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3 minutes ago, opalbeetle said:

Well, as much as I'd love to go to a show in June,  I'm an educator and cannot take the time off at that time of the year as it's kinda busy around here making decisions and planning for next year!  But, I am not far from retirement and if it's still a thing when I am done...It's on my bucket list.

 

But, I am currently planning on being in Portland next February for a conference and perhaps I could look you up while I'm there!?

Hit me up when the time gets closer.....that's a long ways off.  :)

 

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1 hour ago, opalbeetle said:

Well, as much as I'd love to go to a show in June,  I'm an educator and cannot take the time off at that time of the year as it's kinda busy around here making decisions and planning for next year!  But, I am not far from retirement and if it's still a thing when I am done...It's on my bucket list.

 

But, I am currently planning on being in Portland next February for a conference and perhaps I could look you up while I'm there!?

 

I thought I'd only sold one of the 710 sets......so when I saw 710, I started thinking you were Jesse......didn't even look at the location. LOL  I worked with Adam(her BF at the time) on them and he did all the installation.  Any chance you still have any info or pics from doing yours?  I mainly need the rotor/caliper info.  And, as I remember, the hubs had to have the OD ground down to fit inside the rotor used.  That was a big reason I didn't put them up on my site years ago. lol  I easily spent over $300 having the plate pieces cut, then machined all the spacers, then paid more $'s to have them plated with black zinc.  It was for Jesse's 710.....she's very sweet......and cute.........so what can I say. LOL  Anyway.....if you have any info, that would be awesome.....maybe msg me with it.  If you know any 710 guys, pass the word around.  I'll be selling off the brackets super cheap, but it will be just the brackets.....no anything else.  Maybe I can make a deal with a 710 guy that has some $'s and he can mark them up or pass them on to other 710 guys.  I don't pay attention to anything 710.  

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thats the problem with todays world 

you have to protect yourself before you need protecting 

there is always some asshole who fucks things up with a lawsuit 

thanks for all you do 

I was one of the guys asking about the roadster brake kit and will still want one 

but the old worn out shit is still working and i drive the roadster very minimal 

money has been tight been playing to much but eventually if you stiill have some 

I WILL WANT ONE 

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2 hours ago, Ranman72 said:

thats the problem with todays world 

you have to protect yourself before you need protecting 

there is always some asshole who fucks things up with a lawsuit 

thanks for all you do 

I was one of the guys asking about the roadster brake kit and will still want one 

but the old worn out shit is still working and i drive the roadster very minimal 

money has been tight been playing to much but eventually if you stiill have some 

I WILL WANT ONE 

If I can find someone to buy out what I have, they'll still be available later, from them.  I'm not quite sure yet what I'll do with remaining parts after the end of May....maybe I'll sell off the items I've made as wall art and guys will have to buy the rest of the hardware on their own. I've never done that before since I didn't trust people to buy the correct hardware.   I've already removed the rotor option from the site.  If you need rotors, you'll have to figure that out, too.  I do know that I'm not going to be keeping parts on the shelves until people are done "playing" to be able to get them. lol  I don't blame you at all for your priorities.....but I've got my own, too. Hopefully, it will work out for you.  :)    .......oh.....there's a guy in Canada that copied my design, so you will still have access to the Altima setup after I'm done.  Just google 311 brake kits and he should be one of the options that pop up.  

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As long as I'm here and Ratsun members are finding out about this........  Anyone here have a shop or know of a member with a shop?  Preferably with similar capabilities.  It would be nice to have a place to point people to when they contact me about parts or work.  I'd like to find someone local to Portland.  I'm not expecting them to be able to make the brake kits.....more like the Z'd lower control arms and hub machining.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks buddy!   I was looking to have a biz set up and going before I retire, but it's looking like that's further away then I was hoping.  I'd like to have something set up, but it's not looking like this will create the $'s needed.  There's a lot of guys out there doing home shop stuff, but most of what they're doing is production work.  If I have to do production work, I might as well just stay at the job I don't enjoy.....pays way better. LOL  

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On 4/29/2019 at 7:57 AM, mklotz70 said:

You're more than welcome!!  I've still got a bunch of them left.  😞 I think I've only sold one....maybe two in the last couple of years.  Maybe that guy in Canada that copied my setup has sold a bunch more? LOL  

 

Only 2 in 2 years? Well, that sucks big time. 

Edited by ppeters914
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Sorry to hear/read this, but completely understand. At least I can say I got the first production 411 disc brake kit, right? 😋

 

If I read correctly, you're retiring, which is a whole new adventure. I retired a year ago, and still figuring it out. Thought all the car projects would get some serious love, but I thought wrong. Having to get a total left hip joint replacement didn't help either although I'm waaaaaaaaay better now. Finally back to work on the roadster again.

