BlackBeaut Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Hi All, Well my project has taken a depressing turn in to the land of rust repair, I'll be doing floors, frame rails, bonnet hinge plates and replacing a few badly done patchs, so I was wondering what's the best tool to be cutting up the shell with that won't make a complete mess of things. I've got a 4.5" angle grinder, sawsall type thing and tin snips at my disposal, oh and nibbler drill attachment thing but that's a bit clumsy, is there any other tool worth getting? There are two or three really bad patch repairs to the inner wings with 'orrible weld beads left undressed (unpainted in one case so that's just rusted again), so I'll need to cut those completely out and rework the sheet there but joggle the edges of the replacement patches so I can get a nicer weld down. One of the big jobs is replacing the front frame rails, that'll no doubt be plenty of fun. Once I've got the front end solid again I can get the car up on a rotisserie and tackle the floors, rails and sub-frame connectors then. I'm planning on liberal use of weld thru primer followed by top coating with POR15 All going to be a lot of fun I'm sure Cheers, Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buZy Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 A 110V plasma cutter is another tool you might want to consider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Sheet metal shears are handy, as is a jigsaw with metal blade. I wish I had a belt sander/disc combo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twoeightnine Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 They make a thin "cut-off" wheel for your 4.5 angle grinder. You will be suprised at how many places you can use it on. It will slice through a Z like butter. I used this method on the frame rail replacement I did. Rust was not the main issue with mine. Some a$$ tried (repeatedly) to jack the car at the frame rails with a bottle jack know that it takes more than one tool usually to accomplish all of the repairs you mention. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumnhammer Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 I agree, a plasma cutter is the way to go for this, You should get the most powerful one you can afford, and have wiring for, but one of the 110volt units will work fine on sheet metal. I have a cheap 110volt and it is good for up to about 3/16ths steel before it has a hard time, I keep longing for more cutting ability though, so if I had to do over again I would hold out for one that could cut 1/4inch in one pass. But for sheet metal, like on the Z, it will do just fine. Once you use a plasma cutter you will never go back to tin snips or grinders with cut off wheels again. Chris Rummel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeatrpi Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Cutoff wheels on the grinder and the sawzall. Don't cut on the line with the sawzall because you'll never get it straight. Plan to clean it up later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twoeightnine Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Can anyone chime in on the plasma cutters general cost. The 110 type. Sounds like a must for the tool box. Cant have too many tools, can we? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Plasma cutter for big metal removal like complete floor pans and a 3" cut off wheel for just about everything else. I've got some pictures of the work I'm doing on a customer's 240Z rocker panels here: http://www.betamotorsports.com/services/RustRepair.html All done with a 3" cut off wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackBeaut Posted July 14, 2006 Author Share Posted July 14, 2006 Cool, all good stuff guys. Plasma cutter would be sweet but they're a silly price even for the weedy ones over here, I can't quite justify it, so I'll have to pass on that. I'm faily handy with the angle grinder and cut off wheels mind, just some places are too out of reach, one patch I need to replace is just underneath the entrance to the air tube, right next to the rad support panel - good grief! I suspect I'll have to work some places by hand with a hacksaw blade - all good fun!! I'll start coming up with a decent plan of attack this weekend. Need to get my head around how to remove the front frame rails without messing up the bottom of the inner wing. Will definitely just do one side at a time! I wonder what other horrors I'll find when I remove them?!! Cheers, Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackBeaut Posted July 14, 2006 Author Share Posted July 14, 2006 Good pics John! Ever thought about a nice vacation to Sunny England?!! Cheers, Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z48LT-1 Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Rob, Dremel makes a fairly powerful rotary tool (XPR 400 series) that accepts a right angle drive attachment (#575) which can use 1-1/2" diameter fiberglass cutoff wheels (#476) which can be v. handy to get into some tight spaces and will eventually go through just about anything, although you may find buying the wheels in bulk a savings. Having steady hands and a