Here are some new videos freshly uploaded of the Fairlady receiving a new coat of life.

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I can not express enough how much I freaking hate fiberglass. I spent the majority of my Saturday today trying to at least make the front bumper ground effect piece look halfway decent and the end result is an entire body itch and epic fail. More on that later in the post on to the discussion on the picture below us. If you look back into some of the firsts posts on this site you will see the problem areas that had to be addressed in the cowl area of this One Dollar Z. There was a good amount of rot all the way through the metal and a lot of pitted surface rust is surrounding areas.

I used a wire wheel and POR-15 and also where there were hole I used 3Ms 8115 panel bond. The 8115 is a great product that works way better in odd areas where welding would only cause more damage. I used the POR-15 on all the areas that was rust pitted and also did my best to get it under all the bad areas. I feel good about the repair and confident it will last a long time.

One thing about these cars I see as an issue for others restoring them is the cowl area that I had minor problem with would be HUGE issues for others wanting to restore one that didn't spend its life on the west coast. The cowl area on these cars are a welded in body panel like a quater panel or rear body panel. No easy replacement nor would I guess a OEM or aftermarket cowl panel is even available. I know how lucky I am to have been able to repair, what looks like a very common rot  on these, while it was still small and not all the way gone.

Hanging here are the two mirrors. While looking for other parts I noticed how redonkuliousness the prices are on these tiny things. Thank god I haven't had to replace stupid stuff like that. I have been searching for all the weather strip rubbers for the car and that also seems like a great way to spend more than the car is worth.

Here is the last load of parts for my Z. I originally planned on having this thing done by mid May. HAHAHAH I missed that big time right? It doesn't really matter because now I am racing the big change of of basecoats switching from solvent to waterborne. I just want to paint this baby with something I know works.  Anyways in this picture below is the front bumper lower ground effect, the second piece or the rear bumper, and the two mirrors. I also primer the cowl panel today but I sprayed it behind the paint booths.

After 5-6 hours of working this one piece and my whole entire body itching from the dust of the rare fiberglass I thought it was good enough to primer. Of everything I have done on this car and in the shop in my whole life I don't believe I have ever been more disappointed. Keep in mind this piece has been repaired at least 293 times and painted/ touched up at least another 442 times. I worked it, glazed pin holes, sanded off bad paint, fixed countless cracks in the gell coat, filled MORE pinholes, and when I finally thought it was ready for primer I was wrong. EPIC WRONG. No big deal I now can see the last 75% that needed finished and I can dress it up a bit before Thursday.

Oh BTW... I plan to paint this Fairlady Z Thursday June 30th 2011. Its on like Donkey Kong.

Today was finally the big day. Hundreds of hours of body and prep work to get to this point but I got the job done. Big BIG thanx to the good painter at my shop for being a pal and partaking in the highs and lows of the day with me. Also an honerable mention to the "other" painter who phoned in his help via text messages with true gems like "IS THAT THING PAINTED YET?", "I'M NOT YELLING I'M JUST OLD", and "WHAT? CAN YOU TEXT LOUDER I CAN'T READ YOUR TYPE."

It all started off at the crack of 6:45 a.m. with a shower and a little news. The sun was out and by 7:25 I was out the door. I hit up the local Speedway for a 44 oz of Mnt. Dew wake-me-up and was at the shop by 7:40. 7:52 and there is no boss to unlock the shop and I begin to get anxious. I hit up facebook to let world know that my house was empty to be robbed and then waited some more. At 8:00 on the nose the big man with the key arrived and the doors were open for my evil painting challenge. I guess the late start is just a little payback for me always being not early on an average work day. Before I could pull my van around to the back of the shop and walk in the boss had already left leaving me to focus on what the skeptics said couldn't be done.

I started off by gathering the 17 pieces together that was going to go through the transformation today. I stood back gazing upon them all wondering what in the hell am I thinking? I am about to paint a 30 year old car and I still don't know what color I am going to be spraying? Keep in mind it is about 8:25 at this point. Like a man I ignored the problem knowing I had to get the remaining parts ready to be painted before color would be an issue. At 9:17 the "good" painter showed up and to my surprise he was in his black SS Chevy truck with his Arab Money wheels in the bed. He helps me tag team the parts getting everything wet scuffed and in the booth by 11:00. I pre-cleaned the tub and the 16 parts and following Bryces instructions I began to mix 3 quarts of my Nissan Daytona Blue base coat. I decided on the blue for two reasons. First off it came in number one in the poll on this site and second it wasn't a tri-coat color like the pretty white I was thinking about.

