The plan was fairly simple, some new motor mounts, patch a hole in my crossover pipe for the turbo, and rework the intercooler piping a bit.  To give you an idea of how well I am sticking to that plan here is a pic of my new "motor mounts"

In fairness it did come with poly mounts.

So far I have removed all of the front suspension, minus the sway bar. I have removed the exhaust after the turbo and the intercooler piping pre-intercooler.

Since I spend more time on this forum now than the various mustang forums I am a member of I'll be posting progress here.

The Q....if I put a valve on the line, should it go on the tank side of the fuel pump or the carb side of the pump?

If I put it on the tank side, I could plop my fat posterior down onto the ground, reach over to the frame and turn the valve.  On the carb side, I'd have to pull the engine's cover each time I turn the valve.

I could also delete the mechanical pump and install an electric pump w/a switch.

Here's how she sits at the moment

And how she was delivered

Yeah, I posted the images backwards.  Suck it up, buttercup.

Ever since seeing those things, we have been obsessed with buying/building one. Since Tim recently sold his Econoline van, we figured now was as good a time as any...

So about two weeks ago I get a photo texted to me from Tim's potato phone saying "I just bought this"...

It had been parked for at least a year (or more), so he had it towed to the shop. We put in a fresh battery, and oddly it fired right up and ran fine.  😄

Thankfully it was low on gas (which probably was a bit stale anyway) so rather than drain the gas we drove the two blocks to the gas station and filled it with 93 octane. That short drive showed us the tires were dry rotted, hard as rocks, and not very round any more. So we got some 17x8s and some 255/55-17 tires for it...

Drove it around a bit today and she does very nice...

Up next is more low of course...  😎

And today Tim also got some more racecar seats for it...

Its a 1969 vw bus, mostly original and mostly complete. It's a solid running engine, shifts and drives really nice, suspension and steering are tight, but currently stops like shit.... the brakes were recently worked on but apparently the mechanic sucks.... I don't think anything was adjusted properly. 

She did take an extra 500 off because of it and included a spare master and some extra brake parts.... 

I also found the battery clamps weren't even tight,  not even a bolt in the clamp, already bought new cables for later tonight... also no battery hold down and the sense wire was loose on the alternator.. I pretty sure that's just the tip of the iceberg with the electrical since none of the light other than the dome light seemed to work...  I also have no idea what thing do, I found some wierd nobs or pulls and switches... 

I think the rules to drive a vintage vehicle in Georgia is a lot more forgiving from what Massachusetts is expecting. 

I had a few candidates, but always favored the 1940 Ford Coupe.  I pulled the trigger on this one and hope to have it home from Arizona next week.

It's super clean top to bottom, and even though it's thoroughly updated, it's got minimal and tastefully done mods.   It still looks like a mostly original '40.

I'm plannng to personalize it bit to my taste, but it's not too much of a project, really!  I think it's going to be a great car, and I can FINALLY stop combing the ads for 2-3 hours every day!   

http://datsun510.com/uploads/monthly_2019_08/large.36582299_467922357003223_2141103903578521600_n.jpg.0247b2598091b36fbfb133681c5a6860.jpg

Kinda want a bit of a pro-touring look, something along these lines...

http://datsun510.com/uploads/monthly_2019_08/large.1967-ford-galaxie-500-surviver-2.jpg.83f9f37cbc1a9146dfabe388587353b7.jpg

We'll see where it goes...

Come on, y'all. Tell me what it is.

They want $4k to fix it, 12 hours labor plus parts. I looked through the quote and it seems that much of the cost is removing the intake manifold so they can use some bespoke ford tool to raise and hold the engine, from the topside. the intake manifold blocks how the tool sits above the engine, so it has to come out. 

This means the work can be done from the bottom anyway, which means no need to screw around with stuff on top of it. I'm thinking of doing itmyself and saving her a metric shit ton of $$ better spent on camping. Or anything else, for that matter. 

