New World Datsuns...

Anything new on this one?

DRIVEN wrote:Anything new on this one?

I have been working on the turbocharger for the 521 kingcab the last few weeks, I hate body work so I think of things to do other than body work.
I had a great day today with the 521 kingcab, I went on a 220 mile round trip with it today, just got back, see the 521 kingcab thread, by the way did I mention I will think of things to do other than body work?

I completely understand. Completely.

I need to find someone that knows how to do body work that works for a reasonable price, I will pay a reasonable wage, otherwise this truck is not likely going to get to Canby, I would rather clean my house than sand on this truck.
I have a month or two more to take Plavix, then I am off of that shit, then I can take Ibuprofen again as I have inflammatory issues with my hands(carpel tunnel), if I sand even one day my hands go numb at night and wake me up, if I am working hard pressure washing, they can go numb every night for days, they even go numb while I am working, but sometimes I am so cold I cannot even tell till it warms up outside.
I am getting to be a whino instead of a wayno lately.

I talked to the Artist last week and offered him good money to come over and get this cab top and the sides decently smooth and primed, I told him I just needed decent, not perfect, he said he had a week or a little more of work and he would come over and do it, at least that is what he said, we shall see if it actually happens, I told him I wanted it done by June 1st, he's not good with deadlines, that is why I call him the artist.

I was at the neighbors talking to a guy tonight and mentioned my diesel not running correctly, he looked at it and shrugged, he knew nothing about diesels.
I mentioned I was looking for a body guy to work on this truck and he made me an offer that sounded to good to be true, I told him he needed to come back during the day and take a real good look at it without all the stuff on it, he said he was coming back tomorrow at 1pm, i will have it out of the garage.
I also showed the guy that this truck E1 engine missed if the plug wire was off #4 plug, it also missed if the plug wire was pushed all the way on the #4 plug, but if I got the wire just close enough for it to arc to the plug the miss went away and it runs perfect, he switched wires with number #3 plug and it still missed on #4 plug with the #3 wire, it's very strange, I suspect it has something to do with the plug or the wire being the wrong ohm type, even though it was the right type for the MG engine.

This is interesting the early 1965 Datsun 1500 fuel tank sender is the same as the Datsun 320 truck sender, this is important info as the Datsun Roadster does have aftermarket support.

I started messing with this again, first off I had to put different plugs in all the holes, #4 hole was missing badly, it was the only one missing, so I changed that plug to a BP5ES from a BPR5EY, that cylinder quit missing, well it started missing on #3 cylinder, it never missed on that cylinder before, what's weird is that I could get it to stop missing if I removed the plug wire and then move it just close enough to the plug tip for it to start arcing, it would run perfect that way, well I changed all the plugs too BR5ES and it runs fine so far with the plug wires connected to the plugs like they should be.
I started sanding the bondo hair off that I put on the cab a couple years ago when I extended the cab, I also bought so more regular bondo and made the top better, I am getting there, I need to paint this one before the end of the year, I need to finish this project and get it licensed for the road.
I got my Roadster road worthy again, it drives great, I did all the little stuff this time, all I need is a stock AMP gauge and it should be good for quite a while, I also changed the 4 year old oil/filter that had a few hundred miles on it.
I have been trying to finish stuff up all my projects, I now have head liners and kick panels in my 1969 Datsun kingcab and the 1966 Datsun 520 kingcab, they look a lot better, I need to finish the rear windows on the 520 as they will go up and down in that one, I will do the same thing I did too this 1963 Datsun 320 in that one, I have admitted to my self that the 521 kingcab windows will never go up and down, I will just open the rear slider if I want more air movement in the cab.
After I finish the top of this 1963 Datsun 320 kingcab, I will get it in primer(already bought), then I will do something about the rockers behind the doors on both sides, the sides of the cab are more than half way done already, I will have to make new rockers and weld them in, I have a plan, then the cab sides will get primed, I will then work on the driver side fender skirt and the door corner behind it.
Oh, I forgot I will need to put new seam sealer in the drip rails before priming the cab top, I scraped all the old stuff out because the rails had some surface rust in them below the existing seam seal, the rust is not that bad, I will wire wheel them, POR15 them, then put new seam sealer in them.

I said"After I finish the top" above, laugh out loud, this truck has lots and lots of dings and a couple big dents that I never really noticed before, I filled the hood dent and I made my own slide hammer, welded it to the middle of the big dent on the rear door pillar, and did my best to pull it out, I didn't get it all out as it has been there a long time, but it would have had an inch deep filler in it if I had done nothing, now it has a max of an eighth inch and the first filler was bondo hair, it came out nice.
I have sanded a lot on this truck(no box on it right now) down to either metal of the original color of the piece I welded in, it appears to be an off white, the back kingcab extension is a light blue that I actually like, I am torn on the color now, I like the light blue, but the engine compartment is still the off white, I only sanded the doors down to the off white, and off white shows the least imperfections, so it will likely be painted off white as body work is not one of my top 10 skills.
This truck starts easily now, when I first bought it I could turn it over till the battery died and have it try to hit a couple times, also with all the plugs being BP5ES it doesn't miss on any of the cylinders anymore, at first number 4 was the only issue, but it moved to number 3 after that, so I changed all of them and have had no issues since, but I am wondering if it is jetted too rich as the Weber carb that is on it was jetted for 1600cc engine, this is a 1200cc engine, I plan to switch to dual SUs so I am not sure I want to mess with the Weber as it runs alright the way it is, I just wonder if it could foul out just driving it, it is not licensed for the road so I have never drove it more than a block so far.
The only part left to sand is around the windshield and the louvers on the back of the hood, then I need to tape it off and prime it, then I think I should paint it right away, then focus on the box as it needs a lot of work, I can see just about every spot weld on the sides of the box, I lengthened the front and rear shirts, plus I shortened it 15 inches and I need to clean it up, a lot of work left on it, if the cab is painted I could park it outside so I can work on the box in the garage.

