Guest krescent Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 Well guys ive been working on the 240 this fathers dat with my dad, doing some suspension work. we replaced the bushings that connect to the front sway bar(which we will also be replacing soon), replaced the struts (i think i'll pitch in out of my own pocket for some springs as well), new brake pads, new tie rods, ball joints...removed the A-arms (or whatever its called) and wire brushed them, we're going to be painting all of the above (minus the pads and struts and such)...but anyway as i was using the tie rod seperator (tuning fork looking thing) and a hammer to seperate the rod, i noticed some rust that i hadnt before...as far as i knew the only rust was in the battery area (which was pretty bad, i mean, i doubt the tray can even hold a battery..we were gonig to replace it)...but this new rust was under the passengers side..sort of near the fender, behind the fire wall (on the bottom of the car)...the way i noticed it, was whenever i hit the tie rod seperator with the hammer...rust was falling down, and made a decent(as in big) sized pile of rust. my main concern is that this will affect the frame, because i THINK it might be part of the frame rail but i'm not sure. that's the worst case scenario..i forgot to bring my camera to the house so i'll upload some pics next weekend..but what's your guys take on this? should i forget the V8 in this car?(it was "free" for me anyway heh, i can always sell it with the 6 in it and get a different one) thanks, -sean oh and while im on the suspension, what type of springs do you guys recommend? i'll be making a trip to MSA pretty soon to get the sway bar, i can get a set there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest krescent Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 advice anyone??? lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 Guess no one wants to be the bearer of bad news. If your battery box is that far gone and piles of rust are falling from your floorboards, then my guess is your car is in for a full underbelly replacement. The only way to get rid of rust is to start cutting untill you have gone a full inch into solid metal. Take a screw driver and start jabbing at metal. If it goes through, then that piece needs to be cut out and replaced. Look back through some old posts on the subject. Get an idea of what you are up against from some guys who have gone through it. You really need to get a handle on the rust before you sink too much time and money in the project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 305240 Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 I got to agree with the above. Think of it this way...A house is as only as good as it's foundation. It has to be cut out and new put in. There are various places where you can get the replacemant panels as well as the frame rails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buZy Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 Yes I agree too. Do some cutting and then post some pics. If the lower frame rocker panel box structure is intact doing an underbelly is not as bad as it sounds. But hey since you live in CA you have the huge advantage of actually finding a more rust free car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelman Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 Yours sounds alot like mine. When I bought it the battery tray was pretty much gone along with part of the firewall on the passenger side. I decided to start cutting and learn to weld. When I was finished cutting I had a hole that used to be most of the firewall on the passenger side and most of the right fender well from the strut tower back. I went to a local JY and got a piece from a 260 that covered most of that section and included the battery tray. Welded that in along with other steel scavenged from the original hood to rebuild the passenger footwell. My welds don't look real good but the section is now complete and solid. Fortunately for me I was able to examine the interior of the frame rail after I removed the rusty sections and found it to be clean. I also removed the undercoating that is on the interior so I could weld in frame rail extenders and found several other small holes in the drivers footwell which surprised me because the floor felt very solid. Moral of the story, do a complete and very thorough exam of your car before deciding to proceed because you may just find more rust and then be forced to fix it to retain any investment already made. Wheelman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynekarnes Posted June 26, 2005 Share Posted June 26, 2005 you might want to check with this site. http://www.datsunzparts.com/ you may also want to check with local welding shop. a good friend of mine, restoring a 60 impala convertible ( 348, 3 twos, 4 speed ), found it was a lot cheaper to have a welding shop cut, remove and weld in the replacement floor and trunk, than it was to have a body shop do it. he also found one of the welders would do side jobs and came to his house and do work in his driveway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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