king bee66 Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 FYI, if you need any body parts, I have a mostly complete 620 you can have for free if you want to come get it? Body parts are in pretty good nic. whats its deal? no title? Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted January 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 Started putting things together today. 1. I wanted to make sure that I did this right. I am not a suspension expert. The stuff I got from eBay was put together all wrong. I took it apart and figured it out as best I could for the Lower control arm. I was just hoping that someone who knows best could let me know if I did it right. I'm a fabricator who is accustomed to using blue prints. These came with none. 2. The multipart ball joints on these eBay control arms are wrong. The bolt that goes into the spindle has the wrong taper. It fits the J30 spindle perfectly but not the s14 one that I'm changing over to. I figure I have 3 options on that. 1. call the guys I got them from and get the s14 one. 2. hone out the spindle to fit. 3. retaper the bolt to fit. I'm gonna post the question about the incorrect part in technical also. I'm hoping for an answer asap so I can do some serious work this weekend. Thanks for your time if you have info ,Jerm Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted January 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 FYI, if you need any body parts, I have a mostly complete 620 you can have for free if you want to come get it? Body parts are in pretty good nic. PMing you now. Quote Link to comment
bonvo Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 now that i see the coil overs in hoping the hood will close now great build Quote Link to comment
hacked521 Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 front coil overs have helped this project hugely. Keep it going, cant wait to see more! Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 At first I was like WTF?? Then I remembered the swapped front clip. :lol: I'm unfamiliar with that suspension so not much help, but it looks good. :D now that i see the coil overs in hoping the hood will close now great build Maybe just a couple small bulges. :devil: Quote Link to comment
Farmer Joe Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 is that lower control arm upside down? the angle the end of the arm has doesn't make sense if it the arm is going to be swinging up more from putting the weight of the rig on it... looks like its going to bind the lower balljoint like that... im confused along with ya man.. Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted January 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2012 Definitely not upside down. Thats the same angle as the factory one. The pieces that the tension rod bolts to are my main concern. Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted January 29, 2012 Report Share Posted January 29, 2012 The tension rod looks like it is in the correct spot. Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted January 30, 2012 Report Share Posted January 30, 2012 PM sent on the parts truck. Let me know something soon, please. :cool: Hate to see it crushed if somebody needs it... Quote Link to comment
southern620 Posted January 30, 2012 Report Share Posted January 30, 2012 PM sent on the parts truck. Let me know something soon, please. :cool: Hate to see it crushed if somebody needs it... Is it a long bed? lol Quote Link to comment
southern620 Posted January 30, 2012 Report Share Posted January 30, 2012 AWSOME build man. Keep it up. Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted February 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2012 Well, I got in touch with the people I bought the control arms from. The customer service guy was very nice and tried to be helpful, but I don't really trust his advice as he suggested that I modify my knuckles/spindles (still not sure which is more correct) to fit the ball joints that came with the arms. Only other option was to return them for a refund, which is what I'm choosing. Next step is to call up the local auto parts places and order the remaining parts that I need to do this the more factory way. s14 ball joints, s14 outer tie rod ends s14 sway bar end links hopefully I can get all that by Friday and get back on track. Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted February 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2012 Back in the game. Enough s14 parts to get my Shit bolted together so I can finish those front towers. Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted February 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2012 Got a little work in this weekend. Bolted up all my new stuff and mocked up some new towers. Cut out the old towers and tied in the new pipe ones. SOOOO much more room for activities. First side went so easy, I thought the other side would just fall together. I was wrong. I forgot to take into account that I didn't measure anything on the first side, I just eyeballed it all in there because I have so many different adjustments in the new suspension. However, in order to make them both the same, I had to carefully measure every dimension and mirror it with the other one. Ever try to find something under a hood to get a precise measurement off of? Hopefully I got it all close enough. Here's how she sits now. That's a 4 ft level for perspective. Under estimated how much these springs would settle as well. In the middle of the height adjustment and I'm just touching the fender lips. I plan to run ZG flares so I'll probably be trimming that inner lip anyway. I didn't tighten the bolts on the coilovers yet because they're just temporary place holders. That means the slotted hole for the major camber adjustment is bottomed out to the negative side. Still got about 2 inches of poke with factory Infiniti wheels. The ones I bought for it are a bit lower offset, so the flares are a must. Guess that's it for now. Questions, comments, concerns? Lemme know what you guys think. Quote Link to comment
