Author Archives: RussD

I’ve got a definitive answer on the clowns that made rust “repairs” on the Z – it was deliberate. I was probing one of the front frame members in an area that wasn’t obviously bad and the screwdriver went all … Continue reading →

Time to really dig into the Z body and find out what is going on. Starting with recollections of hell from the Imperial – removing undercoating. Dig out the heat gun. The arm I used to hold the heat gun … Continue reading →

After discovering and documenting needed sheet metal repairs I continued the investigation with mechanical and electrical issues. A lot of this was known going in, which provided the foundation for my original plans. Start with a complete brake job. I … Continue reading →

I was almost a tiny little bit disappointed that the Z body was in such good shape. It looked like this would be a straightforward mechanical restoration. Making this restoration a relatively small job. At least compared to the Imperial. … Continue reading →

Continued searching turned up something interesting – a 1978 Datsun 280Z in Kansas. This was near the top of my list. I had a 1976 280Z. Looking for a new car I had a slight preference to a 1977 or … Continue reading →

New England is brutal on older sports cars. They degrade into a mound of rust in what seems like minutes. The odds are greatly against finding anything local that is in good shape. If you are looking for something specific … Continue reading →

Well, I got sent to Fort Leavenworth… Any post that starts with a line like that requires explanation! You just know that there is a story behind it. So here is the story: I was perusing Craigslist. That phrase is … Continue reading →

Time to close the hood and take the Imperial out for a test drive. Except the hood won’t close… I’ve been having ongoing trouble with the hood. The rear corner on one side where the hinge is won’t go down … Continue reading →