EScanlon

Removing dents can be a real art. What one guy can do easily, another cannot. Look at the dent, if there is a distinctive "line" where it begins, then it might have creased the metal such that it will not just pop out. The technique used by the individual mentioned is where slap spoons are applied from the back and press out the dent while pushing the outside towards the spoon. There is also another technique which uses a hair dryer and liquid CO2 (aerosol can) to heat and shrink the dent and allow the metal to "pop" back into place. There was a video which showed the technique and it looked very promising. I don't have any further information on that though, maybe someone else does have that info. FWIW E

NismoZed; The similarity to a public official who smoked a bong 30 years ago and is publicly lambasted to Fabian's admission of a recent theft may be more in your willingness to ignore the wrong than anything else. Fabian stole an item and then posted it here, bragging about the deed and apparently expecting PRAISE! At that point he impugned the rest of us, with his presumption that it would be "accepted". With the obvious exception of those who admit that they think he did a "good" thing, the response has been negative. Maybe that's what you intended to say with your reference to the public official. What may have at one time been seen as "acceptable" has yet to attain enough "blasé-ness" to be ignored. People STILL expect their public officials to be held to a higher code of ethics than the average bear. Your suggestion that we just "ignore it and let it go away" is probably the most inane comment yet, amongst the others of the same nature. Let's ignore ANY kind of wrong-doing, after all if the receiver doesn't get attention then they won't do it again! R-I-I-I-I-GHT. Thieves TREASURE silence. If no one notices that a theft has occurred, then it's perfectly possible to do it again....after all, nobody is willing to take note. If you see a person breaking into your neighbor's house....ignore the culprit and maybe he won't come back for YOUR house next time. Heck, if he knows you saw him and are IGNORING him....he'll feel so bad that he'll back out and not rob the place. Ignore him with a sniff in your nose and he might even come back and replace the window he broke. R-iiiiiiiight! Ignoring his post by those of us who consider his actions reprehensible would not have had any of the consequences you suggest. This isn't a site visited in-person, it's a "virtual" clubhouse. There may be people who have and will continue to ignore the post....do you have any idea of how many? Not at all. So the "negative reception" factor you cite....only in your imagination and definitely not in his. Remember, he expected and DID receive some praise...yours amongst them. His further "justifications" just go to show that he was and is not willing to accept any wrong in his actions. Comments like yours and Dave's only help to bolster his view that he was correct. He isn't. What any of us DID, or MIGHT have done in the past is irrelevant as long as what we DO and WILL do in the future are guided by morés that respect people's rights. You cite a prior history with "the darker side", I'm willing to bet that your employer may not know about that. How about your wife? Sometimes, it's far better that people do NOT know about the darker things we've done....because we're ashamed of them and of the repercussions they have. That's why you're seeing such a back lash. I'm also willing to bet that if one of your children came home and told you how he was planning on ripping something off from a store because he didn't have enough money, you'd stop him! Or if the neighbor kid had decided that you no longer deserved one of your cars because he needed it more than you....you won't call the cops will you? Better yet, will you ignore him as he bashes out the windows on all your other cars, hoping he gets the message you send out by ignoring him? Some of us HAVE experienced the "dark" side of life....and from that experience is why we would help others AVOID that. It is from those experiences that we can speak from authority. The naïveté you cite comes from willingly IGNORING those experiences and refusing to help others avoid the pitfalls they will encounter. So, from your recollection of an individual who is now 25, when you were in school, it places your age at no more than 29, and more than likely the same age. Let's see if adding 15 - 20 years of life won't change your attitude....especially after your kids will be Fabian's age doing the same thing. Will you then IGNORE it? Probably not. E

You might have swapped the Hazard flasher instead. The Z has two, one for the Hazards, one for the Turn Signals. HTH E

Check this link out: http://zhome.com/History/colors.html You'll find the answer there. E

