Datsun Roadster: 2020 Challenge Build

wvumtnbkr said:

I might try to come down to see the cool cars this year.  Everything is just epic about this and a few other builds.

This, nocones car, and the x71 or whatever thing, are a big reason of why I'm going. Been following along on here for a while, want to see them in action and in person. 

Indy, don't think I'll be able to dynamic test this before the challenge. Critical planning mistake I know. But I told myself this year is about fun. I have tons of stuff I'd still like to do with the car that isn't going to happen in time, so this year I'm not killing myself to cram. I'll keep working toward the challenge and see where I get.

I am also very interested to see how this drives with new pucks and -200lbs of body fat. Hopefully better!

Finally, yes I think coming to the challenge car less is a really good plan if you've got a vacation day. Fly or drive down, stay at the host hotel. I guarantee you will have a good time. 

On to the updates. Friday I got another hour in starting to cut out the left side canoe fender liners. They came out great.

First use the cut side to draw a mirror image on the uncut side.

Then test fit.

Nice.

Next I cut the rear piece

 and then I riveted both sides to each other (front piece to rear piece). Here they are "done".

You can really see how busted that canoe was. Woof.

Anyway, then I started on a task I've been putting off. Has to get done though, so might as well dig in. The floor. 

So I pulled out the hood, of course.

And started removing the bracing.

Then it rained so I removed more bracing inside the garage.

These are cool. Measured and marked.

Two are cut to go in between the inner frame rails (under the drivers legs)

About here.

And then the other two will flank the driver at the rear of the main floor piece.

But first they need to be flattened. That curve worked for the hood but I need flat.

So, out comes the hammer and I got to mashing. One is mashed and the other isn't yet to show how squishing out in the middle can flatten the piece.

Tada!

Here's where they will go.

And then I lifted the car up to get good access and tacked them all in. I'm stoked with how this came out, and now I have something to rivet the floor to in the middle and at the back!

1 hour yesterday and 5 today puts me at 545 total.

I like the part where the canoe fenders turned out awesome!

Made some tabs this morning to hold the bottoms of the inner fenders.

Tacked in, so I should check if the fenders fit well before making too permanent.

546 hours.

Good thing I did check the fender fit!!

I forgot the rib structure inside the fender, but I am happy, these will be quite strong.

Also I got the 2nd front puck redone and nut checked the entire front suspension (nothing was loose except what I loosened, so that's good).

Got the old rear pucks off. Here they are compared to the new ones. This change will have a huge effect on compliance. What came off is basically skateboard wheel material I think.

548 hours.

In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :

I am so excited to see how they work out for you. 

I'm very interested to see how bouncy and how much travel the suspension gains.   

Finished the puck install and then moved to exhaust support brackets. 

Start with CBR600 license plate frame.

Cut in middle, start bending.

Drill some holes, bend a bit more, throw on a lick of random bronze paint for kicks.

Done.

And

Finally, let this be the 550 hour photo!

550 hours.

So good. 

Want me to bring some spare fiberglass and epoxy to the parking lot?  Try and smooth any rough edges to make the flow better?

I was wondering if there was another piece of canoe available to replace the metal radiator duct

Alas, no more canoe to use (well there are tiny pieces but nothing really that good). Mr asa, might need to finish the glassing in the parking lot! Hahaha.

I spent a couple hours a few nights ago rage building. I wasn't in a good head space and I didn't get much done. Basically I was doing stuff but none of it was good or really productive. Oops. Part of it was I was disappointed about all the things I want to do that probably won't happen before the challenge. Part of it was my shop is a messy disaster right now and it was causing my fabrication to suffer. Part of it was I was trying to do a mod based on bad materials that wasn't a good plan to begin with and I was subconsciously not happy about the result before even starting. 

Then I calmed down and spent a couple hours doing something good and productive instead. These front brackets are now weight reduced, deburred, edges sanded, and welded on. 

554 hours.

