Datsun Owners Beware!!! (Rebuilding a Legend 240-Z) Part 38 | Hidden Rust fooled me!!

My man, I'm not gonna lie, you had me worried that you may quit the project during the first half... But it was beatifull to see your spirits back up later. Keep at it, steady but constant, compared to all the the work and progress you've put on it, this is just a little bump on the road. Anyway, hope everyone is feeling better, and a big hug for all of you from Argentina!

It's often best to replace a large area when you find a few pinholes from rust, because the rest of the material surrounding them is usually paper thin, and difficult to weld to. I did one fairly-solid 240z, and will only buy solid cars in the future.

Hey, you bought a $300 car. Good thing is, in your case.....labor is "free"(time). Another good thing I see from what you''ve found now is a lot of those little holes you can spot weld. Keep up the good work brother!

You're doing a fantastic job on a very rusty shell. It'll keep kicking your arse all the way through, but it will be so worth it when it's done.

My guy. Keep chugging along. It’s gonna come together put in the work. If you want to my guy.

Keep your eyes on the prize!! It is going to be amazing and worth the tremendous effort. Love the videos. Keep 'em coming

Hope you and the family are feeling better. Slowly but surely ! That spare tire den looks like the biggest mess left. Your editing skills are getting awesome cuzz.

You’ve definitely learned some lessons there Dusty! The trouble is and I believe it’s true, was that under seal was optional in the 70s and was done by the dealers. Allegedly some of the cars weren’t containerised and were shipped from Japan on the open deck of a ship. So they arrived with a mist of dried on salt on the underside when brand new. Of course those old Zs didn’t have wheel arch liners (fender liners) and in anything much short of a California climate they were doomed. Many had rotted out after about 7 or 8 years so it’s amazing there’s anything left of yours after 50. You’ve done the hard yards and the latest rust doesn’t look too bad. So chin up and I hope you’re feeling better?

Great work as usual, and some day this special car will be back on the road instead of relegated to a scrap yard!

great job , ive been following all the datsun work since I just got one myself... keep up the awesome work

I feel your pain in jinxing yourself and saying no more rust. I starting working on paint stripping the engine bay on my 1975 Ford Cortina a few weeks back and thought the only rust in the engine bay was where the battery tray was. Then I noticed a little rust in the scuttle panel (cowl) on the corner near the guard (fender). After more investigation I found that the area had been repaired before and decided that I would remove the scuttle panel (cowl). One removing it I discovered that both ends had been repaired before. Luckily I can still get a replacement part for it, though it will need to come from England to Australia. The shipping cost will be the killer and likely to cost more than the panel :(

Good to see the Z again

Glad you're feeling better now! That little Harbor Freight sandblaster is pretty decent, especially for the price. I've been using it for little areas that are tough to clean any other way. Blasting definitely makes a mess though. I'm a bit nervous after seeing all the little holes you found. I wasn't planning on stripping all the undercoating off mine, I might now. No better time than when it's on the rotisserie I suppose.

Oof. Getting sick is never fun. Hope you're feeling better now. If you don't plan on running a spare tire, you could always flatten out the area there, maybe do a sweet Z with the bead roller like you did with the floor pans

use a heat-gun to soften the undercoating

I'd delete the spare tire spot - any tires you spec out to fit the widebody likely won't fit in that compartment anyway. Cut it all out, go back in with a flat piece, easy and will look wildly clean.

I found way more rust in my spare tire area than that and patched it all a section at a time. Other than it being a good way to learn welding (that's the section I started on first) if I had to do it again, I'd just have broken down and purchased a new spare tire section from KFVintage for a few hundred dollars. Keep up the good work!

moisture is often sealed in by undercoating. in your case it was holding car together.

best place to look for a good one is states like Arizona. i had a 240 that was only 8 years old in nj. could not keep up with the rust.

Meaning 20k plus..unless you just want a quieter shell. Those are out there