dimlight65 Posted March 15, 2018 Report Share Posted March 15, 2018 So I found these really cool drip-rail roof-rack standoff things on them intergoogles the other day. I thought, "Man, those would be really cool on the van and the Baja 1200!" I tried to buy a couple sets but they were not in stock... anywhere! Every site who listed them was sold out and didn't know when they would be getting more. I told John that I thought they were "vaporware" and resigned myself to building my own rack leg standoff thingies. Then the other day I was informed by The Zon (Amazon) that they had a seller with them in stock. I snapped up two sets. They arrived today. I figure I'll make a general purpose rack on top of the van and a tire-rack/light bar for the 1200. 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted March 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 Standoffs... 1 Quote Link to comment
sebpv Posted March 19, 2018 Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 I might be alone in this, but I feel a rack with a smaller gap with the roof would look better. Wouldnt look as much "vintage" but there is so much we already do to improve our rides...I would cut those just above the clips and weld the rack straight onto the legs, or perhaps cut in shorter halves and weld them together and reuse the threaded holes. Otherwise I wonder how malleable the aluminum? can be. Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted March 20, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 Might be easier to just trim some off the bottom of the legs and shorten the tension bolt? That would get it lower without trying to weld on questionably cast aluminum. ^_^ Quote Link to comment
sebpv Posted March 20, 2018 Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 didnt think about the bottoms Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted March 21, 2018 Report Share Posted March 21, 2018 didnt think about the bottoms You gotta think about the bottoms! 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted February 17, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2019 (edited) Well, we decided to put it on the top side for now... Tim acquired some aluminum rod that fit the uprights, as well as a cool basket, so we put it all together... We also made some tweaks to the column and stripped the dash down to the bare frame so we could make sure everything fits together and lines up nicely from the driver's seat... We ended up swapping Tim's wheel adapter out for one I had that was considerably slimmer to move the steering wheel about 2" further away from the driver... ? Edited February 17, 2019 by datsunfreak 4 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted April 21, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2019 A little more work done this week... Took the EGR bits off the intake, tapped the hole for a plug and filed off the mounts... Gave it a bath in some degreaser and it came back looking pretty good. Also picked up a 38/38 Weber for it... Then Tim had an idea... Then Tim made a thing... And now we are here... Up next we are going to build an air box that fits inside the dash, then make a pipe that goes up to the roof for one of those off-roader snorkel thingies... 😁 You can also see evidence there of Tim's homebrew 2" suspension lift. And the result of that was... 4 1 Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted April 21, 2019 Report Share Posted April 21, 2019 Probably was stated somewhere in this thread, but what size tires are those? Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted April 22, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2019 (edited) 9 hours ago, ]2eDeYe said: Probably was stated somewhere in this thread, but what size tires are those? 195/75-14, but with the "all terrain" tread, they are a bit taller than the stated size. Overall diameter is around 27", but a regular "all season" 195/75-14 is around 26". Edited April 22, 2019 by datsunfreak 1 Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted April 22, 2019 Report Share Posted April 22, 2019 Cool, I will be running a bit taller tire, but not by much. Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted May 6, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2019 (edited) On 4/22/2019 at 8:38 AM, ]2eDeYe said: Cool, I will be running a bit taller tire, but not by much. I was a bit off on my numbers I'm afraid. This is a 25.5" tire. New alternator in and brackets modified to suit it... And new lumpy cam installed... Edited May 6, 2019 by datsunfreak 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted May 6, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2019 Also, we had a spare valve cover so we did a little "customizing" to it. Should be done on Wednesday, so pics to follow... Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted May 16, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2019 Catch can mounted, soon to be plumbed... Got an RX7 oil cooler for it because we wanted to do this... And this... Plan is to run one big electric fan on the outside covering both... 1 Quote Link to comment
