Well i recently after seeing how the original layers were flaking off i decided to strip the datto back to bare metal... what have i taken on...

A few small bubbles in the panels n seals and rooted rear quarters

Introduce stripping wheel and vola an absolutely rooted shell hidden under about a 5kg tin of bog... the rear guards which had great shape in em now have visable holes all through em im talking 10c piece sized holes... id be a millionare for every hole

ahh...! so much to fix

The other day i cut some parts out of a shell to fix my rear panel separation now i wish id taken more before he wrecked it

Id already removed the carpet and found the two front floors rusted with some larger holes... if the engine ever quits ill have to use flintstone power

I found the cause of this to be the windsheild gutter, water sits in it to the level of those stupid plates and at dripping speed slowly emptys, that runs out of there through those black hoses under the front guards... where it sits where the lower bolt is and rusts thru the guard lower 1/4s... In my situation the water is leaking from under the dash and pooling on the floor, it also comes in thru the air vents on either side and the heater unit vent when i open the lid...

Any one else with this problem?

Can i cut those plates out so the water drains faster?

Has anyone else thought of ways to keep it away from the chassis?

Mesh to stop leaves?

Spraying a body shultz all through it?

Ill have to fix the hoses but im thinking of rerouting a hose through the cabin floor and totally by passing the guards, this should eliminate the guard rust in future, just hanging it through a gromet a few inches so it drips onto the road... ive now got alot of holes capable of the task

My prediction is there will be alot of welding and alot of work getting this back to any reasonalbe state, so ive set a project completion date of November 2035

DatwillDECm8,

(damn it man, shorten your name it takes too long to type out!)

Ok where to start....

In the windshield gutter (or plenum chamber) water does sit in that area. BUT there are meant to be baffles which stop water from 'pooling' in the areas where the tubes go down from the plenum chamber to the guards. The baffles are the first thing to make sure they are not rusted out. So what you do is clean them up the best you can, weld up any sections requiring welding (in your case could be alot! ) Remove ALL the rust -using a 'sandblasting' gun, (but use garnet, cause sand is bad for you lungs.) then spray a nice 2k paint or etch prime over the top. THEN (the secret bit) use a Sikaflex or other sealer to make sure she's water tight, then put primer over the top of that, then put your 2k or whatever tickles your fancy. You must do it in that order for best rust prevention.
Trust me I know someone, who knew someones sister, who's brother had a friend, who knew someone, who robbed someone, who knew a painter..... (or something like that -could be that I have just finished my paint job....Thanx to my painter!)

The baffles should stop the majority of water from getting into this area, with the main drain in the front of the firewall (right behind the cylinder head) taking care of most of the water. This stupid thing DOES block up with leaves. The secret to this is to remove the sheet steel in front of the drain (your brake T section is mounted to this, so make up an aluminium bracket to suit.) This allows the leaves and stuff to move a little more freely, and at the same time means you can poke it all out (with a stick.... ) and make it free draining.

Make sure when you paint, you cover every bit of steel.... Anything you dont cover after painting, paint in fishoil or Wurth rust preventative wax. Its the dux nuts. I found making up some nozzles connected to the bottle of goo and poking them round all the enclosed areas which didn't get a dose of paint worked the best.

So in answer to your question about the guards.
The amount of water going to this area should be minimal, and if you paint your guards correctly and seal up the sections were one panel is joined to another on the guards, you shouldn't have a problem as the water will just run off. (theoretically speaking. -my car is only just getting parts put on it!)

Hope all this helps...

Most people dont even realise there is a centre drain behind the cylinder head. Another problem with this drain is it can get blocked up by bending the cover plate during gearbox removal/refitting. Once this is done the drain and the plenum slowly rust out. If the plenum is rusted out you are looking at a big job to fix your shell.
Jake

SR20Datsun come on its only 2 more letters than urs...

Thanks for the tips its pissin down atm so my cars probly full of water as im typing

I just went outside and checked for the center drain... where is it?

I cant see it looking in the engine bay at the rear of the head, where does it come out so i can follow that route?

My plenum hasnt got any rust so thats a good thing, alot of the problems in the floors and through the front of the structure... its not good

When i put it back together, ill put some mesh in... i think alot of leaves have blocked up at the bottom of the guard and has sat there for some time... and one of the bottom bolts has rusted through and broken through the sill

In that tubular section which sits under the guard i was pulling handfulls of mud out of the access hole near the door im guessing thats its been thrown up from the front wheel and accumulated up there

I scored a tin of 3M body shultz from a mate at work, does anyone know if i have to etch under this or can u just spray it on the treated metal... I was thinking of using it for under the guards and all the underside

If it ever stops raining ill get out there and seal the leaks in the side drains that should keep if from the inside at least for now now... bring on the sunshine

Can i weld up those interior vents which go from this area i was gonna put a guage in the drivers side anyhow but if i dont need them id prefer to close them up?

If only i wrote this much at school i might have gotten somewhere...

Dat,

Yeah ok, but your name looks bigger than mine... Must be the caps! (ha ha )

The drain is covered with a piece of sheet steel. You cant see it, but behind the steel will be the drain. You should be able to see a small panel on the firewall mounted just behind the cylinder head of your car.

Make sure this is not full 'o crap, and you will once again have a water free plenum. I highly recommend carrying out the mods that I have mentioned above as it makes the car near as water proof. Leaves wont matter if you do this so you dont have to stuff around with the grating. If you have no idea what I am talking about and live in melbourne, you can come and have a look at the car and see what I mean. (its in pieces at the moment, but slowly being put back together.)

With the bolts that have broken off, the best thing to do is get a MIG welder and weld on another bolt and remove it like that. Make sure when its nice and hot from the welding, you squirt some CRC or WD40, or similar onto it and let it sit for a while. This should assist in pulling the damn things out. I had this trouble with my car, and managed to pull all the broken studs out. (some of the stupid things were on the guard bolts up the top near the bonnet.)

It sounds like the car is caked full of mud etc and this means drains are useless. If you are hell bent on going rallying, then use a hose or high pressure cleaner to remove that mud!

I cant see why you shouldnt weld up those vents. Afterall, they are only designed to vent air into the cabin. BUT if you do weld them up, you remove the awesome sound of the engine and induction noise!!! (MMMMmmmMmmMMm) Other than that, go for it! I left mine cause I like em.

Permanently removing the rubber tubes either side of the guards is not a good idea, as these are designed to remove any additional water that has gone over the baffles (like if you centre drain is blocked!)

MAKE SURE YOUR BAFFLES ARE WORKING! On some cars they dont fit well and you have to add some sealer (sikaflex etc.)

If you do all of this, it should fix ALL your problems.