New World Datsuns...

You guys have no idea.

For the first time in almost 17 years the cab is square enough to accept a door that actually opens and closes. The finish welding still needs to be done. Then the rockers, then the cab corners, then the lower cab, then the seat base. Then it only needs everything.
I really managed to fuck this thing up when I wrecked it.



Not almost done.

Speaking of managing to fuck things up when they wreck em...

They were made in a different era, different thinking.
They still are awesome rigs, if they weren't they wouldn't be copied, and there would be no aftermarket parts, but there are parts, as they are awesome.

Yeah, it's funny how in some ways they were very rigid and in other ways pliable. They didn't have crumple zones like newer cars but they sure fold up easily. Both of our cabs buckled in the same spot, but on opposite sides. My frame folded over at the firewall whereas his went more diamond shaped. Back when they were both on the road people would confuse the two all the time. Now that they're both wrecked it's more of the same. Mine from page 1...

This is the A833 that I'll be running. It was previously in the El Camino. I chucked the throw out collar in the lathe at work to reduce it down from GM " truck size" to fit my scattershield. Still need to pick up some Allen bolts then reseal and detail it.

He did some more fitting to the doors. Below the tape line and in the upper rear radius had to be slit open and spread over and rewelded to get the gaps right. The rockers are partially welded in as are the lower cab corners. The patch panel across the bottom of the back will come last.

This poor truck is like my L320, I buy parts for it, but I don't see any point where I will be working on it.
I actually found some NOS 320 bumperettes, but they wanted $700.00 dollars for a set(no mount brackets), we agreed that it would be cheaper for me to have the ones I have re-plated, I bought the truck for $400.00 and drove it home, that was a bit much for bumperettes, but they are rare.

Tell me about it. I probably have spent twice what I initially paid for the truck just on parts and materials over the last 15 years. I'll probably have another $10k in it before I get to drive it. What a horrible investment.

When we are young we just want it to be derivable, as we age, we want them to be nicer, the older we get, the nicer we want them to be.
I found that the nicer I make things, the less I drive them, once they are done, I hardly ever drive them, it's best to keep them daily drivers, then they can be enjoyed.

I hear what you're saying. I have lots of cars that fall into the driver category and I don't give a second thought about driving/riding them anywhere, anytime. The only one I even consider external factors on is my Cutlass. While it's no show car, it's still nice enough that I don't like getting it dirty. The Shotrod Sedan will be a beater. This pickup will be really nice though. It'll be simple and reliable enough that I could take it on any road trip but it'll never be used as a pickup again. I know that may seem stupid to a lot of people but that's my plan. I've never had a "show car" before.

I made my 1947 Chevy commercial truck really nice and never drove it much again, it was in the garage taking up room, it was also getting scratched, so I sold it, it is now in England.











It had a really over kill suspension, I could not even get suspension parts for it from the classic truck places, I had to buy them from Oregon Spring, it turns out that they used them parts thru the 70s on big commercial trucks made for hauling a ton plus, not the kind of suspension most Chevy truck guys have on their short bed trucks.
The last 2 photos have the 1971 Datsun 510 wagon I owned briefly in it.

Damn wayno. That truck is slick as shit!

What happened to the photos, I cannot see any ones photos on this thread after Oct 4th.
Were the photos to big/large?



EDIT
Now they are back, that is weird.

Dunno. Must be on your end.

Photobucket was down for a couple days, maybe that was it.

They came back after a little while, I can see them now, and I wasn't using photolame, I use postimage now, that blue "P" just below the reply window that says "Add image to post", I like it a lot.

Not a ton of progress but I'll document just to keep the timeline intact.
Bolted up the sway bars that had been laying on the floor for the last couple years. Swapped out the Muncie placeholder in favor or the A833 that will live there permanently. When I went to slip the driveline in I found that it had the wrong rear Ujoint. Replaced it with a conversion joint and now it's finally in place for hopefully the last time.





My Macs order is still trickling in. The front bumper brackets and halogen kit have yet to arrive.

Sure has gotten dusty just sitting around.

All the brackets are here so I did a test fit. Still need to drill 2 holes in the rear crossmember because there was never a bumper on the back before. No biggie.


Also, it's really flippin low in the front. Like, 1.75" low.





If I twist the brackets all the way up I can get just over 3" and previously the front crossmember was the low point at about 4.5". Looks like I'll probably need to twist up the coilovers before I'm all done to keep from kissing every speed bump and driveway I attempt.
Technically this is a '35 passenger car bumper and I wanted to run it because that's what I had before and I just think they look better. I could go with the correct straight bumper, identical to the rear, and gain some clearance. I'll just wait and see how it plays out in real life.

You likely will have to get the straight bumper as this one is going to hit, and you still have to put the body and everything else on it, it's going to get even lower.