How did I do? I'm a little scared...

[olzed]

There is no way in the world that car should go back on the street, IMHO, unless it has had a complete rebuild by someone compenent, and had the relevant inspections.

These cars rely on every piece of bodyshell to give strength and hold together. It's a fair bet that the rust he can't see is far worse.

Edited January 24, 2014 by olzed

[grannyknot]

Ryan, don't be afraid of working on rust, it's all doable. Yes you will get very dirty but it's a great feeling to save the car.

I know what you mean by feeling an obligation to fix it properly, when a rusted car falls into my hands, one that is worth saving like yours, I can not be like all the previous owners and keep passing the problem on to the next guy.

Learning how to do proper rust repair is not that hard and what else were you going to do with your spare time

Chris

[Mikes Z car]

My first Z had rusty holes in the rocker panels and rusted holes on the wheel well arches next to the lip. I sanded to bare metal and put a thin layer of bondo over both rocker panels and over the wheel wells. Had the car painted and 8 years later when I sold it the rust had not come back and the car still looked great.

[ajmcforester]

my concern thing that much rest on the top an outside is how badly rusted is it on the undercarriage. The first thing I'm concerned about is it that amount of rust is the cars actually safe to drive or is it going to fold in on itself. I'm not opposed and thinking that you should get rid of this car in fact this might be a great way to start. first of the car gives you a chance to actually practice and learn skills to repairing it in building a car later on in life. have you thought about buying a shell later on basically you don't find the body and frame of a good car that might be missing an engine transmission or someone tried to get us started restoration of never completed. The reason is you look to have most of the car is running uh it could be a good way to uh actually have a good safe car the future and I spent a ton of money on rust repair. Basically you can build a Frankenstein car if you wanted to you could pick from different years of the dogs and see cars even take any body from 1971 put it on putting your 77 components in mixing things up if you wanted to.

[ajmcforester]

I almost forgot congratulations welcome to the Z car world. I think you enjoy working with your car if you do not get frustrating keep your goals realistic.

[ajmcforester]

I almost forgot congratulations welcome to the Z car world. I think you enjoy working with your car if you do not get frustrating keep your goals realistic.

[Stanley]

As long as it runs and stops good you did OK! Def rat rod. As I've been learning from my 63 Chevy, and Neil Young, rust never sleeps. I'm better with fiberglass than welding so I made new door frames for example. Bought a less rusty hood. I use various wire brush attachments on the drill, Ospho (cheaper by the gallon, brush on or garden sprayer), rustoleum, bondo or hi-build primer, lots of sanding. Soon it will rust again. Bondo doesn't work that good if there's rust underneath, after about a year it gets all cracked from the rust underneath. The old truck would be worth tons of money if it was rust free, ha ha.

At least its lighter from all the rust that's flaked off.

Maybe polish the cam cover or something, then it will at least look good with the hood up.

[Mikes Z car]

...

At least its lighter from all the rust that's flaked off.

Finally! A performance mod that doesn't cost anything!

[HaZmatt]

Welcome neighbor! Looks like the previous owner had a vinyl top on it causing all the rust on the roof. The rust can be repaired, but it is very labor intensive and will seem like a never ending project. But thats if you want it done right, if you just want a quick fix, I would suggest repairing the frame rails for safety, then knocking off the rough chunks and coating the rusted areas in POR15 or something similar. This will at least stop or slow down the rust process. Then do a DIY or Maaco paint job. If you ever wanna see what your getting into, let me know. My car is stripped down to the chassis and im in the process of repairing the rust right now.

[olzed]

The authorities obviously have a far more relaxed approach in US than we do here in NZ.

That car would not be allowed on the road down here if the rust holes were filled over with bog.

I saw the result of a rusted out Morris Mini Tboned by a Toyota Crown. 4 dead.

The Mini literally fell apart. The collision was only at about 40 MPH. the top of the car was completly severed from the floor.

I realize the Toyota is a much heavier car, but the occupants of the Mini just might have stood a chance if the car had stayed in one piece.

[ajmcforester]

NO he will get stopped, but what you tell them is that you were wanting it to look old and worn out and that the car is fine. That will get you out of trouble most times.

[bartsscooterservice]

Do you have pics of the floorboards and front engine bay rails ?