Guest Your Car is Slow Posted June 5, 2003 Share Posted June 5, 2003 Ok....so lets talk hypothetically here I have this "friend" with a 1970 240z....he was recently doing a bit of underbody cleanup and inspection and he noticed a few holes in the bottom rails. Why there are holes here...I have no idea...but they are there. And while the rails seem very solid..and have no surface rust at all....the holes themselves and about a 1/2" surrounding them are rusted pretty good. I would have to assume that given the cancerous nature of rust...it has found its way into the rest of the rail and perhaps compromised the strength of them. Is this normal? are these holes supposed to be plugged from the factory and perhaps the plugs have since rotted out? The original plan was to go at it with a wire brush bit on the air grinder and see how bad the rust was (prolly still do that). But what do you guys use to inspect the insides of the framerails? Or is it just assumed that if there is rust there...its on the inside too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted June 6, 2003 Share Posted June 6, 2003 Welcome to the wonderful world of the Datsun Z Car. Everything rusts from the inside out so if you are seeing rust on the outside then more than likely it is rusty on the inside as well. You need to start removing undercoating and see where it stops. There is no way to inspect the inside of the frame rail so you need to strip it and make sure they are solid. Good luck with it and yes I have been through the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moridin Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 Pretty sure those frame rails are going to need to be either repaired or replaced. Mine aren't rusting, but I'm going to do them anyways. I have some holes in my floorboards that have rubber plugs in them. Don't know if they are stock or not, but they're getting replaced too. Anyways, if you are seeing rust holes, better replace 'em. Do it right, and don't compromise the safety of your car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Your Car is Slow Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 Yes...I have 2 or 3 holes about an inch wide that are plugged with rubber gromets. However these other holes are only 1/4 to 1/2" wide...basically look like screwholes. The rest of the car is flawless.....no rust anywhere...but just cuz I cant see it...doesnt really mean it isnt there (on the inside). Looking at that one post talking about the frame support mods....I think perhaps Ill be doing more welding than originally planned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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