Fixing up dad's old 69 SRL

[akara]

Hello everyone,
This is my dads old Roadster, I grew up riding sitting on the rear shelf as a seat. I've had it for a while and I want to fix it up to be something I am proud of. It's a bit of a survivor right now. Good from far but far from good.

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It needs a little bit of everything, but I want to start with the paintjob. Doing that will help me feel like I have a good "base" to start from to make the car nice.
The other day I removed the hardtop and all the paint on the rear deck peeled off with it! It's covered in rusty rockchips and spider cracks and flaking paint.

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This will be the first time I've painted a whole car and I'm working in a small single car garage out of my rental, so I don't think I'll be doing a frame-off, but the frame looks nice and solid and rust free underneath.
Plan is just to chip away at stripping it in my free time after work and on weekends.

[rwmann]

Nice starting point! Driving it will provide further motivation. Check in with any questions as you move along.

[theunz]

Looks like a very good car to start with, particularly since it was your dad’s. Having a complete car with straight and hopefully rut free body panels is a real bonus.
While your thoughts of painting first to feel like you have a good base to start with is inviting, I feel paint should be one of the last items on your list. Making it pretty before addressing the mechanicals means lots of opportunities to damage the paint before you ever hit the road. At the least, the precautions you will need to take to protect the paint while working on it will be a PIA. Same advice for tires. Can’t tell you how many projects start with new wheels and tires only to take so long to build that the tires have aged out before the car ever gets driven.
As rwmann said drive it for motivation and then decide how deep you want to get into a restoration. Good luck, and most of all keep it fun.

[notoptoy]

I completely agree, make paint the last thing on your list. Get the car driving (and stopping!) first. If you are going to do the work yourself try to always end each small project with a drive. I've always tried to break up the many projects facing me into small projects so that I get some accomplishments along the way. So electrical work or mechanical repair is a small project. For the body work - strip a fender, and take a drive for your reward, strip a door, etc., or fix something and then take a drive. Driving these cars is so important to help you bond with the car and not lose interest. Many projects have gone up for sale because the owner lost interest usually owing to the project taking too long with no enjoyment or tangible benefit of driving even a little.

[akara]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I got the car a year or so ago when I moved to Seattle WA. I've been able to get the car driving and I've been enjoying it for a while.
To get it going I've had to replace the head gasket, radiator, rebuild the water pump, clean carbs, replaced the rocker arms, thermostat housing, gaskets, some other odds and ends.
It drives well but has a weak 2nd gear synchro. It's got volvo brakes that work OK. The steering box is really worn, and its the A type. I've been around this car all my life and wont lose interest, I just cant stand to see the state of it anymore to be honest!
The body is in bad shape, My dad had it painted red in the 80s, and it suffered a lot of salt damage to the body from living near the beach, it was crashed at some point in the front right, and it was painted white. The whole car is thick with many many layers of paint and bondo. All brightwork is rusty.
The interior is rough as well, most of the panels are replaced by carpet and the console is not installed. The seats have 4 different covers installed over eachother all ripped, the dash is cracked, and it had a dash cap on it, which is also cracked! Ammmeter is bypassed but it charges, Oil pressure reads 0 at idle. Other gauges work OK, lights all work.
I want to do the car in 3 stages so I dont get too overwhelmed and confused about where bolts go etc. Starting with the body, then interior, and then engine bay.
I didn't take too many photos of work on it till now so I wanted to keep a log here, and appreciate all the advice from experts here!!

[Bwk2000]

I agree with the very knowledgeable folk above - Following the standard checklists on what to do first, second, etc. for a restoration is great advice … as long as you keep moving forward. If you don’t, it just ends up sitting in boxes and stored up in the rafters for decades as many who have taken apart their cars with good intentions can attest to.

Sometimes, motivation needs a boost. If painting it up first gives you that … Go for it!
Just don’t make it a $8K paint job … not just yet

[steve_car]

There is plenty of Roadster support in the Seattle area. DROPS and NWDE are two groups to look at.

