So, Why did you buy a Roadster?

[dbrick]

Random question, do you happen to have an aunt and uncle who live in Napa? If so I think they live down the street from me.

Will

Oh NO, the mysterious guy from Napa again!!!

[Gregs672000]

Do you mean that mysterious guy from Napa I met years ago at Shasta #3 (I think it was), who introduced me to the EI conversion he had done? I've always tried to give him credit! I do believe his was the first... and many have benefited since, but we don't even know his name!

[dbrick]

Do you mean that mysterious guy from Napa I met years ago at Shasta #3 (I think it was), who introduced me to the EI conversion he had done? I've always tried to give him credit! I do believe his was the first... and many have benefited since, but we don't even know his name!

I think we settled on simultaneous/inevitable discovery by multiple individuals to avoid WW-III
That's the guy though, the Bigfoot of roadster ignition lore.

[SLOroadster]

Random question, do you happen to have an aunt and uncle who live in Napa? If so I think they live down the street from me.

Will

Oh NO, the mysterious guy from Napa again!!!

My guess is that its not the same guy. This guy has Alfa's and a Ferrari, however he did have a 510 at one point (that was pretty well sorted from the sound of it.)

Will

[Cal26Stang]

My dad was at a convention for work in Chicago and one of his customers mentioned she and her husband were trying to sell a 1967 Datsun Roadster, my dad texted me that night and asked if we should buy it for $1,500. I looked up the car that night and did a ton of research and we decided it would be a fun little summer project for us. We also decided that after we do as much as we can that we will enjoy it for a bit and sell it to someone who would really appreciate the fun little car. Looking forward to my first roadster!

[Tap]

I actually "inherited" my 67.5 1600 from my olde3r brother. It had a bad bearing in the tranny, a blown headgasket, and had some rust. I was about 14 and I love that car. I sold it back to the original owner and he gave it back to me about 7 years ago. She waiting to be restored as we speak...
Tom

[gvpjared]

Will! I didn't notice your post until now.

The Ferrari guy is my wife's uncle! When I first got my roadster, he told me that he knew a "roadster guy". I meant to ask you if you knew him at Solvang, but I forgot.

It's a small world.

[Mainer311]

Roughly 2001-2002 timeframe, I'm a junior in high school. Driving around on back roads and stumble upon a 2000 for sale, saw that it said "DATSUN" on the front hood, but had never seen a Datsun that looked like that. (Nissans and Datsuns had been in the family for quite some time.) Did some research to find out what it was, fell in love, but since I'm a high schooler have absolutely no money. Dream fades away.

Fast forward to 4 weeks ago to the day. Browsing local Craigslist ads for the general search term of "datsun" to see what's kicking around. Stumble upon what I now know was Dave Brick's old roadster, buy it a few days later and trailer it to my parent's house in Maine.

[Copterpilot]

I didn't actually buy it. It was given to me. My brother bought it for $4000 7 years ago. The seller drove it up to MN and my brother then paid a friend to straighten it out and paint it. It sat in the friend's shop for the next 7 years. My brother bought a fishing resort in WI a year ago and realized that he'd never have time to do anything with the car, so he offered it to me. Over the course of the summer we got the friend to finish the body work and then I had it shipped here to Ohio. So all I have invested in it so far is the $600 for the shipping! Of course, I'm sure that figure will go up exponentially as I replace all the missing parts and work to get it running again after seven years. Certainly not the worst place to start, though!

[Speedyshel]

Roughly 2001-2002 timeframe, I'm a junior in high school. Driving around on back roads and stumble upon a 2000 for sale, saw that it said "DATSUN" on the front hood, but had never seen a Datsun that looked like that. (Nissans and Datsuns had been in the family for quite some time.) Did some research to find out what it was, fell in love, but since I'm a high schooler have absolutely no money.

Very similar story for me. About 2009, a college student for about 2 year and had a temporary job building decks. Showed up at a job site and saw a weather beaten Roadster at the back of a driveway covered in leaves. Walked straight up to it and saw it was a Datsun to my dismay (caught me offguard because being from South Africa we are well clued up on the 510s and I'd never seen this "thing"). Worked on the site for about 3 days real anxious to meet the owner of the car and eventually saw him and the first thing out my mouth was "What do you want for the car?"
From that day forward it was mine and has been a project ever since.

[burn8]

This picture of Eddie's car made me do it.

eddie.jpg

-Allan

[Dave Can]

My oldest brother: Remember when you rescued that cat when I told you the owner was going to put it down because it destroyed her new purse? Well I've found something similar on kijiji. Me: I already have enough cats and dogs. MOB: It's not a cat. It's a '68 Datsun roadster that the guy is going to scrap if you don't rescue it. Me: A what? MOB: A little two seater convertible. The guy parked it in his barn in 1975 and it's been sitting there ever since. He's not sure if the motor's seized or not. It's fairly complete, but he's lost interest and doesn't have time to restore it so it's either you or the scrapyard. Me: How much? MOB: $500 obo.
$350 later and I have a '68 Datsun SPL311 (the P stands for pretty rusty!). Original motor (not seized!), but the front fenders and floor have totally lost the battle against rust. For some reason she has a 2000 grill.

[tjp]

cuz it only cost me a dollar!

[Munxcub]

I've been helping my dad fix up a Triumph GT6 for the last year and having a great time. Turning 30 this year and my wife and parents pitched in and bought me my own project car. Started out looking for another Triumph (Spitfire or TR6) but then my wife found this Datsun and asked what I thought of it.

I'm picking it up tomorrow.

[garth]

I've been helping my dad fix up a Triumph GT6 for the last year and having a great time. Turning 30 this year and my wife and parents pitched in and bought me my own project car. Started out looking for another Triumph (Spitfire or TR6) but then my wife found this Datsun and asked what I thought of it.

I'm picking it up tomorrow.

Sounds like your insightful wife should be the project manager of your restoration efforts!

Good luck and good roadstering!