Project Unicorn, the resurrection of 1967.5 Datsun 2000 SRL-00342

[cole455]

It certainly thins the gap of known cars for the mid 300 sn range. Wasn’t sure if they skipped 50 numbers, or were unaccounted for by chance

[Gregs672000]

Wow, awesome, what a great story you are unfolding!

[sports imports]

What surprises me the most is the solex valve cover with no rivet for the vacuum line that all 135 hp SU 2000 come with. It is located on the back exhaust side near the firewall.

Very cool find.

I just recently found 00478 on Vancouver Island. Nowhere near as nice but pretty complete. Originally a Montana car. Has been sitting in a car port for 25 years.

It is amazing that these cars are still popping out of the woodwork.....

Ross

[PandaBoy]

If it's an original "Solex" car shouldn't it read 150HP on the VIN plate?

[sports imports]

150 hp cars were only sent to Australia, Canada, and home market. Smog restrictions curtailed 150 hp cars in the US. This car (spriso unicorn) throws a wrench in the mix as it clearly demonstrates a 135 hp car with a 150 hp valve cover, a point I would have thought would have been over looked when converting SU to solex.. Distributor ( no vac advance), comp oil pan, air cleaner, and B cam were all the obvious upgrades to make an SU car into a solex . I have always been adamant that there were no true solex cars in USA, now, I am not so sure........

Ross

[SLOroadster]

150 hp cars were only sent to Australia, Canada, and home market. Smog restrictions curtailed 150 hp cars in the US. This car (spriso unicorn) throws a wrench in the mix as it clearly demonstrates a 135 hp car with a 150 hp valve cover, a point I would have thought would have been over looked when converting SU to solex.. Distributor ( no vac advance), comp oil pan, air cleaner, and B cam were all the obvious upgrades to make an SU car into a solex . I have always been adamant that there were no true solex cars in USA, now, I am not so sure........

Ross

I think this was a converted car. Why? Because late Solex carbs. With how original the rest of the car is, I'd have to guess that if it were a real Solex car, it would have the early carbs on it. Its not hard to swap a valve cover and all the rest of the parts.

That said, its a bitchin car that is in fantastic shape. An amazing find. My guess is that whatever caused it to be parked is something silly like a leaking radiator, or brake caliper/cylinder, or perhaps the starter. The new owner found a wonderful car that just needs a bit of attention.

Nice find,
Will

[pebbles]

Congrats to Ken for percevering in his quest to close the deal.

[Alvin]

This way too cool, amazing find!
I have so many questions

What was the original owner's buying experience like?

Will the restoration be a total frame-off? Or preserve its current condition while making it a driver?

Crazy how people store junk over gems!

[spriso]

Thank you everyone for your comments-- the car is a very interesting time capsule, and slowly it is telling us it's secrets.

Alvin wrote:

What was the original owner's buying experience like?

I have a growing list (daily) of questions to ask the original owner, whom I have not had a chance to talk with yet. I do know that the car was originally sold at the Hanum Datsun dealership in Eugene, where the car lived its entire life.

Will the restoration be a total frame-off? Or preserve its current condition while making it a driver?

Still trying to figure that one out-- these cars are only original once. The paint is is remarkable condition (other than the normal dents and bruises) and I rubbed out a small section tonight and it came back looking amazing. I have a great press-a-dent guy that is going to earn his paycheck on this beast, but I think we can get most of the blemishes out without painting. There are a few spots that may require more love, but I'll let my paint expert evaluate on how we can deal with those.

At some point the seats were recovered black and parts of the carpets were replaced, so that will need to be corrected. But the dash is not cracked on top, and the interior is generally just a bit tired.

What I'm most concerned about is the condition of the U20. It's going to need a deep inspection to see what's there and what kind of shape it's in, we don't want anything happening to that.

So, the car may just get a mechanical refresh, and preserve the rest as much as possible...

Will wrote:

I think this was a converted car. Why? Because late Solex carbs. With how original the rest of the car is, I'd have to guess that if it were a real Solex car, it would have the early carbs on it. Its not hard to swap a valve cover and all the rest of the parts.

I would be surprised if its a converted car, but we will get to the bottom of this with the original owner. Love mysteries like this.

We know that the owner liked to autocross the car, but there are no springs or larger swaybars (or a roll bar). Hopefully this weekend I can jack up the car and find out if it has a LSD. I'm still torn if the wheels are the magnesium or aluminum versions-- they are feather light, and very, very fuzzy, but they are not jet black like typical magnesium wheels that I have seen over the years. When I can find some time, I will dig into that some more too...

The car also came with the original hubcaps (that look like brand-new), and some factory velocity stacks for the carbs too...

An interesting learning experience so far for sure... mouse turds and all... LOL



Michael

[spl310]

I have talked to a few original owners, and have seen a few unrestored cars. From the information that I have, there were Solex cars delivered in the US, but all US cars had the 135hp id plate.

[jamesw]

Great post thanks for sharing the discovery Michael. I remember the same type of day when I pulled car #132 out of the weeds, brought it home, and found the license plate trim in the trunk

Congrats to you and Ken - and for Ken's perseverance. Way to go.

James

[Mattk]

Very cool!!
Subscribed

[datsun65]

Big congrats. Another Thunder Back 67 2000 has been found!

[S Allen]

Looking forward to following this project. Very nice score indeed.

Steve

[spriso]

And Down the Rabbit Hole We Go...



While 00342 looked great from 5 feet away, a closer inspection started to show her flaws. Her many years being stored in a small garage had not done her any favors and the blemishes were starting to show. The worst part was a nasty crease in the driver's quarter panel from a piece of furniture which had landed on the quarter panel. We hoped that maybe that our amazing Paintless Dent Removal guy Jerry could work his magic, but alas, the damage was too deep and in a multi-layered section of the quarter panel.



Jerry spent 3 hours working on the car, erasing many years of blemishes, but in some cases, the damage was done...



The surface rust was at a critical point on this car too-- we were at a point where some major decisions needed to be made about this car to ensure its future.



It was just edgy enough that every panel would need to be touched, and there was just no way to preserve the paint and have the quality car we were looking for. The lead work was lifting at the corners of the trunk and the hood:



After many hours of discussions and evaluations, with heavy hearts, it was decided to paint the car.

And down the rabbit we go...

Michael