A very rusty z.

[thriller]

My new old car.



An interesting place for rust:

Passenger side is pretty well shot to shiver.

Sneaky hole underneath the passenger fender

Finally part of the car without rust:

Engine bay looks tidier than the rest of the car

Almost complete lack of passenger floor. This is a little bit concerning as I don't think the standard replacement floors reach this far back. Might have to find someone splitting up a shell and get a donor patch

After a few hours with the car I had a bit of a poke under a tiny hole I'd spotted, opened it up a bit and found a bit of a nightmare... The worst thing is I have no idea the extent of the rust under here



Anyway now onto the actual work. I've started stripping the bonnet back using one of those 3M strip discs (drill type. bunnings didn't have the grinder one last time I went?) and it's taking a very long time because there seems to be more than a few layers of paint on the bonnet. It seems to go metal-factory red-primer-red respray-primer. Would I be better off using chemical stripper for this? Doesn't seem like a problem on any of the other panels, they all strip back quickly.

[dat2kman]

Will be interesting to see how the top inner rails are like, when you remove the front guards.

This will for sure give you a bit of work to do.
At least the air cleaners on the carbs look good!

[Sirpent]

Welcome.

What 3 letters would better describe your journey other than

OMG !

[thriller]

Yeah, guards will be coming off as soon as the bonnet is stripped bare. Hopefully won't be in for too big a shock.

No better way to learn something than to dive in headfirst... Before my last car I didn't know how to do an oil change, two months later and I decided to finally swap swap the trans over from auto-manual


At least there's enough metal to bolt the flares onto, that's a good start hahaha. Anyway; the z bug has bitten me. Well and truly in love with this bucket of rust.

EDIT: I should also mention I want to aim to get this registered with S.A.'s historic registration scheme. Not sure how the sunroof will go with that, but even if I have to replace the roof skin, the difference in cost between historic and normal will pay for the roofskin in just one year. Build #1001 too

[mossy]

Thats a lot of rust, good luck with it mate, hopefully it doesn't turn into a basket case for you.

[Roberto]

At least the air cleaners on the carbs look good!

The flares look good too!

too!

EDIT: I should also mention I want to aim to get this registered with S.A.'s historic registration scheme. Not sure how the sunroof will go with that, but even if I have to replace the roof skin, the difference in cost between historic and normal will pay for the roofskin in just one year. Build #1001 too

Good luck with this. I was under the impression car had to be standard. Eg without flares

[nizm0zed]

strip it and get the shell blasted.
It'll show you EXACTLY what your getting into.

I honestly wouldn't buy any parts or commit anything to it until you do that first, It will make the overall job bigger, but it'll save you huge troubles in later years.

[GL240GTR]

Man oh man, that would be as bad as it gets. The sun roof has let a lot of water in. There is a massive amount of body work to be done, will keep you busy, one of my Zeds was bad. Not that bad. And bit by bit I did a section at a time and it all came together . Best you get your self a rotisserie to do most of the bodywork, will help heaps. Best of luck.

[Ledge]

HI Thriller
I am also in the Adelaide hills, I'm more than happy to come have a look and give you any
advice that you need. I restore cars for a living so may be able to give you some tips.

It looks like you have some work to do. I would recommend getting at least the shell
sand blasted . Will make it allot easier for you and will get rid of all the rust.

Regards
Paul

[chris240]

Walk away. 
I mean that in the nicest way.

[1600dave]

Only difference between a small rust patch and a large one is the size of the patch.

And the only difference between one patch and 100 rust patches is the time it takes.

It may look bad, but with time, patience, perserverance and practice it should be repairable.

Good luck !

[jamo240]

I agree with Chris...between the money you will need to pay professionals to recover this car, along with hundreds of hours of your own time, it will be far cheaper (and a better outcome) to put the money into a better shell and use this one as a parts car.

Cheers

Jamo

[zzzzed]

Only difference between a small rust patch and a large one is the size of the patch.

And the only difference between one patch and 100 rust patches is the time it takes.

It may look bad, but with time, patience, perserverance and practice it should be repairable.

Good luck !

That is very true. But only if you can do the work your self. Or it
Is the difference between being able to afford it or being broke.

[jamo240]

Hmmmm....I can't agree on the big patch little patch being the same!

Little patches that aren't structural in nature are relatively straight forward. To rebuild the floor and recreate all the flanges where panels come together and get spot-welded, along with internal structural panels (roof panel) that must be reproduced to maintain the integrity of the car is a horse of a different color. Sure it can be done, but it takes considerable skill, experience and equipment to ensure it is done well and production tolerances and appearances are recreated.

That kind of rebuild is worlds apart from a few small cosmetic patches.

I don't say this to be unkind, but to ensure newcomers to restorations are not lulled into an unrealistic mindset regarding the scale of major structural body repairs.

Jamo

[chris240]

The point Im making is SAFETY......
This is not a shell but a coffin.
Im the first one to encourage new owners ,  But, C'mon guys bit of common sense here.