Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

Spent the last two weekends visiting in Los Angeles (my Folk's home with the extra-garage) to work on the latest addition...

A 31K Original mile, 1960 SPL212 Fairlady 4-seater. Still has the original 46 year old vinyl seats & interior! I got the engine running yesterday, but still need to clear out the fuel system.

Didn't have a digital camera with me, so here are the poor quality cell phone images...

cooooooooooooooool!!!

OK, I must hate you now. I really don't want to, but I must...

Very cool indeed.

WoW!
Cant wait for the full write up and photos on this one.

Ray B.

That is one beautiful car!!
I'd really like to see some detailed pictures

Good going Dan! You should have gave me a ring so I could go check it out! After all.... its only a few minutes away.

Very nice! BTW, how did you come across one of these?

All...thanks for the nice comments!

After seeing my first SPL212 at the Solvang show in 1996, I started passively looking for one..

Here is a Photo of Dr. Odomo's car at the Solavng show in 1996:


In about 2000, I started actively looking for my own spl212..But, finding one was nearly impossible..During the past ten years (1996-2006) I've only seen two cars come up for sale on the market.

I chased down leads & legends about SPL212s that might/might not exist but nothing ever panned out. At last years Solvang show a red SPL213 showed up and I again renewed my search.

My new SPL212 was owned from approx 1973-2005 by a WWII ace pilot who flew hundreds of missions in WWII and Korea. He is credited with 5.5 shoot downs. The car was well taken care of during it years of ownership and appears to have been repainted only once. The car still has its red wool carpets in the trunk and floors. It still has its matching E engine and all mechanicals are still original.

First plans for the car are to get it back on the road. I have a friendly mechanic in Orange County, CA (a chevy guy) who has agreed to bring her back to life! She hasn't been on the road since 1999. Once she is running, my first trip will be to the DMV to register her with a set of 1956 vintage yellow California license plates (with a 1960 sticker!).

Stay tuned...

Lets see...

1960 SPL212
1964 1500
1965 1600 transplant
1967.5 2000

It sure looks like Dan is trying to build his own dream garage! Just a few more to go!!

Great find indeed! The body has been well preserved as well as the interior! WOW!!! Let us know when you have a website running for your new addition.

Quick update...

Early last week the car ran for about 10 minutes using a temporary fuel tank. The car has been driven around in both 1st & 2nd gears, but the lack of working clutch hydrolics greatly reduce the ability to drive around (go figure...).

Dropped the car's tank and found it was approx 50% full of crud. Had a hard time finding a shop willing to clean & seal...but it is now cleaned and sealed. All fuel lines have now been cleared out. Will have the tank reinstalled next week. Ordered up new clutch hydrolics (clutch master, slave and hose). Once the tank is back in and the hydrolics are back in order she should be ready for a spin (albeit a short one) around the block..

DELETED

During the early years, Nissan produced a variety of motors which were all very similar to one another. These engines included, the E, E1 and the J13. The J13 was used heavily on the mid 60's pl411s and 520 trucks. The j13 is a bolt-into the SPL212.

Some folks opt to just swap out the entire very early E engine (like my car has) to a later J13 which provided an alternator and was set-up for negative ground. The J13 parts have a high degree of interchangability with the older E engines. Many j13 parts (water pumps, fuel pumps, distributers, gasket sets) are still available and are pretty inexpensive

The clutch hydrolics on the SPL212 are the same as the roadster. Brake parts are a different story....They would need to be rebuilt/restored. Suspension/Steering parts would all need to be custom.

Latest update...

We have a DRIVER!!!!

Gas tank has been reinstalled and the fuel sending unit has been repaired. New clutch hydrolics have been installed. Brake system has been reviewed and wheel bearings repacked.

New radiator cap (can you believe an MGA cap fits perfect!), oil change & filter, new fuel filter (in-line), new trans fluid, reconnected head lights/tail lights.

Next steps are to have the car inspected,registered & driven!!!!!..