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When replacing a Z's front frame rail, the T/C rod bracket needs to be separated from the rail so that it can later be welded to the replacement rail. The T/C rod bracket is secured to the OE rail by a combination of spot welds and a long seam weld. I'm looking for some guidance on the steps and tools that work best for separating the bracket from rail and whether this should be done before vs after the rail is separated from the rest of the vehicle structure. The brackets, BTW, used to be available as service parts (74830/78301-E4100) but are now shown as NLA on the Courtesy Nissan website.

Hey everyone. I live in Colorado, and I use my Z as a daily driver. Its a 1983 280zx Turbo, T-tops ect. Recently this winter slid on the ice into a curb at probably about 20 MPH. Moral of the story is driving Z's in the snow sucks. I bent the frame a bit. I have a wrinkle in the frame behind the wheel on the right front side. I can add pictures alter, but I am at work. At first I thought it was the steering rack, but it is just the frame (could be better could be worse) My Z is pretty rust free, but the frame is still a bit of a worry. Would it be recommended to just see what can be done with a standard frame machine? Or should I look into offsetting with adjustments to the A-arm? Recommendations welcome. I ultimately want to strip the undercoating that is currently there and re-coat it with POR-15 or something similar. If possible I'd also like to reinforce the frame rails, just for performance purposes, I do not intend to swap or do much other mods, I am keeping it stock as mechanically she is a dream with only 145k original miles. I also need to replace the fender (Driver's front Quarter) Which I can get cheap, but I was curious as to the process of replacing. (Frame is more important at the moment) Any recommendations are appreciated! Thanks!

Just got a 73 Z, low mileage, single owner, very little rust, looks straight from what I could see laying on the ground in the bright sun. Took it home and got it jacked up to remove the old undercoat and hunt down hidden rust and this is what I see Obviously I need to get the straightness checked by a shop but my question for veteran owner / restorers is : have I made a huge mistake?

Hi, I was curious if anybody had the full dimensions for the frame rails from the front and all the way under the floor for a 240z? I want to see if I could find somebody to bend one up for me, or if just purchasing any of the online ones might be cheaper. Thanks for the help!

Hey everybody i own a 1978 280z and its in very good condition but the frame rails aren't so nice. I bought the bagdog replacements and im having trouble finding someone who will do the job. Has anybody in the miami FL area able to do this or know of a reliable person? This is kind of an emergency because i've been looking for weeks for someone who knows what they are doing and i've stopped driving the car in fear of bending the chassis. If anyone could point me in the right direction i'd appreciate it. (sorry if this is in wrong forum) Thanks, sam

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.