Guest Anonymous Posted April 5, 2002 Share Posted April 5, 2002 I have a couple small holes in my 74 260Z, there is one on the floor board, and one underneath the right fender. I was going to use a fiberglass patching kit to take care of them, but I was told that the car was a uni-body, and if I didnt have metal welded back into place that it would make the body of the car very unstable. Does anyone know anything about this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeromio Posted April 6, 2002 Share Posted April 6, 2002 Fiberglass is going to be less than ideal. It's not as strong. And, as Terry (our resident 'glass expert here) continually points out, fiberglass to metal bonding can only ever be thought of as temporary. Eventually it will separate. Areas such as the floor are not necessarily critically important structurally. But, you may put your foot there and it may become a hole once more. BUT, and this is an important consideration, rust on this cars is like roaches in your house. If you see one or 2 small spots, you more than likely have many more lurking. For instance, that hole in your floor, if it's in the middle part of the floor, then the rail/floor support beneath it is probably full of rust. And the frame rail in front may be rusted out as well. It typically takes a whole bunch of rust action to create a hole - which means that a much larger area of the surrounding metal has also become severely corroded/weakened. Do some poking around with a sharp screwdriver or scratch awl. It can be fixed - it's mostly just labor. And welders are getting cheaper - Lincoln is now selling a $250 "hobby" welder at Home Depot. Great tool to have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted April 6, 2002 Share Posted April 6, 2002 With small holes, I would think any medium would suffice. Larger areas though, should be repaired with the same material as what is being repaired. It must have the same maliability and rigidity as it's "parent" material, or stresses will be developed at the joints. Anything that can be removed with bolts is not part of the unibody. In general, only large areas of missing material will substantially effect the strength of the unibody (given these large areas are not at places where panels come together into corners or angles). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 9, 2002 Share Posted April 9, 2002 i was reading this and it stirre up an old memory of mine on my ZX. i just remembered after i ahd gottne into my wreck with it we were stripping it down before it voyage to the junkyard (sorely miss that car) and when we removed the capret since it was a brand new carpet kit, we found to our amazement a a hole LARGER than a basketball's circumfrance(sp?)!! man that spooked me i never new about it till i saw it that sucker was huge. sorry i couldn't help with your problem just had a thought and felt like ramblin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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