620 KC overhaul

[Mirrorimg]

This is awesome!! I will be following for sure!!

Thanks :) Ive been through yours a couple times, you need to get that thing finished!

 

I finished mounting the steering column tonight, completed my bracket and welded in a couple bolts as studs. One set holds the bracket to the column, and the other holds the bracket to the factory location. I cut the original nuts that were welded in place and widened the hole a bit. The factory location seems sturdy enough, but I may make a gusset or some bracing to reinforce it.

 

Enough talking! on to the pics!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rubber boot in my previous post you see poking through the firewall squeaks when the wheel is turned as it rubs on the u-joints. I need to modify the boot from the 240 to fill that hole, may weld up the hole a bit so it isnt so large where I cut the bottom out. I hope my coilovers come in soon. Going to have a 3 day weekend due to the holiday and they would allow me to make so much more progress.

[Mirrorimg]

Called the company I ordered my coilovers from, no tracking number yet. From what the person on the phone said, it sounded like they are ordering a front set from the manufacturer and then shipping it to me, rather than splitting up an existing set they have. I plan on calling again monday to see if anything has changed.

 

Got to making the steering column boot fit and fill in most of the hole. Cut off the extended tube because I am flipping it upside down, cut off one ear, and located it on the truck. I plan to reweld the ear I cut off opposite to the lower one with the bolt through it. The tube will probably go back on because the rubber boot connects to it. 

 

Project tomorrow is to finish this, then set up the passenger seat.

 

 

 

[its_karl]

Badass build, great pics.

[Mirrorimg]

Badass build, great pics.

 

Thanks Karl. :)

 

This steering wheel is kicking my ass. Out, in, out, in making sure fitment is right is a pain, especially since I am making sure it insert the spines into the steering rack and thats a struggle.

 

It seems as though I didnt need to cut out nearly as much as I did where the steering column goes through the firewall... the firewall isnt as pretty as it was originally, but there is less hole there. Forgot to take a picture of a firewall, but the pedal assembly is below. Added some material to fill in to get a seal and inverted the tube on the column seal bracket. It isnt that pretty either, kept burning through.

 

 

 

[FlyinPat]

I am impressed! You are making some serious progress!

[Mirrorimg]

Thanks. Now that I have a welder I want to finish it by September, but more realistically by the end of the year.

 

I think I am about done with the column. Need to polish the welds up a bit and paint it, and the rubber seal was catching on fire when I was welding the piece in my last picture so I removed it. I will try to find something to replace it with.

[Mirrorimg]

Got some metric nuts and bolts from ace hardware. They have a pretty nice selection so I think I will visit them more often as I get replacement hardware. I would like to get a kit that has an assortment, but those are pretty pricey.

 

Welded some M8 nuts to the firewall, cut the old welded nuts off. Need to fill in the holes that were under the old nuts.

 

 

Painted the steering column seal and mount. I will get a better picture one its cured and mounted.

 

 

 

I picked a transmission a few weeks ago and just got around to cleaning it up. The thing was filthy, and now its less filthy. Still need to clean the inside of the bell housing, but I will save that for another day.

 

 

[Mirrorimg]

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

 

Filled in the extra holes around the steering column. Havent grinded the weld on the engine bay side but I decided to wire wheel the driver-side section of the cab and put some etch primer down. Not sure what color I want to do the interior with. The outside will be a light tan, like that on a new Toyota FJ Cruiser. I may find a similar tan and rattle can the interior with it.

 

Wire wheel blew through this, bit of rust behind it beneath the cowl. I dont want to cut out a large section/drill out all the spot welds so I am going to leave it as is...

 

 

 

These are the finished pedal box and steering column cover. They will go in tomorrow after the primer dries. I havent figured out what I will do for a seal on the column, nor the rubber boot as it will be much shorter.You can see the old one in the picture below.

[Mirrorimg]

Called the company I ordered my coils from, they dont have a tracking number and the order was placed from the factory that makes them in Taiwan since its a special order. Its just a waiting game now. :frantics:

 

Meanwhile... more while wheeling, more paint. Im going to take this bit by bit until I get most of the rust off the floor. So much mess.

 

 

Picked up some more hardware from Ace for the transmission. The previous owner didnt give me the bolts, so I had to find them myself. Since im pretty sure this shifter is aftermarket, I need to find out if it needs bushings since it is really sloppy.

