Jump to content

1976 Wagoon (710)


Recommended Posts

Hello all. I have been lurking for a while and thought I would post this up. I found this car about 2 1/2 years ago and made a 10 hour trip (one way) to haul it home. I currently have the engine out for a complete rebuild and will also upgrade to dual SUs and possibly a Shadbolt cam. It will also receive all new brakes and suspension bits.

 

You can see the pics of the car here;

 

 

 

I just painted the block today and will be working on reassembly over the next week.

 

Todd

near Winnipeg, MB, Canada

Link to comment
  • Replies 253
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Hello,

 

When I started the disassembly of the L20B out of the 710, I wondered if anyone had had the engine apart previous to me. The answer came quickly inside the front cover. The wooden wedge was still there, although it had been carved nicely over the years by the timing chain.

 

wood_wedge.JPG

 

Then as I was looking at the valves, I noticed that there was a rag neatly stuffed into a hole in the head. I wonder how long these things have been in there?

 

rag.JPG

 

Here are a couple of other shots of where I am at in the build.

 

side_of_block.JPG

 

crank_and_caps.JPG

 

Todd

Link to comment

Hello,

 

When I started the disassembly of the L20B out of the 710, I wondered if anyone had had the engine apart previous to me. The answer came quickly inside the front cover. The wooden wedge was still there, although it had been carved nicely over the years by the timing chain.

 

wood_wedge.JPG

 

Then as I was looking at the valves, I noticed that there was a rag neatly stuffed into a hole in the head. I wonder how long these things have been in there?

 

rag.JPG

Todd

 

This is all to common with cars this old having had multiple sexual partners.... no, wait. Previous owners that is. I pulled a head once that had a small firecracker in the water passage like that rag. Go figure.

 

 

5893029558_98c091210e_o.jpg

 

'76 710 goon!!!!! FTMFW. I have a '76 too, and a '77 parts goon. Looks like an original side mirror. Only thing I don't like are the side bumper moldings, they ruin the looks and take away from the great shape of the car. My sedan had them but when I had it painted I had them removed and the holes welded up. 10X better looking now.

 

Do you have any history on the car??? How did it survive living in Winnipeg anyway?? How many miles on it, Standard or auto. I'm guessing auto, they seem to survive better because it's hard to drive the crap out of them.

 

Nice car.

 

 

BTW this is the oil drain back hole and allows oil to drop down through the block and back into the pan. Even if completely blocked the oil level would just rise high enough to spill down the timing chain at the front. I doubt this was the case here.

 

rag.JPG

Link to comment

This car actually came out of Alberta. It was bought by a chap in Saskatoon and I got it from him. Pulled it home on a 2 wheel dolly with my 4 cylinder Nissan pickup. Towing that car does NOTHING for fuel economy.

 

The car was reportedly driven by an older gentleman and not very much at all. There is evidence to support that this is a 50000 mile car. It has been painted once and will get painted again in the life of this project (there is some bubbling in spots). It came with a 4 speed, but I have a truck 5 speed that I am swapping in. I'm headed out to the shop tonight to finish the l-series bellhousing swap. I have to drill out the 3 rod holes so the rods will fit through. The previous owner replaced bearings and said it shifted fine and with no noises. He's a good friend so I believe him.

 

Not sure why someone would leave a rag in there, it makes no sense.

 

I have a 4 door as well that is car number four on the project list. It will come after the wagon, the 76 LandCruiser diesel swap, and a 74 620 for my son who will be 16 in two years.

 

As far as finding things in an engine, I built a 510 with a KA24DE (low miler from the wrecker), and we got the thing wired, plumbed and fired it up. It ran but made a horrible noise in the head. My buddy says it sounds like something broke and is floating around in there. We pulled the head and found a 2 1/2" deck screw in the second cylinder. Valves wrecked, piston wrecked, cylinder wall scored deeply. I had a couple of extra drinks that night before I went to bed!

 

I will keep the updates coming if people are interested.

 

Todd

  • Like 1
Link to comment
  • 1 month later...

Hello all. An update. After a trip and stuff around the house, the engine is finally put back together (for the most part) and the final stages are approaching. I will be using SUs. The engine bay needs some attention so that will be next.

 

Here are some pics.

enginebay2.JPG

 

enginebay.JPG

 

engine2.JPG

 

engine1.JPG

 

Cover1.JPG

 

Further updates as I progress.

 

Todd

Link to comment
  • 1 month later...

It has been a while, but things on the car slow down when school starts, and the "get ready for winter" list becomes a priority.I started looking at the engine bay while the L20b was out, and decided to take the fenders off and have a look at the frame rails. Good choice, it turns out, as there is some rust to repair. Here are some pics of what I need to fix.

 

Frame rail inside the wheel well at the front where the bumper attaches.

 

outside_frame_rail.JPG

 

Its difficult to see but there is a hole by the curve near the bottom. There is also some work needed around the mounting locations for the steering box.

 

outside_frame_rail2.JPG

 

On the inside of the frame rail, opposite the previous hole.

 

inside_frame_rail2.JPG

 

 

 

The fender and the valance have some rust on the bottom corners, but should be fixable without removing metal.

 

valance.JPG

 

right_fender.JPG

 

These are the areas where I will start working with any rust issues. Then, I will move toward the back of the car. Once the frame rails are taken car of, I will get at the floors, which are solid but need to have surface rust removed.

