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Project 620 - Build Thread


79D50

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very nice, i have used raptor for a few years now, very good for all you did and more, i/we my friends and i have sprayed jeep tubs in and out, blazer tubs in and out, and a lot of off road trucks rocker panels also, besides countless numbers of truck beds, and also some full floors of some honda and nissan and mitsi race cars, works excellant for noise reduction and vibrations, great for all auto applications...tom

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Looking real good. I am interested to try the raptor stuff, where is it available at? Also I know most of us Datsun guys are on a budget, or are just cheap-os, but look into getting a crud-thug from snap-on. COmes with belted wire wheels ov varying degrees of coarseness, and will take any paint, rust, undercoat, seam sealer etc off of any surface without damagin the finish. This tool was a MUST on my 521 resto, as stripping the door jambs, underhood and frame was looking to be a huge undertaking, the crud thug saved me several hours and I only used 3 wheels, no da paper or wearing out wire wheels. The only reason I used 3 wheels was i needed 3 different kinds of coarseness...........the tool was about 450 bux tho.......but after using it I will never do without.

 

Lookin good!

 

Bill

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Dooooooood! Wear a mask when you paint!! Please!

 

You're doing great work -- awesome to see an old Ratsun getting the royal treatment.

 

Good advice. That is not me in the pics so my lungs are safe. More pics will be up shortly.

It currently sits in my interior guys shop ready for a full makeover. Then it will go back to body/paint for the final wetsand and polish.

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  • 2 months later...

The truck is 90% complete. My paint is finished and my interior will be completed late next week. I will have the next 2 weeks after to put everything back together (all brand new NOS or restored parts) This has been a full restoration and a very detailed project. I have been extremely busy with work and travel and managing this build on the side. I will post pics when the truck is 100% and if it is nice weather, bring it to one of the local meets.

 

I'll give you the quick and dirty....

 

Body:

 

Stripped to bare metal insde and out

Shaved and filled (smooth from nose to tail) except door handles and side markers

 

Paint:

 

5 coats base and 6 coats of clear with pearl

 

Interior:

 

New New New and Custom (Wait for Pics)

Electric Locks

Clifford Alarm

Remote Start

Many hidden kill switches (thieves beware)

 

Sound System:

 

Focal 5 1/4 Polyglass in custom molded kick panels

JL XD 400/4

JL W3V3 8" Sub

Kenwood Exceleon KDC X794

Dynamat on everything - The interior is a damn sound studio with the amount of time and material to make it quiet.

 

I have my supercharged G54B going in next spring. The L18 will do for now. There is much more to this build and some of you will be able to see it in person soon.

 

Radio - The box was a bitch due to the rusted bolts. Since I made those bolts and rubber bump stops, I have had the box off 3 times since with no issues.

 

No time to take 5 pages and do a write up but if you have any questions, go ahead and ask.

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  • 1 month later...

I've been busy sourcing the last few bits and peices and the truck is nearly ready to drive off. My gas tank is being hot tanked and lined as we speak and my heater core and valve are getting re-built at Seattle Radiator.

 

The finish line keeps getting pushed out as I keep adding things to the truck. I have designed a custom tonneau cover and am building the frame out of 1/4" boxed aluminum rails. The top will be rhino lined ABS plastic. I will share my design once it is done. Until the motor goes in I am done messing around with suspension setups although I have a fully sandblasted, rebuilt, and painted D21 front end, Belltech 2" drop spindles, and BeeBani's custom made upper control arms. Until the motor gets swapped and I have an idea of weight and fitment etc, the suspension and exhaust will wait.

 

I actually think it looks good the way it sits now but with the added power the suspension setup with 4 wheel discs is a requirement. I will take some pics this week and post - I know, I know...I've been bad on this.