 

Edit: So its missing the bushing cup that sits at the bottom of the "t" and the springs and spring seats that keep the shifter from flopping up and down. I can manage the springs at the hardware store, but I fear the cup will be difficult to replace.

 

[Mirrorimg]

I dont have a before shot of the driver side floor pan, so here is one of the passenger side.

 

 

During on driver side, and after. Such a mess. Not looking forward to doing the rest of the floor.

 

 

[its_karl]

what you using to strip it?

[Mirrorimg]

I'm using a braided wire wheel on an electric angle grinder, like this;

 

[its_karl]

what cleaner was in the can... and that's alot of work cleaning like that... (lotta flying shit for eyeballs too)

 

Makes me wish I had space for a sand/soda blasting setup...

 

How much of the 240 interior will go in the truck, as mush as possible?

[Mirrorimg]

After wire wheeling I am cleaning the surface thoroughly with mineral spirits before spraying primer. The can is some rustoleum brand etch primer. I expect it to protect the bare metal for now until I get to painting it or putting something like POR-15 in there. I did the passenger side today, that was actually more rusty than the drivers side and there was a haze of rust in the garage. Had to open the doors and air it out a couple of times. I have a pot blaster from harbor freight, but that thing would make even more dust and the media I have would beat up the metal pretty bad.

 

I wear earplugs and a face shield while doing this, and recently my respirator because of all the airborne dust. It gives me some fair protection, but I am filthy by the time I hit the shower. I cant wait until I get it rolling and I can push into the driveway for some fresh air! it gets pretty warm in there with all that stuff on, especially if Im wearing jeans and a long sleeve shirt.

 

As for the interior, I will be using the seats (these until I can upgrade to a nicer set of newer model 240sx seats), the steering column and steering wheel, the gauge cluster, and possibly the emergency brake. That's pretty much all.

[Mirrorimg]

I know you guys love these updates of mine :) I have most of the floor pans done. I took a break from working on them this weekend, mostly because of how hot it was here. Just have to do the transmission tunnel and a bit more on the passenger side. Once that's done, the passenger seat brackets will be made. Still waiting on the coilovers.

 

I would like to spray some primer/sealer over the epoxy primer but home depot doesn't carry it. I will have to look elsewhere. Does anyone think I should spray a primer/sealer or topcoat directly over the etch primer?

 

[]2eDeYe]

Those floors look great. Should continue to last a long time. :cool:

[Eric Garside]

I would apply some kind of a top coat to the primer. It's my understanding that primer is porous and wants to absorb liquid therefore if you don't paint over the top of it, it will absorb other liquid that you don't want it to. Like water and create more rust.

[Mirrorimg]

Those floors look great. Should continue to last a long time. :cool:

I sure hope so! I watched some videos of people putting primer over rusty panels, and they dont clean them up much which doesnt make much sense to me. The sides of the cab will not get a wire wheel as I dont see any rust on them. It will take some time to scrape/clean of all the primer someone put onto it though.

 

I would apply some kind of a top coat to the primer. It's my understanding that primer is porous and wants to absorb liquid therefore if you don't paint over the top of it, it will absorb other liquid that you don't want it to. Like water and create more rust.

It will receive a top coat. The interior is going to be spray-can rustoleum, most likely the Glossy Khaki color which is what I painted the valve cover. The exterior will be a similar color but I will have that professionally painted when its time (unless I attempt painting it myself :) ). What I am worried about it the existing primer absorbing a lot of the paint I put onto it. I think I will put some primer/sealer before a topcoat.

 

[SandyMush620]

Good call, Mirror.  You could paint directly over the etch and probably be okay, but most etch primer is designed to be followed by sealer before topcoating.  Be sure to read the directions on the sealer; usually it is sprayed inside a 20 - 30 minute window prior to topcoating to prevent the need to sand the sealer.

[Mirrorimg]

Good call, Mirror.  You could paint directly over the etch and probably be okay, but most etch primer is designed to be followed by sealer before topcoating.  Be sure to read the directions on the sealer; usually it is sprayed inside a 20 - 30 minute window prior to topcoating to prevent the need to sand the sealer.

 

Ha! I wish I read this 5 hours ago! You will see soon below...

