Where can I find Weather Strips/Seals

[wayno]

I believe that the Mazda gasket is the closest thing to the 320 there is out there, only the back upright needs changed, and on a L320 it is possible to tack weld the Mazda upright section into the Datsun upright, it would make using the Mazda gasket easy to use, but the NL/V/U320s all have stainless steel door frames, not much can be done with them, I tried, but not really that hard.

These Mazda gaskets are not really that good of an option anyway, they are also likely NLA unless someone re-creates them, which is more likely to happen than the 320, that is unless Marouk does it.

The 520/521 gaskets are not even close.

Here is the Mazda gasket in my Datsun NL320 stainless steel wingwindow frame, it has been there for years now, I took these photos today.

You can see the gap on the back upright.

 

 

You can see the Mazda upright piece connected to the back of the gasket in this photo below I used as a stiffener that I cut out of the Mazda window frame, this stiffener could be tacked/welded to an L320 upright because it is made of steel, not stainless steel like the NL320 door window frame.

You can see where the gasket split at the top, the gasket has to be stretched upward to fit in the 320 window frame, it split in the bottom back corner also.

The only reason that the Mazda gasket is even an option is because they can still be found in wrecking yards, that is where I found these Mazda gaskets, and they are in good shape, I still may use these gaskets because I have an L320, I just have not decided if I am going to keep it yet, if I kingcab it I will keep it.

Has anyone compared vent window channel profile, corner section and pivot hole position to determine if a 520/521 could be cut/re-glued to create a workable prototype?

I do not own a 320, but sympathize with your situation.
Keith

[Marouk]

if I kingcab it I will keep it.

 

Thread drift... but i'm interested to understand how you might plan to king cab the 320. My little race truck (320 running miata gear not dissimilar to the famous mx520) is such a squeeze to drive i ideally should have someone extend it. 

[wayno]

Thread drift... but i'm interested to understand how you might plan to king cab the 320. My little race truck (320 running miata gear not dissimilar to the famous mx520) is such a squeeze to drive i ideally should have someone extend it. 

That is just something I do, I like legroom, my 521 kingcab.

My 520 kingcab ute, at least that is what I call it, Charlie69 calls it an NL520.

I have everything I need to make a L320 kingcab, but I have not been motivated the last couple years, too many projects.

[Datsunscott]

I wonder if someone could clean up irregularies in a scan electronically.

In other words take the sraights and curves and "fix" the problems.

 

I am not that talented- I would have taken it to my engineers in days past........................

 

Repop window seals would be great!

[Marouk]

I wonder if someone could clean up irregularies in a scan electronically.

In other words take the sraights and curves and "fix" the problems.

 

I am not that talented- I would have taken it to my engineers in days past........................

 

Repop window seals would be great!

 

Scans produce a 'point cloud'. To get the fine detail (which we need on this part given the intricacy) its millions of reference points... meaning the straights aren't even really straight. I hire guys I consider to be the best in the world of 3D and print... and they laughed at me saying "it might be your money boss, but its our life - no chance we are doing that". Basically the process of cleaning it up outweighs the time it takes to use calipers to measure up a set and draft it from scratch. Which is what we are in progress on. 

 

As previously shared - this is in progress being drafted up. The detail work is incredible on these rubbers. Aim is to build the reference model, then oversize it by 0.5% to allow for shrinkage on our sample given it is 50+ years old. We'll print and mold one, test fit, and resize thereafter as we think we need to. 

 

Its fascinating that something like this was so readily constructed in the 60's yet due to economics we are now challenged to reproduce. This said - the pyramids would be a tough gig to get past workcover as well these days!

[320 Newb]

You're building up treasures in heaven my friend! 

[Charlie69]

This is a photo stretch I did of Wayno's 66 520 NL King cab he created.  Wayno is a skilled and  talented man.

 

 

Before photo stretch.

 

[wayno]

Scans produce a 'point cloud'. To get the fine detail (which we need on this part given the intricacy) its millions of reference points... meaning the straights aren't even really straight. I hire guys I consider to be the best in the world of 3D and print... and they laughed at me saying "it might be your money boss, but its our life - no chance we are doing that". Basically the process of cleaning it up outweighs the time it takes to use calipers to measure up a set and draft it from scratch. Which is what we are in progress on. 

