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Datsun 240z Rear Hatch Sill Rust Repair


240zethan

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Hi,

I am new to this forum and was just looking for some general information on some rust repair I will be doing soon. My z has some rust on the hatch sill plate and I bought a new panel that was cut out from a parts car. The piece I bought is the sill and the latch mechanism. The piece has the about 6 inches of the tail light panel attached underneath it also. I have also attached a picture of the piece I bought for reference. I was just looking for any advice on replacing this part. I was planning on just cutting out the part on my car and welding in the new one but I have never done this before so I'm just looking for anyone who has done something like this.

Thanks in advance!

-Ethan

post-54265-0-17362300-1487541426_thumb.jpg

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Well, if you have never done anything like this before you should really practice before you start cutting into your car. Hit you tube and watch some vids,  It is probably just your sill plate that needs replacing so you have get yourself a spot weld drill and separate the sill plate from the rest and the same on your replacement piece. Once you get the rusty sill plate off you car it will look something like this,

post-28202-0-37301800-1487545838_thumb.jpg

You will need to grind down any rust that remains under the sill plate so that both the car and the replacement are clean bare steel.

It's not that this can't be a DIY job but if you want quality result this can't be the first project that you start with.

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I was originally thinking I could do that but most of the metal under the sill plate is also rusted on my car, that is why I decided not to buy just a sill plate. I have done some welding before and I was planning on doing some practicing before I do this also.

Does anyone think I'll have any issues replacing the whole sill plate and the structure underneath it?

Any information is appreciated!

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I don't think simply cutting out and welding in the piece you have there is the way to go. I would take your replacement piece apart by the spot welds, and remove the top sill plate on your car and see what you need to repair. In other words, repair the upper and lower sections of the sill plate separately. Patch the lower part as needed, and install your new sill plate on top. And as a general rule of thumb, you should try to do things as the factory did it, ie., use spot welds, don't just weld it in along the edges. I've seen people do that, and I don't know why they do it.

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Here is what the rust looks like on my car. To me, it looks like the rust is pretty bad and has eaten away some of the supporting structure underneath the actual sill plate. Would it still be best to take apart my patch panel and just use parts of the structure and then spot weld the sill plate on?

post-54265-0-98662800-1487553015_thumb.jpg

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Would it still be best to take apart my patch panel and just use parts of the structure and then spot weld the sill plate on?

That's more or less what I suggested in my post, and it's what I would do in your situation.

 

Drill out the spot welds, take the top piece off, and see what you've got.

 

Your sill doesn't look that bad, but I agree that it's probably worse underneath.

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I drilled my slam panel off and there were just a couple pinholes underneath I spotted with the welder. Since the slam panel isn't really a structural piece, I used bodypanel glue with a spot weld at each end. I can push my car with it and it doesn't budge.post-37191-0-69519400-1389583414.jpg

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