New guys 620 ratrod project

[flatboy]

So I picked this piece up from a old guy at work with only 53,000km on it. Barn find, last registered in 1988. It was goina be a quick ratrod project that could be on the road in spring time but with my disorder(ocd, obsesive car disorder) it diddn't take to long and I was well in a 'over ones head' project.

 

 

the front bumper and passengerside front fender got into not 1 but 2 fights with the local snow plow blade

 

 

first thing was scrap the box cover and get rid of this wooden slider thingy he made

 

 

 

to my surprise the box was in mint condition, with only some surface rust

 

 

 

[muck]

Nice find!! Any more Datsuns in the barn? :P

Im in Edmonton as well and have a '71 510 on the go.

[flatboy]

Engine ran a tad rough, but threw in some Seafoam, and its smarter evertime I start it now

 

 

Quick bath and wow!

 

 

So the snowplow hammered the inner fender well a bit, but no biggy. Its just some nice steel to still work with.

 

little bita rust here, but easy fix

 

 

 

 

 

 

[datzenmike]

Dude you already started a post about this truck, same pictures even. How about we delete one of them????

 

New guy with old truck

 

 

 

If you want to start a project thread just change the title and add to the original post.

[flatboy]

 

 

 

 

old guy had a ton of stuff stuffed in this cab, but the one good thing was outa all the vehicles in his barn no mice got in this thing. There was mice dropping in the box but nothing in the cab.

 

Cab is solid except for the recessed mount holes. I'll probably make a quick die and squish something in the press to simulate the recessed part.

 

 

so, I hauled the box off, which was a sinch. All the bolts that connect the box to the frame came off very easily(wow was I lucky, lol)

At work I have a sandblaster, so I blasted it, primed it with Endura epfd, and sprayed the back half with Endura pewter pearl metalic.

 

 

 

Got lower it right! I fabbed my own 4" steel blocks, even cut a 2 deg taper on them, and powdercoated gloss black.

[TrevDaddy]

Wow all that happened pretty fast. I like the before and after on the engine bay, what method did you use? A clean bay is on my to-do list.

[flatboy]

Thanks, I started this at the end of October, but put in some hard hours over the christmas break. The engine bay only saw some light degreaser and a pressure washer.

 

 

 

shayne

[flatboy]

A couple years ago I built my own powdercoating oven outa a old metal cabinet, so threw some chevy orange powder at the rims

 

 

 

 

You can also get a chrome looking powdercoat so did the licence plate frame and light holder, and fuel tank brackts. (real ratrod ish :blink: )

 

 

my brother has a dip tank so in with the tailgate, and did my very very first body work job

[flatboy]

 

 

seams were so nice and rust free that I couldn't help myself and started to weld them up, all ratrodish and that eh.

 

 

 

ME!

 

 

 

 

 

 

sandblasted top to bottom

 

 

 

primed with Endura epfd epoxy

 

 

painted with Endura gloss black

 

 

[Braden]

nice!!!!!! looks like some work that i would do

[flatboy]

Gotter masked up for some undercoating

 

 

undercoated

 

now again sprayed with 2 coats Endura gloss black

 

 

 

 

fuel tank was wire wheeled to remove surface scale, then brushed on rust seal which turn to a hard black coating, primed with Endura epfd, then top coated with Endura graphite grey

 

 

sweet licence plate light

 

 

 

 

starting the body work

 

 

 

 

 

 

oh ya and took the hooks off. Not just ground off quickly but actually cleaned up nicely. Wow those hooks are major time consuming to get off if you wana do a nice job, like probably 6-8 hrs total including the tailgate. There is not alot of room to get in there and grind them off, plus if you slip it takes meat off right away.

[74datsun620]

Nice work, truck is going to look great

[denveratsun]

:o WOW! Lookin really great so far man! Great idea to go the extra mile on the underside too! Keep that rust monster at bay for a good long time! I like the powder coating box too! :cool:

 

Any idea on color choices? I love all the pics..keep em comin! :rolleyes:

[flatboy]

Thanks for the intrest and compliments guys.

 

I'm a diehard car guy just like most people here with a common intrest, and for me the best thing about this project is I've never gotten into body work till this truck. One of my best exfiends had always done this kinda work for me. Well with him outa the picture I figured if you can't do it yourself your introuble shayne. So ........

 

I pick away at this thing like a mad man over christmas

 

 

 

 

 

I don't get to crazy doing anything to the inside of the box. At first I thought I'd spray in a box liner, but with how nice a shape the inside of the box was I decided best to leave it alone. A handfull of small dings here and there, ratrodish.

 

etch primed with Endura ep2c

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a few hrs later I hit it with some Endura 421 high build primer. Put it on like it was stolen.

 

 

 

 

[flatboy]

I ended up going to the local body shop supply place and buying a 6 piece Dura block - block sanding kit. Now anybody that is thinking of doing body work needs this kit. I think it made the whole differance in the world. I mean it does All the work, the only thing you gota do is rub back and forth a couple hundred thousand times, but it'll show your low spots and you'll rub though on your high spots. Take care of them and block it some more and it'll actually turn out half azz'd.

 

 

 

now primed(sealed) with Endura epfd

 

 

 

 

 

 

seam sealed with Proform

 

 

more pics to come tomorrow

 

 

 

 

shayne

[hessianben]

holy smokes! i think 'rat' doesn't apply to this project in the conventional way... there's too much quality work going on here! this is on it's way to being a show truck.

either way, very nice project.

[pharouh]

Agreed!

What color is it going to be with those red wheels?

do you want to do my truck next? :hyper:

[Jesse C.]

Yes, the last word I would use on this is "Rat"! Unless you plan on sticking a big block under the hood.

 

I really dig that green!

[Mic]

Having "never been into bodywork"..... could have fooled me. It's nice to see all the good prep work and quality products being used. At least you know you've fixed everything right.

 

Keep the pics coming!

[73dat]

man,its looking really good,do not know what to say....keep the excelent work and keep the pics coming............. :cool:

[datsun dreamer]

Thanks for the pics and great work your doing on your truck :cool: !! Keep the pic's coming my friend :D !!

[flatboy]

 

 

 

 

Top coated with Endura ex2c black no gloss. This is actually a paint so it won't chalk, and is tough as hell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

truck is now up and running again

 

 

 

 

Pretty much offa the datsun project now. I got 4 months of real work ahead of me for my job and no spare time to work on the truck :(

Still goina pick away at it here and there, but will keep it mobile till I'm ready to do the motor swap.

 

 

The truck started the first day of the build being called a ratrod project, but by the second day it was into full speed resto project. Not too sure what happened, but my friends wern't talking me outa anything. Oh well good times.

 

 

shayne

[culowdragger72]

damn, your 620 is coming along nicely. keep it up

[bonvo]

i think its funny thistruck has this beautiful bed and the cab is beat lol

[78dattysun]

wow beutiful from the day u got it. awesome job looking real good for ALL that time and All that prep will pay off.