Removing the Rust Monster on the 1971 Datsun 510

It was time for the final big repair item on the 510 I bought on Bring a Trailer in 2023. The Rust Monster! I know this is one thing people don't want to deal with and it scares them away at auctions. But I had seen it in person and it wasn't as bad as I worried about and I had somewhat of an idea of what it would take to fix it. The rust was under the rocker panels, and mainly centered in a few spots. the car had gotten a paint job some 20 years ago or so, and it seems they just allowed a few open holes to exist and painted over corrosion to keep it from spreading. It kinda worked.

So, I took the car to a friend of mine who does fantastic work. He ended up tearing out a good chunk of the rocker panels on both sides, removing rust, and treating the area under the rocker panels with some rust-inhibitor. Still not perfect, but it isn't an outside car and it isn't show car.

 Overall, though, he did great work removing the rust, welding in or filing in new rocker panel material, re-sealing it all, straightening out the bent pinch-welds, paint matching it all, and even using texturized paint-chip protection material, similar to what most new cars have on exposed underside rocker panels. So now it has that pebble finish under the side trim.

I'm really happy with how it turned out!

BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER:

Bonus shot: Many people notice and comment on the massive stack of CA registration stickers that this car has accumulated through the decades. That's legit vintage!