 

As previously shared - this is in progress being drafted up. The detail work is incredible on these rubbers. Aim is to build the reference model, then oversize it by 0.5% to allow for shrinkage on our sample given it is 50+ years old. We'll print and mold one, test fit, and resize thereafter as we think we need to. 

 

Its fascinating that something like this was so readily constructed in the 60's yet due to economics we are now challenged to reproduce. This said - the pyramids would be a tough gig to get past workcover as well these days!

 

How is it going on this, any progress?

[Marouk]

Still progressing - I've been a little distracted. The paying gigs have have been solid of late so this is ticking over in the background.

 

Compounding this I got distracted by the opportunity to pull the trigger on a boyhood dream and 5 years of actively searching/negotiating - and as a result I now have my very own Dodge Viper. This is less of a big deal in the US I can appreciate. In Australia though there is just a handful of Gen 1's, and we can't bring them in anymore. So finding one is hard. Finding a good one is much more difficult and has taken 2 years to locate, and a further 3 years to negotiate from the previous owner. 

 

Thread drift aside, we are have 3 day/long weekend this weekend coming and two of my guys need/want cash so they are going to dedicate a day off to working on it for me. The 3d model and mold/inversion model are both 99% complete. They will spend the day with calipers to fine tune and then run off a print hopefully.

 

My 320's have taken a backseat for a few months now - and i need the shed space back by Christmas for our annual party. Time to get cracking.

[wayno]

Thankyou for the update.  wayne

[320 Newb]

Congrats on the Viper and thanks so much for pushing the project forward. You've got a bunch of us pretty excited. 

[wayno]

Still progressing - I've been a little distracted. The paying gigs have have been solid of late so this is ticking over in the background.

 

Compounding this I got distracted by the opportunity to pull the trigger on a boyhood dream and 5 years of actively searching/negotiating - and as a result I now have my very own Dodge Viper. This is less of a big deal in the US I can appreciate. In Australia though there is just a handful of Gen 1's, and we can't bring them in anymore. So finding one is hard. Finding a good one is much more difficult and has taken 2 years to locate, and a further 3 years to negotiate from the previous owner. 

 

Thread drift aside, we are have 3 day/long weekend this weekend coming and two of my guys need/want cash so they are going to dedicate a day off to working on it for me. The 3d model and mold/inversion model are both 99% complete. They will spend the day with calipers to fine tune and then run off a print hopefully.

 

My 320's have taken a backseat for a few months now - and i need the shed space back by Christmas for our annual party. Time to get cracking.

 

Has there been any progress on the wingwindow/vent seals, we 320 owners were all hoping this would happen.

[Marouk]

Has there been any progress on the wingwindow/vent seals, we 320 owners were all hoping this would happen.

 

Very slow progress... but i guess it is a little. I'm currently in the wrong mindset but trying to shake it off. I have time until i get the two cabins back from the shop and need the parts. it does need to happen else I've blown a lot of cash on the trucks and this little project for an incomplete truck.

 

We have printed for the right side (Australian drivers side) but the rubber part was incomplete. The mold was modified and still didn't work out. This was back in December. I've had a bunch of stuff chew up my time since then and not been motivated to get back into it.

 

Ultimately I need to pull the finger out, improve the mold, and then find the right silicone rubber to use. The compound we were trialing with I've since found out isn't uv stable.

 

I'm about 7K in materials/tools so far, not counting my hours and/or the guys salaries. At some point i'll cross that threshold where i should have just paid someone to do it for me... but its huge motivation to not give up long term! Nothing worse than a wife that wins the argument ("i told you to just pay others to do this..")!

 

So in short - the project is not dead. If anyone wants to help out on the research side as to what rubber compound we might have more success with, i appreciate it. the compund needs to be something i can pour, or injection mould with using a caulking gun. It can't be a heated pour else will be destructive to the mold.

[difrangia]

This might be a starting point on injectable materials:

 

https://contenti.com...silicone-rubber
https://www.polytek....oly-pt-flex-60/
http://www.gardner-g...-jack-1010-9-66

[difrangia]

Oops !!! Incomplete addresses. Another try:

 

https://contenti.com/rtv-silicone-rubber

 

https://www.polytek.com/products/liquid-castable-rubbers/poly-pt-series/poly-pt-flex-60/

 

http://www.gardner-gibson.com/products/asphalt-roof-repair-new-construction/asphalt-roof-patch-repair/black-jack-1010-9-66