Silky's 1971 2-Door

[Silky_Johnson]

Ratsun.  I'm back.

 

I sold my goon back in 2016 or 2017, and then went through major life upheaval.  I have a garage again, and one of the first things I considered was that I needed a 510 again.  Wagons rock, but I really wanted a 2-door sedan.

 

So, here we go.  I connected up with James the510keeper, and I picked this project up last weekend.

 

Except for significant damage in the back, the body is very straight, and does not have cancer eating through anything.  The plan is to do this slowly and right.  I bet I won't be driving this for a couple of years.

 

Edited June 28, 2025 by Silky_Johnson

[banzai510(hainz)]

buy this turn key and DONE

https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/d/clinton-1967-ford-cortina/7859309194.html

[Silky_Johnson]

What's up, Hainz?  That thing is SICK - but not a 510.  You know the seller?

[banzai510(hainz)]

No I just saw it on CL an said I love it. Its got a Pinto motor so parts for that is EZ the rest. who knows where to get. I was a Capri guy when I lived in Germany

[Silky_Johnson]

Right on.  Those vintage Euro Fords are legit.

 

I am actually pumped to do an extensive restoration/build.  I will end up teaching myself about body work and all kinds of other stuff, so I will pick up new skills along the way.  It's going to be fun to completely rebuild it.

[Rustbin]

Hey a little hammer and dolly work, swap in a new engine and a little fix up of the interior and your good to go. I've been at mine over two years and am still working on the body but then again mine has rust issues. I'll be interested to watch where you go with it.

[Silky_Johnson]

Yeah, I'm just getting started and I'm formulating the plan in my head.  The way it's looking, the body is actually mostly straight and rust free.  Most of it won't take that much work.  I think I need to completely replace the passenger rear quarter panel, the tail light panel, and rear valance.

 

Trunk floor needs a solution - I may be able to straighten the existing trunk floor enough?  I could fab up something simple or swap in a trunk floor from another car.  Once the trunk floor is out, I need to punch out the wheel well a bit to get back to square one.  None of the damage tweaked or twisted anything beyond the rear panels and inner fender, so I'm 90% sure I won't need to pull out any metal to get the rear shock towers to line up.  I think they're good.

 

Other plans are maybe doing BRE fiberglass flares so I can fit 13x7 wheels.  I was originally wanting to build a KA24E for the powerplant, but now I am heavily leaning toward an LZ23 Frankenstein engine.  I loved working on L-series stuff on my goon.

 

We'll see.  First things first - I gotta strip and clean this thing.

[Rustbin]

The dreaming step is important, imagining what you might like and how you might do it, like removing the ridges in the wheelhouse before finishing off the rear quarters.

If you drill out the spot welds and remove the tail light panel and valence, you may be able to straighten them out. This will also make working on the trunk floor much easier. The rear quarter panel will be hard to pull out enough to look good but would be good practice for your metal working skills, you've nothing to loose by it. I might be biased because I like doing that kind of metal work but you can learn a lot from YouTube videos, just try them out on a practice piece first because there are a lot of good hints there are also some bad ones too. I'm going to keep watching to see how this car turns out.

[Silky_Johnson]

Just cleaning and stripping things down today.  Slow going.  I am pleasantly surprised at how solid the metal is, and now I'm thinking this won't take anywhere near as long as I thought.

[Silky_Johnson]

More slow cleaning.  I got a bunch of that weird tar insulation stuff out.  Gasket scraper did the trick nicely.

[Silky_Johnson]

Speaking of dreaming stages, I used AI to visualize an idea I am having.

 

Can you dig it?

[iceman510]

Well BRE never did that version of the colors.

[Lachlan]

7 hours ago, Silky_Johnson said:

Can you dig it?

Very cool indeed.

 

I don’t generally go for replica liveries on street cars but that classic BRE one just works. I love how the solid coloured sides separate them from the turret and give the car more visual length. The two slashes of white behind the front fender are a chef’s kiss.

[Rustbin]

A lot of people recognize and like the BRE look, the wheel arches and spook are available and it is a good color combination, like the Japanese flag. I like it too!

[Rustbin]

Will you be able to just wire brush the rust then use rust converter to be ready for paint?

 

[Silky_Johnson]

14 hours ago, Lachlan said:

I love how the solid coloured sides separate them from the turret and give the car more visual length. The two slashes of white behind the front fender are a chef’s kiss.

 

Great observation!  I guess I hadn't consciously noticed this or put it into words, but the BRE design totally visually lengthens the car.  It makes a 510 look right.

 

I guess my theory on this would be "If Pete had made a second guest car."  For a street car, I might do it a little more understated - no sponsor names, maybe not put the BRE name in the stripes and just leave it at "Datsun"?  I'm also on the fence with giant numbers on the door, except they really complete the look.  They are kind of aesthetically the right thing, so it's hard to take the conservative route.

 

If I did closer to a replica/tribute, BRE has a program to get a certificate from them.  I think that's mostly for legal/liability reasons, but if you grab a certificate, they even supply decals and different things to make it more legit.

