Ratsun to Datsun Makeover San Diego Edition

[71DIMER]

So I had some vacation time and decided to head down south to San Diego. I figured on calling my buddy Pac Coast (Mark) to see what he was up to. As it turned out it was his days off so I cruised over. I took some pictures of his green goon and man is it CLEAN. Mine looks like junk compared to his shiny ride.

 

 

Here's my non shiny dime:

 

SO I commented how I've tried all kinds of different rubbing compounds and what not, nothing's worked. It's still dull and flat. No it's not primer, it's just really weathered dull Maaco paint (the previous owner did that, not me).

 

He talked me into taking the plunge and getting it painted. We spend all day today starting from the early morning sanding and fixing the rust issues as well as the dings and dents it's had.

 

We started by taking off the grille and trim:

 

Removed all the seats and door panels:

 

Here I am figuring out which socket to use to remove the rest of the headlight trim:

 

And here I am getting to work sanding, sanding, sanding!

 

We found some nasty rust cancer on the bottom of the car:

 

Still sanding...

 

Mark worked his magic on the messed up bodywork on the hood scoop

 

Here's what the hood scoop looked like before:

 

The front of the car almost done sanding:

 

The rear of the car almost done:

 

I'll have a lot more pictures but no memory car reader but I'll be sure to post more as I get a chance and as we go along.

 

I still haven't decided what color I'm going to go with. Pac Coast is recommending a Pepto Bismal pink or salmon color. He said it will look 'real nice'...ha ha ha...SURE! What do you guys think?

[motavated]

I always wondered if it would be Ratsun to get your car painted down in Tijuana? Has anyone tried it? I'm scared that if I take it there only to get it stolen.

[71DIMER]

I would have to say yes, that would be pretty Ratsun if you resort to those measures.

[69FJWagon]

BOUT TIME...:lol: just kidding, Cant wait to see more pictures buddy

 

Clayton

 

I think you should go blue...2002 Audi s4 nogaro blue, look it up its an awesome color

Edited December 3, 2008 by 69FJWagon

[71DIMER]

BOUT TIME...:lol: just kidding, Cant wait to see more pictures buddy

 

Clayton

 

Hahaha, I know, I know! I should have called you to pick up the lowering springs for Mark...oh well. Next time.

 

I've taken a lot more pictures but I didn't bring my memory card ready and Mark has a different memory card so we only posted a few pics he took. I'll post more off of my camera when I get home.

 

BTW, check your PMs. :)

[inline4]

how much does a paint job run in tijuana? :o

[71DIMER]

how much does a paint job run in tijuana? :o

 

Who knows...I'm doing this at Pac Coast's place here in San Diego. You wouldn't see me driving any car into TJ, let alone my 510!

[inline4]

hahha. damn. I'm 90% sure im moving to san diego...

 

you're the guy who sold the 521 up in sunnyvale right? :o

[71DIMER]

Yep that's me inline4...did you come out and look at it?

[inline4]

Yep that's me inline4...did you come out and look at it?

 

nah, the craigslist ad had pics of your 510 next to it, so I figured I wouldnt be able to lowball :o

[hang_510]

You wouldn't see me driving any car into TJ, let alone my 510!

 

in ~50+ trips across baja, ive ONLY driven a 510!

 

still would hesitate getting paint in TJ :eek:

[motavated]

Supposedly you can get the paint cheaper over there since well we live in Cali and there is soooo much stuff that cant be used on paint like lead. Over in TJ you can buy good quality paint for like half the price. Well I heard...

[datzenmike]

The DEA dogs are trained to sniff out lead too, you know.

[motavated]

For reals!!! I need some coffee beans and what not to hide the smell then...

[Pacific coast Datsun]

Ok yes it's true Mario picked me to do the bodywork & paint on his 510. It's been in the works for awhile we just had to work out our schedules. As some of you know Mario was the one who went & looked at my wagon & secured it fo rme & for that im very greatfull. This has been a very eventfull & succesfull 2 days. As of now the prep on the 510 is 90% done. The plan is to spray it next Wed. Heres a few pix from today....

spot panel in place..

& after......

ahh yes lets jack up the car on the pinch mouldings [PO] :rolleyes: Ive since straightened both sides out..

the air dam has a few cracks to fix...

after some trimming & filling the dam looks & fits better...

Mario working..$50 what a steal...:lol:

& as of 5pm today...

 

[Farmer Joe]

man thats a sweet 510! i kinda like that intake hole on the hood. kind of inconspicuous. those wheels are badass too!!

 

keep up the good work!!

[bonvo]

i like the hood scoop to but wouldnt it be mor functional to put it on the other side? then you could even modify the factory cold air setup to work with it

[72240z]

Judging by the rest of the car and you conviction I think that spot panel is terrible. You can do it correctly and you should.

 

My .02

[Pacific coast Datsun]

i like the hood scoop to but wouldnt it be mor functional to put it on the other side? then you could even modify the factory cold air setup to work with it

Bonvo-The car has a KA 24 de motor & the scoop actually pushed air down the intake filter thats on that side.

72240z- did you say anything?

