Garrett76Zt Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 So since I've owned my car I've never been able to get the drivers side of the hood to sit all the way down flush with the headlight bucket. Well now that I'm taking some time to go through the front end and engine bay I found the reason. The metal section the hood hinge bracket mounts to is seriously screwed. I removed the headlight bucket so I could get to the backside, thinking I can use a hammer and dolley to straighten it back out. Now that I've got a good look at it I'm just not sure the metal is very sturdy anymore. Granted it doesnt really have an structural role but . . . So do I try and straighten it out, kill the rust, coat it and move on? Do I cut it out and fab a new piece? Only thing about a new piece is that this plate is threaded for 3 hinge bracket bolts and two fender bolts. Sorry for the crappy cell phone pics. Here's what the other side looks like by comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HizAndHerz Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 Only thing about a new piece is that this plate is threaded for 3 hinge bracket bolts and two fender bolts. Even worse to deal with is the crazy water channel that is spot welded on and gives the section its rigidity. I had this trouble on 2 of our 280Z's and hunted down a car being parted and found another at the junk yard that had decent metal there. I whacked out as much as I could so I'd have plenty to work with and welded the pieces in. Before this, I tried repairing and it was more trouble than it was worth. It may be tough to find a car without rust in that section since trash collects in the water channel keeping water from darining and the whole section rusts out. Another thing I thought about was cutting bad metal out which included the water channel, welding new metal in and reinforcing it with some square tubing. Good luck! It is one of the Z's "most likely to rust" areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett76Zt Posted August 30, 2009 Author Share Posted August 30, 2009 Hmm, yeah mine obviously took a good whack and thats what started the rust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustyfriend Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 This brings to mind an episode of Trucks, or maybe it was Gearz...but the Stacy guy used a clamp-type thingy that was attached to a pneumatic ram and it would clamp down on something like that and pull it back out to spec. They were doing this repair on a Jeep with a front end collision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six_Shooter Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 If it were me, I'd cut out and replace, either with a donor piece cut out from another car, or made from scratch. The 3 threaded holes are easy to replicate, weld nuts with the proper thread in the right spots. You may not make the piece exactly like factory, but close is good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett76Zt Posted August 31, 2009 Author Share Posted August 31, 2009 Well I took the fenders off today and got a better look at everything. I WANT to cut it out cause its ugly but I also dont want to get to sidetracked if I can just hammer it out. Does anyone have a donor piece I could use if I decide to cut it out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigenOut-S30 Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 my passenger side peice was rusted out if you remember when we did my engine bay. I was just barely able to weld in a new piece with out touching the 3 threaded nuts. Have you called Jon to see if he has this piece on a parts car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett76Zt Posted September 1, 2009 Author Share Posted September 1, 2009 Ok so this is the progress I've made. . . What I started with. Cut/drilled out the factory upper rad support Used a hammer and dolly to get it more or less straightened out. Bolt holes are now aligned properly and the hood hinge aligns well. This is the new upper rad support. I will add vertical supports between the upper and lower tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Purple240zt Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Great to see you working on your car again man!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phlebmaster Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 Nice work! Please keep us posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett76Zt Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 Another crappy cell phone pic but here's the Rad support I fabbed up the last couple days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlatBlack Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Looking good, Garret, have you already mentioned what motor swap you're doing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Purple240zt Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 SR20det right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigenOut-S30 Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 No guys he is putting a stock KA in there.. Great progress man! keep it up!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yokohama Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 KA? Unusual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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