New Zealand Datsun Club

Hi Guys,

Have been hanging around this forum and datsun.co.nz for a while now, and with some prompting, decided it's about time I started a build thread.

I purchased this car about 3 1/2 years ago sight unseen whilst living in London, having decided I liked the 410/411 shape and there weren't too many around on the road so it would be a little bit more original. I had a friend go out and pick it up so it was ready for when I returned to NZ (which was about 3yrs ago). The original plan was to look to put some SU's on the side of the engine, do a bit of suspension work and use it as a bit of a cruiser with maybe a fresh coat of paint.

When I got back from the UK, jumped in the car and went to take it for a drive I had the brakes fail in about the first 30seconds (wasn't fun on my parents steep driveway which I was backing around). As a result the brakes became the first order of business. I started looking at replacing any wheel cylinders that showed signs of leaking, only to find replacement wasn't an option and I need to get them rekitted. Long story short, $600 later, all wheel cylinders rekitted, master cylinder rekitted, lines replaced, brakes adjusted and bleed multiple times, the brakes still were pretty crap. At the same time I was starting to find the engine left a little to be desired as the 410 sported the E1 engine - a predecessor to the J series, copied on license from BMC warts and all (read oil leaks etc.). Hunting around from potential replacements the only drop in option were J series, or the 'sport' engine that came in the R411 and I believe the roadsters and is nearly (or completely) impossible to find in NZ. I figured at that stage either putting in a J series, or continuing with the original brakes was an exercise in futility so decided to change tack somewhat. Considering how rare these cars now are, I wanted to ensure that anything I did still looked somewhat original, whilst modernising or upgrading where it made sense. I also wanted to try a couple of different things out of interest to see if they are achievable.

Basically that is how I am now attempting to progress with the car with the end goal of having something reliable, enjoyable to drive, but still maintaining a sense of originality and allowing anything to be reversed, should I wish to revert it to its original state when some rich Japanese collector decides they are worth millions (or whatever)

The project will be a long term one as I have a young'un and another one on the way making time and money a little bit harder to come by.

So this is the car in its original form:
Plans for the car is as follows:

Engine (will likely build two) with the carbed one being used while the EFI one is tinkered with...
Engine 1
A15 with new big end bearings, main bearings, rings.
Double Valve springs
Toyota SC12 supercharger running 5-6psi
Toyota *afe computer for EFI setup (there are some tricks you can play on them to make them take boost very nicely)

Engine 2
A15 with new big end bearings, main bearings, rings.
Skimmed, ported head (managed to pick up a couple of heads off trade me a while ago which included an H89 very heavily ported and skimmed, and an A12GX head also with some work done)
Side draft carbs.

Suspension
Front - lower, harder springs, good shocks (not sure what yet)
Rear - Reset leaves with extra leaves added to the pack, again some decent shocks.

Brakes
Front - 240z disc brakes (figured the 510 guys go with these, so may aswell start with them rather then the 510 brakes). Hopefully will be successful fitting them
Rear - Probably U13 discs.
Master Cylinder - probably run with a 240z cylinder or similar.

Driveline
Gearbox - 60a 4spd or 5spd, have both. Not sure how good either are. Will try to get a hydrualic clutch setup going to keep it looking original.
Diff - will probably start with an H165 (as the car has one) but then will likely progress to a H190 in the future if necessary.

Body
Full bare metal respray. Weld in repairs where possible. Minimal bog.
Colour - to try to keep it baby blue in honour of the original colour, but modernised, I will likely go for something like Toyota 8R0 (blue mystique) as seen on Camry's and Vitz's. It is a metallic with a a green or yellow pearl through it.

Interior
Mostly original. Likely put in new carpet but probably not a lot else apart from cleaning up all the chrome etc.

I think that likely covers it. The plan is to take my time and do it once.

Sorry about the length. Just thought I'd start with a run down of the history, the options I explored, and why I choose what I did.

very cool looks real tidy, will be a wee rocket with both motors, keep the updates coming!

so this is your beast done much to the motor at this stage??

Thats a solid looking old gig, good on you!
I cant decide which motor I would have in it..and thats saying something!

Liking the idea of modernised paint and driveline but original everywhere else

Hey Jay,

Yeah, my little beasty. I have one of the A15 blocks on the engine stand stripped back right now - just cleaning it up, then ready to hone and put the bottom end back together. I will use the other block as a dummy initially to sort out the mounts.

BTW - meant to ask you about that lumpy cam I got off you; do I need modified rockers or anything or can it run with the standard ones? Also did it come from the same engine as that head I got off you (in other words is that head setup for it)?

the cam seemed fine with standard rockers, we just used double valve spring in my engine which basicly has the same cam

the head that you got off me was the one that came off the short block so it was just standard so no the haed isnt sett up for the cam

SeEn-ThE_lIgHt wrote: I cant decide which motor I would have in it..and thats saying something!

Yeah, was a toughish choice on the engine. In the end I just decided on some prerequisites; had to look close to original (which ruled out DOHC engines), had to be datsun/nissan, had to have reasonable parts availability, and had to be able to perform well enough to be fun to drive.

Sticking with that, the supercharged/EFI one I am working on building will be built as much as possible so to hide the supercharger setup so on first look in the engine bay it looks relatively standard.

datsun118 wrote:the cam seemed fine with standard rockers, we just used double valve spring in my engine which basicly has the same cam

the head that you got off me was the one that came off the short block so it was just standard so no the haed isnt sett up for the cam

Cool. Thanks for clarifying that

Great to finally see some pics of this wee beasty mate!
you really have to admire the elegant beauty, and splendor that these truly oldschool datsun had in such great abundance. And with a bit of extra get up and go, you'll have a machine that many will envy. After all, you don't see these everyday. And I've never seen one driven by a flat peaker rolling on modgies! (Thank fuck for that too!)

Bartman wrote:Great to finally see some pics of this wee beasty mate!
you really have to admire the elegant beauty, and splendor that these truly oldschool datsun had in such great abundance. And I've never seen one driven by a flat peaker rolling on modgies!

Thanks for all your help so far. I'll get some pics up of the crank pulley soon. Yeah - the old school datsuns were pretty cool. You can't argue with twin headlights and a bench seat up front

Bartman wrote:And I've never seen one driven by a flat peaker rolling on modgies!

Funnily I was given some modgies style 14's a while ago with a real deep rear dish (so deep they didn't fit properly). I sat them on to see what they looked like and they really didn't suit. I am going to have to go bigger then the factory hubs as I don't think the brake will fit under 13's but they won't be modgies.