Rick: If the "click" you are referring to when starting the car (or re-starting) is from the Accesory Relay clicking on and off repeatedly, and I'd bet on the Ignition Switch being the culprit. It's not unusual for those to go bad, and have the contact portion of the switch rotate in relation to the housing farther than the Ignition Lock allows rotation and therefore provide poor or no electrical contact to the starter. The solution is to replace the ignition switch. This is one of those switches that would be next to impossible to open up to clean contacts and re-build. FWIW E

But you ARE saying stealing IS justifiable. You yourself came up with "justifications" in the same post. Why do you get to decide when a junkyard's profit margin has been met or exceeded on a given vehicle? As far as a simple explanation to defending someone's right to what they deserve, how about: "IF IT ISN'T YOURS, TAKING IT IS CALLED STEALING!" Stealing, regardless of the end use is still stealing. What if someone decided that you didn't deserve your car? Ahhhh, only if it's someone's PERSONAL property is it not fair to steal! And stealing with a MOTIVE and not greed is sanctioned as well. What do you get labeled as if you DO get arrested?.... A THIEF. Whether we have or have not taken something is irrelevant to the central theme here. If it's apparent that, if as you say, we have "all stolen things" then it's obvious from our posts that we have "repented" (to use the religious allegory implied earlier). As such, and in line with the "Cast the first stone", if stealing is unforgiveable and therefore can never be atoned for, then Dave, what do you think Jesus would say? Didn't he permit repenting for one's actions? Not having the money for something, means you were there with the INTENT to find something you could buy for less money than it was worth, or were there intending on stealing. Hmmm, seems as though this wasn't stealing on the spur of the moment, but a planned heist. Regarding putting oneself in your shoes, thanks but no thanks. Whether we've been there or not, again, is irrelevant. The prime motivator for these posts is that we have now been on the OTHER side of the equation you pose and it's far more uncomfortable there. How would you like stepping out of your house to discover someone had decided you had had enough profit/use out of your car and they deserved it more than you? THAT is why you're getting such a backlash of negative posts. DITTO Will! I too, want a better world. I want one where people believe enough in respecting other people's rights more than their own selfish needs. This thread may get long, and it may be contentious, but let's keep it insult-free. If I've erred in citing prior posts and snipping excerpts out of them, then I will apologize up-front for that. The original posters can apologize for their own material. So far, the "justifications" for the theft are akin to saying it wasn't a rape if the rapist "really, really LIKED" the girl. 2¢ E

Is this akin to being "your own worst enemy"? E

Although some restoration shops will cite Soda Blasting as their preferred method. E

Moonpup: No, not from what I recall. The seller in the auction you posted has been active continuously since signing up and receiving feedback. The one in the prior auction had 3 years of inactivity IIRC between his posts as a buyer and then as a seller. Also, the previous seller had one negative, this seller has none. FWIW E

The owner's manual says 15-7/8 U.S. Gal. (13-1/4 Imp.) or 60 Liters. E

Actually, full pictures and instructions will be available in an upcoming issue of Nissan Sport.

Carl, not saying that it cannot be done. I AM saying that it is a major PITA. Silver IS a metallic, but other than the silver metallic flake, maybe a dash or two of black or some other light tint, it's mostly solvent and a volume of clear. It ALSO paints differently than regular metallics. Try that with any other shade of metallic; Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, or whatever, and you have more clear and a lot more tint. Now there is more depth to the paint and the static charges in the car, the paint gun, the air and even the painter and things start lining up slightly different. Now it may be more of an urban legend than not. I don't know. Of the 2 dozen or more cars that I've painted, of which at least one dozen has been in metallics, I've never approached panel painting them. The man who taught me how to paint was adamant about it. He had several cars in several magazines as center folds, his "name" was MIJO. Granted this was in the late 70's and early 80's, so techniques do change and I'm just remembering what I was taught. I DO remember one car that someone panel painted in the MWR paint booth at the U.S.A.F. base where I was stationed. He painted it a light shade of blue metallic and he put on 4 or 5 coats of paint. Additionally, this was done in stages, that is, hood, fenders, front and rear valance / spoiler, and trunk lid then the body with the doors hung to the sides of the booth. When he assembled the car, two days later, it just didn't look as though he had painted it from the same batch of paint. I just took it as confirmation of what Mijo had taught me. But as you pointed out, it IS possible to pick a painter that knows his trade well enough that he knows how to orient the parts to avoid that problem. The reason for my comments is that: as a blanket statement; panel painting is NOT the fix-all answer to painting a car, nor telling your painter how to do the job. 2¢ E

