How I came to own another 67 2000...
Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2015 11:15 pm
A couple of weeks or so ago, I was perusing Facebook. I am in several groups on Facebook for the different interests that I have - fitness, hunting, activities that my kids are involved in, and of course Datsun Roadsters. It was fairly late at night east coast time when I saw a posting from someone selling not one, but two 67 2000s. Immediately, there were a deluge of questions for the hapless seller. He eventually posted a photograph, and one car was a 65 1500. At this point, a lot of the interest from folks kind of died down, but a few pressed for more pictures and details.
Vance posted a few cell phone pics (not unlike the crappy pics that I posted the other day), and I messaged him a bit. We chatted about the car, and it's overall condition. A lot was missing, but a good amount was still there. At this point, there was still no confirmation if it was the real deal, or a clone. After some back and forth, I finally asked what it would take to buy it, and Vance threw out a price. I felt that it was fair given that it was not confirmed that it was a true 67 2000 and the amount of parts that were not shown, so I committed to buying it. Within 5 minutes of my committing, someone else said that they would buy it.
As I worked on getting things lined up on my end, I later found out that a fair number of people were attempting to purchase parts off of the car. I don't know who, and it doesn't really matter. Vance had given me 10 days to make the final arrangements, and on the 10th day, I shared the plan to retrieve the car. My biggest obstacle was SWMBO. She didn't understand. Sigh...
After getting her on board, I got the plan in motion. I departed on Monday evening to go to my buddy's farm in Georgia. I had a nice visit, and hooked up the trailer. After picking about 6 pounds of berries, I got to bed. Tuesday morning was a cool, slightly overcast day. We had a couple of cups of coffee, and I was off. The drive from there to Huntsville, Alabama (the location of the car) was to be about 9 hours. Time wore on. The weather was beautiful (if a bit warm), and the drive relatively uneventful. About the time I was due for a restroom and coffee stop, I was approaching Summit Racing's store south of Atlanta. Of course being a gear head, I had to drop by! Beautiful stuff in there. A man's toy store.
I fueled up, and I was off again. I finally arrived at the location - an out of the way repair shop that specialized in Porsches and other import cars. I had to wait about a half hour for the widow to arrive. She was very nice to talk with, and had an appreciation for nice cars. After she opened the gate, I brought the truck in and the adventure began.
After some drama getting the lighting turned on, I was shown the car. (about this time, Vance arrived - he is helping with the disposal of the cars). We talked about the car, and how so many people were wanting to buy the solex carbs. I was told that the missing parts for the car may be there, and that I had free reign to go look for them. I searched and dug all over the place. I found parts in some obscure places. Sadly some of the unique pieces never surfaced. I searched for about 2 and a half hours - checking in from time to time with Phil Hall who had graciously offered me his spare bedroom. Then it was time to load. I had to swap tires on the car (brought spares) as the ones on the car are completely shot. I also had to remove the rear brake shoes to make the car mobile. Once I got tires on it, and the brakes off, it rolled quite nicely. With a little jiggling, we loaded the beastie tail first onto the trailer. My energy was waning fast, so I pulled the truck around to the other side of the building, and we loaded the few parts that were located.
I called Phil and drove to his house. He has a beautiful house in a beautiful neighborhood. I was greeted by Phil and his son Nick in the driveway, and had a chance to look at Nick's nice Z. A brief look at Phil's 2000, and we went inside for some great dinner and a couple of beers. I am going to make a statement here - Phil and Nick are hereby appointed the official Brewmasters of SEROC! Their Cream ale was outstanding! I was so worn out that I forgot to try to talk Phil out of a few to enjoy at home. Maybe next time. We toured the brew house, and the garages and had a nice visit, then it was time to go to sleep. From the searching for parts, I looked like I had been on an archaeological dig, so it took a little time to get it all washed off in the shower. Off to sleep.
Morning broke to a beautiful day. I backed out of the driveway, did a u turn, and was off. A short way down the road, I had my first fuel stop. While the diesel was filling the tank, I looked at the tiedowns. The main one in the rear looked a little suspect, so I took a tow strap that has the hooks on the end and used it as a safety line starting in one rear wheel, wrapping around the trailer sides, and hooked into the wheel on the other side. I didn't really think that I would need it, but it was comforting to do while the fuel flowed. A passer by tried to get me to take the car to see his boss as he was sure that his boss would buy it. I politely declined and was off. Other than the GPS again taking me home a way different from the way it brought me up, the rest of the drive was uneventful.
