cbuczesk

Datsun didn't get much if any primer and paint on the back side of the cowls. The foam pieces are very dense so I don't think that they hold much moisture. I can test it if you like. Make sure that you paint or POR15 the cowl area and that the drains are not clogged. That should take care of any rust problems for years. Look how long it lasted with almost no protection. If you're going to the effort of putting the car on a rotisserie why not just replace the cowl panel? It'll save you a lot of time and labor. I can probably ship one to you for $50 if you want to go that route. Chuck

Tim, I went to Ship, too. Class of 1989 Comp Sci. You? BTW, welding the cowl might warp it enough to be straight! Never seen a straight one... Chuck

No matter what you do you'll need to make that hole bigger. There's still some rust there. I'd weld in a patch. Just take your time so it doesn't warp. You can use a flanger to recess the hole so the metal is at the same level when you weld. Then grind the welds, apply POR15 and then do the plastic filler. The glass filler in your link will work to fill that hole if you decide to go that way. It's very strong. You can use some plastic door screening as a backing material. Do what Time said about the grinding and POR15 before you fill. Chuck

I recently installed the front and rear skirts on my early 260Z. The front was pretty easy but the rear took some work. If the sides of the rear bumper are too long then move it higher. It's better to trim a little extra off the sides where it meets the body so you can get the correct side length. Once everything lines up properly you can then fix the gap between the bumper and the body. To fill that gap I used masking tape on the bumper and had meet flush against the body. I then removed the bumper, flipped it over and filled in the gap with fiberglass. After that dried I cut off the excess using the masking tape as my guide. It was ver simple to do it this way and came out great. I'll try to post some pics tonight. My bumper has a small gap because I plan to put a rubber gasket between the bumper and body to prevent damage to the paint. Chuck 1974 260Z turbo

You can access the inside of the rocker from inside the car. You can even drill an 1/8" hole in the rocker to spray the penetrating oil and then weld it later. All of that probably won't work by itself. The best trick that I've learned is to use a MIG welder to remove rusty bolts. Just weld on a big blob of metal to the head of the bolt. Don't weld on the sides! As soon as you're done welding just unbolt it. This works very well for removing bolts that have broken heads. The weld blob gives you a big area to clamp your vise grips. Chuck