twistedimages Posted January 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2016 Just painting everything underneath- frame rails, underside of the floor, suspension parts, etc. The interior floor is getting clear coated but staying raw steel. I don't plan to go wild with the suspension and undercarriage- probably all black, with maybe a few silver parts here and there. The car is silly enough without painting the suspension pink! 2 Quote Link to comment
finney Posted January 15, 2016 Report Share Posted January 15, 2016 pink would look good :) 1 Quote Link to comment
twistedimages Posted January 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2016 Travis finished enough of the welding work that I could move on to the next part of my project, so I picked the car up last night! I rearranged the garage last weekend to make room again, so now it's time to get started on seat mounts, pedal assemblies, and other interior stuff! Also, I've wanted to make a t-shirt with my car on it forever, and I finally pulled the trigger! I had them designed and printed by Graphic Disorder - should be in stock next week!! If you want one, go to www.twistedimages.com - I've got them in the store. 2 Quote Link to comment
5150 Wll Posted January 29, 2016 Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 I just went through this whole thread. FANTASTIC WORK!!! I look forward to seeing this one day 1 Quote Link to comment
finney Posted January 29, 2016 Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 memories… is that a redline or a haro on the back wall? looks sick. Quote Link to comment
twistedimages Posted January 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 memories… is that a redline or a haro on the back wall? looks sick. '87 Haro FSX. I had one as a kid, and it got stolen out of my garage. I found this one a few years ago and restored it as close to my old bike as possible... then I rode it a couple of times and there it sits! I've got too much invested in it to actually attempt any tricks, so it's a decoration now. Stupid, huh? Quote Link to comment
Creepy Cruiser Posted January 30, 2016 Report Share Posted January 30, 2016 I'm a huge Haro fan myself. I feel ya on the restoration thing, except I ride the crap out of mine, lol. My buddies and I try to put about 50-60 miles a week on our old school BMXs. Here's my '87 Sport 6 Quote Link to comment
fisch Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Mmmm Ol skool BMX and Datsuns. Talking my language. I snagged this 100% survivor Haro Sport at a flea market a few years back. Original tires even. I wanted to keep it, but couldn't turn down the $1500 I was offered for it. There is gold in the rare BMX goodness of our past. I saw a pair of NOS Hutch pedals sell for about $1000... just two pedals. 6 Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 For a second I thought I was in the BMX thread :lol: 2 Quote Link to comment
twistedimages Posted February 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Ha! That's awesome that we've got some old school Haro guys on here! Here's my original bike, with me in my original short-shorts back in '87! My recreation has 3-piece cranks with triple traps, and white cables with a Pit Bull rear brake, but otherwise it's pretty faithful to the original! My current shorts, however, are MUCH longer. 2 Quote Link to comment
twistedimages Posted February 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Speaking of hobbies and distractions from my actual car project, here's a shot of an RC car I've been working on: I created the graphics and tail panel using some clear Avery label material, but I'll have to find something a little better for the tail lights. I'll make a rusty version eventually to match the real car! 7 Quote Link to comment
Creepy Cruiser Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 Very Very cool! 1 Quote Link to comment
twistedimages Posted February 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 I'm kind of at the stage where I'm able to get a bunch of stuff done, but none of it is very visually impressive! Lots of small details and fine-tuning of parts, which take a bunch of time without looking like you got much done... I reinstalled the dash shell and welded a mount for the steering column to hang off the dash bar. With the steering wheel in the right place, and finally having a floor inside the car, I was able to bring my seats home and start figuring out where they'll need to be: The seats fit better than I could have hoped- just a slight rise in the front brackets and I'll be set. Lots of leg room, a bit of space behind to clear the cage, and a perfect width. My reach to the steering wheel is a bit longer than I'd prefer, and my column is almost fully extended, so I may run a larger hub spacer to bring the wheel back another inch. With the seat in the correct position, I can now focus on my pedals. The plan is to run my master cylinders inside the car, so reverse-swing pedal boxes are going to be the ticket I think. The steering column is in the way of running a single pedal box for brakes and clutch, but I think I can run a pair of separate pedal assemblies to straddle the column and get everything where I want it. Gonna order some parts and see where they take me! The steering column I'm using is from Speedway, and has a telescoping splined shaft inside a 1.125" outer tube. Nobody I've found makes a firewall bulkhead plate for this size shaft to seal up the hole in the firewall, so my buddy and I came up with a solution. I chucked a go-kart axle bearing on our lathe at work and bored the center out- it's normally 1" ID. Blew out a tip running it through the steel bearing, but it got the job done! The flange for this bearing allows it to pivot, so we'll just make some good-looking mounting plates for the flanges and it should be all good! Also, this was a milestone for me: I've never actually sat in this car until this week! Never had a floor or seats, so it was a good feeling getting "behind the wheel" of a Datsun again! 4 Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 That RC :cool: Quote Link to comment
