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My Rusty L320 Build


delariva

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I needed a break from pounding out dents, so I pulled the heater box and started restoring that. I am going to send the heater core out for a quote. I am hoping it isn't going to cost too much so I can have it rebuilt. I was able to find the various neoprene washers and rusted bolt replacements at the hardware store. I am using a scuff pad to remove the black spray paint (I am really starting to hate black spray paint). I ordered some Miracle Paint today, and am going to coat the inside of the box in that to help prevent any more rusting inside. I think I am going to leave the outside the original paint. I think it adds a lot of character to the interior. I'll have to see how bad the rust is once I get more of the spray paint scuffed down. So far it is in pretty decent shape. 

 

heaterBox.jpg

 

heater01.jpg

 

heater02.jpg

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I got a few packages in the mail yesterday. Since the bed is a cut down chevy stepside, I needed to figure out what to use for tail lights. I decided to go with 521 tail lights from ebay. I also got my body filler supplies. It will be back to the hammer and dolly soon, so I can start playing with the new supplies. After working with paint stripper fumes and paint dust, the most exciting item in the box was a respirator. I am glad I have that now. The little 3M masks from the hardware store just don't compare to a respirator. I wish I would have got one a long time ago.

 

521Tail.jpg

 

bodyStuff.jpg resp.jpg

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And now I want a respirator. Purposefully bought? Details?

I bought it because I was getting pretty bad allergies after I would sand with the smaller white respirators. I could still see paint dust in tissues when I would blow my nose after working with the paint dust even after wearing the cheap mask. I also didn't want to work with the filler or paint gun in the future without a better respirator. I got this particular respirator from summit racing. Summit was the cheapest place to get the Evercoat boddy filler, so I ordered the respirator from them too. It wasn't very expensive, only around $20. Here is a link. I got the medium, it fits my face well. It also comes in a large.

 

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/lmg-0871501b

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Go back and get the coil and wires going to the matchbox, you need them.

At least your working on yours, I have so many Datsuns I spend most my time keeping them running along with that POS pressure washer I have, it works real good once I get it running the first time every morning, then it starts easy after that.

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I was talking about the pressure washer Charlie, it is kind of a hassle to get started the first time every morning, most the time I hit the starter and pull on the pull start at the same time, the starter don't turn it over fast enough by itself, if it will not start that way, then I have to jump it with the truck battery, it has a giant battery now that I bought for the Mini, but that doesn't seem like enough for this engine, my other pressure washer starts with half a turn, this one turns over several times without even hitting unless I help it with the pull start.

The problem is that the pull start fell apart this morning, that is why I am slightly aggravated with it, but I fixed it when I got home with my last pull start mechanism, thus the reference to it being a POS.

Nice drawing of the wiring schematic.  What program did you use?

 

The Datsuns or the pressure washer Wayno?

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Go back and get the coil and wires going to the matchbox, you need them.

At least your working on yours, I have so many Datsuns I spend most my time keeping them running along with that POS pressure washer I have, it works real good once I get it running the first time every morning, then it starts easy after that.

Thanks Wayno,

I have the MSD blaster coil, but I might go back and get the coil from the JY. It is probably dirt cheap, and wouldn't hurt to have around.

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I got a few more wires in the mail earlier this week, and was working on the harness. I noticed a mistake in my diagram. I updated the ignition switch wiring. The brown (black/white originally) will go from the switched/Acc on the ignition switch to the fuse block wire labeled ACC. I won't splice from the alternator into this wire. There is a wire in the block dedicated to the alternator IGN power circuit. I'll go from that to the alternator. I originally had a blue and black wire connected to the switch. I looked at the diagram again and the blue went to the radio, black from the ignition switch to fuse. I'm going to use the blue from the fuse to ignition switch. Hopefully that works, if not ill splice from the alternator to the switch like the original wiring diagram.

 

If you refresh your browser you should see the new updates above. I didn't bother with the first diagram with the HEI because I'm not using that one any more.

