Alchemist

Hi Cap, Glad to hear the car is running well again! A/C is "cool - real cool" Pardon me but I couldn't resist. Ernie

Hi Scooter, What a magnificent build and I like the uniqueness of your color combination because of it being outre! I really like the photo of your daughter holding up her hand written message "Someday this dime will be mine!" Reminds me of when my daughter was in high school and I told her she could have Grandpa's 1977 Datsun 810 that I built for my Dad (it was passed down to me) if she maintained good grades. She was quite excited and shared the news with her schoolmates. Well, it was unfortunate that her schoolmates didn't know much about Datsuns and they all convinced her that she wanted a Honda! They even went as far as saying that Datuns were gay cars! Well, I took some real offense to that remark! ( I actually wanted to go to her school and "bitch slap" (pardon me!) those dumbpoops! I ended up selling the car to a racer from HybridZ - the Zcar website, and she has regretted to this day of having been influenced by those "idiot schoolmates" of hers. I was gonna show her your build thread but I don't want to hurt her feelings. She does plan on acquiring a Datsun project car since she'll be making lots of money. Heck, she better buy me a project car - haha! Any update photos Scooter please? Excited to see your progress Scooter. Thanks, Ernie

When I turn on the factory radio the antenna automatically goes up halfway. When I turn the radio off, it goes all the way down. I don't have manual control of the antenna. Ernie

I've done that - thanks!

Awesome Cap! Glad my factory antenna is still in working order. Ernie

I'm hoping to be there for the BBQ! Ernie

My apologies Cap! Did not mean to "commandeer or go off topic" on your thread. Ernie

Hi Ray, My car handles great on long higher speed (80mph+ )sweepers! The drawback I mentioned is that I have low performance radials which is the limiting factor for handling performance. I think I'll try to see if the 810 Addco bar is available or will fit. I measured stock front and rear bars on the my Maxima at 0.9" and 0.7", so going to front Addco 810 bar (1") and rear Maxima bar (0.875") should be a decent upgrade and decrease the understeer. Running a bigger front bar than the rear on a RWD car will stiffen that part of the vehicle and still give you understeer. How much understeer is gonna be trial and error since every car is different, even if it is the same model car, driver weight also plays a part. As a suggestion prior to investing in a front bar, you can also stiffen the front bar by a small degree by using stiffer sway bar bushings. You can purchase aftermarket urethane sway bar bushings at your local auto parts store. Urethane bushing have a higher "durometer"(hardness) rating than the factory rubber bushings. This will eliminate some of the "crush" rate that the rubber bushing has. The sway bar end link bushings and the bushings that sit between the sway bar and chassis mounts play a major part in determining sway bar performance. The sway bar connects the left and right wheels by acting as a torsion spring. When the car's body tries to roll, the bar twists to keep it flat. The factory rubber end link bushings and chassis mount bushngs degrade sway bar performance by taking up a bit of the bar's movement range (rubber compression/deflection) before it has a chance to control the wheels. This means a bigger/stiffer sway bar is required to control initial roll, which causes the independent suspension to act more like a solid axle. Polyurethane bushing replacements don't deflect or compress, which means that a smaller/softer bar can be employed for a more forgiving suspension setup that isn't as inclined to quickly break away at the car's handling limits. Thus by replacing the sway bar bushings with better material you gain a little bit in handling/suspension control. Hope this helps. Ernie

Greetings Ray/rjorgensen, I'm am using only the rear Addco Bar and is a direct bolt on. I used the new hardware that was supplied. Where the rear bar mounts onto the rear subframe you will have about a 1/8" clearance between the bar and subframe. It's close but does not have any interference problems. Depending on your driving style - my driving preference is that I like a little oversteer which is why I chose to run only the rear Addco Bar. If you choose to run the kit with the bigger front bar, your car will handle flatter but you will still have major understeer characteristics when you push the car hard into the corners. I spoke with a Suspension Techniques suspension engineer back in the early 80's to inquire about the understeer, though I had replaced the factory stock bars with their bigger aftermarket sway bars. I was informed that understeer was taken into consideration when fabricating the sway bar sizes in their kits. That when the car started to "plow (understeer)" it would allow for the "Average Driver" (his words) with Rear Wheel Drive (RWD) to just let off the gas pedal and quickly get back on track instead of worrying about the rear end of the car coming around and spinning out. It will also depend on the springs and shocks you choose to run - which can alter the handling characteristics. For example, if you put some very stiff rear coil springs with no other suspension change, you will alter the handling to have less understeer - the amount lessened would depend on how much stiffer the rate of the springs. As I mentioned, I am only running the rear Addco Bar, with custom made touring springs and the car is lowered. I am also running KYB shocks front and rear - Front strut inserts are from a Toyota MR2 and the rear housings are stock KYB replacements. With Ultra LOW PERFORMANCE tires that are on the car at this time, the car handles almost neutral with just a hint of oversteer. There's an off camber sweeper that I like to take at a "spirited" rate of speed and as I approach the apex, you can hear the rear tires giving a hint of slippage and the rear end feels like it's about to slid a little but as I exit the car stays neutral. I really enjoy the way it handles. When I'm back up to 100% in my health and I decide to keep my car, I will machine some nylon sway bar bushings, to replace the mounting and end link bushings. I really don't care for the urethane bushings that seem to be the "norm" in aftermarket sway bars. If you don't keep the urethane bushings lubed, they will squeak very loud. At one time when I had my Datsun 610 wagon, you could hear the squeaking from a block away and everyone was staring at me - what an embarrassment - ahhaa! Oh! As a reminder, I used "anti-seize" compound on the inside of the sway bar mounting bushings to help keep the noise down and to reduce the pivot resistance of the bushing to bar contact. So, if I may suggest you use some type of lube - NOT WD-40, this is not a lubricant! Hope this helps. Ernie

