DuoWing Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Alright guys, I'm a proud owner of a 1987' 300ZX Turbo 5-speed. I love the car, interior is in amazing shape, the paint is in great shape, engine bay is super clean, the body is really clean. New brakes, tires, tokcio adjustable, eibach springs, previous owner even showed me how he had the common 300ZX manifold crack fixed. The car is nearly rust free, or so I thought. Underside is in incredible shape as the car came from the Carolinas, checked the spare wheel well and it's super clean. I noticed this today when I lifted up the carpeting to look at the tool kit. Carpeting was wet and tool kit looked a little rusty. I pull it up and see everything looks like it's been POR-15'd over. Theres a hole going through the back panel, and it's all been covered with POR. it's fairly clean around the hole. The driver's inner fender and everything is super clean and there's no sign of rust. It's just this spot. I even then pulled up more of the matting and carpeting and notice towards the middle and over to the passenger side was hit with por, but it's not rusty. Anyway is there an extra panel or something that was added over the existing metal where they then attached the arm for the hood/fuel door release? I started jabbing around with a flat head and there were spots where it went through, but hit metal underneath. I was scraping rust off with the flathead and like I said looked like another layer underneath this? It was kind of oxidized, but alot more solid and I was thinking I could get as most of this rusted over metal pulled off, sand down the remainder to bare and POR-15 that. What's your guys opinion on this? I don't know how to weld, but I know people who know how to weld. I started pulling up other things and everywhere else inside the car is clean. Just this one bad spot. So advice on what to do, would be appreciated. I guess the first priority would be to start sanding like mad and see what's left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Before your start work on this part of the car, carefully check the rest of the car. If this is the only problem area, its not a big deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gollum Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 If it's really just that one area, odds are it was caused from a leak. See if you can figure out the most likely areas water could have gotten in from and see if there's still a leak issue. No point in spending a ton of time repairing the metal if it's just going to rust again... As JohnC said. If that's all there is, then it's not that big of a deal. As far as repair advice, I think you know what most here will say. Get one of those guys to know that knows how to weld and get him to weld in a new piece. If you want to do it as clean as possible and keep it OEM looking, it might be easier to go cut a piece out of another 300ZX than it would be to make a peice of the same shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLOZ UP Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 That's nothing. When I got my 84, that padding in the hatch was all damp and nasty. I also had sticky crap all over the metal. I threw away the old insulation and put the carpet over it. Car looks good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuoWing Posted June 25, 2008 Author Share Posted June 25, 2008 Yeah, that's really the only spot. It looks even worse thanks to the wet flaking off tool kit, but I've been going over the car and it looks real clean elsewhere. Like I said spare tire well is super clean, inside driver's fender etc is all real clean which is right by that spot. The carpet was only wet in that area. Like I said the underside is in really good shape. There are spots where some of the undercoating has come off near the front where the frame rails attach up front, and it's all really clean, not rusted or anything. My biggest thing I was wondering, is that a separate piece of metal that looks like it's held down by 5 different screws? Update: I'm feeling better about this as I work with it. I've been pounding the flathead more and more and not finding many areas that punch through. Alot of this is still really solid. Even the rust where it's flaked apart and pulls up, it's really hard to break off. I was looking at my 280ZX in the hatch and if the design is similar it looks like a big piece of metal across the hatch, with some more pieces over that, and then the 300 looks almost like it may have another piece layed over that where the trunk/fuel release cable arm is attached. It also looks like a few layers of metal as I pull up and sand away at this mess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuoWing Posted June 30, 2008 Author Share Posted June 30, 2008 I don't know if it's something Nissan put on, or something the previous owner put on or what, but there is a ton of gunk and crap. It almost seems like a soft metal or something that sits over the base metal for the hatch. Anyway I've gotten half the area cleaned up and painted. The lower hole that looks like it could pass as an extra large drain hole, was so far the only spot where I was able to punch a screwdriver all the way through. I think if the second half goes this well, I'm in pretty good shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger.svoboda Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 pretty much the way nissan built em. those triangle windows leak. get them resealed and put some sort of rust stop primer or whatever and call it good. not really a structural issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuoWing Posted July 2, 2008 Author Share Posted July 2, 2008 I figure even though the other side isn't leaking, I might as well do the seal anyway. It's good that it's not a structural thing. Although at some point I plan to get the few holes cut out and have new metal welded in, just for the whole peace of mind thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuoWing Posted July 9, 2008 Author Share Posted July 9, 2008 Alright, I've finally finished cleaning