thxone

I just looked at the underside of my car....I am a little worried now to drive it. I saw something hanging from the car so I grabbed it and pulled it off...I knew there was rust but now I want to cry. As you can see from the pic, this is a big hole...yes, that is the bottom of the carpet the arrows are pointing at! When I pushed on the floorboard from the bottom everything forward of the seat and about 4 inches before the pedals moved....alot.....like a rubber ball! Where the seat is bolted was solid. The firewall all the way down past the pedals was solid. I am worried also because the hole is very close to the side and I don't know if new pans can be put in!!!! I know you all know of the rust problems with these cars...any of you have luck with new pans and braces?

NismoPick

eh... it's not too bad. I fab'd up some simple floor pans for my z... just chopped out the rust & welded in some new sheets. Do you know how to MIG weld?

thxone

The welding is the only thing that is going to go right on this problem, I cannot weld myself but my friend in St. Pete, Fl, not to far from here is a fab wiz and has a large mig welder. He says he will put the floor pans in for me...free of charge (he gets off on this kind of work) but I have to buy the gas and get the right parts fo him to do it and stand behind his work. He told me to get a floor pan as a whole piece including the tranny hump....I cannot find one, just the ones from the Z store which is 4 pieces. Do you know of any single piece floor pans for a coupe ZX...not including the braces? I trust that his work is good and that he knows what he is talking about but should I not worry about it and get the Z store pans? They are pricey though.

apollo

find one in the yard in decent shape and cut it out

nismo619

u should be able to go down to home depo or any major hard ware store nad pick up WELD steel in small meduim and large and in this case x large peaces... i bought some from LOWES hard ware and thats what i used worked wonderfully and its pretty thick.. just make sure to " RE RUBBER'IZ " the bottom of your car after u weld in the new plate...

thxone

My only concern with fabbing custom floor pans is that I have no way to stamp them to add rigidity to the steel, as a sheet by itself it can be flimsy and I dont want the floor to move. I would not mind cutting the floor from another ZX in the junk yard but I have no way to cut it. I don't mind spending the money on the Z store pans and braces if they will fix the floors, I am sure I can fill the gaps if any with the weld steel from home depot as long as they are small pieces...either way I am going to have extra steel welded around the braces so the car can safely be jacked at certain points...like right after the curve coming off the fire wall behind the front tires where they are level and some in front of the rear tires. I will have to wait and see what can be done, as big as the hole is, the rear struts still need to be delt with first before I bust a mount.

SHADY280

i just pieced mine in, it works just fine this way, if he can use a sandbag for froming, itll look and perform just fine. heck i made a whole frame rail under my car, all 3 sides, just make templates outta cardstock, and away you go

thxone

I think I will run this by him, he seems to be real cocky when it comes to his skills...I am sure if I go down there and make him think I doubt his skills he will build me a 1984 Ferrari 308 GTB Quattro Valvole just to prove himself.

SHADY280

that pic looks just like all the z's i work on here in canada. its not that bad to repair, it happens to them all, ive done 3 like that times 2 sides, so 6 repairs now!!!!

skittle

you should gilt him into making you a widebody for it while your at it

thxone

Well I talked to my buddy with the welder this morning and I brought up fabbing the floor pans ourselves, he seems to think this would be a good idea...it would be cheaper and we could make the floors as strong as I want. He said he was going to suggest that to me but it seemed like my mind was set on blowing almost $400 on ready made stuff.

He said along with the sheet steel I should get some half inch, square chromolly tubing for bracing the floor. I guess there really is no reason to get the pans from the Z store if I can get the custom pans done way cheaper and stronger.

He also started showing me these weird hammers with plastic heads...well they looked plastic, some other weird metal hammers with really strange heads and all these chunks of metal with round tops and some stuff he called spoons, but I don't think you can eat off of them, then he tossed a heavy *** leather covered pillow filled with sand at me and said we shouldn't run into any problems and then he sent me on my way...I know he is from Canada and all but I think he is a little off his rocker....what am I going to do with a heavy *** pillow with sand in it???? I like my fluffy pillow I have at home! I don't know but he seemed happy to show me all that stuff and a little confused because I have no clue as to what he wants to use that stufff for...I guess I will find out cause he said he will show me how to use the stuff but its gonna take alot of time. Hey I am always willing to learn new things but the pillow has me a little worried...I don't want to end up in some weird sex thing!!!

