New Zealand Datsun Club

Hi Guys here is my Datsun 1200 Coupe.

She has been off the road since 1996 and the rego lapsed unfortunately. I picked her up after the owner moved overseas and the car after being garaged for a very long time spent a year outside under a cover...

Thus began the deterioration process rapidly on the poor girl. Although it has also shown up the bad patch up jobs which gives me the chance to quickly identify and rectify them.

Its my mission to get it back on the road, so here we go...

First job was to strip out all the cracked bog and find that the passenger side has been in a small crash. Some panel are repaired with new steel, others were 6mm thick with bog!!

I took to it with the shrinking wheel on the big grinder, and hit all the high spots, followed by compressed air to pull the dents out. Got them to within 1 mm now. No Photos of this though..

next I removed the engine, and replaced it with an A15 I had lying around... (sitting in the Morris minor ute).

A15- Ported and Polished Head with double springs. It has a stage 3 cam and I'm yet to check the compression.
Its running DHLA twin 40s.

I had a set of cobys that I cut up and re engineers to fit the Morris, so I had to buy a new set.

60 series rebuilt 5 speed is connecting the driveline.

I have a 71 1200 coupe, all the body work and assembly is now complete, but the engine & gearbox will happen sometime later on this year.
It's been off the road since 1998, but I had the rego on hold, so still have the original plates on it.

thats looking really nice. very original. Mine has been butchered a bit with the front bumper, but its slowly growing on me.

I don't have any bumpers, so if anyone has any let me know.

Im Slowly figuring out how to get the photos right- haha

I have a bunch more that will get me up to date.

I pulled the brakes a part to check the condition and wasn't quite happy with them. As you can see there is some wear through the hardened layer.
Heres the assembly parts...
Oh well, guess I had better upgrade the brakes then right?? .

I tracked down some brakes off trade me... unfortunately the seller neglected to mention that the rotors were rooted, so I had to buy a new set.
heres a comparison with the Datsun 1200 hubs and rotor, compared to the new rotors...
Off to the neighbours to machine down the hub so the rotors fit over the hub..
Heres when I made the big mistake of painting everything before making sure everything would fit....I figured with the caliber brackets etc its all bolt on as per the forum info-but this was not the case..

All painted in heat temp paint and clear gloss.. The caliber brackets I bought either have the calliper bolt holes 5mm too low or my callipers are slightly different to what they should be...
The round piston housing hit on the curve of the bracket and the bolt mounts on the bottom of the strut would hit the casting edge on the calliper mount. This took a lot of work to get the tolerances right without sacrificing the integrity of existing components. I should have just made new brackets and re drilled the holes 5mm higher... you live and learn.
all done now and ready for dismantle and paint.. again...
Im swapping the struts from left to right so the callipers are on the forward side of the rotor. It makes sense and gets everything away from the steering...

Looking good!

Nice, are they S13 brakes?
they hold up pretty well

Hi guys, Its been a while as life gets busy. Slow progress has been happening.

yes they are the s13 brake upgrade.

ive tidied up the inside by priming the roof and internal panels and painting the floor.

after a good wire brush and sand..
all painted up..
Tidied up the windscreen wiper motor. Im thinking of a clear coated steel/patina theme on parts within the engine bay.
Ive also made up a mount to hand the fuel pump under the wiper motor..

Dash has come out and been stripped and tidied up, fuse box all soaked in vinegar and cleaned up..
ive stripped out the wiring loom and about 80% of the way done now. Cables have all been extended, I just need to shorten to the correct length and crimp on the correct terminals. A good tip from my father and law was to leave the ends the original colours so they are easy to problem solve in the future. all wires will pop out in front of the wheel arch and be in trunking down to the alternator and dizzy. only relays left will be the horn and flasher which will be in under the dash. And the battery will be relocated.

heres a badge we have made up for the GX5 look. This is our inspiration with a classic white colour and GX pin stripes. Won't be this low but the stance looks good.