redwine300

I was very tempted, :lol: went with 2 coats of 90% Zinc instead.

Well, after what felt like a week in the Sahara Desert, I finally had the thing grit blasted on all external surfaces. (well almost all) I left the mating and internal faces alone as they will not be as exposed. My next step will be to Acid Etch prime followed by a couple of layers of 90% Zinc.

Agreed. We are at risk of bringing this club into disrepute.

Good Point mate.:thumbup1: My plan though, is to follow the same route as I did when I replaced my front and rear sills. I will position the crossmember and scribe through the pre drilled holes, once that is done, I will remove the crossmember and locally grind back to bare metal where I need to weld. Not saying that this is the best way by any means, and it may be a bit long winded, It's just something I have adopted along the way. To be honest, I am just making it up as I go along.

Cheers mate, good advice. I have heard very good things about Dinitrol, but ended up with Bilthamber. I will make sure I get to all those inner areas as you suggest.

I know what you mean MantaV8, I just wanted to add extra protection to the hidden areas once the cross member is in place. Over kill I guess.

Progress stalled a little today, only managed to get a bit of white paint down on one side. I hate the over spray mind. :cursing: Still, it's the structural integrity that matters most. (well that's what I keep telling myself.) :blush::whistling: Hopefully I will have the crossmember fully shot blasted tomorrow, then things will move a bit quicker.

Decided I would go back to bare metal as I do not have 100% confidence in the OEM primer. Once bare, I will acid etch prime, followed by a couple of 90% Zinc coats so as to add as much protection as possible. Once that has completely cured, I will spray the thing white.

First coat of 90% Zinc primer on the one side so far, admittedly not the neatest of jobs, what with the over spray. :blushing: My initial aim is to secure the area in readiness for fitting the new cross member, precision has taken a back seat I'm afraid. :oops: Something I can always rectify at a later date I guess.

Very true Andrew. :thumbup1:

Sorry Russ, missed that part of your thread. Looking good by the way.

Mmmmm STELLA300? now there's a thought. :lol: As you say, it is a good turning point when things start to look nice again, only thing is I find myself getting impatient. I have to check myself sometimes and make sure I do not cut any corners.

Cheers Joely P, :thumbup1:I am glad that it is of great interest to fellow Z owners, hopefully the step by step photo's will be of use to others also. As for the Stella? I'm on my third crate already. Not today you understand, since I started that is. :lol:

Again, great minds think alike Russ, I love the Bilthamber products. Thanks for the compliments guys, it helps keep me going. Anyway Russ, suspension parts? where are the pictures?

Cheers bud. :thumbup1: I must say, I am getting a great deal of satisfaction and enjoyment from doing it.

Great minds think alike. Just applied my first coat of rust killer, waiting to put the second coat on. Went a bit overboard in places. That way it should be ready in time to apply some 90% Zinc primer tomorrow.

Nothing too exciting I'm afraid, just trying to clean up the mating faces. Tedious or what!

A real god send, so grateful to Lymon for referring to them in an earlier post. Not sure I would of picked up on it myself.

So pleased with the fit, very happy with it.

:tt2::lol:

Just a couple of pictures of the new crossmember. :tongue_smilie: Tad-ah.

It is now. :lol:

Sorry Andrew, ran out of time. I will post a couple of pictures tomorrow. :whistling:

Thanks guys, I do appreciate your thoughts and encouraging words, especially after tonight's escapades. I thought the first side was challenging, but it was nothing compared to this side. Why change the number and position of the spot welds? not to mention the hidden ones. Anyway, after several hours attacking the little blighters, I then discovered that the bolts attaching the damn thing to the tie rod bracket were just spinning, the fixed nuts had rotted though and yet somehow were still retaining the thing. Still it's off now and thankfully the chassis side of things seem to have stood up well.

New cross member arrived today! :hyper: