Shawn’s ‘72 Driver

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Byron510
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Shawn’s ‘72 Driver

Post by Byron510 »

Well, after sitting on the project for nearly a year, Shawn’s 2nd 510 project is finally on the move.
All my brother wanted was a 510, so it started with Lou’s blue car a year and half ago:

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At the sunny Nanaimo ferry terminal on the way home :D

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So with it’s many quirks, and a complete hydraulic overhaul, she was good to go, for a while.
Shawn loves it, but he wanted something with a little less rust so that his wife would get it with him. The motor let go about 6 months later, making some funny noises and it was using more oil than gas – tail gating wasn’t an issue – no one got close, but he sure wasn’t doing the environment any good! I followed him home in rush hour traffic once – I couldn’t see the car, but the smoke trail was clearly visible! We did a motor swap late last summer with an L16 I parted out of the orange 4dr – even the stock carb worked great after we blew the cob webs out – automatic choke and fast idle even work flawless after a little tinkering. Throgh all this, Shawn still wanted a510, so I figure after a year it must be more than a passing phase, but I didn’t want to fix this one, I had no time!
My immediate family comes first, I didn’t have time to do a full resto tackling rust on the quarters and dog legs on this car, and my brother has no skills in this department (and wasn;t about to start learning – he doesn’t even have a garage. Then Jeff came to the rescue and found us this one…

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Rough beginins, but a way better base that we had….
My dad and I drove down to Franks place last fall to collect it in Seattle.
In true Wolfman style, the springs were cut to the bump stops, and it had a Webber 32/36 on an L18 with a glass pack blue bottle for a muffler. Actually with 10 year old gas, and a pea shooter with a glass pack – it sounded kind a different…It was still a lazy boy shift, but that was the least of my worries and very easy to solve. Jeff even drove it up and down the street for us… with no driver’s seat and absolutely no brake pedal! Onto the trailer it went, and back across the border and into my shop to rest and get faster as we waited.

Over the winter I started collecting bits. Matt supplied the used modified MRII front struts and some 2 1/2"X8X225# springs for a fire sale price. I also horse traded a set of camber brackets installed on a rear X member for a set of 13X6 Panasports (I always wanted a set of Panasports and my bloody brother get them – damn!) I pulled a dash pad out of a parts car, and I had a set of black leather E30 Recaros that were serviceable, so in they went. And here we are now.

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And then it sat until a few weeks ago. Back on dads trailer it went and out to his shop for the paint job!
Shawn got busy with the screw drivers, out came a pile of zip lock bags and a dozen rubber maid tubs, and the car came apart in short order. Shawn and I hauled out the drive train (he already pulled the rad and drained the fluids – he’s catching on pretty good for an old guy at 40!) Truly this is his first car, as a toy. I should add that my brother has been the artsy type his whole life, I was the mechanical guy. Two totally different realms, so to be wrenching beside my brother, well it feels good!
*EDIT INSERT* …so this is how the car left my storage place after being stored for the past nine months:
So the driveway is moderately steep, then the ramps were short and the car was low – it all added up to a real pain in the back! Here’s Shawn taking a run at the come along:

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…the car safely tied down to the trailer…

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…on it’s way through New Westminster enroute to dear ole dad’s place –Pithfinder chugging away quite happily…

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…and here she parked, puking it’s guts knowing she was about to be dismembered… temporarily… for it’s paint job!

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After the following weekend we were to this stage:

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There are a pile of dents to work out, but the rust is nearly nonexistent on everything but the non-original front panels (which will need the most work).
A battery has obviously boiled or exploded at some point causing this- I’ll sand blast this area:

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But the rest is really solid – I’m quite happy:

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I got the huge dent out of this door Jeff – no bad eh!

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Solid rockers and floor pan – wahoo!
Even the area under the front fenders is great. I’ll need to take out a couple broken off bolts – no biggie.

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But the fenders are rusty; they’ll need some blasting and metal work

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The plan is to paint the car and under the hood. A full rubber seal overhaul netted a $900 bill at Datsport, but hey the car will be covered in that department including damn near every seal, gasket, door, hood, truck, and gas door rubber stop, door seals, squeegees on both sides of the glass, glass channel felt, even the tail light gaskets… I know I missed stuff but I think I got about every piece of exterior rubber bit in one stop.

Thanks Baz for having the foresight to make this stuff! You are a life saver.

The suspension won’t be crazy. My brother will be perfectly happy with an L16/5spd with a low stance. He’ll never drive the car hard, so there’s no point in making it crazy. It’ll be a nice summer daily car – that’s the plan.

It’ll stay the stock #546 grey/green, but Shawn really liked the rising sun on his current hood. He has some ideas of doing a similar scheme in a slightly off green down the sides of the car- I’ll leave the custom work to him; I’ll just get it painted one colour for now.

