Kenmeri has Arrived

Norcal510 · **Posted:** Tue Jan 11, 2011 11:57 am

Before I start cutting I drew a small layout of the tank so I knew where to cut & how it’s structured. I decided to cut below the belt line & around the bottom of the tank. Doing this allowed me full access to both upper & lower panels without sacrificing structural integrity. Also by doing this I only have to remove one set of spot welds that hold the inner structure to the exterior of the tank.

Spot welds removed

A lot of pressure relieved after the 1st cut. .

More pressure relieved.

With the spot welds cut it allowed one side of the inner wall to separate from the outer skin.

With very light pressure from the pry bar it helped separate the two walls. Tank sealer had bonded them together.

A better look at the damage

Bottom skin of the tank.

Because of the thickness of the metal I pulled out the “BIG” hammer. Also used a piece of scrap wood I had laying around to soften the blow on the bottom.

After two good hits you can already see the change in shape

Working the metal a bit more & it’s getting closer to its original shape.

Test fitted to see how much more work needs to be done.

Next….the tank structure & inner walls. First start by relieving some pressure from the outer walls then work the inner walls straight.

-

While straightening the metal I realized the tank sealer had puddle up from the previous reseal. I don’t want it catching fire when im welding so out it goes.

As you can see having a the tank boiled does not remove all the rust. I’ll be sand blasting the tank before it goes back in.

All the excess tank sealer & rust that came out of the tank.

Slowly started to straighten the walls

Inner & outer walls are coming back to shape.

One side is almost done. It went from this

To this

The other side

Alternated on both panels to slowly relieve the pressure

Used this & another dolly to straighten most of the metal.

With 90% of the work done. I’ll do a little more metal work around the edges but you get an idea of what the final Product will look like.

I need to upload pictures of the tank sand blasted & welded back together.

Nismopunch · **Posted:** Tue Jan 11, 2011 12:13 pm

ahh yes late nights and sick days from work at the shop paid off

wish i was there to watch you reforge the tank haha

Camshaft · **Posted:** Tue Jan 11, 2011 1:15 pm

Amazing job, dude! I know where i'm sending my Hako if I ever buy one. :shock:

It's nice that stud gun dosen't actually go through the metal to the other side. Very tidy.

DeRuX · **Posted:** Tue Jan 11, 2011 2:38 pm

Stud guns are very cool when doing body work. Also you can get carried away and make your car look like pin head.

I was talking with the guy that boiled out my gas tank a while back and he said you have to be carefull with the liner stuff you put into the tank that it is not to thick. That is why he put a drain hole in mine so he could put it in one end, slosh it around, and drain it out quickly.

Drive510 · **Posted:** Tue Jan 11, 2011 10:32 pm

Dang dude, it's been a while since I posted. Nice find on your car. I'm keeping an eye on this thread. I can only hope my 510 will be just as pretty one day. :tu:

Norcal510 · **Posted:** Fri Jan 28, 2011 10:55 am

Drive510 wrote:

Dang dude, it's been a while since I posted. Nice find on your car. I'm keeping an eye on this thread. I can only hope my 510 will be just as pretty one day. :tu:

Thank you sir!

Norcal510 · **Posted:** Fri Jan 28, 2011 11:14 am

So yesterday I went to the Santa Clara meet. I met lots of cool ppl. However on my way home the unfortunate thing happened where I hit some huge chunk of metal on the road. The exact damage done to the car im not sure but i know the oil pan is destroyed. If someone has one of these front sump oil pan please pm me.

Will share more later

spitz17 · **Posted:** Fri Jan 28, 2011 3:38 pm

Hang in there man! I'm sure something will come up... Doesn't JDM Legends source parts too?

Norcal510 · **Posted:** Sun Jan 30, 2011 9:49 pm

spitz17 wrote:

Hang in there man! I'm sure something will come up... Doesn't JDM Legends source parts too?

Thanks!

Luckily notajncr talked to 2000GTX about me searching for one. I might pick one up from him.

The damage.

Nismopunch · **Posted:** Mon Jan 31, 2011 8:37 am

when you txt'd me on the way home after the meet i got SUPER depressed lol and its not even my car

Norcal510 · **Posted:** Fri Feb 11, 2011 10:53 am

Nismopunch wrote:

when you txt'd me on the way home after the meet i got SUPER depressed lol and its not even my car

Tell me about it. Hope to have it back on the road soon.

Norcal510 · **Posted:** Fri Feb 11, 2011 11:07 am

Does anyone have any suggestions on where to get a set of good quality "works" over fenders for a c10. Been researching on YAJ and the main restoration shops in Japan. But I've noticed there seems to be slight differences between companies.

More than anything I just want a good quality set where the fiberglass is not too thin & super wavy. If anyone could provide any feedback that would be great!

Alan maybe??

