DTMAce's Z26 project - DD usage for the time being - 6-8-12

[woody90gtz]

I'll bet what you have is closer to this than you realize. Not only is that jamb sheetmetal screwed, but probably the hidden structure underneath it too. Keep in mind these pics were shot after I whacked it with a screwdriver & hammer and pushed through all the weak stuff.



What you probably should do is remove the sill plate and cut an access hole to see what's going on in there. You may have to brace it up. That's what I was thinking about doing to my 95 before I came to my senses. Luckily for you, most of that work will not be visible with the side skirts on...so it might work.

One other thing to consider is doing the best you can and filling the rockers with structural foam. BMW, Mercedes and even GM use it as a sound deadener and to add rigidity. I've been doing the research to do it with my Beretta. One guy has been successful on NastyZ28 already.

[DTMAce]

Well, guess we will have to wait and see, once I crack into it.... Underneath it looked pretty good, just surface rust when I had the skirts off, but yeah, I see what you mean. Oyi. Find out soon enough.

[DTMAce]

Hey everyone. Small bit of updating today!

Actually got to work on it for an hour, even with both my boys home. Went ahead and completely stripped the trunk, removed the rear bench seat and the rear passenger interior side covers. Pulled the sub floor matting, etc. Will post up pictures later tonight, once I get time to take a few. Actually found a few things I had lost over the years. Amazing. lol

Definitely have a few rust spots to fix though. Will get some pics in a while and show you all whats going on. Being as I have a month to finish this, I may not get all of my desired interior work done, but will get done what I can before bfest.

[DTMAce]

The following are pictures of graphic content. Those with heart conditions or weak constitutions should leave this thread immediately! Beretta lovers may suffer from viewing this post and its images.

Viewer discretion is advised.


What you are about to see, made me want to throw up a bit tonight. Not sure what is going to happen, not sure if I can get all this fixed or not, but... I really REALLY debated whether I wanted to show all of you this tonight, but then I realized, nothing ever stopped me from showing you guys everything before. This seriously is going to put a dent in me getting it ready like I wanted for Bfest, but one way or another I WILL be there.

Anyway, here are 10 pics. And I warned you. Though I will admit the trunk looks damn good in comparison to the main floor pan...





















Just a recap. I finished pulling all the interior tonight, with the except of the door panels and the drivers side rear quarter panels... And I still have to pull the deck panel yet. This week, going to try to set aside a good day to go in and clean. Scrub or scrap the loose and see what I really have to work with. I pray it isn't as bad as it looks.

Good news though, everything between the rear foot wells and the back of the trunk are really solid and not going to need much other than a cleaning.. Even the shock towers are good. No rust other than the caps.

Now a question. Does anyone have a set of seat rails and the lower seat assembly for the driver's side laying around they don't need? THAT I have to fix. If I can fix the supporting floor. BTW. I have repaired the driver's side rails and the console lower mount location previously due to it rusting through. We had to entirely replace that area, but we reused the fastener. I would love it if someone had a source for a floor pan that could cut me some panels from it?

Just PM me and let me know.

[woody90gtz]

Wow. Ace, that floor looks worse than the car I scrapped...and I had a water leak for 2 years I couldnt find.

You need to give your rockers, door jambs and rear spring cross brace a real good look.

[DTMAce]

Rear spring cross brace is fine. I took a good look at it when I changed the gas tank last spring, and the shock towers are solid. No rust on the metal at all, but the top caps have surface rust (those can be replaced though). As for the rockers, the underside looks fine, not much rust but as we can tell the upper side may be an issue so I'm sure they aren't great. Door jambs are fine on the rear sides, no rust at all. The lower front pillars are bad though, but you know that already. Actually the more I looked at it today the less bad it seems in the daylight. The hole is one thing, but that is easy to fix in comparison to the rusty seams and joints in the floor pan. Anyhoo, will be picking up some items today that I need and will tackle it. Also going to fix the damn leaks once and for all. I am pretty sure where they are roughly coming from, but will be leak testing them to find exactly where they are coming from. Bascially, clean the entire floor pan as best I can of what I can get to, treat it with something to slow it down, and seal it up. Should make it last awhile anyway, and not driving it in the bad weather will help too.

