Project 1964 Fairlady - Northern CA

[Norcal510]

Hello all,

New to the site. A business partner of mine purchased/saved a 1964 Fairlady Roadster from going to the wreckers. I decided to join the site as were both fairly new to datsun roadsters. I noticed there were a lot of informative posts & hope to get some guidance from fellow members here.

Below are a few pictures of the car.

Car is pretty rough but will be restored









More pictures & details will be posted later.

Thanks

[notoptoy]

Welcome, you have started in the right place!!
Very interested in seeing more pictures. Is there any more back story to it?
Why it was sitting and why it might have gone to the wrecker?
First glance looks like you might have some fairly serious rust to deal with, hoepfully it is only skin deep!

[datsun65]

Welcome aboard!

It was originally a 3 seater model, but the roll bar probably has replaced the third seat. The separate letters on the hood were used on the 1965 cars(most of which were 2-seater 1500s). However, there were a batch of 3 seater 1500s made in 65. Wonder if yours is one of them? What is the VIN # ??

[wgb1]

Welcome and good luck with your resto.

[windy311]

A nice start with the 1500 i love them.

[datsunrides]

Was this the one on CL in Mountain View? I was emailing with the owner about a month ago, then they stopped communicating. Probably better you got it as I would have cut it up for a tube frame project I'm halfheartedly pursuing.

Mark

[Norcal510]

Was this the one on CL in Mountain View? I was emailing with the owner about a month ago, then they stopped communicating. Probably better you got it as I would have cut it up for a tube frame project I'm halfheartedly pursuing.

Mark

The car was in Santa Rosa CA from what my buddy told me.

Welcome aboard!

It was originally a 3 seater model, but the roll bar probably has replaced the third seat. The separate letters on the hood were used on the 1965 cars(most of which were 2-seater 1500s). However, there were a batch of 3 seater 1500s made in 65. Wonder if yours is one of them? What is the VIN # ??

Here is a picture of the cowl tag. I have a lot of questions but not really sure where to start. Will post more pictures & my questions later.




Few questions:

- Roll cages were they sold through the dealer or something that was aftermarket only?

- Anyone recognize what type of wheels those are? Dealer option?

- Just want your personal opinion. You guys suggest to have the old motor rebuilt or swap another 1500,1600,2000? I honestly like the stock look but were open to a cost effective alternative.





Thanks for all the positive replies.

[sleepyzzz]

welcome to the site, and i wish you luck on your restore.

[notoptoy]

Was this the one on CL in Mountain View? I was emailing with the owner about a month ago, then they stopped communicating. Probably better you got it as I would have cut it up for a tube frame project I'm halfheartedly pursuing.

Mark

The car was in Santa Rosa CA from what my buddy told me.

Welcome aboard!

It was originally a 3 seater model, but the roll bar probably has replaced the third seat. The separate letters on the hood were used on the 1965 cars(most of which were 2-seater 1500s). However, there were a batch of 3 seater 1500s made in 65. Wonder if yours is one of them? What is the VIN # ??

Here is a picture of the cowl tag. I have a lot of questions but not really sure where to start. Will post more pictures & my questions later.

Few questions:

- Roll cages were they sold through the dealer or something that was aftermarket only?

- Anyone recognize what type of wheels those are? Dealer option?

- Just want your personal opinion. You guys suggest to have the old motor rebuilt or swap another 1500,1600,2000? I honestly like the stock look but were open to a cost effective alternative.

I don't know if there was a factory roll bar for the 1500's, but have heard of them being available for the 1600/2000.
I didn't see a picture of the wheels to be able to comment?
To me it depends on what condition the engine is in. If it is in pretty good shape, then it should be fairly cost effective to rebuild the original motor. That said, 1600's are CHEAP and pretty available - there's one on e-bay now that hasn't moved off the $100 starting bid. Since you asked for a personal opinion, I would first check out the existing motor, and if at all feasible, rebuild that.

You need to do what you want, and what your budget directs of course!

[datsun65]

Few questions:

- Roll cages were they sold through the dealer or something that was aftermarket only?

Since the the car originally had a third seat in the rear, I doubt there was a factory roll bar on the early 1500s. However, I have seen photos of factory sponsered race cars with a roll bar, but I'm assuming that was a safety add-on. It appears that your front seats may be from a different model/car. The early 1500 seats were molded from fiberglass. They look like this:





- Anyone recognize what type of wheels those are? Dealer option?

The factory wheels for the 1500s were 13 inch steel wheels with full Hub Cap covers. In 1964, the tires came with 5.60x13 tires with a medium/thin white wall. Here is a picture of the wheels, albeit with a wide wall wall tire:



I don't know of Datsun dealer option wheels available for the 1500s.

- Just want your personal opinion. You guys suggest to have the old motor rebuilt or swap another 1500,1600,2000? I honestly like the stock look but were open to a cost effective alternative.

Let's see some photos of what you have in the engine bay. Many 1500s (G15 Engines) have been swapped to the more common 1600 Motors (R16) over the years. Being your car has appears to maybe have a later hood on it (65+), maybe it may also have already had a motor change out?

[Norcal510]

datsun65 - You point out a few very good points. I had no idea the seats were different. The original seats look a lot smaller than the current seats prob to accomodate the 3rd seat.

Here is a picture of the Engine. Very rough as is the rest of the car.





Interior





Wheels



Keys

[datsun65]

Take a very close look (probably need to wipe down with a rag) at the engine number listed in the passenger side towards the top of the block:



If the Engine number starts with 'R' is a 1600. If it starts with a 'G' it is a 1500.

Also, the carbs on the intake manifold have the late Black Plastic Topped plungers (for the carb domes) that were used on later roadsters. The earlier one were made of brass.

[Datsunz]

The fuel filters look like they are backwards. Maybe and older style.

[notoptoy]

The wheels are an aftermarket.
I believe the Pine cone at the intake manifold is a rare aftermarket performance piece, I haven't seen one of those actually installed in person before!

[spl310]

Nissan did sell a roll bar that fit the 3 seat 1500s iirc. It was only available in Japan. If you found one, it has to be one of the most rare pieces of exotica available for Roadsters.