Paul's 69 2 Door project

[Trophy24]

So while the body is away getting blasted, I decided to work on the engine.

I bought the engine cheap from a kid who was using it in his drift car until it developed a rod knock.  I figured it would be nice and fresh after I rebuilt it this way instead of a 100K plus mile option.  I had the crank turned and got new bearings and rings as the cylinder walls looked ok.  I did find some debris in the piston oil squirter galley that required 2 new squirters. 

 

 

Short block assembled

 

Installed the lower timing chain

 

I ran into a problem after I installed the head when the large bolt that holds the idler sprocket for the lower timing chain pulled the threads out of the head.  I don't know why as I installed it by hand and was torqueing it properly when it just kept spinning.  It may have something to do with the previous life of this engine as a drift mobile.  Off came the head for a repair.  I will have to heli-coil the head and get a new head gasket now.

[Trophy24]

Picked up some door hinges this weekend and gave them a blast in the cabinet. Ready for a rebuild before painting.

 

 

Just for fun, having one of these now!

 

[Trophy24]

Aww yeah! It came back today from the blaster. Time to get to work!

 

[Tristin]

If you dont mind me asking, where did you go for blasting and what did it run you? Whenever I get to the paint step, Id like to go all out and do the entire shell like yourself. 

[Trophy24]

Alternative Blasters in Marysville. It ran about 650 plus tax for mine. I had some of it stripped already, so that may have helped some. They did a good job with plastic media for most of it, and sand for the rusty spots. This included the hood, fenders, valence and trunk lid. I would use them again for sure.

[thisismatt]

That sounds like a fair price.  :)

[Trophy24]

So I planned to relocate one of my heater hoses from the drivers side to the passenger side to help hide it away in the engine bay. I have seen a few others done on their SR20 swaps and was looking for new grommets for the firewall holes.

I got this idea at work when I had the climate control out of a customers car.

 

 

This will put the coolant tubes through together. I did some arts and crafts and made a template for the hole.

 

 

I also need to cut the hole for the engine wire harness for the KA. Anyone know what size the S13 harness grommet hole should be?

[Trophy24]

So I spent some time cutting off the spring perches on my 280ZX struts today

 

 

Then it was body work time. Lots of small dents to take care of on this car. It might look like a lot of body filler, but most of it ends up on the floor.

 

[Trophy24]

So the repairs continue...

 

The PO made his own battery box and cut a giant hole in the trunk spare tire well for it.  I do plan on locating the battery in the trunk, but this box was too shallow for a full sized battery and it just looked like crap.  I found a repair piece from another member here on Ratsun and had it blasted with the rest of the car.  Time to weld that sucker in.

Here is the hole in the trunk floor.  You can see the trace marks of the repair panel I have.

 

 

 

Almost cut it too close!

 

 

 

Here is the repair panel set in place

 

 

It took a lot of time to trim the two pieces to fit properly.  I wanted to do a clean seam and not just overlap the panels.  I think it turned out pretty good.  I will grind down the welds tomorrow. 

 

 

[the510keeper]

Damn this car is coming along great, you guys are lucky down here, it's $1400 to have an already stripped car blasted.

[Trophy24]

I thought the blasting was a good deal as well.

 

More work today. I am having to fabricate some seat rails for my seats. I needed a 3" drop from the existing level so I cut out the drivers side to get to some rust as well.

 

 

 

Here is the floor patch. They have been repaired before but were solid enough to repair.

 

[Trophy24]

So the body work resumed today. Another 6 hours and it is starting to look more like a 510 again. Thanks again Jeff for the 69 front valence. I really didn't want to use the 70+ version I had.

 

[carterb]

Yay updates!

 

Looking great Paul!

[10psitx]

great work so far! keep at it..... I'm looking forwad to seeing  more updates.

[Trophy24]

Lots of hours going into the body still. Hard to update picture when they look somewhat similar.

 

The body is almost done. Time for the trunk lid, doors and hood

 

 

Removed the lead seam filler based on some reported cracking issues others have experienced. Filled with fiberglass body filler.

 

 

 

At this rate primer should be applied shortly after the holiday. I am happy to be seeing some progress again. I need to rebuild my hinges and remove the front suspension this week. More stuff to cross off the list!

[Trophy24]

Holiday brake from the Datsun is over. Have the house to myself again so I can spend some time in the garage. Front suspension coming off tonight.

I fell victim to the broken bolt syndrome we all seem to know so well. Sway bar mount bolts coming out fine then the last one broke off in the frame. Drill and tap upside down in my future.

 

 

Which one of these is not like the other... LOL

 

 

Had to call it quits until I can separate my center link from the steering box. The right tool will be coming home from work with me tomorrow to finish the job.

[carterb]

You are going to separate the center link from the pitman arm or the pitman arm from the steering box?

I have yet to see anyone remove teh pitman arm from the steering box.  I wish you luck!

[Trophy24]

Center link from pitman arm.

 

Either can be done with the right tool. The only reason I would remove the pitman arm is if the steering box seal was bad. Not this time thankfully.

[Trophy24]

All right, more work on the Datsun!

 

Came home and found this goodie for my dash had arrived.

 

 

After a few minutes spent admiring my new treasure I got to work where I left off yesterday.  Having the right tool can make your life much easier.  I can usually McGyver things pretty well with my home set of tools, but the pitman arm had me stumped.  I pondered this method last night.

 

 

Thought better of it in spite of the therapeutic value it may have held.  Brought home some other options tonight.  Old school backup just in case my puller did not fit.

 

 

Good news was the right tool fit like it should and made quick work of the job.

 

 

labor saving device for sure.

 

 

So out with the old front end

 

 

I picked up this set up a while ago from a member here on Ratsun.  Seemed like the right time to pull it out and knock some dust off.  Helps me get motivated to focus my vision on what this car will be eventually. 

 

[Spoona_Jay21]

great progress man! hope too see more of it!

[Trophy24]

So the body work has continued sporadically over the last few months. Ran into a problem with my passenger door. The hinge had been worn when I bought the car and the door closed funny with a binding feel at the end. I found some metal fatigue at the lower hinge area had led to a crack and some rust that led me to find a replacement door.

 

I found a door locally in the classifieds but after bringing it home I found rust that made it unusable : P

Another door was found and sent off to be media blasted and metal prepped. Special thanks to Carter for coming through on the door. You are the best!

Time for hinge assembly using some bushings I found at NAPA.

 

Time to hang the doors and verify body lines are correct.

 

Received a special package last week!

 

Stuffed with newspaper I don't understand lol

Lookie what I have!

[banzai510(hainz)]

Frank in Everett had lots of doors

[Trophy24]

The one that had too much hidden rust came from Franks stash originally, sold to another member and so on. My fault for picking the wrong one out of the group available. No finger pointing here.

[hoodradKyle]

Put a flange on the seam for the replacement panel.  It makes welding a new piece a lot easier than a butt joint.

 

I wish I would have seen this before I did some of my patch panels, would have made life a lot easier. How exactly did you make that flange? I still have a some rust holes to repair and want to try this.

[Trophy24]

Air powered flange tool from harbor freight. It also punches holes for spot welding as well.

The overlap on the flange allows some fudging of the panel fit when aligning things and can save you some time trimming to fit. The repair is visible from inside the trunk, but I am not going for a perfect restoration here. I will probably be covering that area with sound deadening anyway.