Profile Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 Great work! What are the seats out of? Quote Link to comment
twistedimages Posted February 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 Great work! What are the seats out of? They're Recaros out of a Mk2 Volkswagen. They must have been in storage for the past couple decades, because they're in great shape! I'd love to re-cover them in something fancier later on, and swap the headrests for the mesh style, but these are great for now. Quote Link to comment
rag10 Posted February 5, 2016 Report Share Posted February 5, 2016 I have the same seats same color in my dime even made the rear seat fit! Quote Link to comment
finney Posted February 6, 2016 Report Share Posted February 6, 2016 A better outcome than the first time i put my seat in a few weeks ago and didn't fit in the car :) Quote Link to comment
shacks510 Posted February 8, 2016 Report Share Posted February 8, 2016 While he was looking at the dash, he indicated that he may design a steel dash pad to replace the cracked original. Would there be any interest in a 70-73 steel dash pad replacement? Was this ever prototyped? Quote Link to comment
twistedimages Posted February 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2016 Was this ever prototyped? I haven't heard anything, but I just texted him to see what's up. I sure could use one- my stock pad is hammered! Quote Link to comment
twistedimages Posted February 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2016 After stacking some wood shims to figure out seat height, I designed and cut the brackets I'd need to get them properly mounted to the car. Laid out the bolt pattern for the rails on the computer and cut them on our plasma table: Cleaned up the parts, formed some 90 degree bends in them on the brake, and bolted them to the seats. I used 1x1 .120 wall box tubing to connect the left and right rails together, and welded mounting tabs to the bottom edge of the box to bolt through the floor of the car. Now that I live in a house with proper garage electrical, I was able to weld these up myself- it's nice to start and finish a project like this in one day! My welds aren't pretty by any stretch, but they're strong, and they won't show under the seats! Bolted the brackets back onto the seat bases, and threw them back in the car: Perfect height to rest my arm on the window sill! Next up: pedals. I've got the clutch figured out- just a reverse-swing bracket with a Wilwood master. The brake is going to be a little trickier because of space, so I'm thinking I'll make a 90 degree box that will put the master in the dash pointing toward the radio area. Keeping it central and over the tunnel will simplify my plumbing, and give me room for gauges in the factory spots. Hope to have them designed and mocked up this weekend! 4 Quote Link to comment
fisch Posted February 11, 2016 Report Share Posted February 11, 2016 Nice work. I've had a nice welder for a year now and no 220 to run it in my garage. I need to get on that. Always something else to occupy my time. Quote Link to comment
twistedimages Posted February 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2016 Nice work. I've had a nice welder for a year now and no 220 to run it in my garage. I need to get on that. Always something else to occupy my time. This one is just a little 110 Lincoln, but it's great for small projects like this and tacking things into place before the REAL welding gets done elsewhere. At my old house I couldn't use it- as soon as it would arc the voltage would drop and the wire would stop feeding! Quote Link to comment
twistedimages Posted February 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2016 Big weekend updates! Saturday morning, I grabbed the trusty Roadmaster, hitched up the tow dolly, and towed the car down to my buddy Travis' shop We started cleaning up the surface rust on the frame and underside of the floors, welding up the last few seams on the frame, and pulled the suspension out of the car. Finally added front shock mounts, too: We cut and welded some fish plates to overlap the butted frame rail areas for extra strength: Holy crap- the car is TOTALLY pulled apart! With the fab work complete, we hit the frame rails with a few coats of primer and paint Travis is going to body work the firewall and paint it this week, and I've got all of the suspension going down for powder coating: I ordered up new bushings and bearings for the rear, so if everything goes to plan I'll be reassembling the car next weekend! 7 Quote Link to comment
fisch Posted February 23, 2016 Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 Onward to the baddest 510 ever! 4 Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.