thriller

Yep I do like that one a lot! But I should keep away from metallic paints as I'm a n00b at spraying. We'll see. Doesn't really 'pop' out on the road though, and green really does scream out '70s sports car'. I might ring up the owner and ask to check the color out in person before I make my mind up for sure. Never made such a tough decision in my life heh

Thanks guys.. Yeah do love some of the modern colors. One day I'll do a big flared Z in Lexus Matador Red mmm.. But here want to stick to something they came with. Am definitely leaning toward some kind of green. Girlfriend loves the lime, but eehhhh not on a 260 methinks. Will have a good perv on all the green Z's this coming weekend, chat to owners and hopefully make my mind up pretty soon.

With a little persuasion I've begun thinking about some other color choices for the 260z... Only thing that I'd like to work in is have it go with the brown interior, because the brown isn't something you see too often in Z's so it'd be cool to keep. Obviously this green would go pretty nicely. I like it lots but can't quite pick the color code..? But then I dug around and fell in love with this red/orange thing... Looks great in the sun. Is it #611 red?? Anyone have more pics of either? I know color is a personal thing.. But I can't decide which one I like more hahah.

Love the drilled handles + exhaust. Also spotted the Z432 tacho.... drool

Hey Paul no dramas at all, mainly wanted to double check stuff for next weekend. Will give you a ring this evening then I live tues through friday down in magill, so george st is easy, will get onto that this coming week. Won't get too carried away unpicking more stuff, just if there's any evidence of pinholes coming from the other side would be safest to double check. Glue sounds cool! Typical of the Germans to do something like that hah

Finally weekend again! Getting into it... Noticed the underside of this had some surface rust. That coupled with the rust under the bog had me worried so I tried unpicking spot welds for the first time! First 3 or 4 were a bit of a mess and will be a pain to get back together. Most annoying thing will be that they won't look like factory spot welds better than rust though. Glad I did. Most of it hasn't pitted, but will be good to clear out the surface rust before it develops into something severe. Also did the same to the other side of previous repairs.... Wish I didn't... blehhhhh! I also was about 10cm too short, the rust extends about 5cm further than where I cut this panel off. There also appears to be very slight surface rust along the channel where water runs a bit further up.... Really don't want to pull the whole lot off. Might run some phos. acid down there or something. Or POR-15 on one of those super extended nozzles? Any ideas? Will definitely be chopping the doglegs off just to make sure there's no nasties under there in future. Previous repair: Spot welds undone: Pulled off Also a note to any 'new guys' (newer than me) looking to buy a cheap Z with the mindset that it will need no work... Don't! Even if you can't see rust, it's almost definitely still there. Get full photo documentation of any repairs & take along a fridge magnet to look out for bog etc. Take off the fenders, windscreen cowl and everything too if the seller will let you. This is probably the cleanest Z I've ever looked at (for sale), and as you can see still needs a bit of body work here and there. (not having a dig at any of the previous owners, if I'd known it was there I'd still have bought it!) p.s. Want to get some hi fill primer on the engine bay before the weekend is over, so I have to decide on paint to use. Leaning toward 2pk after reading more about it. Brands? shops etc to buy primers??

For a first car, I think getting a 2+2 should be on the cards for sure. Chicks will dig it just as much (at the end of the day that's all that counts right?). That red one on gumtree doesn't seem too bad. Personally would keep shopping for a local one as there's lots less headaches and less money (need to have interstate cars inspected when you re-register them here). Seller doesn't seem too helpful with a 2 sentence ad either but hey.

