Seem in rocker panel and hole in wheel well

[pitr]

So, in pulling off the very beat up side skirt body kit on the 260 basket base I am trying to get back on the road I found some rocker panel issues (no surprise). The dogleg is jacked and will have to be swapped out, but that is not a big deal. I still need to get in deeper and see if the rockers themselves need to be swapped or not, which may make this question moot. In the pic you can see where the level of the sheet metal between the front fender and the rocker is a 1/4" or so different. It looks to me like there is supposed to be a skin of some sort over the rocker to bring this up to level but from the parts diagram I found I cant tell if that is the case or if something else is just not lined up. Can anyone confirm or deny? The next question has to do with a large hole on the firewall end of the front inner wheel well. Is that just wheel well that is missing and that I can just clean up and patch or should there be frame rail where that gaping hole is?

 

 

Thank you much,

Matt

74 260z gen I 350 700r4

 

 

[johnc]

Pull all the good parts off that car and send the shell to a junkyard. Your rockers and the front frame rails are shot. The chassis is junk.

[rturbo 930]

The hole in your wheel well, is actually a hole in your frame rail and NO it is not supposed to be there. As for your fender, if I get what you're asking, no there isn't a skin or anything that's supposed to be there. Not sure what's going on there, but it may just be a poorly fixed, mounted, or modified fender. Looks like there's a bit of bondo on there so it's hard to tell.

 

Pull all the good parts off that car and send the shell to a junkyard. Your rockers and the front frame rails are shot. The chassis is junk.

I wouldn't go so far as to say his car is junk. Not that I'm an expert (I'm not), but it's probably junk for a racing application like what you deal with. Mine isn't too much better than that car based on just what I can see, but it's still pretty solid. Much worse condition cars have been fixed.

[cygnusx1]

John, in NY we call that fixable rust. Yes, it's some amount of labor and faith but it is all too common around here. How long the repair will last? Who knows. Depends on the extent of the reconstruction. For a first car project intended for thrashing on the streets at lower speeds...patch it up and don't go too crazy with a paintjob. If this is a car you intend to fully restore or race, get a cleaner shell from the dry states.

[AK-Z]

Gives you an excuse to go tube chassis

 

I second John. Its more trouble than its worth.

[DavyZ]

John has a point, but to each his own. I used to live in CA and have become very spoiled with the majority of rust free cars available there. This one in the thread sends shivers up my spine, BUT I can't imagine just how Z cars there are in the rust belt states and even in the South. I almost never see any on the roads around here. To fix it will take a ton of time and money, but that car may be the only alternative. Are you good with a welder? It's going to take a lot to fix that car...

 

Davy

[AK-Z]

Just take some 16 gauge sheet and weld over it. It will tide you over until you can find a better chassis.

 

As for the level of the rocker. It looks like someone did a crap job welding in a patch panel on the fender. Looking at the second photo how off the panel really is. Try to remove it and start again, its not hard to fab a patch from sheet for that area.