 

Todd

  • Like 1
Link to comment
  • 2 months later...

I manged to get back at the car over the last couple of days. The driver's side has had the first layer of metal removed as it was quite rotten. The layer underneath was not too bad. The pictures aren't that great, but after a good wire wheeling and blasting it is pocked, but solid. I will weld new sheet metal in to replace the old stuff. It is amazing how brake fluid can find its way into evry crack and rot out the steel.

 

DSCF5178.JPG

 

DSCF5179.JPG

 

DSCF5180.JPG

 

The passenger side looked OK until I started peeling away the undercoating and the first layer of steel. There is some rot there that will need a little more surgery than I anticipated. Such is the journey of fixing a Datsun.

 

DSCF5181.JPG

 

DSCF5182.JPG

 

When this is done, I will be tackling the engine bay for paint and then onto the rockers and some other surface rust. All I need is more time. Anyone know where I can get some of that?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
  • 1 month later...

Update:

 

The frame rail on the passenger side had a large amount of metal removed from both layers near the front. The patch is welded in and it is now solid.

 

Patch_Passenger_Frame_Rail.JPG

 

Other small patches filled in the holes that were left after removing rusty sections of the frame rail.

 

Patches_DS_Frame_Rail.JPG

 

I found some more rust as I welded, and had to add patches. Once this is finished, I will seal the bare metal with a chassis paint. Following that I will make the next layer to fit over the frame rail, like it was before I removed it. The challenge will be the "dimples" that are pressed into the frame rail (where the mounting bolt holes are for the crossmember).

 

DSCF5180.JPG

 

As an aside, I got a plasma cutter for Christmas, what a great tool! This equals much less time spent with a die grinder and cutoff wheel.

 

Todd

Link to comment

Update:

 

The frame rail on the passenger side had a large amount of metal removed from both layers near the front. The patch is welded in and it is now solid.

 

Patch_Passenger_Frame_Rail.JPG

 

Other small patches filled in the holes that were left after removing rusty sections of the frame rail.

 

Patches_DS_Frame_Rail.JPG

 

I found some more rust as I welded, and had to add patches. Once this is finished, I will seal the bare metal with a chassis paint. Following that I will make the next layer to fit over the frame rail, like it was before I removed it. The challenge will be the "dimples" that are pressed into the frame rail (where the mounting bolt holes are for the crossmember).

 

DSCF5180.JPG

 

As an aside, I got a plasma cutter for Christmas, what a great tool! This equals much less time spent with a die grinder and cutoff wheel.

 

Todd

  • Like 1
Link to comment

Kool, reminds me of replacing kick panels/rockers on a 2000 and my 1st 510. Living in ohio the only way to own these cars is to know how to weld! I've done all my crap the hard way, - gas - . The TIG unit I have won't run well with sheet metal unless the parts are a really good fit, and that don't happen doing rust repair.

Link to comment

So, between helping my 14 year old dig his snowmobile out of snow drifts and clearing the driveway, I manged to get out to the shop and finish the final layer for the passenger side.

 

Frame_Rail_Patch.JPG

 

The "indents" are noticeable on the whole piece. When I removed the rust, the final shape ended up curved. It likely would have been easier if the top was straight. The small holes are for "spot welds". The larger holes are for the idler arm bolts and the bumper bracket bolts.

 

This is what the indents look like from the back.

 

Indents_Back.JPG

 

This is what the indents look like from the bottom of the patch.

 

Indents_Bottom1.JPG

 

This is what they look like from the front of the patch.

 

Indents_Front.JPG

 

I hopefully will get out to the shop and weld it in in the next couple of days. It's supposed to get down to -35C or -31F here this week so a warm shop will be the place to be.

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Here are some pictures of the patches welded in. The quality of the photos isn't great, but the idea is there.

 

As for Datsuntech asking for updates: get your ass in your car and come see it, you know where I live! ;p)

 

Passenger_side_welded.JPG

 

Drivers_side_welded2.JPG

 

The project moves along. It has been an interesting learning curve. Now that the frame rails are patched, the next phase is the engine bay. I started on the driver's side getting at the brake fluid damaged paint and any surface rust. It looked way worse than it actually was. The rust was surface, and there was no rot at all. Here is a picture after some paint was stripped off.

 

Engine_bay1.JPG

 

Once the engine bay is ready, I will post final shots of that. Then it's on to the rockers. There is not a lot of rust but definitely in need of some repair.

Link to comment
  • 2 months later...

So, after finding a couple of hours to get in the shop to find rust on the car, I did exactly that. Still mostly solid but the passenger side seems to be worse than the driver's side. There is a little rust in the rockers, no surprise there, and also right at the bottom corner where the indentation shape for the bumper is.

 

right_rear.jpg

 

Here is the rocker work.

 

end_of_rocker.jpg

 

I turns out that the car had been hit at some point in the rear wheel area, as this is the spot I found a good layer of bondo smoothing it out. I have no picture of that area.

 

The following surprised me. The bubbling paint did an outstanding job of hiding some time consuming metal work!

 

bottom_of_passenger_doors.jpg

 

I have a spare front door that I will use for the front door, the rear door will be a challenge! This will set me back a bit in terms of time.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.