deft touch helps, but it sounds like you've got that down with the 4-1/2" angle grinder. The Dremel combination is like a miniature version of the bigger tool, and is almost ideally suited for sheet metal. Hmm. Glancing at the UK version of the Dremel site, it appears the most appropriate model is the 400 Digital... The 575 angle attachment is listed, but not the 476 cutoff wheels. There are numerous wheels available, including some that are extremely thin which shatter at the slightest hand tremor. Best of luck! -- Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumnhammer Posted July 15, 2006 Share Posted July 15, 2006 My plasma cutter was about $1k a couple of years ago, you can find one of that level for for about $500-700 now. Most important thing you need for a plasma cutter is a very good quality moisture filter that you mount right before the cutter. I got one that cost $80 that has replaceable paper elements, it was expensive but without it you go through consumable tips like crazy!! and they are quite expensive. You want to have the dryest air possible going though the cutter. Like I said if I had to do over, I think I'd go a touch more powerful and get one of the dual power types and about 40amps those will cut 1/2 inch steel in one pass on 220v and 1/4inch stainless. For really thick stuff I use a sawsall, or a rotozip with a right hand cut off wheel attachment. Rob, what part of the UK are you in? My wife is English and her family lives outside of London, In Hemel Hampstead. Would be nice to see a brit that uses his garage for cars instead of storing stuff. LOL Chris Rummel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DemonZ Posted July 15, 2006 Share Posted July 15, 2006 You can't go wrong with one of these-- http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=113 The blades are fairly flexable, and you can often bend them into spaces a cuttoff wheel wont. Good for non bulk work. The plus is you can see what you're doing much better than plasma or cut off wheel. Downside is it spits oil, and blades don't last too long. The trade offs are worth it though. Plus you can't beat the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackBeaut Posted July 15, 2006 Author Share Posted July 15, 2006 Rob' date=' what part of the UK are you in? My wife is English and her family lives outside of London, In Hemel Hampstead. Would be nice to see a brit that uses his garage for cars instead of storing stuff. LOLChris Rummel[/quote'] I'm up in Cambridgeshire, sort of half way between Peterborough and Huntingdon, just on the edge of the Fens (think flatter than a pancake!) We (me and the girlfriend rather than the Royal 'We'' ) carelessly bought a house without a garage (has potential for one) so I've got to work quick and take advantage of the unseasonably hot and dry weather we're having at the moment, so there's going to be some frantic cut/weld/pain action going on Cheers, Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paz8 Posted July 15, 2006 Share Posted July 15, 2006 I'm almost finished replacing both floor pans and frame rails on my 83'ZX. The car is on jack stands, engine and trans removed. I used a 4.5 inch angle grinder with cutoff wheels for the entire job, did all the cutting from inside the car, only needed to go under car to cut frame rails. I also used an air powered metal shear, nibbler, and flanger/punch when modifing the new pans. This is taking alot of time, can't wait to put the SBC back in the car and getter done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnjdragracing Posted July 15, 2006 Share Posted July 15, 2006 I bought a Thermal Dynamics plazma cutter last year, it is a dual voltage and is good up 5/8 thickness. I think it was in the $1200.00 range, it is made by Miller. It slices through metal like butter and is great for cutting any type of metal. I can trace something or draw something on metal and cut it out, it really has helped in the shop making brackets and such. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCchris Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 Need to get my head around how to remove the front frame rails without messing up the bottom of the inner wing. Rob You might wanna look at 240hoke's website http://www.geocities.com/projectzt/EBrail.html He has a lot of good info posted on this and other Z fixes. chrid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240zV8 Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 different saws or cut-off wheels will work, it just depends what area your working on. a jigsaw works on open areas, sawsall for tighter spots, and a cut off wheel for either. Then grind away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
260DET Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 Another vote for an angle grinder, with a thin cutoff wheel. A set of hole saws may be useful too, they are not expensive any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240zV8 Posted July 16, 2006 Share Posted July 16, 2006 make sure it's a bi metal hole saw, because the others ones dull quickly.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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