External visor is just yes, yes, yes...
Carl.
Carl.
LTJ's 1981 DATSUN STANZA (A10) WANNABE RALLY CAR. SOLD and moving.
- Thread starter LukeTheJoker
- Start date
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Fitted up that rare SSS rear swaybar today!
Here it is before fitment:
And after:
Makes a surprising amount of difference, I was thinking it would be almost unnoticeable, seeing as it is fairly small diameter, but it does lean much less now.
I have decided to stick with the L16 1600 motor that came with the car, it is the original and it only has 92,000km (55,000 miles) on the clock, inspected the 2 liter L20b today and it does look a bit worse for wear in places, if it was original to the car I pulled it from it has 160,000km (100,000 miles) but there is mis-matched bolts everywhere and a few other things that make me think it has been apart in the past, so not really sure on its condition, it drove well before I pulled it out though.
Biggest decider for me though, is that I can stick with standard insurance and not have to run 'modified' plates. A little carburettor, exhaust and possibly cam work and it should be plenty of fun!
The L16 loses a huge amount of power though to the BW40 transmission behind it, so I still will be going ahead with the change to a 5 speed. With that in mind I pulled the 5 speed from the L20b today to start prepping it for the conversion:
I was not 100% sure on which 5 speed it is, but checking the numbers:
reveals it to be (N)issan (M)otor (C)ompany (A)ustralia #1, which corresponds to Fairlady 260Z, R30 Skyline and Bluebird 910 series 2, 5 speed 'box, makes sense seeing as it came out of a 910 series 2... Good news about that though is that all those vehicles had more power and torque than I will get from the L16 motor, so it should be plenty strong enough for purpose!
Luke.
Here it is before fitment:
And after:
Makes a surprising amount of difference, I was thinking it would be almost unnoticeable, seeing as it is fairly small diameter, but it does lean much less now.
I have decided to stick with the L16 1600 motor that came with the car, it is the original and it only has 92,000km (55,000 miles) on the clock, inspected the 2 liter L20b today and it does look a bit worse for wear in places, if it was original to the car I pulled it from it has 160,000km (100,000 miles) but there is mis-matched bolts everywhere and a few other things that make me think it has been apart in the past, so not really sure on its condition, it drove well before I pulled it out though.
Biggest decider for me though, is that I can stick with standard insurance and not have to run 'modified' plates. A little carburettor, exhaust and possibly cam work and it should be plenty of fun!
The L16 loses a huge amount of power though to the BW40 transmission behind it, so I still will be going ahead with the change to a 5 speed. With that in mind I pulled the 5 speed from the L20b today to start prepping it for the conversion:
I was not 100% sure on which 5 speed it is, but checking the numbers:
reveals it to be (N)issan (M)otor (C)ompany (A)ustralia #1, which corresponds to Fairlady 260Z, R30 Skyline and Bluebird 910 series 2, 5 speed 'box, makes sense seeing as it came out of a 910 series 2... Good news about that though is that all those vehicles had more power and torque than I will get from the L16 motor, so it should be plenty strong enough for purpose!
Luke.
I know that adding sway bars on my VW Rabbit made a huge difference, I even softened up the shocks for a smoother ride and doubled up my rear bars with a factory GTI and a 22mm aftermarket. Still fun to lift the inside wheel but was much more predictable in corners. I haven't checked in on your car in a while, you're really plugging away and making steady progress. Keep it going!
I think the style of the wheels is good but they are a bit too shiny. Black chrome spray paint?
Almost be a shame to do that to them, probably going to sell them once I finally make my decision on paint and wheels.
Luke.
Parts car coming my way soon!
It is rough and rusty, The shell is pretty much beyond saving due to rust, but has the parts I need for the gearbox conversion and also because it is the pre-update model it has the desirable early bumpers, tail lights, steering wheel, grill and other parts...
Even what appears to be a decent set of seats... In red corduroy...
Actually they are very cool and very 1970's, going to be a hard decision between them and my current unmarked brown set.
Buying it off the guy I sold BigJim to, he runs a metal scrap yard, he will drop it off with a truck and crane at my place some time next week probably.
Then I will spend time stripping it of everything savable and he will come back and pick up the remainder for scrap so I don't have a half stripped car sitting in the backyard too long... (We're renting, I'm allowed to work on cars, but I don't want to stretch that too far!)
In the meantime I am going to finish off the roof rack, I have thoroughly tested it now, carried a few bikes and some steel around and it is nice and solid. It does have a bad hum starting at 50kph (30mph) which I am pretty sure is the very front curved bar needing a centre support, so I will fix that and then finish it off in black.
Luke.
It is rough and rusty, The shell is pretty much beyond saving due to rust, but has the parts I need for the gearbox conversion and also because it is the pre-update model it has the desirable early bumpers, tail lights, steering wheel, grill and other parts...
Even what appears to be a decent set of seats... In red corduroy...
Actually they are very cool and very 1970's, going to be a hard decision between them and my current unmarked brown set.Buying it off the guy I sold BigJim to, he runs a metal scrap yard, he will drop it off with a truck and crane at my place some time next week probably.
Then I will spend time stripping it of everything savable and he will come back and pick up the remainder for scrap so I don't have a half stripped car sitting in the backyard too long... (We're renting, I'm allowed to work on cars, but I don't want to stretch that too far!)
