SloppyGoat

Well, cancer is finally starting to eat my poor Z. The worst is above the windshield, and a few spots on the left door. The door is probably not that big of a deal, but the windshield will have to be removed (and they often break, of course) to remove that rust.
It's going to cost me a shitload of money (I'm guessing about $5000-$7000) to get it stripped down, all rust spots ground down/removed, bondo all the hail damage, parking lot dings, and chips, and paint it. It has 104.6K miles on it right now. I'm still trying to decide whether to put this kind of money into the car. I love my Z, but man, it needs shocks/struts (About $500 bucks if I install them myself) and a few other things that aren't going to be cheap. I'm getting too old to do all this **** myself (back problems, etc.), and I'm definitely not a body man, but I've had the car since it had 64K, and I know it's been taken care of since then, anyway. I'm the 3rd owner, and it appears the previous owners stored it for the winters.

I want the car stripped down to metal, for sure, or there's no point in doing it, right? I mean, what's the point of spending all that money if all rust is not found and removed? Everyone who looks under it tells me it's not rusty at all, compared to most cars they look under. (for MN, anyway)

So, I'm thinking, I can get another 100 - 200K out of this car, if the rest of it doesn't fall apart, right? What would you do? It runs perfect, The interior is almost perfect. I have a few little cracks in the vinyl part of the driver seat I would have to have repaired. Is it worth it? I do have the infamous, ridiculously expensive, T-top weatherstrip set, which I paid a small fortune for. I just haven't installed it yet. It doesn't leak that bad, but needs to be replaced. Anyone done that before? Is it easy?

It's kind of a gamble. What would you do? I would just buy another car, but ****, it's hard to find any decent RWD turbo cars that I can afford, or that don't need just as much (or more) work, and I can't imagine driving something slow and N/A anymore.

NismoPick

It's a tough decision... depends on what you want out of the car. If you want to use it as a daily driver, the body will technically outlast (maybe not in looks) the drivetrain. I've done a total restoration on my 280zxt... it's taken me 10 years, and at least $15k... and it just sits in my garage.

You can slow the rust, but not stop it completely unless it's removed.

KasbeKZ

i've seen a few very well priced turbo Z31's with no rust quite lately. everyone is selling their stuff cheap. yeah you'll need to strip it all down just to start from the same place everywhere on the car. you can't fix all the rust on the car with bondo either. through spots will need to have some metal welded in. i guess all in all, it just depends on if you can find another car.

SloppyGoat

These cars are not easy to come by in this part of the country. 20 year old cars are generally ****, if they're not stored every winter. And this is all surface rust, so it can be ground and filled, unless I wait too much longer. I'm guessing, if I let it go, by next year the windshield is liable to be leaking.

Yeah, I could try to find another one (and I am keeping my eyes open for a decent priced Z32TT), but then I'm going to spend a bunch of money on a car that probably has a lot of problems. I've found that, in lieu of paying for expensive maintenance on these cars, people tend to just let them go to ****, or they fall into the hands of young ricers who destroy them.

KasbeKZ

want a Z32 N/A? it's comparable to the Z31T

SloppyGoat

Nope! It's gotta be a turbo or a TT. I love that boost feeling. I'm picky, too. It has to be a black one, or grey, but I don't think they came in that color, did they? I suppose silver would be ok, too.

mrbillishome

My Z31 was eatin all to hell with cancer (you know the usually spots rear quarters and around the floor pans on the sides) and me and dad removed the interior and used close to 5 bottles of rust inhibitor and either welded in panels or made patch panels and panel bonded them in and then glassed them in to seal them so if you want to put forth the work and if its only surface rust id keep it and DONT use bondo look into glazes they dont crack as easily

260zturbo

bondo is a brand name but you have to use filler sometimes. its not bad if you know how to properly use it right. try finding one collision shop that does not use body filler and putty glaze. only way you are going to find a place that does not use filler its some guru restore shop. Filler is used for small dents after hammered and dolly out. somethings you cannot get metal straight without stretching it. you do relize that before body filler they used lead right? they had and still have files that actually cut the metal so smooth out. why alot of guys still use a tool called a cheese gadder when the filler is starting to harden. so after cutting the bondo down you apply a glaze putty and cut it down with 60 or 80 grit. 180 it and prime. a glaze will what you so call crack bc they body has flex it. in that case the bondo will also to crack. NOW if you are doing a fibgerglass or plastic part they have flex putty. it has more flexibility but still will crack.

on the side not you say you bonded in the panels. how did you do this? did you use a patching agent? so you fiberglass resign your panels in? last time i check glassing cracks just as easy a filler.

hoov100

dont bother removing carpet or interior panels, remove the A/C and heating system take out all of the carpet and remove the tar, then put the interior back together, you will save yourself quite a bit of weight (about 60+ pounds) by just the tar and A/c system. to go a step further is to remove the power mirrors and replace them with some aluminum ones and replace the seats. To go a step beyond that it to finish removing the rest of the interior panels, lexan 1/4 windows and rear window, wipers removal, P/S and power brakes removal and installation of a aluminum pedal set, next would be windshield, wheels, hood, fenders, hatch, driver weight loss, fabricated dash and sheet metal gutting (After complete cage install) and i can go farther, but thats just the basics.

