New World Datsuns...

The sandblaster...

I tried it but it didn't work. Shoved it in a corner until I get a chance to look into what's wrong.

Since the frame portion is semi-stalled, I decided to do some work on the engine. Slid it out from under the stairs...

Up on a stand and partially stripped it for a repaint...

Decided to swap out the rockers...




Set the lash and it's ready to go. The springs are pretty (really!) stiff and it's a solid lifter cam that runs .030 lash. It's really hard on valvetrain parts. I ran this engine in my El Camino for a short time and ended up breaking a stud. Basically, it beat the tip of the rocker until it was out of alignment then the edge of the rocker pivot slot sawed thought the stud until it snapped. Here's a look at what happened...

Fresh paint...

New balancer. Top end just sitting on it. Valve covers still need to go to the powder coater.

mmmm.

looks good. man. Fresh engines are so hawt lolz

Just some late shots of the additional painting/parts/mockup...

Water pump and pulley painted and on.

I also played around with my weirdo pipe-dream of diagonal crossram just for giggles.


With the top removed you get a better idea of how the runners are laid out.

The EGR passage dumps right in the middle but luckily it's pretty easy to cut out.

Painted and mocked up my CS130 alternator low-mount kit.



I actually haven't done anything in about a week. Spring break, personal stuff, blah blah blah...

still tho. good looking engine

Finally got the rails blasted. Holy crap have I been procrastinating! Anyway, I learned a lot in the process since the guy I got it from had never actually used it and had zero pointers for me.
1. Play sand does work. But it needs to be dry and it needs to be sifted.
2. The recovery rate is about 60-70%. Meaning if I put 10lbs in the pot and run it empty, then sweep up everything on the tarp, I'll have about 6-7lbs to reuse the next time.
3. Blasting when it's windy sucks.
4. My compressor just barely keeps up. If I were doing this more regularly or a larger project I'd need a bigger compressor.
5. Aluminum oxide works better than play sand but costs 10x as much.
Basically, I knocked the majority of the ugliness off with the blaster. Next step will be to weld up some unused holes, add captured nuts, straighten everything out, hit it with the flapper discs, prime the inside, add the boxing plates, prime the outside, then start welding in crossmembers.

Rear crossmember and sifting screen.

Some of the heavy pitting I uncovered. Looks worse than it really is.



Also, Jerod brought down some various manifolds I'll use for mockup once I get the engine in the frame.

And lastly, Jerod delivered some motivation...

...not to be opened and enjoyed until after the maiden voyage. He handmade the rustic oak crate.

Jess,

I think that blasting it was the way to go. This may, or may not work for you... Buuuuuut. 3m makes these bristle discs... In different grits, I think 60-160 range, each grit is a different color. I've seen 4 different grits.

Anyways, check this out. May work for you if you want to spend a little more time. This probably wouldn't be worth while if you had a lot of corners, nooks, crannies, and shit like that to get up in. But a super flat easy surface like that may be?

You can get it for a grinder, a die grinder, and I think your drill too. I've seen them use the 160 on aluminum manifolds. gets the gasket off, doesn't take a bunch of surface off. almost like a buffing pad on a die grinder.

DRIVEN wrote: And lastly, Jerod delivered some motivation...

...not to be opened and enjoyed until after the maiden voyage. He handmade the rustic oak crate.

I am motivated now

Always sweet to see the progress on this Jess

I actually found a couple of those 3M bristle discs when I was cleaning out my toolbox on Friday. Totally forgot I had them. I'll have to try them out and report back.

Spent over 8 hours working on the frame today. Finished straightening all the ripples using 2 large Crescent wrenches. Then hammered all the dents out. Once they were straight, I welded up a total of 160 holes. After that I welded the captured nuts onside that will attach the fenders and running boards. I also added 2 reinforcement pieces at the rear kick-ups which is a common weak spot on these frames. Once I was happy with that, I shot the inside of the frame rails and the inside of the boxing plates with primer. It took some trimming but I got the boxing plates to fit to my satisfaction and that's as far as I got. There are actually a few pics but I left the camera in the shop and, honestly, just don't feel like going out there right now.
Next step is to tack weld the boxing plates in, bolt in the rear crossmember, and start the front crossmember install and get the X-rails ready.

And Izzo, I tried out those 3M bristle discs but they weren't really aggressive enough for what I needed. What I ended up using was one of those abrasive discs that look like thick, super hard ScotchBrite. Those are friggin awesome on heavy scale!

bummer man. they looked like they work amazing on the youtube videos i saw of people using them.

Can't wait to see the pics! 160 holes? lol.... jeez sounds like a datsun

DRIVEN wrote:Spent over 8 hours working on the frame today. Finished straightening all the ripples using 2 large Crescent wrenches. Then hammered all the dents out. Once they were straight, I welded up a total of 160 holes. After that I welded the captured nuts onside that will attach the fenders and running boards. I also added 2 reinforcement pieces at the rear kick-ups which is a common weak spot on these frames. Once I was happy with that, I shot the inside of the frame rails and the inside of the boxing plates with primer. It took some trimming but I got the boxing plates to fit to my satisfaction and that's as far as I got. There are actually a few pics but I left the camera in the shop and, honestly, just don't feel like going out there right now.
Next step is to tack weld the boxing plates in, bolt in the rear crossmember, and start the front crossmember install and get the X-rails ready.

And Izzo, I tried out those 3M bristle discs but they weren't really aggressive enough for what I needed. What I ended up using was one of those abrasive discs that look like thick, super hard ScotchBrite. Those are friggin awesome on heavy scale!

What color discs did you use?

I used the yellow 3M disc. It would probably work well for stripping gasket material or light rust.

Photo evidence...

For the dents that couldn't be accessed easily I clamped a section of heavy wall square tubing on the inside like a dolly) and hammered the outside, tightening the clamps as I worked the dent out.

The nuts inside the rails for fender and running board mounting bolts...

There were 20 all together. Not too pretty but no one (except you guys) will ever see them.

Coat of primer on the boxing plates.

Yellow is soft.. for cleaning aluminum without damaging the metal.

yellow wat, bristle disc or roloc disc (is good for cleaning aluminum without damaging metal)

Roloc, but both are made by 3M. Looks like the bristle disc is just a bigger version.

Gotsa link by chance? 3m makes a fuck ton of products lol

I read some of the first page last fall, but I haven't kept up on this one.

Holy Sheeeeeet - this is moving along nicely!

DRIVEN wrote:Diagonal Tri-PowerTM

The manifold is an early '80s Corvette Crossfire injection piece. The top plate is just aluminum plate. If I open up the ports and weld up the EGR base it should flow okay. Those 2GCs can flow 350cfm each. Waaay more than enough on any smallblock. I may never actually run it -- just a thought.

Not trying to argue, but I would call this a Tri-Powered Crossram setup myself. Now that's just fucking cool!

izzo wrote:Gotsa link by chance? 3m makes a fuck ton of products lol

Green - 50 grit
Yellow - 80 grit
White - 120 grit


http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/e ... 5GMFSMV0gl

Yeah ok, ive seen those be used on alum manifolds. Surprised the 80 gets used. Guess 80 grit of that is way different then 80 grit sand paper lolz

izzo wrote:Yeah ok, ive seen those be used on alum manifolds. Surprised the 80 gets used. Guess 80 grit of that is way different then 80 grit sand paper lolz

Yellow for aluminum.

If you use green, you buy new manifold.. lol