So I have recently purchased another SSS Stanza, which I have named Rusty (free internet cookie for anyone who can guess why ). It was advertised for $600, bought for $400. Was orginally going to be a parts car due to fairly bad rust, however after receiving it, I have decided I am going to restore the old girl instead. The rust is a little on the bad side but well and truly savable. On top of this, it is in almost completely original condition (the only additions being a towbar - god knows why, a chrome exhaust tip, and of course consumables/bits that wear eg fuel pump, coil, radiator etc). It is absolutely complete, only 200k km on it, and comes with original Datsun mudflaps!! Also, it cost around $2k to get it from Bendigo to Tamworth (freight from Bendigo to Sydney was insanely, ridiculously, stupidly complex, and I had to pay $600 for someone to recondition an absolutely rooted carburettor which someone had"fixed" so it could drive onto the semi :/ )., which is an insanely expensive parts car...
Anyway, I shall let the pictures do the talking! Progress will be slow due to money, HSC, etc however I shall update this with any progress I make.

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Keeping the ole Stanzas alive - long live the SSS!!!!
The Money Pits:
The Datto http://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=33671
Rusty http://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=33866
The Red Rockethttp://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=33869

Update:
After an engine oil flush and change (Penrite full synthetic is seriously good stuff - it was running some sort of agricultural oil before, which was as black as sin and had about 0.5L of extra condensation/crapola in it:/), a spark plug change, a new cap and rotor, points filed and set, valve clearances set, a shitload of carby cleaner, and timing reset, and it doesn't sound too bad.

It won't idle below 1000RPM, and won't idle without throttle intervention for long below about 1400-1500RPM, and when it does idle it has an irregular miss and it hunts a bit. I think this is probably fuel related (the carburettor *should* be alright as it had to be overhauled by a supposedly reputable carburettor shop to be driven onto a semi to get it here in the first place, however the rubber hoses are very deteriorated, and I have no idea of the condition of the old fuel, fuel tank or fuel pump). It also has several holes rusted in the exhaust, so it sounds... Interesting...

The old plugs were covered in carbon and oil, and it burnt a little oil at first (especially with the fast idle badly set so it'd rev straigh to 2.5K RPM when it was started...), but I'm hoping with this synthetic Penrite 20W-60 it'll fix itself with some gentle treatment. The engine is remarkably clean/unworn inside (it looks almost new), and I know it spent the majority of its life with an old couple, so I'm hoping it hasn't been too badly looked after until recently, and that it'll come good again.
Surprisingly, diff and transmission oils look like new, and only needed a little topping up.

Clutch also needs looking into, as there is something incredibly funny happening there. The friction point is much higher than normal (almost at the end of pedal travel), and there's a bees D!ck between disengaged and engaged. It also behaves irregularly, in that sometimes it'll engage crisply and sometimes it'll slip for ages before engaging. It'll need a new clutch kit, but I'm guessing it could be a dodgy clutch master or slave cylinder, or oil from a leaking rear main/input shaft seal. The engine will need to come out to do some rust repairs in the engine bay and to get a freshen up anyway, so I'll look into the issue then.

I did manage to get it driving, and surprisingly it drives very well!!! (Ignoring the fact that the steering has probably never been adjusted and so has a lot of freeplay). Nothing wrong with the transmission or diff. And being an absolutely bog standard engine, I am shocked at how little power these had standard... And at how long they take to rev up or down... No wonder they weren't so popular!

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Keeping the ole Stanzas alive - long live the SSS!!!!
The Money Pits:
The Datto http://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=33671
Rusty http://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=33866
The Red Rockethttp://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=33869

Minor update - found idle issue to be a combination of previously mentioned electrical issues (specifically with the 5th gear ignition advance and the BCCD) and a main jet pouring fuel into the venturi despite a $600 carburettor rebuild required to drive the car onto a truck to deliver it from Victoria... Sigh... Time to rebuild the carburettor again myself. It seem you can't trust anyone with anything these days...

_________________
Keeping the ole Stanzas alive - long live the SSS!!!!
The Money Pits:
The Datto http://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=33671
Rusty http://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=33866
The Red Rockethttp://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=33869

running L18 or L20b from someone else would be a good alternative
SSS will be a good alternative to escorts and are now a rare sight

Yeah I've got another SSS that was a rally car for a couple of years in the early 80s, which has a fairly warm L20B in it. Plans are to (eventually) fix the inevitable rust and build that one into something a bit special (that's about as specific as the plans are currently). This one I want to remain stock as it's very rare to find any SSS these days, let alone one that's been as unmolested as this one. And finally there's my current project which is pretty well standard but has been changed a little by my old man who had it from new, so that's going to be sort of in-between. Only thing is I need to build a shed before I can start any major work on any of the other cars as I've only got a double garage which is resident to my still-not-moving SSS and my XA falcon...

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Keeping the ole Stanzas alive - long live the SSS!!!!
The Money Pits:
The Datto http://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=33671
Rusty http://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=33866
The Red Rockethttp://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=33869

well some welding skills will be needed and how to rebuild your own carbie
all possible and maybe the welding skills will need to be a career move if
you keep hoarding projects

Carburettors - check. Only I haven't any experience with Webers - yet . But my old man does. Welding - yep, definitely need to do a course seeing as I'm shite!!! And I need a decent MIG or TIG - a 50yr old electric arc doesn't quite cut it usually...

_________________
Keeping the ole Stanzas alive - long live the SSS!!!!
The Money Pits:
The Datto http://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=33671
Rusty http://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=33866
The Red Rockethttp://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=33869

Good to see your saving the old SSS to many OK cars scrapped now days. Keep up the good work

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Callan
fleet:
78 200B
78 ZH Fairlane 500 Bluesmobile
86 ZL Fairlane ZLane
78 ZH Fairlane 500 Barn find
85 Troopy 2H Turbo

So true. A couple of them are fairly rusty (obviously being Datsuns) but they are certainly nowhere near beyond saving, even with my limited resources. And it's not like they were heaps popular to begin with :'(

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Keeping the ole Stanzas alive - long live the SSS!!!!
The Money Pits:
The Datto http://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=33671
Rusty http://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=33866
The Red Rockethttp://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=33869

Mate, nearly each time i've paid someone to do something on my car, i've re-done it!

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Ongoing Project: 1972 Datsun 510 S13 SR20Det. http://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=17898
New Daily: D22 Navara (The new workhorse)
Retired 12/2016: MY98 Subaru Impreza RX
Previous Car: Restored Green 1972 Datsun 510, Hot L18

Yeah... Unfortunately I didn't have much choice at the time :'(

_________________
Keeping the ole Stanzas alive - long live the SSS!!!!
The Money Pits:
The Datto http://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=33671
Rusty http://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=33866
The Red Rockethttp://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=33869