Paul's 69 2 Door project

[Trophy24]

Well, here is the start of the project thread. I have been learning alot about 510's here on Ratsun and made the trip to Canby last year to get some inspiration for this car. I fix cars for a living, so mechanical stuff is no big deal for me, especially old school stuff like this. I bought this one as someone elses non running failed project. The PO no time for this car, so...

My son and I will be fixing it up together. He is 15 and digs 510's too.

 

I brought it home looking like this:

 

 

 

 

I had a 4 door 510 project car to finish and sell, so long time delay for the start of this one. Pulled the L20b and dogleg out to make room for the KA24DE

 

 

Engine turns over by hand ok, trans shifts fine sitting there. Will sell it asap with all the extra L series stuff that came with the car.

 

Engine bay looks like this. many layers of paint now cracking and peeling. It's going to be a bitch to strip down and clean up.

 

 

Good news is there has been some stich welding done to strengthen the body some. I think this car has been around...

 

 

Stock suspension just waiting to come out. I have a Datsport crossmember and suspension set up sitting on the shelf. 200SX struts and Koni inserts ready to go. Just need coilovers and some new bushings. From what I have read, wheel fitment will be a challenge with the Datsport suspension. I will have to see when I get to that point. I may have to get creative.

 

 

Feel free to chime in with suggestions or constructive criticism. I dont know everything, (hardly) and will appreciate input from the experts here on Ratsun. I have a buddy that will be doing the bodywork for me on this car. It is pretty solid, having had alot of work done already (new floors etc.) I am sure he will find plenty to do when the primer gets stripped off. More pics to follow as things develop...

[Wide14u]

looks like a great father and son project keep us posted :D

[TENDRIL]

looks like an awesome car to start from some are not so lucky :lol: ,

[fisch]

Welcome and great intro post! Looks like a very solid foundation by Datsun standards!

[Trophy24]

Wow, have not posted here in for ever... Life can get in the way as some of you guys know. Decided to give an update on the agonizingly slow progress on this car.

 

I have been slowly picking up the parts for this project as time has passed. Decided to start actually fixing up this thing by starting in the rear suspension/brakes and drivetrain area. I have no real history on this car, so I thought I should take care of the important stuff so it won't bite me later when I (hopefully) am driving down the road at a high rate of speed.

 

Rear wheel bearings. Did my research here and figured out what I needed to proceed. Wheel bearings, seals and the axle hub nuts in hand, so off I went.

 

Used a cut off wheel to remove the staked part of the big nut before removing so the threads would not get damaged.

 

 

After it came off with the impact gun and the proper socket it looked like this

 

 

Bolted on the slide hammer, and out came the rest...

 

 

 

Had to clean up the threads with a thread file. Kind of sucked, as the grind off method on the nut usually works for me at work without having to do this, oh well

 

[Trophy24]

What was left behind...

 

 

Sold the drum brake backing plates and the aluminum drums to a member here for his ride.

 

Here is what the hub looked like after bead blasting and painting

 

 

New bearings and seals installed with a hammer and the proper sized pipe, sorry no pics of the hammer work!

 

My stub axles had torn boots and the u joints were shakey loking, so I took them apart for a rebuild. Thanks to the info found here on Ratsun, I found new boots and clamps for the job.

Here are some of the parts in progress. Blasted and primered for the eventual finish coat of black.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Trophy24]

Rear diff time!

 

Bought the car as a non runner/driver. Found that the rear diff was completely wasted (as in it wont turn). I already planned on installing a LSD so this did not freak me out.

 

Subi clutch type LSD I found trolling a Subaru forum.

 

 

Inspected the internals and found it to be in good shape. Since I cant leave things alone, I decided to make it pretty. Bead blasted the rear cover and side bearing retainers and painted the housing gloss black with engine paint. Bought a new LSD sticker off ebay for good looks.

 

 

 

Filled it up with some of this really freaking expensive oil. I am sure there are other options, but these things hold up well with this stuff so that is what I got.

 

 

[Trophy24]

Thought it might be good to post pictures of the difference between the Subi and Datsun flanges on the diff.

 

 

And the retaining bolts. I used an 8mm socked to remove these as the correct socket I had was not deep enough to get down in the hole. This might not work if yours are really stuck. Subi on the left, Datsun on the right

 

 

 

And the finished product.

 

 

 

I have the mustach bar painted and ready to go. I will post pics of the install hopefully tomorrow.

