hm....battery tray rust gone threw....thoughts wanted

[yetterben]

Well here is the only rust on my car i knew it was there when i bought it. I dont think this is a major issue as it has not gotten to to the frame yet. I know there could be more lurking but from what i see its not to bad.

i cleaned some undercoating off and slopped some por15 on it for now to attempt to slow it down till i get to it in a few weeks.

Someone put a patch on the inside already just riveted crappy work. But i am hoping it not the death of the car. I am good at welding not so good at fabbing. My thought where to template the area and have it made.

Edited June 10, 2009 by yetterben

[jwtaylor]

Looks like the current patch is probably making it worse as water / snow / slush gets in between the panel and the patch. It also looks a lot bigger than the area you painted with the POR-15. Keep it dry and repair as soon as you can.

[Seppi72]

You will most likely have a similar area on the other side of the car to deal with too. Check the soundness of that metal with a pick.

IF that's all the rust you have on the car, congratulations. It will not be hard for someone with even modest metal fab skills to make a patch for you. Plus, this entire region can be covered with undercoating when you're done so no one will see whatever kind of welding and grinding butcher job you might produce making the repair.

One other thing to check for are perforations in the firewall where the inner fender meets up with it along that little flange line. Pull away the firewall insulation in the footwell and then shine a bright light from the seat area towards the firewall. In a darkened garage, look at the panel from the fender side. If you have perforations, you'll see little speckles of light shining through. Perforations are best sealed with brazing.

[beandip]

Looks like you just need to cut away the rusted metal and weld in some new sheet metal. If you can weld you have it made. I had to take my Z to a welder and he patched it in with his tig. One thing with the battery in place , no one will see anything.

[yetterben]

its actually about 8 inches below the battery. its kinda strange. everything directly under the batt is fine. I am sure there is more rust hidden on the car somewhere. Floors are solid rockers are solid. I just wanted to drive the car for the summer and over the winter i will pull the motor and flip the car over and have a look-se.

Here are some pics. It has a f54/p79 combo in it and runs really nice. I threw a set of paltech carbs itb air cleaners and air horns on it. SEt timing to 12 btdc and it runs fantastic. Pulls so damn hard to 5 grand i have never seen the need to go over 5. Its got alot left at 5 though....at least it feels like it anyway.

Not to bad for 2,600 bucks. In Wisconsin its hard to find a z in good shape. Sucks i have no garage and all i have is a water proof car cover. Thats why i am trying to fix what i can so it does no go any further. I never drive it in the rain though.

Edited June 12, 2009 by yetterben