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Tube-frame 1968 Datsun 510 - Slowest moving project ever!


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So, the last major interior panel is DONE! Everything that is removable or NOT steel will now come back out so the frame tubes and the few pieces of interior monocoque sheetmetal (ie: the wheel tubs and small section of "perimeter" steel floor flange made to anchor the aluminum pieces) -will be media blasted and protected with paint. It should be soon, so in "MY TIME" it'll be a week or three!

 

In preparation for the blasting, I pulled the front suspension off tonight. A few bits like the pedal assembly (still slowly draining brake fluid from the mock-up) need to come off, but I'm happy to report that the "BARE CHASSIS***" still seems pretty light.

 

*** Bare means the shell with frame and doors, but no hood, all the removable front pieces removed, as well as engine, driveline, wheels, fuel lines, wiring, glass.... pretty much everything that's removable!

 

When I say "pretty light" I mean I can still lift it with one hand! (details of the one-hand lift are closely guarded!! HA!)

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2eDeYe' date='24 October 2010 - 09:15 PM' timestamp='1287969308' post='371574']

Pics! I want to see the bare chassis :D

Hmm, I'm not sure how much more "bare" it can be. The bare paint-stripped shell pic from way back was a jesting response. If you're referring to the "chassis" as it is right now, it's become a tube framed, semi-monocoque chassis now. I know it looks like it in the early pictures, but in fact the shell cannot just lift off the tube frame like a model car or a funny car.

 

The wheel tubs are fully integrated into the original body, as is the rear tray under the window, as is the entire firewall. As built, the tube frame is plenty strong to stand alone, but since the "shell" also has a lot of strength, I wanted to tie into it at many,many points.

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  • 1 month later...

This Thread Is Collecting Cobwebs

Anything New?!? :cool:

Guilty as charged! I've been "tooling up" in the shop - making preparation for a 3-phase converter, hence the delay. I've also decided to make a rotisserie to ease underbody sheet metal work, so I'll post once she's flipped upside down

 

I'm still working on the rotisserie at the moment.

 

NICE 620 in your avatar - do you have a thread on it?

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  • 2 weeks later...

-but working on the Back half of the rotisserie meant...well...moving BACKWARDS.

510hrNOSrBumperMounted.jpg

Translation - I wanted to have a solid, logical rear mount for my rotisserie. In otherwords, something that could work for another (small) car, not just this one. For anyone who has priced steel lately, even building your OWN rotisserie is expensive, after all, so I wanted it to be as "useful" as possible.

 

So the typical rear mount spot for a rotisserie is on the rear bumper mount points. On a 510, there are threaded inserts in the rear lower fascia with some strengthening unibody sheetmetal supports. I know this well because I REMOVED all this in this car during the "shelling out" phase of tube-framing it.

 

Well, I've been holding on to a NOS rear bumper for many years. It's been in the Guest bedroom closet - much to my wife's displeasure, but nothing else would do! After all, an immaculate chrome bit for a Datsun is hard enough to come by, I wasn't going to let it get ruined during the ETERNAL build for this project.

 

Settling on re-creating the stock mount point exactly (in space, but WITHOUT the rear lower fascia on my tube frame car) - I went .....BACWARDS as follows.

 

1. Remove NOS bumper from packaging.

2. gasp and behold the beauty

3. Attach bumper brackets to bumper

4. "hover" the bumper in place - this was done with wire and rubber shims to assure optimum alignment

5. gasp and behold a NOS bumper "hovering" on the primered project that barely proceeds monthly

6. Snap out of it and bend tube, fishmouth, miter, fit, file, fit, file, measure and WELD!!! two little spuds from the frame to re-create the original mount point.

 

 

(that took the day, but now there's a solid rear mount point for the Rotisserie... and when it comes off the rotisserie, the bumper mount will be all set)

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