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Tim's 302Z


tim.d

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  • 2 months later...

So the last few weekends I've started tackling the driver's side rocker replacement.  After drilling out many, many spot welds I found that the "tie in panels" (which I didn't even know where there) were rotted out as well. Picked up a set from Prospect-D to save myself some fabrication time, and have been working on removing the rotten metal , treating, and replacing.  I also found that the lower portion of the rear inner fender was completed rotted out; so that's another panel I'll have to make from scratch, but I'll get to that after the rockers are back in.  Looks like the PO was well aware of the rot in this area... as he came up with a rather "Home Depot" approach to repair.

 

What metal was left was brushed down the best I could with wire wheels, and then ospho'd twice, followed by rust converter for anything else I missed, then weld thru and normal primer.  three days of curing just to get through the primer stages!  ugh, le lame.

 

Album: https://imgur.com/a/SkwkJ

 

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30 minutes ago, grannyknot said:

Man that is some serious rust, that's brave of you to tackle the doglegs. Is that wire mesh and bondo the PO fix you mentioned?:blink:

Don't really have much of a choice, I've committed to this body.  Hopefully in the end it's not terrible!   

 

It appears to be window screen and bathtub caulking.

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One thing I might suggest.  If you look at a new car and compare the chassis to the Z you'll find  a connection from the rocker to the frame well in the front wheel well.  This is the same area that saw a lot of work in the B&W pictures you linked to previously.  And on our race cars we often put tubing into the rockers to make the floor stronger.  At the front wheel end this was connected to the TC box.  Very similar to some of the photos you have shared.

 

Props to all the work to save this one.  At some point these cars will be rare enough this will be commonplace.  I'm glad I live where they don't salt roads. 

 

Hope this helps,

Cary

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Ah yes, bathtub caulking, a great automotive repair material, that means soon you will find wood screws holding panels together and  Marretts connectors twisted in the wiring harness with thick gobs of electrical tape wrapped around them like Egyptian mummies.

I wish I had taken more pictures.

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2 hours ago, tube80z said:

One thing I might suggest.  If you look at a new car and compare the chassis to the Z you'll find  a connection from the rocker to the frame well in the front wheel well.  This is the same area that saw a lot of work in the B&W pictures you linked to previously.  And on our race cars we often put tubing into the rockers to make the floor stronger.  At the front wheel end this was connected to the TC box.  Very similar to some of the photos you have shared.

 

Props to all the work to save this one.  At some point these cars will be rare enough this will be commonplace.  I'm glad I live where they don't salt roads. 

 

Hope this helps,

Cary

You're posts and knowledge is pretty much gospel, so I'll soak up everything I can from you.  I have a similar method planned; though I'm not sure how to effectively put a tube inside the rocker with everything else thats in there, or how to tie it in.  So many angles, feels beyond my ability.  I've already got the passenger side reinforced for the front brace you were talking about, https://imgur.com/DPdo6lp.  I will also be running a small tube or some 1x2 from the TC bucket to the rocker.  Do you think using 16ga is thick enough for a "doubler" on the stock rocker? My seat rails tie in from the full length frame rails into the rockers as well, and the transmission crossmember will brace between the two sides. Then the normal other triangulations in the cabin and engine bay.

 

 

6 hours ago, Neverdone said:

God damn Tim...your necromancy skills are on point because that Z was well beyond "not worth saving".

 

Next time you want to restore a car, let me know and I'll trailer you one down from the west coast.

For sure. Not doing this BS again. And we'd get an awesome road trip out of it!

 

 

1 hour ago, grannyknot said:

Ah yes, bathtub caulking, a great automotive repair material, that means soon you will find wood screws holding panels together and  Marretts connectors twisted in the wiring harness with thick gobs of electrical tape wrapped around them like Egyptian mummies.

I wish I had taken more pictures.

So far, the only wood screws I found were holding in a bunch of shotty grounds in the engine bay.  I'll be rewiring everything from scratch (something I'm actually proficient at), so there's some enjoyable work to come later on.  I did have an old supra that had "custom wiring" terminated in the manner you described... never did get the gremlins fully sorted from that car.  The shit people pull....

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  • 1 month later...

Well wifey and kiddo are at Grandma's tonight so I guess I'll update this thread while drinking some beer.

 

Got the front half of the rocker welded in. The rear half is welded in where it can be, but I've got a bunch of metal to replace back there....

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Had some issues getting the rocker panel to line up with the rear quarter door seam. In the end, i'm putting it down to 40 year old cheap japanese cars weren't built with a lot of precision and to allow for some variances. After getting it welded in and flanges hammered down it fits better but not what i'd call 100%.

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But in the end, it welded up ok. also took care of some stitch welding while I was in the area

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And then getting the inner wheel well ready for it's patch. I'm guessing it's probably best to make this panel once I've got the new dogleg in.

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Parts are primed on all faces before being enclosed, and then I'll be doing over everything with Eastwood's internal frame coating to seal it up.

 

 

Oh, and sent in my speedhut gauges to go from 4.5 to 4" so I can fit the trim rings.  While those were getting snail mailed to Utah, the 2 5/8s came in.  Thanks to Steve (ihiryu) here on the forums for being an awesome dealer with many hookups. Saved me a couple hundred bucks on my BCs and about 150 between all these gauges. 

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Edited by tim.d
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