How To: Remove rust in the back area v2.0

[Grandpa01]

In honor of JRd916's thread on how to remove the rust and paint the rear seat support, I decided to try it today, Grandpa-style. Mine was, of course, rusted immensely to the point where the car and I have been seeing counseling because it's just not the car I married.

I give you exhibit A:

However, unlike JRd916's local store, mine only carried spray-on coating. As I didn't want to tape off everything, I decided to cut it out. That's what happens when the first tool on hand is a sawzall:

The rust is quite evident; all of my accusations are proving quite true:

Alright-alright, I'm kidding. I removed it because I hate that cancerous lump of a turd. Here's where it belongs - the trash:

The back seat area all nice and clean now - kinda:

A close up of the scars that still need some surgery:

I still have some touch-up work to do like sanding down where I cut and coating it with bedliner or something similar. However, I'm very pleased with how it turned out. It makes adjustment of the coilovers quite easy now (notching? Psh!), and the bottom, leather, top-protector thing-a-ma-jig hangs down like it was made to do that.

And most importantly, I noticed no difference on the drive home in structural rigidity. Of course, I did this after adding the rear brace, so that could be confounding my seat-of-the-pants meter. I do plan to add another bar up near where the hinge bolts in and a rear strut bar (because I can) to increase rigidity. The car feels better than my old hatch now.

I don't plan to ever put the rear seat back in, and obviously this "modification" presents this from happening. Ever. So please keep this in mind if you plan to follow in my footsteps. However, we at Grandpa's House of Sawzalling support the removal of all back seats in every 240 ever made.

I'll be fabricating new rear side, bottom, and rear panels so the back looks finished. It should look pretty decent when I'm done.

[DeXteR]

i just wanted to say: i love you.

[Grandpa01]

a/s/l?

[94_240sx]

You sure DID remove the rust. I wish I could do that. I still need complete back seats for my family. I wish I could do that though. I love this picture. Is it for ASC or Nissan? Whoever it is, it's just a horrible design and finish on such a beautiful car.

[Grandpa01]

That's Russ being Russ. And it's mostly for ASC. I'm slowly removing or redoing everything they touched on this car.

[slownslurious]

Hopefully you'll live in a side impact collision though, good luck with that.

[Grandpa01]

Hopefully you'll live in a side impact collision though, good luck with that.

Do you have a convertible FSM? The piece I cut out was a seat back rear brace assembly and rear seat back restraint reinforcement (covered in section 22-3). Would you like me to translate that for you? It means ASC welded this 1/8" mild steel support to have something to bolt the back seat to and to support the rear seat belts. I have neither now. The c-pillar bar I bolted to the rear seat bolts added WAY more lateral rigidity than that thing. It has NOTHING to do with structural support for lateral impact or rigidity.

But hey, if you want to continue to think that 1/8" thick mild steel sheets provide immense structural support in a collision, go ahead. Unfortunately for me, I no longer believe in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy.
Modified by Grandpa01 at 6:36 AM 1/1/2007

[DeXteR]

a/s/l?

guys, let's stay civil here.

let's hope we would all live through a side-impact collision - as i'm sure that's a problem for most convertibles (not just 240's). although this seat back support might add some structural support to the car, it really isn't a whole lot. now if he were to cut out the rear strut brace that was put in our verts, then he'd significantly reduce the cars rigidity. but i'm sure that would quickly be replaced with a new r.u.s.t. brace. let's just see how this develops.

keep up the work and keep us posted.

[slownslurious]

it doesn't matter how thick it is... go to ikea and buy a book shelf. without the cardboard tacked to the back you'll be lucky if it holds up one book, but with the cardboard it will hold 50 or 100 lbs or books because the cardboard's strength holds the bookshelf together when its nailed to the back of it. The seat brace on the vert works the same way.a single bar isn't going to replace the rigidity that the sheet metal adds because the sheet metal is welded in place across the 240 so it braces the shape of the back. Its a substantial reinforcement.

Being a d!ck isn't going to change that.

[Grandpa01]

Are you just arguing this because you think it adds rigidity, or do you have some sort of data or facts to support your claim? I'd love to see it.

[zer013]

nice pics.. im going to do the same to my vert