Rust repair on the 70 stroker

[70datsun]

Hi all! It's been a while since I've posted anything about my car so I thought I'd update you on my latest efforts. The short of it is that the passenger side fender was coming disconnected at the rocker cap so I decided it was time for a little fresh metal.

Last fall I learned to weld helping my brother replace the rusted front suspension pan on his 69 Porsche 911. Since I got practice on that junker ,I figured I could risk putting my precious Datsun under the knife.

In for surgery:


Grinding bondo and rivets to remove fender :


Fender off:


Rusty:


Some inner fender rust removed:


And repaired (in rough form):


Entire kick panel removed (white piece is a previous owner attempt to cover rusted area):


Corner of firewall repaired:


Floor pan repair:


Inner fender to firewall reinforcement:


Well, that's all the posting tonight; time to tuck the younger daughter in. There'll be more, trust me! Cheers,

[notoptoy]

Wow, great work for the start!

[70datsun]

A few more photos:

Rusted inner fender structures:


Cowl drain area repaired:


Same area with a fresh coat of POR-15:


Frame to floor pan bracket recreated:


Bracket installed:


Inner rocker panel wall:


And patch:


And welded in with POR-15 and seam sealer:

[70datsun]

It goes on...

Rusted rocker panel:


Recreating new rocker panel:


Reasonable facsimile:


And tacked in place. I decided to eliminate the factory jacking structure and hole since I'll never use it and the car is far from original anyway. Or maybe I'm just lazy!

[notoptoy]

Looks like that piece of rust had some metal! You have really done some extensive repairs, and it all looks great. Thanks for all the detailed pictures.

[70datsun]

Looks like that piece of rust had some metal! You have really done some extensive repairs, and it all looks great. Thanks for all the detailed pictures.

Haha, yeah but not much! Even though I think many would have passed on this level of repair (wisely, no doubt), it's making me feel good that my old friend is gradually getting a new lease on life. And thanks for the encouraging comments.

Now off to try to make the rocker cap...

[sfdaugherty]

Jeremy. Don't you have some frame rust too? Are you addressing that?

Let me know if you need my rolling body support.

I'd like to come by and see your work when I get back to the states.

Great work.

Shannon

[70datsun]

Jeremy. Don't you have some frame rust too? Are you addressing that?

Let me know if you need my rolling body support.

I'd like to come by and see your work when I get back to the states.

Great work.

Shannon

Hey Shannon, I heard you're in Ireland. I'll be in Dublin myself in a few weeks with my wife. As for the frame, there are a couple of areas that I will address, but I'm hoping to do it without removing the body from the frame. My goal is get the car back on the road as quickly as I can (since it'll never be more than a driver), then deal with more rust later. I'd be happy to show you the work when you get back and you can also see the 67.5 1600, for better or worse.

[sfdaugherty]

Jeremy. I'm not too far from Dublin and am here with Austin until the end of July. Maybe we can get together for dinner.

Shannon

[70datsun]

Jeremy. I'm not too far from Dublin and am here with Austin until the end of July. Maybe we can get together for dinner.

Shannon

Pm sent.

[70datsun]

Making some more progress on the rust repair...

The lower portion of the rocker cap recreated:

And welded in place with the upper portion:

Final piece to close it off (sorry, terrible photo!):

Kick panel area repaired:

A-pillar repair:

[70datsun]

More...

Rusted lower door hinge area and replacement:


Door hinge assembly:


Welded in place:


Cheers!

[K1200 GT]

Thats a nice job. I need to replace a small section on one of my projects. Is that 18 gauge metal your using? And what type of welder are you using?

Twocams

[70datsun]

Thats a nice job. I need to replace a small section on one of my projects. Is that 18 gauge metal your using? And what type of welder are you using?

Twocams

Thanks! I took an old piece of factory sheet metal to the metal supply place and they said it was 20 gauge. It worked fine but I wondered several times along the way if the roadster metal is even a bit thinner. Does anyone have the right answer about the factory gauge? Also, some sheet metal that is more structural seems to be thicker but I just used the same gauge.

My welder is a cheapo Harbor Freight 110v arc welder. Not very sophisticated, but in my case ignorance is bliss. I might try to upgrade next summer when I tackle the driver side inner fender.

[K1200 GT]

I got one of those 110 welders from HF also. Haven't used yet. I was good at Arc welding/ Oxy gas 40 years ago. But if my welding turns out as good as yours I would be happy. I used a micrometer and measured the thickness. Then got as close as possible to the right thickness. But it is a 1967 Saab made in Sweden back in the day. And the Datsun was made in Japan so the metal thickness could be a little different.

Rich