NismoPick

I take it this is your first exposure to Auto Body Repair??? Body hammers, dollies, spoons, dent/stud pullers.... yada yada yada.... they are all important tools:

Bleach

thxone

This actually is the first time I have been shown this body working stuff, how can you tell? The pics you posted is exactly the stuff he has, his all have the wooden handles. He wouldn't clue me in as to their use, I guess because he had to go do stuff but I was scratchin my head when I left. I just figured...cut and weld...I guess there is more to it than that? Oh I forgot to say he brought that stuff out a while after I showed him the dent in my rocker panel. Man I am gettin some butterflys in my tummy thinkin about fixin the car the right way.

thxone

Ha Ha....I actually thought about that...some duct tape and fiberglass till I got the floor pans...you are a funny guy...

nismo619

LOl @# Bleach that was funny man i needed a good laugh hey bleach do u know any friends with some junked out 280zx turbo cars ? im in need of parts to get my 83 running drop me a private messege thanks , ken

p.s. to thxone it looks like a small hole maybe 6 inches by 10 inches.. i might be way off but im sutre your welder can eather use a recipercuting tool to cut straight lines to get ride of the rust and re weld on " thick " weld steel... not thin sheet metal..

skittle

all of those tools are used for shaping metal. the "pillow" is for the metal to lay on so the back side of the metal will not get messed up. Each "hammer" is used differently on different bends folds and such. I myself would love to have all of those as well as a slide hammer to pull nasty dents and an english wheel to fab my own wide body fenders.

thxone

Yeah, I have no idea what this guy has in his buddys shop. He says he has alot more stuff there. When I first started talking to him about how I got a 280zx by trading my Camaro for it he was like "you're and idiot" but now he is talkin about my floor pans, making a custom exhaust for it (he says he has a mandrel bender) and he says he will help me fix the suspension including the rack and pinion...I ask how much he is going to charge me and he said "just get the parts we need." I did help him paint his big *** house and build a deck for it, he offered to pay me but I told him not to worry about it because he has helped me out before. Since he is a "master mechanic" I ask if he could help me get some more power from the engine...He told me. and mind you he is Canadian.."that motor is pretty much maxed ooot, you may be able to get 200hp"

He ask me to come by tomorrow cause he has something to show me, something he says we will be putting in the car...man I hate surprises, this better be good.

CraigS

Bottle fed?!?!?!?!

NismoPick

Yeah... it's gunna take a lot of mods or a bottle to get an L28E to 200hp.... you've got about 70hp to add.... headwork, cam, port & polish, bigger TB, aftermarket ignition, bigger fuel pump....

apollo

Well good luck with everything. At least the your flappy headed canadian friend is willing to do all this. Just dont let him sway you in to calling it a Zed . .

jfairladyz

Zed...he-he...crazy canooks...

thxone

I think he was trying to say if I spent alot of money I may be able to hit 200hp from my motor. I just called him a little while ago to try and get him to tell me what he thinks we are going to put in my car...he laughed and finally caved and told me. He said he bought a 1982 280zx like mine brand new in 1983 but it was a turbo coupe with T-tops. He also said the only thing left of the car is the Engine, trans (5-speed), and rear end and it is under a tarp in his shed and has been for about 6 years. He told me he has all the parts to swap everything to my car like pedals and wireing but I will need to give him $200 for everything and he will teach me how to put it all in. Of course I said you got a deal!!

He said he use to race the car back in the day and put alot of money into the engine and rear end and that there was no way I was going to break the stuff. I ask how much power it had and he said he thinks it was around 230 something hp but said tq for sure was 266 cause thats what he cared about and said that was all at the wheels. Since the drive train has been sitting for 6 years he said we will pull the engine all apart and replace things as needed. I did ask him why he didn't get another Z and he just said he likes his 69 Mustang better, oh well all I know is I get to have a turbo ZX finally with a five speed and I get new floor pans and from what he says in all should be well below a grand. Looks like I won't be movin to Ga anytime soon lol.

Are there any questions I should ask him about the drivetrain to make sure he is not full of it? Or things to look for on the engine, tranny or rear?

skittle

very nice deal indead. If you had the money stroke it to a 3.1 then turbo the sucker..lol