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Project: 74' B210 --- *Updated 6/13/16*


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YO FELLOW RATSUNS!

 

So, I'm starting my "build thread" here.  I'm calling it Enigma, well, because that's the best word I could come up with that described this build.  I'm going to just go at it as I can, doing what I can while I save up for some of the big ticket items (IE: Engine & Drive train swap, wheels, ect). 

 

I kinda pride myself on doing things myself, but I do ask a ton of questions and research like crazy before I attempt anything.  I feel like I'm more geared towards interior restoring, modding and over all tearing apart. So, yeah I like making things look pretty.   The mechanical side of things, not so much.  I can do a full tune up, change plugs, cap, rotor, wires, Oils, and keep it generally serviced.  But doing something like an engine swap is way above my know how.  I do have a bud that does a lot of stuff like that so I will be going to him quite often as well as coming to you guys for advice and general direction assistance.

 

 

So, that being said. LET IT BEGIN!!

 

I'm happy to say that the first thing I've done (other than the stupid hubcaps) to this car was fix the bushing issue on my shifter.

 

So, got some bushings.  (Ordered a few for backups, and to see if i can find something that would work better in the future.

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Installed into the shifter:

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Back in it's home nice and snug!!

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Everything put back in it's place and tested.

 

Wow, NIGHT AND DAY!  Freaking awesome!  I had to pat myself on the back a few times, felt rather good fixing something on a car again!

 

More interior stuff to come soon!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

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Cool. Those silly little bushings can make a huge difference. Let's see some pics of the rest of the car.

 

OMG I knew it was bad, but WOW I didn't think it was THAT bad... no bushings = crap, with bushings = awesome!

 

 

Edit: found the other thread......Carry on.

LOL :rofl: thanks, I think I'll do that now :)

 

Alright, so starting on a small interior job. 

 

The side pillars were looking pretty shabby.  The driver side was all cracked up and split in two.  So i popped it off, as well as the passenger side, that one was still in one piece but it was in bad shape as well.

 

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So, got some of that imitation leather fabric stuff from my local fabric store used the one good whole pillar plastic piece and cut out a pattern.  

Thank goodness i got a enough, that thing is so warped it threw off the pattern quite a bit so I had to remake it.

 

Tomorrow I'm going to glue the leather to a cut out of cardboard and use that to mount it on the side pillar.  I haven't decided if i want to add a few little design touches to it yet.

 

I was thinking about adding the Datsun "D" as a raised letter between the material and the cardboard.  Make it look like it was meant to be like that.  

Not sure exactly what I want to do yet, but the 'D' was the only thing I could think of that might not look to cheesy.  Maybe even B210 or something like that.  

I don't know, but the material is cheap enough, and easy enough to work with that even if i did make something and it looked crap that it wouldn't bother me to remake it.

 

I'll have some more pics up tomorrow.  Might even be able to get one installed.

 

Late!

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Yeah, i saw the work around on that one. I bought extras because I was thinking about visiting a few "classic car" parts stores in my area and seeing if there was anything compatible that didn't have to be modded.

 

If not, at least it'll give me a good idea of how they're meant to fit, so when I do mod me a set of the brass ones in the future I'll be a little more confident with my work.

 

Btw @ MicroMachinery

I know I'll probably be drawn and quartered for not knowing , but I gotta ask, besides being a city what's "Canby", and why do I need to hurry up? lol

 

Edit: nevermind I figured it out lol

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Found these really nice rims, what do you think? Will they fit nicely on the B210?

 

Grrr.. Can't link it right now. My phone is being squirly.

 

Anyways, they're 14x5.5", 4x114.3 bolt pattern, and have a 22mm positive offset (not sure what the offset part means, but the other stuff seems to be correct for the B210)

 

THANKS!

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Hey guys, some interior and a small exterior update.

 

 

First I finally got a little bit of weather stripping to aid in keeping out some of the wind that was rushing into the cabin while i was on the freeway.

