Guess What

[Subaru_dude]

I finally got my motor in!! new clutch cable, headgaskets, complete reseal, de-emmissioning, new clutch, and... rear disc conversion... and all new axles and a new rear diff. for some reason, I didn't notice till just today how rotted the undercarriage is. looks like the frame is "cracking." don't think it's gonna last much longer... probably shouldn't have put all this money into it. I still gotta do some hose organizing, and put the new radiator in and it's done. ooh yeah... anybody got pics of a soob that's rotted to the point that it shouldn't be driven anymore? mine's getting pretty close to that point I think, lol.

 

-Jordan

[4x4_Welder]

Eh, just put an eight point cage in, tie it to everything from the strut towers to the back bumper, and it'll never fall apart.

[daeron]

cant say ive seen it on a soob, but ive been in datsun 240/260/280Zs my whole life.. and i have seen a number of them who have gotten these cute little rails of channel steel welded up underneath the carriage, along where the frame rail USED to be... it stiffens the car up like a rock. its not hard to weld good steel into the unibody where the old rails used to be, if you are a decent welder. obviously, not everyone is a decent welder, but you should be able to find a decent welder who would LOVE to take on the challenge of making your rustbox a solid vehicle once again! :- )

 

guys who work with metal are kinda funny like that. I reference the above post, by 4x4 Welder, as proof :- ) BTW, i like his solution too, but it makes it a tad heavier. Safer, for the off-road.. but not as advantageous for the sreet performance.

[stephenw22]

I have a car that was in just as bad, if not worse shape.

 

I used to drive a 1986 GL Wagon called 'The Red Rocket'. I paid $250 for it in September and drove it until March before one of the front axles failed. I never checked the underside of the car before March, because the doors and rockers were in reasonably good shape (a little rusty, but not too bad).

 

When I went to jack up the car, I put the jack under the frame rail (I never used the rockers because they looked a little weak, and I was going to put a jackstand under the engine up front). The rail looked okay, so I started to lift the car. I had the car in the air, and I went to the garage to get a jackstand. When I came back, the car was on the ground.

 

I figured that the jack was crappy and was leaking, so I pumped the jack a few more times until I heard some crunching. Then I looked under the car.

 

The jack had punched through the frame rail and was pushing the floor of the car up into the passenger compartment.

 

Anyways, I drove that car to my farm that day. It was the last time I ever drove it on a public road. It's cut into pieces now, waiting to be scrapped.