Major structural rust problem! HELP!

[Murph]

I'm also thinking about the possibility of finding a good shell and tranfering all the gear from my car to it. Could be alot cheaper than repairing mine. However finding a good shell at a good price probs wont be easy, and it's be a BIG job.

Anyone know of a 260Z 2-seater shell for sale?

[EScanlon]

In the for what it's worth department:

Yes you have some ugly and nasty work that's been done there before.

Yes it is all repairable.

Yes it will be expensive.

Now, for something completely different.

The ugly and nasty work wasn't done to cheat you. It was probably done by someone in the same situation as you, needing to make repairs and not having the funds to effect the repairs as thoroughly and comprehensively as needed.

The repairs were done on the "absolutely only what MUST be done" basis.

They did it cheaply. But they did effect repairs. That they aren't of the type and extent that you feel should have been done is a moot point as far as what WAS done, and only relevant on what you will do in the future.

What you need to do now, is decide how much money, time and effort you are going to invest into this.

If you can afford BOTH Frame Rails and BOTH Floor Pans (although from what I could see the only questionable part of the floor were those two bolt/fender washers, as in what the heck are those for?) then do so. However, you can get away with simply welding the Right Hand Frame Rail back in place after going to a Frame Shop to have them straighten the tweak out of the frame.

SHOULD it be done to a higher level? Absolutely. Can you afford it? That's yours to answer. But in my opinion, you don't have a MAJOR bunch of nasty stuff that spells death for that car.

If you needed to do the absolute minimum, like I said, just re-weld the Frame Rail that's come off and straighten out or replace the tie-rod.

2¢

[Murph]

Thanks EScanlon.

Just about to ring a few more restoration/body shops around here, we'll see what sorta quotes I get.

The repair/welding at the rear of the rails would have been done before what happened to the front sections of the rails. At least the repair at the rear was effective. The welding job they did on the broken front rail was quite obviously (when you see the car) only to hold the rail in place. No effort was made to give it any structural integrity.

Looks like my car has quite a history.

The bolts and washers coming outa the floor appear to be the way they have attatched my seats!

Very dodgy!