DIY Garage

This short video from September of 2021 I created my own shift knobs for my 510.

I am still catching up from a massive backlog of videos. I am still driving this car daily. She is doing great! But I need brakes that work, and this steering wheel looks way better in the car than the old one.

Project Log (8 Oct 18): Start Time: Not Recorded End Time: Not Recorded Welded in the driver’s side rocker panel To Do (Daily): ☑ Cleaned up welding surfaces ☑ Cut out the remainder of the rocker panel ☑ Cut the new rocker panel to fit ☑ Spot weld in the new rocker panel 1. The surfaces were easy enough to clean with the wirewheel on the 4.5” angle grinder. 2. I then cut out the last of the rocker panel and rather than drill them out individually it really worked well I made a pretty big mistake and tried to use my angle grinder in a recess, it caught and the grinder got away from me ate up my wrist and left leg. I was definitely an idiot I used a normal cut off wheel and carefully cut through all the parts along the top of the sill, the 60 grit flap disc did a good job of cutting down the spot welds 3. I test fit the rocker several times to ensure that I was cutting the right parts off. I then used a silver sharpie to outline all of the cut off parts and cut them off I had to remove the paint from the rocker panel to have something to weld to I was pretty gun shy for the rest of the day with the angle giver which you can see throughout the video The prep consisted of painting all the welding surfaces with copperweld to retard rust formation in the welded sections. I did two light coats of the copper weld and punched holes for the plug welds in the floorboard 4. WOW Spot welders are AMAZING. I cannot recommend them enough, plug welds are a pain in the butt, and I really enjoyed using this. I lined up the parts and then wrestled the spot welder into place and tacked her in Notes: Getting much closer, but still SO much to do. Car: 1972 Datsun 510 Engine: L20B Transmission: 280zx 5-Speed Suspension: Rear Coil Overs Minor Mods: Battery to Trunk, Electric Fans, Camera: GoPro Hero3+ Voice Over: Audacity Editing Software: GoPro Studio (I really don't like it) Build Thread Information: RATSUN: http://community.ratsun.net/topic/72953-aarons-1972-datsun-510-4-door-glory/page-1 GRM: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/datsun-510-4-door-project-name-tbd/134878/page1/

Project Log (7 Oct 18): Start Time: Not Recorded End Time: Not Recorded Welded in the driver’s side rear floorboard. To Do (Daily): ☑ Cleaned up welding surfaces ☑ Prepped Floorboard piece ☑ Weld the floorboard in ☑Cleaned up welds 1. The surfaces were easy enough to clean with the wirewheel on the 4.5” angle grinder. 2. The prep consisted of painting all the welding surfaces with copperweld to retard rust formation in the welded sections. I did two light coats of the copper weld and punched holes for the plug welds in the floorboard When fitting the piece I needed it to be installed with minimal gap I drilled a could holes through my plug welds to allow for some Cleco fasteners that hold the panel in place and used my small hammer to ensure the metal was touching before welding in the panels Something I need to continue to work on is not inducing as much heat into my panels I have the habit of welding a bit to long and getting frustrated with burn through that is clearly my fault The floorboard piece had a small hump added to it via “Hammer Power” to better fit the floorboard that it was being welded to (done in a previous video) 3. Welding the floorboard went fine, I started by welding along the inner sill, when that was complete I move from the inner sill towards the center of the car The center of the car I made the mistake of having no support underneath the car to keep the floorboard level this meant that as I hammered the pieces they bowed downward. I realized this after about 6 plug welds which I had to cut out and do it again I was able to keep the floorboard at the correct level with a 2x4 and a floorjack. and some gentle persuasion (aka Hammer) I then finished welding in the pieces from the top I added some reinforcing welds along the bottom, All of these will need to be seam sealed in the future, but the floorboard is MUCH more sturdy now. 4. Once the floor was welded in I cleaned up the welds with a ~60 grit flap disc on the angle grinder. This makes a huge mess looking back at all of this I wish I would have more completely stripped the interior and put masking around all the stuff I couldn’t/didn’t remove I am writing this now ~1 month after I did this work and will be doing it before I move forward, but did not make this change for the next couple videos. Note: The car is starting to come back together and it is a good feeling stay tuned! Car: 1972 Datsun 510 Engine: L20B Transmission: 280zx 5-Speed Suspension: Rear Coil Overs Minor Mods: Battery to Trunk, Electric Fans, Camera: GoPro Hero3+ Voice Over: Audacity Editing Software: GoPro Studio (I really don't like it) Build Thread Information: RATSUN: http://community.ratsun.net/topic/72953-aarons-1972-datsun-510-4-door-glory/page-1 GRM: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/datsun-510-4-door-project-name-tbd/134878/page1/

