LTJ's 1981 DATSUN STANZA (A10) WANNABE RALLY CAR. SOLD and moving.

[LukeTheJoker]

Decided I needed to at least fit one up as a trial, and may as well use that left hand front location as it is a replaceable panel and it has a dent anyway, the good thing is that dent will be cut out when the flare goes in!

I already had that 1 basic shape made, but if I do go ahead with the rest of them I wanted them all to be the same angles and radius in the corners, so tacked up all 4 using it as a template and finish welded the two left hand side ones. (In case I like it I can carry on with the rear straight away and get a big boost from the way it looks!)

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate welding galvanized steel?

It is horrible stuff, but it was my only option in this size unless I special ordered, and I figure having galvanized wheel arches probably isn't a bad idea...

I did found a new angle grinder disc that cleans the gal coating off very nicely in the areas that need welding and leaves the steel untouched, it is one of those ones that look like pieces of scouring pad glued to a disc, called a poly flap disc, I will be keeping them in stock from now on!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

You can remove the galvanization with muriatic acid. I would set up a trough to submerge the entire piece in so that you remove all of it inside and out. The galvanization will also be a big problem when it comes time to paint it.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

You can remove the galvanization with muriatic acid. I would set up a trough to submerge the entire piece in so that you remove all of it inside and out. The galvanization will also be a big problem when it comes time to paint it.

Great video, thanks for that!
He is a funny guys, great way to make a video interesting!

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Bit the bullet and got out the grinder:

Then broke out the welder:

The angle is a bit off on the front, but I will fix that pretty easily.

Decided I like it, so going ahead with the rest in the coming days!

Just ordered some 1/4" thick 3 ply rubber for massive mud flaps.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Rubber arrived for the mudflaps, very happy!

Went to move on to the rear flare on that side and decided I better find out why that door had filler in it first, specially as I have yet to perfect the art of welding steel to filler...

Well, at least it wasn't rust!
1/2" deep crease with lots of stretching. Not an easy fix!

My solution was to simply cut the whole section out, spray the edges down with weld-through primer, cut a replacement piece from a Datsun 910 trunk lid, fold some nice stiffening returns down the long sides and slowly weld it in, taking time to cool the welds with a wet rag between tacks, and keeping it cool while sanding the welds back, it came up a treat!

Not good enough to win a car show, but plenty good enough for a daily driver...

At this point I realised I had lost my grinder locking nuts while using the sanding pad set up, spent an hour looking for them before packing up and calling it a day, I really need to sort my work area better...

 

[Fv2]

I've got the secret to welding bondo, but I'll never share.

It's all looking good.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Ever have one of those "What the heck am I doing?" moments?

Had one today after cutting the steel away behind where the flare was going on, not a speck of rust anywhere and here I am going at a non replaceable panel with a 5" angle grinder and a cut off disc...

Anyway, it is coming up nice, and will be worth it at the end!

Started by peeling away the outer skin at the arch:

Then finished the external cutting:

Then it was a case of test fit, trim a little, test again, trim some more over and over until I had this:

Most of the rally cars don't split the flare like that, they just have half on the door and half behind it, I wanted to put some strength back into the area, so did the split along the flare and added some more steel inside the arch:

Still lots of work to do, capping the ends, welding in filler pieces etc, but that was enough for the day.

Had to drive it out for a photo! The photo came out weird though, the flares look a bit warped, must have done something wrong with the perspective...

It looks great in person.

Oh, that is the rubber for the mudflaps on the roofrack, just letting it lay out flat and air out, it really stank when it first arrived...

Here it is from the so far unmodified side:

Getting closer and closer to my goal:

I have a lead on a rear spoiler too!

 

[kelvin hahnel]

Looks great! I can't wait to see it in person

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Chop Chop! Coming right along!

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Was not up to a full on welding session yesterday, so I started looking to see how bad the dent was on the front door, figuring the crease from the back door probably extended on to it.

Yep, it did:

Almost 1/2" of filler!

Looks like someone has tried to pull it in the past too, drilled holes for a slide hammer but only ended up stretching the metal...

The front doors are a fair bit longer than the rears, would be a big panel to replace and hope it doesn't warp while welding, but the door would be in the bin anyway, so I may as well try.

Did not have any steel to cut up for the replacement panel though, looked around and found this:

Thought about it for a moment or two before sanity prevailed...

Picked up another 910 trunk lid for donor steel at my favorite scrap yard today, they seem to have the perfect curve and thickness of metal, so glad I managed to find another one.

Cleaned it up when I got home, looks like I can get exactly the piece I need without hitting any dents:

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Hope you don't end up needing a trunk lid!

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Hope you don't end up needing a trunk lid!

Ah, but my car is an A10, the truck lids are from a later 910, they wouldn't fit anyway...

 

[The Renaissance Man]

I can remember my mother buying a new B210 back in the mid seventies.

Looked like this but in dark green.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

I can remember my mother buying a new B210 back in the mid seventies.

Looked like this but in dark green.

Good reliable, no frills transport.
They were called a 120Y over here, most called them "120 why?" but they are starting to get collectible too...

There is one local to me with a VG30 V6 from a 300zx with a Holset turbo hanging off the side...
A good video on Youtube of it, but I can't share it here due to a language issue right at the end, but if you search "Dorothy loves lawn bowls" or NAN747 you should find it, just skip the last 5 seconds...

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Put a significant amount of work into that rear flare today, doesn't look much different but it is very close to being done...

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Big day yesterday, not up to much today, so just made paper templates for transferring the cutting marks to the other side to make sure they are perfectly mirrored...
This side should be much easier, everything is already worked out and no dents to repair as I go...

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

Get to cutting! His is going to look so good when finished.


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[LukeTheJoker]

Get to cutting! His is going to look so good when finished.


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Thanks Dr. T, glad you are enjoying it!

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Another session on the rear quarter and door, basically done now, just need to add the mount plates for the mud flaps front and rear, then on to the other side.

The bottom of the door at the flare area:

I might have underestimated the time and effort this would take, but it is getting close now, working with damaged panels, fixing them adds inbuilt tension that then manifests itself weirdly when doing other welds, the other side should go much easier considering no panel repairs seem to be required...

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Decided I wasn't happy with the shut lines on that flare, so put another session in to it, much better now:

Then welded in the mud flap support:

I can finally call that corner done!