BrothersGarage - 1971 521

[thisismatt]

5 minutes ago, ]2eDeYe said:

You guys are all in here talking about your knobs. lol

 

I'll send you pics later

[BrothersGarage]

On 8/31/2019 at 11:54 AM, thisismatt said:

I'll send you pics later

 

I told you I'm good a Photoshop, just lmk what you need LOL 😉

 

So I figured I would share here, I wanted to steal the idea I've seen floating around but make it my own, and this is how I did it. 

 

I put my phone in a ziplock bag, and used a shapie and ruler to make lines for the design I wanted on the radio delete:

 

then I made a cardboard holder for the radio delete plate, and used a projector to get the lines on it

 

close up:

 

after getting the outsides drawn down, i used the ruler to redraw the lines on the faceplate

 

i toyed with like 5 different ways to do this and i decided to just say "fuck it" and paint it by hand, and after dicking it up and starting off on the wrong color, i got it down to a nice 'flow'

 

this is after 5 coats

 

Then I went back with white and cleaned up the bullshit marks and where I doubled up in the bottom left and this is where I ended up tonight

 

 

[thisismatt]

Brah...where did you find an overhead projector in 2019?

[BrothersGarage]

36 minutes ago, thisismatt said:

Brah...where did you find an overhead projector in 2019?

Fuckin' for real! I had to call around to the local libraries to see if they had one and only person that had one ended up being my Mom lol

 

She is wicked awesome with so many sick tricks like reupholstering, mold making and lots of stuff that I'm going to end up picking her brain on! 

 

She had these awesome transfer sheets that we tried using before she had the idea to cheat and use a ziploc bag (though it was my idea to just put my phone in it and trace it), but it was so good I had to share it.

 

[thisismatt]

Haha, I just tonight fixed my mom's dishwasher with a part I saved from my dad's slide projector parts drawers (he's been gone since 2002).

[BrothersGarage]

21 hours ago, thisismatt said:

Haha, I just tonight fixed my mom's dishwasher with a part I saved from my dad's slide projector parts drawers (he's been gone since 2002).

Props for the fix! That has me thinking though, where do you really even see them anymore?

 

I was considering trying the bluetooth projector at work but thought it would look a little funny with my contraption taped to the wall. Good thing I got it done this weekend before having to find out. 😄

 

Did a couple more coats of paint and then a couple more touchups, and then hit it with 4 coats of clear.

 

 

Dulled the shine out of the red really well. This is as 'shiny' as it appears - so it shouldn't be too distracting or reflective when driving.

 

 

[BrothersGarage]

Tinkering on more things.

 

 

The 720 shift knob that came in the green truck is missing the top to it and was filled with years of hand filth so time to take care of that.

 

 

If you haven't worked with it before, sugru is basically playdough that you mix together and when it hardens it becomes solid silicone that's heat resistant, waterproof, ect.

 

 

Stuffed that into all the small side crevices around the lip and then I hit it with a little something in there - and idea stolen from Ratsun

 

 

I tossed one of the 100 yen coins on the top and smoothed it out a bit then let it set over night and then went and peeled the excess off. 

 

 

there's a little bump that is on the top right that can easily be sanded down that you can see at the top in the picture above but that's easily touched up, besides it's not like the green truck is even close to finished at this point

 

But that's a bit better. 

Edited September 9, 2019 by BrothersGarage

[BrothersGarage]

Snagged a mint rim to match the set already on the green truck last night for less than a tank of gas.

[mrbigtanker]

Love the attention to detail. Looking good.

[BrothersGarage]

16 hours ago, mrbigtanker said:

Love the attention to detail. Looking good.

 

Thanks! Means a lot!

[mrbigtanker]

3 hours ago, BrothersGarage said:

 

Thanks! Means a lot!

No problem man looking good. I love it.

[Charlie69]

On 12/22/2018 at 6:28 PM, BrothersGarage said:

was able to stick my camera under today as I wasn't getting poured on - but here ya go

 

Driver front:

 

passenger front:

In these pictures the shock tower that the upper contol arm shaft  and shock bolts to is not angled like on the stock 78/79 620 or early 720 chassis.

 

[wayno]

Yes it appears that this is the stock 521 chassis Charlie, it has had the late 620/early 720 suspension put on it, something was modified so it could be aligned, just not sure if the lower or upper control arms were modified, the upper control arms are offset towards the back to get the castor where it needs to be.

I sold my set of lengthened upper control arms and lower control arms with tension rods I had on my 521 work truck at Canby in 2017, so they were sold to someone in the Pacific NW, I just now came to wonder if these are my control arms on this truck.

[BrothersGarage]

Green truck was purchased from a couple close to Graham / Eatonville, WA. Previous owner knew his Datsuns as he had a couple in the yard so I wouldn't be surprised if he made the trip. 

