1982 Datsun (turn around)

[DARK HORSE]

This 1982 Datsun 310 was given to my youngest son (Andrew) by a family friend. (He will be old enough to take drivers training this summer). The car belonged to our friend’s dad who passed away three years ago. (The car has sat for several years). His dad purchased the car to drive back and forth to work only (he had another car that he kept for everything else). He worked for the Railroad (rail yard), so this car was parked at the rail yard virtually every day for over 20 years. While he took care of it mechanically very well; the cosmetics (interior/exterior) were very much neglected. Mechanically the car was in great shape for being 28 years old. It only has 82K miles on the clock. My son and I have had a lot of fun working on it together. In addition to the correction work, we also had to replace the battery, battery cables/terminals, rebuild the starter, do a front/rear brake job, troubleshoot and fix a few minor things, refurbish the wheels and replace the tires that were dry rotted. We thought it would be fun to try to correct the vehicle as much as we could and make it as nice as we could for him to drive while he is saving money for a cooler car (I agreed to mach whatever money he saves). I know the car is far from new or fancy, but my son did most all of the work, (with my supervision) and thought it would be pretty cool to post it. Anyway here we go:

Engine Bay: We cleaned the engine bay with ARO (Amazing Roll Off) and various scrub brushes. The rubber hoses were in very bad shape (extremely dried out), so we rehydrated, and dressed them using Optimum Opti-bond Tire Gel.
Here are a couple of shots:

Tires/wheels/wheel wells: Tires were dry rotted so badly that we decided to replace them. (New ones were cleaned with Megs. APC+ and dressed with Optimum Opti-tire bond). Wheels were so rusted that we cleaned them with ARO, primed them, sprayed them with several coats of gloss black, and several more coats of clear. Wheel wells were also cleaned with ARO and dressed with a cheap aerosol tire shine spray.

Here’s Andrew hard at it…

First Wash: The first wash was nothing special, as the paint finish was so trashed that there was really no need to observe proper washing techniques. Andrew washed the paint (multiple times) with DP auto bath (one bucket) and a Plush Cobra MF. He then dried with a Cobra WW MF.


Clay: He then clayed the car with DP universal detailing clay, using ONR mixed a 1:32 with distilled water for clay lube.

Paint Correction(We chose the following):
Step 1 = m105 and several cyan hydrotech pads (91% IPA wipe down).
Step 2 = m205 and several tangerine hydrotech pads (91% IPA wipe down).
(We used PakShak microfiber “Ultra edgeless white towels” for polish removal and PakShak ultra plush towels for IPA wipe downs).

Here are some shots before, during, and after the polishing stages:

Here’s Andrew getting down with the PC…

Some serious below surface contaminants (This is after multiple washings and clay barring sessions on both sides. The right side is after a few passes w/ m105 and a cyan hydrotech)…

After several passes with m105/cyan and several passes with m205/tangerine…

Some more serious below surface contaminants…

 

[DARK HORSE]

And of course some sun shots:

Second wash: After completing the correction stages we washed again. This time we used the follow technique; we washed the paint using 2 buckets w/grit guards, DP Auto bath shampoo w/ 1oz ONR (mixed together w/ 4 gallons water), plush Cobra MF towel, blotted dry with FK-425 and PakShak WW MFs.
LSP = We chose to use Collinite 845 for the LSP. (Removed wax and buffed with PakShak Ultra Plush MF’s).



Interior: Door jams, carpet, upholstery (front seats upholstery was so trashed that we put seat covers on), dash board, door panels, trim and floor mats were all cleaned with Megs. APC+. Dash board, door panels, and trim were all dressed with Meguiar’s Natural Shine Protectant.
Here are a few of shots:

 

[DARK HORSE]

Exterior Trim, Plastic, Glass, and Chrome: All exterior trim was first treated with Black Again and allowed to cure for 48 hours, then protected with 303 protectant. Plastic tail lights, side lights, and trim piece that runs from the back driver’s side across the top of the car to the back passenger side were polished with Maguire’s Plastix and protected with Klasse HGPS. All glass (including headlights) was polished with Stoners Invisible Glass and protected with Klasse HGPS. Chrome bumpers were polished with Optimum metal polish and a 4” orange LC pad on the PC.

Here are a few more shots of the final project:

Thanks for looking…
Tad and Andrew

 

[Nappers]

WoW great turnaround on that Datsun!

Great getting the boy involved, he can learn to appreciate the work done.

Good show!

 

[jmp09fg2]

Niccee turn around. My parents did the same thing with me. My first "car" was a 1996 Chevy 1500 work truck. They said if I saved up enough money for a sizeable down payment, then they would help me with it. Now I drive a 2009 Honda Si and love knowing that I worked my tail off for it. The whole experience will make him a better person, plus insurance will be A LOT lower :dblthumb2:

 

[GNKing]

I dont think they looked that good new.

 

[markm]

Very nice job! Getting your son involved will give him a sense of acomplishment that he will carry with him for life.

Mark

 

[Jenn1270]

Tad,

Andrew did a great job. The turn around is amazing. I am quite impressed with him.

Jenn

 

[termigator]

Awesome job! When my kids get old enough, I hope I can get them involved too. I can't think of anything more satisfying than sharing a successful project with your kids.:dblthumb2:

 

[ASPHALT ROCKET]

I have been waiting to see this detail for a while now, and all there is to say-WOW. Awesome turn around Tad. Shot, you do a better job than most that claim to be pro detailers, then again you do have the best teacher.

 

[fancyfootwork]

That is completely awesome. It will definitely be a flashback to the 80's for anyone who sees him cruisin' around in that! Great job to both of you!

 

[CEE DOG]

WOW! Tad, you two really outdid yourselves! That is almost unbelievable.
:applause:

 

[WRAPT C5Z06]

You should definitely consider yourself a pro! Wow! Nice to see that you got your son involved. Very impressive, overall.

 

[christian900se]

That was incredible, what a transformation! Just goes to show how big of a difference you can make on any car with just a little bit of love and some hard work. I have to say though, my favorite before and after shots are the two engine photos; it literally looks like new.

So Tad, now you can set the lawn chair and start ordering your apprentice to do that for all of your cars (well, maybe not the Mustang because I know how you feel about her).

 

[Shane731]

Wow! I'm impressed! :dblthumb2:


What did you use on the trim and the front grill?

 

[Pie]

Wow!! Great job!!

This is a type of project I want to tackle one day, making an old car look like new again.

 

[oldmodman]

Isn't it amazing how good a car can look even after it has been completely ignored for years.

Really nice job. I bet your son is counting the days until he gets his license.

 

[Z06-Goose]

What a job!!!
Very nice...

 

[TimG]

Astounding work on reviving an old car. Truly enjoyed reading this writeup.

Thank you for the share. :dblthumb2::dblthumb2:

 

[A4 1.8tqm]

Wow! What a project, your son must feel a great sense of accomplishment after that. A great read indeed :applause::goodpost: