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The Greengoon Build Thread 2.0 // Refresh


greengoon

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If you were to do on-board air would you have an air tank in addition to a compressor, or just the compressor?

 

Jun- I would probably just go with a compressor that I could control from the driver's seat. Unlike bags the air shocks don't hold a lot of air and there would probably not be a need to fill them lightning fast. Just a little more convenient than doing it from the rear hatch. This way the space for the tank would not have to be found. Lawrence has an on board compressor for his 620 and the shocks fill pretty fast.

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On to tunnel surgery:

 

As all of you with goons know, to get moar lowar, you have to take care of clearance issues. When I finally decided that cutting was my next step, I literally took a few measurements and broke out the sawzall. The rear shelf was a little difficult as it is a few layers thick. The rear seat arch was tricky as well. I just cut a little away at a time until I was satisfied with the clearance. I went a little farther than was needed, just in case I wanted to go lower in the future and for drivability and suspension travel. The open area to the right of the rearend is for the seatbelt mounting which I later plated with heavier steel to anchor the seatbelt properly.When cutting, avoid the brake lines at all costs. I knicked one of mine and had to repair it. :(

 

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Once I had the hole cut, I of course took the car for a test drive. It was actually a good car teaching moment for my kids. I stuck them in the front seat and drove around the neighborhood, showing them how the driveshaft works and of course saying "see that spinning? Don't touch!".

 

I decided to use the sheet of metal that I removed for the sunroof to make the new tunnel. I made the arc shape by bending it around the basketball standard pole in my yard.:lol: Kind of gives a cool ratty look with the welds on the green paint. I do not plan to paint it on the inside but I have used body seam sealer and paint on the underside to seal out the road crap.

 

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The extra hole in the tunnel top is from a bracket that I made to hold the disconnected driveshaft when I towed the car to JCCS. More on that bracket later.

 

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Modified my seat so everything would look stock when closed up. I cut out the center section so it would clear the raised floor. I left a small amount of metal near the front of the seat as it cleared everything and kept some of the rigidity. The seat is a little flexible in the middle but still very acceptable, even with adults in the back seat. The stock carpet covers up the raised hump just fine. And the stock latch and pull strap are untouched.

 

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Thanks guys! Its been fun revisiting all my old modifications and documenting them. Here's another:

 

I wanted something different for my outside rear view mirror. I didn't like the position of the stock ones both viewing angle and aesthetics on the door. I searched for a while for motorcycle mirrors and ended up with a set of VW bug mirrors. I made a little bracket and welded it on to the a pillar door frame. A little bit of bondo and some touch up paint and it was done. A stainless steel bolt and rubber washer holds it pretty tight yet still is able to be adjusted. I have a second mirror but I never felt the need to put one on the passenger side. I welded up the original holes in the door and touched up the paint. I really like the mirror because its subtle and doesn't distract from the car's lines and is still very functional.

 

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FYI- the Hawaiian 'surf goon' seat covers are long gone :lol:

 

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This shot shows my door patch along with the full range of travel in the front suspension as I was trying to figure how to go lower :D

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've done some subtle modifications to my lighting. I'll start with the back:

 

My original lenses were okay but one had been repaired and the silicone was getting a little dirty so I was always looking for a new set.

 

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Of course the JDM ones with the orange turn signal lenses were high on my list but then I ran across a set of aftermarket lenses on eBay that were all red. I thought that was kind of cool and different so I bid and won and $27 later I had the set in my hands. They are not a perfect mold but they are quite nice and fit just fine. The new clear red looks a lot nicer than my originals.

 

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So then I had another idea. Its always nice to increase the visibility of vintage J-Tin so I thought what better use for the now red back up light area than another brake/tail light. A little moving of the wiring and I had an extra bulb in my tails.

 

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But now I had to figure out what to do with my back up lights. They don't seem to be required here in Utah but I still wanted to have one. I removed my license plate lights, put color matched caps in the holes. Then I made a bracket and mounted one of my license lights under the bumper, inspired by the 2nd gen Scion XB that has has one back up light in the bumper.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Okay, no more slacking... I have more story to tell.

 

After the accident I replaced my stock headlights with Hella H4/E1 bulbs and lenses. I wanted to do something different so I took some Oracal green sign vinyl and put it around the bottom half of the H4 lens and then covered the outside up with silver so it would blend but give a green reflection to the inside of my headlight. I also painted the metal ring around the bulb green to add to the subtle tint.

 

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I had been having problems with my headlight fuse blowing after about 20 minutes of nightime driving. Pretty scary. When Lawrence and his family were out visiting once, he helped me fix that problem and now I have my highs and lows within my H4 outside bulbs. I didn't need my inside lights anymore. I thought about changing them to yellow but then I had another idea. I was also in the process of making a cold air intake for the L16 (more on that soon) and I needed a place for the air to come in. Rather than removing one of the bright lights I thought maybe the intake could come in through the turn signal hole. But then I thought that the turn signals define the 510 so I can't remove them, right? Well, I pulled my turn signals and stood back and and squinted and I thought it looked pretty cool. So I decided to move my turn signals into my bright headlight location.

 

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I hollowed out the back of the E1 lenses and then took the original turn signal bucket and cut the back part off with a Dremel. I bent that piece and mounted it so that the bulb would be held in the socket by spring tension. Then I changed the bulb out to amber. It is a really cool look at night and of course helps the visibility of an aging Datsun.

 

 

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I then made a cardstock template of the turn signal and lower grille opening and cut some steel mesh to fit. Painted it satin black and attached it with bolts through the existing signal holes. Something different. :D

 

 

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Thanks for the input. The inside lights don't have that deep lip so it was hard to get any color to reflect inside them, but I did try. The orange reflection from the bulbs looks cool in the daylight too. What is the best way to polish glass headlights?

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Thanks for the input. The inside lights don't have that deep lip so it was hard to get any color to reflect inside them, but I did try. The orange reflection from the bulbs looks cool in the daylight too. What is the best way to polish glass headlights?

 

I would probably hit it with 1000/1500/2000 grit wet sand paper. Than use some glass polish. This works well on plastic headlights. And reading through a few forums quickly looks like this works on glass too.

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