 

My chrome work also finishes up next week and I customized the front bumper a bit so it is taking longer than expected. I finally sourced the 5/8" knock on or commonly called pinch weld molding. With the custom headliner and thick carpet I needed 5/8" vs the OEM 1/2". Here is a tip for folks needing door sills for the 620. Go get a set of 1984-1988 Golf or Rabbit door sills. Get them out of the 4 door as you don't have to trim them. They literally snap right in over the pinch weld and look killer. Got that tip from a JY dog.

 

 

FYI - to those seriously interested in rebuilding your truck..Haggerty has me fully appraised and insured for 20K on the truck. It costs me $29.00 per month and I have thier 50 mile towing plan. It really is cheap considering the cost to build the damn thing and it covers me fully with no questions asked if some pap smear piles into me. I don't know why I just though of pap smear...hahaha...it's the second cousin to douche bag...L8tr

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That is not me in the pictures and that was the first round of body/primer work before the first mock up. Long process. Too damn long. But, the guys I used that you see in those pics were not professionals and I had to get a lot of the work done over again - not much, but some. Live and learn on that one.

 

Perspective on Seattle Trade Costs: My front bumper customized and chromed is costing nearly $600. There are only 3 reputable shops in the greater seattle area and I have used 2 out of the 3. That is just the bumper. You couldn't get 2 seats fully restored and covered for $400 bucks unless you want them to fall apart in 2 years. Mine were stripped, the frames and springs fully reconditioned, and then refoamed and covered. My audio equipment cost me nearly $1200 minus the install. The alarm was $300. Right there is $1500 in audio and alarm. Nothing is cheap in Seattle. I sourced and researched and hunted for good prices without sacrificing the level of quality that I want. Full Rotiserrie Resto's on this side of the country cost far north of 20k.

 

More perspective: Here are costs just on rubber alone for the truck.

BTW - None of this is cheap aftermarket parts. They are either OEM or NOS quality parts sourced from all over the world and bought from private party. Some are slightly used and reconditioned by me.

 

Windshield Rubber Seal = $120

Rear Window Rubber Seal = $85

Window Felt Runners = $65

Outer Squeegees = $120

Inner Squeegees = $90

Weatherstripping on Doors = $100

Door Drain Vents = $25

Door Stops = $15

Hood Bumper Stops = $25

Tailgate Stops = $15

Plastic/Rubber Pinch Weld Molding = $12

Rear Bumper Peices = $30

Windshield Wiper Boots = $12 (really?....these things are tiny too)

Tires = $600

Compression Grommets for Custom made Bed Bolts = $8

 

Total = $722 dollars my man just on rubber. You add in the tires and that is $1322. $722 just to make sure the damn thing doesn't leak. Unbelievable how it adds up.

 

That was fun..Let's do it again. This time we will take on the chrome and polishing. I have a 9" bench grinder at the house and for one it is not big enough for all the peices and for two it doesn't do the job of the industrial equipment. Let's concentrate on just the exterior shall we?

 

Front Bumper - Customized and triple chrome plated = $600

Side Marker Trim Bezels Polished(4)= $40

Headlight Bezels on the Grill Polished(4) = $60

Side Mirrors Polished (these were new so I just had a quick buff done)= $25

Door Handles Rebuilt and triple chrome plated (2) = $125

 

Total = $850

 

Keep in mind this is just a truck. Imagine a 1959 Chevy Impala and what it would take to rechrome that trim package. WOW!

 

This time we will do powdercoating.

 

1974 Western Turbines 15x8 6 lug = $70 from a dude in Wisconsin

Shipped to Seattle = $120

Straightened/Shoulders re-welded/Balanced and Sandblasted at Seattle Tire and Wheel = $575

Powedercoated = $150

Gorilla Mag Shank Lugs with Washers direct from Gorilla = $80

Sandblast and Powdercoat Lugs and Washers = $50

 

Total= $1045

 

This ended up being closer to $1500 at the end becuase I messed up and had a guy paint the damn things and then changed my mind so add in another round of sandblasting and paint/prep. BTW - Powdercoating is the way to go. This screw up was on me. Bad choice. Shit happens.

