New Zealand Datsun Club

Hey guys, I finally got around to starting a build thread.

The Datsun 1600 has been my favourite car since I was about 13 years old and although I kept talking about it, I never got one until now.
My mum even had a 1600 birthday cake made for my 21st earlier this year! (you can't see but the numberplate is my name, yay)




I placed a few wanted adverts around, even in Australia, but nothing really suited until I saw Cory(ytubit)'s advertised on the forums.
The photos made it look like a bit of a shocker on the surface but he assured me on the phone that it was mainly just surface rust.

Another thing that lured me to this car was the fact that everything but the engine and transmission was original. Seats, radio, door skins, the lot.
No speaker holes! I always loved the nostalgiac feel to old school cars wanted to have an original 1600. It still has the original owners manual and servicing book!

Apparently the owner prior to Cory bought it off an old lady and left it under a tree for two years (yeah, smart). That explains the shoddy original paint job but mint interior.


3rd May 2009

Picked up my mate from Josh from Ngatea (in the Waikato where I grew up, about 1 hour south of Auckland) who I've known since kindy and is a mechanic by trade.
We drove down to Te Puke to meet Cory and check out the car, I was pretty damn excited to say the least.

We checked it out and although the pictures didn't lie about the exterior, the interior was mint.







I just loved the original bits still on it like this colour code sticker:





And that it was assembled in Thames! Just 20 minutes from where it's going to be reassembled, in Ngatea





The guards are in surprisingly good condition, the under-carriage is mint!





The left front door has a rust hole:





And it appears the right front door needs some cutting and plating too:





Shot of the front seats, makes me happy inside, love the standard seats in these.





What appears to be a bog job on the right rear door:





And the worst rust (that is visible so far) is in this left rear door:





And just another pic of the surface rust:




Overall condition is pretty damn sweet compared to other stories I've heard about the 1600, the plan is to have the car media blasted (garnet) so the surface rust won't be an issue.


15th to 16th May 2009

Well I decided to buy the car (guess you didn't see that one coming) and it was delivered by truck outside my dad's office in mainstreet Ngatea on Friday afternoon.
I rushed from uni and drove down to Ngatea from Auckland and went to Josh's farm, we picked up some tow rope and headed into town in the Landcruiser.

The tow-trip was quite interesting as it was dark, raining, the battery was dying out so the window wipers weren't working and one headlight was out. Credit goes to Josh's mrs Amelia who helped out heaps.
5km later and we made it. Then got on the piss

Here are some handy facts about the car:

1972 Datsun 1600
L18 SSS Engine with Twin Carbs
5 Speed (non-dog leg) Gearbox
No exhaust and needs a tune (loud as fark and the combination of the two makes the car run like shit, will sort this out later)


On Saturday morning Josh jacked her up and put her on axles stands:





Here's another shot of the interior (he replaced the steering wheel with the original one, anyone have a spare centre cap for one of these?)





Another happy-making interior shot, so sexy.





We started to strip the front and prepare the engine for removal:





And here is the small start of a massive collection of bits for safe-keeping (hello dog):





Pic of the engine bay:





And final pic of the day just as we were about to leave the shed:





Plan for the car is to have it garnet blasted and etch primered, removed of rust, panel beated (few random dents here and there and on the roof) and finally painted.
Don't get me wrong, I keep saying how good condition the car is in, but I'm totally prepared for the horrors that will creep up after it's been blasted, fingers crossed though eh.

We've made a lot more progress since then but the photos are with Josh, I'll make an update when I go back down in a few weeks time.

A massive thanks has to go out to Josh, without him none of this would have been at all possible. He's helping me out with all the mechanical work, plus letting me store the car in his shed.
You really do make your mates for life in kindy another GC.

Awesome! Great base, Glad your restoring it back to factory. As much as i like modified ones, someone needs to keep them orig.

looks a solid base for a mean project.

cool ride mate, love the fact that your going to keep it original, look forward to seing the updates.

man this is cool keep it up and dont be worryed about rust it can be fixed it looks like you got a good head start on what could be a mint car and making it standard is mean i also have a standard white thames assembled 1972 and am goin to clean up some hubbys and put white walls on her some time this year ..keep updates coming too

Nice 510 dude. Gonna be choice to see it on the road!
Also on a side note cool cake.. A few of us datsun boys down here in chch have had some epic datsun cakes over the years

nice ride man, cant wait to see her done

Haha thanks for the kind words guys, really gets the motivation going.

Yup very keen to keep the interior standard, might do a stealth install for a mild sound system down the line (just a head unit in the glove box and some speakers hidden under the dash).

Since the engine isn't original, I don't feel too bad about changing it later on but just hope to have the body sorted for now.

I'm all for keeping it original but always wanted a blue one, so might have to replace that sticker but don't worry, I'm picky as shit so probably just end up with the white anyway!

Might be wishful thinking but I really want it done by Labour Weekend, would be sweet to join in on the antics down South. All depends on the panel and paint though, neither Josh or I are any good at it so I'm probably gonna have to spend a bit. Been getting estimates of around 5-15k from the places up here (7k would be my max). Could go to a cashie I know of for about 4k but really want to minimise the amount of bog work done on it. You can check his work here: link, does he seem good to you guys? He would get the car after it's been blasted and expoxy'd, most likely at this place: http://www.autoblast.orglink, any comments on the work by this lot would be appreciated too (check the gallery).

Yeah as you can see, I'll probably be asking for a shitload of advice but that's what that handy nzdatsun.com sticker will be for, eh?

if you wanted to keep the stickers in the engine bay for the original look you can get them re-manufactured.

media blasting is the way to go, these guys look like they know what they are doing, if they are local call in on them from time to time ,just to check out their work and get a feel for them, if they are true professionals they shouldnt be to upset at you coming back , as it should prove to you that they do do a quality job, and will therefore get your buisness.
if I was to do my car all over I would definately blast it first, I was so impressed with nicks car after it had been done.