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Bra for 2,000 mile trip w new paint?

4634 Views 29 Replies 17 Participants Last post by  brazilgoal, 
J
I just bought a mostly-restored 83 280ZX in Sonora, CA. Owner 3 months ago had a nice (well, he said; "very high-level, expensive" without really knowing the details) paint job back to the car's factory burgundy. So, the shipping cost being too much after this poor man just spending a little over $4,000 on his first Z, I decided to fly to Sacramento this Thursday & drive back to Texas (Waco). Ulterior motives are 2 days at Yosemite and 1-2 days at Grand Canyon (never been to either) and a possible day in Vegas as well as an Cliff's Amusement Park in Albuquerque to ride one of the few wood roller coasters I've not been on, the New Mexico Rattler (I'm a coaster enthusiast/hobbyist since 1979).

Enough preamble for what's probably a dumb question, should I protect the nice, new paintjob, at least on the nose, and get a bra for the trip home (2,000 miles, remember)? Owner reports currently no dings, chips, rust, NOTHING, and I sure would like to keep it as close to that as possible. I know they're a little over $100 from Motorsports and I would have it shipped 2 or 3 day shipping to the owner's home. Maybe he'll even install it for me?!

Anyway, any advice for this first-ever Z car for a budding Z enthusiast is appreciated, especially pertaining to my long trip. Already comparing different security measures to put on car before departing back to Texas. What do you think? Club? GPS tracking? Alarm? Killswitch? Combo or all of em? The car was in storage for many years after a restoration. Has 160,000 + miles. Recently new interior back to factory red or burgundy. Current owner bought it 9 months ago and has driven it a little over 200 miles in those 9 months. He, and the maintenance facility he takes car to, report the car in excellent, incredible, wonderful condition. Almost-perfect compression, uses no fluid, new tires, no shimmy or wham while braking (typical ZX issue I hear), everything works, except the a/c, which I'm considering sending a retro kit to the shop in Sonora, just so I can enjoy completely, in lavish air-conditioned comfort (!), the drive back into the already-getting-hot conditions across the dessert (desert?) into west & central Texas. Please tell me that's a dumb idea with the retro being a simple job I can do home in Waco in just a few hours (so I hear). The shop in CA. will charge a little over $200 if no other issues with a/c are found.