Cut, Patch, weld, grind, repeat!!!! Man this is taking a while

Seat Belts are very important and the old mounts would have likely failed immediately in a crash

Project Log (17 Sept 18): Start Time: Not Recorded End Time: Not Recorded Test Fit the doors back on the car, then welded in the bottom support brace To Do (Daily): ☑ Put on Doors ☑ Take Off Doors ☑ Put in Door Brace 1. The doors went on very easily. I was able to use a folding chair to help me keep the doors balanced as I placed them back on. I was happy I put the bolts away in a good spot, because this project is taking WAY longer than I originally anticipated. 2. Took the doors back off and put them back over in the corner 3. The bottom horizontal brace is welded to the A, B, and C pillar this will hopefully act to ensure the car does not warp as I keep cutting metal out of it. It required bending the metal to ensure I got the right bow in the metal, I also ended up cutting it long enough to fit in the car, plus a few more inches. I had to angle the rear cut to get it to weld to the inner panel The weld is not great, but I needed to leave the car for a couple days and didn’t want to worry about the sag Project Log (22 Sept 18): Start Time: Not Recorded End Time: Not Recorded Added one more piece to the inner sill To Do (Daily): ☑ Make the new inner sill piece 1. The old seatbelt mount is made up of a large nut welded to an ~14 gauge steel, welded to the inner sill with spot welds. The panel I created was the inner sill. I got to use my metal nibbler for the first time. It works well, and I like it, but you need to make sure your metal is held firm After creating a template with paper, and cutting out the metal my battery died on my camera, but I did not change it. I finished welding in the sill.

These rocker panels are not awesome! Rust is frustrating

I keep finding this rust! Car: 1972 Datsun 510 Engine: L20B Transmission: 280zx 5-Speed Suspension: Rear Coil Overs Minor Mods: Battery to Trunk, Electric Fans, Camera: GoPro Hero3+ Voice Over: Audacity Editing Software: GoPro Studio (I really don't like it) Build Thread Information: RATSUN: http://community.ratsun.net/topic/72953-aarons-1972-datsun-510-4-door-glory/page-1 GRM: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/datsun-510-4-door-project-name-tbd/134878/page1/

Work on the floorboard continues Car: 1972 Datsun 510 Engine: L20B Transmission: 280zx 5-Speed Suspension: Rear Coil Overs Minor Mods: Battery to Trunk, Electric Fans, Camera: GoPro Hero3+ Voice Over: Audacity Editing Software: GoPro Studio (I really don't like it) Build Thread Information: RATSUN: http://community.ratsun.net/topic/72953-aarons-1972-datsun-510-4-door-glory/page-1 GRM: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/datsun-510-4-door-project-name-tbd/134878/page1/

