'68 2000 Project

[spl310]

I like the 410/411s. They have more character

[datsunfreak]

I recall being made to feel like a bit of an outcast by the dime guys at Summit Point.

It's not surprising. The funny thing about cliques is, they tend to act cliquish.

I don't want to position myself as defending them, but a lot of the left coast 510 guys I know have always said the Roadster guys can be a bit standoff-ish, and maybe they decided to retaliate in kind? Still inexcusable behavior in my opinion.

The good thing about Texas is, there aren't enough of any one car to really be so exclusionary.

[pebbles]

I like the 410/411s. They have more character

specially when they get an R20, 40s, 5sp,,,,,

411sss1.JPG

[pebbles]

I recall being made to feel like a bit of an outcast by the dime guys at Summit Point.

It's not surprising. The funny thing about cliques is, they tend to act cliquish.

I don't want to position myself as defending them, but a lot of the left coast 510 guys I know have always said the Roadster guys can be a bit standoff-ish, and maybe they decided to retaliate in kind? Still inexcusable behavior in my opinion.

The good thing about Texas is, there aren't enough of any one car to really be so exclusionary.

I thought my 68 was kinda ratsunee,,, until i went to a ratsun meet,,,, WOW, thought i was gonna have to beat somebody up.

[S Allen]

Yeah, I do not get the animosity at all. There used to be an All Datsun Meet at Shasta every year. They would do a day at Thunderhill Raceway with lots of track time then on to Shasta Ski Lodge to continue the fun for several more days. There was a lot of tension between the Roadster Meet and the All Datsun Meet. It kind of reminded me of rival biker gangs. For the most part the All Datsun Meet did not care for the Roadster Crowd. We were considered a wine drinking bunch of snobs. I did both meets and actually preferred the All Datsun Meet. The track day at Thunderhill was a blast and they had a lot of events up at the ski lodge in Shasta. Some folks were friendly-some not so much but I was not treated like I had the plague. Sadly the organizers of the All Datsun Meet quit organizing and the event went away. Personally, I am not much into the shows anyways. I prefer to drive the snot out of mine and talk cars to folks. I mean winning an award is nice -especially after all your hard work but driving them is much more gratifying to me. Dave and Karen Premo and crew have done a fantastic job with Shasta the last few years and all Datsun's are welcome. That is the way it should be.

Steve

[datsunfreak]

Found these at the JY while picking up some other stuff. They were super cheap, so I went ahead and bought them. I'm still not 100% sure I'll use them in this car, though. Thoughts?

2001 Mercedes SLK230, fairly light weight with no electronics and all manual adjustments. Also, no air bags, which is nice.

[spl310]

I suggest that you set them in the car to see if they fit, and to see how they look

[greydog]

Nice looking seats.
The usual issue with swapping seats into the roadster is that the seats often sit too high. You may find that you'll have to adapt these seats to mount to the Datsun or some aftermarket sliders or even mount them to the floor.
When the Spriso gang built Eric Straw's car they dropped the floor pan beneath the seat so Eric (who is tall) would fit with the top up. There's also a "panectomy" that's done of the Miata seats to allow the driver to sit a bit lower. You may have to "get creative".
If you decide to use them, please let us know what you have to do to make them work for you.

Dan

[datsunfreak]

I suggest that you set them in the car to see if they fit, and to see how they look

I did just that last night. See below.

The usual issue with swapping seats into the roadster is that the seats often sit too high. You may find that you'll have to adapt these seats to mount to the Datsun or some aftermarket sliders or even mount them to the floor.

They fit very well width-wise, but do sit a little too high for my taste. I'm going to remove the Mercedes rails this weekend and see how they go then. They look alright in there, but I'll withhold judgement until I get them a little lower. Pics to follow...

If you decide to use them, please let us know what you have to do to make them work for you.

Will do.

[datsunfreak]

My build threads are usually pic heavy and word light, so...

My usual trick for removing the windshield, sliding a thin razor blade between the glass and seal and removing the front half of the seal...



I remove the top and sides, leaving the bottom intact. Then lift the glass out by gently pushing on the top center. Popped out easy with no fuss...



Surprisingly little rust behind the seal. None around the drain holes (usually rusted out on 510s), and just a tiny bit of surface rust a few inches over from the drain hole...



Front end trim stripped completely...




Left door gutted. Lock, handle, window regulator, etc all out. Left the latch and inner handle on so I could open/close it and so they won't fly open on the trailer...



Rocker trims removed, no rust under there either...



Hoping to gut the right door tomorrow, then pull the dash and console on Friday. Then the only thing left is the back bumper.

[pebbles]

um,,, thats not rust,,,,

[datsunfreak]

Oh, and those seats are definitely too tall...

Either going to recover the stock seats sans headrest, or get some first-gen Miata seats for it. May depend on whether I put in a radio or not. Leaning towards yes, and the Miata seats would have speakers in them, so...

With those, I could put the head unit either up under the dash, or in the glovebox, so the entire audio system would be "hidden"...

[twistin]

Just picked up a dime myself; seems when your into a certain brand people will come to you with something,
sometimes it's a part
sometimes it's plus the car.

I don't need another car.....
... Oh it's a 68 510, be right over.

[datsunfreak]

Oh it's a 68 510, be right over.

Yes. This is something you never say no to.

[datsunfreak]

Got the right door gutted, dash out, console out, heater box out, etc. Pretty well down to the metal now...




So my streak finally came to an end. Up to this point I have not had one single bolt, strip, break, or jamb. Every single bolt slid right out like it was put in by the factory yesterday, which is quite miraculous to me...

So I get the back bumper off (those bolts did fight me a little) and I figured I might as well take off the reverse light too. At this point I am "done" with disassembley for paint and I get one bolt out of the reverse light easily, then literally the LAST bolt I am taking out snaps right off.




Should be on it's way to paint jail tomorrow!