1976 Wagoon (710)

[mklotz70]

You're more than welcome Todd. :)

 

.....and Thank You for the kind words and for buying the kit :)

[opalbeetle]

Well, it's been a good day.  First, I didn't have to bring any work home this weekend.  Second, my wife came home from shopping with a case of beer.  Third, as I was in the shop working on the patch my wife texted me a picture of the hockey game that was going to start on TV.  All of these things equal goodness on a cold Saturday in Manitoba.

 

I do have another small update.  I figure I might as well update even the small things as it keeps me motivated and moving along.

 

After I finished the patch on the door frame, I turned the door over to repair the rusty door skin.  I had removed some of a door skin from a parts car to do a repair earlier on in this thread, and used some of the metal that was left from that to make the patch for the bottom of the door.

 

The bottom of the door was quite pitted so I removed the metal that looked like that.  It was not see through, but it would have been in short order.

 

Here is the patch after a number of passes tacking along with the welder.  

 

There should be more coming this weekend (I hope).

 

Thanks for looking in!

[opalbeetle]

Got back out to the shop after supper and a little bit of watching the Leafs play......not by choice.....it's the only team that's always on the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast at 6:00.  

 

Here is the patch completed.  This was a difficult area to get shaped properly.  There will have to be a little bondo sculpting on this to get it completely right.  Thank goodness that my goal is a decent 20 footer and nothing more.  The paint seen is the first coat of Zero Rust, that's why it looks so thin.

 

Here is the next spot to tackle.  This is one that I've known about from the beginning.

 

There is one more area that needs addressing.  I will take a picture of it when I decide what to do.  Both passenger front doors (original and parts car) have rust in the bottom corner.  One door appears to be just the skin that's bad and the other has some door frame rust like the one above.  I have to open them both up to see which is worse.  I will be a happy camper when I can tackle something other than rust on this car.

 

Thanks for checking things out.

[opalbeetle]

Well....hell.  I looked at the bottom of the door from the parts car and the rust is pretty bad across the bottom, in the corner of the door frame, AND the door skin has a hole as well.  Not the best picture, but you can see the rust.....it is like this for a long stretch across the bottom of the door.

 

 

So, the original door from the car has some rust in the corner of the door frame and there is some in the door skin as well.  I decided to use the original door as there is less rust than the parts car door.  The added benefit to using this one is that the original door lines up better than the parts car door.

 

This is what I have to fix.

 

 

The only good thing about having to make this patch is that there is a good pattern to use to make the new piece.  

 

Thanks for looking in!

[datsunmark]

Just had to replace the exact same place on my door and patches on the rear panel. Those salty roads are just killer and when added to overlooked rusty blotches make for busy nights! I'm in the same boat as you unfortunately.

[opalbeetle]

Nothing like Manitoba roads to accelerate the oxidizing of Japanese metal!  These cars were doomed from the start as far as rust goes.  Every place the metal folds is a trap for moisture and grime (and there are a tonne of folds) My wife's LandCruiser is experiencing the same fate. 

 

Hello Mark! How is the battle going on round two of dealing with rust on your car?  Do you have any pics of the work you are doing?

 

Here is the work that I did tonight to address the rust on the passenger front door.  I built the door frame patch first.

 

 

Here are a couple of other shots of the patches.

 

 

And finally held in place.  I will get out to weld it in the next couple of days. 

 

I  :wub: LOVE  :wub: working on my car!  Even if the progress feels slow and somewhat unpredictable.  

 

Thanks for looking in!

[datsunmark]

It's going well! Or as well as tearing the paint off your barely year old paint job can be I guess. It's so good to be back in the shop and working again even though the situation may not be the best. Still two steps forward and one step backwards is still forward progress! I'll try to post some pictures on my build thread tomorrow

[Eagle_Adam]

well, this sux....

 

 

 

 

for some reason the new fire wall at work blocks your pics :/ 

[opalbeetle]

Well, the weather gods were in fine form today.  About 25cm (10 inches) of snow coupled with 50kph (30mph) winds and school is cancelled!  A snow day!  Awesome!

 

So, I moved along with the rust repair.  Got the door frame patch welded in and started on the door skin patch as well.  

 

From the other side. Some planishing needed to smooth out the bumps.  That will be another day.

 

I also opened some mail that came my way this week.

 

Thank you Mr. Klotz, you are a good man! 

 

Thanks for looking in!

[opalbeetle]

The area under the rear side window provided a challenge to shaping the patch.  The same lines and shape that make the 710 so interesting to look at, make it "interesting" to put a patch in.

