1962 Datsun U320

[wayno]

Well it finally arrived, it was picked up the day of a big storm that dumped 12 inches plus snow in North Carolina which stopped the carrier dead in their tracks, then the day they made Kentucky, the second storm stopped them, then when they made it to South Dakota the 3rd storm stopped them, when they finally got to Montana, another storm stopped them, and when they finally got to Seattle, guess what, another storm, but it finally made it here, and that is what counts.

So here it is, it's not any better or worse than I expected, I have a lot of work ahead of me.
Shipping day.



Arrival day

[wayno]

Here is the interior.




Guess what was behind the back seat, a freaking engine crank.

And here is the engine compartment.

This is one rusty hubcap.

[510freak]

it made it through all those storms!unscathed
Its a sweet looking rig wayno, Congrats on the purchase!
Coolest rig for Canby!!!

[wayno]

I have a lot of work ahead of me, I am going to clean it up a little, and then I think I am going to try and start the engine before I pull it out.
I am very happy that so far I have only seen surface rust except on that hubcap, it has a couple owies, but less work on the body than my 520 project, the top seems to be perfect.

[510freak]

Looks very solid for sure, Even if you trailer it to Canby,it will be a/the big attention getter
Too cool!

[Laecaon]

That is epic! I think that may just be one of the rarest Datsuns around!

[dat77sun]

wow man, that thing is sick!

[uberkevin]

RHD datto would he the best!! Love it Wayno can't wait to see all the work you put into it, I know its going to end up great! Good luck.

[67411sss]

Wow!! Rhd too!! Do you have tail lights lens? Or are the n/nl 320 ones the same. Nice job saving this one Wayno.

[wayno]

I will put a few more photos up, this is the inside of the tailgate, at first I could not get the tailgate open.
This inside tailgate piece is almost perfect, not bent at all, just scratched up.


This is why it would not open, nothing is connected to the locking mechanism.

.
This amazes me, these are replacement lenses for the front turn signal assemblies.

This is what one usually buys, the lens with the chrome ring around it.

And here are the taillight bezels and lenses, the lenses are new aftermarket.


As you can see in the tailgate photos, the outside looks good, but the inside is rusty, it's surface rust, but it still needs to be taken care of, lot of work ahead of me.

[K_trip]

Holy Smokes ... this is the scoop of the year right here!

Where's the link to the thread where you're telling us the story of how you found this baby, I want to read it. That thing was hardly used, and except for being stored outside exposed to the elements, it's in great shape. Is your plan to restore it, or are you thinking of turning into something different - personalized like you've done to a few other Datsuns?

I'm glad to see this is in good hands

[peanutbuttercups]

Damn that ute is cool, I'll be watching this thread.

[draker]

Glad to see you finally got it!

the320keeper

[jayden71]

WOW! Do like! Can't wait to see it in person!!

[wayno]

Holy Smokes ... this is the scoop of the year right here!

Where's the link to the thread where you're telling us the story of how you found this baby, I want to read it. That thing was hardly used, and except for being stored outside exposed to the elements, it's in great shape. Is your plan to restore it, or are you thinking of turning into something different - personalized like you've done to a few other Datsuns?

I'm glad to see this is in good hands

It will be kept stock for the most part, I will be making some reversible changes and will keep all the stock parts, such as front disc brakes, I also plan to keep the stock engine unless it's toast, but he said it ran and drove when he tore it down to restore it and then lost interest, the only rigs I "make my own" are planned to be daily drivers, not collector cars like this one is.
I have been trying to make this happen or something like it since just before Canby 2012, I had a friend in Australia looking at one for me to import on a site over there, but by the time he could make the time to look at it, it was sold.
I expressed interest in it, then another member on Ratsun said he was going to buy it, but that did not work out for one reason or another, and he finally contacted me again about it, I have been trying halfheartedly to make this happen for a long time, I personally found out about it from a Ratsun member that owned an NL320.

[Farmer Joe]

holy shit wayno!

this is badass.. i know its a longshot, but it would be awesome to see this at canDy!

this one needs a disk brake swap, and a KA24! lol

[wayno]

holy shit wayno!

this is badass.. i know its a longshot, but it would be awesome to see this at canDy!

this one needs a disk brake swap, and a KA24! lol

A funny man here, a KA24 would not fit without a hack job, can you imagine the shit I would get for hacking on this, no that's not going to happen.
It will be at Canby, even if I have to trailer it there, but it will not be finished, I will be lucky if it runs and drives by then.
When it was up in the air in that trailer, I got to see the underside, everything under there was evenly rust colored, I will likely remove the body from the frame in the next month or two, going to see how things go with the engine first.

[Farmer Joe]

hahaha, i know that would come with a truckload of shit...

maybe an A-series just for an updated drivetrain?

[wayno]

hahaha, i know that would come with a truckload of shit...

maybe an A-series just for an updated drivetrain?

I will wait to see what the engine does, if it runs decent I will leave it alone, if I cannot get it running, I have a J15 that will actually bolt in that does run good, i will just need to figure out the connection to the column shift transmission.
I had a job today, and another one tomorrow, so not much is going to get done till Friday.

[DRIVEN]

Cool find, Wayno. Congrats!