CroS13

Hey guys, quick question, my door cant be locked with the key on the drivers side, its due to a stiff latch, if i persist it can unlock with the key, but trying to lock it might end up in snapping the key in the barrel. I have unbolted the latch and disconnected the actuator rod from the bottom door handle, ive also managed to remove the top door latch (rear passenger door latch), removing the handle and jimmying out the mechanism from behind the panel. Ive also removed the key barrel from the door. The problem i have is it seems i cant physically get the latch out, as its still attached to the rods for the inner door lock pin, the bottom latch and the side latch, the rods seem to be installed with pressed studs that are not removable, i cant fathom why the hell they didn't use C clips or e clips to be able to remove all the arms. The window rail/channel is whats preventing me from removing it, everything gets jammed up, the manual says it can be done, but it doesn't mention a 2+2 which has 1 million more rods on it. Is it possible to remove the latch without removing the window and regulator? I was thinking grind off the pressed studs, remove the arms, but don;t know if i can get new studs with a c clip to re assemble it all. pics: any ideas? Rudolf.

Yeah i went to see that when i was looking for mine. It does have a L28 in it, But it has heavy orange peel in the paint, it needs a respray. Biggest problem is that its advertised as no sunroof, but it does have a sunroof, that has been closed and the gap sealed up with sikaflex, then painted over it. Rust bubbles in rear hatch. The quarter panel around fuel cap has alot of bog, and its bubbling up around that area again. There looks to be bog over the whole car, and at door corners and panel ends it has started chipping away. Apart from that it has no rego but its running, If i recall he did have the Carbs rebuilt, brakes rebuilt, a whole bunch of mechanical stuff done. Rudolf.

I doubt you will find a registered car for 5k, i had been looking everywhere, and for something that drives with rego, its usually from between 7-10k, and they are all 2+2's. Mine cost me 8k with a blue slip/roadworthy, but no rego, i had to pay that too a week later, so all up mine set me back 9k, and no electrics or gauges work in it, has a long way to go before i can drive it properly on the road again. If you do find one for that price, that has rego, my guess will be the body will be in a very very poor state. Rudolf.

what about a S13? SR turbo manual can be had for 3-4k now days easy, you can leave it in the carpark, who cares if it gets dinged, slide it on weekends, good on fuel. My current daily, my S15, has 250kw at the wheels, runs low 12's and i get over 500km's to a tank of fuel, no reason a quick fun car cant be economical. you say you have a pulsar? drop a GTiR motor in it, or go something small turbo, 1.3L starlet GT or a Mazda Familiar GTR, Tx3 turbo? plenty of fun economical cars. Or go really hard core and buy a Suzuki cappuccino! 600cc turbo 3cyl i think, would be mad on fuel. Rudolf.

UPDATE 18.3.13 Hey guys just a small update on Daisy, ermm i mean the Dato! BAH! my wife has affectionately named the Dato Daisy, and yeah, Ive let it slip out a few times, and Im sure you can imagine the reaction i get from mates... So I've been slowly chipping away at the car to try and get it into a decent driving state so i can actually enjoy it, but i must warn you, this will be a slow slow build, YEARS.... in the build, anyway, i tackled the old cruddy battery and chewed out battery wires, i bought a new battery and knocked up the cables from some scrap wires at work, and i also replaced the washer bottle hoses while i was there, and this was the end result. Next on the list is to rip out the door latch and soak it, then figure out the rear trunk lock issue. when i am done with that, im back to "the wood chipper" to grab a new speedo cable and alternator, when i rang the bloke i bought it off, he told me the speedo worked, then stopped, and the fact he didn't lube up the cable before he put it back, i think Zedman is on the money, it might be a 2 piece cable now. Then i can drive it! Oh... no, need to fix the fuel gauge too. Rudolf.

ha yes! a fellow new Zed owner from Sydney! we will have to go for a cruise together, but mine needs a tad bit more work to get it drivable! Did the cops fine you with your car? I got mine registered 2 weeks ago, getting a blue slip with the sale, i was pulled over too on the way home and hassled for no mirrors, he wasn't impressed when i showed him it just got registered 30 minutes beforehand, but he let me off with a warning, telling me to go home and fix "all the things the RTA should have failed you for" Rudolf.

Pm sent i think? Rudolf.

