ace028's 72 2 door

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goichi1
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Posts: 4064
Joined: 22 Jan 2008 21:57
Location: Fayetteville, GA

Re: ace028's 72 2 door

Post by goichi1 »

That's cool!! when I came home from my first deployment away from Emma I stuck my head in the car and she started crying a lot!!! I guess I scared her, but later she was ok!! Boy I'll bet you are glad to be home!!
ace028
Posts: 139
Joined: 15 Aug 2010 08:29

Re: ace028's 72 2 door

Post by ace028 »

Ya I'm glad for sure. I go back to work on Monday. Didn't get as much done as I wanted to in my time off, but it's great to be back!

Got the rear end out and the brake lines today as well as steering column and steering box. Now to level measure and cut. I'm gonna get some clicos clips when I mock up the replacement panel. Still need a welder but need to wire my garage for 220v first. Could get a 110v welder but only one outlet in the garage on shared circuit with kitchen, don't want to run a welder on that outlet so going to do a 220v when I install some more outlets on their own circuit. Always something isn't there?
ace028
Posts: 139
Joined: 15 Aug 2010 08:29

Re: ace028's 72 2 door

Post by ace028 »

Well, spent a few hours this weekend in the garage, I first cut off the nasty weld patches, I figured it would be easiest to get those out of the way and give me more room to drill spot welds, so I got the pass inner fender out as well as the radiator support, next up will be removing the frame rail, and the small section left of the inner fender rail where it connects under the cowel. It feels much better to have the horrible patch job removed, the replacement peice I have is soo much better.

Sorry for the cell pics, its handy when i'm in the garage.

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ace028
Posts: 139
Joined: 15 Aug 2010 08:29

Re: ace028's 72 2 door

Post by ace028 »

Well did some more work yesterday and today.


I had to remove the bottom radiator support inorder to fit the replacement panel, so I slid it in the replacement panel.
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Here is where you may be able to see that the front radiator support is a different year then the bottom radiator crossmember, I will have to notch the flange so the captive nut isn't hitting the crossmember. I think this will be ok as it will probably get cut to accomidate an intercooler piping , and massage the radiator opening for hopefully a A/C condenser to fit, we will see when we get to that point, but most importantly is to see if we can save this shell before anything else really happens.

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Fitted up, looking ok. Still needs some tweaking and measurements, and some hammer work. I might take it to a body shop to do the welding as it seems I might be moving in a while, and would like to bolt the suspension back before the move. I am trying to get as much done by myself as possible, so we will see, I think I have made decent progress so far though.
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Here you can see it still needs some fitting, this is where the firewall is tweaked a bit.
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Overall starting to take shape of a car again, well at least a shell of a car. I have adjusted it some and it is looking closer, but not done yet obviously. I have some cleios clips, but I don't want to try those out till It fits a bit more snug.
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two_68_510s
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Joined: 18 Apr 2010 11:20
Location: Ben Lomond California

Re: ace028's 72 2 door

Post by two_68_510s »

Nice progress
Joel

2 '68 510 2 door sedans
'95 240SX


“We will either find a way, or make one.” – Hannibal
ace028
Posts: 139
Joined: 15 Aug 2010 08:29

Re: ace028's 72 2 door

Post by ace028 »

Thanks, I'm gonna be gone for almost 3 weeks, so I will not be able to work on it. I haven't even been back 3 months and I have to leave for a school :(
I can't wait to get this shell sorted out. It already looks much better then the crap repair job. I have it fitted a bit better in the last pic then all the other pics, its hard to tell though.
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icehouse
Posts: 3885
Joined: 17 Jul 2005 17:06
Location: Everett Wa

Re: ace028's 72 2 door

Post by icehouse »

Sucks it bent the pillar. That damage is tough. I see what you are saying. What is there to measure off of. Did you get that car out of washington? I think I looked at it once. The owner wanted the front end fixed but didn't want to pay what it was worth to get the work done. Seeing the photo's of what someone did..... WOW...
"People don't like it when shit doesn't match their rule of thumb." Sam
ace028
Posts: 139
Joined: 15 Aug 2010 08:29

Re: ace028's 72 2 door

Post by ace028 »

I think where the pillar was bent was actually where the cowel was brazed, after removing the cowel I don't see anything out of wack. I bought the car in nc but the guy I got it from brought it from Oregon or Washington, can't remember. Would be cool if you had any info on the car. Rest of the car is pretty strait.
ace028
Posts: 139
Joined: 15 Aug 2010 08:29

Re: ace028's 72 2 door

Post by ace028 »

Ok, it has been awhile but I have been working on it. It sometimes is hard to find motivation to work on the car when you get home late from work most nights. I have been placed on orders to another country so I'm trying to get it to rolling condition to put it in storage.