 

Figured one side's worth of pictures would be sufficient to get across the point.  :thumbup:

 

 

So, the original seals were so bad it was like breaking apart a 5 year old cookie that had been left out in the sun to dry lol  Got them off, cleaned, and installed the new ones rather easy.  

 

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Looks nice and clean now!

 

Okay, so next a continuation of my side pillar update.

 

I cut out the dimensions on to cardboard, and then glued the leatherette on to the cardboard, once I was able to figure out how to trace out the side pillar it went pretty quickly.  

 

Here's both front and back, and then the final install.  There was quite a bit of trimming and fine tuning once I had it up, but over all i think it turned out great.  

 

I might redo it in the future and add a small thin layer of padding between the leatherette and the cardboard to reduce the creases shown because of the slight bend in the pillar making the cardboard crease, but other than that I think it looks 100 times better than that cheap cracking plastic.  

 

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Next will be the other side, and hopefully getting the sound deadening, the wiring for my sound system and the power door lock / alarm system installed.

I have most of the stuff ready to go for those fazes but still waiting on a few small parts.  Didn't want to start it unless i could do it all at the same time.  It's a pain to have to do all that and rip everything apart more than once lol

 

Thanks for checking this out and have an awesome extended weekend!

 

-Tolk

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Found these really nice rims, what do you think? Will they fit nicely on the B210?

 

Grrr.. Can't link it right now. My phone is being squirly.

 

Anyways, they're 14x5.5", 4x114.3 bolt pattern, and have a 22mm positive offset (not sure what the offset part means, but the other stuff seems to be correct for the B210)

 

THANKS!

 

Offset is where the wheel bolts up in relation to the centerline of the rim.

 

wheel_offset.jpeg

 

In RWD, the more desireable offset is negative. Positive offset rims tend to be geared more towards FWD cars. +22 offset is quite a bit.. you'll very likely run into issues where the lip of the wheel is contacting your strut. Move along.

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ohhhhh okay I get it now!  lol thanks!!

 

So probably having a 0 off set would be best, or even a little negative depending on how big I go with the new rims.

 

Seriously, thanks for the input on that!  Just means i gotta keep on searching lol

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So, I was a busy man today.  I got quite a bit done.  

 

I finished the driver side pillar upgrade, same exact thing as the passenger up above so i figured pictures would be redundant.  But if you insist I shall oblige. 

 

So my next project was my front grill.  Here's a before picture i took last week i think.

 

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I started by stripping it down, and gave it a good scrubbing down.  After drying all the parts with a towel and my sister's hair dryer I hung the grill up from one of the rafters in my garage. 

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I also stripped the turn signals and the grill "D" emblem down as well.

 

Then I spent quite a long time laying down 4 layers of plexi-dip in matte black. It's my first time using the dip but I've probably watched about 300 videos about it.  So i felt fairly confident in my ability to do it right.  Besides, if you screw it up you can just peel it off and start over again. 

 

As of about 30 minutes ago.  The finished product!!

 

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I think it turned out FANTASTIC!!!!  Here's a close up of the air spoiler thingy (?), the D and turn signal rings.

 

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I have something special planned for the D, but I won't be finished with that until probably tomorrow night.  

 

Looking forward to getting this back on the b210 and showing off her sexy new grill!   :)

 

Have a good night, and again thanks for stopping by!

 

-Tolk

 

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Okay, so I did quite a bit more today. It was a small project but it will end up saving me some time down the road.

 

I upgraded my Positive and Negative battery terminals, and cables.  They were pretty nasty and probably about ready to fall apart, let alone give me engine trouble.  I had planned and already bought these in prep for my sound system install, but putting them in now means I don't have to worry about it later.

 

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Looks and performs rather well, and I love the orange power cable :) hehe

 

Second, Datsun Emblem 2.0 - I had to peel and start the respray on my emblem because I messed up with some of the detail work i was going to do.  Thank goodness it's so easy to peel off the plexi-dip and start over.   LOVE THAT STUFF!!

 

Oh, this time i used the bolt on the back to fix it to a piece of cardboard.  WINNING!   So much easier to move it around and get the sides now without leaving my fingerprints.

