Rally Bluebird

[izzo]

Ahh. Learn something new every day. I know 0 about 411s

Erich Paul is pretty knowledgeable.

[K_trip]

Ahh. Learn something new every day. I know 0 about 411s

I'm learning more and more, but there is still a lot about them I don't know.
For my latest homework assignment (the grill) I was looking at the one you were helping your buddy sell -> http://nwdatsuns.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=898

Erich Paul is pretty knowledgeable.

Thanks! I have been in contact with an Erich who goes by the username erichwaslike, he's down in SoCal.
He knows these cars well, and I'm interested in connecting with others that know these cars - and where to find parts!

My latest score is the correct RL411 radiator, it is being shipped to me know.
I can't wait to take my first test drive - I'll do that long before it gets painted.

[izzo]

wow. Those grilles are very different aren't they lol

[K_trip]

^ there seems to be more and more differences, the more I learn about these cars - who would've thought?

Did I mention that parts are hard to come by? Not impossible, and thank goodness for the internet and forums like this one. I got a radiator from gcmustang and a few other little parts. He's been a great help, especially for lining me up with Todd and those NOS fenders - I still can't believe my luck.


Those fenders are much nicer that I thought I would find. After tossing them on my car, I felt like my radiator core support wasn't on par with those fenders. Once again gcmustang comes to the rescue with a radiator core support and headlight buckets. Two steps forward, one step back. I'm still glad I kept the old support in the car while I was pulling out the inner fenders, but I'm done with it. Time to cut it out, and replace it with this unit.

Slowly making progress, and slowly finding parts ... but I swear ... this car will be saved and back on the road!

[izzo]

wow man! Core support even matched the original color eh? haha

[K_trip]

Saturday morning was spent at JAE in La Habra, CA - getting together with erichwaslike, he sure knows these cars!

Not only was he able to clue me in, as to the correct grill for my car, he had an old one that wasn't too bad - so I snagged it. Here you can see the difference, it meets up with the headlight bezels like it should. It also has mounting tabs for the emblems, where the other one doesn't. Maybe the other one is for a 521?


Erich had a nice hood for my car, and I didn't want him to have to hassle with shipping - or risk damage. Did I mention finding parts for this car is tough? Anyway, the story on the hood is - it came off a recent import. JDM Legends got in a triple "S" two door (super rare) a little while back, and it landed in SoCal. That car is currently sporting a carbon fiber hood, which freed up this one for my car. I call that a WIN, WIN, WIN situation


I picked up a few things from Erich, plus I got to check out the stuff at his shop. He let me get measurements out of an empty engine bay, which was a great reference for me - this way I can replace the core support in the correct location. I'm stoked! He let me use his trunk panel, that goes in front of the gas tank, so I could trace it on cardboard for a pattern. I got to trace the plywood spare wheel cover too. I scored a very nice RL radiator and air cleaner, it was a productive road trip. Here I have the grill I got from Erich just sitting there, just to size it up.


This driver side fender is the one I got with the car, it's not the one I'll paint. You can see it's loaded with bondo in the front corner, and it has a hole for an antenna, the NOS fenders do not. I don't plan on running an antenna (because Rally Car), and hope to find a radio delete plate some day.

[K_trip]

I threw the hood on so I could get the hood hinges straightened out. The core support I wanked on is a little too far forward, based on measurements I got from one of Erich's cars. I just threw the fenders and headlight buckets on so I could check out the grill. It's all coming off again, there's still more work to do.

It is registered and insured, getting closer to a test drive. The next thing to replace is the steering adjustment rod that goes between the center link and the outer tie-rod end. I got this one from gcmustang and he was kind enough to bead blast it before sending it to me, it's almost like new.


I got the headlight buckets from him too, with all the springs and hardware. I'm running real FOG lights, not painted high beams, so I had to notch the buckets at 3 o'clock for the different bulb. The 411s have an interesting set up, where the HI / LOW switch can turn on the inboard lights only when the lighting system is off. I guess the taxi drivers in Tokyo used them to get slower drivers to move over? I'll be using them for my fog lights and I'll swap the outboard lights for real dual lamps, that's 65/65 watt not the standard 65/35 watt used on quads.