I purchased a Hobart 140 welder, bought some sheet metal and made a die for a practice project. I was much harder then I thought. I still have a lot to learn, but I give credit to welders for what they do. Trying to learn how to control the puddle, which I thought was hard on this thin metal, but i'm still learning. The hobart is a pretty nice machine for its price range from my reasearch, and best of all its made in USA, it uses miller contact tips and other replacement parts. It has been pretty fun learning and practicing.

My dad came to visit for the holidays and he helped me to mount the replacement RF subframe inner feder assembly. We used a comealong and pulled the pannel/frame untill it was within the specified measurement . (I found the frame measurements in the FSM, just had to look harder or I missed it the first time) Once we got all the measurements within spec, we ran self tapping screws to hold the pannels firmly in place so I can go back and plug weld all the spot welds that were drilled out. I have tacked most of the spotweld holes, and just need to finish up the rad support along the bottom. It was a lot of work massaging the firewall to be straight, and lots of measureing. I wire wheeled the inside of the frame rail and all pannels that would overlap and painted with self etch weld thru primer. I wanted that metal that was sandwiched to be protected. Once I get the car primed it will all get seam sealed of course. I also have eastwoods internal frame coating with the long application nozzle that I will spray in the rail through one of the factory holes to seal it from the inside and protect. I have better pics somewhere, but these are what I got for now.

Once I finish all the plug welds, I am going to put the front suspension back on and hopefully take to frame shop to verify my work. All measurements are now within spec according to FSM, but I want to have it checked for peace of mind. Once again I have to give credit to welders and body men, its hard work and definatly takes skill. I am having fun learning as I go. I now have a nice welder and some nice Martin body tools. I only have a couple months so I need to get motivated and get the wheels on it so it can move.

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ace028
Posts: 139
Joined: 15 Aug 2010 08:29

Re: ace028's 72 2 door

Post by ace028 »

Today I worked on filing spot weld holes and strighting the radiator support ear, it took a while for me to get it pretty nice. Note sheet metal screw to secure pannel until plug welded.
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Martin Body tools

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goichi1
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Location: Fayetteville, GA

Re: ace028's 72 2 door

Post by goichi1 »

Those are some nice body tools, I have been looking at getting a set too.....they are pricey!!
ace028
Posts: 139
Joined: 15 Aug 2010 08:29

Re: ace028's 72 2 door

Post by ace028 »

Yeah, the set above was about $100. I wanted something quality, I guess it comes from when I used to work in the dealership. Martin is the high end of body tools. I have more pics to post later. I plan to do some more welding this weekend. I am getting excited to see it finially start to come together into a shell I can actually build up.
ace028
Posts: 139
Joined: 15 Aug 2010 08:29

Re: ace028's 72 2 door

Post by ace028 »

Well it has been a while since I have updated my post. A lot has happened since then. I have received orders to Korea, and I have relocated my wife and son to live with her parents while I do this tour, and we have rented our house out. We put all our stuff in storage, and packed up our Nissan Pathfinder and drove from North Carolina all the way to the bay area California where she is staying. So I had to get the Datsun back on all fours so it would facilitate me being able to move it easily. It now sits in storage until I return. Plan is to purchase some stuff for it here and there, needless to say it is not forgotten. I would have like to have taken it to a frame shop before it was put in storage, but I ran out of time. I'm sure its pretty straight though, the measurements I took were within spec according to the FSM underbody measurements.

Here I made my first plug welds, and then finished welding the core support to the lower rad support. I really like my Hobart welder, I wish I had more welding skills like goichi1, but i'm sure I will get therer after much more practice time. (Hope to maybe sneak in a tig welder sometime this year and have sent to the inlaws to await my return lol)


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Sorry to have skipped the rest of the welding forgot to take pics, there is a bit more welding to do, but it is mostly welded back together, I was running close on time to move our stuff out in prep for our renters. I fitted up the doors and fenders, dash was next to go in.
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Fitting hood
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Looks like the supersonic line lines up pretty good.

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ace028
Posts: 139
Joined: 15 Aug 2010 08:29

Re: ace028's 72 2 door

Post by ace028 »

Another shot of the drivers side. I sprayed the fenders with some primer to help protect the bare metal while its in storage.
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Hood fitment, still needs a little bit of tweaking.
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Another shot of pass side after primer. Being a solid color instead of partially stripped fenders makes it easier to imagine the car coming together.
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Look ma, I can do a 3 point turn in the garage. First time it has moved since being on all 4.
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ace028
Posts: 139
Joined: 15 Aug 2010 08:29

Re: ace028's 72 2 door

Post by ace028 »

Well, I wanted to see what was under the old primer on the trunk

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Looks like someone worked their magic on the trunk lock. I am gonna have to fix later, I want all the locks and side markers on the car, nothing shaved except the antenna.

Trunk is pretty straight otherwise
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Well its move day, pushed her outside and dusted her off

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