Project Log (19 Aug 18): Drivers Floorboard rust repair continues, firewall got cut. The frame piece underneath seems solid, just need to sand it down, get the remaining spot welds out, make a new piece. It was a short day today, just was too hot to do much, and we were doing stuff as a family. To Do (Daily): ☑ Cut the chunk of firewall off 1. Cut the firewall piece out of the way so I can fashion the firewall extension piece. The spot welds were a pain in the bum, but it is nice to get the pieces out of the car Notes: I ran out of welding wire on Saturday and didn’t get to Harbor freight before they closed (Sunday) Images: -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Project Log (24 Aug 18): Start Time: 1730 End Time: 2100 Drivers Floorboard rust repair continues To Do (Daily): ☑ Make the firewall extender sheet metal ☑ Finish Welding the frame rail under the seat and to the old rail ☑ Replace the front corner metal on the side (by the outer skin) ☑ Finish welding up small holes from the floorboard patches I made 1. The firewall has metal that extends down under the floorboard. It goes through in about a 90 degree angle. I measure the panel it is ~ 17.5” long and 7” wide. I created the panel with a ~1” overlap with the firewall the purpose is to attach the panel with spot welds, then use seam sealer to ensure I don’t get a bunch of moisture after adding the panel. The floorboard will also overlap this piece and I will use the same process to connect the floorboard to the firewall panel. The panel was created with a harbor freight metal brake, I added two bends to give the panel a more natural curve that I will finish with a hammer and clamps. I wanted to get this whole panel finished tonight, but realized I needed to paint on the rust converter before welding everything together. The piece was originally too long so I had to trim it down a bit I am still using the metal given to me by a buddy I have been making sure to smooth the sides with a snader so I don’t have a ton of jagged edges 2. I am still not a great welder so the frame rail got finished stitch welded together. This was a weld grind weld grind process, but in the end I think it turned out well and is very solid (compared to the old rusted out frame). I finished the spot welds at the back of the frame as well. 3. The panel that is around the door (kick panel?) . The front corner was completely rusted. I cut it out and welded in another piece. I don’t think the repair will last forever, the metal around that area is pretty bad, but this will help keep moisture out of the new panels going into the car. The rocker panel and front fender definitely need replaced, but I will get to those at a later date 4. There were a few small panels that needed the holes finished welding up, I did that today. Notes: 4 ½” wire wheels are very scary to me. I am always afraid it is going to wrap me up One became a needle and flew off and embedded itself in my leg, it hurt I ripped another pair of shorts today. This summer has been rough on my garage clothes I have had most of my pants/shorts the better part of a decade and they are finally giving up the ghost (the wife is not sad) Still not looking forward to changing the rocker panels, hopefully this will be good practice I did a lot of sanding getting the car ready to go back together Car: 1972 Datsun 510 Engine: L20B Transmission: 280zx 5-Speed Suspension: Rear Coil Overs Minor Mods: Battery to Trunk, Electric Fans, Camera: GoPro Hero3+ Voice Over: Audacity Editing Software: GoPro Studio (I really don't like it) Build Thread Information: RATSUN: http://community.ratsun.net/topic/72953-aarons-1972-datsun-510-4-door-glory/page-1 GRM: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/datsun-510-4-door-project-name-tbd/134878/page1/

I have been unsuccessful so far in getting a new stock fan for the car, and like an idiot I pitched the old radiator and fan shroud (I know I am an idiot). Somewhere in the past few weeks i replaced the radiator, but forgot to note the time and date. As I wait to find the fan I decided to replace the driver’s side floorboard and perhaps the rocker panel (as it is completely rusted out in the rear) To Do (Daily): ☑ Remove interior ☑ Start removing sound deadening from drivers floor board 1. The carpet and seats removed easily. I put them in a box to get them out of the way 2. The sound deadening removed with a chisel and a hammer fairly easily Remove the large portions with a hammer first Then use a wirewheel to clean up the last of the remnants if you want my opinion on the best way to do this in an efficient manner Remove the undercoating with a wire wheel CAUTION: You Should always wear eye protection, breathing apparatus, and hearing protection when operating a wire wheel or sander (i have been coughing up some nasty crud, be smarter than me) Note: Looking at the situation it is clear to me that I will have to replace the frame rail as well on the drivers side it has given up the ghost and is not doing its job. Project Log (13 Aug 18): Drivers Floorboard removal continues, I have removed ~90% of the drivers floorboard, broke my spot weld drill bit in the first ~5 minutes will have to buy another. I have been using the cut off wheel on the 4.5” angle grinder. I have been attempting to be very careful in how I cut and operate the cut off wheel in these close spaces it would be very easy for me to hurt myself a TON. Car: 1972 Datsun 510 Engine: L20B Transmission: 280zx 5-Speed Suspension: Rear Coil Overs Minor Mods: Battery to Trunk, Electric Fans,

I bought this car in November 2017, I finished the major work in August of 2021. Sit back and enjoy 4 years of work and learning all in one place.

In this video I replace the alternator with a new alternator, install the electric fans, fix a leak from the fuel tank coupler, and find a giant vacuum leak on the base of the carburetor.

Off this was my first attempt at an exhaust it is bad, so bad that I will replace it in a couple years as the last part of this build.

I finish the install for the engine and transmission!

In this video I paint the engine bay and finish tidying up the engine, and engine bay for the swapped L20B.

Welded in patch panels to the 510

I remove the old spring and strut to install TechnoToy Tuning (t3) Coilovers in the rear