Water leakage problem

[76Datsun280z]

Well, I set up an appointment next Monday to have the firewall assest and looked and get a price quote on how much it would cost from a local z specialist to get the rust fixed on the firewall and under the battery. Just thought I'd up date you guys.

[jmark]

As far as the battery tray issue, I had to have it and the assoc. firewall area replaced on our '78 280Z. I had the Z Barn cut us out a donor tray and firewall section. The body shop then cut out the bad and grafted in the donor section. www.zbarn.com Seems like the donor piece was around $125 shipped.

[76Datsun280z]

Alright, well thanks for the info. I'll let you know what he says on Monday.

[76Datsun280z]

Update, I took into Z-Specialties and got a quote for $985.00 to have the remaining rust fixed. My dad believes this is a little over the top, what do you think? My dad just talked today to an auto shop that does repair work, and they said to bring it in, so I'm going Wednesday to get another quote. I'll let you know what they say.

[Mpower280z]

I hope that will solve the problem. If you lived closer, I could fix your battery tray like new! And of as always would beat your best quote. Rust is a major factor with these cars and I try my best to keep as many of them on the road. Good Luck, let me know if the repair eliminates the leak.

[76Datsun280z]

I hope that will solve the problem. If you lived closer, I could fix your battery tray like new! And of as always would beat your best quote. Rust is a major factor with these cars and I try my best to keep as many of them on the road. Good Luck, let me know if the repair eliminates the leak.

Thanks, I wish you could too!

Well, my dad called the place that I was going to take it Wednesday, but they said for some reason, they can't look at it. I don't know the details. Anyway, I called up the guy that we had fix a lot of rust on it two years ago, and he said we could bring it in this weekend to have him look at it so I think that's what were going to do. One way or the other, this water leakage problem and the rust issue is going to be fixed!:nervous:

[DatsunZsRule]

Your doing the right thing by shopping around for the best price, but also remember as the old saying goes "You get what you pay for" $985.00 to be real honest with you sounds about right to repair evil rust in those areas your talking about. Rust repair is for sure not cheap especially when you have to pay a good reputable body shop to do it for you.

Good luck.

[76Datsun280z]

Update; my dad set up an appointment tomarrow to take it up to a body man which we've had work done from him before and he's going to give us an estimate. I tell ya, we gotta get this water leakage problem fixed soon, I was telling my dad last night I can't even drive it in the rain because it just creates a huge puddle on the passenger floor.

[280z1975]

Since this seems to be a big issue which affects your ability to drive the car I would like to suggest some action you can take to find the issue.

First off, Strip the passenger side area of just about everything you can take out (Carpet, firewall insulation, heater motor, etc.) take the passenger side fender off along with the windshield cowl panel. This should have you to a point where you can really see what is going on with your Z and where there might be points of entry of water.

The process for elimination of areas which might be a problem:

1) Look for area's of rust which could have lead to water coming inside the car.

2) Use a powerful light (halogen laps work well) to flood the inside of the passenger area toward the car with light and look where you can see any light penetrating. Water can find more routes than light, but this still helps.

3) Use selective reasoning to decide where to pour water from a small jug on key areas. Do each area and test where the water is going. Use paper towels to test areas where you think it is coming in.

Personally I think it's leaking in from your windshield gasket (even if it's new) as the water can go from the top off the roof, hit the windshield gasket at the top, run all the way down, find it's way to the inner lip of the area (I know it can cause I had light rust there when I tore my Z apart) and then into one of the holes in the area. My Z leaked at the corner where water can pool due to the nature of the curves of the windshield. It wasn't a big leak, but in a good rain it would flood the drivers side.

I've included some photos of my z stripped down to help you reference some of the areas you might need to deal with.

Hope this helps and others feel free to comment with ideas or suggestions.

[76Datsun280z]

Thanks for your info. The carpet and sound detenator material is all stripped out on the passenger side. We don't think it is the windshield gasket that is problem because it seems to be comming in from under the cowl and somewhere into a rust whole in the firewall, but anything is possible. We'll see what this guy says today about. Thanks again for your help and your pictures.

[76Datsun280z]

Alright, well we're dropping her off on Saturday morning! The bodyman said it will be about a full days work, so we're going to give him the weekend to work on it and hopefully pick it up Monday night. We made it clear with him that we need it back soon. He is going to fix the remaining rust in the rear quarter panel, the big whole under the batter and some other smaller rust wholes on the firewall. The water leak has yet to be found, but he is going to look into it. After this, it should be pretty much a rust free car!

[76Datsun280z]

Well she's at the shop, so we should be gettin' her back in a few days. We talked to the guy about painting, so he'll be giving us an estimate on a paint job so hopefully that may be getting done soon down the road!