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Little Datsun 720

Here is the start of the new exhaust. This first piece comes off the header and will clamp to the middle section.

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Got it painted and installed. I wanted to get it bolted in place so it wasn't moving around while I made the other pieces.

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The middle section tacked together.

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Third piece has the muffler and dumps behind the rear axle near the leaf spring shackle.

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I had to cheat this section of tube after cutting it too short.

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Stacked some caterpillars and it was ready for paint. Pretty simple deal.

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Couldn't stand the muffler so I swapped it out for a HP2. Glad I did because it quieted the exhaust down some and added a little back pressure.

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Welded the new one in, painted, installed, and done.

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Replaced the carburetor with a new Weber 32/36 and cleaned up all the vacuum lines while I was there.

Here's a before...

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and after of the install.

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Well, one of my other projects had to sacrifice some parts for the little Datsun. I'm stealing the 2 corbeau Baja rs seats from project TrashE because they are right there and I'll just replace them with new ones when I get a chance.

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The factory seats only had a locking mechanism on one side of the slider.

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The corbeau seats I bought used came with sliders already on them and they are double locking which is nice. The racing seats are also better in every way.

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Started on some new seat brackets. These are the top parts where the seat bolts on.

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Put some holes to make them lighter.

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Then bent them into shape and made them faster.

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Added some side gussets. Top bent pieces are 1/8" and the side supports are 1/16" thick.

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Got them all welded and painted.

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All the way back with the old seat.

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Then the new seat all the way back. I'll probably drive with it one or two clicks forward but there is enough room to stretch out my legs like this.

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All the way forward now is almost where it sat all the way back with the original seat.

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Took off the factory brackets and drilled the frame mounting holes to 1/2" then added some welds to strengthen them up some.

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Bolted the brackets back onto the frame and after a little bit of mock up I started cutting some plate. These main cradle pieces are all 3/16" p&o.

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Used some vacant holes on the frame to tie in the bottom of the bumper.
The plate is 3/16" and the tubes are 2"x.120".

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Nothing fancy since they will need to be cut off and redone if I ever swap axles.

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Welded out most of the winch cradle since some of it is going to be difficult to reach once it is closed off with plate.

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Being bolted into place served as a fixture.

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Then added some recovery points using 1/2" material.

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Fitting the front plates. The rest of the bumper will be 1/8" material.

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Top plates tacked on and the bumper starting to take shape.

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Underside plates.

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Those got tacked into place with a little overlap where they meet the 3/16" winch plate.

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Which made welding it easy, even in the overhead position.

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The outside got finish welded. Next step is removing the bumper and stitch welding the inside. After that I'll grind and smooth the corners.

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End caps are on and welded.

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I used to wheel with a few of these trucks when i was a kid. I love them. Do something with the idler arm, though. it will bend easily.
 
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I used to wheel with a few of these trucks when i was a kid. I love them. Do something with the idler arm, though. it will bend easily.

I'll take a look at it. I pulled the knuckles last night to replace the wheel bearings and ball joints and noticed the steering arms is only connected to the knuckle with one bolt which seems crazy.
 
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I'll take a look at it. I pulled the knuckles last night to replace the wheel bearings and ball joints and noticed the steering arms is only connected to the knuckle with one bolt which seems crazy.
SAS is the only solution. :flipoff2:
 
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Got a bunch of little things done. Changed the engine oil, topped off all the other oils, replaced the front and rear shocks, replaced the upper and lower ball joints, new brake calipers and rotors, new timkin wheel bearings and seals, new inner cv boot and grease on one of the axles, and a new vacuum advance for the distributor. This little thing is running and driving a lot better now. I also scraped and cleaned up 40 years worth of road grime and oil off the front end while I had it apart.
 
Front bumper is done. I ended up fully welding the inside joints of the bumper.
Hit it with a DA sander and some 220 grit.

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Rust-Oleum hammered black spray paint on the front and regular black spray inside.
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Added some small lights to the grill to help finish it off. I bought them for the rear but they fit pretty good up front so I'll just use them there.
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I ordered a winch from the parts counter a couple months back but now warn is saying April so..... Once again I'm stealing parts from other projects. I also added some small LED running/turn signal lights from truck lite to the front to keep it legal.
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Finding parts for this truck is annoying and expensive. I busted a tail light recently and ended up plastic welding it back together with my soldering iron.

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After looking at this picture I hammered the bumper back down straight.
 
I had this brand new box given to me about 3 years ago and it finally found a home on the Datsun. It's a pretty decent box and it came with keys so I bolted it down with some 1/4"-20 allen head screws and neoprene washers.
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There is just enough space on either side to fit some fuel jugs. I still need to add some tie down points for the fuel cans but it worked out pretty good.
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Looks awesome, and makes me miss the hell out of my old Nissan.
 
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Nice, I'd love to do the same thing for a box and fuel jugs in my toyota but I'm scared of what i'll find when I remove the plastic bedliner. I don't think much floor is there
 
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Nice, I'd love to do the same thing for a box and fuel jugs in my toyota but I'm scared of what i'll find when I remove the plastic bedliner. I don't think much floor is there

This made me laugh, thanks.
 
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