Duncan Posted September 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2014 Didn't take a lot of photos, but I went back to San Diego this weekend to wrap up a few things before I take the wagon home. Installed all new rear brakes. Shoes, wheel cylinders, drums, and bent up some new brake lines. The adjusters were nearly frozen, and the square area you put the wrench on was rounded on both of them. They spent the night in the hot tank so I could take them apart and sand blast them. I also laid a couple of weld beads onto the adjusters and ground them back to square so a 1/4" wrench would fit on there to adjust them. I grease the crap out of these for assembly. Don't know why the factory didn't grease these, but I did this on my Sunny, and they still turn nicely. (Almost by hand) Made some new brake lines for the rear axle. The original ones were looking real bad (rust) and had a kink or two that looked a bit suspicious. The rear end in this is real quiet and doesn't leak, so sooner or later I will yank it out for cleaning and painting. Will do the same for the leaf springs and put new spring pads in. We also laid out the battery box so I can mount the battery under the rear seat. I will commence the cutting and folding soon... 2 Quote Link to comment
mrbigtanker Posted September 8, 2014 Report Share Posted September 8, 2014 Looking good looking good, I am going to mount the battery under the rear set on passenger side.They look like crap in the engine compartment. Quote Link to comment
Duncan Posted September 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 I bought these a while back. Thanks to Greengoon for the part number info.. The new ones on the left. The "correct for a 510 wagon" ones on the right :) My wagon is lowered and I wanted to get some stiffness in the rear suspension without jacking the car up. I was able to lube up and press (in a vice) the "correct" 510 rubber bushings out of their housings and swap them over to the shorter ones. They fit great after swapping the rubber bushes over. Sandblasted and painted the upper mounts. Not too many photos today. I went to San Diego early and was trying to get the hell out of there due to the crazy heatwave we are having here in So Cal. After the battery box, the wagon appears to be headed home! I have some ugly, ugly dental work this week, so I don't know if I will be able to get down there next weekend. After that, I think JCCS in coming up? I need to get the Sunny presentable. Also thinking about putting the 12" whitewall tires w/ hubcaps on for the show. Yes? No? maybe? 3 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted September 14, 2014 Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 Also thinking about putting the 12" whitewall tires w/ hubcaps on for the show. Yes? No? maybe? Yes. :thumbup: And yes, it's two weeks from today. Quote Link to comment
mrbigtanker Posted September 14, 2014 Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 Mark I would normally say he'll no to hubcaps but that sunny looks real good. And keep up the good work on the wagon, I got all the panels other then the cab itself bead blasted and primed and just about ready for paint but that's were is stands right now..just buying parts to make it right.. Quote Link to comment
mrbigtanker Posted September 14, 2014 Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 ;) That's the exact same battery I got.. Thank you 1 Quote Link to comment
Duncan Posted September 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 I have a battery from a Honda Civic, and that's what I'm making the box for. 1 Quote Link to comment
Duncan Posted September 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2014 Shit! Panic time avoided. I cleaned under the hood of my Sunny last weekend and would NOT fire up. I found there was no spark from the coil. Long story short: the points were broken and weren't opening. It wasn't terribly obvious, but I managed to trouble shoot it and get the Sunny running good again. Of course, FedEX delivered my new coil about 15 minutes after I had it going again :) Anyway, I will be at JCCS, and I'm a bit more relaxed now... Quote Link to comment
mrbigtanker Posted September 20, 2014 Report Share Posted September 20, 2014 Very good Quote Link to comment
Duncan Posted September 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2014 Spent the last couple of days recovering from some major dental work. Damn, I hate that! While recovering, I spent a couple days getting the Sunny ready for JCCS. That car has been neglected, and needed some clean up, and did some repairs/new parts stuff. Decided to turn my attention to the remaining door on my goon. It was left in some self-etch, and I noticed I had a couple of dents that were too small to try to pull out, and too large for high build primer, so it was back for some more lead work. Lead applied and ready to file: Filed the lead: Had a couple of small voids, so I used my soldering gun and some 1/8" acid core solder to fill them in. Filed down, finished, and covered in temporary rattle can primer. I wipe the green rattle can primer off with lacquer thinner prior to shooting real primer. I was going to do that today, but with the dental work, the Sunny, and being old and tired, I put the door away until next time.. See you next week at JCCS. I haven't shown my car the last 2 years, so I'm looking forward to it :thumbup: 1 Quote Link to comment
mrbigtanker Posted September 22, 2014 Report Share Posted September 22, 2014 Hope to see you there.. Quote Link to comment