 

So, the conclusion of this little narrative is that even though I am resourceful and have managed this project close, it still costs a lot of money to do a vehicle correctly.

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heck man!!!! sounds like alot of good stuff!!! we need pics of all this stuff man! i wanna see those wheels. and i was looking at your list of rubbers and i noticed the hood bumpers for 25$ egad man i just bought some nos ones for my truck and i think i might have paid 12$??? at the dealer, dont quote me on that i dotn remember for sure, i know i wouldnt have paid 25 for 4 small peices of rubber. tell us about the stereo what all did you get? i hoep you bought jl components!!! i wanna see pics, oh and im gonna delete my other 2 posts so its not junking up your thread!!! and again moar pics!!!!!! geeze man what do you do for a living???

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Stereo is the following:

 

Focal 5 1/4 Polyglass in custom molded kick panels - These are phenomenal. Ever been front and center at a live concert? Well, these are the best 5 1/4 speakers I have ever heard. You hear every instrument and every vocal. You can even hear the pick scraping the guitar strings. - $250 and worth every penny.

 

JL XD 400/4 - This is the smallest amp you can get with that amount of power. Dimensions from memory are approximately 8x10x2 - $400

 

JL W3V3 8" Sub - The 8" that stopped the press. This thing goes surprisingly low for an 8. The box is a ported and has a unique bandpass design. Also made by JL. - $195

 

Kenwood Exceleon KDC X794 - Nothing super special but has 5v preouts and excellent throughput. I didn't need any glitz and glamour and was more after the specs. It does have ipod and USB and very good functionality. I thought this was cheap at $225

 

Amp Kit and Monster Wire = $50

 

Total = $1120

 

Caveat - I know I could have saved money here and looked around at other retailers including Amazon. I had no problem spending this money because I wanted to support the owner of the shop I bought this at as he is establishing his business etc. I have no problem supporting locally owned small businesses and in reality would have only saved a couple of hundred bucks by sourcing it elsewhere.

 

The fitment of the amp and box is killer behind both buckets and it sounds really good for such a small enclosure (cab). Morel and Focal have the best car audio speakers (minus subs) of any other manufacturer IMO. You get what you pay for.

 

Dude...I was at the truck tonight and was finalizing a few bits but did not snap any pics becuase the shop was packed and the truck was stuffed into an adjacent bay. I am hoping for final completion this weekend in respects to getting it home and out in the open so I can flood you with pictures.

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Got my reconditioned heater core today. The core itself it brand new. It looks and funtions perfectly. I also had my valve re-built. It has all new seals the the necks were reinforced for longevity. These peices should last another 35 years +.

 

I will have pictures up shortly.

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Here is the pic of the new heater core and valve:

 

CIMG1680.jpg

CIMG1682.jpg

 

Seattle Radiator does excellent work and one of the few shope left in Seattle that even restores radiators/heater cores etc. They are building my 3 core radiator from my stock tanks. So, it will have stock fitment but be much more efficient. I recommend these guys to get you fixed seeing there are no NOS heater cores and valves for 620's available.

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  • 2 months later...

I haven't been on for a long time and I clearly suck at keeping up a build thread. Here are some pictures I took last weekend while we had some sunny weather. I took these with my Blackberry believe it or not and there is some weird shadowing that looks like waves but this truck is laser straight. You really can't see the pearl all to well but it has 7 coats of clear and the rainbow pearl really pops in the sun. I have to finish wiring the marker lights and turn signals, install the headlights and bumper and de-arc the rear springs to match the front although I am kinda diggin the small rake it has. It is 90% complete and I had the chance to drive it. It runs, stops, and rides like a new car.

 

I will get more pictures up and include the interior next time.

 

Before: Gotta love those flames!! :blink:

 

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After Restoration:

 

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