280zx2by2

HAAAAAAAAA i didnt know this... at least that 280 will see the year 2100(if you dont wreck it)

SloppyGoat

Huh?

mrbillishome

260zturbo. My dad works at a body shop so we used industrial grade panel adhesize if we didnt weld in the panels and then used fiber glass to complete the seal from moisture, but that was only on the internal repairs (ie. the rotted out area between the floor boards and side.) for the external repairs completly welded and glazed in

hoov100

dont worry about it, i was thinking of something when i saw the word stripped. and TT in the same threadd.

260zturbo

i was just wondering because i graduated in collision repair and have worked in shops. good luck on the build.

johnZboy

You should know what my advice is, without me having to write it. Just in case you don't, here ya' go...

Fix it, fix it right, and, while you're at it, make a statement of the z31's badness with it.

However, if you decide to chunk it, I'll take those t-top weather seals off your hands. No sense in wasting resources.

KingDatsun1

I'll lend you mine but its not a turbo. lol but there's ZERO rust. Body was completely rebuilt (new custom frame rails, floor pans, wheel wells, etc) interior is flawless no cracks in the dash!

86k miles

SloppyGoat

Well, I guess I'm going to keep it and fix everything. I just ordered a set of Illuminas, so I've already got like over $1500 bucks worth of new parts for it. The damn thing is just too much fun to get rid of. I believe I'd keep it, even if do find a nice Z32TT. This car has so much potential. It runs pretty strong, even at stock PSI. I can't wait to get an IC and see if the stock T3 will push 15PSI. Even running it at 10PSI would feel like a different car.

Very nice 280, BTW! Throw a turbo on that puppy!

KingDatsun1

I would kill for a turbo. I've been searching nonstop for one.


(either an earlier Z with a turbo motor or a 280zx turbo) its killin' me!

I'm power hungry. lol

SloppyGoat

Get a water cooled one. I think it definitely increases their lifetime. You don't have to worry about cooling it down as much. Put a T3 in it. They're decent turbos, IMO.

hoov100

...........(insert comment here)..............

SloppyGoat

Well, the car goes to the shop Monday. I can't wait to see it externally perfected! I'm going to get it painted the same color, but the lower lip of the front spoiler is going to be flat black, as it is now. In addition, I want the side skirts and the rear spoiler flat black. I think it'll look sweet that way. I plan to replace the original door and rear turbo/300ZX decals. Anyone know where I can get them. (gray) I think they're still available from the dealer, but probably pretty expensive, eh?

Oh yeah, BTW, did you know that almost all new cars have body filler on them from the factory? That's normal. Did you think all those welded panels have no seams? LOL

I'll have to post some pics of my Z when I get it back from the body shop. It should look about as good as the day it rolled off the showroom floor. (Well, if it was ever on a showroom floor. LOL)

SloppyGoat

Man, it's scary to see my car all ripped down like this, but I stopped by the shop to see the progress, and I barely even recognized my car! The guy is doing a very thorough job, although it is taking longer than I'd hoped. That's ok. I'd rather he take the time and do it right. He said I caught the rust in time to stop it. Around the windshield and behind the rear wheels were the worst. He said the windshield had been replaced once, and they used a knife to cut the seal. The knife penetrated the paint and that's the only reason it even rusted there.
Here are the stripped down pics. I would be really worried, but the old Mustang that was sitting right in front of it reassured me that this guy does primo work. That thing looked like brand new. My car should, too. Looks like he has all the body dings fixed. It should be primered next week.

Has anyone had this type of thing done before? Do they clean out all the dust that's building up in the car? I sure hope so. That's going to be a bitch, if not.

SloppyGoat

Well, here it is, all repainted, rust, scratch, dent free, and new looking. There are a few minor details that will be fixed on the 12th. I had asked for the side skirts and the rear spoiler to be flat black to match the lower portion of the front spoiler because anything black just looks cool with grey, and the front spoiler originaly was not black. Oh, I also wanted it repinstriped. It just looks rather bland without some detail, IMO. I'm also not sure why in the hell he painted the mirrors lighter. I kind of liked them black, too.
So, he's going to fix those things. Other than that, the car looks like new again, eh? Sorry, these pics are a little crappy since they were taken at dawn with rather shitty lighting. (I just got home from a good night of drinking at a friend's house.) There will be more (and better) pics when I get it finished with the black trim. It's a tad dusty, but I live on a freaking dirt road, so it can't really be helped. But hey, it looks pretty damn good, doesn't it? It doesn't even have wax on it yet. The dude did do an excellent job, except for the few details I even wrote down, discussed with him, and even had him sign. He's more than willing to do it the way I want it and says it will only take a day. If not, I'm sure it won't take very long. The most important thing is that it has a nice, thick candy coating and it's completely rust and dent free.

NismoPick

Wow! Looks awesome!!!

SloppyGoat

Thanks! I can't wait to get the black parts painted right. It needs more black. Black and gray just go together well. I think the side skirts being black will make a nice little custom swoop stripe, don't you? And the rear spoiler was supposed to match. I think I'm going to have to ask that the mirrors be repainted flat black again too. I didn't ask for those to be changed. I kind of wanted all the black and darker trim to compliment the car, ya know?