Rust Bucket Race Car Revival

[yenpit]

On 11/5/2022 at 10:35 PM, MNRs 510 said:

My dad has done a considerable amount of body work, but never on any Datsuns. He's only done that work on his old Mustangs. So we'll be navigating new waters when it comes to 510 specific welding and fabrication challenges. I welcome any help that I can get. 

 

I really appreciate you sharing this with me. I want to learn more about what things I can do to have fun driving my car. In the beginning, that will probably be something like doing autocross and driving around a few cones so I can start feeling where the tires loose grip and how to pick a fast race line so I can finally start installing the driver mod. I'll look into all of these. 🤠

 

So I grew up with British cars...........the metal was decent.  I have been around classic domestic cars all of my life & had a 1965 Mustang GT a couple years ago..........that metal was HEAVY gauge!  The Datsun metal is pretty darned THIN, thus more difficult to weld without damage/warping.  Just takes some messing around with the welder, to get it right!

 

Perfect example of what NOT to do............remove a glass sunroof & attempt to "patch" the hole!  We ALWAYS replace the whole roof skin, cuz much much easier to properly weld around the stiffer perimeter of the roof skin!  I watched Wheeler Dealers "patch" a sunroof hole on that Toyota Celica (same thin metal) they did & wondered how much bondo they used to smooth it out.  Bondo does NOT fend well long term on a big floppy sheetmetal panel..........it WILL crack!  Hoods, roofs, large door skins, trunk lids etc..........they are thin & vibrate under normal use, thus skims of bondo do not hold up!

[yenpit]

On 11/6/2022 at 10:25 AM, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

Well, if you've got help from someone who's done it, you're probably good to go.

 

One tip I will give, and this is something that 90% of the amateurs out there don't do - PRIME BETWEEN LAYERS!!! Rust will form between two pieces of steel that are welded together if there is nothing to protect it. I have made this mistake before and the results are devastating. Made me cry the first time I saw rust forming around the edges of a panel that I welded and painted only months prior.

 

If you have a cavity open that will be closed up and impossible to get paint in, prime that area too.

 

Years ago when I was in British wholesale, I would often visit customers shops while on road trips.  I went to visit a very well known guy in Ohio (I think I was going to Mid Ohio Raceway) with a British restoration shop.  It was raining that day & as I pulled up, I found three freshly painted cars out front.  I walk in, found Jeff, chatted a few, then asked why cars out in the rain?  He said for the money he charges for body & paint, there better NOT be any "rust seepage" between panels & what better way to test it................leave out in the rain!

 

FYI Gerson's "funky green primer" on his kfvintagejdm.com patch panels is NOT a weld thru primer!  It is our only complaint about his stuff!  We media blast all of his panels before we work on them! 😝

[MNRs 510]

On 11/7/2022 at 9:38 AM, yenpit said:

Quick response from a quick read.............being in the vintage race industry (I work at Ignite Performance in Arvada Colorado.........Facebook is the most active social media)

I'll need to set up a Facebook page for myself to start talking with some other people in the industry. 

I'm definitely a long ways away from doing any actual wheel-to-wheel racing. As of right now I've never even done HPDE, a track day or even autocross. I'm anticipating this being a 5-8 year long process or so before I can really get into anything competitive. 

Because I do want the car to be a street car as well as a track car, I'd rather build it the way that I want to build it so that I enjoy the experience of driving it, and THEN figure out what I can do to go fast with it, rather than changing the way I build it to fit specific class rules. 

I appreciate that I might be able to hang out in the middle (more likely BACK) of the pack with one or two slight embellishments on the rules without anybody getting too worked up about it. I have plenty of time to figure out what options I have as I continue building the car. 

On 11/6/2022 at 9:25 AM, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

One tip I will give, and this is something that 90% of the amateurs out there don't do - PRIME BETWEEN LAYERS!!!

This is very good advice, thank you. 

@the510keeper strongly recommended the product called Zero Rust for recoating the fender wells and the under carriage before going to paint. I'll be sure to pay special attention to any seams in the steel panels to make sure that they get treated to neutralize any oxidation that may be hiding in between the crease. 

I really appreciate your help. 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Rust needs oxygen to thrive, so if you can't get to the rust to remove it, squirt it with something to neutralize it and then seal it off from oxygen.

[]2eDeYe]

Cool racecar, great story. Looking forward to the build. 

[MNRs 510]

Here's a long overdo update for the 510 SCCA race car restoration project. 

 

The current condition of the front clip. The light blue will be our primary color along with bright orange to complete the Gulf racing look.

 

We made sure to coat everything from the firewall forward with a healthy layer of Zero Rust to give it the best chance possible of a long and rust-free life. 

 

This was how it looked when we picked it up. The front fender well was set in place but not welded yet, so that was the first thing to be put in place. After that, we fit in the strut tower and top bracing.

 

Pops welding in the front fender well.

 

We put what parts we could into the blasting cabinet to remove all of the rust so we could repaint. 

 

Rear trailing arms after hitting with the wire wheel and a coat of Zero Rust. We decided the final color on these should be just regular gloss black. 

 

The rear cross member however, we decided to go with the Gulf orange, which will match the rear springs. Of course we also coated with Zero Rust after wire wheeling as much of the rust off as possible.

 

Rear half shafts with new boots, u-joints, and fresh paint after the rust was removed.

 

Completed the coilover conversion using the 280zx struts using collars, spring perches, and Hyperco springs from Techno Toy Tuning. 

 

The passenger side quarter panel is in need of replacement, so we felt okay resting the car on his side to better access the undercarriage. Scraping off the rubberized undercoating has been a very tedious chore.

 

Surprisingly, regular old WD-40 worked surprisingly well for cleaning the residual rubber off the undercarriage. We also cut out the rear passenger frame rail so we can weld in a replacement.

 

Does anyone have recommendations for products to better remove the rubberized undercoating? I've seen dry ice blasters and other such things being used, but any other low-cost solutions more effective than the WD-40 would be appreciated. 

 

Thanks family,

[yenpit]

Looking great!  Fit, tweak, get the hood as close to perfect as you can, then PanelBond epoxy (or weld) all of the inner understructure, especially that inner rear structural brace, to the underside of the outer skin, BEFORE painting!  PanelBond CAN pull the outer skin in & of course, welding can warp!