Hi All,
It's been a few years since I've ventured into Datto territory but I have finally decided to pull my finger out and get back amongst it! Having been brought up around motorsport, rallying in particular, since I was a youngster, I've always had a soft spot for Datsuns. My first ever car back in about 1990ish (geez that makes me feel like an old fart) was a '69 1600 that went through a few guises, from stock, then L18 and then on to an FJ20. I also had a stock auto 71 model as a daily driver back in the early 2000's. These two have since been sold a number of years ago.
While cleaning out the garage this weekend, I had my own sort of barn find. I say sort of because I didn't actually find it, I have always known its been sitting there gathering dust etc, but I've had other things on the go so the poor old girl has just been locked away to be saved for a rainy day so to speak. After about 8 years in mothballs, she has been allowed out into the light of day.
So, on to the finer details. It's a 1970, manual stocker that is in quite reasonable original condition. As far as I'm aware, it had only had two owners prior to me. The odometer is showing approximately 52,000 miles. While I can't be 100% sure it hasn't been around the clock, I wouldn't be surprised if it is a genuine 52K based on the overall condition of the rest of the car. The body isn't immaculate in that it has had a repair to the right rear quarter during its life and there is some other minor dents around the vehicle from normal use. I haven't completely stripped everything out of the car to look everywhere but there only appears to be minimal rust, mainly confined to the spare wheel well.
Long term plans, I would like to do a full restoration keeping it fairly original and I have been hoarding away a few bits and pieces such as new badges, new tail lights, eye brow trims etc. for when this time comes. It will definitely be staying as an L Series, perhaps with a few period modifications. At this stage though, the plan is just to get it back up and running and on the road again so I can get some enjoyment out of it.
To get it up and running again, I will need to pretty much replace the whole braking system as it all looks to be original and probably isn't much chop after the car has been sitting for the last 8 years, not to mention the fact that much of it is probably 44 years old like the rest of the car. I'll most likely need to replace suspension bushes, tie rods, ball joints, strut inserts and rear shocks. Having not played around with Datto's for the past 10 years or so, is anyone aware of any shops in Perth that tend to be better for this sort of stuff for older vehicles? I see that Datsport seems to be still going. Maybe it would be easier if I just speak to them and get them to send me over the whole box and dice? The motor might need a bit of a freshen up too after sitting for so long but that will be last on the agenda at ths stage.
Anyhow, enough of my rambling. Here's a few pics from when I pulled it out of the garage yesterday and gave it a quick once over with the hose.
Cheers,
Graham.
Just a bit of leaf litter on the roof
Some dust build up
More dust and leaves
After quickly going over it with the hose and a sponge I was surprised how well it came up!