RestoZ

Yep, drill and plug weld. Much neater and closer to original finish

I can just see Lauchlan/Locky/CAF sitting back with his bucket of pop corn with a massive grin across his face as this discussion develops. Just to add to the mix this link provides some further insight into urethane primers: https://www.autobodysupply.net/Articles.asp?ID=139 My advice, right or wrong, was that using etch, followed by acrylic urethane primer when applying a clear over base finish was the best approach. There is more than one way to skin this cat and it all comes down to choosing a method and applying the associated advice and rules. Now where's my pop corn?

Totally agree. Again, based on my research/questioning/confusion it seems compatibility is a key issue and the advice I've received has been to use, wherever possible, one supplier for all levels of filler, primer, base and clear and top coats.

OK, in for a penny in for a pound. I'm not going to say if this is right or wrong, but I had the need to get all my body work coated with something after having stripped my entire car using paint stripper prior to winter arriving (this year). Firstly, with paint stripper it is important to clean all exposed parts with water once stripped. That done, it was dried with compressed air. Once stripped, all exposed rusted bits were treated with a product called Exit Rust - produced by a company in Malaga WA, sold by S&S Industries in Midvale and costs about $35 for 750ml. Does what it is supposed to do and converts any rust into a black inert substance, the residue being easily cleaned off. Now the right or wrong bit and I'm sure there are any number of opinions which are probably both right and/or wrong. To keep my panels (surface) rust free while I get around to putting a full primer on, I've sprayed them with an etch primer (Concept Paints 103 Etch Primer). I've taken this approach because: 1. I'm doing the stripping myself and therefore that takes time; 2. I can spray panels, etc. as and when I need to; 3. On bare metal, etch primer, I am told and have no reason to doubt, provides an equal or better level of adhesion than epoxy primer; and finally, provided you have the time (which fortunately, I do - yea, I'm one of those ROF's) the cost is next to nothing compared to blasting and epoxy coating. All up it's cost me a lot of hours (which is probably a killer for a lot of people), about $200 for paint stripper, $115 for etch primer and thinners and $35 for rust treatment. Significantly less than the $2k I was quoted to have the body blasted and epoxy coated. Now, I'm not an expert in any of these matters, but I have sought advice from a number of people who work in the industry and got totally confused going through the many (conflicting) bits of information on the 'net, and it seems opinions vary and most agree to disagree. One of the key areas seems to be with drying times. I am once again reliably informed that provided etch primer is given time to dry (like days, not hours) then problems with laying high build primers and base and clear over the top are minimal. Which leads to the next step - filling. Can fill be applied over an etch primer? Well, advice I have been given is "yes" or "no" - your choice. You can sand the primer off in those places where you need to fill, or you can apply fill over the top. Once again, lots of conflicting advice, but at the end of the day seems it's a personal choice. If you apply etch primer, you shouldn't apply an epoxy primer over the top and you shouldn't apply etch primer over the top of any fill repairs you may have done. Advice provided to me is to use a 2k acrylic urethane primer over the etch and any fill repairs and then sand and flat after that. This is based on my choice of wanting to later apply a clear over base finish. I'm keen to hear if my proposed approach is flawed and/or if there are potential problems that I haven't been advised of that people have experienced. Better to find out now than after I've applied the final clear coat. Sorry Ryan, I guess the short answer to your original question is hit it with an etch primer. I'll wait for the tsunami. Cheers Paul

A bit late into this discussion but some pictures below which might help. Mine is a '76 260z 2+2.

Sold

Bought these from KR Vintage JDM but decided to repair my guards without using them. I did use the internal section as a template to create a new one, but made sure not to damage it in the process. So everything is like new. Save yourself the cost of shipping out of the US - which is always a killer. Just wanting to recover my cost on the items. Can pick up if in Perth, or happy to post at buyers expense. $210 + postage if required.

PM'd

Thanks for the link Gav. I did a search for "bumpers" and went through all the posts back to 2017 and then stopped presuming things would have changed beyond that and would no longer be current. Wrong!! Anyway, good info in there which will assist in the decision making process.

Hi Guys One of the things I'm starting to look at is my front and back bumpers. The ones on the car have a number of dents and have been taken to with a big hammer at one stage in an attempt to straighten out the result of someone's inability to reverse (and drive forward) without hitting things. It is possible they could be resurrected, but am looking for input as to what others may have done. As I see it my options are: 1) Try to source a second hand set of front and rears in good nick, 2) Purchase a new set, 3) See if someone (ideally in WA) is capable of fixing and re-chroming what I have, or 4) Strip them back myself, try to straighten them, strip 'em, fill 'em and paint 'em to match whatever body colour I decide to go with. I don't want to do a bumper delete, so have discounted that. Have attached some snaps of the front and centre section of the rear bumpers below. The centre section of the rear bumper took a big hit (see photo below to the right of the left hand over rider) and this has put a sway in the bar which puts everything out of alignment. Have tried a couple of things - had to try the alfoil thing after seeing it on YouTube - fail. A gentle buff with a buffing wheel on the grinder - some improvement, but not enough and of course the dents are still there. And finally used a bit of metal polish which gave a slightly shinier finish than the buffing wheel. Either way, none of these approaches will get the dents out and straighten the bars up so the finished items are not going to work for me. Potentially, a company with rollers, dies, stripping and re-chroming may be able to bring them back to new, but haven't looked into that yet. It seems the second hand ones which are available at the moment are in a similar condition to the ones I have. Which leads us to the purchase of a new set. Have had discussions with BumperAutomobile in Vietnam/China and have determined they do have the correct sized front and rear (longer) to suit my 260z 2+2 and that the fittings are the correct ones for my car. They advise they are 304 stainless steel and therefore rust shouldn't be an issue. So I've got all the measurements and I'm comfortable they will fit ok, just not happy with the USD580 + USD220 cost for supply and shipping. In Oz dollars (excluding any taxes and duty and a reduction in exchange rate by PayPal) at best that is about $1040. Gotta be another option. So, questions: 1. Any suggestions, comments or options about best way to go. Any experience with the new bumpers outlined above. 2. Any recommendations of reputable companies who can restore these and any idea of costs. Will send east if I necessary. 3. Anyone done a bumper delete and have a set of front and rear bumpers off a 2+2, in good nick, they want to off load? Hopefully, someone else's past experience will point me in the right direction. Cheers Paul

