1977 datsun 180b estate - In with the DET

[damien4884]

mrs car is currently out of action so most of my attention has been on that instead.

However just got a few pictures sent through





Big thank yous to Dez for doing them.

[metroman]

This is a really inspirational project, thanks for sharing!

[damien4884]

Got another 2 weeks off work now, well I quit so I can work on the datsun ;D 2 weeks and new jobs starts again!

With some good weather forecast I thought it was about time to attack the roof, I have not been looking forward to this day at all. Its involves removing the screen and welding along the front edge where the roof has as much tendency to bend and warp as a sheet of paper.

First thing was getting the bonded screen out, all the trim had already been removed to have a quick look at what is needed. It took about 15mins to get screen out, I used a 20mm bladed packing knife to cut the bonding. Leaving me with this:


This exposed the rusty bits, its not as bad as I thought it was going to be, these datsuns seem to rust out on seams but on one side only.


Theres another bit the other side at top but no picture yet!?!

The bit at top of screen was first to attack. I cleaned it all up with wire brush in the grinder, cut and bent an L shape (15 and 16mm) done a bit of stretching on both sides to make it fit well. Welded it in and ground it down.




Finished repair along roof

Cut off a section of scuttle and repaired bulkhead and refitted scuttle bit.

By this time the sun was directly over where i was work so had a break then decided as the bonnet was in the shade i could start sorting that out.


By the time i had done that and had some lunch, the sun had gone over the house and i could go back to passengers side and get the floor welded up



This list should be by the 20th but with the mrs car breaking down and the weather i've probably lost a good week or so, pushing the deadline back to the 27th, not too much of a problem just means less shakedown miles before the gathering.

rear corner - nearly there DONE
rear valance - few plugs welds DONE
boot opening - think theres 2 small repairs to do DONE
drivers arch and repairs to inner
passengers arch and repairs to inner
passengers sill - repair to front edge
passengers floor - small repair to leading edge
front wings - repairs and gapping CLOSER
front panel - repairs to both edges CLOSER
doors and bonnet - few localised repairs
windscreen and roof - not looking forward to these nearly done
Filler - splodge here and there
Repairs to rear side window frames NEARLY DONE

Next on the list is passengers sill, then that should be passengers side all done ;D

[bstardchild]

You really have been craacking on with it - well done

[retrolegends]

That is one stirling effort, well done and keep it up!

[damien4884]

The welding around the window is all done, ground down, painted and window is back in. I'll probably get the sill done tomorrow and get the passengers wing sorted out then I can move onto drivers side for finishing off.

rear corner - nearly there DONE
rear valance - few plugs welds DONE
boot opening - think theres 2 small repairs to do DONE
drivers arch and repairs to inner
passengers arch and repairs to inner
passengers sill - repair to front edge NEXT JOB
passengers floor - small repair to leading edge
front wings - repairs and gapping CLOSER
front panel - repairs to both edges CLOSER
doors and bonnet - few localised repairs
windscreen and roof - not looking forward to these DONE
Filler - splodge here and there
Repairs to rear side window frames NEARLY DONE

Should get the wheels tomorrow

[damien4884]

Four parcels arrived today. Couldn't resist trying them on........



bit of space there for tyre.




Next time i'll put the steering wheel straight ahead

[tonybmw]

cracking work, glad to see that Barnet Supplies got you the gas sorted nice and quickly

Bookmarked now

[damien4884]

They did well, the offer had finished but still well worth it, and they are about 1 hour away if I'm desperate. I don't know but does their own guy deliver it all the time or is it just cos I'm relatively close by?

[tonybmw]

I guess it was because you were local, mine was sent by carrier

[Deleted]

This is coming along great, I have massive respect for anyone willing and able to weld up a Datsun.

[Al Ramone]

Jul 28, 2012 21:17:00 GMT @volksangyl said:

This is coming along great, I have massive respect for anyone willing and able to weld up a Datsun.

haha. they're not ALL this rusty.....

actually.... this one doesn't look to bad.....

