Notice the bulb hanging in front of my rear plate today .

Checked it out.

The support bar that holds the license plate bulbs was totally rusted out, and crumbled like old crusty bread.

This can't be normal ?

Anyone else experience this

 

https://i.ibb.co/Yb


Started poking around. The rust crumbled like breadcrumbs.

 

Haven't seen rust like this since Civics from the 90's

 

Some of the remaining metal was still good enough (questionable).

I live in a city where junkyards are not allowed, and the closest one is 2 hours away.

Metal wire is a temporary solution for now, and gets me back on the road legally.

 

Can't tell.

Nothing happened.

 

This is an easy, permanent repair - just buy the replacement part and a few minutes later it is fixed! Several good threads in this forum. Here is one I participated in

https://g35driver.com/forums/g35-sed...g35-sedan.html

 

I used an epoxy glue and glued the bulb housings to the inside of the bumper skin. Worked for 3 years now.

 

You can buy those license plate brackets on eBay, then spray it with truck bed liner or cold-galvanizing spray, or something to protect it from the salt on the road in winter.

EDIT: Or use the 3M body tape and just tape your license plate on.

 

The bracket on my coupe disintegrated like that. I replaced it a couple of weeks ago with one from eBay, for about half of what the new ones go for (which keep increasing in price every year). Silly me thought it would be easier to replace it if I took the rear bumper cover off, but when I attempted that I found the brackets that connect the cover to the body were also just as rotted. I ended up buying new brackets for about $40 a piece.

 

totally normal! Cold weather cars , those are one of the first things to rust out, the sub frame cross brace is usually the 2nd thing to rust away.

 

I strongly recommend anyone living in rust belt areas to take the subframe brace and paint it with some kind of chassis undercoating because it's not a matter of IF it will rust to pieces, it's WHEN it will rust to pieces.

You don't even need to remove it from the vehicle, you can get a spray-on style of rubberized undercoating and just go to town. Get a little chunk of cardboard about 12" x 8" to hold behind where you're spraying so you don't overspray everything. Personally I wouldn't even bother taping stuff off except maybe some bolt heads, the underside of 15 year old cars aren't exactly pretty and it's more important to prevent the corrosion. The cardboard will catch most of your overspray anyways.

Front subframe brace, rear "W" brace, and the two corner rear stay members are the worst offenders, but ANYTHING that's rusty (not including the rear diff which gets surface rust but is stout AF and never an issue) should be painted with some kind of flexible corrosion preventing undercoat.

It really needs to be a rubberized undercoating though, those components have a lot of flex to them and that's why they rust out so badly in the first place, the paint that was applied from the factory cracks where it flexes then moisture damages the metal. Rubberized coatings can flex without cracking.

You will need to wipe down components first, doesn't need to be anything fancy because that rubberized coating spray usually has excellent adherence to all surfaces, just knock the rust off with a metal brush, then the dirt off with a stiff paintbrush and give it a quick wipe down with some isopropyl alcohol on a rag. If you do have some rusty spots that's more than just the surface then hit it with a rust reformer spray first or it's going to flake off within a couple years.

I've used both 3M 03584 and the Rustoleum 248656, I'd have to give the 3M a little higher rating because it dries quicker (Rustoleum is still pretty tacky after 24 hours) and it sprays out a bit more evenly. However it's usually more expensive so...

Plan on using 2-3 cans. The 3M stuff absolutely needs to be done in a well ventilated area, it's got a powerful chemical smell like freshly paved asphalt, the Rustoleum isn't quite as bad but you will still need to set up a fan if it's in a smaller garage.

 

Yah I replaced mine with 1 from a southern rust free car in Florida at pick & pull. For $40. Got lucky.

I'm having a rear end wobble/sway when cornering. my car is a 2007 G35x sedan with 232k on it. My 4th G sedan started with a 03, then 04, then 06 they looked dated so I ended getting a 07 sedan. I'm sure that the rear W brace is rusted , im in a wheelchair so getting on the ground or under the vehicle is difficult. I'm gonna have to give the rear end a good looking over, any suggestions where to start?. I did the shocks & wheel bearings. Gonna be replacing a brake line on the rear drivers side. So while it's up in air I'll give the trailing arms and other bushings a good inspection , as good as I can see, I notice the rear rear sway bar is a quite small , been thinking of upgrading to the hotchkiss front and rear sway bars

, the rear is adjustable. I appreciate any suggestions or advice you can give. I dont wanna just keep throwing parts at it. But I love the car and like to drive it like it's supposed to be driven. Again appreciate your opinion & advice.

 

Replied to your main thread about these issues.

 

Kind of late to the thread. But as they say, better late than never!

Mine rusted out and I bought one off Amazon for $78, from an Infiniti dealer. Part number is 96220-JK05A.

 

That's one of the sedan part numbers I believe. The coupe bracket is usually more which is why I bought a good condition used one off eBay.