Thanks Gav. That is a great site - my dream is to be as organised as that guy! Think I will go the mini chrome toggle switch route as he did - haven't been able to find anything plastic except the push button one I have. Should be close to authentic anyway. Cheers Paul

Thanks Gav, will chase up and see if there is anything up there. Yes, Gilltech the push button switch is what I have repaired mine with at the moment - got it from Jaycar, but am hoping to get something more authentic. I'll see if my lens will polish up if I can't locate the LED one. Thanks for the feedback guys.

Gav, did you buy a new switch or did you get a working one from an existing light? I could only find a push button type of this size and while it would suffice, would prefer to replace with a toggle if I can locate one. If new, can you advise where you sourced it from. Jon, like the idea of an led light to replace the old one. Was this off the shelf and if so who was the supplier. Thanks Paul

Has anyone used this mob to supply replacement carpet sets for their cars? https://www.all-car-carpets.com.au/ Alternatively, has anyone recently bought replacement carpet for their Z and can recommend a good supplier? Doing a bit of initial investigative work. Cheers

Hi GH I know it's been a while since this post, but was wondering if you still have a supply of these? I'm chasing one for my '76 GSR which I'm doing up. Let me know if you do and if the process is still the same for ordering. Cheers Paul

Nice to see some colour - even if it is only beige (or is that off white) and silver

I thought it might have just been me but if it's the same for all then that's fine. Having spent a number of years in IT leading support and development teams, I understand the amount of time and effort required to rectify such issues can be significant. Thanks for the update.

Hi Gav. See Lurch's post above the "send part numbers now" line. Sometimes they have a .jpg extension, sometimes not. When you click on it, you get an image of the item come up in a separate window, but that is all. They appear quite randomly throughout a number of posts and replies. Not a major issue, but just want to be sure I'm not missing anything. Thanks Paul

OK, so no one else has this problem?

On a number of occasions, as I troll through different posts, I come across links to .jpg images. So for example XXXXXX.jpg with a small image icon. When I click on this all I get is a picture of the icon not what I would expect to see as per the naming of the image. Is this my browser, is it a setting, is it a bug or is it just me? Cheers Paul

Thanks Ryan, I'll check them out. Yea, wasn't keen on the Rare Spares option, so having an alternative is really helpful. Cheers

Having been to the US and got smashed on some parts not available locally, I'm not keen to go through the experience again if I don't have to. I'm chasing left and right lower front panel sections as per those Ryan ordered above, and was wondering if anyone can recommend a good fabricator/supplier locally. Know I can get them thru Rare Spares and will do that if that is the only choice I have.

OK, mine do have the rubber gaiters and they are still in good condition, so I can place them back on when the time comes. The interesting thing though is Jeff's comment "The weight of the shaft will eventually drive it down through the oil as there is no opposing force to keep it suspended in the oil." My limited knowledge re these shockies presumed that if they dropped, they were stuffed, but thinking about it now if I was getting controlled suction and discharge then presumably the piston seals were doing their thing. Whether it is to the required/desired degree is hard to know until they go back in the car, but I'm starting to think it might be worth taking the chance. At about $500 for replacement cartridges, it's certainly tempting. I will take the piston seal to a hydraulics company and see if they have anything similar. I haven't seen 56mm gland nuts advertised either, but mine look in good condition and didn't leak when I was expelling the air from the strut and that entailed turning it upside down when discharging. The manual says to add some grease on the inner of the gland nut seal when reassembling and presumably that helps with the sealing process. Thanks for the feedback guys, most helpful and will make me pursue this further. I'll write the process up if it all works, but it could be a while before the old girl is off the rotisserie and back on her own four wheels.

OK, an update on this post. I wanted to go through the process of seeing if I could resurrect these struts, so after disassembling, cleaning and reassembling I managed to buy some 10W motorcycle fork oil which effectively is the same as the oil specified in the FSM. Filled the front and back housings with 340cc of oil as specified in the later FSM I was able to download and following the procedure outlined managed to get the air out and get good controlled suction and discharge but was not able to maintain pressure. The piston rods slowly dropped to the bottom after about 5 minutes of being pulled up. I suspect the seals on the piston had worn with the crud that was allowed to accumulate in the strut and just the general use over the years. So, given I haven't been able to find replacement seals or a kit, looks like KYB's will be the go. I'm sure most people would go down the replacement cartridge route, but I needed to check this as an option. Hope this saves someone a bit of time in the future.

Yea, wasn't sure of the terminology for each of the components, so just made it up as I went along. Mine is the later 1977 model with the taller rear struts so the manual referring back to 340cc in FA wouldn't apply to my rears. But 340 is a good start for the front. I could possibly do some sort of calculation based on the length of the inner and outer components of the rear and calculate the volume based on that. Alternatively, if anyone has a FSM which specifies the volumes for each and could provide that for me, that would be most appreciated. Also if the manual provides a weight for the oil, that would be most helpful. If I can get these to work, I'll do a write up on the process and post it up here. If not, I'll just buy some drop in cartridges. Thanks in anticipation. Paul