New World Datsuns...

Lunch at Lupe's with my brother and our dad:

SOLD!!!

Blue '68 sold! Full price on the first day. Buyer flew in yesterday and is on his way back to San Diego. He was very excited.

On the lookout for the next project.

So here's the newest addition...






My dad picked this up this morning. It's called a Fierro (not Fiero ) and is supposed to be one of only 7 completed cars. This particular car was built about 30 years ago and had been in a couple magazines back in the early '80s. It used to be red with gold Enkei 5 spoke wheels. The kit utilized a Vega rear hatch along with Pinto doors and windshield. The taillights are 280ZX and the markers are some other Datsun. It's ridiculously low and the roof is only about waist high on me. I probably won't have much involvement in this project. My dad plans to finish the interior, bolt in a pretty stock engine, and then he and my brother will give it a resale red repaint. Stay tuned.

They had a clear Plexiglass cover over the "sugar scoops" at one time. He picked up a rebuilt engine yesterday.

I also found a couple earlier pics of this car online:

Meanwhile, in the paint shop...


...fixing the scrape on the Neon. That's what a fresh paint job gets you.

Neon is done and out of the booth. My dad moved his car in and started disassembly. He has the engine in but it required different exhaust to clear the body.


Once it was driven into the booth he put it on jackstands and started stripping it down and sanding.

Here's where the tedious stuff happens. The front and rear hatches are removed.

Then it's time to repair cracks with some AutoMix.

There are at least 20 spots on the car that need attention.



Since the doors are steel (Pinto), all the side trim holes will be welded before they're smoothed out.

As of last night, the body work was pretty much done. It's masked up and ready for primer this morning.

Totally unrelated distraction: Replacing the bent crankshaft on my brother's mower.

Damn sweet stuff :mrgreen:

Thanks. I was starting to wonder if anyone had noticed. More stuff on the way.

Oh its noticed

We had it pushed out in the sun yesterday afternoon. It is sooo red.
They had quite a bit of leftover paint from my Dad's '68 El Camino that got painted last spring so they just used that. Can't for the life of me remember what the color is called though. "Bolero Red" I think? We recycle a lot around here. Seems to be bluer in the shade and more orange in the direct sunlight.

The cut and buff is done. He started assembly yesterday.

'41 Stude showed up a couple days ago. Owner scraped the fender pulling it out of his garage.


My dad is wrapping up his project:

Had to modify the exhaust to make it look good in the rear body.

He drove it around a little today. Got some better tires and took it to an upholstery shop for a quote to do carpet and a headliner. I didn't get a shot of it yet but I promise I will. He said it got LOTS of attention.

Sidenote: We've been in preliminary talks about starting in on my '35 pickup. Watch for a separate thread when we throw down.

3 New additions to announce. Within a 48 hour period my brother bought a '71 Riviera VW camper, My dad bought another '71 Riviera camper, and a Bricklin SV-1. I haven't seen the two buses in person yet but the Bricklin got delivered to my house this morning.



Sexy brown interior complete with 8-track, dash mounted fan, and super custom JC Whitney musical horn controller.

Since only 2854 of these cars were factory built, this would be toward the end of the production run.

Early cars were AMC 360 powered. This one has a 351W 2-V and an FMX transmission. Dual exhaust too. Front suspension resembles Mustang and it has a non-posi straight axle in the back. Brakes are power disc/drum. It's also got AC and cruise control.

Original key:

Service manuals, etc.

Some of the fun stuff that controls the pneumatic doors.

Overall, this one is pretty unmolested. The stupid interior add-ons can be undone pretty easily, otherwise it's fairly original -- right down to the 1975 date coded plug wires. The plan for this one is strictly mechanical. Since it's been in storage for the last 20 years I expect most of the issues to be fluid related. Probably some attention to the fuel system and brake system. I also know there's going to be plenty of work to be gone to the door system. Beyond just a general cleaning there will be no cosmetic work done. He wants to market the car as a mechanically sound survivor or barn find.

After about 8 hours of cleaning my roof (moss), cleaning my gutters, mowing my lawn, other yard work, and pressure washing the siding and all the concrete, I gave it a quick wash and degreased the top of the engine and engine compartment. Much better now. Time for the real work to begin.

DRIVEN wrote:Sidenote: We've been in preliminary talks about starting in on my '35 pickup. Watch for a separate thread when we throw down.

Nice, Will be watching for this