I'll let others help you with the problems, but my friend Gary (Beandip) was able to obtain 20wt oil from a motorcycle shop. They use it in their front fork suspension. From what he has told me, it only takes about a teaspoon or so, or just enough to coat the top of the brass barrel on the end of the cap stick. FWIW E

Don't bet Billy, you can be sure I would say it in front of, to the side of, or anywhere near you. It isn't "young" people bringing problems, it's uncouth and rude people who hide behind their asinine behavior and excuse it as "humour". While you may accuse me of hiding behind my computer, you may want to specifically note that you hide by not using your name but rather a "handle", which can be misconstrued to be a thinly veiled sexual inuendo. Addressing not knowing you, you don't need to know someone to not tolerate rude and improper behavior. This forum is our "clubhouse". This is where we all meet to discuss topics and ask and answer questions regarding the Z. If we had a dog that insisted on humping knees and sniffing the crotches of every female visitor, it would be moved out of the clubhouse or chained up so it couldn't happen, and not giggled at because it was "funny". Look at your signature block. Enrique

Darbji: If we were to TRY to number the times that Billy Boob has proved himself...on this forum ALONE... to be more of a plain old idiot than a horse's arse, we'd still be counting when the internet becomes inter-galactic. Not to say that he hasn't proved himself to be bluntly stupid in his attempt to have you notice him. His method of getting attention from the any of the ladies that have joined this forum is akin to having a 5 year old boy punch a 5 year old girl, or the 14 year old who, on a dare, flips a 14 year old's skirt up so everybody gets a laugh, but secretly has a crush on the girl. Like I told you on another thread, Billy still does not have enough blood in his system to keep his brain operating while he's busy being a rutty fool. Ignore him. Believe me, there are far more of us that would gladly "suffer" your questions simply to share ... and discuss ... the history and knowledge of the Z that we all love. I would rather answer a sincere question coming from someone with a true desire to know than to trade posts with someone who, in trying to prove they know something, are willing to argue cluelessly. So believe me, while we definitely have a high tolerance for "stupid" questions(which they aren't), I hope the replies to your posts and the chastisements to Billy Boob show you that what we're not very tolerant of is....STUPID people. You'd think that Billy would have finally learned something, but he just proves my point. E

This is the WRONG advice if you're having the car painted with a metallic paint. Metallic paint will acquire a look based on the angle of the part as it is painted in relation to gravity. Not to mention the static electricity developed as you paint the car. Paint your hood hanging from the wall and then mount it next to your fenders that got painted laying on their side, and next to the cowl that was also painted hanging but at a different angle from the other parts and see if it doesn't appear to be 4 different color shades. The reason the "paint guy" (who has probably painted dozens of cars) will try to talk you out of it even when you're dealing with a single color non-metallic, is that it adds a major PITA factor to the job as well as causing dozens of other problems besides the PITA. The painter is the one that will have to put up with your complaints afterwards when the paint doesn't "look right", so don't be surprised if he simply walks away and tells you to paint it yourself. You don't tell a dentist or a surgeon how to do their job, don't tell the painter or the body man either. E

Darbji: You can find them at MSA as well as the clear ones. However, as mentioned in one of the earlier posts, make sure that you're not then begging for a ticket. Some DOT's take a really dim view (pun noted) of tinted headlight covers regardless of the shade/color or how good it may look on the car. FWIW E