As I was crossing into Jacksonville, my buddy called to check where I was. He has offered to let me keep my car at his place until I haul off the 69 in the driveway. We unloaded it, and he commented on how good the body was, and that he was jealous. Now the excitement of locating the missing bits and making room in the stable for it begins... I won't be able to get back to the car until later in the week. When I do, I will try to take some photographs.
Vance posted a few cell phone pics (not unlike the crappy pics that I posted the other day), and I messaged him a bit. We chatted about the car, and it's overall condition. A lot was missing, but a good amount was still there. At this point, there was still no confirmation if it was the real deal, or a clone. After some back and forth, I finally asked what it would take to buy it, and Vance threw out a price. I felt that it was fair given that it was not confirmed that it was a true 67 2000 and the amount of parts that were not shown, so I committed to buying it. Within 5 minutes of my committing, someone else said that they would buy it.
As I worked on getting things lined up on my end, I later found out that a fair number of people were attempting to purchase parts off of the car. I don't know who, and it doesn't really matter. Vance had given me 10 days to make the final arrangements, and on the 10th day, I shared the plan to retrieve the car. My biggest obstacle was SWMBO. She didn't understand. Sigh...
After getting her on board, I got the plan in motion. I departed on Monday evening to go to my buddy's farm in Georgia. I had a nice visit, and hooked up the trailer. After picking about 6 pounds of berries, I got to bed. Tuesday morning was a cool, slightly overcast day. We had a couple of cups of coffee, and I was off. The drive from there to Huntsville, Alabama (the location of the car) was to be about 9 hours. Time wore on. The weather was beautiful (if a bit warm), and the drive relatively uneventful. About the time I was due for a restroom and coffee stop, I was approaching Summit Racing's store south of Atlanta. Of course being a gear head, I had to drop by! Beautiful stuff in there. A man's toy store.
I fueled up, and I was off again. I finally arrived at the location - an out of the way repair shop that specialized in Porsches and other import cars. I had to wait about a half hour for the widow to arrive. She was very nice to talk with, and had an appreciation for nice cars. After she opened the gate, I brought the truck in and the adventure began.
After some drama getting the lighting turned on, I was shown the car. (about this time, Vance arrived - he is helping with the disposal of the cars). We talked about the car, and how so many people were wanting to buy the solex carbs. I was told that the missing parts for the car may be there, and that I had free reign to go look for them. I searched and dug all over the place. I found parts in some obscure places. Sadly some of the unique pieces never surfaced. I searched for about 2 and a half hours - checking in from time to time with Phil Hall who had graciously offered me his spare bedroom. Then it was time to load. I had to swap tires on the car (brought spares) as the ones on the car are completely shot. I also had to remove the rear brake shoes to make the car mobile. Once I got tires on it, and the brakes off, it rolled quite nicely. With a little jiggling, we loaded the beastie tail first onto the trailer. My energy was waning fast, so I pulled the truck around to the other side of the building, and we loaded the few parts that were located.
I called Phil and drove to his house. He has a beautiful house in a beautiful neighborhood. I was greeted by Phil and his son Nick in the driveway, and had a chance to look at Nick's nice Z. A brief look at Phil's 2000, and we went inside for some great dinner and a couple of beers. I am going to make a statement here - Phil and Nick are hereby appointed the official Brewmasters of SEROC! Their Cream ale was outstanding! I was so worn out that I forgot to try to talk Phil out of a few to enjoy at home. Maybe next time. We toured the brew house, and the garages and had a nice visit, then it was time to go to sleep. From the searching for parts, I looked like I had been on an archaeological dig, so it took a little time to get it all washed off in the shower. Off to sleep.
Morning broke to a beautiful day. I backed out of the driveway, did a u turn, and was off. A short way down the road, I had my first fuel stop. While the diesel was filling the tank, I looked at the tiedowns. The main one in the rear looked a little suspect, so I took a tow strap that has the hooks on the end and used it as a safety line starting in one rear wheel, wrapping around the trailer sides, and hooked into the wheel on the other side. I didn't really think that I would need it, but it was comforting to do while the fuel flowed. A passer by tried to get me to take the car to see his boss as he was sure that his boss would buy it. I politely declined and was off. Other than the GPS again taking me home a way different from the way it brought me up, the rest of the drive was uneventful.
As I was crossing into Jacksonville, my buddy called to check where I was. He has offered to let me keep my car at his place until I haul off the 69 in the driveway. We unloaded it, and he commented on how good the body was, and that he was jealous. Now the excitement of locating the missing bits and making room in the stable for it begins... I won't be able to get back to the car until later in the week. When I do, I will try to take some photographs.
