greghassen Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Well tonight I tore into the front end of my 78 280z and was a little shocked at how much rust there was. I've known since i bought it, 12 years, that it was pretty badly rusted in the front hinge area. I treated it with por15 about 10 years ago and i guess thats kept the hood from coming loose and blowing off. my question is, where does the water come from that causes this rust? It appears to have traveled down the the inside of the air vent? i'm guessing thats what that hollow boxed in piece is that goes the whole length of the front frame. I sealed the top of the seam anyways but I can't see how water would come in the top since the fender covers this seam. anyone know where the water is coming from? now the hard part comes... trying to fabricate these pieces or i guess if someone has any good ones they want to sell. This is a pretty common rust area i've seen so i doubt anyone has good ones from their parts cars. Damn.. i knew that mig welder would come in handy one day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 I have seen S30 front clips pretty badly rusted. Crash damage can leave a lot of exposed metal inside areas that are not repainted. If the car was later exposed to road salt or even mouse urine or other vermin it can rust rapidly and spread like cancer. The water may be condensation due to brine and NOT a constant water leak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greghassen Posted February 6, 2011 Author Share Posted February 6, 2011 I have seen S30 front clips pretty badly rusted. Crash damage can leave a lot of exposed metal inside areas that are not repainted. If the car was later exposed to road salt or even mouse urine or other vermin it can rust rapidly and spread like cancer. The water may be condensation due to brine and NOT a constant water leak. yes i can see rust damage like this in colder climates but this car has live most of its life in northern california and the rest in arizona and a garage in hawaii. No accidents either. I've got original sheet metal in front and no signs of past repairs. What i've been thinking about after looking more closely is, the plastic liner inside the fender was cracked and water from the tire was thrown to the top of the fender and dropped back down into the unsealed seam of that vent tube thing. So i think its a good idea to seal up the whole top seam just in case those plastic liners crack. I know alot of people out there are running without fender liners and the jdm z's didn't have them at all. if thats the case, i would think the fairlady's would have the same damage as i have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerboy Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 I have an early 260z shell that will be headed to the scrap yard shortly. If you're interested I could cut off the section to replace this portion on your car. Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19762802+2 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 I'm guessing dirt and debris gets trapped under the fender and there is a small hole for the water to drain out but if it doesn't drain out because its clogged it just sits between the fender and the frame, right about where your rust is, It is interesting though because I bought a 280z from missouri once and it had some rust but nothing like that in that area, just mostly in the rocker panels, lower fenders, etc. but that is my guess that your fender just got clogged up and rusted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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