Just going to do the best I can with what I have, and go from there. Its all I can do.

[Barry]

Damn, my interior was not that bad either. My worst spot is right where the inner seat rail mounts. All the metal was gone I had to fabricate a new piece just to bolt the rail to.

[woody90gtz]

Damn, my interior was not that bad either. My worst spot is right where the inner seat rail mounts. All the metal was gone I had to fabricate a new piece just to bolt the rail to.

Yup. That was rotten on my 95 too. Just weak enough that the metal tore apart.

Structural foam that bitch! And let me know how it works. I wouldn't mind letting you be the guinea pig! haha

[3X00-Modified]

As noted I'm glad my car looked like this.



This is how dirty it was when I started... and all the white stuff is from wet sanding the primer when it was painted.

[woody90gtz]

Quit your bragging. That's just throwing salt in his wounds.

At least his isnt pink!

[DTMAce]

lol

Yeah I saw yours before Pinky....

I wish mine had looked like that. But I have a feeling yours doesn't have 220k on the body as a DD either.

I will be spending time on it tomorrow, as long as it was as sunny and nice as it was today. Bit late to be starting anything now, the bugs will carry me off. lol
Going to start working the rust areas, see what I have to deal with, how bad it is, etc. Doing the inside areas first, fix what I can, then go underneath, clean the bad areas, prep and treat/paint, etc. More pics as I get farther into it.

Structural foam? What is it, where does it go, and what does it cost? I'm not above trying it, but I have a feeling that it will not fix anything unless I can put a stop to the rust first.... And I highly doubt I can get rid of all of it. I am assuming you planned to use it in the frame/tubular areas like the door jambs, lower pillars, cross braces, etc?

[Money pit Beretta]

Oh man that's hard to look at ACE. I better make some plans to check mine( I did two years ago). I may be able to get the rails(three Beretta's in the JY), I plan to go to the JY this weekend. You need both sides? Anything else? They have some good gas filler necks. I'm going to pick one up because mine has rust on it. There is a teal 94 Z26 there. It's gray inside, with an ok passenger floor mat(good but not great).

[DTMAce]

Tell you what. Pull the driver's side rails if they are there, (if they are worth a crap) if not pull the passenger sides. I believe the rails are universal anyway. I also need a driver's side seat adjuster with the forward/back and the up/down ability. Mine could be fixed, but I would just rather replace it providing the donor car has a decent one. Filler neck is fine, so don't need that. I may need one of the rear most brackets that go on the center of the console support. Not sure what was there, but I found rusted stubs of something. Probably part of the support for the rear of the console, who knows. Will get better pics.

Actually I just looked at my pics and Pinky up there. It IS the rear console bracket. Mine is trash. See if you can pull one if its decent.

[DTMAce]

Actually I'm even debating on finding something that will inhibit or absorb the current rusty spots (that are just rust rather than holy rust, if you get me). Isn't there a product that has some claim as to convert the rust to an inert material or something? From what I remember it wasn't exactly cheap and it wasn't pleasant to smell either, but it supposedly would stop rust by chemically altering it or some crap. What I figure is, I work with whats there, fix the worst of it, clean the rest as best as I can, treat the areas as well as I can cover, fix the leaks so the floor will stay dry (there's the key) and then recoat the main area with a decent coat of paint to help keep out the moisture.

Mostly to buy me some time and make the vehicle last a bit longer, but I am not going to spend a ton of time on it either. Someday later, when I actually have time, I can pull it all out and fix it, or just scrap her.

[woody90gtz]

Here's a good article on structural foam:
http://www.bodyshopbusiness.com/article ... ement.aspx