well i have a 73 z i was planning on using as a driver while i put my challenger back together and of course the z bug is taking over... the problem was i knew that zs are valuable and desireable to us datsun lovers so i was holding off on doing things like making my own bare bones dash and such.. partly because i was under the impression that it was a relatively rust free z for washington.. well today i realized i was wrong.. i knew the passenger side had a hole in the floor and the frame rail was bad along with the passenger side sway bar mount, but i thought that was the worst of it. well today i was cleaning out the trunk and realized that the vinyl was holding moisture. i was gonna leave it all in since it was there but i finally said screw it ill gut the interior since its holding moisture anyways well that sucked cause i found out that datsun didnt coat their metal excpet with vinyl. so my trunk has some rust and the drivers floor is toast.. so its looking pretty bleek and suddently it was much more scary to drive down the street. so im not gonna worry about resale value since most would consider this a parts car.. so race dash and bare bones floor pans here we come!

and another one bites the dust...

Show pics of the dash once it is fabricated. Good Luck!

and another one bites the dust...

sorry i know its not everyones favorite thing to hear about a z being abused /:

as for the dash, i dont know when i will get around to doing it but it wont be right away because i dont have a welder so itll be after i can get the title taken care of and drive it to someone who does haha but its still a likelyhood and i will definetly post pictures of my progress! thanks for the encouragement!

Yea, no biggy, they can't all be saved. At least your doing what you can with what you have. Best of luck with the build and looking forward to some pics. If you get stuck, there is a ship load of knowledge available right here.

I bought a 110v 130 amp. MIG for 700.00 ( I am sure you could find one down there for under 600.00, without all the tax,s we are forced to pay ) and it is perfect for rebuild projects like this.

haha thanks yeah im trying but as far as the welder goes, i dont have any money at all haha i have about 200 saved up towards little stuff for my challenger haha i dont have a job cause i dont have transportation at the moment

$100 at Harbor Freight for a decent Flux welder. Takes some getting used to but I built everything on the 260Z with one. What you need is a Saws-all, a compressor with a good cutting wheel and some tin snips. And a Grinder ($20 at Harbor Freight)

That's about all I'm using and mine is moving right along. You can make your own floor pans if you're not worried about precise measurements and looks. Just Cut out the rust, square it off, buy your steel, make some bends and call it a day, and a finished floor.

Dave

yeah thats pretty much the plan. i did tons of welding and cutting and such at my friends house on my challenger they had a really nice hobart 180 but the z is probably not going over there cause my challenger was there for 2 years haha but yeah i have a sawsall, compressor, cutting wheel and i can get some sheet metal too i just need the welder haha but i have another friend who races a rabbit at evergreen and he has a hobart too so if i cant get one for myself i can go there once i get the title. the main thing im concerned about is im not sure the best way to tackle the frame support things under the floor... i dont think theyre in very good shape :/

What do you mean no paint behind the vinyl I have very good paint. Now the back side of the fender panels were only primer sealed. That might be a hint of work done. I hope it look better than you floors. By the way I was so concerned with rust people were calling me OCD. When I bought the car the guy was getting annoyed with the magnet and tapping the body looking for soft spots, besides he wouldn't have the rust I would.

the trunk area has vinyl. and then under that its all orange.. but under the orange is in most areas more vinyl and then rusty metal under that vinyl. the trunk is much better then the floors but theres still some through rust near the pass shock tower and i also have some hatch latch rust as well as battery tray area rust and some bubbling in a few random spots..

and you will notice that in the floor picture everywhere theres paint... thats vinyl.. all the rust is where i pulled the vinyl out

You are correct except what your talking about wasn't vinyl but sound dampener. It's a tar like plastic. They never painted under that of course for as long as they wanted the car to last it wasn't going to allow rust to rust it out, but give it time allowing it to harden and crack let water in and their you have it a rusted out car. How bad is it you might want to look for a shell?

uh the floor is probably the worst part but i say probably because if its anything like my challenger then theres oodles of hidden rust blind to the naked eye the trunk really isnt that bad but i only peeled of the sound deadener on the one side so far.. the biggest problem here is i was specifically designating this vehicle to be a daily driver while i worked on my project car and at the moment its looking like an equally big project. the bodywork is done enough on the challenger so its time to reassemble it but the z is just starting on bodywork... but it runs and drives. but i dont have a title for the z although i can get one fairly easily.. i dont really want to get rid of the z as most wouldnt bother fixing it they would just find a donor shell.. so i might as well make it work and turn it into yet another mock race car to drive on the street (so far every car i own heads this route)... anyways if it comes down to a new shell theres really not much point because i dont have the means and usually people plan on pulling the l24 4 speed and r180 out.. so it seems silly to spend money getting a donor shell for my stock drivetrain.. anyway im just kinda rambling and thinking out loud. i guess my plan is to see what i can do to get some structural strength back as well as get a title and try to use it as a dd anyway.. i mean ive driven it the way it is so i know it can be done but i would certainly like a little more support if im actually gone take it out around other drivers