radracer

Well, here is my problem. So when my wife and I divorced our agreement for who paid what listed specific times and items which I would pay and which she would pay. Part of what I agreed to pay was school expenses incurred before a certain date. So, she gives me a call week or so back telling me that there is a bill for her tuition that she never paid which was before the date set. So, due to our agreement I am now stuck with a 2400 bill which has to be paid down before Christmas. That basically kills what money I had planned to be putting towards Ramona, which means for now she is basically dead in the water. Im trying to trade some of my stuff to get the air compressor I need to move forward from here, but even that wont get me all of the way towards getting her back together. Not in the way I wanted her to be. So, looks like I'll be putting her on a trailer when I move this coming January (after which our payment agreement ceases and any further bills go to whomever's name is on the account - ie all hers) and wont be able to look at completing her till after then. Im sorry guys. I can still do some token work, but not much. If I manage to barter for some of the stuff I need, or sell some of my extra junk and get some parts here and there, I'll be sure to check in. Otherwise, I wouldnt expect to see much more of Ramona in 2012.

given the state of the rust in our floorboards, the rest would probably break out too DX

The major issue with sand is that it WILL pit your metal, and if it is a spot which has been weakened enough with rust it can put in more holes than you had originally. Granted, that final part is true of any medium if your air pressure is too high, but with sand particularly because of teh extremely sharp edges sand possesses. Other mediums, such as the aluminum/glass beads, the soda, and the crushed walnuts are better for automotive uses due to either having rounded edges (the beads) or being a softer material (the soda and walnuts). Regardless of the fineness of sand or the air pressure, sand will pit your metal due to the sharp edges; you will just have more or less pitting due to the qualities/pressure. All of this I learned from numerous books I bought/borrowed/downloaded on the subject. Everything post circa 1998-ish agrees that sand should never be used on an automobile. Love the gas mask, though, thats awesome. Im going to have to find an extra one of those to keep for just that purpose. Oh, and Im planning on doing the same thing as you when blasting large projects - set up a booth just like if I were painting.

Wow, does all that look familiar or what. I discovered through the knowledge of another user that the rubber stuff you had to pull off the floor boards (I had to do the same - what a pain in the ass!) is the sound-dampening material they installed in the factory. In case you havent removed the center console around the shifter yet, you will find yet another patch of it under there as well. But those floorboards. I never thought Id say this, but those look worse than mine do! it is going to be a bit of a pain repairing the metal around that seat bracket. Good luck man!

oh yea, sand should actually never be used for automotive uses. "sandblasting" is actually an antiquated term which is only used now as a reference to media blasting. there are many different preferable mediums, from tiny aluminum beads, glass beads, crushed walnuts, soda, etc. I will, of course, be using a respirator and full suit when I blast as to prevent silicosis, which can be caused by any blasting medium fine enough.

he he, you know how tight a nun's legs are at a politician's party? bravo, man. ;D Main problem with what you suggested is the line that goes around the back of the engine, from the exhaust manifold to the intake manifold. It is a seized as anything else. Still more accessible, though, so perhaps what you suggest is best.

oh yeah, forgot to mention: if you guys are looking into doing some grinding with your power drills, do NOT buy the Gator Finishing Products coarse grinding wheels for power drills. Their angle grinder wheels work just fine, but the ones for power drills are COMPLETELY WORTHLESS. The one I got came with two wheels and a central axle, and was advertised as being able to work as a single or double wide wheel. Well, when I put it together the bolts that came with it were too long or too short, AND the axle is too long for a single wheel, AND the backers to it are not even fixed so when you try to tighten down the lock the back just slips off and the wheels dont stay in place; they just stop spinning once you apply them to a surface to clean, while the axle spins at the center. BUY 3M GRINDING WHEELS FOR POWER DRILLS INSTEAD! I have never had a problem with these, and have yet to even go through a single one, though I use it A LOT. It is quality, and is lasting much longer than I expected it to. Definitely gotten my moneys worth out of it, as opposed to completely wasting my money on the Gator product. note: the packaging shown is for the angle grinder, yes. I already threw away the packaging for the power drill set, so I put that in there so you could see what their packaging looks like, and beware. The hardware shown on top of the packaging is the gear from the power drill grinding set, though, so if you see that set-up DO NOT buy it.

