My Datsun 280Z "Rustoration"

[rossiz]

good vibes from seattle - can't wait so see the first startup video!

btw, what kind of fuel pressure gauge is that? i'm about to replace my 4th one, as they get chewed up from the injector pulses. the little brass gears inside just wear themselves out in a few months of daily driving. i've been using the cheapo hardware store variety, but will be switching to something with a sensor and remote gauge to solve this...

[HaZmatt]

Its a Fuelab gauge from Summit Racing. Non liquid filled. I think it was like $30

[CoeGuthrie]

That's awesome!

I did some poking around under mine, and this is what I found: 2 almost identical spots towards the back end of my frame rails. Wondering how I should proceed because I'm not ready to totally tear it down, but I'd also like to drive it for the next summer or two. And even if I was, would I really want to totally drill out all spot welds so I could sand blast the insides then weld them back on? Ughhh!

Did you do any extra prep and/or rustproofing inside your rails other than the repairs you noted Matt?

What would you suggest? The factory primer looks to be in pretty good shape in the rails except the affected spots, but it's obviously not effective enough!

Passenger side (6-8")

Drivers side ( about 5")

Other primer:

Thanks for your input!

Edited February 26, 2015 by CoeGuthrie

[HaZmatt]

Ooh your rails are pretty bad, huh? I used Eastwood internal frame rail coating inside all my rails. I also had a guy replace a small section for me.

[CoeGuthrie]

How did you prep for the eastwood internal frame coating? I'd be a little worried about putting it over the factory coating.

I think I can repair the rails easy enough, as that is the extent of it, and the vertical sides of the rail are mostly surface rust, but I sure would like to keep it from happening to the rest of the rail!

[wheee!]

I was under the impression that the Eastwood internal frame coating cold be applied over the factory primer and even the rust inside. Removing as much debris as possible helps but will not adversely affect a well saturated internal frame member.

I plan on removing as much rust as possible before coating all internal frame components the same as Matt and then rustproofing the outside of the stock frame rails. At that point, I am going to rustproof the inside of the Bad Dog frame rail caps and then weld them over the original frame rails. That should protect them for another 40 years.....

Sent from my iPizzle ringy dingy device....

[HaZmatt]

Thats correct. The frame coating has a rust encapsulator in it so no need to remove any surface rust. Just the blow out the big chunks. How are your floor pans?

[CoeGuthrie]

Floor pans look almost perfect. I have found no rust in them from the bottom or topside. I'm am going to have to do something about the front fenders because I have a couple of bubbles under the paint, but I don't think it's anything to serious.

[HaZmatt]

That's good. They make some replacement panels for the lower fender areas. Otherwise look on Craigslist in Arizona or California for some rust free fenders, that's what I did.

[Patcon]

I used the Eastwood internal frame coating on the Z I have on the rotisserie. It is a thin green material that runs very easily. It also dries very fast. I sprayed it into every area I could think of and rotated the car around to get gravity to help coat everything well. I bought several cans but sometimes things wait a long time before I get to them. Two cans sat for about a year on the shelf, when I went to use them they acted dead and I couldn't get them to work. Eastwood wouldn't do anything for me. I think 30 days is there limit. So if you buy some, use it, don't let it sit. Also I have an undercoater gun I bought from them and some bulk internal frame coating in a quart. That was a waste of money. The air running through the gun dries the material in the nozzle!!! I even tried thinning it and never could make that setup work. A total waste of money. The undercoater gun works ok because I used it to apply Lizard Skin in the interior. The aerosol cans work good and with the long hoses you can reach most areas. I did in the structure of the hood, especially the nose, the rockers and doglegs, up over the wheels arches, the structure sections under the rear floor and the frame rails out front and under the floor...

Charles

[grannyknot]

As the old saying goes," The rust you can see is only 10% of what is actually there"

I've found that to be pretty accurate.

[HaZmatt]

I went through about 4 cans of it. Sprayed it in about every crevice I could find. It comes with a long tube and the nozzle sprays like a star pattern so it has a 360 degree sparay pattern.