[Silky_Johnson]

11 hours ago, Rustbin said:

Will you be able to just wire brush the rust then use rust converter to be ready for paint?

 

 

Good question.  Undecided.  And I figure I've got time to decide until after I teach myself how to weld and repair the rear-end damage.

 

The way I see it is the solve to the problem is on a large spectrum of "pretty bad" to "gold standard."  Gold standard could be repainting brand new rust-free metal in the same way or better than modern car factories.  Pretty bad could be vacuum the loose rust and dirt off, Rustoleum without primer, then throw carpet on top of it and pretend like the rust doesn't exist.  My solution is probably somewhere in the middle/upper end of that spectrum.

 

In my case, the metal is solid, and it doesn't need to look too pretty.  If I can stop the rust and keep paint from bubbling up in 5-10 years or more, I would be a happy guy.  Stabilized, clean, solid, functional is the goal.  If a rust converter would do the trick, then it's a viable option for me.  There's just so much bad information on the various rust treatments that I'm not sure which one might actually give me the result I want.

 

Another thing I forgot about with 510s is the little hiding places for rust.  Any ideas for treating areas with little or no access?

One gap under the metal seat rail thing.  Another one is a hole that goes down into a frame piece that's closed off (I think).  If I go nuts with welding, maybe I could take pieces off and reattach?  You guys just ignore those spots and hope for the best?

[Rustbin]

I use a product by SEM called rust mort, it is the same viscosity as water which I apply with a natural bristle (pigs hair) brush. You can flow it into the channels to stop the rust without needing it to open it up. I have a wire brush on my angle grinder that works real well at cleaning the rust off the surface so the rust mort can do the rest.  If the floor pans were rusted out I would recommend   KF vintage jdm  panels, they are good quality.

[RetroRocket]

Rust Mort works well and is handy because it gets into nooks and crannies like you said (because it is a liquid). For a spray-can application to larger areas Rustoleum Rust Convertor works. SEM is expensive and Rustoleum is cheap. I use those little foam applicators with wooden handles for rust mort.

[Rustbin]

I have never used the Rustoleum product and I am still on the pint of rust mort that I bought a the begining of my project two years ago, mind you I have been replacing much of the rust with new metal.

[Silky_Johnson]

I guess the official decision is Rust Mort.  I'm a ways off of that.  Still stripping things down and assessing issues before rebuild.  Once I'm down to a shell, I can borrow hydraulic stuff to try to pull out as much of the rear-end damage as possible before I start drilling out welds.

 

Photo dump:  Cleaned out the driver's side.

Finally found my first bit of cancer.  It's not bad.  Just a couple of extra holes back there.  Not sure how much I'll do to fix it.

And a shipment arrived...

[Silky_Johnson]

Also, I need recommendations.  I'm going to teach myself to weld.  I've pretty much always been able to do awesome quality work with somewhat inferior tools.

 

What should I buy for a used somewhat cheap MIG welder?  Thinking I need something that runs on both 110 and 220.  Gotta be MIG for thin sheet metal, right?  Give me your thoughts, and I'll shop around on Facebook marketplace - which seems to be flooded with people selling welders.

[fiveoneO]

If you only plan on welding thin sheet metal 110 is all you really need. TIG welders are also really good at thin sheet metal, but they are more expensive and a lot harder to learn. I picked up a TIG welder 2 years ago and I'm just at the point where I trust my welds. If buying used, I would only stick with Miller or Lincoln welders. They last forever and if they're not too old you can find any part to fix them. I would also only buy something that uses a shielding gas, makes much better welds. If looking for something new and cheap, I have heard good things about the Harbor Freight welders. I've never used one, but people seem to like them and with the extended warranty, you can brake it every couple years and get a new one. 

[Rustbin]

This Lincoln is my second welder, it uses a 20 amp 110 circuit, my first one was a cheap piece of crap that I could never get good welds with, I hear the new cheap welders are a lot better. Wire size also is a factor, I use .023 mig wire, you get less blow through and cleaner welds than with thicker wire on thin metal. I use a CO2 argon mix gas called Blue shield, a You tuber I watch uses straight CO2 but he has a lot of experience. (Fitzee's Fabrication). He also did a review of newer welder, might be worth watching.

 

[Z23T]

You are going to want a welder that uses shielding gas, not one that can only use flux core wire. I picked up a Lincoln 110V unit about 15 years ago with the bottle and a cart on Craigslist for half of what it would cost new, and it still works awesome.

 

Spend a few hours practicing on similar thickness material that you are going to be welding so you can get your technique and welder settings down. Don't just go to town on your brand new $600 quarter panel and screw it up with some welds that look like literal dog shit. This will also give you the opportunity to practice your grinding and sanding skills as well. You have a lot of material on the back of that car you can use to practice with. Watch some YouTube from guys like Fritzee's Fabrication, Japhands Customs, Bennetts Customs, etc. they offer some great instruction that will make the learning process easier.