Then I started cleaning the shop. Can't be wasting hours like that that anymore before the challenge. Need to be clean and focused from here forward.

In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :

It looks great man. My garage is in what sounds like the same state and it's totally distracting. 

Mr_Asa said:

Want me to bring some spare fiberglass and epoxy to the parking lot?  Try and smooth any rough edges to make the flow better?

I would totally scrub in on some parking-lot fiberglass work.  I'll pack nitrile gloves!

TVR Scott said:

Mr_Asa said:

Want me to bring some spare fiberglass and epoxy to the parking lot?  Try and smooth any rough edges to make the flow better?

I would totally scrub in on some parking-lot fiberglass work.  I'll pack nitrile gloves!

If we are actually doing this someone needs to bring cardboard to lay stuff out on and chip brushes to help spread it.

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Would flattened Amazon boxes work? We seem to get about a dozen per week. 

In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :

Oh yeah, whatever you can do to lay out your cloth for your patch and then moisten it with resin.  I've got a nice Amazon box that I've coated all sides by using it to lay out fiberglass before I moisten it with resin.  I use it for storage of my fiberglass stuff.

Moisten it.  With resin.

Moisten it.

Moisten.

Ok, since it's go time, I guess it's time to drop some big updates.

Saturday I got in about 9 hrs solo work, then a buddy came over and we did 2 more. 9+(2*2) is 13. Nice.

First I rolled the car outside and started removing what I thought would be paint. Turns out what I actually removed was mostly bondo. I think every panel of the car had Bondo work, and a few panels have silver solder and others have gold solder.  Here's paint over Bondo over paint over Bondo.

This was about 5 hours of strip discs.

Next, a clean racecar is a happy racecar. My daughter helped with the drying towels.

Then back in the shop for paint on the new frame parts and brackets. Shout out to the tinfoil trick, it worked great.

My buddy Nelson helped this happen. 

And

For the result:

Saturday night I went to bed tired, sore, and very happy.

Edit, missed a pic of the paint and tinfoil trick, added now.

This is incredible.  How much weight in Bondo and paint did you think you lost?

Is this the triumphant return of the Robbie "paint is too heavy" special?

nocones said:

This is incredible.  How much weight in Bondo and paint did you think you lost?

I think significant-ish. I did weigh the car recently before so I'll see if I can weigh it again to get an idea. It was like 1/8th inch thick over much of the body and nearly 1/4 inch thick in places. Please cover my sportscar in a thick layer of sheetrock, please. 

In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :

I had a coworker roll up to me one day to tell me about his 1960s T-bird project.

I walked away from him after he said: 

"You would not believe how many gallons of Bondo I have in the floorboards."

People...sheesh!

In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :

HA! I forgot that car was also #19. There was a LOT more surface area on that car. But I actually don't want F-dat to rust, so I did buy 2 cans of clear (haven't applied yet, hope I have time). 

I probably can't argue that paint is too heavy. But I can argue that BONDO is too heavy. Plus, I really love how the metal tells a story. This car has obviously had a lot of body work over it's 56 years in this world. How did it earn those bumps and bruises? Races, parking lots, canyon carving?Who fixed them? Was it an owner DIYing in their home garage? Was it a pro working at a shop? Maybe it was the fumes, but as I was stripping paint I thought about the people who did similar body work on that same section of car. Did I just do the same job as someone else on the same panel only 50 years separated in time? Who were they? What were they thinking about when they were doing it? What tools and products were they using? The Bondo was at least 3 distinct colors (grey, yellow, and pink) in different areas suggesting not all repairs were done at the same time. The different methods of the body solder adds to that argument. 

Anyway, I think the metal tells that history. and it's fun to look at. 

preach (fs) said:

In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :

"You would not believe how many gallons of Bondo I have in the floorboards."

yeah, unless he did a lot of bad bondo work and therefore a lot of sanding (possible), then all I can say is yikes. 

Unless it's a complete show car where they put mirrors under the thing and it gets more awards than miles, who's putting bondo on the *floor*??