Here is a rule of thumb for Z cars that I wish I knew when picking my first one. Described as average bodywork with some rust = falling to bits Described as OK bodywork, no rust = soon to fall to bits Fresh respray and 'good' bodywork = already fallen to bits, paint and bog holding it together Rattle can matte black = you dodged a bullet there... If you can wait about 12 months you might find two or three that seem to be in very good condition for less than $8,000. Bozo bought a black 260z and someone sold a silver 240z both for less than 7k this year (both looked very clean). But they both had buyers within hours so you have to jump on it as soon as you see it, even if it's 1500km away. There's a bronze one in S.A. right now for 13k which, (from photos), looks like an OK buy. If you can afford 9k and just loan the other 4k, you'll pay the loan off faster and cheaper than you would restoring the average $10,000 2seater to roadworthy condish. Whatever you do, before you get your heart set on one, post up here and try get a local member to come check it out with you & show you where the nasty spots are destined to be. Enjoy the hunt, and be patient

Yeah Gav, they go well! Quite surprised. Happily sat on 100 the whole way home (we think... dash lights had gone out...) Lost on the compe wheel by 500 yen, good times Bought me some wattyl super etch on many recommendations and the engine bay is now etch primed. From here, will need to cut and repair that section on lower rad support, cut and replace that part on upper rad support: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8110/8566811913_637295cde8_c.jpg Also some previous repairs done to the other side of this: Not sure how well I trust them. There are some pinholes poking through as you can see... Might be worth pulling it apart and making sure everything is sweet...? Then I have one big question: Acrylic vs 2 pack?. Need to figure this out reasonably soon so I can put some primer down over the etch. I want to go with the 517 gold the car is wearing now. Obvious pros with Acrylic are: -Can spray the engine bay without needing booth -Seems more forgiving to spray it Then 2pac: -More hard-wearing (though car is a classic so will be better looked after than your modern corolla coming off factory floor, so doesn't matter as much as with new cars). Biggest issue with the 2pack is will be best off with a booth to do the engine bay, therefore may as well get the whole lot painted in one go (rather than engine bay-do interior- paint exterior which I was planning on to reduce chance of scratches & dings). But it seems more durable, and sounds like less hassle to get it looking sweet. Will any one give a much better finish than the other? Anyway plan of attack is have the bay rust repairs done, buy some paint & get it looking pretty. Fresh stone-guard paint under the fender too, any recommendations on what to use there?

Well, the pricks over at Jetstar has royally @!$^@$%& me and have changed my flight plans. Was planning to fly back to Adel on Sunday evening, however they've changed latest flight on Sunday to leaving at 2:30pm. Which means missing most of Sunday at P.I. which is more than half the reason for even going It worked out nicely beforehand to use the Skybus/VLine combo to get there and back. Cheaper than car hire (and nobody rents out cars to Under 21's). However now, the earliest bus on Sunday will get us to airport at ... 2:40pm. Options look like: -Throw in the towel, save some coin, deal with any cancellation fees and spend Easter at home and have my own z party by myself -Try weasel a refund out of Jetstar and drive there + back (Heading over with girlfriend and she is less than keen to drive) -Any alternative ways to get between airport and P.I.? Unfortunately can't fly back Monday due to work/don't want to find somewhere to sleep less than two weeks away from Easter. Had everything booked and organized 6 months ago, biggest pain in the ass to have everything fall to bits two weeks out. Any info about getting to/from P.I. would be handy. Though driving looks like the best bet...

Thanks for you expertise all. Have a tin of white knight SLS etch primer unopened. Will that do the trick or try to return it and go for the wattyl stuff?

Blaster is one of these bad boys Media is pretty course. Though due to the relatively low pressure, very little heat is made so I don't think any problems with warping will happen whatsoever. Will be using strip discs carefully for big flat areas anyway since they're a lot faster/less mess. Blast just in those inaccessible areas. Got a big heavy bag of it for $40 from a blasting place about 5 mins away from my place. Go through it so damn quick though! Not much fun. Won't complain about blasting prices ever again heh. In other news, I foolishly went on yahoo auctions today. And spotted a Compe steering wheel. The wheel with this car is kind of shagged anyway. So it's either buy a mint 260z wheel for probably 100-200, or dosh out much much more for a nice piece of history. Might just put a (relatively) low bid on it since I'm not really looking for one right now... Arhhh decisions. Hopefull will have cowl, engine bay, fender-top areas and rad support all covered in primer tomorrow.

