Cracks at weld on door sill/rocker panel

[Deuce3Z]

Just bought a 1992 Z32 N/A with 66K miles through via Internet. It showed up with hairline cracks on the weld seams on both sides. Undisclosed by seller. No reported accidents. Passenger side is worse than driver's. This is my first Z, so looking for advice and insights. Haven't had the chance to put it up on a lift yet. Not allowed to post pictures or urls.....yet.


Appreciate any help for a n00b.

[Deuce3Z]

Link to the pics in my signature. "Crack Pics."

[everpresentnoob]

Flickr gives 404 error.

[Deuce3Z]

Looks like flickr is working off and on. Just tried it twice with success.

[DCaff300ZX]

The pic posting procedure is listed in one of the stickies at the top of the page...basically you get a pic host (photobucket, etc.) and link from there to your post via the host.

[Deuce3Z]

So, I read the sticky and thought I knew what I was doing. Thanks for pushing me back to it. Apparently, Flickr sets up their stuff differently than photobucket and you have to use the BBCode sharing function.

[NolimitZ32]

Is this a northern car? could be rust at the seams, really hard to tell if those are just stress cracks in the paint or if it goes deeper.

[DCaff300ZX]

Hmmmm, not too bad but I see your concern...could be possibly from the infamous rail-jacking with the OEM jack, or maybe someone tried a regular jack on the body seam?
I've seen evidence of that on both of my cars, and had to direct tire replacement techs away from that idea and towards the frame rails further inside which they don't like to do.
Not sure how to check for rust other than stripping back a spot, but which then puts you in for a paint repair...otherwise I'd definitely watch it and clean it all up well, maybe some silicone spray wiped on periodically in the unexposed door jamb area.

[Deuce3Z]

Thanks for the replies and assistance. It was northern car. Vast majority of its life in New York and Massachusetts. Only rust I've found in the car is on the metal under the battery pan.

[budget300zx]

this could have been a rebuilt car with a full rear clip. I'd check and see if they continue on the underside of it. It could have been in an unreported accident.

[DCaff300ZX]

this could have been a rebuilt car with a full rear clip. I'd check and see if they continue on the underside of it. It could have been in an unreported accident.

True, and very possible...some dudes really badly burned my buddy with a poorly-done, but good-looking unreported rear end job on a Honda so anything is possible.
Only way to tell is a long, detailed look at the car's underside and areas that are hard to fix/repair/view...you may come away shocked at what can be missed if not looking for it.