[blacktoska]

good luck with ur project mate...

cant hardly wait for the result

datsun rooocks... lol

[damien4884]

rear corner - nearly there DONE
rear valance - few plugs welds DONE
boot opening - think theres 2 small repairs to do DONE
drivers arch and repairs to inner
passengers arch and repairs to innerDONE
passengers sill - repair to front edge DONE
passengers floor - small repair to leading edge DONE
front wings - repairs and gapping CLOSER
front panel - repairs to both edges CLOSER
doors and bonnet - few localised repairs
windscreen and roof - not looking forward to these DONE
Filler - splodge here and there
Repairs to rear side window frames NEARLY DONE

Few bits off the list and a few bits closer to being done.

Heres a few pictures of the screen repairs, this has all been finished off tidied up painted and had the screen refitted.



Then keeping with the passengers side i attacked the wing and front panel



Got the second bit welded into front edge.



Then welded up the sill so i could sort out the rear edge



Tried the wing back on



Tacked the inner bit on whilst on the car, removed reshaped the middle then welded up

[damien4884]

rear corner - nearly there DONE
rear valance - few plugs welds DONE
boot opening - think theres 2 small repairs to do DONE
drivers arch and repairs to inner DONE
passengers arch and repairs to innerDONE
passengers sill - repair to front edge DONE
passengers floor - small repair to leading edge DONE
front wings - repairs and gapping DONE
front panel - repairs to both edges DONE
doors and bonnet - few localised repairs
windscreen and roof - not looking forward to these DONE
Filler - splodge here and there
Repairs to rear side window frames NEARLY DONE

Had a good go at it today. Attacked the rear arch, which is the main bit holding me back from MOTing, apart from a few mechanical bits.





Then reshaped the rear quarter panel i made a while back, i did do the curve using quite a lot of guess work so not too bad.




This is where my camera battery got a bit low and i couldn't find the charger. So theres a few pictures of bits that will not be seen again and i'll put some more up with the end result.

Rear edge of sill into arch has seen better days and had a patch on inner arch.



Chopped all the grot out



Made this out of the left overs of passengers sill i got from datman



I made the other 2 bits for the repair and welded them in. Small repair got welded in above the sill section i made and all done around the arch!

[damien4884]

So had some fun with a can of lynx today, in between taking another car for MOT, Repairs, Retest and VIC check.





(please excuse the amount of colours I'm trying to keep it protected and use up all the odd aerosols i have)

The wheels are 7.5 wide compared to the 8 wide alloys from before and i wanted to keep a similar amount of stretch. Luckily the wheels had some 185's on them, so i could have a tester. I just need to get some decent ones and some 205 or 215's for the rear.

**Top tip if you go to the lengths of blowing your tyres on, your better off with less propellant and working up rather than too much to start off with **

[laks]

Very nice work!

[damien4884]

Time for some progress!!

Few bits to bring us up to date, drivers wing and scuttle are in high build awating top coat (not really ready to be doing it but made a nice change for something to be all one colour!)



They got taken back to bare metal, filled, zinc primed and high build primer.

As I'm coming towards the end of the welding i've decided to hit one corner at a time and finish it all off before moving around to next bit. So first place was the area that needed most attention, the passengers rear quarter. These are the first bits to get attention




Chopped out the rot



Repaired (still not entirely got the hang of shrinking!!)



Moved onto rear edge of sill




The bit that goes to the arch is just tacked on so i can make the inner sill and inner arch repairs and weld them in first so i don't have to get under car to do the welding!

Its now raining so I'm dodging the showers with a bit of card and some scissors so i can get the inner bits made ready to weld in when it stops.

[tonybmw]

Great job on that rear quarter window rot

[retrolegends]

Glad to see you have made some progress, any thoughts on a final colour?