In the meantime I am going to finish off the roof rack, I have thoroughly tested it now, carried a few bikes and some steel around and it is nice and solid. It does have a bad hum starting at 50kph (30mph) which I am pretty sure is the very front curved bar needing a centre support, so I will fix that and then finish it off in black.
Luke.
Oh, picked up this old '70's Esky cooler today too while I was checking the car out, perfect period correct accessory!
I also picked up some old leather suitcases a while back, I don't have any pics of them, but they suit well too...
Half thinking of mounting some speakers in one of the suitcases and just have it sit on the back seat with a quick connect plug, not sure if that will happen yet, but it would save me from having to cut into the interior to mount speakers...
Something along the lines of these:
Luke.
I also picked up some old leather suitcases a while back, I don't have any pics of them, but they suit well too...
Half thinking of mounting some speakers in one of the suitcases and just have it sit on the back seat with a quick connect plug, not sure if that will happen yet, but it would save me from having to cut into the interior to mount speakers...
Something along the lines of these:
Luke.
Fv2
Don't know what I'm doing, gonna do it anyway.
There's a hot new color option for you, is it called wasabi?Parts car coming my way soon!
View attachment 23823 View attachment 23824 View attachment 23825
It is rough and rusty, The shell is pretty much beyond saving due to rust, but has the parts I need for the gearbox conversion and also because it is the pre-update model it has the desirable early bumpers, tail lights, steering wheel, grill and other parts...
Even what appears to be a decent set of seats... In red corduroy...
Buying it off the guy I sold BigJim to, he runs a metal scrap yard, he will drop it off with a truck and crane at my place some time next week probably.
Then I will spend time stripping it of everything savable and he will come back and pick up the remainder for scrap so I don't have a half stripped car sitting in the backyard too long... (We're renting, I'm allowed to work on cars, but I don't want to stretch that too far!)
In the meantime I am going to finish off the roof rack, I have thoroughly tested it now, carried a few bikes and some steel around and it is nice and solid. It does have a bad hum starting at 50kph (30mph) which I am pretty sure is the very front curved bar needing a centre support, so I will fix that and then finish it off in black.
Luke.
Not sure, it is cool though!
I figured out today while I was carting Pedro around on the racks that I either need to not care about paint on my bikes or not care about the paint on the car... My bikes are just too heavy to lift them directly on the rack, I end up having to roll them up on the truck and then up the back window...
Probably not painting the car then... Just some touch ups in a few places and let it wear it's wear with pride!
Luke.
Edit: Hmmm, maybe a need a removable bike ramp...
Finished off the roofrack, the added braces have cut the hum considerably, still there a bit in a cross wind though, but I can live with that.
Successful period correct accessory test:
@GuitarlCarl and @Falstaff, this next pic is for you... I may end up doing this, but making them removable, so I can still fit longer bikes.
Luke.
Successful period correct accessory test:
@GuitarlCarl and @Falstaff, this next pic is for you... I may end up doing this, but making them removable, so I can still fit longer bikes.
Luke.
I have not completely ruled out breaking out the metal flake gun on the Datsun yet, still playing with ideas occasionally.
Luke.
Luke.
Black. Metalflake. Roof.
Just sayin' it'd be cool...
Gloss red, blue, yellow or what have you, body color...
or even flat purple primer (a personal favorite)
Lights are awesome, definitely going to need that visor.
Carl.
sent from my banana phone...
Just sayin' it'd be cool...
Gloss red, blue, yellow or what have you, body color...
or even flat purple primer (a personal favorite)
Lights are awesome, definitely going to need that visor.
Carl.
sent from my banana phone...
Last edited:
Fv2
Don't know what I'm doing, gonna do it anyway.
That actually looks good.
I've been thinking turning my little nova into a doomsday vehicle, bigger wheels/tires, roof rack/lights, window caged, and painted with bed armor.
Worlds ugliest and slowest apocalypse survival car.
I agree, the donor cars front be is cooler.
Maybe run some yellow bulbs on the bright lights i.e.
In any case, love this thread!
Cheers mate,
Dr. T
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Maybe run some yellow bulbs on the bright lights i.e.
In any case, love this thread!
Cheers mate,
Dr. T
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The rack is about the same amount of noise now as when it was just two bars on the other car, the cross wind picks up the middle bars side on, so I think that is why it hums in a cross breeze now.
There is an interesting phenomenon with round tubing in the wind, the wind going past tends to curl around one side and then the other causing it to vibrate back and forth at a high speed, some big radio towers have been brought down by it, you may notice that almost every free standing circular tower now has stairs or something else curving around the outside, they help to provide a shear point for the wind going past to break away cleaner to stop the vibration.
I think that as the very front round tube was only supported at the ends it was building up vibration in the middle, so the extra braces I added seems to have helped with that.
Thanks Guys! I actually already have one of the earlier grills and headlight sets here, it came as spares with the car when I bought it. Originally I wanted to do the change over straight away, but the rectangle lights grew on me...I agree, the donor cars front be is cooler.
Maybe run some yellow bulbs on the bright lights i.e.
In any case, love this thread!
Cheers mate,
Dr. T
I am actually thinking of building a custom grill with single 7" round lights each side and the 4x round 5" lights across the middle between two quarter bumpers, but still deciding on that.
Here is a quick and nasty mock-up:
Thoughts?
Luke.