"What one man can do, another man can do" - Anthony Hopkins facing the ginormous grizzly in the Alaskan outback...with a pointed stick. (The Edge). 

So I'm thinking I pull the interior engine cover, have a look at the clearances. One need only raise the engine an inch or two to get clearance at the mounts for replacement, I think. Then I jack this monster up, get it securely on my oversized RV jackstands (garage sale buy, for precisely this kind of thing when she bought Moby). Then I grab a floor jack, and maybe remove the castors so it will stay put when I use it. Then I get a block of 4x4 or whatever, and gently jack up the engine from the bottom by pushing on the crank pulley. I've done this a zillion times for jobs on Datsuns, should work here, right? One interweb guy suggested a couple shims of 2x4 in a couple place between block and frame to keep it located safely. 

Then, I think i can get the rest done. they recommended a pan replacement due to the possibilities of leaks or crushes (pan gasket too) from the crossmember contact. As before, there must be a way to do this from below because that's how they have to do it. I'm thinking her cost would be pan (maybe or probably), gasket, and should definitely replace both engine mounts. 

So, assuming I can get the engine raised and safed in position, and get the pan off...is there any value in taking a look at rod bearings while I've got the pan off? 250k miles on this triton 5.4L. I'm not sure what would happen after a look, but at least I'd know if it was utterly toasted. Risks? The rod bolts are stretch bolts, right? so I'd need to replace them? 

thanks guys....

Walk around after a wash...

Size comparison to the Dajiban...

20mm/35mm lowering springs and 15" Faux BBS wheels...

Smart Madness piggyback ECU thingy (Yeah, I know.  It probably doesn't really do anything)...

K&N style (made by BMC, but y'all know who K&N is) washable air filter...

Swiss Cheese'd air box (Yeah, I know.  It probably doesn't do anything either)...

Count the pedals...

That's right, it's a 5-speed manual...

And a cheeky decal just to let other divers know what's what...

Using my stump and making a minnie stump that needed to by screwed down I shaped the pieces and planished them on a trailer hitch ball, eye balls were formed with the ball peen hammer and a 24mm socket, (because that is the average size of a human eyeball) then parts were tacked together with the mig while I had the door open for ventilation. On the days the rain stopped I moved outside to weld up what I had done to that point.

Making the ears was very fussy with the convoluted curves and folded over top edge.

When I got to working on her hair I made a forming piece from a oak branch, rounded the edge of one of the air hammer chisels and made a test piece from a small off cut that went very well. Starting with the bowl shape I drew out the lines of the hair and started hammering in the lines on my form, easy enough in the middle where I could balance it but getting towards the edges the it was almost impossible to hold the metal and the chisel with my left hand and hit it with the hammer in my right. I got smart and started using vise grips as a moveable counter weight but throughout the whole process my left hand would cramp up and I would have to stop and do something else for a while. To round out the space between the lines I would flip it over the stump and use the old brake pad I had made to form the bead I made in the inner rocker panel that I welded in the 510. The two side pieces of the hair where made to fit together on this rounded portion so I would be able to grind down the welds, and they had to go over the tops of the ears then fit tight to the neck. It took me 11 days to do her hair, I swear I will never be a hair dresser. I left the shoulders to last because of a change of mind about the position of the face, I originally was going to have her looking up more but went with more forward and had to add a couple of inches to the back and the shoulders. The last piece was the base which I made as flat as I could but with adjusting the bottom edge as I welded on the base things did not end up totally flat so I went with using 3 rubber feet so it doesn't wobble.

I regret not getting a picture of the piece I made to cap off the underside of the hair, it has a rolled up edge that rests against the neck as it comes around to cover behind the ears. It holds the hair piece solid with just one plugweld from inside the neck.

It took me me over a month of 4 to 6 hour days to do this project and many evenings researching and figuring out how to do things. I am happy with how it turned out but next time I will start out with a concept drawing to work out the details that I missed by using this image in my head.