I’ll update as we go, when I have time. But I do plan to have this done soon.

Byron
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qship510
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Re: Shawn’s ‘72 Driver

Post by qship510 »

I like it! Neat project.

I know what you mean about wrenching with your brother; I got to swap an L16 into a roadster and paint it with my youger brother. We're more alike than you two; we both can wrench, but I'm the fabricator/welder. Funny thing, he's had more completed projects than me...
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proflex
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Re: Shawn’s ‘72 Driver

Post by proflex »

Byron it sounds like you’re a very busy guy these days. Looks like a fun project that should go together faster than most. :mrgreen: It’s always good to have someone helping. Makes all the disassembly, parts cleaning, assembly, etc... go that much faster.
Your brother is a lucky guy to have a brother like you helping him build a nice 510.
I like the old bicycle hanging from the roof. I remember they used to have a fake red plastic gas tank on them. They tried to make them look like a motorbike but all it did was add more weight. :lol: The suspension was cool stuff though back in the day.
Good luck with the build.

Chad
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Re: Shawn’s ‘72 Driver

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Chad, your likely an ex-BMX guy as well, right! Over half of the 30 to 45 year olds on this site were BMX guys, it's crazy how many of us went from BMX into 510's.

That bike had the gas tank. It's a funny story. It was likely ripped off, I found it thrown in some trees when I lived in Edmonton as a kid in the early 80's (I was 8 years old at the time - had a Skyline BMX [tank], I was king of my little world!). We did the right thing, drug it home, called the cops -they picked it up. A year later we get a phone call saying no one claimed it, so it's yours if you want it. Now this is about 1981 - even then this bike was out of style and neither my brother nor myself would be caught dead riding the thing - but it was mint. It may have been new or near new at the time. So it sat in the basement till my grandparents came for a visit later that year. Grandma loved the bike, took it home and we all forgot about it totally. Turns out, she did a lap of Princeton every day on that bike for 25 years. It still looks mint. Grandpa took the tank off somewhere along the line, Grandma wore out the tires. A few years ago, grandma had pretty much lost her sight, couldn't ride anymore - dad brings the bike back after a visit for shits and giggles. And there it hangs off the roof! :lol:

Yep, my brother knows he's lucky - food and beverages are on him while we work - that's the deal!

Byron
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Re: Shawn’s ‘72 Driver

Post by angzt »

Byron I give you kudos. It's truly amazing to see you working on multiple projects at once.

Working on my only 510 seems overwhelming as is :lol:

Your brother will have himself a nice car. Welcome to the 510 Club!
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Re: Shawn’s ‘72 Driver

Post by Byron510 »

angzt wrote:Byron I give you kudos. It's truly amazing to see you working on multiple projects at once.

Working on my only 510 seems overwhelming as is :lol:

Your brother will have himself a nice car. Welcome to the 510 Club!



No worries, everything else is on hold!
I do have another project in the wings, but alas, due to time I'm actually, for the first time ever, going to put a paint job in someone else’s more talented hands. More on this soon.

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Re: Shawn’s ‘72 Driver

Post by proflex »

Byron510 wrote:Chad, your likely an ex-BMX guy as well, right! Over half of the 30 to 45 year olds on this site were BMX guys, it's crazy how many of us went from BMX into 510's
Yes, one of my first passions in life was with anything that had two wheels. I had road bikes, dirt bikes, street bikes and yes, even some nice custom made BMX bikes. That bike hanging from the rafters may become a family heirloom some day you know. :lol:

Chad
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Re: Shawn’s ‘72 Driver

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Spent day II doing bodywork on the tail light alone - you know how many body lines are in that panel? No wonder guys just drill out the spot welds and replace them when they get twisted! It's starting to look OK, no concurs stuff here, but it'll be wrinkle free, and at least it matches the trunk lid again. Bumper mounts on the body needed lots of work as well. It didn't help that the same side of the panel had a previous prang - with the Bog Fix only, so I guess I'm bettering the panel.

Gotta get my brother to make the decision as to whether or not he's going to keep the side marker lights in this car, as the rears holes are there, but the front fenders are early style and there's been a good job already done of glassing over the holes.... I kinda like ‘em marker light free:
My old 68 was marker free – I liked the look.

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Funny thing is that my brothers new car is this exact same colour – which I also like.

I also have to get some epoxy primer on the bare metal under the hood very soon.

Pics later tonight.

