Jan-Jul 2020 - Undercarriage and Frame

With the body on the rotisserie, I am slowly scraping off the undercoat and cleaning the metal.  Notice that I bolted the two ends of the rotisserie together.

The undercoating is a thick what I believe was once pliable coating.

I had done this method on the fenders. If you heat the coating quickly you can scrape the coating off easily.  The process is messy and time consuming.

After scraping the undercoating off the metal retains a coating of the rubber/glue that will need to be cleaned up.

You can see how thick the coating is in the fender wells.  The orange color is just dirt that has bonded to the coating.

To wipe away the grime I used POR15's Marine Clean.  It's a safe degreaser that really works well.  I could spray it on and watch the grime drain off.

The metal is getting clean. I had to remove the seam sealer between the inner and outer fender. Probably the largest gap on the car when you remove the seam sealer.

Flipped the tub to complete the same process on areas I couldn't reach.

I've been very lucky with no rust through.  The metal is so clean at this point.

I sealed the inner lip with POR 15 to roll the fender lip.

After priming I rolled the lip flat at the tire area just for safety's sake.

Brush on sealer at the rear seam of inner fender.

To spray the bottom, I needed to cover everything not getting the treatment.

Spent many days heating, scraping, cleaning, and clean again but this was the final wipe down with a pre paint wipe down.

This is the last look at the clean metal before it all gets covered.

I epoxy primed the entire underside.

Next step was to seam seal everywhere I removed the original seam sealer.

To protect the bottom, I decided on U-POL Gravitex a coating designed to copy original undercoating and rock chip protection.

The coating dried to a hard textured look.

The underside came out great and I added a layer to the fender areas for max protection.

Ready to move on.

The inner front fenders were done while spraying the bottom to create one full seal across the undercarriage.

Although the coating looked great it dries to a flat dark grey that feels almost like a chalkboard.  To assist in keeping the undercarriage clean, I painted the entire area with a satin black to ease cleaning.

Made a small dolly to get the tub off of the rotisserie and keep it low for doing body work.

Frame back from Savannah Powder Coat. They've done a few items for me.

I lashed the frame to a small dolly to roll it in and out of my trailer.

Process came out well.

Some pitting where the horsehair pads lived.

I saw this area when I did the wire wheel but assumed the powder coat would even it out more than it did. Not really an issue as a new pad will go there and the body covers this.

Installing new frame pads.

All pads on and sealed.

Hard to see in the photo but I added three threaded inserts into the underside of the front cross mount. Will explain later.

I asked for the SN area to be tapped off.  The last frame I did was very hard to read after the powder coat filled in the numbers.  The coating is thick enough that you can feel the ridge between metal and powder.  I will clear this to avoid rust.

Jim at DRP sells new aftermarket upper spindle and bushings.

Also, bought new upper ball joints. Almost every piece of this frame will be new or updated parts.

Bottom spindle new bushings, bolts and seals.

I did this whole procedure on the last car so it's actually going easier this time as I have an idea of how to complete it.

Ready to hang on frame.

Upper swing arm hung.

I had red Koni's but when a list member had new Koni's made, I bought a set and gave my red Koni's to another 311-list member.

One of the few things I kept from the old car was the Mike Young springs.  They have such a great rep vs. full comp springs.

Hubs on. A few more steps to wheels on.

Purchase a new bushing to press into case and new gaskets.

Painted steering box.

Ready to install on new chassis.

Last time I made a mix of oil/grease, but I found a semi fluid lube for vintage boxes (interesting to pour out).

Same steps for passenger side.

Installing idler box with new hardware and seals.

Repeat steps from the driver's front side.

I installed DRP Performance Products bearing spacers on this setup and they do seem to allow the wheel to spin easier.

Finalizing pass side suspension.

So, on this frame I remembered to remove the steering stops (the previous frame got powder coated in).  These are adjustable and provide the hard stop point for the steering/pitman arms.

Connecting the steering box to the idler box with the center link.

Going all out on this frame so I purchased Bilsteins from JT.  I feel like a beta customer as I buy every new product almost immediately.

Installing rear scroll bracket with new hardware.

A while I was there item.  Installed the reverse light...just because.

As I mentioned I buy many Datsun Restoration Products (JT & LT) parts.  These are single mono leaf springs (FlexForm).

The Flexform springs come in at 6.14lbs per spring.

The original spring was 22.41lbs per spring.  That is a 32.54lbs overall weight savings on the set.

Installing the torque rod used on the 67.5 and on to reduce axle wind up.

New rear brake shoes and cylinder.

Last step was new drums to complete rear axle.

Bent up new rear brake lines.

Wheels on. Just need to jack up frame and pull the dolly.  The big pad at the rear is for the winch cable to pull it back into the trailer.

Ready to lift front from the dolly.

Pulled back into storage location.

Purchased DRP's full Stainless-Steel exhaust. Not only does it look good it comes sectioned with clamps, so no welding is required.

JT's SS system comes preformed to fit through the roadsters oval frame opening.

Melting Shrink tubing over all frame line tabs.

With the frame ready it's time to move on with the engine to install it on the frame.

U20 Spacer plate.

Purchased an aluminum flywheel for this motor.  I have a smaller aluminum flywheel, but JT sells this unit and a HD pressure plate.

I purchased an aluminum flywheel from JT for #321.  

I was going to use a modified flywheel that has 5lbs of material removed per a roadster racing prep book.

This is the weight of the standard flywheel so the one I'm installing is 10lbs lighter and should provide quicker rev up.

Flywheel torqued on.

Clutch and pressure plate installed.  You can see the balance marks in the top right as I had them all balanced with the crank.

Dropped the engine into its final home.

New motor needed new headers.

Adding externals to the block.

This is the temp sensor for the 67.5 that uses a small screw vs. the later bullet connector.

New oil pressure sender.

Liberal use of anti-seize in the thermo housing to avoid corrosion sticking with bolts.

Thermostat housing and water neck complete.