I didn't know if I should start a new thread or not, but I was looking at the rear of my car. It still has the rear panels on it mind you, but I took this pic from Nismopick's cardomain.



Now the area in green that I've kinda hihglighted seems like there's something there that I can just push my finger through. By Nismopick's picture here it looks like nothing ever existed in that spot unless it was cut out or something. I can push my finger through what feels like a super thing layer of something and rach through and touch my finger to the panel behind it, I go up a little higher and it's all oxidized , but that all feels really sturyd. Can anyone elaborate on this? I know you guys all say like rusted frame rails and stuff aren't such a big deal. Rust in the area or around the area I've highlighted. Is this a big problem? I'm feeling like wgc_3 at times, and beginning to wonder if I'm getting into something that's not worth it? I'll try and get some pics but my rails, and pans seem like they're in very good shape with just very minor surface rust that I could cleanup.

 

pic no worky

 

There I fixed it, the link was messed up.

 

I think this is the pic?




And you are talking about the green part? That was all rusted out & I had to fab up several pieces to meet the quarter panel. That was back in 98 (before I had a digi-cam) so I don't have many pics of body work. I will try to take some pics from the underside today.

 

ahh that would explain it. Yeah that's all rusted out on my car too. Unfortunately I really have not a clue or the tools to do that kind of bodywork. It still seems like parts of it are solid and it's still matched up, but I'm wondering is this something that's gonna be a big pain or something that really would make the car end up costing me more or make it not orth fixing rather than finding one with less rust? Or are these parts being rusted out not as big a deal as I'm thinking? Also whent he quarter panel was removed, did it have to be cut out, or can it actually be removed?

 

280zx quarter panels are a pain, so if you don't have auto body repair experience, don't do it. You need a spot weld drill, pneumatic hammer w/ chisel, body hammers & dollies, torch, welder, duck billed clamps, etc etc etc... Unless you are going to restore the whole car back to OEM or better, it's not worth it. The $500+ cost per panel isn't so pretty either. You could fab your own patch panels, or take it to a body shop... but taking it to a shop will be super pricey too. My advice, scrape off the loose rust, metal treat it & paint it w/ some good sealing paint.

 

well all that aside, how serious is it with the quarter panels rusting like that? It looks almost like there was never much metal there to begin with and hencey why it rusted through so easily.

 

yeah my whole piece, under the bumper ext. were rusted away so i took a cut off tool to it, and i think it looks much better...but now i have a whole back there.... oh nismopick you wanna weld them in bro...that'd be nice of you....i'll have pix later raining outside.

 

Sure... I charge $20/hr to weld

 

that's actually not too bad, it would just depend if you supplied the metal and such. oh and in these pix's they show the cut off back lower qtr. panel, and hole resulting...maybe i can get some money for that welding job...nismo.

 

hey if someone wants to help me weld in patch work, I'd be more than willing to pay for it By the way if that lower part is rusted and it's not touching the quarter panel, is that really going to matter much?

 

I'm talking more about the piece underneath. Like in the picture I was showing the quarter panel? I believe is removed. The piece behind that is what's rusted out. The actual quarter panel itself is all there and in relatively good condtion. I'm wondering though does anyone think that a shop could patch it up or repair it and keep the cost under $3k? That's kind of a high shot, but I do love the car and literally if that's all I need repaired like I think. Then it'd be worth it. Otherwise If someone is actually willing to I'd drive my car up to them and pay for materials and their service in helping me repair my car. Plus I could prolly learn a thing or two about body work.

 

For under $3k yeah... A body shop WILLING to do the job would prolly charge $700 - $800 to do it. I say "willing" because a lot of body shops aren't willing to fab up custom panels on a rusty car. Their job is "Auto Collision Repair."

 

wow nismopick, your selling yourself short at 20/hr. im up @ 30 an hour, but i guess that cdn dollars. i did both my quarters, man these cars suck with the metal quality and drainage design. i drilled new holes to help the drainage thing.

 

I keep finding more and more rust. I'm scraping away at the pans and they look like rust keeps extending under the undercoating. Did Nissan put on an undercoating or was that the previous owner? It doesn't look terrible, but I'm beginning to think I might be better off selling it and trying to find a car in slightly better condition. Even if it's not a Turbo. I wonder if as is if I could get $1500 for the car? I think I could. It's got 90k miles, the interior is in good shape, swastika wheels. P90a heads. Tons of new stuff on the engine, all it literally needs is the exhaust manifold gasket fixed. If I knew what I was doing this probably would be a great car, but since I'm clueless at body work it would end up costing me prolly way more. I could sell my T-5 tranny with it too.

 

did you look at my pix. i have neither the qtr. panel nor the wheel well extension. look hard, rust happens, just replace the panels cause you probably won't find one much better. for the same price range. i'd just wait on fixing rust, until you find a welder man....or drive out to nismopick...

 

Good Luck With Selling It. I Was Trying To Sell Mine For That Amount And It Has Very Very Little Rust, And No One Would Even Call About It. I'm Keeping It Now Though.

 

keep your car dude, just cause you found some rust doesnt mean you should give it up. its not worth it sometimes. its easy to fix the rust now while its not too major, wait a few and it will get worse. if it wernt for ppl like me, canada would have no z cars at all. we just keep on fixing them and loving them so they stay on the road.