 

[datrod]

72240z- did you say anything?

 

[/b]

 

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

[72240z]

Yes I did and instead of responding to both your post AND PM I'll just respond here. It wasn't meant to knock you down. I thought I made it clear by noting the rest of the car as well as your conviction that patch was the exception to the work being done. It's called constructive criticism from a man who does body work not "negative comments". You say you want it nice, clean and shiny but I'm telling you right now if I can see in a PICTURE of FLAT colored primer the lines are off, its pitted and its not flush when you lay gloss on it, its going to look GROSS. Beyond that bondo is hydroscopic, you welded in a patch that is not sealed properly which means day after day the bondo behind the paint is going to absorb moisture until one day you hit a pot hole and a chunk of it falls out. Thats auto body 101.

 

Again I wasn't knocking you but trying to give you advice on a project you obviously care a lot about. Learn the smart way not the hard way.

[Pacific coast Datsun]

Umm ok..the car will be shot next week with all body lines lined up. BTW the patch panel was completely welded in [no gaps]. This is gonna be a fun car to shoot :cool: the fact that im doing it for a great freind is my motivation.

Edited December 5, 2008 by Pacific coast Datsun

[71DIMER]

Judging by the rest of the car and you conviction

???? <---WTH?

 

Not exactly the best way for a relative Ratsun newbie to come rolling into a forum dontcha think? We're builing up my car the best we can and are having a blast in the meantime. I'm not looking to do a full on restoration or a show car, that would cost huge bucks and tons of time.

 

Your post did come off as a put down, looks from your post above like you didn't mean to but just saying. I've never done any bodywork at all so learning alongside someone who knows is alot of fun.

 

Anyway here's some more pics that I couldn't post earlier..

 

Before getting ready to make the long 440 mile trek to San Diego I found my gas filler hose leaking large amounts of gas thanks to the hose being cracked where it connected to the gas tank itself, the beginning of the filler hose just inside the truck, and the evaporative/catch-all was sheared right off. I had this metal hose replacement for a while that I got on Ebay and I bought the gas door rubber portion at Nissan. A few clamps later and voila...fixed!

 

 

Finally making it to Mark's pad, man his wagon looks SO much better than when we picked it up.

 

 

 

PCD and I just getting started (ok since I'm taking the pics it might look like Mark was doing all the work but I promise I did what I could :P hahaha!):

 

 

Hood, trunk, and roof done being sanded and getting started on the side (note the 'custom' t-shirt):

 

 

 

Air damn has cracked and broken in many spots, so we decided to fix it up:

 

 

Mocking it up on the car:

 

 

Air scoop had lots of cracks around the perimeter of where it met the hood:

 

 

After Mark did his handy work on it:

 

 

Misc little dings and dents we found:

 

 

This is after we sanded it 3 times, still need to decide pretty soon on what color to go with so I can order the paint :):

 

 

Gutted interior:

Edited December 5, 2008 by 71DIMER
forgot to add something

[thisismatt]

Yes I did and instead of responding to both your post AND PM I'll just respond here. It wasn't meant to knock you down. I thought I made it clear by noting the rest of the car as well as your conviction that patch was the exception to the work being done. It's called constructive criticism from a man who does body work not "negative comments". You say you want it nice, clean and shiny but I'm telling you right now if I can see in a PICTURE of FLAT colored primer the lines are off, its pitted and its not flush when you lay gloss on it, its going to look GROSS. Beyond that bondo is hydroscopic, you welded in a patch that is not sealed properly which means day after day the bondo behind the paint is going to absorb moisture until one day you hit a pot hole and a chunk of it falls out. Thats auto body 101.

 

Again I wasn't knocking you but trying to give you advice on a project you obviously care a lot about. Learn the smart way not the hard way.

Welcome to Ratsun, where criticism is met with various forms of hostility :lol: That said, yes, that patch is going to rust out from the inside again just like it did originally.

[72240z]

???? <---WTH?

 

Not exactly the best way for a relative Ratsun newbie to come rolling into a forum dontcha think? We're builing up my car the best we can and are having a blast in the meantime. I'm not looking to do a full on restoration or a show car, that would cost huge bucks and tons of time.

 

Your post did come off as a put down, looks from your post above like you didn't mean to but just saying. I've never done any bodywork at all so learning alongside someone who knows is alot of fun.

 

 

Judging by the rest of the car as in its coming out well then to see that area and conviction as in doing body work sucks to begin with let alone out side in the elements making things worse. I'm no troll, I don't go around looking to put people down so if thats how it came off then I'm sorry. Show car or not though, I think it safe to assume no one who puts that time/effort into a car to have it all nice and then have one area out of wack wouldn't be annoyed and it doesn't cost anymore to do it correctly. Matter of fact the better its done the less bondo and the less money lol. Paint is the bank, prep is the time. It's good your doing it, learning and having fun in any event.

 

As for the newbie thing though I don't care, my opinions now will be my opinions when I'm not a newb. When I know I voice them, when I don't I stfu so I can learn.

 

Anyway enjoy and gl.

Edited December 5, 2008 by 72240z