I like the blue on the front. It looks really similar to the color on my El Camino which has a slight metallic in it. Believe it or not, it kind of hides dings and waves. But mine has a flat clear over it so maybe that helps too.

And yes to the SUs.

The blue I was talking about I like is in one of the interior photos of the extension, that bluish color on the outside and the dash is another color that was put on with a rattle can I suspect, that paint spider webbed/cracked all over the truck.
After I sanded the exterior rear section down to the blue it looked pretty good, although some places sanded down to metal, but I like that blue.
It will likely be painted off white.
Lets see if the link below shows.

you need the HTML tags around it. I edited it for you.

Well while trying to sand everything I gave up on the front and removed the front fenders, the passenger side rear section was basically glued on like the driver side, but it came off easier, I had to rebuild the lower section on that side also, so I expect that was why it was glued on in that area.
After I finished rebuilding that area so I could use bolts to bolt it on again, I sanded the shit out of it all on both sides and used POR15 on everything I sanded down to metal, it started pouring down rain so I stopped and closed the garage door, then me and the neighbors spent the next half hour trying to keep the storm drains clear as there was a foot and a half of water covering the main street that my dead end road comes off of, only half the cars even slowed down when passing us.
Tomorrow I will undercoat the inner fender wells and the inside of the fenders before putting them back on the truck.

Well I got the front valance assembly sanded and undercoated on the inside, then I mounted it and the fender that I undercoated yesterday.
The cab is getting close to being taped off and primed, I also seam sealed the rain gutters on the cab today.

All the glass is taped off on the outside, and the door glass is taped off on both the inside and outside.
I need to sand the inside of the doors below the window sill on both sides, might as well prime/paint all that this time, I will do the rest of the interior after the outside is done.
There is not a lot to paint on one of these trucks, they are not very big.

So I have been driving the truck in and out of the garage every time I sand on it, I also have been blowing the garage out with the air blower every chance I get, I blow the ceiling, parts shelves with the parts still on them, I blow just about everything, the floor is pretty dust free now, the plan is to turn the garage into a paint booth, so far I have hung the two 10X20 foot tarps, when I remove the Roadster and blow the remaining floor area where it is, I should be ready to prime the cab exterior and doors(inside and out), I think I need to cover the floor with something also, I will pull the truck into the garage at an angle, I should have plenty of room on all sides, I think I will put the truck on floor jacks so I can either remove the wheels or at least cover them and tape off the fender wells on the inside of the wells so I do not get over spray on the undercoating.
I am starting to think I should paint it also. but I believe I will need to sand the primer, but maybe that was a screw up and I had to sand the 520 because I used an HVLP to apply the primer on it, but it will need to be outside to do any sanding, if I can prime and paint without sanding it will stay in the garage.
I am also thinking about doing 2 stage again, I just hate sanding by hand and I don't have to if not clear coating it.

My brother used to always spray the floor down with the garden hose before painting to keep dust down.
You've really been busy!

Well today I put the truck in the garage at an angle, I put the rear in the air with an air lift/jack, the front is on jack stands.
Next I removed the front wheels and completely taped off both fender wells, no over spray is getting in there.
Next I completely taped off the inside of the doors on both sides, I cannot get in the truck anymore but neither can over spray, I taped the rubber seals instead of removing them.
I am thinking that I need to check the primer I bought, I need to be able to paint it without sanding the primer, but I bought a high build primer and I don't know a lot about it, I decided since everything is clean I just need to get it done before working on anything else(interior/box).
My plan is to spray the jambs and the inside of the doors, then the hood edges and engine compartment edges, get everything done that needs to be done with the hood and doors open, then the next day close everything and spray the cab, then do the same thing with the paint.

It appears I am going to have to sand this primer with 400/600 grit, so this is not going to go as fast as I was hoping as I will not sand it in the garage, I believe the garage is clean and it is going to stay clean.
After reading the can that has no directions, it also appears I may have to ventilate the garage as my compressor is also in the garage and it throws a big spark every time it starts, and this stuff is highly flammable so I need to blow fresh air into the garage.
I may have to have the garage door up a foot or two with fans sucking the air out and have the door open next to the compressor in the back of the garage as my tarps do not seal the rest of the garage from my paint area, they are just curtains.
It appears that my primer is a 4 to 1 mix, there are no directions on the can of primer or the hardener, just warnings in three languages.

If you don’t want to have to sand after priming, don’t use high build. That stuff is not intended to lay out flat. I mean you possibly could, but you may get a bad case of orange peel and depending on the data sheet of the primer, you may need a sealer between the primer and paint. Maybe your best bet if you are looking to just get color on it and have it look respectable is to use an epoxy primer, thin it down to the max recommendation (usually 10%) and spray it out with something like a 1.4 tip so it lays down relatively flat. A slow activator will also help here, but that means it takes longer to set, so a heavy coat will run. A fast activator will be less likely to run, but the quicker drying can cause orange peel. They are usually defined by the temp range they will be sprayed at, i.e. use a slow activator on hot days, fast on cold, medium on normal days. Most epoxies can be directly top coated within 3 days without needing to be scuffed (and you don’t want to have to sand epoxy) Again, check the data sheet for the recommendations. There really are a bunch of different ways and techniques and it would not hurt to go to the local paint jobber and get their advice on what products to use.

Oh, and since your painting in your garage, make sure you kill any gas pilot lights if you have any and get yourself a decent respirator that can handle isocyanates. Just a friendly reminder

Just saw a previous post you said your compressor throws a spark when it starts. Please don’t take a chance with that.