And now for something completely different.....

[falconvan]

I took a pint of POR 15 and painted the floor tonight; that stuff really goes a long way. I even had a little left over.

 

[falconvan]

I started painting and got the roof and one side finished. It came out OK; I'm still not a very good painter but buying a nice gun definately helped. I didnt realize how bad I was fighting my old cheap gun intil I used a decent one. It's really hard to see where your last pass was when you're doing the second coat on a white paintjob. I ended up with a couple of dry streaks on the side; is there any way to fix these without repainting the whole side? I also did all the pieces for the dighouse and the side braces; they all came out acceptable. Hopefully I'll get the other side tomorrow and the front on Monday. Then it's time to take a paint break and start putting this thing back together.

 

[bob w]

I feel you pain regarding painting. You used the terms, OK, I'm still not a very good painter, hard to see where your last pass was, dry streaks, came out acceptable.

I almost copied your post and changed the color from white to black and used it for my Anglia paint post.[ddd

Much credit to you for doing it yourself.[cl

 

[falconvan]

Thanks, Bob. Good to know I'm not the only sub-standard painter on here. But today was a better day! I went out this morning to look how the first side dried and I was not happy. One bad run and more orange peel that a Sunkist. After I dropped three bills on a new gun, too. Of course it had to be a problem with the gun. So I got the box the gun came in to see how to send this piece of crap back and found an interesting piece of paper in the bottom of the box. It said "READ DIRECTIONS THOROUGHLY BEFORE USING." I figured it must be suggestions only, because why would I need to read directions when I know everything? Let's see, air pressure at gun handle-wrong. Fan adjustment-wrong. Fine air adjustment-wrong. OK, I thought. I'll TRY and adjust it like they say and see what happens but I'm sure it wont be any better. You can guess what happened next. After also putting up a large halogen shop light so I could see properly, the other side came out about 10 times better than the first. Who would have thought? Tomorrow I'll do the front and think about what to do with the first side. Not sure if I need to completely do it over or if I can wet sand it out with some 1500. Any suggestions are more that welcome.

 

[Ratcrazy]

1500 is a little over kill unless you have all day to do the sanding. You're not buffing it out, you're going to repaint it. Personally I would wet sand it with 220, dry it off, mask it and spray it.

Just my two cents worth.

 

[Rusty Creek]

220 is WAY too rough to paint over. Paint will never cover 220 scratches. I'd slap some 800 or 1000 grit on a DA, buzz over the side real quick, then have at it again. You only need to open the surface enough to accept more paint and take any bugs or dust out of the paint. Looking good, can't wait to see it done.

 

[falconvan]

Yeah, Rusty, after looking at that big run near the back i decided to just do that side over. I sanded it down using some wet 600 (didn't have any 800 on hand) and shot it again when I did the front. I'm glad I did; it came out much better. I still have the doors, hood, and roll up door to paint but I'm taking a breal from the bodywork for a while. I'm going to work on getting it put back together and moving under it's own power. Here's where I started and what she looks like now; it's come a long way.

 

[Ratcrazy]

220 is WAY too rough to paint over. Paint will never cover 220 scratches. I'd slap some 800 or 1000 grit on a DA, buzz over the side real quick, then have at it again. You only need to open the surface enough to accept more paint and take any bugs or dust out of the paint. Looking good, can't wait to see it done.

Yep, you're right Rusty, 220 is way to rough for paint. I meant to say 400. I have been sanding and priming my cowl section all weekend and had 220 on my mind.. Thanks for catching that.

 

[falconvan]

Yep, you're right Rusty, 220 is way to rough for paint. I meant to say 400. I have been sanding and priming my cowl section all weekend and had 220 on my mind.. Thanks for catching that.

Happens to the best of us; you were right, though. There was no saving it, had to redo it.

 

[falconvan]

Here's a few shots from tonight; my wife is finishing her degree online so it's giving me some time to work while she's busy with her classes. I set the motor in place; right now it's just sitting on the mounts with a floorjack under the trans so it looks a little crooked. Hopefully I'll have it bolted down tight this weekend. I put a B&M Holeshot converter in it while I had the trans out. That should make for some good smoky burnout action.

 

[falconvan]

I started putting some of the side panels back on; I used some allen head stainless screws and they really make a difference in the looks. Also had to pull the motor back out; the header was hitting the frame on the passenger....ummm...drivers side so some more notching on the frame is in order.

 

[postalexpress]

looks great keep it up that thing is awsome

 

[falconvan]

Thanks, man. Glad you like it.

 

[jfg455]

I just read through the build, you are a sick, silly man, kind a person who would put a turbo LS1 engine in a 73 datsun 610.......wait, thats me! [cl

 

[falconvan]

I just read through the build, you are a sick, silly man, kind a person who would put a turbo LS1 engine in a 73 datsun 610.......wait, thats me! [cl

You speak my language! Let's see some pics of that bad Datsun. I'll bet that baby's got some G-force.

 

[Gastrick]

I can't wait to see this thing doing smokey burnouts falconvan. Man will it ever make some people do this.....[S

 

[falconvan]

I can't wait to see this thing doing smokey burnouts falconvan. Man will it ever make some people do this.....[S

Me too, Gas. I think I finallly got the headers to fit; I had to notch the frame on both sides and cut off two header tubes and reweld them at a different angle to make it work. You thing ther'd be all kinds of room in this thing but the frame rails are a little narrow for a big block. I'll be on it all day today so we'll post some pics tonight. Thanks for watching, that's half the fun when other people appreciate what you're doing.

 

[falconvan]

Making this big block fit has been tougher than I thought; you'd think with the size of this beast anything would fit with no problems but the framerails were a little narrow. I had to notch and re-box the rails on both sides plus cut off some header tubes and reweld them on at different angles. It's finally in there with just a few inches on each side to spare. I also put a little more together inside while I was waiting for the header coating to dry. I tried some stuff from Speedway; hope it works good. It's supposed to cure with the exhaust heat.

 

[bob w]

Once again, FV, nice work. I 'spose the frame was designed for an inline. The designers weren't figuring that some crazy guy from Missouri would stuff a big block in it one day.

 

[falconvan]

Once again, FV, nice work. I 'spose the frame was designed for an inline. The designers weren't figuring that some crazy guy from Missouri would stuff a big block in it one day.

That's designers for you, Bob; no imagination. I think every car they design should be configured for future big block applications! BTW, what do think of this for the side decals?