up that area of rust and crap. I scraped off a bunch of junk, found a few small holes, and por-15'd over the whole thing. Painted the new piece of metal with rustoleum. So there will be a little bit of metal that needs patched still, but not much. Everything was going well, until I broke part of the hatch/fuel door release cable. The plastic that holds it to the arm... I used some zip ties to hold it together. It works at least. Need to go cut off the ends. Here's a few shots of the other big rust prone area the spare wheel well. Underside of spare well: And for the heck of it, how my hatch currently looks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gollum Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 I'm glad to see the rust wasn't too deep. Sad to see such young cars get rusty. At least this car has an owner that's going to take care of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuoWing Posted July 9, 2008 Author Share Posted July 9, 2008 One thing I can't figure out and that kind of bothered me about the spare tire well. If you notice there's alot of silvery areas where it looks like the paint has come away. I have no idea why this is. Either way I pulled the spare tire back out, wiped it all up, got out some rustoleum and started painting the spare tire well just to be safe. I'd have used por, but I'm all out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gollum Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 It might just be that it gets damp and the moisture has pulled the paint off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuoWing Posted July 9, 2008 Author Share Posted July 9, 2008 One other thing I just noticed, comparing the pics of my wheel well to others. It looks like that hole in the bottom of the wheel well, normally has some kind of rubber plug, where I didn't have one in mine. I'd imagine not having it would be alot better off in the event that water gets in there, which it may very well be doing, but it may drain out and be why it's in alright shape. I also noticed there was a hole on the other side that looks like it's meant to be a drain hole for under the tool kit, except that there was no real way for the water to get to it. It's like Nissan designed it to help get the water out, then covered up those spots. Anyway here's after 2 coats, I'm going to throw a 3rd, maybe a 4th coat, just to really make sure it's all covered up and sealed up there. After doing some searching, I found alot of people split on Rust Bullet and POR-15. Well I've used por, but alot of people seem to like the Rust Bullet. I figured I'll get some of that and that fiberglass mat and use it to seal up the couple of little holes I've come across under the tool kit. Since it's not structural I figured this would be alot easier to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaparral2f Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 I would guess that the silver color in the spare tire well is probably just from the tire scuffing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuoWing Posted July 12, 2008 Author Share Posted July 12, 2008 Well, either way it's rustoleum'd over. Tough stuff, and gives me more peace of mind knowing that there's paint over it to help keep the metal better protected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xenonxiii Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 Looking good there. as for the hole in the tire well, You are correct it is a drain plug. Nissan Part # 06212-3000P http://www.courtesyparts.com/betasite/plug-p-233590.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D15T0RT10N Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Very kind of nissan to make sure the water can be drained out. I guess it's the least they could do if they weren't going to keep it from getting in. Your solution is far prettier than mine. I opted to sand everything down and coat it with rubberized undercoating. It's not a work of art, but it does do the trick. Painting the levers for the hatch/fuel door was a very nice touch, and I admire you for it. You've inspired me to go tear out my interior and find all my dirty spots. Think I might go start right now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuoWing Posted July 15, 2008 Author Share Posted July 15, 2008 Normally this sort of thing I'd just opt to do some kind of undercoating. Ever since I got into the trying the rolling on rustoleum thing it's got me a bit more gung ho about painting stuff. Especially now that I've seen how easy it can be done. I think another fact is that the car is in such great shape to begin with, I want to keep it that way and maintain it as best as I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D15T0RT10N Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Normally this sort of thing I'd just opt to do some kind of undercoating. Ever since I got into the trying the rolling on rustoleum thing it's got me a bit more gung ho about painting stuff. Especially now that I've seen how easy it can be done. I think another fact is that the car is in such great shape to begin with, I want to keep it that way and maintain it as best as I can. I can understand that, she's a really nice one. Mines more of a 'piece' if you feel me. Needs a resto. Plus I don't have boost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuoWing Posted July 20, 2008 Author Share Posted July 20, 2008 Well, it rained on my car this morning, about 2 or so hours later I went out to check and he hatch was all nice and wet. I still have no idea exactly where it's leaking from, but right away I got out paper towels and started soaking it all up. I went out and got the 15' roll of that butyl tape from the auto parts store, brought the 280 back out and put the 300 back in the garage. Found some more surface rust, sanded it, cleaned it, dried it then coated it with rust bullet. So once I get the windows and taillights resealed, I'm gonna just completely rust coat the whole hatch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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