1962 Datsun U320

[wayno]

I have decided that it does have a THIN black layer of paint on the bottom, it is not much and this is hard work cleaning this shit off, to paint it i would still have to sand blast it as that undercoating is not all coming off, it would take hours to sand blast even after removing 90+ percent of the crap on the bottom.
I have several hours into scraping so far and this is all that is done so far, I did some of the passenger side today.

[wayno]

I went to the paint store today and talked to them about primer and the undercoating, I bought a half gallon sand-able primer and 2 cans of paintable undercoating, I will use my paint sprayer for the primer, that is no big deal except I will need to cover everything that I don't want over spray on, I need to by my Mini a real cover, and they said don't put the paintable rubberized undercoating on and then wait 2 months to paint it, I just read the directions and it said nothing about that, but I expect I will not paint the underside anyway as it was not painted at the factory, it appears to have been a black paint/primer with undercoating over it.

I also scraped off more undercoating, I hope this stuff is not asbestos.

[wayno]

I pulled the tank and fill tube today so I could get above it, I then started scraping away in that area.










I found rust in the seam between the cab and the box connection where it swelled the seam.






Then I treated that with POR15.

[jtinluvr]

If your going to prime bare metal, you should use either etching primer (good), 2 part direct to metal poly primer (better) or epoxy (best), at least that is my opinion. You can buy etch primer in a rattle can but the others need a gun with a big tip as they are *thick*.

[DRIVEN]

Looks good. Keep it up.

[wayno]

If your going to prime bare metal, you should use either etching primer (good), 2 part direct to metal poly primer (better) or epoxy (best), at least that is my opinion. You can buy etch primer in a rattle can but the others need a gun with a big tip as they are *thick*.

I don't know what I am doing when it comes to painting, I just bought some Shop-Line JP202 2K Primer Surfacer for this truck as the good rattle can primer did not go far enough, is this what you are talking about Jtinluvr?
I tell them guys what I am doing and ask them what I need, I told them I liked the paint that they put in a rattle can as it goes on way better than I can with my paint gun, night and day difference, so I am painting this with their special rattle can paint, and I did the rockers on my Mini with that paint, it came out way better than any vehicle I have painted so far, regular rattle can paint does not go on like this rattle can paint of theirs does, but it takes 3 coats to cover, but there is very little over spray with their rattle can paint, it might be just the tip they use, I expect to spend a fortune on this paint, but I will be doing it one piece at a time, or one area at a time on the cab/box.

[jtinluvr]

I am surprised a professional paint shop would recommend a primer/surfacer as a base coat to bare metal. That is what is supposed to go on top of a etch, DTM primer or epoxy and act as a means to fill any small imperfections before paint such as sand scratches. I am at the point where I just start with a epoxy primer whether it is over existing coatings or bare metal. If you are just going to do undercoating, for ease of use, SEM sells etch primer in rattle can. Follow the directions then spray on your undercoating. Save the JP202 for your bodywork. I’m sure the custom rattle can paint has not only a better nozzle, but way better paint also. Painting is a black science as so many variables affect the outcome. Air pressure, air temperature, tip size, fan setting, how far you pull the trigger, reducer speed, etc, etc, etc. While I don’t have all the answers, I have learned quite a bit having painted something like 15 cars over 30 years.

[wayno]

I just told them what I was doing, where I am scraping the under coat off only scratches are getting to bare metal except where I pointed out the rusty line between the cab and box connection, I sand blasted that line down to bare metal and put POR15 over it, now I understand what POR15 is now, but I am not putting it on everything, just small spots, I sanded most of it off the inner fenders.
They did not sell me the primer for the underside of this truck, it is going to be used for everything that is going to be Ivory white, the undercoating I bought is paintable, but since I am not getting all the old undercoating off, I am going to spray this undercoating over that undercoating and the original primer that is showing.
Nothing is written in stone right now, but I have no interest in taking the bottom of that truck down to bare metal, that is just too much work for an area I cannot see, so unless someone can show me the truck will rot before I sell it or die that will likely be how I do it.

[wayno]

I bought a cheap Air Needle Scaler today, I tried it and it seems to work good around captured nuts, corners, and them bead rolled parts in my floorboards to make them stiff, but I only tried it for a couple minutes, I had to leave and repair one of my old customers tile roof because he had someone else pressure wash it because I don't pressure wash them anymore, they broke a bunch of tiles and didn't repair them or did a crap job using silicone to repair them, there was likely 20 to 30 tiles broken, I used everything I had(12 tiles) to replace the un-repairable ones, and the rest I siliconed back together the best I could and he is going to buy more tiles for when he calls me again.

