevent water from splashing up from the wheel and over the frame pinch weld and into the engine compartment. So, you might as well check them out. So, bottom line, if you are doing all that other work you mentioned, pulling windshield, hatch glass, doors, hatch, etc etc, you would be woefully remiss if you did not pull the front quarter panels and fixed the problems that I can almost bet are there. 2¢

He might have already ~made~ the deal with a friend of his who is selling a Cavalier and your Dad is just hoping that you will like the gift. At which point you need to consider if you are willing to save to buy your own Z while upsetting your Dad, or accept his gift, have some transportation and STILL save up the money to buy a Z.

Look at www.zhome.com They have an extensive list of differences, similarities etc.

Ahh, now I know where you are referring to as far as welding. IMO I don't think you are going to gain much other than the welding experience and the expense if you are paying someone else. Check the pinch welds, if they are in good condition then rust-proof instead of welding. I've been using POR wherever I've exposed metal that shows the original galvanizing and no paint. Also wherever I know that metal will be "hidden" but yet susceptible to moisture or direct water. The inner part of the fenders have already been POR'ed and they look great. I've just pressure washed the fenderwell and removed 98% of the undercoating. I plan on wire brushing / stripping the rest and then using POR to coat all exposed metal. Afterwards I'll be treating all the pinch welds and metal overlaps to the POR Seam sealer just to make sure there are no openings to allow water to creep in. I haven't yet decided whether I'll be using any Body Shutz undercoating or any other form of undercoating even though it would help as far as road noise and rock chips underneath. Make sure that you either replace or restore the rubber skirt gasket that goes in the top part of the frame to seal the top part of the fender. This is part of the weather sealing that Datsun used. Personally, I think it's a stop gap and not very effective, but it DOES help stop some of the road grunge you run into. Don't forget to make sure that the little rubber triangle skirt gaskets are in good shape on the bottom of the fender support bracket. Before I forget, do yourself a favor and check the plastic sleeves that go on your headlight, turn and side markers. Mine were so cracked that they fell apart in removing the lights from the housings. Also check the back of the headlight "acorn" / cup or whatever you want to call it. It is directly exposed to the grit blast from the tire so put something on it to protect it from rusting. I personally went out and bought all Stainless Screws for this area. I had snapped off so many in removal that I had to replace them anyhow, and I know that it was mostly due to metal fatigue due to rust. By the way, the non hardening caulking I was referring to is 3m 08578 Strip-Calk. It comes in strips and they are packaged in between wax paper. You basically take a strip lay it on the edge you want and tighten down the bolts, or you can place it between two pieces of wax paper and pre-squish it to flatten it. This is the stuff that Wick Humble refers to as "dum-dum". Lastly, take the time NOW to at least run a tap through all the fixed nuts. Then when you reassemble, use lock washers and some Never-Seize. Yes, Never-Seize. Loc-tite is great but the problem here isn't that they'll rattle loose, at least not if you use the proper lock washers. The problem is that if you ever need to remove the fender again you don't want to have to once again have the screws rusted in place. Hope this helps. Enrique Scanlon

Next to the FSM, I like the Clymer's manual which is out of print but you can still find it here and there. For the 240 and 260 I heartily recommend the early version which has a black border on the cover around a blue background picture of a Red Z with slotted mags. This covers many items as much in depth as the FSM, so it can be extremely helpful. The later version had the same picture BUT it had a RED top section, and they deleted some critical sections. In my opinion it's ok for engine work, but unfortunately all the body ducting and interior components are omitted. Of all, Chilton's, in my opinion, is next to worthless. Haynes is much better than the Chilton's but it also is very lacking in interior and other sections. Get the FSM, although expensive, it is definitely worth it.

Not sure as to where you plan to run a full weld seam in that area, but it sounds as though you might be looking to do much more work than you need to. Several items of interest and attention in that area. You'll note that the drain tube for the cowling is right behind the fender support bracket, and the hose ends just a couple inches into the cavity. This is the source of the majority of sand and gunk behind the fender. The "drain" hole is actually the space between the fender and the inner brace on the fender. NOT a good idea and a prime rust spot for the 240 /260 / 280 series vehicles. I'm doing that mod right now, and although NOT concours it is something that will eliminate that problem. I'm running a small section of hose from the drain to the space between the inner support and the body. In this manner the water that seeps into the cowling area will in turn drain directly to ground rather than into the space behind the fender. As far as the inner fender support, make sure that the inner edge has the non hardening caulking still in good shape and that the outer edge also has the closed cell foam rubber also in good shape. The back of the fender (closest to the door) also takes closed cell foam rubber. You might have a hard time finding this as a loose item, but Pickup Truck Camper Tape is the same thing. You might have to double tape it to achieve the same thickness. The top seam should also get a strip of caulking to keep it sealed. There's another potential trouble spot up there as well. If you look at the edge where the top of the fender screws onto the lip, (essentially the engine compartment) you will note that there is a "drain hole" that is usually (in my experience) clogged with the original seam sealer used at the factory. You need to open this up so that the water can actually drain. Also when you put your fender back on, put a small strip of non hardening caulking between the headlight scoop and the fender itself as well as on the top edge right by the engine compartment. There are other things in there to check, but the biggest is probably to give it a good shot of either paint or POR. Especially in the areas where water can get trapped. 2¢

I've tried half a dozen different polishes including Mothers, Never Dull, Brasso, Eagle One, and more than I can remember their name. I've even done the red rouge, the green rouge, and the white rouge with different bonnets, cloths, techniques etc etc. Of all of these by far the SIMPLEST and QUICKEST was Artesan Metal Polish from the POR folks. The others work from Ok to Well, but the Artesan was able in all instances to IMPROVE the appearance of the previous polish. When used by itself it didn't require any more effort than the others. Just my 2¢