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Here are a few progress pics.

The driver side door is straight. I got the dents worked out. It still needed body filler over a lot of it, but it isn't thick like it was before. I used paint stripper to remove whatever rubber spray is on the inside of the doors. When I was shrinking the metal, it would start to burn when I was using the torch. I coated the inside with Bill Hirsch miracle paint, and will probably spray a layer of POR 15 rubberized undercoating to help with sound deadening. 

 

I finished scuffing the spray paint off of the heater box and painted the inside with miracle paint to keep it from rusting any more.

 

There was some rust that needed cut out of the driver side door jamb. I cut out a rust hole, and found a mess. Someone had filled it with foam spray. I was able to get it all out, and will weld a patch when I borrow my dads mig welder.

 

I pulled the blue headliner that was added, and found that the original headliner was still in there underneath. It comes off easy in the spots that aren't dried out. Where it is dried up it is tough to scrape off. It might take a while to clean it up.

 

door.jpg cleanedHB.jpg

 

insideDoor.jpg

 

miraclePaint.jpg

 

jambRust.jpg

 

headliner.jpg foam.jpg

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I've been working on the driver side quarter panel. After grinding it down, I found that it needed quite a bit of work. The rear patch is ready to go, but I forgot to take a picture last night when I was done forming it. The front patch still needs more tweaking. I'll have the mig next weekend. After a lot of practice welds on scrap sheet metal I'll get the patches tacked in. It's scary when I know I will have a hard time finding another quarter panel if I screw this up.

 

panel_off.jpg

 

driver_quarter.jpg

 

inner_damage.jpg

 

rear_quarter.jpg

 

rear_quarter_patch.jpg front_quarter.jpg

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There are many ways to skin a cat, but I find these panel clamps very useful when aligning patch panels. http://www.eastwood.com/intergrip-panel-clamps-set-of-4.html

Thanks stoffregen. I am pretty sure I have a set of those at my dads house, I don't think they are the same eastwood ones, but they look similar. If I don't have them I'll order them.  I'll give any fabrication tips I get from you a try before I go to the other ways to skin a cat haha. I have seen a lot of really good work you've shared on other threads.

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Here is the picture I wanted to post yesterday of the repair patch that is ready to weld. 

qrtr_patch.jpg

 

That should do the trick.

 

Thanks stoffregen. I am pretty sure I have a set of those at my dads house, I don't think they are the same eastwood ones, but they look similar. If I don't have them I'll order them.  I'll give any fabrication tips I get from you a try before I go to the other ways to skin a cat haha. I have seen a lot of really good work you've shared on other threads.

Thanks. I'm here to help.

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Any thoughts on what transmission I have? I have been looking around online for info, and the closest match I have found to the transmission I have is a picture of a F4W63 transmission. The bell housing looks like the F4W63 to me, but the tail looks longer than the pictures I have been referencing. It could just look longer since it is mounted in a 320. I was also wondering about the wires. I am guessing one is a neutral switch and the other is the reverse light switch. I guess I don't need to worry about any of this right now, but when I pulled the cover off, my curiosity got the best of me. 

 

trans1.jpg

 

trans2.jpg

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That transmission doesn't look proper to me, the shift linkage looks to far back, in the photo below you can see the Datsun 320 column shift transmission cover on the left, and the floor shift transmission cover on the right, see how the shift lever hole is a 3 or 4 inches in front of the transmission cover mount holes in the back, yours looks like the shift lever will be way farther back.

DSCN5584.JPG

 

DSCN5585.JPG

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That trany is on the back of an L-Series motore, isn't it? Don't know the number designation, but looks like a bottom-pan trany. From my studies, any floor-shift trany put into a 320 will need the floor cut like yours is because the shifter sprouts up 4-5 inches further back than the original floorshift trany for the 320 and very early 520 pickups and the floorshift 410 sedans. Main reason that I stopped researching putting a 5-Speed in mine when I rebuilt the engine. Didn't want to cut on the floor.

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