Here's a shot of the notch I made:


Of course I installed my gravel guards while I was at it ...

... because Rally Car

[Taterhead]

Ooohhhhh that looks good. Gravel guards=hell yes.


By the time you're done it's gonna be way too nice to rally. Or are you just going to make it look like one?

[izzo]

DUDE!!!!


Good lord that car looks good. Good job so far man, i r impressed. You get an atta boy and a pat on the back for attention to detail and effort.

[K_trip]

You get an atta boy and a pat on the back for attention to detail and effort.

Thanks Tim ... can you tell ... I am having a total blast with this one!

By the time you're done it's gonna be way too nice to rally. Or are you just going to make it look like one?

Before I paint it - I plan to throw it around in the dirt some. I live on 11 acres with several trails, mainly for dirt bikes but this thing is small enough. I can't wait to play with it in the dirt.

In the end it will get painted, looking as nice as it did before it was wrecked.
I don't know if there are any rallys in my area, so for now I will just pretend.

[RedBanner]

Yiu have to look into the mary hill historic hillclimb, couple 120s hit it every year its awsome. In maryhill washington
Its right near biggs oregon, and there are some awsome scenic drives out there, and some awsome old derelict damns and mines.

[K_trip]

Now that's what I'm talking about - MARYHILL LOOPS HILLCLIMB - thanks for the tip!



It looks like there are two events there this year...
http://www.nhahillclimb.org/2014-hillcl ... edule.html
http://www.wmclub.org/hillclimb.shtml
http://sovrenracing.org/maryhill-hill-climb/
http://sovrenracing.org/maryhill-hill-climb/
... both in the fall.

[K_trip]

Systems Check ...



... All Good! ... she fired right up, and she's running great ...





... so -- next it was time to throw it around in the yard some ...







... this car is a blast to play with in the yard ...

[izzo]

lol im jealous. Ineed a yard like that

[K_trip]

^ it looks like you're setting up some garage space, Tim. IDK - I would rather have a nice garage than a yard (with yard work), just saying.



The front driver side tire got a sidewall gash in the wreck. Nothing I worry about while testing things in the yard, but I won't take it on the street with a messed up tire. The 13" tire selection sucks, as everyone here knows, so I wanted to swap wheels and everything. The prices for Minilites aren't bad, but I'm okay with kock-off's. These were on Craigslist locally, but they had old BFG's that were too big for my needs. I offered the guy a lot less, explaining I wasn't interested in the tires. He said, "at that price, I would have to keep the tires". So I returned an hour and a half later to pick them up without tires I didn't want, saving me money and hassle getting those off. Another great CL deal!



These are 14x6.5 with 0 offset - it looks like I will clear the exhaust.



Thanks to the Mazda Miata's being so popular, the 185/60R14 tire selection is great!

[K_trip]

Work has me spending less time with family and friends, which is okay - but it's getting in the way of my quality time working on my Datsun. I was making good progress, but having problems finding parts. Now that I have the parts, I'm having troubles getting time. There's a Murphy's Law in there somewhere.

I've been stripping paint off the radiator core support, to prepare it for use. This is something I can get a half hour here and there, and still make some progress.





I'm stripping all the fresh sheet metal for the front. I'm about halfway on the hood, and I have the driver side fender just about done. I need to start the passenger side fender. I scored the lower valance I had been looking for. It's very clean, and I'll be stripping that soon, but it has a few smacks I need to tend to. All good, it's better than my old one.

[510freak]

Good score on the wheels.

[DRIVEN]

Update?

[izzo]

Yeah man.. Just kinda up and disappeared.

[K_trip]

Good score on the wheels.

I forgot to mention, I got those wheels for $200 - another great Craigslist deal

Sorry about the lack of photos, I haven't been taking any lately --- I have been stripping the paint off the fenders, radiator core support, low valance and the hood. It's slow progress and not really worthy of pictures, I guess. Plus I've been slammed at work all summer (I can't believe summer is over), which has gotten in the way of me making better progress. I didn't get into my garage the whole last half of August, so there were cob webs on inside of my poor old Bluebird.

Once I get the replacement panels down to bare steel, I plan to replace the radiator core support. I'm sure that step will be worth a few pictures.