greengoon Posted September 22, 2014 Report Share Posted September 22, 2014 Duncan- your attention to detail is amazing! Looking forward to seeing you again at JCCS this year. I took last year off but I wasn't going to miss the 10th anniversary. I'm bringing my goon again. I've done a few things to it but I just don't find the time to dial it in beautifully like yours, or update my build thread :) See you this Saturday! 1 Quote Link to comment
Duncan Posted September 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 Good deal! Looking forward to seeing you again. Travel safe.. Duncan- your attention to detail is amazing! Looking forward to seeing you again at JCCS this year. I took last year off but I wasn't going to miss the 10th anniversary. I'm bringing my goon again. I've done a few things to it but I just don't find the time to dial it in beautifully like yours, or update my build thread :) See you this Saturday! Quote Link to comment
Duncan Posted October 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2014 JCCS is over, so back to work. Laid out, and folded up a box for my Honda Civic battery. Came out nice. Considering I wanted to make it a bit higher than the battery posts, AND make a lid for it, I was concerned it was too deep. With the battery in it, it was :( Also, I did it flat and square, but the floor under the rear seat is curved. So, I took a tape measure to Sears. The bigger stores with an Auto Center usually have all their batteries on display. The one in Chula Vista did not disappoint. I ended up with the same battery that is in my Sunny. It is small like the Odyssey battery and the hd version of it has a cca rating of 330, which I believe is the same as the Odyssey. It was a big $71 out the door. The one in my Sunny has been going strong for about 5 years now, so I think the DieHard will be okay. The small battery fit in the box fine, and it gives me a little extra room to get my hands into the box and pull up the battery in case I need to remove it. So I figured out the revised height and cut the box down. I also matched the contour of the floor. Fits better now and doesn't hang so low. I'm going to put a couple of nut inserts in the floor so I can bolt it down. I need to devise a battery hold down of some sort, and run the positive cable up to the engine area. Painless makes a cool little 12v power distro block (http://www.painlessperformance.com/webcatalog/lv.php?sl=80114) which will be mounted somewhere in the engine compartment. I am looking for a clean, used hood for my wagon. Mine looks okay, but the underside supports have some questionable repairs and some really, really, shitty welding. (What a surprise) If anyone has one in So Cal, No Cal, or possibly Arizona, please let me know. Have truck, will travel for the right bonnet :) 2 Quote Link to comment
Duncan Posted October 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2014 Nothing much to look at, but the bodywork on the doors is finally done. I wanted to make these as straight as possible, so I ended up primering and blocking them out quite a few times until they were perfect. I will finish sanding the back doors tomorrow. (I ran out of gas) Quote Link to comment
Duncan Posted October 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2014 Crappy photo, but the battery box and hold down for it is finished. The cable ends fit into the box through the grommet holes.. I have way more time into this than I thought I would have. Bodywork is done on all the doors. All that's left is guide coat, then final sand with 400 grit. I've got three finished, one left to go then we can put a coat of sealer, then color on these. Stupid amount of work, but these are crazy straight.. Quote Link to comment
mrbigtanker Posted October 28, 2014 Report Share Posted October 28, 2014 Wow just wow. Looking real good. Quote Link to comment
Just Joel Posted October 28, 2014 Report Share Posted October 28, 2014 Impressed for sure... Quote Link to comment
Duncan Posted October 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2014 Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate it. Turns out the wagon is staying in San Diego for a while longer. We're moving it into the shop, and I'm going to yank the drivetrain out and start doing the engine compartment and undercarriage. Not looking forward to cleaning off the undercoating, but I hate that crap :( 1 Quote Link to comment
mrbigtanker Posted October 30, 2014 Report Share Posted October 30, 2014 Well now is a good time to do it. Quote Link to comment
Duncan Posted November 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2014 Yeah, was planning on it all along, but keeping it in SD is a change of plan. My garage is amazingly well-equipped for a garage that we keep two cars in, but my friend's shop is MUCH better. It's now inside in it's own bay, and I have an electric chain motor to yank the engine out with. I'll probably have more photos tomorrow.. 1 Quote Link to comment
Duncan Posted November 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 Motor going up... I have a bit of work to do in here. L20 sitting on my custom Harbor Freight movers / engine dolly. Quote Link to comment
KELMO Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 Ha Ha, I got one o' them motor movers too. Quote Link to comment
Duncan Posted November 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 If you wedge a couple of 2x or 4x pieces in next to the motor, they sit on there amazingly well. I'm all about the low buck solutions :) We generally don't do this all the time. (Unless you're the 510 Keeper) :thumbup: Quote Link to comment
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