[Gregs672000]

Yep, lots of Roadster support into the NW! I understand where you are and the reasoning, while still respecting the good advice you have already received. That said, I would encourage you to use a very good rust converter/encapsulator product to help protect the car from ongoing rust. As you mentioned, it has been near salt water for some time and that means it's even more susceptible to rust in seams and where any bare metal was exposed... like the INSIDES of the side rocker panels. I used Sems Rust Seal and after 30+ years those areas remain sealed and the rust never returned. You will be well served to spend a lot of time getting the product into as many areas as you can, including the use of compressed air to blow it into seams and difficult to reach places, possible drilling access holes to spray product into areas, etc.
Great story and a good car to work with... welcome to the family and congrats! The NW is a great place (in the summer) to have a Roadster!

[akara]

Looking forward to meeting some fellow pnw datsun owners in the future!
Spent the past day or two with some paint stripper and razorblades, beginning the process of stripping the body of all the paint, there is like 4 or 5 paintjobs worth and lots of bondo. I covered the car in stripper and then put plastic sheet over it and let it sit overnight. The bondo digs out with a heat gun reasonably well. The bodywork on this car in the past involved just bondo slapping every dent!

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Beginning to escalate quickly, im finding a lot of rust under fenders and in the quarters. Rear flares are solid bondo

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[jr02518]

Ok, I have to ask...what are the details on the 510 in that first series of pictures?

I am working thru a refresh on a 1970, 1600. Having the fenders off your car gives you access to the front suspension that I never enjoyed.

Please , keep up the momentum. These cars will absorb any amount of effort you are willing to offer.

David

[akara]

Ok, I have to ask...what are the details on the 510 in that first series of pictures?

I am working thru a refresh on a 1970, 1600. Having the fenders off your car gives you access to the front suspension that I never enjoyed.

Please , keep up the momentum. These cars will absorb any amount of effort you are willing to offer.

David

It's my little fake coupe, 72 2 door sedan.

I did SCCA for many years with an L18 but nowadays it runs an SR20.


Lots of hours into stripping this Roadster...I am lucky to have some help.
Its going to get worse before it gets better....
Rust, on both lower front fenders
front of the Hood
rocker panels
quarter panels
rear trunk lip
Good news I've been searching for some doner quarter panels and think I've found a set, and the frame is 100% with no signs of rust?

The front fender has seen some battles....I have to remove them so i can get behind with a dolly and beat all the dents out.



This is the caliber of work that used to be done to these cheap cars to get them back on the road in the past.;...

[Gregs672000]

Great progress. The rust isnt that bad up front. It will be important to see how much floorboard rust there is, hopefully little. You can use dry ice to freeze the undercoating and shatter it off with a hammer. Regarding the frame, they tend to rust the top cap where the body meets the frame as they used horse hair pads between the two that sucked up water and salt. It may be worth your while to pull the body off the frame enough to gain access, assess damage, rust treat, and replace the pads with rubber. Kinda involved, but your only gonna do this once.

[akara]

Thanks Greg, I like that idea, I may be able to get in there with a paint brush and some por15 without having to remove the whole body with all the brake lines and fuel lines and electrical etc.
going to be spending all day today with some help from my friend continuing to strip the car of paint, I'm lucky and I was able to find some donor fenders very cheap shipped to me by Greyhound bus so hopefully those will arrive sometime next week!! I am really beyond happy to have been able to find those.
I'll post my photos here my continued progress....

[akara]

Lots more work into the roadster over last weekend and this week after work hours.
Still not done stripping the car of paint and bondo, but getting tiresome so switching gears a bit to rust repair.
I started out with the trunk, it had rust that went all the way thru the undersupport. I cut it out.

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Rust on the back

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Made a patch panel for the rear support, welded it in

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Weld thru zinc primer, hope it wont rust in the future.

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Made a patch panel for the top using the piece I cut out as a template, this is going to be the theme here, I only have hammers and a bench vise to make these patch panels with, but im having fun with it.

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Weld on the panel and grind smooth.
The Hood had similar damage, rust between the lower edge where water collects, between the two layers of steel structure.

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I make the rolled panel edge by clamping in my vise, hammer to 90 degrees, then I vicegrip a welding filler rod on and hammer it over the rod, then pull it out and squeeze it down a bit.

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To prevent rust in the future I will put epoxy primer between the two layers and then spot weld the rear support in, and then apply seam sealer.
Ground down smooth.

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Same idea to repair the fender lower and rockers.

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Ill probably fill the rockers with cavity wax when im done painting it.

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[notoptoy]

Really nice work!