11:18 a.m. I receive a text from the no show painter and it reads word for word "IS THAT F@$KING 1 DOLLAR Z PAINTED YET?" and I reply, "Almost... I decided on Lime Time Green." He dismissed my claim and accused the good painter of doing the spray work for me. So ignoring Doug's texts I finished my first qt. of base and got ready for the next. I mixed all the tint colors spot on and went to reduce the mix. I pored the remainer of the gallon can and went to the stock to get a new one and yah... there was no back-ups. So I have a car and 16 pieces to transform into a blue monster and all I have enough reducer for is 1 quart correct and one quart a little thick. I panic, walk out side, and trow a temper tantrum my two year old son would be astonished by. I search everywhere hoping to find a can lost or hidden but nadda. I text the other painter asking, hoping, begging that he might have a stash or possibly hid the key to painting this car. Not love there so I called an old friend in the paint business and heard the answer I had already considered myself.

12:15 p.m. I began to layout out the base coat on the 280zx. I have 4 quarts of color and all is well. I lay-down a light "tack" coat of color on all 17 pieces of the car and 3/4 of the way through I used up my first quart of color. "No big deal" I thought to myself and grabbed the next qt. and finished the rest of booth number 1. (BTW booth number one is the booth belonging to the painter #1 because he is the one that showed up today.)

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More coming later... You can cheat and check out all my YouTube videos before I post them here by subscribing to my channel. My Youtube Channel.

Greetings my lovely readers to an all new installment of 1$Z. I got lucky and bought a babysitter for the day and was finally able to put a good 9 hours into this project. While I was sanding today I thought to myself how quick I thought I was going to bust this bitch out in the begining but JOKES on me because I once again find myself going way to far into certain things that would have been just fine left alone. Also I took the time so you can click on the photos and get a large version of the pic inside my posts... I will soon begin to go back and update the archived posts to do the same.

Alrighty now in todays installment of 1$Z we finally got the hood finished and ready for primer. I can't stress enough how hard it was to get this hood straight and proper enough to primer. Well I should say proper enough for the first primer... chances are I will have to block this hood and primer thick again all just because thats the first thing everyone looks at on a car. If the hood is like glass its worth checking out the rest right? While spending my 8 hours sanding today I was remembering the old featherfill material that was a REALLY thick primer for blocking. Could have used it.

Today I primered the hood, drivers door, both rocker moldings, and one piece of the rear bumper ground effect kit. I used about a half gallon of primer and if my painters are reading this far into this post "HEY WE NEED MORE PRIMER!"

When you think about it I spent $25 on a babysitter today and probably did $700 to $1000 worth of labor. Hard to explain that to people when they ask you "Hey man how much to restore my old "75 rusted out Chevy truck?" And then I tell them, Starting at about $10,000 if you want it good... Way more for NICE. Usually they walk away which is fine by me. I would rather make $350 on a hundred collision jobs than the same on restoration jobs. Restoration is mostly labor becuase you have to save many of the old parts since their arn't many good replacements left around.

I would guess that I have at least 14 real life hours in "trying" to make this hood straight. We will see when we block the primer down.

I hate putting pics up here without at least a sentence or two about what is going on in the image but when you put this many pics up in one night its hard to come up with enough BS to fill in the blanks. Below is the hood and the door just sitting there begging for a big cup or primer to mist all over them.

One of the best parts about working on a Saturday is the shop is nice and quiet. No boss screaming you name no air hammers on the frame racks. Just you and your bullshit you have gotten yourself into. I put my headphones on and just drift away into the labor. "To buy something pretty is consumerism, to build something beautiful with your hands is zen."- MuGumBo

Some higher ups at the shop thinks the black haze on the parts I keep primering is some sort of "solvent pop" or whatever chemical reaction they heard about from a drunkin hobo that painted their next door neighbors tool shed. In reality it is just a trim black spay bomb that I dust on at the end of primering so I can see low spots while blocking the primer down.

I fear that the people just clicking through my site here won't get the true feel of what taking a project like this on is all about. Getting started is so easy to do but finishing it all or getting to the point that its near finished (no car is ever finished) is very difficult to do. At least it is for me... I currently have 4 cars and trucks at my shop right now and I just can't seem to get anything done on my own shit.

Regardless of the other vehicals that I am ignoring the dirty little Datsun is getting finished and driven. I can not wait for the days of driving home from work and noticing people turn their heads because they have never seen a 280zx or haven't seen a nice one in a long time. And now that I am rambling and finishing up the largest post I have ever written for my site I want to put out a comparison out there. I am stating to believe that GM stole many concepts from the late 70s early 80s  280s for the late 80s-mid 90s lines of Corvettes. Think about it DOUGY.