AkumaNoZeta Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 I just had my 260Z towed to my garage so I can work on it hardcore. I stripped everything and pulled out the entire harness to go through it all and I took a closer looks at the body since I have the time and realized how bad I got ripped off on the car (I was young and still am, impatient to get a Z, first car purchase ever, and had $10,000 in my pocket so a couple thousand didn't seem like much to me back then). Long story short I need new frame rails, floors, and rocker panels. Everything else on the car is in great shape and looks mint (which is why I jumped on the car in the first place). The pictures are below. I'm thinking of getting the Bad Dog frame rails with the inner and outer rockers from Black Dragon, and I have to see where I can get floors. I was even going to get the Bad Dog seat frames as well to complete it but I don't know what order to replace them in to regain structure and not tweak the body. First, what it looks like on the outside. Now the ugly bits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rturbo 930 Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 Are you SURE you need a whole new rocker? Unless there's a ton of bondo hiding rust it would be a lot easier to just patch it. I cut out the whole rocker on my 280z because it was rusted out under the sill plate. I really wish I hadn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ModernS30 Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 Sorry tell you this but you bought a car for a COUPLE thousand, that didn't have a engine? Your better off getting a new car looking at that rail unless you are a good welder or want to spend a couple more thousand paying somebody. That will be 2,000 plus dollars just for the labor with no parts from what I can tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piston Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 i feel bad seeing this. couple grand? wow..always look under on any car you purchase especially anything over 30 years old but i understand your situation! how i use to be! lol. anyways, is it just me or did it look like some might have put in floor boards without welding in new frame rails? there is no evidence of spot welds or anything under floor pans from the rails.and it also looks like the floor pans are raised up a couple inches or 3 in the front. and seat bolts should not show through on the bottom like that. or maybe you already knew that and made long story short??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkumaNoZeta Posted January 24, 2010 Author Share Posted January 24, 2010 I'm a pretty decent welder so chassis work doesn't scare me. I guess I could just make patches for the rockers but I kinda wanted to overkill it. The previous owner didn't weld in the floors or anything and he cut off the frame rails for some reason. At least next time I get a car I won't be as naive anymore, learn from mistakes. The car never really has been driven, even by the previous owner, so the body isn't twisted or anything. I just drove it to my house and then had some wiring problems, a couple of them were chew through. I love the interior though, it's all there and every bit looks brand new. So should I first patch up the rocker, then put up some Bad Dogs, and then lay a new floor on top of it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piston Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 (edited) after looking at your pics, i don't see how he just peeled off the frame rails so clean without drilling out the spot welds. the rails is spot welded on all the way back. if you look at it, the floors begins from the fram rails going down at a 45 degree angle then going backwards and you can definitely see the floor was hacked and instead of having the 45 degree angle, they just go straight up and leaving the gap between the rails as pictured. that also explains why it has that extra piece hanging in the transmission tunnel and why it doesn't have any floor drain holes. trust me, i just went outside to the garage and looked under my z. im not trying to throw you bad news, just letting you know you might be able to salvage those floor pans. if its not rusted, cut the front of it and bend it down towards the rails, and attach a new piece of sheet metal to the front of the foot rest to make up for the missing piece as you will be hammering or bending it downwards and will create a small gap curving up the rails. weld in an additional sheetmetal on there to make up for the gap and should be the 45 degree foot rest piece. search the forum and you will get an idea of what im trying to explain. Edited January 25, 2010 by piston edit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkumaNoZeta Posted January 25, 2010 Author Share Posted January 25, 2010 Oh, I know how much damage there is. I was thinking lately to just get some 3"X3"x0.120" square tubing to run from the front to back. Have it 3X3 from the crossmember in the rear where everybody usually ties their subframe connectors to, to the front seat mount and then just for the extra foot room cut it down to 2X3 going from the front of the front seat mount to the rest of the front frame so it would still be sticking up about an inch over the floor. Then if the sheet metal that's in there now as floors is of good enough thickness (I want to use 16 gauge, maybe 18) I'll re-use it but actually weld it in properly. I haven't worked on my car since Thursday because I've been helping one friend with his 80' Z28 and my other friend with his 77' F100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Frame rails first, then rockers, then pans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkumaNoZeta Posted January 26, 2010 Author Share Posted January 26, 2010 What gauge sheet metal should I use for the rocker patches? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cockerstar Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 16 gauge should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sticky280zx Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 This makes me sad...i have perfect shells with no rust on the bottoms for 1k and even upgraded but people go for the "local" one that they pay double for and have to weld the living crap out of....What am i doing wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rturbo 930 Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 What gauge sheet metal should I use for the rocker patches? 16 gauge should be fine.You want to stick with the same gauge metal as the rest of the car, especially if it's body work. If I'm not mistaken, the Z is all 20 gauge, so use that. The reason I was told was because of how the metal will bend, etc. With thicker metal, you might not get the right contour, etc. There might be other reasons. This makes me sad...i have perfect shells with no rust on the bottoms for 1k and even upgraded but people go for the "local" one that they pay double for and have to weld the living crap out of....What am i doing wrong?Most people don't want to deal with shipping, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB26powered74zcar Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 This makes me sad...i have perfect shells with no rust on the bottoms for 1k and even upgraded but people go for the "local" one that they pay double for and have to weld the living crap out of....What am i doing wrong? Can I see one of those perfect shells, with detailed clear, close up pics of the usual rust areas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piston Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 i saw a good doner 76 280z here for 500.00 complete. too bad i dont have any more garage space. its worth the build since i seen so many other 240's in sad sad shape getting a new makeover...this is nothing yet. i bought my early 74 260z for 500.00 no paper and has straight frames with with no floor rust, no usual bottom hatch area rust, besides under the battery tray has minimal rust. that's it, and it ran too! every time i go outside and look at my floors and usual rust area, i smile my ass off!!! got the right b**ch!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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