Father/Son 77 Datsun 620 KC Build

[Draker]

oh boy, that'a bit of filler there. 🙂 

[RustedRails]

You ain’t lying @Draker. Curious to see what’s going on in there lol. 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Are you going to have it blasted? That shale rust is likely not going to come off otherwise.

[RustedRails]

That's the plan @Stoffregen Motorsports, once we get the bed off and the cab. Probably going to start with getting the frame blasted and work from there. There is a budget we have to stick to so  going to have to spread it out, looks like it can get pretty expensive when you do it in one shot. 

Edited July 9, 2020 by RustedRails

[breezenahan]

can't believe I didnt see this build until now. this is a sweet project! I'll definitely be checking in from now on :)

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

I don't know what the cost differential is between east and west coast, but my blasting shop in Sacramento can blast and powder coat an entire frame for about $1000. Body parts get more expensive because they have to be careful to not warp the thin steel.

[RustedRails]

@Stoffregen Motorsports, ooffff...lol so that frame will be sitting there for a bit then. Will probably work on getting all of the components for the break/suspension swap so he can save up for it. I'll probably throw some in on it but that's a reality check. I'll have to search around to see if the prices are similar. 

 

thanks @breezenahan, will be a slow one but already have learned a ton of info from the folks on here. Much appreciated for all of the help and suggestions. Also, your build is coming along nicely as well, we will definitely be following along. 

[EDM620]

11 hours ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

I don't know what the cost differential is between east and west coast, but my blasting shop in Sacramento can blast and powder coat an entire frame for about $1000. Body parts get more expensive because they have to be careful to not warp the thin steel.

That’s a decent price for that, cost here would be similar (CDN). I did full blast on mine and it’s so much nicer to work on a clean frame. Painted it with frame paint 

[Draker]

You can blast yourself with a harbor freight portable blaster.. or just wire wheel it. Won’t be perfect, but doesn’t matter unless it’s a full restoration.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

I would rather pull my neighbor's weeds than blast a frame with a pressure pot blaster. I've used them before and they are slow going, but yes, they do work and are inexpensive.

 

Wire wheel will not get the shale rust, but a needle scaler will. You can get a good quality needle scaler for about $100 - http://www.airtoolsforless.com/air_hammers_menu.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIk7Hn6pfI6gIVVD6tBh0gPQa0EAQYBSABEgJrC_D_BwE#needlescalers

[EDM620]

My solution since I don't have a big enough air compressor & don't see the need to buy the equipment for a 1 time job, was to hire a portable service. Got a few quotes & picked the guy that understood what I was doing (not the cheapest guy) and had blasted frames before. Set him up on my driveway & had at it, about an hour later was all done.

[Crashtd420]

How was the clean up of the ground after he was done?

I want to have my bed done but wife will kill me if I make a huge mess in our driveway....

[RustedRails]

@EDM620 I was thinking of the same thing for the mobile service. Did you guys get the underside also?

[EDM620]

I put some big chunks of cardboard on the driveway and kept moving them so was below where he was blasting. The ground up media was swept up and what little was left was washed down into the sewer. The guy laid on his side to blast the underneath. I offered to put it up on stands but he didn't need to - still should have just to make life easier.

3 hours ago, Crashtd420 said:

I want to have my bed done but wife will kill me if I make a huge mess in our driveway....

If doing body panels, the media should be softer stuff (soda??) so I'd expect even easier to clean up. Spread a tarp out underneath.

 

Only 2 things on my build I haven't done myself (so far) - the frame blasting & the block machining. I'll leave bodywork to someone with more patience...

[RustedRails]

Got a little time in tonight. Was able to drop the tank and found there were a few pin holes in the front of the tank....the gas coming out of it basically looked like black tea lol. After we dropped the tank, we removed the bed. Ready to disconnect the drive shaft and pull the engine/transmission. 

 

On a separate note, my son got his first "official" job and starts his first day tomorrow. He's excited and now will be stacking money for the build. Happy with the progress so far!

 

Removed tailgate to take some weight off the bed. 

 

Gas tank removed

 

 

Bed off

 

 

 

 

[Draker]

good work!