 

I cut the rust out.

 

Here is the patch in place. 

 

The area above the patch looks a little rusty but it is solid.  I didn't want to get any closer to the rubber and the glass (as it is I will have to make a shield that will fit between the 

patch and the window/gasket so they do not get damaged).  I looked at taking the glass out, but I am worried that the window might break.  It is quite a bit tighter than the rear window in the liftgate.

 

I should be able to get this patch welded in this weekend!

 

Until next time.

[Eagle_Adam]

That's an awesome kit for brake upgrades!!!

[opalbeetle]

I can't wait to get it all in place.  I get two weeks off at Christmas time and I'm hoping to get the struts done then.  I want to see my car roll again!

[floyd17]

Man. You are a patient person. Keep up the build! It looks great. Can't wait to see her finished.

[opalbeetle]

First day of two weeks of holidays, awesome! I spent about 4 hours in the shop today.  Ridiculously cold again and even colder tomorrow.  The forecasters are calling for close to -40 tomorrow night in my neck of the woods.  I love having a shop, thank goodness I can heat it!

 

Here are some updates.  I made the patch for the bottom corner of the door skin on the passenger front door. 

Front view.

 

From the back.

 

Here it is welded in.  The challenge was to make the sure that the "peak" at the bottom of the door matched and continued on to make a straight line.  It lined up pretty well, not sure about perfect but I was happy with it.  The patch is made from a flat piece out of a donor door from the parts sedan.  I could not use the same raised piece from the donor door as I had used a lot of it on the other doors.  

 

 

I welded in the patch under the rear cargo window as well.  Again, the challenge here is to line up the curves so they are continuos.  This piece was not too bad after the welds were ground down.  With the sheet metal patches, heat is the enemy.  Even welding only a couple of spots and then walking away to do something else to let the piece cool, it still warps and moves.  A little shaping with filler will be needed.

 

It still amazes me how long even a small patch takes from removing the rusty piece to shaping it, fitting it, welding it and grinding the welds to finish it.

 

That's all for now, time for some Hockey Night in Canada.

 

Thanks for looking in!

[opalbeetle]

Not much of an update, but here it is.  I went out to do some tidying in the shop tonight and I accomplished some of that but quickly became bored and put the sandblast cabinet to work.

 

I removed the strut perches yesterday to prepare for shortening.  I recently purchased this cabinet for 50$ which I thought was a great deal.  

 

Blasted one perch tonight.  Here is what they look like "before and after", they both looked like the one on the right.  Amazing transformation using a 50$ tool!

 

Until next time!  Thanks for looking in.

[Ptero]

Wow, making some great progress Todd!  $50 for that blast cabinet??? Jealous!  That beats the hell out of my 50 gallon drum.  On the flip side, you now have the addiction of sandblasting allllll the things.

 

-Derek

[opalbeetle]

Over the past few weeks I have been spending some (a lot) of time standing at the sandblast cabinet working on getting some of the small stuff done.

 

Here are the spring perches after painting.  I've decided to use ZeroRust as the paint.  It's not the cheapest, but, I have used it before with much success.  I dries to almost flat, I think they call it semi-gloss.

 

I also have been working on the rear suspension pieces as well.

 

The struts are prepped for shortening.

 

While I was working on these pieces, I was thinking that it was nice to be moving on from the rust repair patches.  I dropped something and as I picked it up, I found these two spots that needed cutting out.  Fak!

 

Bottom left side.

 

Bottom right side.

 

I REALLY hope that this is the last of it for now.

 

Once those final patches are done, I am concentrating on the getting the suspension reassembled.  Stay tuned.

 

Thanks for looking in!

[opalbeetle]

Well....it's been a while since the last update! I haven't been idle but it has been going slowly. I'm also still waiting for datsun510.com to be back up and running so I can upload some pictures. Then I will post some more pictures.

 

Now, the reason for this update is that I celebrated (a little) the last rust patch being welded in! Finally. Of course I am not naive enough to think I won't find another area that needs patching. But.....for now I can start putting some stuff back together.

 

As always, thanks for looking in and following this thread.

[Kirden]

This was the kind of thread I was looking for. You are doing an amazing job here.

 

My B210 was recently diagnosed with the creeping death that is rust cancer. I've been trying to find tips on where to begin because I would like to repair it to keep it on the road longer in snowy/salted road winters. Not trying for a show car, just something decent and different.

 

Pretty much the only answer I get is cut it out and replace it, which is fine, but I don't even know what tools to invest in. I have a decent welder, but I've only used it on angle for shelves and stuff. Heck, I don't even have a grinder anymore.

