Dat16 To Date. Two Years Later, Coming From Nothing.

Posted by Ludachris, Jul 23 2008, 08:34 AM

The story behind the almost complete car.

Ahh reading back in the old forum archives.. how times have changed.
The 21st of June 2006 marked a point in time, where my life would change forever.
I got my hands on my very first car, a 1970 Datsun 1600, with a quite decent L16 with some nice boltons and all the suspension to match to make it quite the all rounder.
Now, to any normal 16 year old, this would have made the perfect paddock basher... but not me. I had plans... big plans.

Unfortunately this car never saw number plates again after last being registered in Queensland early 2006. I decided i was going to pull it off the road and make it into a comfortable, rust free, daily driver.
Digging into the depths of the 'typical' datto 1600, i found a shitload of rust. That was nearly enough to scare me off. I had no idea how to fix rust myself, or even where to get it fixed.

A few conversations later, the word had been spread, and sure enough, someone contacted me with the knowledge of the whereabouts of a relatively rust free 1600 shell that was sitting doing nothing.
2 hours and 1 car trailer rental later i had another 1600 shell occupying my parents garage.

Work started straight away on both cars. Car number one, The White One, was having things stripped from it, and the shell was having things bolted to it.

The shell didnt need that much work done to it. However, me having no experience in the panel beating area (not even seen how it was done), i just gave it a sand, and a quick hit with primer, getting it ready to send off to the shop.

Now Wagga is a very limited place (Putting it politely), so shops willing to take this on was... well... limited to say the least. In truth, there was only one. Mild to Wild Restorations.
Their reputation? Expensive but bloody good work.
With no other choice, Datto number two heads off to M2W.
Very early in the piece i settled on a colour. Not green, not blue, but somewhere inbetween. A turquoise.

Whils the car was off being fixed up, i had plenty of time to sort out the rest of the car. Engine, suspension, interior, fuel, driveline, brakes etc. etc.
Quicklist:
- SR20DE from an S13 with 123,000 km on the clock
- 240k struts; ground control coilovers with 350lb/in springs; T3 adj strut tops; Magna 275mmx24mm vented, slotted and drilled rotors, and LN106 hilux 4 spot calipers
- Relatively stocko interior. SAAS GT recliner race seats, retrimmed rear seat to match fronts pattern and new hoodlining and carpet and tidy dash.

Alot was bought and prepared with anticipation of the new shell. Admittedly, i waited about 10-12 months longer than i should have, but hey.. the result speaks for itself. So it gave me plenty of time to get things organized and prepared.

As time went on, i kept sorting other areas out.
Like the engine management.
I initially contacted Pete from PLMS Developments with a heap of questions regarding the SR wiring loom, and Realtime tuning etc. etc.
After lengthy discussions i decided to go for the NisTune/PLMS Realtime ECU and wiring loom.
Pete worked magic to get my loom done, and i thank him for that. The results are incredible and would not find better work anywhere.

With pretty much everything now sorted out, i was still waiting for the shell from M2W....

18 months after leaving them with it, the car is painted
Alot of time and care an consultation went into making it just how i wanted it, and well.. it worked. Its exactly how i wanted it.

Now the fun begins.

Out comes all the old crossmember and suspension, brake lines, and fuel lines and anything else that was being replaced/fixed.

In goes all new Datsport fitting kit items. Crossmembers, LCA, radius rods etc. etc.
Following closely behind is the brakes... oh the fun.
7/8ths master with a 6.5" booster and brushed alloy mounts. All new lines, and T fittings and ends.

Then the coilovers! Too easy..

Half way there.

The rear end gets dropped out, and the newer refurbed stuff gets lifted up and in. Easy as. Crossmember, arms, diff, mostache bar and shafts all as one. 6 nuts later, and its all in.

The rest of the assembly is a bit hazy, no real order to it all. Basically i started from the front, and worked to the rear.
Engine and wiring. Plumbing. Dash and wiring. Gearbox and mounts. And most of the body trim was left to last.
All new door seas were put in taking a heaaaap of time and patience. Super glue is my new best friend.

The end of high school came and went, and before i knew it, i was packing my stuff and heading for Uni in wollongong, car-less.

6 months later came the mid year break.

Boy did i attack the Datto hard.
Wipers, wiring, sensors, plumbing, mounts, headlights, indicators, grill, trim, door inners, windows, door trims, dash, gauges in dash (my claim to fame), interior bits, tail lights, vents, door handles, locks etc. etc. etc. ALL got a once if not a twice over. Clean and or polish and or paint and or lubrication.. Or all of the above!

Gee wiring is fun.... Especially when you have done nothing electrical in your life before.
I did learn a shit load doing it myself though! Which did make it fun in the end.
And guess what...?
I got the SR to crank over!
Yeah baby!

Annd thats where i leave the car at home and go to Uni again. How depressing.

So, the car is literally 90% finished build wise.
Whats left?
- Sort out body wiring so headlights, indicators, gauges etc. etc. all work perfectly.
- Sort out ignition barrel (using a capacitor between ON and START. Thanks Dat-16v)
- Sort out brakes. Rear brake hoses, and fix leaks everywhere.
- Front and rear windows and some trim bits.
- All the other little bits and pieces that i can think of right now.

And of course, Engineering, then Safety check, then rego, then insurance.

Then turbo. hmm....

The car is oh so close.
Datnats 2009 will be the car's official Debut in the show, then on the track. Yes i will be driving it up from Wollongong or Wagga. Yes it is a long way. And yes im driving it up.
No its not being trailered up. No im not afraid of driving it. No its not going to live in a garage.
Yes i will drive it, alot. After all, a car being a car, it will get driven.

There is heaps ive missed in this little speel, but you get the general idea.
I will post up a complete specs list of the car in the days to come.

Thanks for every one who has helped me out in building my pride an joy. It wouldnt have happened without you guys and girls.

Big thanks to Kelvin, Jo, Damien and Howard @ Mild2Wild Restorations; Pete @ PLMS Developments; Baz and Tracey @ Datsport; My parents for the years of not having a garage; Brendan for the lengthy use of the engine crane (enjoy the ale ); and all my mates that keep me inspired, Alex, Jake, Harry, Daniel, Gwydir and Jac. And also thanks to every one that i have forgotten that has helped me on this journey.

And i would like to thank my inspiration. The man himself, Jeff (aka SX-510 MK1 and MK2), Derek (GUN16), Matt (D A T T O), Stewie (JDMDIME), GO18OB, ENM11E and the incredibly long list of people that inspire me to keep this project going, even through the lowest of lows.

Thanks everyone

Chris