Just a bit of blasting left to do tomorrow & I will be ready to prime my engine bay. It's all back to bare metal. Wondering the process I should go through to get best results... Good clean with wax/grease remover, then etch primer or epoxy primer first? What's the deal there? Lots of conflicting opinions floating around on the google-sphere. Or should etch go down first, then epoxy? Then hi-fill, color and clear? Thanks.

Gareth is on it... -Spend 30k on your average Hako coupe -Spend 30k on TC24-B1Z Still have 10k left for bits and pieces that'll inevitably end up needing. Less of them around than genuine KPGC10s. Quoted 420hp too...

Retro Z, she'll just sit patiently for a little while longer. Bit peeved I didn't get enough done this weekend as I'd have liked to, but put an okay sized dent in it all. Bought a little sandblasting gun and a bag of media and got to work. Mostly used strip-it discs for the flat areas because my compressor struggled to pump out much more than 60psi consistently. So going was slow. Can't touch it again till the weekend because I stay away from home during the week to save me like 10 hours commuting to uni. Uncovered two nasties, one of which needs attention with an angle grinder and new metal so a little bummed about that but it was to be expected. Some bog was covering this, looks like it has been dormant for quite some time. Looks like surface crud that has pitted. Here's the area that'll need cutting and replacing. Need to finish stripping the rest of the rad support, a bit left on the rails, the windscreen cowl area and where the fender bolts onto (stupid nissan plugging up that single drainage hole there ... wtf). Then etch prime all that.

Cool! Soon there'll be two Z owners in S.A. that have none of the following: -house -wife -kids -grey hairs

Welp, first off big thankyou to Dimitri for selling it, my friend for somehow being enough of an idiot to drive with me from Adelaide, to Melbourne, pick up a car, turn around and head straight back, and everyone around Adelaide that I asked for their thoughts. I will be posting detailed photos to my flickr at: So there will be much more detail there, but too boring to post everything to the forum Sitting with Dimitri's 240z: Ready to head back: Who said a 4cyl can't tow a car trailer? Had a good poke around back home. Very good on all accounts, here's the worst of it: And from the inside: Doglegs have been previously repaired. Not sure how the inside of here will look. Probably worth finding out before paint gets done, just in case. Anyone have a camera that can fit in here or something? A few spots like this around the place And a bit of surface gunk on the rail Can see a few holes appearing in the middle of the lower section, so will chop and replace that area Windscreen seal area is sweet Engine bay overview All those surface spots have been pulled back to bare metal and just hit with some primer for now. Spend a few days rebuilding and cleaning a heater box with fresh foam etc, connecting loom and sort-of organizing two Z's worth of parts in my pitifully small garden shed + under house storage. Next up will be painting the engine bay, no better time than now. Bought a decent bundle from SCA when it was all 55% off, so have a bunch of gravity fed guns and an OK compressor. Will be closing off some space with plastic sheeting to wheel the Z in and paint the bay. No over the top plans here. Just a nice new coat of paint, tidy as hell engine bay + interior, rego and enjoy the crap out of it.

Have a 260z now too Will let you know next couple of days y/n for sure

Kinda looking for one, could you stick a picture up on here + rough price?

Hey brabham weren't you going for full type B kit? Aritaspeed in Japan do a good one, think its the full kit so gnose included?

Win some we lose some! New one in s.a. as of last night Congrats on the sale too.

Such a good noise!

Thanks alot guys, guess I'll go that one. Only remaining question there, does the small size cover a Z comfortably? Also any word on additional 'safety' measures that can be undertaken?

^ Yep! Also +1 interest on gauge testing. There's a thread on classiczcars about how to do a DIY dash restoration, a few years on apparently still looks as good as when it was done. I think it'd be possible to replicate the skin pattern reasonably well if you could find some kind of putty/plastic that is moldable when hot & keeps its texture when cool.

Hey just thought if you want me to pick up 'the pile' and bring it back to Adel I could probably do that pretty easily... ? Might save both you guys the hassle of postage. Unless the pile is literally a big pile of bits... This car will be so tough. Still aiming to be finished for end of March?