O.K. That was a bit longer than I expected, but my main question was do you think I should protect the super-cool new paint job with a bra? Touch the other issues if you want to. Thanks so much in advance. I'll post more about my new purchase later today or tomorrow.
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C
I wouldn't put a bra on the car. They tend to trap dust which will end up doing alot of damage to the paint. I had one on my '84 300zx and it looked like someone had sanded the clearcoat. Best bet is to keep a good distance behind traffic if you can. Enjoy the Z.
Brent
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J
When the question is bra or no bra, come on guys, it's an easy answer. Isn't it always no bra? :)
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heroe
I like rock chips, I highly recomend them. These high speed collisions give your z a high performance look that will impress young and old. Over time these rock chips add up untill finally you reach a point of aerodynamic upgrade known as simply the golfball effect. Your now improved z will cut through the wind effortlessly saving you double, even triple the cost of a bra in the course of one year of fuel savings. Using a bra will negatively result in the bra causing thousands of tiny scratches due to vibration in the soft paint that have to be painstakingly buffed out by a high speed buffer as long as they hadnt 'burned through' the paint altogether. These scratches left untreated cause drag on a key area of the cars aero design, decreasing fuel efficiency. A bra on new paint traps moisture between the paint and bra which im most cases causes a slight discoloration. Rock chips on the other hand, actually get better with age. After a few years they start eating. Eating away unnecessary metal and improving airflow over the motor, and we all know these motors run hot. I say embrace the rock chips, its almost impossible to repaint a hood, so thats usually not an option for most people. Some bird will crap, and it gets on the paint, Cat vomit can discolor reds. Lets face it, the paint is already scratched, and chipped away somewhere in places on the car from reassembly during the repaint. Rust has got a foothold there. Just imagine what that new paint is hiding. Rust is always at work. Save your money, go with rock chips. If you had a museum, you would have trailered it right? So now that you have seen how we can do your thinking for you, do you feel less worried over the dreaded monster where you have to decide. That part where you are responsible for outcome. Nobody there to direct you in this situation and all, it must be overwhelming.
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black gold man
http://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/pts/2341976575.html
I say no bra required.
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heroe said:
I like rock chips, I highly recomend them. These high speed collisions give your z a high performance look that will impress young and old. Over time these rock chips add up untill finally you reach a point of aerodynamic upgrade known as simply the golfball effect. Your now improved z will cut through the wind effortlessly saving you double, even triple the cost of a bra in the course of one year of fuel savings. Using a bra will negatively result in the bra causing thousands of tiny scratches due to vibration in the soft paint that have to be painstakingly buffed out by a high speed buffer as long as they hadnt 'burned through' the paint altogether. These scratches left untreated cause drag on a key area of the cars aero design, decreasing fuel efficiency. A bra on new paint traps moisture between the paint and bra which im most cases causes a slight discoloration. Rock chips on the other hand, actually get better with age. After a few years they start eating. Eating away unnecessary metal and improving airflow over the motor, and we all know these motors run hot. I say embrace the rock chips, its almost impossible to repaint a hood, so thats usually not an option for most people. Some bird will crap, and it gets on the paint, Cat vomit can discolor reds. Lets face it, the paint is already scratched, and chipped away somewhere in places on the car from reassembly during the repaint. Rust has got a foothold there. Just imagine what that new paint is hiding. Rust is always at work. Save your money, go with rock chips. If you had a museum, you would have trailered it right? So now that you have seen how we can do your thinking for you, do you feel less worried over the dreaded monster where you have to decide. That part where you are responsible for outcome. Nobody there to direct you in this situation and all, it must be overwhelming.
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I'm still with BGM on this one. Heroe, I'm thinking there may be two different conversations going on with this thread!
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heroe
One for each of my personalities? With different ones, its like you get to see different angles, which I think makes the communication more effective.
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brazilgoal
The previous owner of my '82 Burgundy ZX drove cross country in one year putting on 35K in that year. He did not use a bra, so there were some rock chips. The worse thing was that he did not clean off the bugs that encountered the hood and leading edge. They have since severely damaged the paint and are impossible to remove. I recommend that you clean the bugs off daily.
See the pic of the hood as I first got it and then after I got it painted. You can still see some bug damage on the plastic facing between the hood and the bumper. Enjoy the travel!
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palladin
WTH? I answered this hours ago. Here is the synopsis...good response BTW, Heroe.

Bra...I use one on every trip...no issues. Don't let it get wet and dry on the car.
Security: This isn't a Porsche...no one wants it...no one wants to steal it...beware of joyriders. So pull the coil wire at the restaurant and pull the cap at the motel.

AC: manual or auto. If leather seats, it is auto air and has its own problems that will probably end up costing a couple thousand to have someone else fix. this is why many of us converted to manual air. This involves pulling the dash. Google "envirosafe'...it is a freon substitute that you do not have to pull a vacuum. You could use that to get a charge for the trip home. Save yourself the $200 when you get charged and they still cannot get it to work. I had to pull my dash, remove the evaporator to gain access to the expansion valve to disassemble and clean. A shop would never have figured this out. Again, Ricky, you are going to have to learn this car yourself unless you have an unlimited amount of money to have someone experiment with it.
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Customlock
Just use the Blue Painter's tape on the front end, put it on just before you leave for your trip and remove it once you arrive at your destination. You might look like a dork on the trip, but you won't have bug crap or rock chipped paint when you get where you're going. Total cost of the solution: $5.00 or less at any Walmart.
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heroe
I just got a picture of one of the regulars z car with an electrical tape bra.
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borini63
We used to use Grease on the front of our cars back home because of the dust storms and we used to put a nice thick layer.
After that just drive to a car wash!!
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B
2
The choice is yours!

