Definitely Purple 260z

[Andrew_L26]

Ah ok, I thought they acrylic was easier to paint? If 2pack I easier to get a good finish then I'll go with that

[HomeBuiltByJeff]

I think it is a common misconception. 2 pack is nasty stuff so you have to make sure you have the correct mask etc. You can have a look at my video on how to build a spray booth if you like. I have found it works really well and didn't cost that much, and I have found it works great for smaller cars. 

 

 

Anyone can pick a a spray gun and have a go at painting acrylic, but it always looks pretty average, no matter how much you buff it. The best way I can put it, is with acrylic you have a very narrow window between spraying too dry and getting runs. That window I find is much larger with 2 pack, and with a small amount of practice you can do a pretty decent job.

[HomeBuiltByJeff]

I must also add, that if you watch that spray booth video, you need to watch the second one I did, with some of the initial issues sorted out, and several improvements.

[Andrew_L26]

That's actually crazy, me and dad were thinking about using one of these exact eBay gazebos to paint it in! Dad's got a full respirator and everything that he uses for his work so I'll be sure to use that! I'll definitely check out the second video + some others!

[Brabham]

Definitely purple! Please match the paint to the girls' hair!

 

Seriously though, what about 362 Dark Purple Metallic? Ultra rare in zeds.

[Andrew_L26]

I was actually thinking about that but I don't know if anyone would have a sample or the code for it.

[HomeBuiltByJeff]

That sounds like it is the code, 362. When you go to the paint shop, ask them for 197X Datsun Dark Purple Metallic code 362 and hopefully they should be able to look it up on their system. Some of these old paint codes don't alwys come up though, but give it a go. Sometimes just the name is enough. 

Watch a heap of youtube videos to learn the best way to prep things, etc, and give it a crack. Do a little bit of practice first though. If you have a spare panel/piece of gal/44 gallon drum give it a go with that first to learn your gun, etc.

I am not a spray painter by the way, but you are welcome to ask any questions if you like, or even better ask someone who knows more than me

[260DET]

Two pack by all means but I've seen some stunning paint jobs done in acrylic. Did the 280ZX in acrylic and found it quite easy to do as a newb so don't discount acrylic completely, one good thing with it is touch ups are relatively easy.

[Brabham]

Yep if you give them the code they should be able to look it up. If you go metallic 2k you will have to clear over the base. 2k is a bit more durable if your car lives outside, acrylic may be a bit cheaper but may fry the paint underneath as the thinners are harsher. I'd recommend 2K if your car is parked outside.

[HomeBuiltByJeff]

Acrylic is about the same to touch up if you are using a metallic, as you will have to clear the whole panel again, and in my experience it is never as glossy, and always looks like an acrylic job. It is not bad, but 2 pack is better.

[Sirpent]

Acrylic is about the same to touch up if you are using a metallic, as you will have to clear the whole panel again, and in my experience it is never as glossy, and always looks like an acrylic job. It is not bad, but 2 pack is better.

 

Sorry to pull you up on this one, however almost all the big winners at hot rod shows are acrylic, and with good reason.

 

2K or a baked job when the clear is baked produces an extremely hardened outer surface that has flowed due to the application process and then during the hardening process, once this surface is cut that outer shell if we can call it that need an extreme amount of polishing to bring it back to a glass finish, Bentley for instance spend 24 full man hours cutting back and polishing their vehicles post paint at the works.

 

Acrylic on the other hand is a lot more forgiving and can be cut and polished to as high if not higher a degree than enamel.

 

A secret the hot roders use, Corn Flour !

 

Another non silicon polish which I used back in 1990 on an RPO83 (Still born GTHO Phase 4) 2K baked restoration...............Brasso ! BUT a warning, you need to practice with before you try to buff a whole car with it, if you don't believe me on either, try mixing up some corn flour paste or using brasso on a dull dead panel by hand.

 

Read about the RPO83's here

 

http://www.tradeuniquecars.com.au/feature-cars/1603/ford-falcon-xa-gt-falcon-rpo83-review/

 

An acrylic job done correctly can be every bit as good as an enamel job depending on how you treat the vehicle and maintain it.

Edited June 24, 2016 by Sirpent

[HomeBuiltByJeff]

Sorry to pull you up on this one, however almost all the big winners at hot rod shows are acrylic, and with good reason.

 

2K or a baked job when the clear is baked produces an extremely hardened outer surface that has flowed due to the application process and then during the hardening process, once this surface is cut that outer shell if we can call it that need an extreme amount of polishing to bring it back to a glass finish, Bentley for instance spend 24 full man hours cutting back and polishing their vehicles post paint at the works.

