Partial restoration of my 1968 1600

[Mainer311]

You need some new KO2's on the baja bug.

[PBJ]

You need some new KO2's on the baja bug.

Unfortunately, not yet, we have far to many tires on hand to buy more right now!

[PBJ]

The past few weeks have been busy! We took the bug down to Vegas to race The Mint. The little bug is a tough machine but unfortunately it is also a stock 1970 bug. We ended up cracking our frame horn, this is basically the motor mounts. It broke, we found a guy with a welder and he welded it back together, then on course for another 15 miles and it cracked again. Unfortunately we didn't get a finish this time

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When we returned we were invited to speak at a local high school about the car and racing. The school has an incredible auto program and the kids seemed to enjoy the car.

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Finally, just today I was actually able to get back to the Datsun. I decided that I need to start removing paint and bondo every time I work on the car, a little here and a little there will make the car bare metal soon enough. So I spent a couple hours striping paint. Poly abrasive discs seemed to do well, but I went through 4 of them, I'll have to buy a case of them soon.

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Once I got through my final disc for today I started drilling spot welds. It's time to start fitting the rear quarters soon so the old ones have to go!

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I also pulled out the spare, is this the original tire to the car?

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[nismou20]

I think I have the same spare, Bridgestone Skyways?

[PBJ]

I think I have the same spare, Bridgestone Skyways?

Yup, that's correct, looks like it must be original, it even has the cover still

[pebbles]

Made in Japan!!! how cool is that spare!

[PBJ]

Made in Japan!!! how cool is that spare!

I know! I pulled it out of its cover and was expecting it to be crap! Actually, I'm also impressed the car has its jack and handle too!

[PBJ]

The car is really starting to get down to the bones. Today I got down to the shop for a few hours and pulled apart the passenger rear quarter. There were plenty more spot welds to drill out and I have been fairly impressed with the little harbor freight spot weld drill bet for that project.

This side has a lot more actual metal to it so cutting it out was actually a lot more work than the drivers side. But I got out most of the sheet metal and held up the new quarters to check the basic fit.

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While I was working on that my girlfriend was removing the original footwell speakers and some other odds and ends!

Lots to do but I just ordered a shrinker/stretcher and a few forming dies for my bead roller so I'm almost ready to fix the inner fender and start putting this back together.

[Mainer311]

Looking good! I can't wait to start redoing all of my sheetmetal.

[PBJ]

Looking good! I can't wait to start redoing all of my sheetmetal.

Thanks!
I just received the new forming dies for my bead roller, hopefully the shrinker and stretcher should be here tomorrow. I am hoping to get started on the inner fender this week/weekend and start getting the sheet metal back on. The front of the rear quarters that I bought don't have the front edge formed (the edge that meets up to the door frame) so I will probably use these forming dies to put that hard line into the fenders, then the shrinker to help bring that shape back. I've never tried this stuff before so there will be a bit of practice to see how all this works. For now I am watching a bunch of tutorial videos.

[PBJ]

I couldn't help myself and somehow carved out a few minutes to stop by the shop. I have a lot to learn with these forming dies, but I think it should be very doable to make the inner fender replacement parts with this setup. I took a bit of steel and ran it through a few dies. I'll have to dedicate a day to figuring out the capabilities of this set.

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I traced an arc from one of the fenders to see how it worked on a curve and this was the result. I rushed it through, so hopefully I'll be able to hold a straighter line when it comes to the real thing!

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You can see how the arc lines up with the curve of the fender in this one

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[ed B]

Made in Japan!!! how cool is that spare!

I know! I pulled it out of its cover and was expecting it to be crap! Actually, I'm also impressed the car has its jack and handle too!

Is it possible to measure the outside diameter of the original tire? I have always wondered what it was and if the tires I have now come close to the originals (for purposes of speedometer accuracy, etc.).

[C.Costine]

The past few weeks have been busy! We took the bug down to Vegas to race The Mint. The little bug is a tough machine but unfortunately it is also a stock 1970 bug. We ended up cracking our frame horn, this is basically the motor mounts. It broke, we found a guy with a welder and he welded it back together, then on course for another 15 miles and it cracked again. Unfortunately we didn't get a finish this time

image.jpeg

image.jpeg

When we returned we were invited to speak at a local high school about the car and racing. The school has an incredible auto program and the kids seemed to enjoy the car.

image.jpeg

Finally, just today I was actually able to get back to the Datsun. I decided that I need to start removing paint and bondo every time I work on the car, a little here and a little there will make the car bare metal soon enough. So I spent a couple hours striping paint. Poly abrasive discs seemed to do well, but I went through 4 of them, I'll have to buy a case of them soon.

image.jpeg

image.jpeg

Once I got through my final disc for today I started drilling spot welds. It's time to start fitting the rear quarters soon so the old ones have to go!

image.jpeg

I also pulled out the spare, is this the original tire to the car?

image.jpeg

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I often change up what phase I work on to keep it interesting. My current favorite paint removal weapon is a coarse, around #40, flap wheel.

[PBJ]

Made in Japan!!! how cool is that spare!

I know! I pulled it out of its cover and was expecting it to be crap! Actually, I'm also impressed the car has its jack and handle too!

Is it possible to measure the outside diameter of the original tire? I have always wondered what it was and if the tires I have now come close to the originals (for purposes of speedometer accuracy, etc.).

No problem Ed, I'll do my best to get a good measurement on it later this week.

[PBJ]

I often change up what phase I work on to keep it interesting. My current favorite paint removal weapon is a coarse, around #40, flap wheel.

Something like this?

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I've used flap discs, but never flap wheels, I was afraid it would be as hard on the metal as a flap disc is.

I've been using poly carbide discs, which work well but don't last very long.

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