[wayno]

So the guy that made the steering column grommet asked me for a photo of where this other rubber part goes on the transmission, so I took a photo of that hole and I decided to test fit the column grommet, it was a bitch to get it in there even without the column in place, the material needs to be slightly more flexible but I got it in there without ruining it.










Did not do anything on this today except installing the column grommet and removing it after taking the photos, instead I changed the oil/filter in my 521 kingcab as I am going to drive up to Anacortes WA tomorrow to pick up a telescope, 4+ hours of driving each way, I must be insane!
It's a Starsplitter telescope and is on the highly recommended list of best telescopes even though it is a classic.

[wayno]

Well I made it back without getting in a wreck, 255 miles each way and I averaged 68.9 miles per hour, on the way up I figured I was pushing it as I got out late and got there at exactly 12 noon which is what I was shooting for, on the way home everyone else was driving like they were late so i went with the flow.

"Go Big or Go Home"




Here is is set up in my living room.




The photos in the craigslist ad did not do the size justice, I thought it was 4 to 5 feet high max, it is just over 6 feet high, and the end is just shy of 20 inches across, the mirror is 14.5 inches across.

[HRH]

Cool!

[wayno]

I have been working on this off and on I have cleaned most the bottom of the truck to about the rear axle needle scalers are awesome I did the rear fender wells last time I was under it.




I found some rust so now I am going to deal with that, both sides look the same, I will make new pieces but not right now, I need to finish cleaning the bottom.

[wayno]

I finished scraping most the bottom today, I moved the support beam to get to that area.






I found some more damage on the left side rear fender well area, I am pretty sure it is full of bondo.

[wayno]

It does not appear that I took any before photos of the left rocker before working on it, it was bent also, but not like the driver side where it was destroyed, I did build it up with metal where I could not pull it out so it is multi layer metal now and after I got it as good as I could I put long and strong type bondo on it and started sanding, I came to realize that I could not get it level with power sanders of any kind, so I have been doing it by hand with a straight edge, I have to say that even though before starting the sanding I thought it was going to be forever, well with that straight edge I am way closer and faster than going over the same area 10 times with power sanders trying to get it right, I had one low spot in the middle that I did not realize was low until I did both the ends, once I get that middle done I will need to use regular bondo to fill any small holes and then start priming the rockers, door jambs all the way around and the inner fenders and engine compartment again, get them smooth and then paint them with the paint I bought to do that.





This area in the photo below is where I built it up with metal, who ever fixed it before put a 1/4" or more of bondo on it to make it level, and when I started straightening it bondo started to pop off in big thick chunks, it seems like I took some photos of my repair in this area, I will look for them.

[HRH]

Very nice!

[wayno]

I am trying to work on it again every day if just something small, doing something small is better than doing nothing like I have been doing for a couple months now, working on the telescopes has been more interesting.
That rocker is not great, but if I use high build primer without much reducer if any at all I can build it up and sand primer off and make it level, I am not good enough to make the rocker look new and i am trying to not have bondo/bondo hair no more than a 1/16" thick anywhere that is visible, I keep sanding away until metal starts showing and that is usually around level with the straight edge, that had a thick layer of bondo in that area when I started, this truck had been thru hell before I bought it.

I started sanding around the windshield opening today, that has to be ready for when I paint the engine compartment, also an inch on the inside also so I can put the windshield in, basically I want to paint around the windshield and hood openings,both door jambs and the inner fenders, radiator support and engine compartment, when I finish that will all be body color and finished.

I forgot I need to spray the undercoating on the bottom before painting, I would rather have undercoating with paint over spray rather than paint with undercoating over spray.

[wayno]

I should be done with that left rocker but I keep looking down the side and seeing low spots. (insert face palm here)

[wayno]

I almost have it, one more foot at the rear and it should be level enough to deal with it with high build primer.

[wayno]

Well I did some sanding and did some more sanding, I warmed up the garage and I then primed back to the windshield and back of the doors, I still need to do more but I will likely do that tomorrow, I got tired of breathing that shit, I did open the garage door when priming, I have a mask I will find it tomorrow.

This one is after I was happy with the rocker



And here it is primed, there are a couple spots that need more primer.













I forgot I also did the rain gutters on this truck with body sealer.