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HybridZ

240z lower quarter panel replacement. Yay or nay.


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No need for material behind it. Practice with two pieces of 20g to dial in your MIG machine. Are you not repairing the rust on the inside? I noticed you treated it and are not repairing - If you have it apart now, might as well repair it. If you cannot do it - hire someone... considering our cars are thin unibody construction its a great idea to trpair not just the cosmetic rust but also the structural. 

 

Be happy the coupe dog legs are CHEAP! I have a 2+2 and they are only made in Australia as replacements... I fabricated my own using a english wheel and they came out pretty dang good. Albeit I did repair the inside portion as well - Had the beginings of cancer rust. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

It cannot be stressed enough to suggest that you practice on some scrap metal on the bench first. Practice alot, I mean, lay down feet of practice welds before even touching your car. Sheet metal warps extremely easily if you put too much heat into it. Play around with your settings, practice trying to keep the two members aligned flush, practice not warping your panels as you go. Good body welders have enormous amounts of experience and skill, it is not something that you pick up quickly but you could do a pretty OK job if you make sure to take your time, get the fit perfect, and double check everything every step of the way. You will most likely have more issues blowing holes through your weld joint than you will having lack of fusion.

 

I like to use body magnets to help hold panels together. Make liberal use of clamps and bars all around your patch panel to try and keep it flush. Dont try and make it perfect, it wont happen, just try and focus on getting the whole thing to look "good enough" so that you can easily clean it up when you are done.

 

I have seen people use cold air guns to rapidly chill the weld zone between spot welds that sped up the process and minimized warping.

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  • 9 months later...
  • 3 months later...

I recently just finished the pass side dogleg repair. The replacement panel is fairly close in fitment. It wrapped around the door sill enough, and extended to the outer rocker seam. I actually cut my panel below the stock contour so the repair wouldn’t be noticeable. I feel that if I had cut it right at the contour it would be noticeable. One thing to be prepared for is rust on the inner rocker when you cut it open, but luckily it won’t be visible so just repair and paint it. 

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