[Trophy24]

So, I met up with Carter B to buy a head light mounting bracket.  He asked me if I had a build thread for my car.  I must admit that I have not kept it updated very much.  So here are some things I have been doing on the 510.

 

First the promised pic of the rear Subi diff installed in the car...

 

 

A buddy of mine (who works at a body shop) will be helping me with some of the stuff I cant do well enough to satisfy my inner perfectionist.

 

Here is a picture of Tylor maki'n sparks while shaving some holes in the engine ba.y

 

 

 

So I knew there was some bondo on the drivers side rear quarter panel when I bought it.  I did some investigating with Tylor and we found a really crappy repair there.  Not that unusual based on other peoples posts about their cars.  Here is what I found after clearing the drain hole behind the tire of some built up mud.

 

 

Seems like the patch panel is peeling off... Wonder what they used to hold it on???

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Trophy24]

I knew replacement sheet metal was in order, so I have been watching the for sale threads.  Found this 69 quarter that fivetenzen was selling. 

 

 

Tylor sizing up the surgery on the rear quarter...

 

 

Wait, WTF???? LOL

wow just wow...

 

 

 

So after some serious time spot weld drilling and such, the area to be replaced appears...

 

 

 

[Trophy24]

Another view of some spot welds from another angle

 

 

I used some metal prep from POR15 on this area.  With some etching primer it will be ready for action.

 

 

A quick test fit of the replacement panel

 

[Trophy24]

Put a flange on the seam for the replacement panel.  It makes welding a new piece a lot easier than a butt joint.

 

 

Here is the panel pretty much fitted in place and being held with sheet metal screws for welding

 

 

 

 

Weld a little, move to a new spot.  Weld a little more, move to a new spot.  Repeat

 

 

Looks ready for some grinding of the welded area.

 

[Trophy24]

So the work continues...

 

The new quarter is installed and the welds are ground down.  Time to strip all this primer off and find out what is underneath.  Looks like a non pristine body here.  I will have to grind off the filler and see how to best deal with the damage.  Hopefully I wont have to replace any more sheet metal.  We will see.

 

 

And the passenger side rear quarter damage

 

 

 

 

How do you guys like to remove old body filler? 

Grind with rough paper?

torch/scrape?

[thisismatt]

Comes out pretty quick with a twisted wire cup or wheel:

 

 

[Trophy24]

So I gave the twisted wire wheel a try and it works pretty well.  Thanks thisismatt.

 

Slow progress here.  I get to sneak a few hours at a time.

 

[izzo]

Good job man. Thanks for taking the time doing the quarter panel right instead of half assing it. It really sucks finding shit like that when you buy a car :\

 

That rear end really is nice and clean man!

[Yakuza]

love this...cant wait to see the rest of your build...

[the510keeper]

Your quarter panel replacement was very nice, thanks for all the detailed pics

[carterb]

Your kid's getting a great lesson.  Is he working on this with you?

[Cmac]

http://www.3m.com/product/information/Roloc-Bristle-Disc.html

 

Another great alternative to the wire wheel. without the flying wire pieces. Great work on the quarter panel replacement. 

[Trophy24]

Thanks for the encouragement guys.

My son has helped me with the car, but is not into it like I am. More paint stripping in my future. I will see what I can get done this weekend.

 

We replaced this at work today on a Subaru.

 

 

 

Must resist the turbo!

[Trophy24]

So more paint stripping this weekend.

 

[the510keeper]

Something about bare metal

[Trophy24]

Spent some time this weekend trying to finish the dis-assembly of the car. Out comes what is left of the dash

Now looks like this

And this

Removed the headliner as well.

All I have left is the door internals. I think I am going to have the rest of the car media blasted. I really don't have the time to strip it and still get it painted this summer. I have a hook up with a towing company to get it delivered. Any recommendation in the north Seattle/Everett area for whole car blasting?

[Trophy24]

So I sent the car off this week for media blasting at a place in Marysville.  Here is what it looked like before blasting after I pushed it out of the garage for the tow truck. 

 

 

 

The ride height is a little high in the back, but that stuff will be sorted out later.  The springs it came with were cut super low and made it too hard to work on.  I just put wood blocks in there for now.

 

 

 

You can see the original color blue on some of the interior panels.  I think I like it enough to keep it that color when it comes time to paint.  So hard to choose when everything will be painted anyway.  If you are going to do a color change, now is the time to do it. 

 

 

Goodbye to the car for now.  When it comes back it will be totally naked LOL!