Don't judge a Z by it's cover...

[mdbrandy]

Well, I knew I had rust problems, but I found some nasty stuff today. I finally pulled the front fenders. I knew that the PO had replaced the fender with factory parts, and they still looked good. No rust apparent at the rocker on them. There were a few rust bubbles on the rocker itself, but not too bad. So, here's a pic of what I found under the front fenders. The rocker ends are pretty much gone. Don't know how you can see this area without pulling the fender, but if you see ANY rust on the rockers, beware of this area.

First, the passenger side:

[mdbrandy]

And then the drivers side:

[Smokey]

Very common place for rust. Good pictures and a warning to go with them.

Looks like your rails and pans are pretty much gone too. Got some fun work in front of you, but at least there are replacement parts available for what you have shown.

[EScanlon]

If you look in My Gallery you'll find a couple pictures of my under fender area with an extended hose. That's what you have to do to extend the cowl drain so that it doesn't dump all the crud and water into this area of the fender.

Unfortunately, that's the MAIN reason this kind of rust happened.

2¢

[mdbrandy]

Originally posted by EScanlon

If you look in My Gallery you'll find a couple pictures of my under fender area with an extended hose.

Good idea. I'll keep that in mind when (way off in the future), I get to the point of putting it back together instead of taking it apart . I think part of the problem on mine was that the company that did the "restoration" work for the PO on my car 14 years or so ago cut many corners. When I removed the front fenders, there were NO seals under it. None. The little plastic flap in the wheelwell that supposedly covers the area at the rocker - not there on either side. Sealing along the spashguard between the guard and the fender? Forgeddaboutit! That company is now out of business, or I'd run them down around here. Oh well, gives me more to work on. It's a hobby, right?

Thanks for the ideas...

[26th-Z]

Check Banzai Motorworks at zzxdatsun.com for the fender flaps. Item # BO-54 I think they are $5 each. Been down that road before. The drain extension is a great idea. I welded a tab inside the fender to hold the tube and cut it off flush with the bottom of the fender. The next owner or your heirs will appreciate you for it!

[mdbrandy]

Originally posted by 26th-Z

Check Banzai Motorworks at zzxdatsun.com for the fender flaps. Item # BO-54 I think they are $5 each.

I've been through Banzai's site pretty thoroughly. I'm holding off on buying a lot of stuff until I get through at least a good portion of the structural body work. No sense spending a bunch of money 6 months or a year before the parts are needed. I'll probably start accumulating parts in the fall, assuming that the body work goes well this summer. Right now I'm making a spreadsheet of all the parts I want/need, who has them and how much they are. Probably be a rude shock when I add it all up!

Thanks.