G'day all, I'm looking at purchasing a rolling shell which has a bit of rust. Of biggest concern is the battery shelf and firewall area, lower windshield frame and corner of one of the headlights. I'd like to see this car restored but I'm not sure if it's too far gone. Does anyone have any advice on how difficult it is to repair, approximate costs, resources that could help etc. I have tried looking for panel cuts but they seem impossible to find, am I just looking in the wrong places? Any help would be appreciated Cheers
Hi Jeremy, rust issues are becoming more common on the Z32 after 30+ years. If your battery tray and firewall are the only areas you're seeing rust it sounds like it could be from a bad battery that has leaked at some point. If it is isolated to this area then it may not be too big of a deal to fix depending on the severity. It would help to determine how bad this is if you had some photos you could post up. Other common areas for rust are around the front and rear window glass and in the rear guards. Rust under the master cylinder is common if it has been leaking (usually you can tell as the paint on the brake booster under the master cylinder is gone). If the targa drain holes have been blocked they can overflow and leak which can also cause rust in the roof. I've also started seeing floorpans rusting out as a result of water leaking inside as well. Panel cuts aren't particularly common at this stage, and there isn't a great deal in the way of replacement panels available outside of some NOS Nissan parts (though I see someone in the UK is selling reproduction sills now). With that said I have started cutting up one of my wrecks as there seem to be more people chasing panels these days. Are you planning on doing the repairs yourself or outsourcing to a panel shop?
Thanks for the resposnse, If you or anyone else is willing and able to send some cuts for a reasonable price I'd be interested in having a chat, I'd like to attempt this with low cost in mind but if a panel beater is the only option I'll have to start getting some quotes. I'm not all that familiar with wreckers, would they generally allow people to come along and cut panels out? I've got some pictures below:
That battery tray area definitely looks like it's the result of a leaking battery, what's the wheel well underneath it like? They usually cop some damage once it starts to leak through. Front headlight bucket may be a result of an impact that wasn't repaired properly, not that uncommon. The spots under the windscreen and at the base of the A pillar are a bit more concerning, less common and could suggest more rust in other spots. Repairable though. Let me know if you end up buying it, I'm sure we can sort something out with replacement cuts.
Took a leap and bought it yesterday! Haven’t picked it up yet so all I have to go off is those pictures unfortunately. Any help with replacement cuts would be hugely appreciated!
Congrats, hope it's a good one. Send me a PM once you've got it with all the areas you need and we can go from there.