 

So, now on to the sexy grill!!   :w00t:  :thumbup:  :thumbup:

 

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WOOT!  Sooooo sexy I love it!   :thumbup:  :thumbup:  :thumbup:  :thumbup: Now to get new bumpers, wheels, side mirrors, paint job, engine swap, suspension upgrades, and sound system installed!   

Um... gotta keep reminding myself, one thing at a time.  Do it right, fit it tight and it'll be alright.  B)

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Grill looks great. What's wrong with the factory paint? It looks good to me.

lol there are quite a few nicks and scratches all over, as well as a few small dents on the hood and then the large one on the passenger door.  When i get those fixed i'm going to match the original paint code and have it resprayed the same color.

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So, my interior project has officially started.

 

First was a complete tear down of the interior.

 

20150529_174454.jpg

 

For 41 years old, she's in pretty dang good shape :)

 

Some of it was harder than heck getting up, but after liberally applying a de-greasing solution i was able to clean it up really well.

 

This is after the first run through with the clean up.  

20150529_190921.jpg

 

I should have taken a few more pics of it as it stands now, but my mind started to melt.  Was out there for almost 5 hours straight working on this.

 

I was also able to start on the passenger front door.  I got the door-card off, and drilled the hole in the side pillar and door, and put in some nice rubber grommets to accommodate the new alarm system and power door locks i'm installing. 

 

20150529_220726.jpg

 

hate the fact that they used glue to place the stupid plastic around the door. I tried chipping away at some of it, but just ended up scratching the door paint.  It's not that big of a deal, the door-card will cover it up when it's back on.  but it still upsets me.

 

And, day one is officially closed...

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Showered, and now posted.  Gonna crash in a few.

 

Have an awesome weekend fellow ratz!

 

-Tolk

 

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So, just a quick update.

 

Ive completed the alarm, power door locks, and trunk release intall. I've also laid about 90% of the sound deadening down but i ran out and need to buy some more to finish off a tiny bit of the cabin and then the trunk.

 

The interior project is on hold for now while i work on a few mechanical issues, so ill update with picks soon, have some impressive ideas for my carpet replacement so look forward to sharing that with you.

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So, here's what I've been working on in my spare time when not trying to figure out where the heck my vacuum leak was coming from.  (found it today btw  :thumbup: )

 

 20150603_171027.jpg

 

I know it's not fantastic, it's only the 3rd thing I've had any experience using plasti-dip on.

 

I matte blacked out the whole emblem, then used the brightest orange fingernail polish i could find and tried to evenly set it in the middle "D".

 

Didn't come out quite as I had hoped.  I think what I'm going to have to do is plasti-dip the thing in orange, then tape off that D, then re-dip it in the black. Kind of like how the videos do the two-toned rims.

 

For now it'll do.

 

 

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YO!

 

First of, apologies for not updating this sooner.  Engine and mechanical issues have kept me rather busy and so the interior stuff was put to the side for a while.  I have been able to get out into the garage to work on it a few times and do have some stuff done.  

 

I'm rather all over the place with my work flow, so sorry in advance.  I tend to have three or four projects going on at the same time, there's always that one thing that requires something else, and can't work on the other thing until I get a part in, and that is holding up something else as well, so I'll just do this... etc, etc....

 

So, I marked out some new door panels and cut them out using some MDF.  It's still in the rough stages, and you'll notice several drawings and other such things of different ideas I had until I made my choice and cut it.  

 

Here's the cut out and fit.  Took me a full two hours to notch back enough of the internal cut a mm at a time to get that perfect tight fit on the speaker pod. I used my dremel and the router attachment to softly shave off layer by layer until the lip fit perfectly.  It almost looks like it's not even cut out :)  i was very happy with the results.

20150627_142403.jpg

 

Modding the speaker pod.  I used one of my old 6.5" speaker rings to map out the perfect fit.  Then i taped it up and cut it out.  

Just a small hint for anyone wanting to do this.  The dremel is PERFECT for cutting this out.  Just lengthen your universal bit enough to allow it to cut through the plastic, but not through the ring and it'll make you a perfect circle every time :)

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Finished product.