 

So I guess my question is what tools would one need to complete these kinds of repairs? I know where I can find very limited body working tools (eastwood and summit), but have no idea what to actually invest in.

 

Also, is that zero rust what you are using to "seal" the steel from rust or will you be adding a different sealer later? I haven't been able to find a thread that I understood that explains the painting process so, while I know you have to seal the metal from moisture, I'm not sure what products (epoxy primer, high build, ect) accomplishes this step.

 

Thanks for you time and I can't wait to see how it all turns out.

[opalbeetle]

Hey Kirden, here is a response to some of your questions.

 

This was the kind of thread I was looking for. You are doing an amazing job here.

Thank you.

 

So I guess my question is what tools would one need to complete these kinds of repairs? I know where I can find very limited body working tools (eastwood and summit), but have no idea what to actually invest in.

You don't need a lot of tools.  I have cheap metal working hammers, I wish I had good ones.  If you have hammers then you need dollies as well.   I have an old piece of railroad track that I use as an anvil (I am always looking for a big one though), I have a bench mounted vice (big and ugly, but I can beat on it).  I also have some old ball peen hammers, a couple of plastic and hard rubber hammers as well.   There are a lot of other sites that are dedicated to the art of metal work and the tools you'd need to do your project, I have read a lot at metalmeet.com and allmetalshaping.com, which both have excellent information.

 

I use my welder, plasma cutter and my bench grinder a lot.  All of them were bought used.  I have a compressor and use my die grinders and have other air tools as well a ton as well. You will need something to cut metal for sure!  

 

I am only one opinion when it comes to what tools you will need and use.  I also try to buy used, or wait for ridiculous sale prices at the local tool stores.

 

Also, is that zero rust what you are using to "seal" the steel from rust or will you be adding a different sealer later? I haven't been able to find a thread that I understood that explains the painting process so, while I know you have to seal the metal from moisture, I'm not sure what products (epoxy primer, high build, ect) accomplishes this step.

I use ZeroRust to seal the metal (I will not put anything else on it). It is very good at that job.  I used when I built my 510 and it produced a great result in the engine bay.  A side benefit is that it has low VOC's (volatile organic compounds), not nearly as nasty as some other materials.  As for the metal prep for paint when it comes to painting, go to autobodystore.com.  Amazing information there!  If you spend the time reading you can learn a ton from there.

 

 

Thanks for you time and I can't wait to see how it all turns out.

You're welcome and I can hardly wait as well.  (It is getting closer!) 

 

Finally, it doesn't matter what tools you have if you aren't willing to try, to fail and to try again.  Every mistake you make means you will do it better the next time you do it.  It takes time, frustration and then some more time to get the result you want.  

 

I want a car that is unique and nice as well.  As I've said before, I really just want a decent 20 footer.  My car will not be perfect.

 

If you have any more questions, ask away, I will do my best to answer what I can.  

[Kirden]

Thanks again opalbeetle. I will be sure to check out metalmeet, allmetalshaping, and autobodystore before digging deep into my project. The largest hurdle is gaining enough confidence to actually start cutting.

 

I noticed that you said you are using 22 gauge for the frame portions. Would that be the best option for shell work as well? Sadly I don't have access to a donor vehicle, but I may have access to someone who can teach me how to form my own patches.

[opalbeetle]

22 gauge is best (in my opinion) for the shell. I used 18 gauge for the front frame rail patches and even some of the rocker stuff. I didn't have anything else at the time. I also didn't really know any better.

 

As far as confidence, take a couple of small pieces of sheet metal and bend it, hammer it, bend it some more. Do this just to see how the metal behaves. I think you'll be surprised at what you can do!

 

Having someone close to pick their brain is a great resource.

 

Good luck!

 

Todd

[opalbeetle]

Well the summer marches on and I've been in the shop daily.  The car is coming along, and I have a bunch of info and pictures to share when I get my pictures uploaded!  (The good news is that the photo hosting site that I have been using is back up and I will be able to upload some photos when I have a little time, hopefully tonight.)

 

Putting things back together, or painting, is WAY more motivating than just taking things apart or cutting things up!  

 

Until next time (which will be soon------I hope)!

[Eagle_Adam]

Needs more pics....

 

Should try out photobucket ;)

[opalbeetle]

Alright.....alright.....more pics it is!

 

First and foremost, I was able to shorten the struts to fit 280zx inserts.

 

Trim

 

Clamp

 

Weld

 

Ground and ready!

 

Sorry for the quality of the pictures......they are the best I've got.

 

Thanks for looking in!