Gary; Just tell people to close one eye when looking at the car! E

It sure did!! So, back to the point. As with Z's, get the BEST and LEAST molested car you can find for the money you can afford. As with the Z's, parts are getting rarer, but unlike the Z's, there are just a few good places to obtain parts. It's getting better, but paying close to $200 for a pair of Headlight Trim Rings (the chrome "sugar-scoop") can give you an idea of what you're stepping into. Or $200 for a pair of sunvisors....without the hardware to mount them, that's an additional $100! You get the picture? Depending on the year, you will find that it's either all SAE or a mix of SAE and Metric. Then depending on the year of the mixed set car, you'll find that either a "lot" or "most" or "almost all" the car will be to one extreme or the other. I've heard: "Low windshield = SAE; High Windshield = Mixed". Which generally holds true. However, in the high windshield cars, which bolt is which can be perplexing. Again, there are "rules of thumb", then add 40 years or so of IPO replacements and mistakes and you have a true puzzle. Regarding the height issue, which is where we began, depending on your individual physiology, you're either long-legged or long-torso, or equal. You need to sit in one to determine if it's a good or bad fit. There were a couple of guys at Blue Lake last year, the Patterson brothers. Both clocked in at close to 300 lbs. each! Pat stood 5'6" or so and his brother closer to 6'2". Pat was legally blind so Tom would drive. Sadly, Pat passed away last year and I haven't seen or heard from Tom for a while. But they drove down to several of the California meets (Shasta, Solvang) so you know that even on long trips they put up with it (if there was any discomfort). But Pat and Tom used to brag about people watching them get out of their 1500, or the 1600, or the 2000! Also, sources of information can be rare and sometimes contradictory (surprise!), and they even have their own "burt". But, if you enjoy the attention the Z gets, wait till you drive a Roadster! 'Nuff said! E

Mike....way off topic... Are you planning on updating the Classic Fairlady site anytime soon? Specifically the gallery area? E

Steve: If you or anyone you know has ever been to Brazil, and specifically the block behind the Sao Paolo Hilton (now another chain), then you KNOW about the L-O-L-A Lola's. Believe me, after seeing those ladies you start to wonder about some of the real women you see. Even with see-through shirts and ultra-mini skirts....sometimes even when they speak...you're not 100% positive. That's why I mention that I'll judge the book by it's cover....since I'm not planning on opening it up to read. I'd rather enjoy the view for what it appears to be than start looking for those subtle clues that ruin the view and make you doubt and wonder about a lot of other views. E

Bill; IIRC from the original thread where you posted that picture, wasn't that you in the sandals? I know we credited you with the hat, but ..... :devious: E

Both the G-nose and the OEM for the original front end, are real expensive. They weren't always, but scarcity and demand....$$$$$. There was a guy in Beaverton advertising a pair of OEM In the Box, NOS Chrome Covers for $1000. Most G-nose kits that I'm aware of come with the covers as part of the kit, I may be wrong on that though. The MSA ones are the ones that Stephen mentioned. Hopefully they've worked out the kinks in the double stick tape mounting method, since that as I recall is their biggest downfall. However, if they are the ones with the little plastic tabs that stick out the back and insert into the adjustment holes for the headlight lamps, then in my opinion, they may be easier to install. FWIW Enrique

Darbji: You earn my vote for Z friendship exemplified. Your comment: sums up so much about owning a Z...and yearning for one, that it deserves repeating. For many of us, owning a Z was a delayed joy....to some it was a completely unfulfilled dream. Don't be surprised at the number of people that will approach you with their memory still poignant and fresh in their minds. It truly is a wonderful feeling to help someone relive and remember those memories. Letting him sit in your car AND drive it....you earned some angel points. Thanks for sharing Enrique P.S. Don't mind Billy Bob....he still doesn't have enough blood in him to supply both "heads" at the same time, as a result.... Besides he's married, take a look at his wedding pictures, see post number 4: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22587

I've only had condensation when I power wash the car on a hot day. Dust and dirt after 6 years is minimal. No, I don't remove the covers every time I wash, nor on a regularly scheduled basis. I'm not that compulsive. If you leave a small gap in the weatherstripping at the bottom edge towards the wheel, the rush of air will venturi any condensation and dirt out as you drive. The front turn signal lenses (early style) use the same method. I've also added a rubber strip around the headlight lamps themselves to help seal the scoop from splashed water from the tires. It seems to have helped. FWIW E