Had these 3 or 4 little bubbles on the O/S sill just in front of the wheelarh. Thought it was the anti chip paint peeling. Seemed vey solid. Then at the weeked got tough on it with a very sharp screwdriver and a lot of pressure - guess what? Straight thru little holes. N/S side seems fine. Anybody else find rust? Found a small area at a seam joint near front strut mounts too.

 

Gona get greasy with waxoyl in the sills but wonder where else could be suspect - 92 UK TT

 

Willie

I have noticed that after driving in the wet for a while that it can be damp in the area behind the rear wheels that can only be accessed through the boot, kind of under the tool kit. Might be worth a check.

 

I'm interested in waxoyl-ing the sills etc. though. Just because I'm too lazy to go and look - are these areas easy to get to, are there appropriate holes to squirt the stuff through ?

hi Willie

 

Yeah mate found rust on my 1990z

 

It only had a few spots until the bodyshop started stripping it, now its front o/s wing, rear wing both sides are just on big gouda full of holes, side skirts, tail gate, and fuck knows where else as I can bear it when I speakk to the guys at the bodyshop.

The've taken loads of picture so when I get me Z back I hope to be able to post some of them.

 

When they have finished painting there going to fill the cavities with wax oil to help retard the onset of any more rust.

 

So far they have put in some 90 hours labour just removing rust, cleaning out cavities and filling in holes, can't wait for the bill!

 

Just goes to show things are not always what they appear to be

 

Regards

 

John soon to be deep in debt to the bodyshop

Hi,

The Z series of cars as a whole are some of the rustiest cars known to mankind!

My 280ZX, when only 4 years old, had copious amounts of the old tin worm about it's body.The old Z31 300ZX was originally made from cheap, recycled steel, which disintergrated before your eyes.It was only with the introduction of the later facelift cars that this became less of a problem.

The latest Z32 300ZX's are made up of a mixture of metals, including alloy for the bonnet.As a general rule, they don't suffer from rust too much, although the 1st cars are now 12 years old!

The worst areas for corrosion are the rear arches and tailgate, under the rear spoiler.The spoiler is made from an absorbent foam material, which holds water with age, and causes the tailgate skin to rot underneath.Any other major rust on the body may be due to accident damage, or poor transportation in the case of Jap. imports.(long journey on a salt battered ship!)

JEZ

 

[This message has been edited by JEZ300Z (edited 01-07-2001).]

Yep, Japs built and designed their cars for the rays!

 

Didn't plan for wots and wots of wain(lots and lots of rain) LOL!

 

Don't want to rub noses in the preverbial cackish! But my Merc was waxoyled from the factory, which is why it doesn't have so much as a bubble anywhere even after 14 years and 171,361 miles. Does need a sunroof motor though, oh and a new throttle cable! No wonder they did so shite in the JD Power Poll! LMAO!

 

 

Timmy "thinking of becoming a Kraut" non Twin Tub

;-)

 

Both of my outer sills are bady rusted. Gonna have to be cut off and have a replacement put back on.

I've had my car since new and it's garaged most of the time. When I had the first replacement tyres Kwik Fit put a trolley jack straight in to the sill. I had it repaired by a Garage recommended by Nissan dealer. When I picked the car up and went to the bodyshop for the first time I found out it was a crappy "behind the petrol station" in a shed outfit. There is a very slight bubbling in that repair.

 

Apart from that there is no rust on the car at all.

 

I am led to believe that the UK cars have extra underseal protection? For those of you that have rust are yours UK or Jap?

 

Nissan offer a ten year Rust warranty in the UK so maybe those of you with rust have it as a result of an earlier repair.

 

Grant

As far as I know the Jap cars have no underseal. Whilst Japan is a warm, damp, humid environment, they have seem to have no salt on the roads, which is what causes most of the problems.

The body shells are the same zinc galvanised steel for all markets. So the UK models may have got undersealed when they arrived over here.

Trev

 

First...

 

"The Z series of cars as a whole are some of the rustiest cars known to mankind!"

 

Now, lets not go over the top now!

 

------------

 

 

The 1990+ tend to be fairly rust free. Unfortunatley I have a smilar problem to you WillieO, rear w-arch had a very light few dots of rust. Was stupid enough to have Nissan repair it a year 1/2 ago, got overcharged, but that's just another story. Now it's comming back. In my case I see no option but to have it cut out and filled... when/if ever it gets re-sprayed...

 

 

 

------------------

 

Mine is a UK TTZ. The car has full service history and while it has had a door or door skin replaced at some time the bodyshell looks pretty immaculate. Underside is undersealed and sills have the thick anti chip paint. This rust found on the sill appears to be from inside out and probably due to condensation inside. Wheel arches are perfect. No signs of any previous body repairs anywhere. Car is dry inside and no leaks from T tops or door seals.

 

I also have some jack wounds underneath but nothing serious. You cant leave a Z with a non specialist garage without explaining where to jack it up.

 

Incidentally the small area of rust I found near to the top shock mounts is where the wing, shock mount and inner wing join. There is a mastic sealant that seems to have shrunk away and retained moisture starting the rot. At least that is hopefully quickly stoppable.

 

Bought a waxoyl pressure spray kit and will find a way to inject the stuff into the sills. Either by drilling a hole or from inside the car. The waxoyl kit has the flexy tube you pass inside to spray inside sills and box sections.

 

Must check out this 10 year UK Nissan warranty on rust but I suspect it will have as many get outs as to be useless by the time the car is this age. I thought most body warranties stopped at 6 years, even for Porsche!

 

Willie

Rust warranties usually only apply if the pox has perforated the metal, rather than just bubbled the surface.

looking over mine recently, apart from the obvious stuff i have on the osr wheel arch, there are only little spots here and there...

 

tailgate being one, and some bubbles under the rubber seal around the boot, and under the door seals

 

------------------

UK 92 TT White

Mongoose K&N AVCR

KYB Eibach

Hi,

Sorry, that should have read 'The rustiest cars known to man kind, apart from Alfas and Lancias'!

However, the later Z32's should be generally OK. My import car was pretty good for a 10 year old car, even though I drove it on salted roads through the winter.I did powerwash underneath it, once a week though!

JEZ

I found this website www.before-n-after.co.uk based in Newbury. It's a one man band who will rustproof your car for you using waxoyl. I'm checking prices but the site's worth a look if you're concerned about rust prevention.

 

Mine is a 90 jap import and there is no sign of rust but I'm thinking prevention is better than cure...