Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

this will be the collection point for all my build progress and such.
i will update it as my busy schedule permits.

this is how it started 2004
i apologize for the quality... my camera has advanced since then. this was shortly after the barn fire find.

then a little progress 2 years later.....i know the speed of datsun progress 2006
body's off the frame!!

2008 then through the magical experience of loosing a hard drive... it becomes a frame on a rack(there are frame disassembly picts on my cardomain... just cant figure out how to move them here)mmmm... fresh paint!

not much else happened in 08, lost my storage so everthing got shuffled...

2009
built a rotisserie. then back to storage...(i know..i know...gotta pick up the pace)

2010... bought a second roadster ....turned out to be a big basket case with a good body and bad everything else... now the body for this build with one hangup....its a high window.. oh well im good with metal gonna be the first to swap to a low window!!!! more picts on that later

That rotisserie is quite the beast! Is it fixed in size, or can you adjust it/break it down?
It's a really nice tool to have.

it is fixed in length but the rear pivot is adjustable. best part is that it is completely scrap.... no $$$ involved

ok more progress, the low window body has been dissected.
step one remove the dash, and start drilling the spot welds on the upper cowl. a wire wheel helps to fingd the welds




had a 1"weld there also that needs to be cut.

this corner needs to be cut to free up this area, gonna have to reweld it and bodywork it .



this is what the upper cowl looks like off the car!

next step remove the lower cowl start by cutting the welds at the corners of the engine bay, then start drilling spotwelds

separate the welds along the seam here

and here

and all the welds along the front seam as seen by the holes in the cowl in the picture.
as a side note i had all the welds cut and separated and still could not remove the cowl... there is a bolt on the blower motor that was holding it on!

bottom of lower cowl off the car

pass side of lower cowl off car

drivers side of lower cowl off car


next i removed the heater pocket, same as before find the welds and drill them.
before
after
pocket

next i removed the side wings for the dash support/windshield mounts, start by drilling the welds then cut down the inside of the panel behind the lower cowl bracket


repeat for the other side

that is all the parts needed for a low window conversion if you are not using the early doors. if you are you need the front of the qtr panels where the door latches to.. picts of that later

Wow, wow, wow!
That is one heck of an ambitious project! Very impressive. You must have a great drill - it looks like you could have worn one out with all of that!
Thanks for sharing.

For that kind of work, a spotweld drill would be handy.

Chris

to large for datsuns welds. i think 5/16" is what i used. the hard part is finding them

oh btw im not the old guy in the picts. i bought his help in removing the body with some toyota work supplemented with some beer

Spot weld cutters come in different sizes. I have used them on my roadster and they work very quickly and efficiently.

fixitman04 wrote:oh btw im not the old guy in the picts. i bought his help in removing the body with some toyota work supplemented with some beer

come on man, that's not you in the short pant overalls???????????

Hopefully your project doesn't get shelved and can be worked on during the winter.
Here is one of those projects thats on the back burner and hopefully will be restated again.

http://photoshare.shaw.ca/messages/view ... page/1/15/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ray B.

it does get shelved from time to time.. but im persistent. i have no heat in my garage, no insulation either ... so late dec-march pretty much nothing gets done as we get way below zero here. and i currently have 3 projects going... one that runs(supra) one that sits(4x4 gt-6 triumph) and one that has a uncanny nack for absorbing $$$$$....

well, today i have a box from diyautotune...... and 14 spools of wire...... what could be on my agenda..... now if that darn fusebox would show up!

OK, I bite, let"s guess, new wiring harness?

not much going on here... just collecting parts....gonna be an interesting summer though... now that 407 has a title..im gonna get going hard on it this summer... it will be running by the end of the summer