CA Joe

Yesterday my 240z was hauled away to a new home by 2 good souls.

Thanks. I do too. I think it's most likely destination will be the local scrap yard though unfortunately.

... and just so I'm not posting only problem areas. Here are some more pics of the rest of the body. The stuff you see on the inside around the spare tire well is not rust. It's rust colored media (sand) from the media blasting (that stuff comes falling out of every nook and cranny). The underside of the body is actually in really good shape as is the interior back hatch area and transmission tunnel. The driver side floor could use a patch near the front but doesn't need to be replaced like the passenger side did.

In a reply to an interested forum member I realized I didn't post a pic of another area of the body that needs a little TLC. I removed some of the sheet metal around the passenger side quarter window to get to good metal. The rust pictured is surface rust to be grinded off.

cesar280z - I just PM'd you. Let me know and I'll send you contact info.

I was doing a ground up restoration on my '73 240Z and just don't have time to work on it. I have a job that often has me working nights and weekends and even if I spent every day off that I had it would literally take me years to finish this project. Pick N' Pull will come and take the body away for me and give me $200 for it but I would hate for another 240Z to go to the crusher. I would rather give it away to someone for free that wants to restore it. The body has a hole cut in the roof for a sun roof and I had planned to replace the roof skin with a wrecking yard cut that I got that is in perfect condition. I paid $200 for the roof but I'll include that for free also if anyone wants it. The body needs quite a bit of work done to it still to get rid of all areas damaged by rust. I had the whole thing sand blasted it and then primered it to keep any new rust from developing since I knew the resto would take awhile. Here are a few pics. One of the car before the restoration started, one of the body that I'm talking about and a few to show the worst areas for rust repair. I live in the Modesto area in the central valley of California. Let me know if anyone is interested. I would also be interested to know if you guys think I'm crazy to think anyone would want a body that needs this kind of work done to it and should just have Pick N' Pull come and haul this thing away to go to Z car heaven Any advice is welcome.

Here is a photo that gives a better view of the kind of condition that the passenger side frame rail is in. There is a photo of some more carnage near the back of the passenger side rocker panel and wheel well. This will be the next up for surgery after the battery tray and frame rail. I also included a pick of the body so you can see the "big picture".

Wow! Thanks a lot for the offer. I'm hoping I can figure out a way to do this myself since I'm going to be doing all the work and will need a few weeks to get it done. My guess is a shop probably wouldn't let me come and do my work over at their place. I was actually able to get the frame more or less straight and have been reassured by madkaw that it probably won't mean a problem with alignment anyway. This just leaves for me to figure out a way to hold everything in place while I'm doing all the cutting and welding work. I may have to bite the bullet and build a jig but am eager to here if anyone has an easier way.

Here are some pics of some of the floor pan work for you your entertainment. I had to cut away some rusted areas and rebuild them with new sheet metal. Painted everything up in POR-15 before I decided to grind it off and use weld-thru primer instead. In one of the picture you can see how far gone the passenger side kick panel and frame rail bottom were/are.

Thanks a lot for your reply. It's good to know that the mods I had to make to the floor pan were normal. It took a lot longer than I thought not just because I had to modify it but because when I cut the old one out I had to cut quite a bit of rusted metal out right in front of the seat belt housing and other places like the trans tunnel and weld in new. I'm getting used to new "surprises" every time I remove some sheet metal. I'll post some pictures of the back passenger rocker to show you what I mean. The frame rail has definitely lost some of it's structural integrity. I was able to move it over by about 1/8 inch or so with the sledge and wood block. Battery acid and rain water really did a number on it during a time when it was sitting outside for a few years. It wasn't bent from a collision, rather something was driven over that hit it pretty hard from underneath. I did some really hard driving when I was younger also without knowing that it was weak and it's possible that just the cornering forces moved it a little. This car is definitely a long term project so I plan to do everything right regardless of time. I think I have another year to go at least. The reason the frame rail doesn't look that bad is because the black primer covered up all the rust. If you look closely though you can see holes in the top. The metal is pitted and week for about 6-8 inches back from the firewall. Rather than cutting pieces of it off and attempting to patchwork it back together I thought it would be better to replace it. I measured the distance between the two frame rails and they were square all the way back to where the cross-member bolts up. After that the passenger side gradually drifted toward the outside until it was about 1/8 further out. After some additional blows to the frame rail later today though it's pretty close to straight now. It's good to know that as long as the cross-member is square I don't have much to worry about. I was going to weld in new sheet metal in the batter tray and kick-plate area before attacking the frame rail but was afraid that something might move when I removed the inside part of it from the firewall. Short of creating a jig, if you can think of an easier way to keep things straight I would love to know. Thanks again for your reply.

Hey thanks for the link! I just might do that.

Modesto, CA I don't know anyone around here with a trailer. If I did I would probably take it to get it straightened. The suspension is definitely off the car. Actually, there is nothing at all on the car. It's just an empty shell. 2 guys can lift and walk it (with a bit of effort of course). Do you know any way I could do it myself? I have a 230volt continuous MIG so fabricating something wouldn't be a problem as long as it is simple.

I'm neck deep into a complete ground up rebuild of my '73 240z. I thought it's about time I started a thread on this car and started sharing my "experiences" I just finished replacing the passenger side floor-pan and decided to start working on the battery compartment area (it was completely rusted out). After cutting away all the sheet metal I got a better view of the condition that the passenger side frame rail is in. I new that I would have to cut parts of it out and replace with good metal but after getting a good look at it I think I'll just replace the whole thing. Before I cut it away completely from the body I decided to take a closer look and try and devise a way of keeping everything in place so my alignment and so on would still be good after the replacement. This is when I noticed that some road damage had bent the frame rail toward the outside of the car. No wonder the floor pan seemed to tight going in (ahhh!). I was able to move the frame rail back toward the inside of the car a little with a 4X4 block and 5 pound sledge. This would have probably been easier with the floor pan out but oh well. It's a little late now. Before I continue further and do anything I seriously regret I thought I would try and see if any of the resident Z gurus could steer me in the right direction. I have 2 specific questions: 1) What methods can I use in my garage to get the frame rail straightened before I replace it? 2) How do I keep everything true when replacing the frame rail? Please keep in mind that the logistics of getting the body down to a shop with a frame straightener make that option almost impossible. I've attached some photos of my recent progress. If you look a the top of the frame rail you can see where it is bent. Any advice is greatly appreciated.