 

Acrylic on the other hand is a lot more forgiving and can be cut and polished to as high if not higher a degree than enamel.

 

A secret the hot roders use, Corn Flour !

 

Another non silicon polish which I used back in 1990 on an RPO83 (Still born GTHO Phase 4) 2K baked restoration...............Brasso ! BUT a warning, you need to practice with before you try to buff a whole car with it, if you don't believe me on either, try mixing up some corn flour paste or using brasso on a dull dead panel by hand.

 

Read about the RPO83's here

 

http://www.tradeuniquecars.com.au/feature-cars/1603/ford-falcon-xa-gt-falcon-rpo83-review/

 

An acrylic job done correctly can be every bit as good as an enamel job depending on how you treat the vehicle and maintain it.

I agree that acrylic can be as good as 2 pack, but it very rarely is in the real world. Also the gloss does not last, and you will be forever chasing that shine. 2 pack is harder to buff, but it will retain it's shine, and it will generally give a really nice gloss off the gun. I worked as an airbrush artist for 13 years, working on the top show cars in the country, in over 50 different panel shops, and they all used 2 pack. I did come across 1 old spray painter who still used Acrylic, and I was very impressed with the finish he could get. But he had been doing it his whole life. I think, at least for amateurs, 2 pack will give a better result.

For me at least, I very rarely cleared my artwork, but I have a more experience than most guys, and I have painted quite a few cars in acrylic, and when I changed over I wondered why I hadn't earlier. 

[Andrew_L26]

 

Got my LH fender off, the dogleg looks to be in goodish shape with just some surface rust and rust juices from the fender. The fender is a different story, a section has been cut out previously and they've done a pretty good job, not fantastic but it's not really worth re-doing. They didn't treat the panel correctly so the rust has come back and I'm going to need to cut out a small section and weld in some fresh new metal. I also managed to make a new section for the frame which will be getting put in properly when I take the motor out some time this week. Much much better then the last repair that I did. I was able to use my schools workshop which allowed me access to some great hardware and tools.

 

 

 

 

Just starting to pull things out of the engine bay so that I can get the motor out, do my repairs and paint it.

 

 

I am starting to lean towards the Bayside Blue colour however I'm still keeping 362 Purple in mind. I'm also wondering if anyone has any nice looking engine bays in black, do they look good in a different colour to the body or is it better to keep it all the same?

 

 

Cheers,

Andrew

[blu260z]

Nice work Andrew.

In regards to engine bay colour its a personal choice. The black engine bay really emphasizes the engine, and therefore the engine must look neat and clean !! I asked the same question in my build thread and got a few pictures for an example.

Here is some old pics of mine, I am still tidying up cables and hoses etc

 

 

 

Edited June 27, 2016 by blu260z

[Andrew_L26]

Nice work Andrew.

In regards to engine bay colour its a personal choice. The black engine bay really emphasizes the engine, and therefore the engine must look neat and clean !! I asked the same question in my build thread and got a few pictures for an example.

Here is some old pics of mine, I am still tidying up cables and hoses etc

 

 

 

It certainly does emphasise the engine! I might do my bay in black if I do go for the dark purple otherwise if I go bayside blue I might do the engine bay in colour!

[Andrew_L26]

So not much has happened lately as I'm super busy with school however the previous owner did dig up a few photos of her from 2004, surprisingly she was painted black! I had no idea as I haven't found any overspray or paint under what I've removed. Looks fantastic and interestingly there doesn't seem to be any issues from the photos, however I have been told that there were issues with rust at that time...

 

The car was purchased in 2004 for $1300, sold in 2011 for between $3000 and $3500

For some of the guys who have been into zeds for far longer then me, what condition 2+2 could you get for $1300

 

 

 

 

Perhaps someone even knows something about her haha

The rego was: QZG 069

Interesting that it was re-registered with the newer style plates, might have been off the roads for a while.

[Andrew_L26]

Last few weeks I've got a little bit done, found a bit more rust and decided to actually solve the problem properly (which Locky will hopefully love) and I purchased a second hand Cigweld Transmig 175i with a Gas bottle and regulators etc.

 

 

I also purchased my spraybooth/ working area which I can thank Jeff for!

