3 hours ago, grannyknot said:

Absolutely, that's a plug weld. With perfect prep the 3M panel bond might work well but personally I think I would have to weld those pieces together.  I would just be afraid that if that bond did lift off or crack the repair job just got a lot more difficult, with welding you know the job is done once.

Z cars consistently rust in those two spots on either end of the deck lid and I'm sure it is because the rain gutter on either side stops 3-4" too soon so all the water that drains off gets dumped right on to the deck lid.  Those corners also slope back a bit so standing water can sit there until it evaporates. While your in there you might consider adding a couple of small extensions like this that will take the water off the car completely.  At least the next restorer 50 yrs from now won't have to deal with the same problem.

 

Oh I’ll definitely add those to the car. Was there any use of glue on the underside of the panel by Nissan?

I can see why someone would want to use body glue here, it would prohibit water from entering between the top cover and the body underneath. 
 

did you use any kind of paint between the 2 layers to prevent this? 

7 hours ago, heyitsrama said:

 

did you use any kind of paint between the 2 layers to prevent this? 

I don't think Nissan used any glue but certainly they would have packed all those joints with seam sealer after the welding.  I believe my panels just had weld through primer on them, then epoxy primer, seam sealer then paint and clear.

I attempted to create a patch on the top panel, and i was not entirely happy with the way the panel formed. To save time (and my eyes every time i look at it) I think ill order a replacement panel.

@grannyknot do you have any more pictures of that repair? I cant see the top edge of where the surfaces mate.

 

Jumped down the rabbit hole that is painting the rear taillight panels. a lot of options.

These is from a previous Z,

 

I’ve been slowly chipping away at this. I think I got the panels close, although the gap between the panels is a little high. I’d like to make it closer.

 

does anyone know if there are supposed to be a gap between the corners where the tail light meets the top panel? In the second photo granny posted you can see a pen sized hole right where the outer seal ends.

this area on my car has welds, on both sides, the 73 I have does not have the welds.

 

 

I got the top panel welded in, I applied some etch primer to the bare metal, and now am looking at redoing the seam sealer layer that I added. I’m not happy with how rough the seam sealer looks on the top panel. Does anyone have advise on how to get it more “hidden”? I’m thinking it should cut and remove it all, and reapply it. 
 

 

I got the top panel welded in, I applied some etch primer to the bare metal, and now am looking at redoing the seam sealer layer that I added. I’m not happy with how rough the seam sealer looks on the top panel. Does anyone have advise on how to get it more “hidden”? I’m thinking it should cut and remove it all, and reapply it. 
 

 

I use lacquer thinner to clean up excess. Sometimes I will mask off the area first so there is less to clean up. Also you can use lacquer thinner on your finger to make it easier to smooth out the seam sealer

ill strip it down and give it another go @Patcon I was looking at some images of your work, I dont see the edge of where the top panel meets the sheet that makes the hatch support, did you fill that area in?

I used a combination of filler and seam sealer I believe. I don't rely on filler for areas that need to be sealed because plastic filler is not waterproof. It's been a while now and I don't really recall. If you can find some pictures of the slam panel pre-primer you might be able to tell more. Filler is normally robin egg blue. Seam sealer I use it tan