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Rear Hatch Sill Replace it or wait it out.


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Hey Guys,

 

I just finished doing vinyl work on my car and forgot about a major rust area at the back hatch sill. My question is.. can I wait? I plan to get the car sandblasted, rust corrected and painted in 3 to 4 years and would like to hold off but I can tell its bad.

 

I bought a replacement top sill but I know damage is done underneath. If I paid someone to do the bottom piece (fab and welding) would it be expensive? Say over $500. I am not comfortable welding.

 

I am in California and owned the car for 2 years and never touched the rust knowing I need to asap before the rear tail light area gets worse.

 

Would the rust get much worst in that time or would it be similar and I should just wait.

 

Thanks for your help,

 

Shane

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Edited by supershanesta
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21 minutes ago, Neverdone said:

That would drive me insane looking at it every time I opened the hatch.

 

The rest of your car is looking pretty good right now. Are you going to be ok with that rather large cancerous section that's constantly getting worse?

 

To me, it just depends on how much worse. If its not going to change much in 3 years then i would rather wait. But it does suck to stare at it.

Edited by supershanesta
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You may have a typeo... What and welding?!

 

Hah, joking aside. Here is my take: 

 

Hiring someone to repair that properly is likely an expensive endeavor just due to the time involved. If you can weld, or have a friend that can weld it up, Z car depot sells that whole panel for like $140 You can carefully drill our and cut welds, fit the new panel and weld it in.

 

Can it wait? It's your car. I have drive cars with worse rust. Is it a good idea? Probably not.   

 

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18 minutes ago, ZHoob2004 said:

Craigslist can be a decent source for semi-pro welders. I just dropped my z off at a guy I found that way and I can't imagine he'd want more than a few hundred for that repair.

 

Interesting. Did he do the same repair or something else?

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I contacted him to do a rear quarter replacement for which he quoted $200-300, but instead we decided to have him just pull and patch the panel that's already there plus some other miscellaneous welding. He's only doing the metalwork, no paint or filler.

 

I haven't got the car back yet, so I can't say anything about the quality of work at this moment. I think he's going to do a good job. The welding on his projects in his garage looked excellent, and he seemed to know what he was talking about.

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Well I got a quote.... $600. This is from Craigslist.

 

At that price I feel like I should just buy a Vulcan 140 welder from Harbor Freight for $400 and make this a DIY. Practice for a week and go for it.

 

Anyone here weld? Do you think it would be too ambitious of me to try to do it myself with little to no experience?

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Go to your local community college and take a class in welding if you're really worried and want more than getting your degree the University of Youtube.

 

That being said, there's a lot of guys out there who put a lot of great information on this on Youtube. Picking up some random pieces of sheet metal, cutting them and welding them back together is great practice. Plus when you're done you have a welder and have learned a new skill!

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6 hours ago, Neverdone said:

Go to your local community college and take a class in welding if you're really worried and want more than getting your degree the University of Youtube.

 

That being said, there's a lot of guys out there who put a lot of great information on this on Youtube. Picking up some random pieces of sheet metal, cutting them and welding them back together is great practice. Plus when you're done you have a welder and have learned a new skill!

 

Your right. At the end of the day it will be worth it for me to learn. I can use it on other parts of the car later down the road.

 

3 hours ago, socorob said:

Since thats not really a structural piece, I used body panel glue will a few spot welds all around.

 

Also a good point as it is not visible and structural. If it doesn't look great who cares.

 

I really appreciate your guy's responses. I think I will be going the diy route and buying welder. It will come in handy for sure! I will be posting my progress here later in the weekend and hopefully get it done in the next couple weeks after I feel comfortable welding.

 

Thanks,

 

Shane

Edited by supershanesta
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I have no welding training but I've used a Harbor Freight MIG welder before and was not impressed.

 

If you can afford to have someone do it for you, I would pay to have it done. If not, cut out the bad stuff, treat it with rust inhibitor, then pop rivet the new part in. The rivet head can be sanded flatter (not enough to cut them out) and counter sunk with a ball peen hammer, then hidden with plastic body filler. Since I live in NE Ohio, I've had a lot of experience in this process.

 

I would definitely fix it right away. With everything your doing with your car, how can you ignore it?

Jeff

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On 5/24/2018 at 12:22 PM, supershanesta said:

Well I got a quote.... $600. This is from Craigslist.

 

At that price I feel like I should just buy a Vulcan 140 welder from Harbor Freight for $400 and make this a DIY. Practice for a week and go for it.

 

Anyone here weld? Do you think it would be too ambitious of me to try to do it myself with little to no experience?

Don't buy a HF welder, you will regret it, they are garbage. Learning to Mig is pretty easy on a good machine.  If you can find a used Miller or Lincoln that would be ideal and after the car is repaired if you find you are not using it you will get every cent back when you sell it on Craigs.

This is the part you need, https://tabcoparts.com/1234-42395.html

Drill out the spot welds, clean up the rust underneath, weld in your new sill.

Oh, just re read your first post, so you already have the sill, get a spot weld drill and you're ready to go. I can send you some detailed pics of the procedure if you are interested.

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On 5/26/2018 at 3:26 PM, grannyknot said:

Don't buy a HF welder, you will regret it, they are garbage. Learning to Mig is pretty easy on a good machine.  If you can find a used Miller or Lincoln that would be ideal and after the car is repaired if you find you are not using it you will get every cent back when you sell it on Craigs.

This is the part you need, https://tabcoparts.com/1234-42395.html

Drill out the spot welds, clean up the rust underneath, weld in your new sill.

Oh, just re read your first post, so you already have the sill, get a spot weld drill and you're ready to go. I can send you some detailed pics of the procedure if you are interested.

 

 

Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I bought the cheapest welder that HF has to offer! lol. I have seen others use this on a datsun and weld in panels without too much issue. I know it burns hot, I know it uses flux but I plan to do small beads and move around to get it done right. I am practicing with sheet metal now.

 

If you think this is a very bad idea let me know, but after doing testing I think it can be done. Might not be the cleanest, but It can be done.

 

My dad always tells me "SBE" Shitty but Effective. That's my goal.

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6 hours ago, supershanesta said:

My dad always tells me "SBE" Shitty but Effective. That's my goal.

Dude, that's a terrible goal. Do the job properly, or don't bother. If you can't afford to do it properly now, wire wheel the rust, and treat it with naval jelly to stop it. That will at least buy you some time.

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2 hours ago, rturbo 930 said:

Dude, that's a terrible goal. Do the job properly, or don't bother. If you can't afford to do it properly now, wire wheel the rust, and treat it with naval jelly to stop it. That will at least buy you some time.

 

Shit but effective means that the welds dont look pretty but it effectively shields from water and rust. It is non structural and hidden. If the weld is solid, grinded flat, and painted you would never tell the difference. It can be done properly with patience. Which I have. I will post pictures after.

 

Thanks,

 

Shane

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If you interested in repairing the hatch, go to V8 Z forum-GenIV-Heavy Duty Frame section, there are photos of a hatch repair.   Hope to finish

it by this weekend.  Hope this helps you.

Edited by toolman
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3 hours ago, toolman said:

If you interested in repair the hatch repair, go to V8 Z forum-GenIV-Heavy Duty Frame section, there are photos of the hatch repair.   Hope to finish

it by this weekend.  Hope this helps you.

 

Thanks I will definitely take a look!

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