 

 

Polished my Twin British SU domes and Rocker cover which looks fantastic (Just something small to do at school during lunchtime)

 

 

 

 

Also cut a little rust out of the sill and put a borescope camera down the sills and rest of the car to find the extent of the rust issues. Passenger sill is fine other than what I cut out, drivers side needs to be replaced or repaired to a higher standard as I am not happy with the previous repair (although they got rid of all the rust)

 

Dash needs to be pulled out as well as the windshield, scuttle panel removed completely repairs done and replaced, the tail light area needs to be repaired (which shouldn't be too hard with a decent welder) I will re-do the rear window repair properly or I might even be able to hammer and dolly it in to an acceptable state.

 

Also found the terribly done black paint job, makes me think they didn't prep it at all considering the lack of primer and roughing up of the original paint, looks like the paint is coming off at the end of the year!

 

After using a good quality gassed mig (with what very little gas was left) It is incredible how much better my welds were (Not like swiss cheese when ground down which is amazing) having the ability to turn it down so it won't blow through is also incredible!

 

 

Thanks to Jeff again for the spraybooth idea! Looking forward to seeing what you do with the 240z!

 

Cheers Guys,

Andrew

Edited August 20, 2016 by Andrew_L26

[HomeBuiltByJeff]

Looking good. The Gazebo is a nice cheap handy shed. I am not sure how well they will stand up to the weather outside though. I would make sure it is well pegged down  

[Andrew_L26]

Looking good. The Gazebo is a nice cheap handy shed. I am not sure how well they will stand up to the weather outside though. I would make sure it is well pegged down

Yeah, It gets blown around but it's in a fairly sheltered spot so it seems to be ok just with some pegs and guide ropes! We will see in time haha

[Andrew_L26]

So I've pretty well decided on a full stripdown rebuild. I'm not going to strip it down all at once though, I think I'll do a panel at a time to avoid getting distracted and overwhelmed, decided to rip into some bog and begin refining the passenger rear window sill repair.

 

I began with this:

 

 

Got the little hammer out and began to shape the upper curve

 

Cut out the overlapped bit that was poorly done and ground down some of the welds, I'm planning to weld up the one or two little holes that have appeared since grinding and lead fill the small indent.

 

Actually really enjoyed this little job and I just need to form a bit of sheet to fit these hole. what thickness steel is everyone using for their bodywork?

 

Cheers, Andrew

[gav240z]

19 or 20 gauge (or 0.8mm) seems to be the consensus, but you could measure the thickness of what you cut out and ask for the same when you go to buy sheet metal.

 

PS: That upper swage line on your 1/4 panel would be the perfect candidate to fix with lead wiping.

 

By the way did you see this?

http://www.viczcar.com/forum/topic/1924-cars-for-sale-3rd-party-sites-ebay-carsales-etc/?p=182273

 

Might be easier to unpick the 1/4 panels and use them on your car? The whole shell is $800.

[CBR Jeff]

I have been using a mix of 0.8 and 1mm cold rolled sheet depending on what section and what I am doing with it. It its just a simple section that does not need any forming or work I tend to use 0.8. If I need to form it, role or us a hammer on it I have been using 1mm as by the time it's been worked it's often thinned and stretched a bit and could be as thin as 0.8.

That's a bit of a job you have uncovered there Andrew, I think Gaz has a good suggestion about using a donor panel.

I sometimes look at work I have done and wonder if it could have been done better. Then I look at jobs like yours that have probably been done by "professionals" and decide my works not that bad after all.

 

Jeff

[Andrew_L26]

19 or 20 gauge (or 0.8mm) seems to be the consensus, but you could measure the thickness of what you cut out and ask for the same when you go to buy sheet metal.

 

PS: That upper swage line on your 1/4 panel would be the perfect candidate to fix with lead wiping.

 

By the way did you see this?

http://www.viczcar.com/forum/topic/1924-cars-for-sale-3rd-party-sites-ebay-carsales-etc/?p=182273

 

Might be easier to unpick the 1/4 panels and use them on your car? The whole shell is $800.

I've been thinking about that car but I haven't got the cash at the moment, maybe in a few months I'll take a look if it's still available. I'm thinking that this line shouldn't be too hard to fix if I do it in two sections so I'll just see how I go!

 

Cheers,

Andrew

[AndBir]

Shell now reduced by 25% to $600 - might not be available for long as it looks like the seller is keen to get rid of it.

 

Edit : It would cost more to get it to Melbourne so maybe not an option.

Edited August 30, 2016 by AndBir

[Andrew_L26]

Shell now reduced by 25% to $600 - might not be available for long as it looks like the seller is keen to get rid of it.

 

Edit : It would cost more to get it to Melbourne so maybe not an option.

 

That was my main issue, it being a fair way away. I think I'll give it a miss but I will keep an eye on it!