HS30-H · **Posted:** Sat Feb 12, 2011 2:42 am

The ones on my car are from RUBBER SOUL. Good enough quality and fit. You don't want them too thick, as they need some flexibility to fit the body properly. The original works panels were thin, but strong once attached to the car.

I haven't seen any in Japan that I'd describe as 'wavy'. For the most part they are all decent quality, and the main difference is the way that the different manufacturers handle the shape around the front edges of the front overfenders. Some stop abruptly at the bumper crease, and some carry on down towards the corners of the front valance. You might find that at certain ride heights, and with certain wheel / tyre / offset combinations, you get some contact on steering lock. If you look carefully you can see some of the works race cars even had this problem with 14" wheels in period. They simply bent and bashed out the corners to give clearance and cut the overfenders short to avoid contact. So if you want to err on the side of caution, go for the versions that are 'short' at the front.

If you buy from the likes of RUBBER SOUL, VICTORY 50 / UCHIDA MOTOR WORKS, R-FACTORY, RS START, CITY AUTO, the KATORI Brothers or KAMEARI ENGINE WORKS then you should be OK. Anonymous copies of copies on YJ auctions are case-by-case, and I don't know any particular vendor on there who I can recommend.

Hope that helps.
Cheers,
Alan T.

2000gtx · **Posted:** Sat Feb 12, 2011 6:33 pm

alan is right i have ordered 3 sets of the standard flares and no 2 were alike i have some factory big overfenders the fronts are perfect but the rears look terrible..i guess you will have to massage whatever you find..but beleive me it is impossible to garantee what the style will be...i ordered from victory 50 and yahoo auctions...

Norcal510 · **Posted:** Sat Feb 12, 2011 11:03 pm

HS30-H wrote:

The ones on my car are from RUBBER SOUL. Good enough quality and fit. You don't want them too thick, as they need some flexibility to fit the body properly. The original works panels were thin, but strong once attached to the car.

I haven't seen any in Japan that I'd describe as 'wavy'. For the most part they are all decent quality, and the main difference is the way that the different manufacturers handle the shape around the front edges of the front overfenders. Some stop abruptly at the bumper crease, and some carry on down towards the corners of the front valance. You might find that at certain ride heights, and with certain wheel / tyre / offset combinations, you get some contact on steering lock. If you look carefully you can see some of the works race cars even had this problem with 14" wheels in period. They simply bent and bashed out the corners to give clearance and cut the overfenders short to avoid contact. So if you want to err on the side of caution, go for the versions that are 'short' at the front.

If you buy from the likes of RUBBER SOUL, VICTORY 50 / UCHIDA MOTOR WORKS, R-FACTORY, RS START, CITY AUTO, the KATORI Brothers or KAMEARI ENGINE WORKS then you should be OK. Anonymous copies of copies on YJ auctions are case-by-case, and I don't know any particular vendor on there who I can recommend.

Hope that helps.
Cheers,
Alan T.

Alan,

As always your answers are very detailed and was hoping you would chime in.

You actually answered my next question I was going to ask. Which was in reference to how the overfenders end in the front & back. In some of the books I have that show pictures of the historical races. All the cars appear have the shortened overfenders. Are the overfenders that run all the way down a more modern touch?

It's also good to know about the wheel clearance. I would have never thought with overfenders that large they would rub. I bought a set a wheels from a member here a while back and I think its about time I get them on the car.

Again thanks!

Norcal510 · **Posted:** Sat Feb 12, 2011 11:16 pm

2000gtx wrote:

alan is right i have ordered 3 sets of the standard flares and no 2 were alike i have some factory big overfenders the fronts are perfect but the rears look terrible..i guess you will have to massage whatever you find..but beleive me it is impossible to garantee what the style will be...i ordered from victory 50 and yahoo auctions...

2000GTX! The ones on your car look pretty nice. Will be my first time buying overfenders and with so many options I was hoping someone who had already bought some would reply. Thanks for the feedback.

Oh and I sent you an email not sure if you got a chance to read it.

Norcal510 · **Posted:** Sat Feb 12, 2011 11:43 pm

Also wanted to thank Alfadog. My package came in today.

Again thanks!

JDMPalace · **Posted:** Sun Feb 13, 2011 12:36 am

Nice, You were super fast, I didn't need them but wanted to have them in my part collection for that price.

Norcal510 · **Posted:** Wed Feb 23, 2011 10:58 pm

JDMPalace wrote:

Nice, You were super fast, I didn't need them but wanted to have them in my part collection for that price.

I was hoping to talk to you in person at the show. The condition of your car was amazing.

I did take a few pics. Do you mind if I post them?

Norcal510 · **Posted:** Wed Feb 23, 2011 11:58 pm

The weather cleared up for a few days so I took the car to Dmv to get the Vin verified.

Took less than 10 min to do everything. :tu:

Kenmeri has Arrived

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