PS Can anyone tell me what the tool looks like that can split seams? Posted above is the front fender - I want to split the inner rear section off the fender and attack any rust that is there - any ideas. This is one job I've not yet tackled before. Any ideas?
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Re: Shawn’s ‘72 Driver

Post by S15DET »

Isn't it like a long flat chisel with a hardened edge to attach the spot welds, and a metal butt for hammering? Eastwood has one I bet.
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Re: Shawn’s ‘72 Driver

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S15DET wrote:Isn't it like a long flat chisel with a hardened edge to attach the spot welds, and a metal butt for hammering? Eastwood has one I bet.
Brad, I'll look into this.

So, I have to step back a week to show you some photos as I forgot to take some as I left last Sunday.

Here is a shot of the partially sandblasted engine bay. A battery had likely let go at some point in the cars life, and did its worst. Also brake fluid has been likely spilt on the firewall and drivers inner fender causing rust there as well. So both spots were sand blasted with al-ox which did a good job of cleaning the surface.

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But as you can see, a little bit if moisture in the air has already allowed some surface rust to form, so I need to go over this spot again and get some protection on this metal ASAP. Shawn spent today feathering out the edges of this blasted area.

I turned my attention to the rear panel. I had done a bit of filling on the lower valance the week before, after having spent a few hours with a hammer, dolly and a few custom made wood wedges to get the back panel pushed out to close to where it was supposed to be.

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Today I took a really good look at the seam on the drivers side of this panel, as it had just been filled over from previous damage (typical crap body shop work). I wanted to expose the again like it was from the factory, but the seam itself is actually damaged, and there was rust under the bottom inch of the overlapped area. So I pried the metal apart at the lower edge of the seam, and glass bead blasted between the two panels. I wasn’t sure what to do with this seam at this point so I mixed up some high strength body panel adhesive, pushed the glue between the panels and pressed the lap joint back together. With the joint bonded permanently, there will be no chance of water getting in and rust starting to form again. Then I started filling the panel as it needs a lot of work. After 5 hours, I got this far.

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It’s close now. A few dents to smooth over on the pass side and I’ll call this one done. Man, there are a lot of lines in this panel!

Byron
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Re: Shawn’s ‘72 Driver

Post by James »

Byron - looking good. I feel your pain - I spent most of a weekend fixing my sister in laws rear panel. It had been hit pretty well at one point. Getting everything to line on the parallel lines is fun. Car looks great! My favorite 510 color as well - dated a girl who had a nice 2 door that color.....
Finished is better than perfect......
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Re: Shawn’s ‘72 Driver

Post by Byron510 »

I added some more photos of the car just before it came apart - inserted into the original thread - to comlete the beginnings... :D
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Re: Shawn’s ‘72 Driver

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Byron510 wrote: PS Can anyone tell me what the tool looks like that can split seams? Posted above is the front fender - I want to split the inner rear section off the fender and attack any rust that is there - any ideas. This is one job I've not yet tackled before. Any ideas?
i have an old fender ive been praticing welding on, arent those sections... :? just held in place where the edges are rolled over?

ill tear it apart this weekend and find out i guess...
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Re: Shawn’s ‘72 Driver

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Well, another day, and bit more progress on the car.
I am working forward from the rear, I picked the driver’s side since I happened to be standing beside it at decision making time.
I got the rear quarter done, and the rear door about ¾ the way there:

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I also started on the roof a bit, filled the hole on the roof from a good ole 70’s install of a CB antenna.

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Dear ole’ Dad dropped in later in the afternoon, and fired up the welder while I was sanding away. The drivers door had 6 holes from various mirror installations, the pass side had 4 holes. Both have a pretty good dent that’ll have to be worked out – no problem. Here are the holes all welded up and ground flat:

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Then dad got to work on filling the A/C holes that were added at some point in this cars life. And just below these A/C hose holes, you’ll see a repair. It looked like someone installed an oil pressure line, and made the hole in the firewall with a large spike or possibly a center punch! It was horrible, but it’s fixed now.

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Dad at work inside the car – this project is a real family affair – dad supplying the shop, and the brothers doing the sanding work:

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I didn’t take a photo of it, but there was also a perforation in the driver side inner fender – looks like something kicked up at some time from the wheel, and went right through the inner fender metal.

At the end of the day I also ordered the primer and paint. A little wash primer and then DP 40 on the bare metal – K38 high build to go on after that. But I’m getting ahead of myself….
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Re: Shawn’s ‘72 Driver

Post by tycot1 »

looks good byron. may i suggest you put a little filler over the ground down areas before priming. even though you have feathered them out they will need some putty before primer. it would be easier to spread the entire area rather than applying it in multiple small spots. the k38 is great but the build isnt quite enough to handle a job like this by it self. looking good.
http://bigtimemotors.ca 1972 datsun 510 220 hp ka "couped", 1971 510 westwood champ gt4 '81& "83, 1979 550 hp trans am, 1962 cadillac hrdtp, 2005 subaru sti, 1999 triumph daytona 955i.
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