I am wondering what I should do to prevent it rusting, originally I was just going to paint it but people keep telling me that it should be kept looking like the natural metal. Does anyone know what I can put on it or know of a process to keep it looking natural?

I like building things, making things, and occasionally playing music. I am a big fan of David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, and really lust after his famous black Fender Stratocaster.

Now you can buy a signature Gimour Strat from the Fender Custom Shop for the princely sum of about $4000, or better yet, his actual guitar goes up for auction next month, but it's expected to fetch north of $100k. So what is a cheap-ass Datsun guy to do? Make one...  😄

Acquired a used black Fender body from ebay, and a crap load of new parts from Fender. This gets me the best of the best parts, but for maybe 20% of the cost of an actual loaded Fender Stratocaster...

Replaced the cheap Chinese bridge with a Fender "vintage" American Standard bridge. The new bridge is beefier, heavier, and made of much better materials, as well as having better build quality...

Unfortunately, being bigger/thicker means I can no longer use the rear cover. Oh well, David Gilmour doesn't use one either...  😄

Rather than using Fender wiring, I elected to upgrade and use an Art of Tone wiring/switch/pots/cap instead...

Got a new pick guard and a set of Fender "Tex-Mex" pickups. I like David Gilmour's sound, but I like a "Texas Blues" sound more...  😎

And yes, I know one pickup was upside down in that pic. I fixed it after I took the photo...  😅

New fender input jack and jack plate, new screws, new Fender tremolo arm, and I replaced all the plastic trim pieces with a set of "Aged White" pieces Fender sells to replicate an older guitar look...

Got a custom 50s style neck in all maple, applied a tinted clear to achieve a more "aged" look, and found a decal supplier that has the late 50s decals, just like David's guitar...

Still need to wet sand and polish the headstock, but it should be complete and playing by this time tomorrow. What I was going for was a guitar that looks like it's from the 50s, but plays like a new "best of everything" guitar...

Next up on the bench is to finish my Telecaster. But I really messed up the body, and so today I ordered a new one so I can start over on that one...  😛

I found a NOS Huffy Cranbrook at a pawn shop, bought it, and began ordering parts.

Today I binned the fenders

Seat

and chain guard

then replaced the handlebars with a set of 24" ape hangers

The bananna seat, sissy bar, springer forks, grips, and pedals should be here next week.

Stay tuned... and feel free to post your bicycle projects as well.

Stellantis already has a cheap fun car they sell in europe. Americans bought a lot of Neon, would they buy it again?

I'll simply leave you with some information and pictures.

We all love pics  :thumbup:

Here are the details from last survey. http://www.boatersresources.com/bfs_detail.php?adid=106916

The Venus is a 43 foot schooner built in 1925. Hull number 253b designed by John G. Alden and built by T. H. Soule. 

It's had many owners, makeovers, and tragedies. It now belongs to a good friend of mine and we are working hard to get it all back together. 

Before most of us were born-

In the 80's 

And our story starts one year ago.

Day of the haul

These are great

after

As of this morning 

That's all for now folks. 

She's going in the drink on Tuesday morning.

I'll post tons more pics when they are done uploading.

8 hour round-trip to go get it:

It had been in a barn for a while, and was filthy, so first order of business was to fix that.

The reason I got this thing so cheap was that it is in need of a fair bit of work, and had some missing parts. First up was that the rear sprocket and chain were entirely missing. It took a bit for me to be able to go get the bike (darn provincial border closures), so I had ordered a new chain and used sprocket off ebay while I was waiting.

Much better.

A 'fun' future project is going to be dealing with all the wiring, which has just been unplugged and left dangling. These bikes are 6v and the engine in it now is 12v, so I assume this was just done to prevent blowing all the bulbs and they never got around to wiring in a 12>6v regulator or swapping the bike's stuff for 12v. As it is now the bike should be able to run; the CDI is wired up and there is spark when it's cranked even with no battery.