Alright, back on the job! First, some replies. To elmerfudpucker, thanks man, I'll definitely be sure to do that. In fact, it would probably just be best if I went and cleaned out the entire air system from front to back. I live in central Texas, and it is a tough sell to get someone to buy ANYTHING without AC here, so on the advice of some friends I had already decided I should probably get it working first, and in conjunction with that Ill just do a full clean up. Might as well, Im cleaning every other damn square inch of my girl. To Alec 720, I appreciate that. It is always tough for me to follow through with a project once I have hit the one month mark. For better or worse (really, just for worse) one thing I have learned about myself is that my enthusiasm for projects runs rampant for the first three weeks, and after that I have to force myself to stick with it. I know Im not special in this regard, but it is what it is, and I have hit that phase where I have to remind myself that sitting on the couch and watching South Park isnt helping a damn thing, and encouragement from the community is a HUGE help in maintaining the drive to complete the project. To bmacster, think long and hard before you decide to do any media blasting. It is definitely MUCH faster and easier than wire-wheeling and grinding, and without a doubt does a more complete job, but the problems that come along with it are formidable. For one, if you cant do it outside (like, say you live in suburbia, for instance), you will have to create a "chamber" in your garage or shop to catch all of the particles. Second, after media blasting you have to be VERY vigilant in getting all of the blasting media out and off before you even begin to think of painting, primer or otherwise. It can be a huge booster to your project, but if you arent careful you can screw a lot of things up. To Smyrna 720, man you just did me as much good as any of the books I have bought so far. Guys like you are what make it worth being a part of this community. I cant thank you enough for the information and experience you just imparted to me. Im sure your one post right there will end up saving me time and money in the stretch. THANKS! To 84 4X4, you can buy a soda blasting media which is essentially non-food quality baking soda in large quantities. It is less expensive per weight than baking soda, and comes in much larger quantities. I'd look into that the next time you want to do some blasting. It will cost you more in the short end, buying a large amount, but will save you in the long run, rather than using baking soda from the grocer's. Alrighty, now into the meat and potatoes. I got Ramona lifted up high enough to be able to get underneath her so that I can do work on removing the engine, and so that I can reach whatever I need to for other work as well. Being that she is a low-rider, it was damned impossible to do this without getting her off the ground. Being that she IS a low-rider, though, I decided that paranoia was justified in making sure that the platform for her was stable. Thus, I gave her 8 points of contact in support Not shown in this pic are the chock-blocks I have since put in front of and behind each of the tires. This way I can still climb all over her, as well as get underneath her, and not have to worry about getting crushed or decapitated by her dropping on me. I Have now gotten the bed of the truck about 2/3 of the way de-rusted and primed. I still have to do a good bit of work on the wheel wells, ie paint and rust removal, dent-pounding, and one patch panel to weld, but the work area on those is small enough and the rust minor enough that I should be able to do them both in one afternoon each. That means that, aside from removing the pain on the back wall of the bed and the side bed panels, Im nearly complete on the repair work on that area. some pics only gotta clean it up and paint it now and freshly primed Further work yesterday evening and today included following some of my new books (got in the Haynes for 80-96 Nissan/Datsun pickups and Pathfinders) in getting the engine ready for lifting out. On this particular point, I am stuck and in need of advice. All I have remaining is to disconnect the exhaust pipe from the manifold - 3 simple 14mm bolts... Each of which is locked as tight as a nun's legs at a politician's party. There is next to no room in there, and none of my breaker bars will fit in with sockets, so the only course I have for removing them is a medium length wrench. I beseech ye, all of those who have lifted out Z24s, how did you remove these damned bolts?! Is there a method of which I am unaware? Any help would be incredible. On the topic of those books, though, since my last work I have gotten in all sorts of new toys. Also finally got in my bondo-hair and body filler. The only thing I have left that I need to acquire is a high-capacity air compressor and the gear I will need for media blasting and for painting. That tallies to about 1,500 worth of gear, low end. Of course, this doesn't include the parts I will also need to purchase for her, but what I have now is enough to keep me going strong for quite a while. Also, once I sell her (if I can bring myself to have the heart to do that once Im finished - not sure about that right now), I still get to keep the tools, so if I do nothing but break even, Im ahead. Besides, given the work Im putting into her, and the vision I have for her once complete, Im thinking she will be a 6k truck, base minimum. Given that Im at a military base, I might be able to find somebody who will give me as much as 10k for her, IF she turns out into the specialty custom job that I have in mind. We will see! stay rad!

