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Jay.
Club Member
Had to check you weren't @Rushingphil for a second!
Only the good bits for you grandparents!Thanks Ed. Slow and steady!
Looking forward to seeing the painted cam covers
Coming up!
Jay.
Club Member
Cam covers came off - the inlet side was particularly tricky, as there is less than 1mm clearance between the cam cover coming off the head and the metal bracket that the hood latch is located. Took lots of wiggling and careful playing until it eventually came off. Not looking forward to trying to get that back on!
The leak was coming from the rear inlet cam cover, and it was clear when I removed it that someone had done a bit of a bad job putting RTX on the rear half moon seal.
There's a bit of a debate to whether to use the RTX at all, but I'll have a think as to whether I'll go down that route
Cam covers were stripped down with some paint stripper, which worked really well. 4 coats and it turned the paint into a goo which simply scraped off with a metal razor. Not surprising considering how easy the paint was flaking off the cam cover.
Cleaned up, degreased, and prepared for some paint.
The leak was coming from the rear inlet cam cover, and it was clear when I removed it that someone had done a bit of a bad job putting RTX on the rear half moon seal.
There's a bit of a debate to whether to use the RTX at all, but I'll have a think as to whether I'll go down that route
Cam covers were stripped down with some paint stripper, which worked really well. 4 coats and it turned the paint into a goo which simply scraped off with a metal razor. Not surprising considering how easy the paint was flaking off the cam cover.
Cleaned up, degreased, and prepared for some paint.
Jay.
Club Member
Managed to find an afternoon of relative freedom and decided to paint the covers. I used a high temp etch primer for 2 coats, 3x custom colour mix as the base coat and then 2 layers of gloss laquer. I'm really pleased with how they turned out!
It was my first time spraying anything properly and very happy with the results. Managed to avoid orange peel and runs, and the colour seems nice and deep
It was my first time spraying anything properly and very happy with the results. Managed to avoid orange peel and runs, and the colour seems nice and deep
Rushingphil
Club Member
Looking really good!!
Jay.
Club Member
I guess it's about time for my bi-annual update? 
The car has had very little mechnical work done to it since the previous post... 6 months ago.... Life has gotten crazy with the little baby, along with some family health issues and the inevitable churn that is work. I've taken the car out a few times, but the poor thing does needs some attention.
I got round to doing a basic service - I had replaced the sparkplugs with the cam cover refurbishment, and after some months of sitting/a few miles driven, I replaced the oil a coupe of times and put on a new filter - thankfully nothing sinister lurking.
Way back near the start of the thread I had concerns about some of the rust on the car - essentially the drivers side rear dog-leg has gotten worse and is now at the point that it needs fixing.
Although the floorpans weren't in a hugely bad state - I had treated them with some rust converter and they still feel solid - I'm at a point where I'm happy to commit some money to getting these replaced too.
I ended up ordering off KFVintage as they had a Black Friday Sale and, if I'm honest, I wanted to see what the hype was about. I already have a drivers side dogleg repair panel but figured if one side was bodged then the other side may need treatment too, and I bought inners too as I'm sure they'll be shot too.
I also purchased some lower door rust repair panels from APS for each door as they've both got some rust bubbles forming near the bottom. The one pictured below is significantly worse (the other side has 1 bubble the size of a 50p piece)
The car has had very little mechnical work done to it since the previous post... 6 months ago.... Life has gotten crazy with the little baby, along with some family health issues and the inevitable churn that is work. I've taken the car out a few times, but the poor thing does needs some attention.
I got round to doing a basic service - I had replaced the sparkplugs with the cam cover refurbishment, and after some months of sitting/a few miles driven, I replaced the oil a coupe of times and put on a new filter - thankfully nothing sinister lurking.
Way back near the start of the thread I had concerns about some of the rust on the car - essentially the drivers side rear dog-leg has gotten worse and is now at the point that it needs fixing.
Although the floorpans weren't in a hugely bad state - I had treated them with some rust converter and they still feel solid - I'm at a point where I'm happy to commit some money to getting these replaced too.
I ended up ordering off KFVintage as they had a Black Friday Sale and, if I'm honest, I wanted to see what the hype was about. I already have a drivers side dogleg repair panel but figured if one side was bodged then the other side may need treatment too, and I bought inners too as I'm sure they'll be shot too.
I also purchased some lower door rust repair panels from APS for each door as they've both got some rust bubbles forming near the bottom. The one pictured below is significantly worse (the other side has 1 bubble the size of a 50p piece)
Ian
Club Member
Thats a pity
The real question is, how far do you go? Because if it looks like that on the outside, its even worse underneath, not trying to be negative, I've just been around old Jap cars for long enough and cut into enough of them to see it. Hopefully the rust will only be around the lower bottoms sections and then the cost is kept under control.
