i recently purchased a 1600 and have decided i would do a build thread as i may need some guidence and feedback along the way. basically the plan is for a neat and tidy car that will be driven mainly on weekends. i would expect it to take a couple of years to build and im in no real hurry. im just happy having a dato once again to tinker with. once i work out how to put up pics i will post some up and a few details ive what i have planned.

heres a pic of my old car back in 2004.

the car i purchased is a bit rough around the edges but im guessing that most of them are now when you dont pay alot for them. the blue car i saved from a paddock and it had a near perfect shell. swapped it for a clapped out 720 diesel ute.

anyway the new car is in need of some rust repairs and a full mechanical rebuild. in short i plan on stripping it completely down to a bare shell, having it blasted and then i will etch prime it. from there i will set it up in the shed and start throwing bits at it and mock it up to something im happy with.

im planning on doing the paint myself so will most likely end up being white as its just easy and I like it. body and trim will be pretty stock inside and out for now, but do have some ideas lurking. i have a few bits and pieces i have accquired recently and some bits i have in the pipeline to purchase. there is also some bits that came with the car.

im told its already got a bluebird motor and a 240k 5 speed. its missing the starter the inlet and carb plus a few other bits but most other stuff is there. this is a list of stuff im going to try and incorperate into the car

L20B bluebird motor with A87 head
Z22E pistons Z20E rods
Lynx twin webber manifold
Mikuni 44mm carbs
i have a 240k box already but i know of a 240/260z box
280zx front struts and brakes


heres a couple of pics. the passenger side rear has a little bit of rust and the sills also have a few small spots but the rest of the car is solid. lots of surface rust though which is why i want to have it blasted.

Good to see another 1600 going down the resto path!

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1972 Datsun 1600, S14 SR20DET Engineered (204rwkW @ 17psi.)
viewtopic.php?t=6579
#SR20Datsun @SR20Datsun

made some small progress today, started removing parts, getting the car ready for the sand blaster. im guessing most people get the car blasted then do any weld repairs? i have seen some builds that do weld repairs and then have the car blasted? it will probley get some seams welded here and there on top of the rust repairs. so far im looking at the passenger side lower rear panel that needs replacing due to rust and dents but im sure there is more to come. the boot and where the bumper bolts on seems pretty solid its just surface rust mainly, the blaster will make short work off that.

Both seem to work well. If you can remove the paint from the section you want to repair, then just do that before sending it off for soda/garnet/plastic media blasting.
Some people do it twice, but I reckon get it done once before you do most of the work, and then use the 3M clean and strip disks before etch priming the whole thing.

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1972 Datsun 1600, S14 SR20DET Engineered (204rwkW @ 17psi.)
viewtopic.php?t=6579
#SR20Datsun @SR20Datsun

Finally i have made some progress. well i think its progress? The car is looking pretty sad at the moment. Hoping to finish stripping it in the next few weeks and then have it blasted so i can start to repair the rust. Among the tear down of the car i decided to search for a ss dash. i purchased a 68 sss instrument cluster and plan to fit it to my dash. im currently restoring the cluster due to a dodgy ebayer and will post up some pics when its done. other than that heres some pics of the car so far.