That's good information. Unfortunately, no one could confirm that for me a couple of years ago before I paid a premium to have custom springs made. I'm happy with my spring though! Cap, The front bumper tuck looks great and really changes the appearance of the car. Looking forward to see you addressing the tucking of the rear bumper. Last year I tried searching the yards for decent bumper covers but all were dried out and brittle. Mine are getting brittle and I'm concerned that someone might 'tap" my bumper when parking and cause the cover to disintegrate. Ernie

Looking great Cap! Before you decide on removing any coils I highly suggest you put about a thousand miles or more on the springs because they will settle "down" after you put some miles on them! I found out the hard way! That way you know where the car will sit before you decide if you need to remove a coil or more. And you don't have to buy another set of springs!! When I replaced my first set of springs, which I cut prematurely, the second set of lowering springs took almost 1500 miles before it took a lower set height. In fact, upon installation and driving around the block, I was pretty upset because it was slightly higher than the stock height. But as I mentioned it finally settled to a lowered height and it was exactly at the height I wanted. Good thing I didn't cut the springs again!! Ernie

Here's another good video describing the difference between Epoxy Primer and Self Etching primer. Take note, he does not mention, which I will tell you that Self Etching primer (SEP) is not to be applied as a coating that you can expect to spray on the car or panel, then wait for a week to months before topcoating. I've seen some Ratsun projects where the car was sprayed with self-etching primer and exposed to the environment, used to go to car shows, meets etc., SEP is porous and will allow moisture thru to the bare metal which eventually will start corrosion. Do not use fiberglass! I've seen people apply self-etching primer on fiber-glassed parts. SEP has acid in it's formulation and you would not want to have to go thru the repair - basically having to replace the part because you cannot remove the acid contamination once it has leeched itself into the fabric. What happens is the topcoat will blister when the ambient temperature gets warm enough for the acid to start raising. Then you need to repair the area only to have it blister again and again. Just a word of caution! Epoxy primers (2K) are better suited for exposure to the environment. The person in the video mentions something called "1K and 2K" primers. What he is referring to as a "1K" primer is a "one part" non catalyzed primer. In general, Spray can primer is usually referred to as a "1K" primer. "2K" primers are "2 part" meaning "primer + hardener" or a catalyzed primer. This type of primer has a formulated mixture and must be sprayed from a spraygun. Hope this helps. Enjoy the video -

Here's a good informational video on priming mistakes. Thank you. Ernie

Here's a video "primer" (pun intended LOL!) on common sand paper grits. Please remember that this video is about this particular shop's most common sandpaper grits!!! I prefer to use #180 and #220 instead of their #150 and #240 grit - and yes there is a difference when it comes to priming and sand scratch swelling/shrinkage when it dries! Which is why these grits are made available. Again, this is my preference coming from my experience. From my experience, sandpaper grits are also determined by the topcoat materials you will be applying. Some factors dictate sandpaper grits, whether it be aerosol can or air compressor supported spray gun applied, the different types of lacquer, enamel or urethane (solvent base or waterbase). Hope this helps! Ernie

Seems like we're having communication difficulties so I'll post a video I found on YouTube regarding one method of "featheredging" bodywork. This might help you to get moving along Paul! This method can also be applied to multiple layers of paint. The theory is the more paint layers of paint, the wider the area you must "featheredge" in order to have a smooth transition from the original panel to the of paint. If you go to YouTube and type in the search bar "featheredge bodywork", you will find more bodywork/paint related videos . Just a word of caution here. The tech in the video is running his DA (dual action) sander at a high rpm, the higher the rpm the faster you need to move - as you see he's doing - otherwise you'll cut down the material faster than you'd like and you will end up having to apply filler to build the area up back to where you can get a level panel. You'll notice the tech doesn't readily "feel" the repair area. I like to run the tool at a lower rpm and move a little slower. I would recommend you stop and check your work every few seconds to see how the panel feels. I "highly advise" that you wear clean latex gloves when working with bare metal. You note the tech in the video does not! Even though you will degrease the area prior to applying primer, I prefer to keep the panel as surgically clean as possible. Once I've started repair I never touch a panel with my bare hands! Here's another video on featheredging: Hope this helps. Ernie