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Fitted into the door panel

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Passenger side test fit (just flipped it over and bam, easy peasy)

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Moved onto my trunk.  I used some duct king insulation on this because 1- it's cheaper, and 2- it's thicker and will absorb some more road noise as well as keep the vibrations down to a minimum.  Proly looks ghetto, but it works, and no one other than you guys will ever know it was there ;)

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Stopped for a beer with my best bud... seriously good stuff!!!

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Have to jam for a few, will finish posting the rest later!

 

 

 

 

 

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So, back from a free movie in the park with some friends.  Little Shop of Horrors... classic and awesome :)

 

 

Next on the update is the trunk floor.  I used three separate cuts of MDF to make the base. They were scrap in my garage, i seriously didn't have to cut anything other than the notches out in the top and bottom piece and they fit PERFECTLY.  I couldn't have measured, cut and planned it out this well lol

 

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Next I added a layer of carpet padding to it.  I went with some thick recycled material from my local Home Depot, so it was cheap and will help keep the noise down as well.

 

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Sorry for the fuzzy pic, but this one shows off my genius plan. The floor board will "roll up" to allow for easy access to my spare tire, as well as pulling it out and putting it back in. No extra stuff needed, the glue on the padding, and the support of the added carpet later holds it perfectly.

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Then the floor carpet was installed.

 

I got this awesome "fabric" chalk pin.  Thing is great for drawing out lines for cutting, made installing the carpet so much easier.

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Here it is in the trunk looking rather clean :)

 

Oh, and not sure if I mentioned it but I was able to use the old cardboard like gas tank cover to make a much nicer MDF version.  That's what you see above as well as in the pic below.

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Then I added the carpet to the tank cover...  looking very nice   :thumbup:  :thumbup:

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I'll be making some nice side covers as well.  They'll Velcro or screw into the side pillars and cover up the pockets and sound deadening as well.  I'm leaning towards the velcro route, as I'd like them to be easily removable.  Was thinking about using the side fender pocket area as some tool storage, as well as some oil and spare items storage.   I just need to find some cardboard so i can make some templates lol

 

As that was all I could do on the trunk for now, i went to work on my dash.  Seeing as my seat-belt warning light had been tossed, as well as my rear defroster didn't work anyways i decided to utilize that space for my stereo deck.

 

I pulled off my dash

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And cut out the new home for my deck. 

Don't forget to say hi to Dave... he keeps my car safe.

 

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Started measuring and building the MDF mount i was going to use to mount my deck.  It needed a serious curve on the back to lay flat against the curve on the dash so i went to work.  (thank goodness for a upside down belt sander, made life easy on this one!)

 

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A few test fits after the 24 hour glue in & sand down process.

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This PVC plastic plate will install over the current mount, covering up the bezel and adding a little bling to it when i'm done.  You'll either hate it, or love it.  Either way, it'll be mine so :P

 

20150705_170729.jpg

 

Next, while I had the dash off.  My bud - blown240 - gave me a free ghetto digital tach.  After ignoring his suggestion, i waited a few months and then acted like it was my idea to put it where the broken air vent was.  Here's me measuring it out.

20150705_180440.jpg

 

And with it installed, and the dash back in.  I'm tellin ya, it fit like a glove.  I didn't have to mod or cut anything.  Just right in.   Kinda scary that it fit so well, nothing so far has been that easy on this car lol

20150705_192645.jpg

 

Another shot of the dash installed, with Dave watching over things, and my deck looking right at home.  I have plans for the area where the old stock stereo is, so stay tuned for that :)

20150705_195917.jpg\

 

 

Welp, that's it for now.  I've caught ya up on everything I've done so far.  I've got a few more things to tidy up in the cabin, as well as I got me a full power window kit.  So i'll be working on that here in the next few weeks as well as finishing out my door panels.  

 

 

Hope you enjoyed going ghetto with me today.  

 

See ya around :)

 

-Tolk

 

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