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Front Wheel Tub deformation... Front impact damage?


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Hey all,

 

While taking my 73 240z apart I stumbled across some weird deformations in the front right wheel tub and it seems like the radiator support hast been out of the car and put back in. 

 

When I bought the car everything looked and fit fine (front fenders etc.) and still does when I put stuff on. Only spot that doesn't fit perfectly is where the right side fender is mounted at the bottom in front of the door. There's a space of like 1/2" (1,5cm) between the mounting point and the fender itself. And there is a dent on the bottom of the right side frame rail roughly at the curvy part in front of the raidiatorsupport. 

 

I guess it was repaired back in the 90s but could there still be something wrong? Should i get the chassis looked at by some professionals ? If not how do i get rid of the wrinkles... should i just cut them and weld them back together straight?

 

 

I appreciate any kind of help! 

WhatsApp Image 2020-05-11 at 17.31.37.jpeg

WhatsApp Image 2020-05-11 at 17.31.38 (1).jpeg

WhatsApp Image 2020-05-11 at 17.31.38.jpeg

WhatsApp Image 2020-05-11 at 17.31.37 (1).jpeg

Edited by Leonhard
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There were some wrinkles in the metal in that area from the form press, from the factory, you should be able to see them on the other side.  If you feel you have to get rid of them just make sure that with all panels assembled the car sits properly and the gaps between panels are good before you start cutting and welding.

If it were me I would cut out the whole area with the folds and replace it with a custom smooth patch.

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As the wrinkles are non-structural, and really you're going to be the only one who even knows about, especially if you just put some slightly thicker primer over it when repainting, just ignore it.

 

The chassis itself on these cars is pretty noodley as is and should probably be reinforced anyway if you're planning on doing any sort of serious mods or hard driving.

 

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16 hours ago, grannyknot said:

There were some wrinkles in the metal in that area from the form press, from the factory, you should be able to see them on the other side.  If you feel you have to get rid of them just make sure that with all panels assembled the car sits properly and the gaps between panels are good before you start cutting and welding.

If it were me I would cut out the whole area with the folds and replace it with a custom smooth patch.

Yeah that's what I thought it might be at first glance... But it's way worse than the left side and you can see that the metal was pushed into the enginebay by a bit  (in the last picture I posted) . 

And that's what I'm concerned about bc the plus of material has to come from somewhere... 

 

But I guess I'll just wing it and cut that section out to replace it. 

 

15 hours ago, Neverdone said:

The chassis itself on these cars is pretty noodley as is and should probably be reinforced anyway if you're planning on doing any sort of serious mods or hard driving.

 

I was in the process of stitchwelding the enginebay (left side) when I noticed there was something not quite right with the other side... 

 

And I want to get a cage put in 

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