 

Today was quite an eventful day after work. I failed to remember that I would be helping a friend with an issue on his girlfriends civic. The air stopped working on Saturday while we were headed to the oceanfront just hours after he asked me to listen to it because it was making a noise with the AC on. I did some research on Monday and had him come over this evening. I thought I had an idea of what it was, and when we jumped a connection we figured out it was the transistor. Apparently it has a huge heatsink to keep it cool (mounted in the airflow of the blower) and when the cabin filter gets clogged up it can fail. I soldered in a resistor across the dead connection as a temporary fix until we get a replacement.

 

Now to the Datto update!

 

While waiting for them to arrive someone knocked on the door. I thought it was strange as I had asked my friend to pull into the driveway which would put him closer to the door in the back. I opened it up to be greeted by the UPS man requesting a signature, for a large package :)

 

 

 

I put it in place after some adjustment. I broke the tubing free afterwards, I am going to mount it much lower in the engine bay.

 

 

 

The big update which I alluded to in my first few sentences pertains to the interior. I picked up some primer/sealer from wal-mart today and went to town on the interior. I finished wire wheeling the floor and good thing because the wheel is disintegrating. I etch primered the freshly wheeled area and then laid primer/sealer down after it dried, over the entire floor...

 

I certainly dont hope to have to sand it all down before putting on the top coat! I will need to grind away the paint where I am going to put the passenger seat brackets. Those will be what I work on next. I will look at the label on the back of the can tomorrow after work to see what lies ahead.l

 

[SandyMush620]

The general rule of thumb with automotive coatings is if it dries it should be scuffed or lightly sanded to ensure adhesion of the next coat because now you are relying on physical adhesion instead of a combination of physical and chemical.  For what you are doing, I recommend scuffing it up a little with a red Scotchbrite pad before topcoating.  It is probably the easiest option for a surface with a lot of contours like the floor of your cab, and the red pads are roughly equivalent to 400-grit sandpaper.  You don't have to kill yourself on it, but try to get rid of most of the shine on the sealer.

[Mirrorimg]

I don't see any special instructions on the can other than "primer can be top-coated immediately." I still have to clean off the sides, rear, and firewall. I missed a portion on the passenger side firewall that still has some rust, so that will get corrected tomorrow if the wire wheel holds up. I will use scotchbrite pads, probably green, to knock down most of the over spray/black primer that some one applied in the cab.I wont have to take it down to bare metal like the floors as the sides are rust free. I plan to fill in the screw holes in the cab floor once I get the rest of the interior all cleaned up and passenger seat mounts in.

[Mirrorimg]

Got some work done on the towers. After some pushing and pulling, I figured it was best to get one tower in the location I wanted then adjust the other to match. Having 2 assemblies that are free to move wherever they want is not easy to work with.

 

The strut bar required a lot of adjustment, and not the kind of adjustment it came with. I have probably cut about an inch off of each side of the center portion, and equal amounts of the eye bolts that thread into them to attach to the metal ring that attaches to the strut bolts. Given that, it is much more narrow that stock and that means there will most likely be a bit of camber once its all settled. The coilovers have some adjustment to pull them out though, and I will not fully weld the tubes until I can put it on its own weight to see how it settles. I would have to have it all together and painted only to find out I am running -5* camber with the coilover maxed out!

 

Then again I could drill some more holes in the mounting plate and enlarge the center hole to move it back. Or even cut the top plate off, make a new one that puts the coilover closer to the fender. Enough talk, here are a couple pictures.

 

 

[its_karl]

i'd mount the spindle and a wheel to that coilover before deciding where you permanently place it, take a picture and analyze that. Although, i'm making advice based on pictures i see, you being there and undertaking such a big fabrication project, i'm positive you have it handled =)

[Mirrorimg]

i'd mount the spindle and a wheel to that coilover before deciding where you permanently place it, take a picture and analyze that. Although, i'm making advice based on pictures i see, you being there and undertaking such a big fabrication project, i'm positive you have it handled =)

Thanks. The coilover is mounted to the spindle, just hidden by the wheel well. I am hesitant to weld it all together and not be happy with it, so I am getting it strong enough to support the weight of the front end to take it off of jack stands.

 

I wouldnt say I have it all handled, but I will make adjustments if it isnt right. I it will have a little bit of positive caster, maybe 5 degrees. Dont know what my ride height will be with the motor nor what the camber will look like :) but I will find out soon.

 

The goal is to tack in all corner strut tower bars, put the motor and transmission in, and have it towed to a shop to see what the alignment specs look like. If they are within reason and wont destroy my tires then they stay, otherwise they get tweaked. The main thing working against me is my un-level garage floor.