Chassis rust repair/reinforcement suggestions wanted

[turbogrill]

Hi,

 

My 280zx is pretty rusty and I race it so I should fix this.

Initially I was going to rebuild the frame rails but after some research it turns out that the rocker panels and the pillars are the important structures.

 

I am looking for some inspiration on how to reinforce the chassi. I assume many of you have done this! Pics would be great!

 

This needs to be fixed:

 

 

[FricFrac]

Yeah that is critical to the structure of the car.... you have your work cut out for you.  Personally I'd look for another shell - lots of solid cars in your area.

[grannyknot]

I'm with FricFrac, you need more then inspiration, you need a solid car. If that is the visible rust then the stuff you are going to find when you really start digging is going to stop you in your tracks.  Here is a Z I had before I started work on it, I thought it would be pretty straight forward,

Here is what I really had,

[redzedturbo]

Hey man i had this same rust ( not as bad) but in the same area at the turn up at the end of the rail. I used 18 gauge sheet and bent it using a hammer and a vice to the correct width and length the cut in the middle to fold it upward to get the bend there. Cleaning to bear metal all around the area and mig welded it in there coating with self etching primer then rust proof black rustolium rattle can. I would look for another shell as i have thought of doing many times and yours looks much worse than mine. Good luck sir.

[turbogrill]

Thank you all for your comments.

 

Problem with a different shell is that I already have a roll cage in it. Moving that roll cage into an another car is going to be a pain!

[LLave]

I would rather rebuild a cage then try to rebuild a chassis that is that far gone. Just my preference, I suppose. 

[Nelsonian]

I would rather rebuild a cage then try to rebuild a chassis that is that far gone. Just my preference, I suppose. 

My thoughts exactly. My S30 build has had many hidden rusted surprises that added up quite a bit. I'm sure another, better candidate can be found with a little searching. 

Edited October 6, 2016 by Nelsonian

[turbogrill]

My thoughts exactly. My S30 build has had many hidden rusted surprises that added up quite a bit. I'm sure another, better candidate can be found with a little searching.

A new cage is like $4000, maybe half that if reusing what we have (if possible).

 

I think it would be cheaper to just add tubing under the chassis to strengthen it a bit and also cut out the holes and weld in sheet metal.

Will see what my welder says.

Edited October 6, 2016 by turbogrill

[G-Tech]

I didn't have it that bad but I had the same spots. I bent up sheet metal and replaced part of the rails. the corner part was for sure the trickier part but just piece by piece replaced it all. at some point I tell myself to stop looking and start doing. I did do afterwards frame ties out of stainless 1x3. welded it to the front frame rails, welded along the bottom of the car and made a piece that went up to the rear subframe and welded to that, that would help you a lot. hope this helps

[Luke_elkins32]

im mostly just restomodding my 280zx for learning purposes but personally i took 16 gauge sheet metal i bought from home depot cut out the rust and took some rough estimates (i had never done this before!) but used a hammer and a tape measure and a grinder! and made myself a more solid floor. what i learned in this process is HAVE PATIENCE! just keep in mind since its your race car weight reduction good luck!

 

[rossman]

On 10/6/2016 at 6:24 PM, turbogrill said:

Will see what my welder says.

It's going to cost you a lot of money to pay someone else to repair the car. Probably more that the car is worth including the roll cage. It's possible to fix it yourself, it's just a lot of work.  I just replaced the floor pans and frame rails on my car. It took much longer than I initially thought but I learned a lot along the way.  Good luck!