Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

Hey guys (and gals),
New guy here, from Southern Oregon. I bought a 1969 1600 for a project with my 15yr old Daughter. It will be her first car, and will hopefully be on the road about the time she gets her license. We are building the car together, partly to teach her about cars, but mostly to spend time with her that otherwise would get missed. Anyways, car was a California car in relatively good condition. Well, by good, I mean it ran, and was not a rust bucket. Since getting the car, we have completely disassembled it(the easy part) and now are working on restoring bits and putting it back together(the hard part). We had the car dipped and stripped to clean metal, and found no surprises(!) Frame has been blasted and powder coated, and all sheetmetal has been massaged and also powder coated. I figure this way it will outlive all of us. Anyways, I have a bunch to learn about these little cars. I'm am not foreign to classics, owning a few cars dating from 1949 back to 1913, but this is my first Datsun so everything is new to me.

Long story short, if it is not too late for that, is we will be on here often learnin' and stuff. And of course looking for parts. Things I know I will need for sure are windshield, non cracked dash, wheels and rubber bits. We have everything we need suspension and steering wise, and even have Volvo brakes waiting to be bolted on in the next week or so. Just have to sandblast and paint a few more bits first....will add images once I get that figured out.

Welcome and we look forward to following along with your project. This should be a great bonding experience with your daughter. Let me know if you need help sorting out the picture uploading. Looking forward to following your project. Sounds like you have a good chunk of it done already.

Steve

Welcome and what an awesome first car for your daughter. Love the reason behind the build too, I will never forget the memories in the garage with my father, by far much more valuable then anything we tangibly build.

Welcome, you're certainty in the right place! Would enjoy seeing some pictures of your efforts! My daughter loves the Roadster too and sparked her interest in cars. Have fun!

Welcome! Looking forward to pictures. Great project for family time.

Great first car...I can attest!

Yeah, so about those pictures.... do they need to be hosted somewhere or can I upload them from my phone or desktop? I see the img link, but missing the instructions.

when you go to reply ( not the quick reply) there is a section lower down called "attachments" this is where you will upload the pics and then put them inline

Pics! Frame before and after powdercoat, and the body after it returned from the dip tank. Will have to find a pic of the before we started, and I thought I had a pic of the body after it was powdercoated, but I guess I will have to take some...

Love the pics! Your daughter's going to end up with a great car and quality time that will last a lifetime

Someone was recently asking about where the factory used lead. Your bare body, err I mean the car's body, would make a good example of where to find the lead. Maybe you could take pictures of the various spots of lead and start a new thread titled somethings like body lead locations. This would show up easily when someone does a search, or maybe listed in the wiki. Might save someone from breathing lead dust when sanding to bare metal. Just a thought!

That bare metal looks awesome! how much was the dip? cool project

theunz wrote:Someone was recently asking about where the factory used lead. Your bare body, err I mean the car's body, would make a good example of where to find the lead. Maybe you could take pictures of the various spots of lead and start a new thread titled somethings like body lead locations. This would show up easily when someone does a search, or maybe listed in the wiki. Might save someone from breathing lead dust when sanding to bare metal. Just a thought!

Well the car is already in powdercoat, and I sure don't recall there being much(if any)lead? Decent amount of seam sealer, but that came off in the dip tank. After the dip tank, and AFTER the picture I posted, the car went to body shop to have the 'bigger' stuff massaged. There really was no bigger stuff, except for a tiny bit of rot in the lower rear quarters some tiny holes in rear fenders along trim line and a pinhole or two in the drivers floorboards. Minor dings in the front around bent bumper holes and that is about it. I was super pleased with how it looked after the dip tank-you just never know what you are going to get, could be solid metal or swiss cheese... Anyways, there is a shop in Eugene, Or that dipped all the sheetmetal for about $1400, IIRC. Beats sanding and leaves no surprises. As the body sits right now, it should need less than a pint of body filler. Even that might be an overestimate. Plan is to cover the powdercoat with high build primer and start sanding and see where it takes us. But that is for next month. December is dedicated to getting the chassis all bolted and dialed.

Bravo for teaching your daughter some fix-it skills! She will benefit from her knowledge and appreciate the effort that goes into making something. To take something in disrepair and bring it back to function is a wonderful thing!
Points awarded. Lol
Linda

Someone asked about lead. This is about it, and a bit at the tail lights. All sheetmetal, no body filler whatsoever. All original floorboards