Mother-in-law Restoration 1970 Datsun 2000

[spl310]

Upside down rear shock?

[mitch_04]

Oddly enough, that is the way it came. Mounting and length are correct, but they must be "sharing" a shock with another car. The only downside to this is collecting dirt and gravel (wearing out the shaft), which this car won't see much to any of. I'm guessing it'll be lucky if it sees an oil change worth of miles in a year, all highway. She lives 2 miles from town and my guess is that it will be used for trips to town on sunny days.

[mitch_04]

Just started my work for the weekend. Started popping out a big dent and seeing what I have for rust. Found some hidden bondo, but nothing that will affect me more than before. I will be searching for some patch panels to help out, I really would rather not purchase the whole quarter if possible.













Also drilled out my PCV port on the top of the engine and epoxied in a hose fitting instead.

[mitch_04]

Well, since the last post I have replaced the rear shocks. They were not the correct valving, even though they were listed as correct for the car. I was bottoming out on every little bump and now have KYB's in the rear.

I replaced the sheet metal ahead of the passenger rear wheel. Of course, once the outside piece was taken off I found much more rust. I made some patches out of plain sheet. They may not bee exactly like the original, but they are not seen and are just for structure so I'm not too worried about perfect appearance. After fighting all of the metal underneath the 1/4, the 1/4 patch went very smoothly. One step closer!

[notoptoy]

Nice work. I continue to have great respect for those out there that can handle sheet metal so adroitly.

[Gregs672000]

I echo above. You car looks a lot like mine did, and that was AFTER it had already had extensive rust repair. Car was from Canada, and either it was an ice racer or just driven a lot in salty water!

[mitch_04]

Thanks guys! I really don't have much experience doing this, but I have read until my eyes bled on how to do it. Now I have to do the portion behind the wheel on that side.

[mitch_04]

Some more rust repair, the section behind the passenger rear wheel. I had purchased a used panel for it and apparently I should have zoomed in on the pictures since it was much rougher than I'd thought. It came with a chunk of inner fender that was also very rusty but served its purpose when it was needed.

Used panel after removing paint







The Eastwood plug welding tool came in very handy, I don't know how I would have done it without it.





Old 1/4 removed



Bad spot on inner fender



I took the rusty inner fender off of my patch, cleaned it up, and used panel adhesive to create a "backer" to strengthen the original. I could have cut out and formed a piece, but it would have been a tremendous amount of work for a piece that doesn't get seen and now will be plenty strong. Lots of clamps while it set up



Primed, you can see where the "new" is behind the old.



New panel on, went pretty well. One low section, but it's not terribly low and will work out during bodywork.





Primed



Now I'm just waiting for my drivers side quarter panel to come in, a repop from Sport's Imports. All in all it took me around 8-10 hours of work to do both patches on this quarter.

[pebbles]

I must say, for a guy with little experience, your repairs are outstanding!

[mitch_04]

Thanks! You guys keep up the compliments and I'm going to start thinking I'm something! Every patch I do I learn something, usually the hard way. Luckily (or not) all of my projects are complete rust-buckets, the Datsun is the most solid. You should see the '68 C10 I'm doing for my uncle, after sandblasting you could see through the box in multiple spots. The '78 Trans Am I'm doing is between the 2, both quarters, outer rockers, outer wheelhouses, trunk extensions... lots of practice!

[sleepyzzz]

very nice work. i really like your roadster.

[mitch_04]

Dyno results are in. We did break 100, but didn't get it on a printout. All was on a mix of 87 and 92 octane with the new Cardone distributor. More information is on my thread related to the distributor. Drives much nicer now, this car really appreciates advance! A/F ratios stayed pretty well, although it could use a little more fuel up top. Maybe after she's driven it for a while and decides it's a keeper I'll put on new carbs that don't seep vacuum by the throttle shafts and "supertune" the thing. For now it drives well, idles decent (considering), and is enjoyable.

[pebbles]

Thanks! You guys keep up the compliments and I'm going to start thinking I'm something!!

Its that time.


Get that car painted, Head toward Idaho, grab Thomcraft and get yourselves to Kelowna in May!!

[mitch_04]

Maybe if I quit my day job! I'm hoping to have it done by the local car show in late August, but that could be very close as well! Never know what will go wrong next on old cars of unknown origin.

[Bob]

I agree with everyone else on how well you at doing.

Still, I think much more should be said about your mother in law, and your obviously very good relationship with her.

Good on both of you.