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palladin
Balls, maybe you left it on too long?
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A
Many years ago I drove my new 350z to Ohio and back here to Arizona. I used a bra, took it off each nite and washed the car, mainly to get the bug crap off. If it rained the bra would dry some while off. When I got back there weren't any nicks or scratches.

I would use the bra, or the blue paint idea, or the grease idea.
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steves
Bra's always remind me of the clear vinyl furniture covers people used to cover their fancy living room furniture with. It protected the furniture, but it always looked like the furniture was wrapped for storage. Whatcha got it for, anyway? ???

Just my personal preference, but I bought my Z to drive, and the road wear is part of that for me. I make sure not to follow rock trucks, try not to follow anybody too closely, and just don't obsess over it anymore.

I'm really not saying I'm right, just that my priorities on what upsets me and what doesn't have changed over the years. I'm liking this getting older thing. Perspective is good.

I do clean off the bugs pretty often, though. ;D
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B
Thats not my ride its just an example I found on the net, just to show what can happen. I would not go cheap when it comes to said Bra make sure its tight because any vibration from the wind will surely make marks.
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J
palladin said:
WTH? I answered this hours ago. Here is the synopsis...good response BTW, Heroe.

AC: manual or auto. If leather seats, it is auto air

Again, Ricky, you are going to have to learn this car yourself unless you have an unlimited amount of money to have someone experiment with it.
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The seats were reupholstered. While I did not ask specifically if they were re-done to factory specs, I assume they were since that was his goal. The seats are, are, uuhhh...leather. Well, they have leather in the middle and fabric on the head and lower front/knees area. Hey, don't laugh, in a very short while I'll know this car very, very well. : ) So, automatic air. I won't even ask, but I'm guessing that means car has a thermostat that adjusts air temp. automatically somehow. Don't tell me....(hands clasped tightly over ears!) I want to go to the material & learn this stuff from there, because it's surely in some manuscript I'll need to look at to start pulling things apart, fixing & modifying them, & putting them back together. Remember, my job is doing just that to large military aircraft. I'm very adept at reading blueprints/drawings/maintenance instructions and learning what to do very quickly, then putting my tools in the needed places and getting things done, so no worries. I will learn this car myself, although it's somewhat intimidating with my only car experience being a tranny replace on a Datsun 210 30 years ago & a recent radiator replace on Honda Civic. Well, I used to change oil, too, until I just got tired of finding a legal dump site & getting cut up for the all-but-impossible filter pull & replace. I just want a/c in my car for this long drive & don't have the means or time to work on the car myself in a foreign country, I mean California. Actually, temps aren't really that bad yet, except maybe across the dessert into West Texas. I'll get the temporary charge stuff for the a/c. Thanks. O.K. drum roll, please...here's a link to the close eBay auction and pctures. I'll post more better pictures after I get back to Texas in 1.5 weeks. Thanks all, I realize I posted this in 2 subjects, sorry!
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Customlock said:
Just use the Blue Painter's tape on the front end, put it on just before you leave for your trip and remove it once you arrive at your destination. You might look like a dork on the trip, but you won't have bug crap or rock chipped paint when you get where you're going. Total cost of the solution: $5.00 or less at any Walmart.
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Wow! That's an awesome idea! Thanks!
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JesusDrivesaZ said:
palladin said:
O.K. drum roll, please...here's a link to the close eBay auction and pctures. I'll post more better pictures after I get back to Texas in 1.5 weeks.
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OOPS! Forgot the link, here it is. Not the best picts (I'm a critical amateur photographer) but good enough to see the car well & the leather/fabric seats.

http://tinyurl.com/42rp3sh
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