A really late hello

[stevenj]

Hey everyone. I’m Steven from Birmingham Alabama. I’m 19 and joined the forum 2 years ago when i bought a 1969 1600 roadster along with a parts car but the guy that came to buy the parts car made me an offer for both I couldn’t refuse as I was restoring my 1975 280z at the time and taking autobody classes at my local community college along with high school and needed to focus all my time and money on the z and class. But I’m in university now and finally bought another roadster as I’d always regretted selling my first one. But anyways I’m back on the forum now due to buying a numbers matching 1968 2000 roadster out of atlanta. The guy I got it from had owned it for 25+ years and painted it himself years back. It currently doesn’t run but it does turn over and the floor pans and frame are in really good shape but it does have a few bubbles in the paint some of which I believe to be bad paint adhesion and others possibly rust but I won’t know for sure till i sand her down to do paint and body. But I’m gonna be in the process of getting her running and back on the road and then start on the paint and body work. I’ll do my best to keep y’all updated on the progress along the way.

[notoptoy]

Welcome! (Back)
Looks like you got a good deal on a very solid project car. Subscribed and will be keeping an eye on your progress!

[S Allen]

Welcome back. Looks like a great project. Look forward to watching your progress.

Steve

[stevenj]

some more pictures

[C.Costine]

Steven, it looks like a good project. I see two different rust problems there. My roadster had them both too. Especially at the tops of the front fenders there were many, many tiny bubbles. Removal of the paint revealed a little spot of surface rust under each one. it appears that there were a lot of tiny spots of rust, perhaps from a high humidity event just prior to painting that allowed rusting to start. The solvent wipe down would have removed moisture but not the rust that had started. This is what an acid wash prior to the solvent wipe down is for. The rust by the headlight and fender bottoms is penetrating rust from the back of the panel. To fix this you will need to cut the rusted metal out and weld new in. You will find plenty more when you remove the paint, but it is not as bad as many roadsters. There are repair panels made for welding onto the bottoms of the fenders, replacing the rocker panels and the arch in front of the rear wheel. Be careful that you don't get addicted to argon gas while welding all that new metal in!!

[theunz]

Congrats, looks like a good platform to build from. definitely going to need a bare metal respray, but hey, that's why you took those auto body classes, right? Having solid floor pans is a good indication that the rest of the car will be pretty decent. Good luck, and don't sell any spares until you get this one going

[C.Costine]

A couple suggestions: Flush your brakes ASAP. You may save the wheel cylinders both front and rear, approx $500.00. It is doubtful but possible. Second: fight mission creep by taking the body off the frame to start with. It will make it the job so much faster and easier. I sure wish that I had.