Body Advice

[ggunder]

It is a really rainy day and I am stuck inside, so I thought I would get some advice on the roadster body after going out to attempt some cleanup work in the trunk. Things may be worse than I thought. Mechanically the '70 2000 it is rebuilt and renewed, but I wonder where I should take it next. Here are the worst rust spots and damage areas, most of them are probably in the usual problem areas. I did remove the tar matting on the floors during upholstery work, and everything was rust-free there. The rocker panels looked fine too after I removed the door sill plates. There are some paint blisters you have to look kind of close to see on the fenders. Let me know what you think regarding what work and skills are required.

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[Nissanman]

Hmmmm!
Apart from the rear wheel arch area inside the trunk, which is typical and obvious to the observer, all the other examples are, in all likelihood, rusting from the other [inner] side.
The corrosion behind the side trim on the rear 1/4s is may only be surface rust.
i.e. what you see is not the worst of it
That area above the side trim on the front guards for example, is probably quite rotten between the guard skin and the reinforcing panel that mates up with the "A" pillar.
It is a factory designed debris trap and it works VERY well
The rear wheel arches are a double panel which appears to be rotting from the joining seam of the two
I'm just being realistic here, I have been down this not so glorious path recently.
Where there are multiple layers of panels the rust you see is usually a deeper issue
If you want, have a look at the front guard repairs I did on my '65.
The patches are in the same position that yours are rusting.
http://nissanman.shutterfly.com/117 pic #503 onwards.

[zippy67roadster]

I would take the side trim off and look to see how bad it really is. The other areas you won't know until you strip the paint off. I would soda blast it myself to avoid possible warpage that sand blasting can cause. After the paint and rust is gone then you can make a fair assessment of how much work will be required to get it back together.

[Skyman]

I think you will find the areas behind the wheels have rust all the way through, as well as the area behind the front wheel by the A pillar. Taking it to the paint will reveal this I am betting. These will need to be cut out and re-welded I am guessing, or the cancer will reappear. There are patch panels available for some of these areas.

[Gregs672000]

Nothing compared to what my car was. Everyone is correct in their assessments, i.e. that she is rusting from the back side out. However, with a lot of wire brushing, compressed air, removing of fenders, scraping etc etc (i.e. grunt work) you will have no problem making this a solid car. The rust issue can be dealt with quite effectively using rust converting products that work well and are self sealing. I used Sems Rust Seal extensively in those seem areas (like where the inner rear fender connects to the outside skin; actually I used that product all over the car... great stuff) after wire brushing, sanding what I could, lots of blasting with compressed air, etc, then brushing in the Rust Seal and helping it get where it needs to go using compressed air to blast it in further. I certainly admire those who are able to fabricate or purchase and weld in patch panels, but 26 yrs ago that was not an option for me... and 26 yrs of no rust problems since suggests that this can work well (I have had the car apart to redo it again with new skills and knowledge and inspection found no new or continued problems). You will end up with some small holes but that is what body plastic is for. I suggest Ever Coat, comes in a tube, is more expensive but worth every dime in ease of use, sanding, feathering etc... great product. If you have no experience doing body work, you have your work cut out for you, but really it is nothing terrible. I would strongly suggest getting some hands on guidance and review of your work as you go along, but you will learn a lot and save a ton of money if you do it yourself. You will easily drop a few thousand just getting the car painted, not including major body work, unless you decide to shoot it yourself (not sure on your options in CA). If your body work is straight, you can do a pretty crappy spray on the car and if you have enough clear (several coats) and the color was uniform you can wet sand and buff the car out and turn a pebbled (orange peeled) paint job into a beautiful mirror... but it takes time, patience, the right tools and a lot of work... but so worth it. My car ran around for years with a $400 Earl Scheib paint job on it that looked like a $4000 job, and the car was (is) black.
So, remove the fenders, dig into the back areas etc, sand back some paint and explore. Regardless, it will have to be done by either you or someone you pay to do it... keep digging into it and post pics of what you find. You CAN do this if you are motivated and patient, but understand: This is work, and not quickly turned around unless you are paying the bucks! It will test your love for the car. See Craigslist to remind yourself of what happens when people fall out of love with their car...

[garth]

You are getting a lot of support that rust is a greater issue than anticipated and if you go looking for it you will probably find more. Stripping the entire body is the only sure way to discover and remedy rusting permanently.

Depending on your "vision" for your car in terms of budget, commitment, timeline, ... etc. you may want to consider looking for a rust free donor first. Currently, if your car is mechanically sound and you enjoy driving it as is, keep it intact while you find and refinish a rust free body. I found a rust free body on a rolling chassis only after totally dismantling a car that was 90% mechanically sound and still driveable. Looking back, stripping down a car with obvious wide spread rusting was not the best project strategy and was problematic in space and time commitments and led to considerable scope creep.

Just sharing my mistakes.

There are alternative repair strategies to be considered also, i.e. Greg's success noted above.

Good luck with your project

[ggunder]

Thanks for the advice, both specific and general, on the restoration direction for the brave little roadster. Frankly, I enjoy driving it the way it is, but do not want to neglect a problem that is only going to get worse. Luckily I have another project car ('72 240Z) that I can use if I elect to take the roadster off the road for this project. That car has 4 different body colors at present but also runs great. I am also limited by available space for really messy and dusty projects, especially if they are long-term. Probably at this point the question is "how bad is it?" and some diagnostics are in order. Unfortunately it sounds like I have to sacrifice the remaining paint to accomplish that and remove the fenders at least. I will keep folks informed as this unfolds.

[mraitch]

Remembering that when you come to the fenders - that means removing the doors - check threads for replacing the pins in the door opening limiter (I used 1/4 clevis pin)

Good luck - hope the rust is mainly surface.

[peter]

When you want to do it good it is a lot of work, I'm afraid that a paint job only the problems show after i while again.
I say sandblasting the rust parts to see what shows up, or start with a rotating steel brush.
My trunk looks the same, I used a brush and after that some sandblasting, now it's looks great.
Good luck and success.