I'm at the early stages of getting the Zed back on the road... unfortunately the car's not been on the road for 16 years, and has been outside for the majority of that so rust is an issue - but not as much as I expected if I'm honest! Externally it's in pretty good shape, and the interior's looking good too... but under the bonnet and the rear sills are a different matter! 

So under the bonnet, there's surface rust everywhere... I've been all round with a hammer and it's all solid, so I'm thinking of getting it all off, probably mechanically, then chemically and just going with POR15... black engine bay isn't my first choice but guess I can always re-visit that in the future (engine rebuild will come first!). Any thoughts on whether that's reasonable, looking at the 2 photos below? 

I've has a borescope down the rails from the front and also the sills from inside and the front 90% is good (I'll have to find my card reader and share some pics) but the rear targa drain has caused some severe rust on the outer sill, and a couple of inches of the inner sill... I think the 'saving grace' was that the car's been parked on a slope so the water's obviously been draining fairly well... I've got a mig welder, but it's years since I've done any welding... so weighing up options at the moment (and reading RedWine's post on mig-wleding.co.uk)... I'm in the Lake District so if I get it done professionally, I'm pretty well placed to get it anywere in the North/ borders if anyone has any recomendations? 

Had a sit in it for the first time in ages and it's still a great place to be... although the observant among you will notice that the radio trim panel is missing... I swear I've got one somewhere(!) but did anyone ever get round to reproducing these, or is it just crazy prices to import still? 

Any advice welcome... even if it's don't bother... but I'll probably ignore you anyway ?

 

Rich

Mine is going to a place in Halifax for sill repairs and a few other welding bits in May. I can't say how good they'll be yet, but will report back. 

DST Rustworx on the east coast have worked on Z32s before and his work looks good. 

Garage with most experience in UK of 300s that is still operating is Metal Monkey in Bristol. So a bit of a trek. 

 

Radio trim available from Zspec and/or BlasterZGarage. Think @AndrewG has one for sale in classifieds though.

 

Don't use POR15 on the engine bay. It's not as good as it once was and isn't UV stable so will discolour each time you open the bonnet. Shift as much out of the way as you can. Take back to bare metal. Then get a garage to spray it. It'd be worth the money as POR will look gash. 

Oh, and check those suspension mounts from underneath. If it's like that on top, they may have started going from underneath. 

3 hours ago, Lexx said:

Mine is going to a place in Halifax for sill repairs and a few other welding bits in May. I can't say how good they'll be yet, but will report back. 

DST Rustworx on the east coast have worked on Z32s before and his work looks good. 

Garage with most experience in UK of 300s that is still operating is Metal Monkey in Bristol. So a bit of a trek. 

 

Radio trim available from Zspec and/or BlasterZGarage. Think @AndrewG has one for sale in classifieds though.

 

Don't use POR15 on the engine bay. It's not as good as it once was and isn't UV stable so will discolour each time you open the bonnet. Shift as much out of the way as you can. Take back to bare metal. Then get a garage to spray it. It'd be worth the money as POR will look gash. 

Cheers, will look into those.. and thanks for the heads up on the trim panel... will head there next! 

Didn't realise Por15 had got so bad... will crack on treating the rust and primer it for now I guess... hopefully get the shell in the air soon and will be able to look at the suspension mounts properly ? 

3 hours ago, Lexx said:

..................Garage with most experience in UK of 300s that is still operating is Metal Monkey in Bristol. So a bit of a trek. 

 

Radio trim available from Zspec and/or BlasterZGarage. Think @AndrewG has one for sale in classifieds though.

 

Yup - Metal Monkey is endorsed by Sir Jimmer so definitely worth using.

Andrew did indeed have a radio bezel for sale. I have one too, but have not yet advertised it. Andrew advertised his first so I shall stand behind him in reserve, should he have sold it by now.