Dude, you HAVE to put up more pics. Give us a run-down of what kind of work you want to do with her, what all she needs, and keep a log of how your work is going. When I started my project on Ramona (my 720) I came to these forums, and if I hadnt I would have been lost LONG since.

pics tomorrow, I promise. Im doing the work this evening and probably tomorrow morning as well, but Im dirty, sweaty, and tired from a week of field time, and I dont feel like internetting more than this right now. see you tomorrow!

been out of the loop for a while, my unit is getting ready for some field training time. I'll likely be out of the loop again most of this next week also, but next weekend I'll be able to be back to fixing up Ramona again for sure. havent abandoned my thread, no worries.

sorry, I dont have much to add, but when I saw "tranny swap" I thought you might be pitching your idea for a new alternative lifestyle reality show.

Soda Blasting. Im considering waiting till next paycheck and buying an abrasive blaster (this one: http://www.harborfre...ster-95014.html) and a good amount of tarp to "Room" my garage off so that I can soda blast the rest of the bed, body panels, frame, and wherever else will need stripping. I would have to be able to get the abrasive blaster, about 30x40 feet of tarp, and a blasting suit (silicosis? no thanks!), but I could get all of this at harborfreight for about 250, shipping included. Or, I could got the cheaper route and use a gravity hopper attached to my air compressor, and get the whole run of materials for about 120. Any thoughts? It would definitely make for easier work. And, of course, keeping the tools I use on the project is always nice. Besides, now that Im back into doing builds, Im pretty sure I'll find another project very soon after I finish this one, and it would be nice to have whatever I needed to get whatever jobs I needed done. Also, it would let me get a lot of the rust out of here let me know what you guys think. NOTE: I've never done home blasting, so if there are any dangers or concerns I should know about, please mention them. EDIT: I posted the above as I thought of it, and as with most of my ideas I decided to do a bit of searching. Looking around, I could get a media blasting gun for my air compressor for about 20 bucks, enough plastic sheeting to room off my garage effectively for 6 bucks, and way more than enough blasting medium to finish the whole truck for about 30 bucks. So, I could get the whole thing on an operational, though not entirely shop-professional level, for about 75, shipping and handling included.

It looked like this all day long today but rain or no rain, I have work to do didnt get any real grinding work done, but I finished cleaning up the patch on the back of the bed that I had mostly finished yesterday, and got it ready to prime Which leaves me about 30% done with the bed. Not as far as I had wanted to be, but I cant always expect conditions to cooperate. I also did a bit more work getting the engine ready to be lifted out. The wiring and vac line situation is a complete and utter mess in this truck. The previous owner(s) jerry rigged so many damn things that Im not even sure which lines and wires are actually connected at both ends, let alone are vital to the running of the vehicle. Im cataloging where everything was connected, but Im pretty sure that when it is time to get her put back together, I'll do things my own way. I've always followed the KISS rule, and this baby really needs some redundancies deleted. This is how it looks now. Just a few more lines to disconnect, then the bolts on the engine mounts, tranny, and exhaust line, and we are good to go. Once Im finished with the rebuild, I plan on starting a thread about extraneous component deletion, for all of those out there who are interested in removing the non-necessary parts inside the engine bay. I know there are lots of you long-time Datsun owners out there with a lot more experience on this subject than me, so I look forward to your inputs. stay rad!

Raining in my part of Texas today. The last thing I want to do is open the garage door and let in more moisture and humidity than I have to, so unless it stops soon enough for the sun to dry it out before 6 or 7pm, I wont be doing any grinding in the garage today.