240z - fabbing new front rails

[240260280]

Nice Work!

[ConVerTT]

2 hours ago, 240260280 said:

Nice Work!

Thanks!

[grannyknot]

I don't know how much of your original frame rail was left but the area I have circled in red has few layers of support webbing and gusset plates inside to stiffen that area, will you reuse the original T/C rod boxes?

The new rail looks very accurate. ?

 

Edited January 30, 2019 by grannyknot

[ConVerTT]

15 hours ago, grannyknot said:

I don't know how much of your original frame rail was left but the area I have circled in red has few layers of support webbing and gusset plates inside to stiffen that area, will you reuse the original T/C rod boxes?

The new rail looks very accurate. ?

 

Thanks!  So the factory rail did have a gusset over the outer skin.  It is badly rusted out so it is hard to say what guage it was.  I plan on making a replacement from either 18 ga or 14 ga once the inner skin is in place.  The TC rod boxes are in great shape, likely due to the heavy white paint coat from the PO.  I am going to bead blast them for closer inspection but they seem reusable.

Question for you:  I don’t see any drain holes at all on the original rail?  It seems that the the intersection of the front rail, floor rail and firewall is is fantastic water trap once it gets wet.  Did they come like that from the factory?

Edited January 31, 2019 by ConVerTT
Many typos

[grannyknot]

I think that if you just weld in some triangulated baffles into that circled area you should be  good but actually @wheee! just did his last year so he should have a good idea of the configuration  that is in there.

6 hours ago, ConVerTT said:

It seems that the the intersection of the front rail, floor rail and firewall is is fantastic water trap once it gets wet.

An excellent water trap!  Which is why they are eaten away so often,  I can't say that I have ever seen a pristine frame rail to know if it had a drain hole or not, maybe one of our members from Arizona could tell us.

[ConVerTT]

31 minutes ago, grannyknot said:

I think that if you just weld in some triangulated baffles into that circled area you should be  good but actually @wheee! just did his last year so he should have a good idea of the configuration  that is in there.

An excellent water trap!  Which is why they are eaten away so often,  I can't say that I have ever seen a pristine frame rail to know if it had a drain hole or not, maybe one of our members from Arizona could tell us.

Haha thanks!   So I know Mark and he is only three hours away.  Been bugging him all afternoon via text about his rails and his  drainage setup..  He had a lot of good suggestions and I have a couple of thoughts too.  Definitely adding some type of drainage path though.  Good thing everything is just clamped in right now ....

Edited January 31, 2019 by ConVerTT
Typo

[wheee!]

Yup, been burning up the data with pics of my install etc. Kent is on track with what I did, he is just going to have to modify the setup he has a now a little to achieve the same type of drainage.

[ConVerTT]

So the factory rails narrow in quite a bit just before the radiator guide to  accommodate the width of the rad ....

Initially I thought that the additional width wouldn’t be important, but I decided keep my options open and replicate the factory design.  So I had to trim and cap my rails.  Here is ‘how it turned out ....

 

 

 

Basically I made a cap using the shrinker stretcher, cut the rail and and welded it in as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almost done the drivers side!

[ConVerTT]

Well its been a few days.  The rails are pretty much done.  Time to get ready to weld so ....AIRCRAFT STRIPPER time!  Yay!

Personally I prefer chemical to mechanical stripping.  Wear a respirator.

First pass ...

 

I always “bag” the panel after a generous application, especially on vertical panels.  Keeps everything wet a bit longer and cuts down the fumes ....

Good start, but looks like it will need a looks like it will need a second pass....

 

Much better after a second pass...

Panel looks pretty clean.  Rusty at the firewall and under the rad support as expected...

 

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]

 

So while I was waiting, I thought I would try the stripper on the undercoat in the fender well.  I have been told that it will NOT work on undercoat ....

...but it sure did!  Softened it right up so that I could scrape it off with a putty knife ...

 

Finnished it up with WD40 on a rag and a wire wheel on some of the stubborn stuff.  Tomorrow we weld!  Cheers all!

Edited February 8, 2019 by ConVerTT
Typos

[wheee!]

Looking good!

[Namerow]

Paint stripper for undercoating.  That's a worthwhile discovery.  Certainly a lot safer than using a torch and probably more effective than a heat gun. Undercoating removal is a miserable-but-unavoidable job, so anything that eases the pain and improves the result is worth knowing about. 

I wonder whether the stripper approach will work with the applied-with-a-brush-from-a-can parts store-type undercoating that was inflicted on so many cars from this era by their owners.  That stuff is just diluted asphalt.

I'm impressed by how well you managed to contain all of the paint and undercoating gunk/debris.  Almost makes the job look easy (although I'm pretty sure it wasn't).

[grannyknot]

9 hours ago, ConVerTT said:

Personally I prefer chemical to mechanical stripping.  Wear a respirator.

I agree it certainly is the fastest but it also comes with the danger of the stripping chemicals hiding in the seams and crevises  then seeping out after the new paint is on causing breaks in the paint, then the rust starts all over again (ask me how I know).  A small fine wire brush and an air gun along the seams helps a lot removing the last of the stripper.

Looking good,  I really like your plastic sheet trough under the work area, I'm going to try that next time.