 

Cheers.

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6 hours ago, ppeters914 said:

 

Only 2 in 2 years? Well, that sucks big time. 

 

Some of the other items have sold pretty well.  There's other options out there for the roadster guys, so I'm guessing the ones with money are buying other setups.  When I get a chance, I'll probably see about putting them out there.....outta sight, outta mind.  It's not like I've pushed the advertising on them at all.  I'm very hesitant to push them, because then, a bunch of buyers will want the rotors to go with them.  That means more work that I don't want to do. LOL   They don't take up space as they are, so they may just end up in a box for a few years. :)

 

 

6 hours ago, ppeters914 said:

Sorry to hear/read this, but completely understand. At least I can say I got the first production 411 disc brake kit, right? 😋

 

If I read correctly, you're retiring, which is a whole new adventure. I retired a year ago, and still figuring it out. Thought all the car projects would get some serious love, but I thought wrong. Having to get a total left hip joint replacement didn't help either although I'm waaaaaaaaay better now. Finally back to work on the roadster again.

 

Cheers.

 

Nope....not retiring any time soon.....unless my VA back pay magically shows up soon.  I was building this for when I retire, but I'm not sure at this point, if it's what I actually want to do.  I just know I'm tired of spending all my free time making stuff for other people and only making about $2/hr. lol  I'll watch TV before I keep working at those wages. :)   I'm happy to hear that you're feeling better and back on your project!! :)

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16 minutes ago, mklotz70 said:

 

Some of the other items have sold pretty well.  There's other options out there for the roadster guys, so I'm guessing the ones with money are buying other setups.  When I get a chance, I'll probably see about putting them out there.....outta sight, outta mind.  It's not like I've pushed the advertising on them at all.  I'm very hesitant to push them, because then, a bunch of buyers will want the rotors to go with them.  That means more work that I don't want to do. LOL   They don't take up space as they are, so they may just end up in a box for a few years. :)

 

 

 

Nope....not retiring any time soon.....unless my VA back pay magically shows up soon.  I was building this for when I retire, but I'm not sure at this point, if it's what I actually want to do.  I just know I'm tired of spending all my free time making stuff for other people and only making about $2/hr. lol  I'll watch TV before I keep working at those wages. :)   I'm happy to hear that you're feeling better and back on your project!! :)

If I knew I was paying that much in wages I would have left your a tip!  LOL

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10 hours ago, Charlie69 said:

If I knew I was paying that much in wages I would have left your a tip!  LOL

When everything is figured in....all the correspondence, travel for parts, shipping, supplies, computer time for the design, machining time......it may not even be that much. LOL  If I only factor in the time to cut up the stock and machine it, it looks way better on paper! :)  If I were only producing the parts themselves, it would be worth it, but if I were to become a business, I'd be doing even more "miscellaneous" time for no direct pay and my overhead would go through the roof. :(   ........and you've tipped me quite well in the past!  It was your support early on that helped to get me this involved. :)   It's been a good ride and there's been a lot I've enjoyed.....not to mention a HUGE amount of learning.  It's stuff I wanted to learn anyway, so this gave me a good excuse to do it.  I'm still learning and to do some of the stuff I want, I need more time....time I can't get if I keep doing what I've been doing.  I'm just afraid that there's going to be more than a few disappointed and even pissed off people when they see some of the stuff I'm going to create and then not sell. lol  There's a slight chance I may find one or two people to put the designs into production.  We'll see.  

 

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  • 3 years later...

I know I'm probably going to get crap from Mike about resurrecting an old thread.......

 

I kinda feel like Chicken Little or the boy who cried wolf.  When I posted this 3 years ago, it looked like pastpowerparts.com was going to take over making my parts.  After 6 months, it became pretty clear that it wasn't going to happen and I started back up.  After things got rolling pretty well, I talked to them about this again.  Got pretty close. They asked for a $ amount....I figured up supplies and stock and gave them a price.  They said they were busy selling cars and they'd let me know.....that was back in March....haven't heard from them since.  I really like these guys, but being left hanging two  times is a bit annoying.  I won't be asking again. lol

 

Not sure what the point of saying all that was other than to vent a bit.....the real reason for this post is to say I'm shutting down by the end of the year....maybe sooner.  I read about 90% of this thread and basically.......it's all the same reasons.  I made a bit more money this time, but the grief and hassle was way, way more due to the nature of group buys.  I'm trying to use up as many of the supplies I have laying around here before then.  I don't expect I'll sell many, but at least I can be done with making repetitive parts.  I'll make a few more truck brake kits.  I have hubs available for them.  I just made 20+ adjustable tension control rod kits(king pin trucks and my previous ball joint conversions) and at least 7 sets are already gone.  After the first, I may just decide I don't want to deal with selling stuff and I'll just pile boxes of this stuff in one of the sheds and forget about them. lol  Last time I shut down, I fully expected to start back up when I could do a commercial space after retiring.  I'm not really feeling that this time.  I've been saying I'll keep doing YT vids, but I we'll see. I'm sick to death of editing videos. lol  Who knows, maybe I'll get excited about working in the shop when I start doing prototyping and one offs again and I'll post them to Ratsun.  

