Father/Son 77 Datsun 620 KC Build

[RustedRails]

***Warning - Pic heavy post**** Was able to finish the fuel cell cradle and make the mounts for it using M10 rivnuts in 1/8" angle iron. Here's some progress pics. Please keep in mind, this is my first time fabricating something like this. I'm overall happy about how it came out but I did realize after that I won't be able to remove my leaf spring shackles without dropping the cradle/fuel cell so in the future if I have to replace bushings...I'll have to drop it. Ooops....problem for future Bryan. Next up, new brake/gas lines!

 

Here's the top made from 1x1 that will be bolted into two sections of angle iron I'll weld onto the rear cross member from above and another I'll add behind the shock bar.

 

 

 

Corners all welded up.

 

Making the vertical supports from these 1/8" flat stock

 

Cut down to equal pieces

 

Front and sides tacked in

 

Test fitting the tank for height

 

 

Top bar tacked in for measuring

 

 

 

Welded up all the way around

 

Here's the angle iron I was talking about that will be welded to the rear most cross member. I drilled holes through the 1x1 so the bolts fit through to the rivnuts from underneath. That way I can access without removing the bed.

 

 

I didn't weld in the rear cross member yet because I knew I wanted to add this and welding it in this position is a hell of a lot easier for a novice than after it's on the truck. Here's the angle iron fitment.

 

Gave myself a little room to put some beads down.

 

Topside welded in (was having issues with my gas regulator on one of those welds so had a stop start situation that left a booger....)

 

 

Bottom side welded

 

Second bracket I mentioned in the beginning, same angle iron with m10 rivnuts installed.

 

View of both brackets that the cradle will mount to.

 

And here's the final result with the cradle installed....

 

 

 

And now with the cell in the cradle

 

 

 

Edited February 18 by RustedRails

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

That looks really nice. Total overkill, but this is fuel we're talking about.

 

The only thing I might change is the nut-serts. After all that welding, why not just weld in some steel nuts? Nut-serts tend to loose their grip with use and will eventually spin.

[RustedRails]

36 minutes ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

That looks really nice. Total overkill, but this is fuel we're talking about.

 

The only thing I might change is the nut-serts. After all that welding, why not just weld in some steel nuts? Nut-serts tend to loose their grip with use and will eventually spin.

Thanks man, absolute overkill lol. I wanted to do something different and it's practice on all the fabbing skills since I'm still pretty new at this. Great suggestion, didn't know that about the rivnuts over time. I'm hoping I don't have to drop the tank too often, but I def would feel better about some welded on some steel nuts.

[EDM620]

I agree with Stoff on the change to steel nuts, besides the nutserts you have appear to be aluminum ones so expect corrosion from the dissimilar metals.

[RustedRails]

thanks @EDM620 and @Stoffregen Motorsports I'll add it to the to-do list. I started searching, are zinc coated steel nuts appropriate? Don't see too many raw steel nuts I guess for corrosion. I could sand them down. Going to end up media blasting everything and painting but wondering about the welding part.

Edited February 19 by RustedRails

[EDM620]

Zinc coated steel is good. Another option (a bit more work) is to make "captive" nuts which can be done a few different ways. The bonus to a captive nut (aka captive nut plate) is they allow for misalignment in mounting which can be a real blessing when you're trying to mount up and something is just a bit off.

captive nut plate - Google Search

 

I like this style myself, you can weld the cover into place, plus you can fab your own.

captive nuts - Google Search

captive nuts - Google Search

 

An example you have on the truck is how the box is bolted up. Captive bolts in that case but you can see how they allow you to loosely fit up then tighten after everything is perfectly aligned.

[RustedRails]

@EDM620 Damn.....here's to another rabbit hole hahaha. Thanks for those suggestions, I like the idea of having some adjustment since I'm not in a machine shop and am using my ok measuring skills to match everything up. I actually drilled out the bolt holes in the 1x1 a little larger than I needed on accident. Not by much but each one has some wiggle room so I can start each bolt with a few threads and it adjusts as I tighten them. I added some thick washers to help with the grip. Also why I put 4 on each side,  to distribute the clamping force.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

McMaster carr has weld nuts in all shapes and sizes. Word or warning, the tall ones, with thew barrel shape threaded portion, they tend to be tight and can gall. I always use antiseize when I use these nuts.