Speaking of spark, the lead had totally had it, so I replaced with one of the ones that was on my Z when I got it, chopped down to the correct length. The plug isn't in right now because someone stripped the hole and helicoiled it bigger, but the helicoil was coming out and the (larger) threads were pretty messed up. Going to get a m14x1.25 tap and try to fix the threads and use a larger spark plug (stock thread was 12x1.25mm).

Then there's this interesting setup, I guess the stock bash bar/footpeg mount didn't fit on the larger engine. I'll be making up something a lot nicer for this purpose, as well as incorporating a skidplate etc (these bikes were designed for on/offroad use after all).

Some other misc. - One of the exhaust mount studs was broken off, and it was a weird combo mount with the rear shock nut. Welded something workable together:

Spaced it out a bit too as how it was before it had melted the plastic shield a bit:

Current goal is to get it running/driving, have some fun offroad with it, then fix the wiring, get it registered (I only have a bill of sale currently), and road legal. Oh, and I need to get a motorcycle license haha.

as you can see that is an old station wagon in the driveway while my 610 is on the street well...... i now own both cars

a little back story this is my grandpas 1974 toyota corona mark 2 wagon. I had told him years ago that I was interested in it if he were to ever part with it. well about a year and a half ago he passed away and his sister is handling his estate. turns out he left it to me. Ironicly, my dad got my orignal yellow 610 from him. He is kinda the family vintage jdm dealer

she needs a few odds and ends like a grill and a driver tail light lens but other then that totally complete and original

I love these 1960s mags because they did so many things that are now considered impossible

ROD & CUSTOM

m a g a z i n e

Vol. 15 No. 10 October, 1967

FEATURES

WHAT HATH JIM LYTLE WROUGHT? Why, Big Al III, that's what ... 27

I wonder how many Ratsuners have worked on an Allison engine? Other than @datsunaholic ...

Every article on this cover is fantastic, even the basics of tuning a VW, covers skills rarely taught today

You can definitely tell that I'm in sore need of a lower valence in that pic.

Crooked front bumper:

Had to pull the engine and tear it apart due to a burnt exhaust valve. Installed a new camshaft (stock) and painted it orange.

Gonna paint my air cleaner next.

It's got the Mazda 2.0 MA engine that is notorious for blowing head gaskets. It's lasted this long without blowing one, to my knowledge. Part of routine maintenance is torqueing the head bolts every oil change. So, I'll keep an eye on it.

It will be a patina build with nice trim and engine bay.

Here is an overview if you can get past my rotten mug, and some crappy audio!
 

i decided to f**k it up and I bought this treasure.  We all know the best treasure is “that which is buried” and that dodge literally means “to avoid”.  As you can tell I’m taking this build VERY seriously and will expect you to trash it in the comments.

So far the tires on it scare the shit outta me.  They’re bald and cracked.  I think the date code on them is 1992, older than the truck.  Totally safe.  After all, expiration dates are for cowards.

If you’re still reading, it’s a 5.9 MAGNUM.  For the record I can only yell that word.  Has the 4 spd auto, 4wd, 231 transfer case.  It’s a tow package, mainly to hall the balls I’d need to trust these tires.  Has a mere 150k mi on it, and it’s pretty clean inside.

The good:

It’s paid for.  Which hopefully means I can afford the medical bills when I crash and die.

The PO decided to put limo tint on the side windows. I get it.  I don’t want anybody seeing me driving it either. 

The bad:

How much time do you have?

"Death Wobble”

its “lifted”…

someone cut HOLES in the perfectly good door panels to put wal-mart 6x9’s they ran with house speaker wire that broke in the door seam…

it included empty Marlboro hard packs in all the bed stake pockets

there was a condom under the seat

definitely smoked in

there was a near dead Nissan battery in it held in place with a bungee cord

paint is faded

its a dodge, the most appropriately named car maker in history 

it has an “exhaust” on it that I think was welded together by a drunk porpoise 

someone painted the chrome bumpers black after attempting and failing to sand off the chrome 

the headlights…

the electrical…

there are monster energy drink stickers on the interior…. 
the Kenwood detachable face cd player…

the hood mounted light bar.  That’s not attached to anything.  Looks only.

