What would you do???

[mally002]

OK,

I bought this 1971 240Z that was 900 miles away on pictures and PO remarks. I received paperwork about a previous restoration from 1987 and alot of service records and documentation. Of course I asked about rust and the PO said very minimal with mainly surface issues. Well, here's what I have found and was curious about what some of you guys would do.

I chipped away whatever this stuff is on the inside, and then chipped away up underneath and took these photo's. Is this some sort of filler or fiberglass? The PO states he didn't know this was there because he never chipped away at it......Hmmmmm. Anyway, I want to keep the car but want to make sure this isn't unsafe. Would you guys go ahead and chip away all this stuff?? What the best course of action.

Thanks,

Randy

[Arne]

Looks like the floorpans have been rebuilt with fiberglass or something similar. From what I see, the only reasonable course to take now is to have the floors and framerails replaced. Of course, I'm not a body person, I'm much more comfortable with electrical and mechanical. So take my advise with a grain of salt.

[Walter Moore]

I have read about people hiding rust under fiberglass before. You will not really know what you are up against until you get all of that stuff off of there. It could be just a few rust holes here and there, but...

At least it looks like someone did you the favor of chipping off the factory sound deadening. That stuff is a pain to remove.

Most people here typically recommend cutting the floor out and welding in a new floor and frame rails. Personally that depends on what you intend to do with the car. My car's floor didn't have any holes the size of the one you have found already, so I just patched them by riveting in some metal plates. But that hole looks pretty nasty. I would bet that you will have to do more than that.

[beandip]

the only to evaluate the floors is to take off the black stuff. Where it has been chipped off and the metal is visible, it looks rusted . The one Rocker seen from below looks shot. The floor pans look, in the pictures, like they are flat . If this is so , they are not OEM, or Zedd Findings floors. Or someone could have just laid some sheet metal over the old rusted floor and covered it over with the black stuff. There is no telling how much rust or rot is under the black stuff. By all means it should all come off. If not badly rusted out then the floors and any bare metal needs to be treated to prevent rust. I recommend POR for this , however there are several products out there for this. It is obvious that the present black stuff didn't work. By the way the rockers should have large vent holes facing the inside of the car along there length . Yours look like they have been covered . Zedd Findings has the premium products for this . Sorry. Gary:rambo: Any repair in this areas covering large holes need to done properly . No rivets or screws on a rocker at least. tiny holes can be repaired with POR and matting . but remember the floors and rockers are your frame!

[geezer]

Looks to me like a call to Charlie is in order. That's for starters. I think the rust monster extends far past what we can see in these pictures. Years ago someone did a quick fix for a quick sale probably. It is not likely the PO was unaware of this. Like Gary says, sorry to confirm your worst case scenario, but there is no way to sugar coat this. You will have to consult a local metal man, if you are not equipt to do this repair work. If you read up on others like Gary, he did much of the work himself and had a pro weld it up for him, thus saving a lot of money and ending up with a top notch repair.

[mally002]

Thanks guys,

I'll be removing all this fiberglass on Sunday, the drivers side looks to be covered with the same so I'm sure it's bad too. I throw up some more pictures of what I find underneath after I get all this glass out.

[BRE-240Z]

Randy, this is the car that came from up North? From Massachusetts or something, right? Too bad, the car looked clean in the photos. At any rate, yeah, those floors look like there are some pretty severe rust issues going on. There's usually a reason that people lay in fiberglass like that, and usually it's to cover up the rust problem down below. Ugh.

Like the other guys said, I'd want to pull it up and see what's down there (or more likely, not down there, looks like there is some definite through-and-through when you view the car from beneath).

The good news is that the Zeddfindings kit is excellent, and if it's just the floors and there aren't a lot of other structural issues, it's not a complicated repair. I just had my passenger side done, let me know if you need any more info.

[mally002]

Thanks Bre,

I'm sure I will be asking soon. This may be a stupid question, and remember I'm no body/mechanic man but how will I know if it's structural? In otherwords, what exactly do I look for. When I have the car lifted up and all the fiberglass removed, is it as simple as the frame rails not rusted thru...or cracked etc. I'm not 100% sure how to check for structural integrity.

It is the car from up North, it looks great and runs great and smooth and

I just got all new interior for it from Les, and now this.......arrrg. Anyway If there are structural issues at what cost will it be to correct.

I'll try and post some pictures on Sunday when I get it lifted and most of the glass off, then maybe you guys can tell me more.

Cheers,

Randy

[BRE-240Z]

Randy, it's difficult to tell what the condition of your frame rails are from the photos, since the rails appear to be covered with whatever that black crap is. The Zeddfindings kit contains the rear frame rails, so don't worry too much if they look bad from the passenger footwell rearwards (my passenger side rail was rusted through and detached at the rear; the heater hose under the dash had been leaking for some time, apparently, before I bought the car).

First you'll want to get up all of that junk, and to pull back the diamond vinyl, etc, so that you can truly evaluate how bad the problem is. When you take the shop to the welder's he's going to need to remove that stuff, so if you do it first you'll save some time and money. After that, you can evaluate how much of the floor needs to be replaced. If it's just the floor - and bear in mind that Charlie's kit goes from the firewall all the way back behind the rear seat mounts, so it will cover the entire floor - and possibly the rear frame rails, too, then you're going to be in good shape.

Where it gets nasty is if the rust extends beyond what Charlie's floorpan kit covers. If the transmission tunnel or firewall or battery tray, etc, is eaten away, then you'll have nothing to attach the floorpans to. You know what I'm saying? Then this becomes much more of a project....

I had one side done, and depending on how bad yours is, you may be able to get away with having one side done or you may need both. Having the old floor cut out, and the new floor welded in along with the new rear frame rail, and the entire thing covered with POR-15 (top and bottom) cost me about $400. You're about two hours from me; if you can't find a welder over there that will do the repair, bring your car over here and my guy will do it.

This is not the best photo, but this is my new floor.....