Where are the main area for RUST on 240z

[brushie1320022]

Can i get some imput on the main areas to look for rust when i go out shopping for a 240z... All replies would be greatly appreciated..

[dscott@shouri]

Image from Zhome website.

[cbudvet]

You may know this but to save weight, Datsun used thin sheet metal and did a poor job of rust proofing this metal. Areas out of the line of sight are often not painted with anything more than some primer. Be sure to pull up the carpet in front of the seats and REALLY check the floorboards. There is a thin soundproofing material adhered to the floor and I found the rust under this (although you can't peel it up when looking before you buy). Bring a flashlight and crawl around and look at the floors and frame rails from beneath. The good news is that many replacement body parts can be found but the bad news is you can have rust where you don't know. Good luck! Carl

[theianmonster]

Yeah, my floor boards looked awesome, but turns out they were super rusted and now I'm paying for it.

[dscott@shouri]

You may know this but to save weight, Datsun used thin sheet metal and did a poor job of rust proofing this metal. Areas out of the line of sight are often not painted with anything more than some primer. Be sure to pull up the carpet in front of the seats and REALLY check the floorboards. There is a thin soundproofing material adhered to the floor and I found the rust under this (although you can't peel it up when looking before you buy). Bring a flashlight and crawl around and look at the floors and frame rails from beneath. The good news is that many replacement body parts can be found but the bad news is you can have rust where you don't know. Good luck! Carl

+1 on all this. There is rust under the sound deadner. I chiseled all my deadner up.

[xray]

You may know this but to save weight, Datsun used thin sheet metal and did a poor job of rust proofing this metal. Areas out of the line of sight are often not painted with anything more than some primer. Carl

Sorry to nit-pick....Just to clarify, NO ONE did a good job of rust-proofing back in the 60s and early 70s. British cars, Italian cars as well as American cars ALL have problems with rust, mostly in the same locations where debris and water layer dependently against poorly prepared or ungalvanized steel. (Just watch an episode of Overhaulin on TLC, DYI net's Classic Car Restoration, etc etc!) It is a ubiquitious problem in automobile restoration...

With that said, the aftermarket (Zedd Findings, Tabco, MSA, Black Dragon, etc) has done a good job of supplying patch panels for almost every rust-prone aspect of the Z, with the exception of (as far as I know) battery trays, front frame rail/T-C bucket area and inner fender areas for rear quarter panels. BUT, we always wanted to learn metal fabrication and welding, didn't we?

FWIW,

Steve

[biddljj]

Based on too much experience my inspection would have the following steps:

1. Rear wheel arches

2. Rocker panel under the Door - dog leg near rear wheel to base of front fender

3. Bottom of doors

4. Floor pan where you feet go + behind seat

5. under car... floor pan + frame rail

6. Battery pan

7. Inside the front wheel wells along the frame rail

8. Rear hatch

Jay

[240znz]

Another place to check is upper portion of the firewall. Water enters the cowl and collects before finally exiting the leaf infested area via rubber tubes to the inner fender cavity (behind the inner fender splash panel).

There is only primer in there and a bit of overspray if you are lucky. Very hard to detect but will cost you a bomb to remove as you need to remove the steel panel directly under the cowl (if you want to it properly). Under there you will find the fresh air inlet chimney which whose dum dum will have dried and become brittle.

Those rubber tubes that provide a path from the inner drainage area to the inner fender cavity pass through the cabin. Crazy yes but that's the way they made it. These rubber tubes are prone to cracking and subsequently leak water onto the firewall sound deadening jute covered card board....slowly eating away to the firewall and eventually the floors.

Best have a look at an exploded view of the area to understand what I am describing here. There is a good exploded view in the Nissan Chassis and Body Manual. If I had a scanner, I'd post the pic here. Can anyone assist? It details every seam and where seam sealer is applied.

But as a general rule with purchasing any car from this era, get it up in the air and/or get a professional appraisal before purchase from someone who really "knows" where to look.

[bobc]

If you see a bubble from the outside, remember that Z's typically rust from the inside out. The small bubble on the outside has a large rust spot forming on the inside. There are listings all the time on ebay that say only small amounts of surface rust. By the times the bubbles appear, it's not just a sand down and paint over, it's a cut out and re-weld in a new panel. You can't just sand off the surface rust, put on some bondo and paint over it. The rust will continue to eat through the new paint and ruin the work. Check out zhome.com for more info on purchasing your Z.