Hi,

I just finished painting body and about to put parts together.

I try to find a sponge? rubber? under the front fender.

I could not find any resources about it.

Does anyone know the side of the thickness of rubber? or sponge?? of this fender support?

Thanks,

Tamo3

I used a piecs of 1cm thick armaflex insulation material. It was compressable and made the panel feel a lot firmer when I finished.

Armacell - Armaflex

You could probably pick up an off cut from some industrial air condioning company in our area. Here it costabout €30 per sq.mtr of 10mm thick sheet.

I might have a photo of it when I did it. If I find it Ill post the photos later.

Chas

Edited August 4, 201410 yr by EuroDat

I too need the rubber under the fenders. My guess was about a 1/2" thick. I have looked at dbl. sticky weather strip a O'reillys that is about a 1/2" thick but my first thought was neoprene from a wet suit or maybe from a beer cozy cooler. Glad to hear about Armaflex.(thanks Chas) I'll try to find it here in the states. It sounds better than my ideas.

Is this the fender seal you are looking for? I bought these from Black Dragon a few years ago - about $40 + shipping. They use a "S" clip to attach to the weld ridge.

There is a rubber cushion or pad in that area, also available from BD if you don't want to make your own. I used high-density foam weatherstrip material for that pad.

Datsun 240Z, 260Z, 280Z, 280ZX & Mazda RX7 iCatalog - Black Dragon Auto

Hi Jim,

I think they changed the design somewhere between the 240Z and the 280Z. I browsed through my photo's, but couldn't find anything on the rubber. I did find some photo's showing the difference between your fender supports and the 280Z. The 240Z has one that I can see and the 280Z has three. See photo's. Hope you don't mind me using your photo.

If you are refering to POS 4 in BD catalogue. It is a small rubber strip about 50mm long 12mm wide and 6mm thick. It fits in the "U" section at the front end of the inspection lid. Well I had to glue it in or it would fall out because the bonnet just didn't reach it to hold it in place.

Chas

Edited August 5, 201410 yr by EuroDat

Hi Chas,

Photos are there to be used, glad mine could help explain the differences. Quite possibly Nissan learned about the fender tops getting deformed from casual pressure and changed the support pad locations and number. The weatherstrip I used was probably about 5/16" thick and 3/4" wide. If I recall correctly I double-stacked it to get good support under the fender. The weatherstrip was adhesive backed. Even BD fails to show the 280Z version correctly.

Jim

Tamo3, as the guys have said above you'll probably have to make your own but

just be sure you use closed cell foam, you don't want that foam soaking up water and holding it.

Chris

Thanks for the all the information.

Does anyone know where can I purchase such the closed cell foam online?

I looked at my early 260.(The fenders are off during body work & paint.) It has 4 supports on top. The first is forward of the battery inboard of the rubber seal, other three are out board of the seal, surprisingly close together 14" near the shock tower & nothing forward. During the sanding & priming I found 4 spots in the top of the fender that match the supports. They had the factory pads on the supports. I wish I knew what the originals were made of or the thickness. I couldn't tell when I scraped them off. Also, these fenders are very thin. High spots in the sheetmetal can be knocked down with a knuckle. The wrong choice off the thickness & squishiness could be a problem especially if you have a dark paint job. Lumps or dips will show. Too busy sanding to have looked into options on the pads yet. Chris, Thanks, closed cell foam is a must.

Thanks for the all the information.

Does anyone know where can I purchase such the closed cell foam online?

Tamo - most auto supply stores carry the closed cell foam weatherstrip material. Often it is available in various widths and thickness. Try Autozone, NAPA, or O'Reilly where you live.

Also, home improvement stores sell closed cell foam for pipe insulation. You have to know what you're looking for because there is usually open cell foam next to it.