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71 1200 Project ( Picture intense)

Posted: 18 Dec 2016 10:44
by powerbench
A couple years ago I bought a 71 1200 from a guy in Oregon. I had been looking for a few years , to replace a car I had when I was a kid. My original car in 86 was rough , but I loved that heap. Somebody stole the car twice in one day .Ultimately, the second theft they pretty much destroyed the car and got everything I owned. Fast forward 24 years later I found a car on the web and decided to buy it .....Loaded up the truck , grabbed a trailer and off I went.
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Re: 71 1200 Project

Posted: 18 Dec 2016 11:11
by powerbench
After I bought the car , I pretty much parked it and left it for 2 years. ( work and life were very busy) and I didn't have the time to dedicate to the car.
I had a few things work out , and had been putting a little money away to at least get started on the car, so I grabbed the car and went in for a good inspection of what it needed......It needed alot. What I thought was a pretty much rust free car with no damage, turned out to not be ( I know Datsun...no such thing) .
I got a new rad support section and contacted Tycot1 to see if he could get her fixed up for me . ( That work was a little out of my skill set) Off the car went to Big Time Motors for a little surgery. When the car was there ,Tyson showed me some questionable repairs ......none of which I had even noticed. I had Tyson and his guy work their magic on what they could ( and what my wallet could handle) and figured I always wanted to up my skills on doing a complete car body wise. (Again thanks for all the Help Tyson and Doug)
So here comes the work.
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Re: 71 1200 Project

Posted: 18 Dec 2016 11:31
by powerbench
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Re: 71 1200 Project

Posted: 18 Dec 2016 11:48
by powerbench
So I got the car home and started dealing with my "rust free floors" and cleaning up my trunk area.
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Re: 71 1200 Project ( Picture intense)

Posted: 18 Dec 2016 12:01
by powerbench
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In went some new suspension....All new ,and some T3 coil overs


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Re: 71 1200 Project ( Picture intense)

Posted: 18 Dec 2016 13:08
by 16Again
Looking good. Don't see many of those around any more.

Re: 71 1200 Project ( Picture intense)

Posted: 18 Dec 2016 23:05
by powerbench
So I came into a few parts for the car and got to work doing some of the body work it needed . After the floors , I went onto the roof and the front end sheet metal. It was a good call on Tyson's part , because the car had been prepped very badly and I landed up having to rust mort the entire roof and fix alot of small dents.

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Re: 71 1200 Project ( Picture intense)

Posted: 18 Dec 2016 23:19
by powerbench
So i stripped my trunk lid and fixed all the hand dents( shrink and stud pull as much as I could on a beer can and block the crap out of it..
I also scuffed and primed m.y fenders and lower valence. I also painted the inners on the fender.
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Re: 71 1200 Project ( Picture intense)

Posted: 19 Dec 2016 19:38
by greenthumb
can you elaborate a little on
'( shrink and stud pull as much as I could on a beer can and block the crap out of it..'
for us bodywork challenged types
Project looks great- whats the plan for power? Stock or a transplant?

Re: 71 1200 Project ( Picture intense)

Posted: 19 Dec 2016 21:06
by powerbench
Ya , I m still learning the body work thing as well. A stud is a small stud you weld with a special welding gun and has a puller you attach to the stud . The same gun has a flat faced adapter that you use to apply heat to a specific area, to shrink the metal. Some guys use a torch to apply heat to an area to heat the metal and then quench it with water . It pulls the metal tight and stops that "oil can" effect after working the metal.....
The stud, is like the old way of drilling a hole and then threading a slide hammer into the dent , except you are not left with a hole to fill..

Re: 71 1200 Project ( Picture intense)

Posted: 19 Dec 2016 21:25
by powerbench
As far as the drive train. I have a fairly recent rebuilt a12 with bigger pistons. I'm going to do a back yard port and polish on a spare head I have , and see if i can get the seats cut to fit bigger a14 valves.( and some other things ) Lynx side draft intake with a single 40 DCOE and header. 5spd ...nothing to exciting , but sort of quick and cheap for now....

Re: 71 1200 Project ( Picture intense)

Posted: 19 Dec 2016 21:35
by powerbench
As the story continues. I got cracking on the back half of the car...( looking for rust and repairing any dents I could with out going crazy)
I stripped the back of the car and fixed and filled any areas that needed ...shot in epoxy and then high build.

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Re: 71 1200 Project ( Picture intense)

Posted: 19 Dec 2016 23:39
by McShagger510
Awesome build so far! Gotta bring it out on some of our drives once its all finished.

Keep up the rad work!

James

Re: 71 1200 Project ( Picture intense)

Posted: 20 Dec 2016 12:53
by tycot1
i am so happy to see rick getting into this datsun. i cant wait to see it finished. its going to be a nice 1200.

Re: 71 1200 Project ( Picture intense)

Posted: 20 Dec 2016 18:21
by powerbench
Thanks Tyson,
It won't be any where near your quality , but I hope to have a decent example that I can gain some skills on and have some fun re living a bit of my youth . ( I just hope it doesn't gather the points I use to have)
More to come.....and you were right about that quarter panel......you'll see.
Thanks for all the kind words kids.