Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

In 1985 I bought my very first car. A $200 Ohio rust victim with no floor, no exhaust, no top, no tags, and a really cool eight ball screwed onto the shifter...and it happened to be a 67.5 datsun 1600 Roadster. Funny thing was it started right up, the tires held air and the brakes sort of worked...so I drove it 10 miles home loud as heck with a big stupid grin on my face and not a care in the world. So began my first restoration project. There was no internet back then and being a high schooler and new to cars in general I never thought to look for a club so parts were pretty much impossible to find. I spent the next year and a half trying to make floor pans out of old road signs and sheet metal screws and literally trying to hammer some sort of exhaust together. It never made back on the road. College came along and regretfully I ended up giving the car away to a friend and it eventually faded away.

Fast forward to 2 weeks ago and almost 30 years later I found myself looking for a car project to start on with my 14 year old son and out of the blue there it was...we're now the proud owners of a 1970 Datsun 1600 Roadster. So I'm sort of a newbie a second time around.

We are the second owners of the car and it has been sitting in a garage since 1982. It's not real pretty right now. We've started my favorite part: the clean up. Trying to remove the grime and grease and see what's underneath. I'm already wishing I had more time to spend on it. It's just not moving along fast enough.

The biggest negative is that I'm not mechanically educated with water cooled cars. Most of my past projects are air cooled VW's, Subarus, etc.

Any input, assistance, guidance, and even a helping hand would be greatly appreciated in determining what it will take to get this car up and running (and stopping!) would be greatly appreciated! I'm more than happy to buy lunch, beer, burgers, whatever if anyone has a bit of time.

Really looking forward to getting this car back on the road, hopefully in time to bring it to the next show and definitely Solvang next year!

Thank you again! Here are a couple pics of the car.

Having trouble posting pics. Will do a little more research and figure out what I'm doing wrong. Sorry. Hope to have them up soon!

Right off the truck and into the driveway

It's a beauty. where are you located? In Ca? or did just the car come from there. If you are so fortunate as to be in Southern Ca. there are plenty of people who can be bribed with pizza and beer.

When I lived there, I myself hosted a few "let's work on the car parties" as well as being a guest at others "parties".

Here as well you'll get plenty of help.

One word of advice. Do not, I repeat do not take it all apart. Get it running and legal and drive it for a while. learn the car bit by bit and improve on it. Once the bug is really infected you, then you could do a resto provided you have the cash. Nowadays the prices have gone WAY up from the last time you had a roadster.
Good luck and welcome.

Edit: I just saw the post title. You are in socal......you got it made in the shade!

you'll typically find a few of us at Supercar Sunday - Erwin/Topanga Canyon blvd 7:30ish to 9ishA

Welcome! Roman is leading you down the right path. That car looks pretty solid. Get it running and stopping, and then do cosmetic stuff as you drive it. RESIST the urge to tear it apart. Most that get taken apart don't go back together - at least not with the person that took them apart.

Welcome, solid looking roadster there. I agree with all of the above - drive it to bond with it and you'll never let it go (except for another one.)

Great to see another one saved. Welcome and ask all the questions you want everyone is really helpfula dn friendly on this forum.

Where in socal?

Welcome to the crazy Roadster family! Great story, and how cool that you're doing this with your son. A small get together would be a great way to garner knowledge fast, and don't worry, your air cooled knowledge will transfer.
I also echo the play first, restore second thoughts. What's your budget and time frame like? There is a serious opportunity here to teach your son how to create written plans, timelines, budgeting, problem solving, patience, etc! We have cars here across the world, everything from big budget restorations and wild mods to the "I can't believe it still runs and stops" diamonds in the rough, including those who painted their car with rustoleum and had it turn out great! We can help guide you in any direction you go, so don't hesitate to ask questions, we're all friends and family here!

I'm in Castaic about 20 minutes north of Burbank.

Bought the car here and live here as well. Fully agree with your suggestions to not tear it apart. I have 2 projects that are already in that state and have been for a number of years now.

At this point I'm just cleaning off the years of oxidation and grime, cleaning up the chrome, checking wiring., etc.

As far as budget, I'm not in a place to do any major renovation right now.

I have to find a couple of seat rails. The seats are not attached and the current rails are rusted solid.
Once I get the seats locked down I'd like to try and get it running.

I can help with seat rails, let me hunt a bit in the garage. I am south of you, but make sure you hook up with Chris Breyer and SoCalROC as well. (great guy, has "herded that cats" of roadster owners into a more cohesive bunch than we have been in lots of years, and he is the host of the Solvang show too)

Thank you for the help on the seat rails. actually having a bit of trouble removing the old one on the passenger seat. the bolts are really rusted. soaking them with PB to try and loosen em up.

cleanup is coming along well/ the body is actually very solid. did run into some rust through on both pans though. a few small holes on the passenger that i can patch. the driver side is pretty bad in the front. looks like water came in the vent wing and settled on the floor.
if anyone can recommend a local welder that could do the repair affordably i'd appreciate the referral. i also discovered some rust through at the very base of the windshield support . is it common for water to get in and pool up inside there?