[RustedRails]

Thanks @Draker! Can’t wait to get the rest off. However, with him having a job now, that will give me some time to finish cleaning the garage so we can fit everything in there separately and roll the chassis in and out as needed to work in it 😧

[RustedRails]

A few more baby steps, with my son working his first job, the tear down has been slowed down a little.  They have him working 40 hours right off the bat so he's getting a small taste of that work life haha. The good part is we are collecting parts for the build in the background so that's encouraging. Also....he now will have funding for the project to move forward!

 

Door cards as they stand now

Hardware, cards and film off

 

Took the steering column bezel off

 

And took the king cab/quarter windows out. The rubber was rock hard and basically snapped off. not too bad.

[EDM620]

I'm sure your son will find that working a full week is a totally different experience!

What are the plans for new door cards? 

[RustedRails]

@EDM620 He's going on week #3 so he's feeling it! But he will get through it.....as far as the door cards, not sure yet. Once we get the chassis done with the suspension and brake upgrades, we are hoping to have a final "look" decided on. Definitely want a flat paint finish. However, we've been following a guy on IG (@tree_ausawa) that does some amazing work on the door cards. I think we might go with one of his. Not decided on factory look or a custom design. Time will tell!

[RustedRails]

Dash out! Getting close to having it fully stripped.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Window surrounds look good. If there is going to be rust in the upper cab, you'll see it when you remove the glass, and yours look good.

[ducky]

On 7/22/2020 at 11:19 AM, RustedRails said:

@EDM620Once we get the chassis done with the suspension and brake upgrades, we are hoping to have a final "look" decided on.

 

If you're interested in different emblems, I'll be posting pictures of what I've designed and 3d printed in the next week on Instagram.

 

I'd be willing to send you a set as a gift/tester

[620slodat]

RustedRails, can you help me out? This pic is really good for my purposes. I need some measurements if you are able to get them for me. The standard cab I am going to use still has the dash in it, and the King Cab I am using for mock-up is just a shell. With my daughters help I got the picture below. I am needing the total depth and extreme size of the wiper motor. The dimensions are the full depth of the motor from the surface it is mounted on to the extreme back edge of the motor, and the dimensions from the end of the bracket that holds the dash to the same points used for the above measurements.. 

 

With your help I can see if I can use the AC unit from the 95 Pathfinder. The wiper motor is the biggest fly in the ointment so far, and I need to see what I'm up against. Your help can save me a lot of time if you are able to get these dimensions.THANK YOU!!

 

Don

Edited July 24, 2020 by 620slodat

[RustedRails]

18 hours ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

Window surrounds look good. If there is going to be rust in the upper cab, you'll see it when you remove the glass, and yours look good.

Was surprised it looked good on the inside, the outside rubber is rough but looks like some sealer was added at some point so that probably helped over the years. 🙏

 

 

14 hours ago, ducky said:

 

If you're interested in different emblems, I'll be posting pictures of what I've designed and 3d printed in the next week on Instagram.

 

I'd be willing to send you a set as a gift/tester

Man, that would be awesome!!!! Saw your door handle cups, lookin damn good! We will keep an eye out for those emblems, much appreciated!

 

 

9 hours ago, 620slodat said:

RustedRails, can you help me out? This pic is really good for my purposes. I need some measurements if you are able to get them for me. The standard cab I am going to use still has the dash in it, and the King Cab I am using for mock-up is just a shell. With my daughters help I got the picture below. I am needing the total depth and extreme size of the wiper motor. The dimensions are the full depth of the motor from the surface it is mounted on to the extreme back edge of the motor, and the dimensions from the end of the bracket that holds the dash to the same points used for the above measurements.. 

 

With your help I can see if I can use the AC unit from the 95 Pathfinder. The wiper motor is the biggest fly in the ointment so far, and I need to see what I'm up against. Your help can save me a lot of time if you are able to get these dimensions.THANK YOU!!

 

Don

 

Hey Don, I can absolutely do that for you today at some point. I'll reply to this post so if anyone else is wondering, they can see also. Would be interested in what you find actually. We kicked around the idea for air conditioning but leaned against it. Now maybe there's another option. What motor will you be running?