Duncan Posted May 16, 2019 Report Share Posted May 16, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, datsunfreak said: Catch can mounted, soon to be plumbed... I like the label that says "Oil Catch Can". You need one for the "Big Ass Alternator" as well. 😀 Edited May 16, 2019 by Duncan 2 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted May 24, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2019 On 5/6/2019 at 5:15 PM, datsunfreak said: Also, we had a spare valve cover so we did a little "customizing" to it. Should be done on Wednesday, so pics to follow... So the stock Z valve covers have these three big threaded bosses cast into the top of them that really ugly it up. Step #1 was to grind those off, file it smooth, and hit it with some wrinkly black... Then I scraped the paint off the letters and stripe and hit it with some satin purple. Then sanded the stripe and letters smooth... Altogether that was surprisingly a lot of work, but it came out pretty cool I think... Then we thought, might as well make the carb hat match right? Finalized the location for the fuel pressure regulator and gauge... And here is where we are now... Up next is routing the hoses for the remote oil filter and oil cooler, then the catch can hoses. Then it's on to sorting out the wiring routing and fuse box location... 7 1 Quote Link to comment
Lockleaf Posted May 25, 2019 Report Share Posted May 25, 2019 I consider this double win. I've done the exact same work (de-boss, wrinkle paint, and sand letters/stripe) to two of those valve covers. I think it's a great look. And every engine i rebuild gets painted statutory grape, so second engine win. 😄 1 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted June 17, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2019 (edited) After much effort, and parts sourcing, I think I have Tim convinced to go with a stock dash instead of a flat steel dash. Gauge mockup... Tim decided to relocate the wiper up here... And put the master kill where the wiper used to be... He found some even bigger air horns, so those went in... Then he made a steel frame to mount the fuel cell to... I made some floor plates for the main hoop of the cage... Some mocking up for grokking... We will probably start welding in the cage on Wednesday... Edited June 17, 2019 by datsunfreak 3 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted June 21, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2019 Well, the new welder (Lincoln MIG) sucks much ass, so we did not get as far as we wanted to. Spend most of the evening just trying to get the damn thing to work right... New plan is to just use the Lincoln to tack it in place, then drag the TIG machine over to do the heavy lifting. Stay tuned... Or we may make it a bolt in and just weld it on the big welding table. Which I would prefer... 😄 Quote Link to comment
goes2fast Posted June 22, 2019 Report Share Posted June 22, 2019 What is wrong with the mig? I'm curious because I have issues that I have been blaming on my vision. Quote Link to comment
Duncan Posted June 26, 2019 Report Share Posted June 26, 2019 On 6/21/2019 at 3:40 PM, datsunfreak said: Well, the new welder (Lincoln MIG) sucks much ass, so we did not get as far as we wanted to. Spend most of the evening just trying to get the damn thing to work right... I have a Lincoln mig machine, and right out of the box, the damn thing would NOT blow any shielding gas out of the tip. I took it to a warranty center twice for the same thing, and they never got it working right. I found the local distro center and gave the Manager an earful. Since they were close, he asked me to bring it back and they upgraded me to a new machine that was about $350 more expensive than the one I bought. That one is now about 12-13 years old, and never had any problems with it. The first machine was a real drag, but they really took care of me. I hope you get a similar outcome as I did. Oh yeah, and LOVIN' the purple under-hood accoutrements! Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted July 5, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2019 On 6/22/2019 at 9:00 AM, goes2fast said: What is wrong with the mig? I'm curious because I have issues that I have been blaming on my vision. It keeps spitting and not wanting run a continuous bead. When I did finally get it to run a bead, it's too fat and not getting enough penetration. Just overall not great performance. I am starting to just hate all 110v machines. We only bought this one because it was one of the best rated 110v machines. I went ahead and painted the inside of the fenders and installed them, then straightened the lower valence and installed it. So now, after 3+ years the car has a face again... We had a push bar from a Crown Vic police car so Tim said why the fuck not... It will be used to mount the 9" round LED off road lights we have for it, and well as something to bolt a skid plate to... 4 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted July 6, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2019 We made some mounting brackets from flat steel plate and got those welded on... Didn't get a chance to test fit it because we want to drill the light mounting holes first, and Tim was busy playing with his new project... 😄 2 Quote Link to comment
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