No rear LSD.

the brakes…. No, not like standard dodge brakes, they’re worse.  
 

worst of all, I love it.  It’s so f**king obnoxious it suits me.  It’ll definitely haul my S13, Toyota Pickup, and 620 once I’m done.  This is the Soundline of crummy 90’s pickups.

Unfortunately, these fall into a category that really sucks for the owner of one. They are rare and at the same time aren't really worth much at all lol. Impossible to find most parts without finding and purchasing spare cars which also isn't easy. The current owner knows a lot about these cars. Pretty sure he used to run the website plymouthfirearrow.com and he has been racing these cars for many years. It has a brand new rebuilt engine with all new internals (stock build) and was painted 6-7 years ago. There is one small rust bubble popping up on the bottom of the drivers fender and the only filler is on the right rear above the wheel well. Owner is very up front about the cars history and everything that has been done to it.

Here are a couple of pics of the car. It comes with boxes of spare parts. The dude also has a black Fire Arrow race car that he is selling pretty cheap because the motor is bad. I would love to be able to get both off of him to have spare body panels, if the panels on the race car are straight. I think he is getting completely out of racing all together. I really love the car but would basically have to commit myself to becoming the "plymouth fire arrow guy" if I get it meaning I will likely have to collect most of them I ever see come up for sale just to have for spare parts.

I did just finish a project though. I bought an old Quincy 325 air compressor in late October. The pump needed to be rebuilt due to water getting into it and sitting like that for a period of time. I honed the cylinders, rebuilt the valves, replaced all bearings, seals, gaskets, etc. I put the pump back together and now it's sitting on my basement work bench waiting for a nice day to be bolted on and hooked up to the motor for a test run. Here are some photos. https://imgur.com/gallery/quincy-325-rebuild-kfxCjRW

The basic gist of it: I have subaru stockholm syndrome (lol) and have been wanting to pick up a first generation forester to make into a do-everything daily driver for quite a while now. Nearly nabbed a almost-mint one but it was bought out from under me, and the next day this one popped up on marketplace. Rather rusty, but it was 800CAD(600USD), manual, and the 5spd has been rebuilt within the last year, engine has headgaskets done and heads machined, new clutch etc etc. Basically buying a nice driveline attached to a rather questionable shell.

Knew it was rotten when I bought it, my  thought process is basically that any older forester is going to have a decent amount of rust and require a teardown to fix it properly even if not nearly as rusty as this car. Bit more work while it's apart is no big deal to me.

overall plan is a ~2" lift, all terrains, and reliability mods/fixes. Just something I can trust to drive me anywhere any day.

She crusty:

Soon as I got it home, swapped the wheels for a set of 2.5RS 6spokes i'd been holding onto:

Gold wheels make everything better 😛

Car was lowered a bit on Impreza struts when I got it, i wanted to go back up for what I have planned for it, so picked up some SG foz struts for cheap:

Shouldn't be able to see the outside through here lol:

car has nearly 300k on it and that is very apparent in spots, so swapped the pedal covers out to make driving a bit more pleasant:

Stripped the rear interior out:

Rear strut towers, have, uh, seen better days. This one was bent inwards by half an inch when I measured lol.

Starting on making the car visually nicer, a junkyard a couple hours away got a SF in that was even the right colour, so I robbed the hatch off of it, and on the way home swing by someone selling the whole front clip out of a pre-facelift SF forester (also in silver which was very nice).

Even ignoring the faded headlights and trashed clearcoat, the facelift SF forester front end was never really my thing, so being able to backdate it and fix a bunch of stuff at once was a win.

Pulled into the garage with the Z for the winter and to begin rust repair in earnest.

(part 1 of probably 3, more pics to come as soon as i can put them into the next post)