Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

I've got a '68 2000 project #311-01224 that upon teardown, I found some problems. Besides the firewall, trunk floor and floorboards all wrinkled from at least two different accidents, it is rusted thru on the floorboards, trunk wells, rear fenders and quarters and most alarmingly, along portions of the lower edge of the widshield frame all the way down the forward door posts to the floorboards. The door "snubber" is rusted thru completely on both sides. I'm pretty savvy with a heli-arc but my experience is with airplanes, not cars. Is this terminal?

I do have what I bought as a parts car, a late '67/68 1600 # 17541 which structurally is in much better shape....

Thanks in advance,

Steve near Chicago

67.5 is a great year for a 2000 conversion. It is the only truly interchangeable body as the shifter hole is elongated rather than one or the other. There are lots of 67.5 2000 specific parts that you'll never get unless they're repros, but you can make do with lots of other stuff. If you're up to the task, drop the U20 driveline into the 67.5. I'm not big on extensive body work myself...

I agree totally with Adam. You will have much better luck with the car that is structurally superior. The suspension on the rusty one will probably not be very good either. Sam

...flat dash....flat dash...flat dash...!!!

No flat dash. It looks almost identical to my '68.

no flat dash?? it must be a '68 then. My 67.5 has a flat dash with the three toggle switches and the combined fuel/amp and water temp/oil pressure gauges.

Hmmmmmm.......SPL311-17541 would be a '68 according to the VIN listings. I know these aren't the most accurate, but since Steve said both cars have the same dash.....

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You're right, my bad. I looked at Rallye's list but must have remembered his VIN wrong. I still say use the '68 1600 and cut the hole in the floor for the 5-speed shifter. Other than that, the shifter plate, the gauges (160mph vs. 120mph, 8000rpm vs. 7000rpm) and the headlight scoops, the 1600 and 2000 are identical and it won't be too hard, probably much easier than repairing a rotted, rusty body.

swap the bodies, then the gauges that you need and you will be good to go.

Will

I agree with Will. Yank the old crusty body off of the 2000, and then swap over the nice, fresh body from the 1600. You will have to cut the shift hole bigger (whoopie.) to accomodate the more forward shift location. Keep the gauges out of the 2000 and swap them in immediately if you want to keep the mileage stream going on the odometer, or put them on the shelf for a later time when you need something to tinker on. The calibration should not be off.

What sort of airplanes do you work on? I haven't been flying in years, I grew up around planes, but haven't been neer one in about 7 years.

Will

My wife and I both fly 767's and 757's for American. In addition, We've got a '66 bellanca Cruisemaster, a Cessna 150, a '46 Piper Cub, a Skybolt and a Midget Mustang, both of which I built and a bunch of projects waiting their turn including a Champ, a Cassutt racer, a Shoestring Racer, and a Great Lakes Biplane.
Throw into the mix a couple of old BMW's, a Norton Commando, a BSA lightning, a Ural with a sidecar and a Suzuki X-6.
AND, my first car, a '70 240Z, which got parked about 20 years ago because of rust.

Wow, you guys have quite the collection. We had a Cessna 175 for a long time. Perhaps if the new job I'm hoping to get comes through, I can become airborne once more.

Will

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