[BrothersGarage]

Bro and I went on a 6 hour round trip yesterday after work to snag him a single-port engine with dual carbs and a ton of extra parts on it for his bug, and stopped by to meet a guy on the way back to grab a civic center council + armwrest for $20

 

test fitting it in the green truck to make sure it will work

 

Armwrest gives me good space without worrying abot smashing my elbow when I shift, and plenty of room for the top to lift. I will likely come up with something to fill the e-brake area on this like a piece of abs / carbon fiber or something. I will have to come up with some mounts for the rear, but this can just be drilled and bolted though the trans tunnel area in the front. 

 

Holding it up where it will sit after I remove the rubber shift boot and floppy metal cover here. It will easily cover the  tunnel and will lign up with the shift boot. I don't know if the pleather one that came on the civic center council will reach over the nub on the shiftier arm, but I can juts cut it apart - take the plastic part off and try my hand on making a shift boot - shouldn't be too difficult. This will also need a bracket made up to mount it in the front by the cup holders, but a simple U shape should bea easy to make out of some aluminum and just bend it up..

[BrothersGarage]

Package arrived today - snagged a metal parcel tray!

overall super solid!. I think I am going to remove the top and replace it with a piece of metal. I will need to get mounting hardware for this, but I have the arm,

 

 

Now that I have one, Bro can make templates and replacement pieces. Anyone interested?



Also snagged a headlight knob, but I still need a screw to mount it. If anyone knows the replacement part to order, has an extra one, or knows the thread pattern required so I can order on online that would be awesome.

 

like, are they M3 - would this work?

https://zcardepot.com/collections/interior/products/set-screw-for-heater-control-knob-240z

Edited September 25, 2019 by BrothersGarage

[thisismatt]

I redid mine with powdercoat, ABS, and stainless semi-tubular rivets.  Couldn't garnish any interest in selling the parts, so I wouldn't bother making extras to sell.  For the rivets you have to have the correct dies, which makes them a bit difficult.

 

 

Edited September 26, 2019 by thisismatt

[BrothersGarage]

Thanks for the heads up matt, yours looks awesome! I was going to use the same ABS to replace the screwed up door cards / and under dash cards so that also may be a good option to go with. 

[thisismatt]

No prob.  I got the plastic from Amazon because it was easy and relatively(?) cheap:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AKJA6SM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Your tray cardboard looks like it has had  some more cut from it at the back, so I wouldn't make an exact copy of that one.  Here's what it should look like (mine was all warped from getting wet, but I saturated it with water and clamped it up in a sandwich of plywood and let it dry and it turned out perfect.

 

[Steve240z]

Hey! Hey! wait a minute.  I would be intersted in the metal part.  I like the ABS like Matt has.

[greenthumb]

also interested!

[BrothersGarage]

Awesome, I will ask my Bro make a test sample of the metal bracket and hanger with pre-drilled holes to setup with plastic or metal when he has some time at work. 

I have another project for him that I want to see if we can schedule on the water-jet as as it is.

 

Update: I called around to a few hardware stores in the area and not everyone carries M3 bolts - which is what I tracked down the size to be for headlight knobs. An Ace Hardware on the way home happened to have some, so I swung by and picked a couple up. The one circled is the one that ended up working perfectly and as long as you get a M3x8 with .5 Pich - it will work!

 

 

There were other cheaper versions but I went with the stainless so I don't have to worry about replacing it. 

 

Note: Stock screws sit better into the holes on the bottom of the knobs, and are rounded and the one I chose is flat and barely does not fit into the hole but I am happy to be back to a 'stock' knob. 

PS - If you stop by Ace then do yourself a favor and also pick up a bag of their "Dots Homestyle Pretzels" (they sell them on Amazon for a buck extra and it's fuckin worth it). 

 

Edited September 27, 2019 by BrothersGarage

[mainer311]

Haha, the reviews on Amazon are funny.

[BrothersGarage]

Anyone had any experience with some Piranna boards / custom LED tail-light making? I Think that may be my next project and learning how to soldier while I save up for the k20 for the blue truck. 

Most topics I've found are dead dead and like 7-8 years old. 

https://forums.nicoclub.com/s13-coupe-led-taillight-conversion-t334798-30.html?sid=f89fbea7146b1ab628b2d57add6a0858

https://www.bmw2002faq.com/forums/topic/123980-build-your-own-led-tail-lights/
 

and this awesome street bandito video

 

Edited September 27, 2019 by BrothersGarage

[mainer311]

I made custom LED taillights for my 2008 Frontier back when I still had it. I used perfboard and 5050 diodes. I used one circuit in each 5050 for the running lights, and when I hit the brakes, the 2nd and 3rd diode in each package lit up.

 

It was a total nightmare of a project, since the taillights are sonically welded together. I had to dremel the backs of the lights off, glue the boards in, and then glue the back of the housings back on with silicone. The 521 lights would probably be easier.

Edited September 28, 2019 by mainer311