 

Anyway......I need to get into the shop and get stuff done.

 

 

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No grief here Mike, just glad to hear from you. It's been a comforting feeling that to know that someone is out there making 'stuff' for our Datsuns.... and so damn well too. You gave me one of your L16 exhaust flanges at Canby probably 12 years ago and I held onto it though I had no use for it. Until I did. Managed to fit one of the cast iron 4 into 2 manifolds onto my L20B. Took some cheating but works really well. I modified a 240sx down pipe to fit your flange.  

 

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Basically I have long tube headers. So thanks for that.

 

 Here's hoping you win a lottery and spend the rest of your days a wizard in his tower building 'stuff.'

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Thanks for that Mike.  I really appreciate the kind words. :)

That's great that you were able to use the flange!!!  I'll have to make sure I keep one for myself......just in case. lol 

 

Maybe when I retire I'll take some of the money and get setup in a legit space and business....we'll see.  I figured retirement would mainly mean getting out of the post office and doing a business.......but I'm starting to like the idea of not working for anyone else.  Running a business just means that I'm working for the customers.....and so far, my job has been way easier and pays way better. LOL  I do like your "win the lottery" idea!! 😉

 

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sad to hear again but congratulations on retirement 

you have made some wonderful parts and conversions for the Datsun's over the years and we all thank you for your time and efforts doing this 

I only wish good things for you in your retirement future and yes the lottery would be awesome 

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Thanks....I appreciate that!

Retirement is still probably 5 years out.  At that point, we'll have the cars paid off and a couple of other things, so we'll see over $3k back in our checks each month.  At that point, it might just be worth doing a few more years to enjoy that.  I could afford a commercial space just to use as a playground. lol

 

Time will tell.....I first have to get to the end of the year.....or the end of this backlog. lol :)

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Mike I'm retired as of 2020 and now that work no longer dominates my life, the things that once were chores I have time to appreciate. Co-vid fucked the last two summers for travel but maybe this coming year I'll get out for a road trip. Still have 2020 gas in my tank. Have a few things to fix up on my 710 but I'll treat them like chores and enjoy it. I like making things but if I had to, like a busyness, I think it wouldn't be as much fun.

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17 hours ago, datzenmike said:

Mike I'm retired as of 2020 and now that work no longer dominates my life, the things that once were chores I have time to appreciate. Co-vid fucked the last two summers for travel but maybe this coming year I'll get out for a road trip. Still have 2020 gas in my tank. Have a few things to fix up on my 710 but I'll treat them like chores and enjoy it. I like making things but if I had to, like a busyness, I think it wouldn't be as much fun.


I have mixed feelings about retirement at this point. I'd love to have the extra time and get away from this work and these idiots....but the drop in $'s means I wouldn't be able to actually do anything.  I'm sure the leaches in my life would still expect their ounce of blood. lol  Having this last week off work has been great....makes me WANT to retire......but I didn't have a huge pay drop since it was just vacation. lol

 

They say the best way to ruin a great hobby is by trying to make a living at it.  

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14 hours ago, Farmer said:

May have to get the tension rod kit. Just wish you have/had more for the later years of 620 stuff. But I understand  what it takes.  High quality stuff though

If you have a ball joint truck, these rods won't work.  Your TC rods bolt to the underside of the LCA. You could make a mount, but you could probably just cut an inch or two out of your stock TC rods and put right and left threads on them.  Put some lock nuts and a turnbuckle on them.  I did it to some 510 rods years ago....there's a thread on here about it.....probably just search tension rods.

 

If you want better brakes, just swap in HB spindle assemblies.  Not sure what other parts you'd need/want from me.  

 

Thank you....I appreciate that. :)

Edited by mklotz70
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3 hours ago, iceman510 said:

Mike, do you still have 620 (early) disc conversion parts in those supplies?  I would be interested in getting one of those.

 

Thanks.  Message me if you want instead of posting here.

 

I'll be making a few more kits.  I'm not positive at this point just how many....somewhere in the 4-6 range, but the reality is I might just save the one I have on hand for my wife's truck and just quit. lol  

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