Who will you use to do the work?
The real question is, how far do you go? Because if it looks like that on the outside, its even worse underneath, not trying to be negative, I've just been around old Jap cars for long enough and cut into enough of them to see it. Hopefully the rust will only be around the lower bottoms sections and then the cost is kept under control.
Who will you use to do the work?
Alphabettispaghetti
Club Member
I guess it's about time for my bi-annual update?
The car has had very little mechnical work done to it since the previous post... 6 months ago.... Life has gotten crazy with the little baby, along with some family health issues and the inevitable churn that is work. I've taken the car out a few times, but the poor thing does needs some attention.
I got round to doing a basic service - I had replaced the sparkplugs with the cam cover refurbishment, and after some months of sitting/a few miles driven, I replaced the oil a coupe of times and put on a new filter - thankfully nothing sinister lurking.
Way back near the start of the thread I had concerns about some of the rust on the car - essentially the drivers side rear dog-leg has gotten worse and is now at the point that it needs fixing.
Although the floorpans weren't in a hugely bad state - I had treated them with some rust converter and they still feel solid - I'm at a point where I'm happy to commit some money to getting these replaced too.
I ended up ordering off KFVintage as they had a Black Friday Sale and, if I'm honest, I wanted to see what the hype was about. I already have a drivers side dogleg repair panel but figured if one side was bodged then the other side may need treatment too, and I bought inners too as I'm sure they'll be shot too.
I also purchased some lower door rust repair panels from APS for each door as they've both got some rust bubbles forming near the bottom. The one pictured below is significantly worse (the other side has 1 bubble the size of a 50p piece)
Its a smart move getting all the pre made panels. getting it all done at once should work out more efficient also.
Jay.
Club Member
The real question is answered fairly easily - "not that far"
Frankly I can't justify spending tens of thousands on a restoration so as long as it is safe and 'rust free' then I'll have to make do with some of the areas not being perfect. The main decision I'm facing is what products do I use for protecting the underneath (and do I get them to do it for me)
I'm aware there will likely be problems hiding, but they're not currently an issue and I'm not looking to uncover them (maybe one day?)
Frankly I can't justify spending tens of thousands on a restoration so as long as it is safe and 'rust free' then I'll have to make do with some of the areas not being perfect. The main decision I'm facing is what products do I use for protecting the underneath (and do I get them to do it for me)
I'm aware there will likely be problems hiding, but they're not currently an issue and I'm not looking to uncover them (maybe one day?)
Dinatrol, I've got nothing but positive things to say about all of their products, you can quite easily do it yourself too.
I know that feeling all too well!
arcdef
Club Member
I second that, you can also paint over the 447 product so can keep it body coloured if that concerns you.
Jay.
Club Member
I'll look at purchasing some Dinitrol then! Certainly seems to be the go-to online, but there's a plethora of options that I try and keep my mind open.
The cars currently booked in for work in March. The guy doesn't have a website and very little online presence which scares the millennial out of me, but he has a really good reputation for restoring the underside of Evos which should mean the Datsun is a piece of cake with him (especially with the panels already purchased and fabbed)
Whilst I wait, I got the car out of the garage for a January drive. Took it up to Caffeine and Machine with a couple of friends where it looked fantastic, even if the drive itself was pretty dreadful (wet roads, 2 degrees outside, etc).
The cars currently booked in for work in March. The guy doesn't have a website and very little online presence which scares the millennial out of me, but he has a really good reputation for restoring the underside of Evos which should mean the Datsun is a piece of cake with him (especially with the panels already purchased and fabbed)
Whilst I wait, I got the car out of the garage for a January drive. Took it up to Caffeine and Machine with a couple of friends where it looked fantastic, even if the drive itself was pretty dreadful (wet roads, 2 degrees outside, etc).
Jay.
Club Member
Just to close the journey, I sold the car last summer. I put a quick advert up on here after my bodywork guy fell ill, and I was unable to find anyone to do the work for me in a reasonable time frame.. The car sold shortly after.
I had a fantastic time owning it, and do miss it sometimes... Although I am happy with the idea that it was "sensible" to move on......
As some of you know, I didn't last long without a Datsun, and I picked up its' replacement a few weeks later.
I had a fantastic time owning it, and do miss it sometimes... Although I am happy with the idea that it was "sensible" to move on......
As some of you know, I didn't last long without a Datsun, and I picked up its' replacement a few weeks later.