I'm BLUE Posted February 27, 2012 Report Share Posted February 27, 2012 Beautiful welds! !Lookin good! I have never done anything like this on suspension Consider adding the weight of the driver, any stereo or significant weight .... ( a good alignment tech at les schwab tire did this) into the cab of the pickup ..... before setting or ...welding everything in .... I am not entirely sure how much adjustment you have with custom struts/towers in place or allowed - :) Front rim width looks great! With ag flares will look cool! Before trimming fender lips, see if you can get an extra set of fenders ... for experimentation or different things hehe I enjoy reading the updates, keep it up! !!! Quote Link to comment
Son_of_a_Datsun_Guy Posted February 27, 2012 Report Share Posted February 27, 2012 That VG is gonna be so badass in there. Wish I had the fab skill to do this kind of stuff. Freakin awesome man can't wait to see it finished!! Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted February 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2012 Dtp, I've never done anything like this either. Totally making it up as I go. Datsun parts are hard to find around here, so I won't be trimming anything until I have test fitted flares and determine that it's the best thing to do. Soadg, Fab skills have been aquired over a decade of industrial work, but anyone can do it with practice. So, I went to my first custom car and truck show Saturday. Saw some amazing work that gave me tool envy like crazy. Example: I showed some guys at work who were in awe. Then I hung out with my company owners after work who said I could totally do that with my skills plus that equipment, so not to sell myself short. That, plus some beer and my plan to enter a show on the 24th, got me thinking of how I could set myself apart. Then I thought about my belt buckles. I've been planning since the beginning to use some of these techniques to decorate my framework. Now, I'm thinking I may go balls out with my scrap metal deco skills on my frame. Rather than pinstriping, I'm thinking I will weld and chisel designs on every visible piece of frame before galvanizing it. Then use wire brushes on the galvanize to make effects similar to what fisch did on his valve cover (not similar in design, but in concept). I had considered paint and body work to mimic the bullets Inc. truck, but now I'm thinking of keeping the orange with a new paint job and simple designs, and an intricate design on the,simple parts. I've always been better at 3d design than 2d. I'm starting to think that my truck may be my ultimate artistic outlet. Raw, unrefined, greasy artwork. Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted February 28, 2012 Report Share Posted February 28, 2012 Datsun parts are hard to find around here, so I won't be trimming anything until I have test fitted flares and determine that it's the best thing to do. Then come get my truck and flare those fenders... :P Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted February 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2012 Then come get my truck and flare those fenders... :P That is in the works, but I have to find a place to store it. Plus, atleast one of those fenders will end up on my '75, which will be mostly unadulterated. Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted February 28, 2012 Report Share Posted February 28, 2012 Nice use of available material, good to see a hood on it. :cool: You should tie the towers together with a strut bar over the engine to give them a bit more stiffness in that direction. Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted February 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2012 2eDeYe' date='27 February 2012 - 08:27 PM' timestamp='1330396024' post='644141']Nice use of available material, good to see a hood on it. :cool: You should tie the towers together with a strut bar over the engine to give them a bit more stiffness in that direction. I had planned on an over the top sway bar with the previous towers, but with the new lower tower design, I'm thinking that some serious gussets will do the job and look better. Quote Link to comment
fisch Posted February 28, 2012 Report Share Posted February 28, 2012 Fun build! Different and groovy. I was a bit worried with the old struts in there, I just didn't know how you could pull it off aesthetically. But now you are lookin' good to go! I like your theory on decorating the frame. Actually dragon scales down the frame would be pretty sweet. As long as you can stop it from rusting! I've seen some pretty amazing etching from my friends who make jewlery. I know some lowrider guys do it too, then plate it I think. It is all going to be in the planning so that there is flow from design to design and not haphazardly placed elements, know what I mean? Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted February 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2012 It is all going to be in the planning so that there is flow from design to design and not haphazardly placed elements, know what I mean? I know exactly what you mean. At the moment I'm not thinking dragon scales, but more a traditional hotrod inspired theme. When I disassemble for final weld out before galvanizing, I will have to work out a unified design. As far as rust is concerned, the chiselling and welding will come pre galvanise, and wire wheeling post. Zinc coatings smear before they come off, so the texture of the hot dip galvanized should contrast sufficiently against parts hit with a wheel without loosing the protection of the galvanize. I have seen this in working with existing structures that had to have zinc buffed off before welding on New parts, but I've never seen it used in a design. It's an idea that I've had for several years that had no practical application until now. I know it will work aesthetically, and I'm pretty sure functionally, plus most of the steel that I am using is so thick that rust would take more than my lifetime to make a structural risk. Meanwhile, thanks for looking at my thread. Your input means tons. Quote Link to comment
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