otherguy Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 I went thru the same dilema a month ago. After looking at it for a few days I just grabbed the pry bar and the hammer and beat the ♥♥♥♥ out of the areas where it was spot welded and then it came off. It left the spot welds on the body which I grinded but no holes. I didn't care about the uneven surface since I am going to install the MSAIII bumper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hughdogz Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Hi MJ, I also have an S30 with the rear bumper removed (early 260). I chose to leave the holes where the bumper dampers were going through. I figure it would allow trapped air to esacape, reducing drag. However, since the Gas tank is blocking a lot of the "scoop" I don't think it is a big a deal on the S30. With my S130, it is a bigger problem since with an MSA bumper cover, it is like a HUGE scoop and I'm sure it creates some drag. I'm thinking about cutting vent holes in it! HTH (and not too late) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJLamberson Posted January 11, 2008 Author Share Posted January 11, 2008 yeah the thought of leaving them, and putting a black screen behind them or something had crossed my mind... I could fill the holes today do to rain, its supposed to clear up soon though... hughdogz, do you have pics? I know what mine look like but its hard to imagine with good paint (I have crappy paint) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strokin77 Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 When I removed mine I used an air chisel. an air hammer with a chisel adapter. If you are carefull enough this will not leave any holes ; however you will have some excess material to grind of once you are done, took me about five minutes with the chisel thou. You could also cut the brackets at the base and grind down whatever is left. I try to stay away from welding on an s30 body its a big pain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globerunner513 Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 For the holes, since i can't weld (or have access to a welder) i fiberglassed the back of the holes behind the bumper, then filled them in with bondo. (bondo-glass for the bulk, and then smoothed with reg. bondo) worked great and looks flawless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJLamberson Posted January 13, 2008 Author Share Posted January 13, 2008 pics please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slammed68 Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 I just ripped mine off, used to back and forth method and eventually weakened all the spot welds. Came off with no holes and some metal to grind smooth, and then done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 It probably took a while too. Did it distort the metal also? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deja Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 For the holes, since i can't weld (or have access to a welder) i fiberglassed the back of the holes behind the bumper, then filled them in with bondo. (bondo-glass for the bulk, and then smoothed with reg. bondo) worked great and looks flawless. That's what I had planned to do. But on my '77 280Z I had no access to the back of the valance where the holes were, there was some sort of box frame there. So I had to run some fiberglass all the way across the outside of the panel and feather it the best I could. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsun40146 Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 I shaved the whole bumper when I removed that, here is what I did. First I bought a early 260z as a parts car since it has the small bumpers. The reason I say to use an early 260 or 240 is that the roll pan under the bumper will have a similar shape to what your about to block off. 1. Take a drill or cut off wheel your choice and either drill out the spot welds or cut the piece off even or close to even w/ the pan. If you drilled then just yank and remove it and grind to finish. If you cut you will have a bit of a lip left grind that off. Either way you WILL have holes and I don't care what anyone says or how good of a body man you are, you WILL have imperfections in that roll pan from removing those spot welds. Now lets assume you can weld or know someone that can, this is AT MOST an hour job if you do the prep. If you farm it out you will be only out at most 75 dollars. 2. Clean the area around where the spot welds used to be with a paint cleaner and grind the areas free of slag/paint ect. 3. Cut and form a piece of metal of the 260/240 roll pan that will cover the bumper holes. B/c you used that roll pan ALOT less metal work you will need (Yoda) 4. Clean the area around both front and back of the bumper holes so it can be welded/glued. 5. That indention on the 280z model that is oval shaped will need to be cut out, DO NOT FILL IT W/ BONDO!!!!. Again take you 260/240 and cut the right size bit to be welded. 6. I think there is another oval hole in the back of the 280z that will need to be filled with metal. Again cut the right size bit from the roll pan of the 240/260. BTW all of the bits of metal that you’re cutting should be either flush fit to the hole or fit to the back of your roll pan. 7. Take your metal bits and either glue them on like you want to, or have them welded on. I would do it for a case of adult drinks most welders won't charge you much if you have all the metal formed, cleaned and ready to go. 8. If you choose the glue route clean and apply to the glue to everything but the spot welds, I would have those filled by a welder. After all that won't take 10 minutes with a good MIG. 9. Fast-forward you have all you metal in and ready to go, grind down the welds reasonably flush but don't stay in one spot too long or you WILL warp the pan from excess heat, ask me how I know? 10. Spray the pan w/ a light coat of white and then black primer and sand it down. This will show you the high spots in your pan. This is where you want you filler the lightest. Meaning you should fill up to those areas. 11. Before you break out the Bondo see if you can do any hammer and dolly work to knock out some areas so you can use less filler. 12. Now, you've used the dolly and hammer and gotten it close. Apply and med. coat of filler after you have cleaned the surface VERY well. Sand down this coat and repeat until you get a smooth pan (12.1) Every once and a while you should spray the pan w/ white and black primer and sand to "see" where your low spots are. I hope this little write up helps you with your body work skills. If I have made any errors let me know and I’ll correct them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slammed68 Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 It probably took a while too. Did it distort the metal also? Took me about 5 minutes, and I was careful not to distort the metal. The welds broke off cleanly and I was able to just grind the leftover material down. My bumper/holes are completely "shaved" and you cant see any waves at all where they were. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJLamberson Posted February 8, 2008 Author Share Posted February 8, 2008 update! I took it off a while ago and managed to put a tiny little hole were every spot weld was, man do I suck. I figure Ill just have to cut out the old roll pan (except for the part that supports the gas tank) and make a new one, if anybody wants to give me some advice on making a roll pan please do. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 Advice: Dont. Just patch the holes with one of the ways described before: fiberglass the back bondo the front, weld a small piece to the back bondo front, JB weld a piece to the back bondo front... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJLamberson Posted February 11, 2008 Author Share Posted February 11, 2008 what about those anoyying grooves and indents that go across the roll pan, bondo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Sure. Just use a really good bondo (dont use cheap stuff) and prep the area well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJLamberson Posted February 11, 2008 Author Share Posted February 11, 2008 Sure. Just use a really good bondo (dont use cheap stuff) and prep the area well. as in bondo gold or somthing? oh, and another reason I was thinking about making a new roll pan was because there is some rot on the old one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Yeah, bondo over rust isnt any good. If you do replace it you could work on some kind of "custom" panel that looks better than the msa type 3 rear bumper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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