Hey mate interested in the second hand fender mirrors, would you have a photo? and are these the mirrors that have the springs in them? Rudolf.

I feel your pain mate, Ive been rear ended in my 200sx 5 times in the last 5 years, lucky all from low speeds under 10km/h. And that's my daily driver, so angry as when i bought it, the car was immaculate, not a single scratch, original example, sure its been fixed properly all 5 times, but just doesn't feel the same. To top it all off the S13 Silvia i had before my S15, it got written off by a pensioner who fell asleep at the wheel and had a head on crash with me. Really paranoid about driving the 260z, even though its a weekend car, i have the worst luck, and the Dato is a lot harder to replace! Hopefully she can be fixed, its a shame with cars like this, if its the worst case scenario and you get paid out, no money can replace the blood, sweat, tears and late nights put into these cars. Ha you have me all fired up now! Rudolf.

At the end of the day, how many 67 stangs are in the country? and how many Camaro's? A LOT, Just flick through car sales, or go to any local car meet and there will be Camaro's and Mustangs, The mustang thing is getting ridiculous now when you can buy one for under 20k, they are more common than seeing our iconic cars like the old EH Holden or something similar. The only reason id drop 70k into a yank tank would be for a Hemi Cuda, like a 71 model for example, but then again, for half the price you can get a Dodge challenger, and they are just as cool right? At the end of the day, the dam Aussie bogan mentality wins again doesn't it? Oh 70k for a Datsun! how is 70k on GT350 Rustang or some other Yank Tank any different? You get a car with a lower build quality thats for sure. And your not really buying a Datsun, your buying a GTR! I guarantee people who know what they are looking at will appreciate the Hako alot more than a Camaro or something similar. Even for me, i see a SS camaro or a dodge charger and i think, meh, seen it before, there are a tonne here. Personally id take a S20 powered car over anything American, knowing your only a very very small number, probably so few you can count on your hand, with a true iconic Japanese Legend. And plus this... the sound..... Rudolf.

hopefully someone was smoking next to it, and it caught on fire so the car was put out of its misery. Rudolf.

just remember that older cars have higher leeway in terms of the decibel rating. as stated, roll up chicken wire and put it in the tail pipe, another thing would be make a insert for the flange, some plate with holes drilled into it. Its a lot harder nowdays to have blue slip stations turn a eye, because i'm pretty sure they loose their license for 10 years and its a pretty big fine. I Think the RTA went around and revoked everyone's blue slip licenses and made it a lot more stringent to get one, so now only a handful of places do it. What area are you in? Rudolf.

yeah i had a blast driving it! everyone was looking at it too, either because its awesome, or the fact it was blowing smoke like a chimney! but she hasn't been driven in about 10 years, so to be expected! issue with my drivers door is that the key wont physically turn the lock, it starts to but wont. its also extremely hard to lock and unlock the door from the inside, so the arm/rod something must be bent or rusted, perhaps when i free that up, ill be able to lock it with the key, as it does unlock the fuel cap and the passenger side door with no issues. Do they all have separate keys for the ignition and also the boot lock? ahh perhaps i should have elaborated, soon to be JDM style inspired modifications! and yeah! just noticed that in the photos! ha! thanks Rudolf.

hey mate mine is a "77" model, hmm... don't know about color, its growing on me that's for sure, either keep it, or go a deep purple or an orange, but that's waayyyyyy down the track. Rudolf.

Hi guys, I did a intro post a week or so ago, its about time i kick off my build thread too. EDIT AND UPDATE- MOST BROKEN LINKS FIXED ON FIRST 3 PAGES, SAVED WHAT I COULD PAGE 1: Introduction, making new battery harness, fitting fender mirrors PAGE 2: Getting hektic exhaust, repairing the radiator, which f**ked everything else LOL PAGE 3: Making a centre console autometer gauge panel, painting rocker cover, starting the teardown PAGE 4: motor removal, tear down, building a rotisserie PAGE 6 ONWARDS: Watch my fabrication skills go from noob to expert as i fix the rust in the car..... yeah there is abit! Ok so my names Rudolf, hailing from Sydney and for the longest time Ive been a Silvia nut job. Ive owned 3 S13 grey imports and now my current daily driver is a S15 200sx. For the longest time Ive had a love for the 260z, Wangan midnight only made my love for them grow even more, ever since i was a kid, it was the one true "slick" old school jap sports car. So my story to find the right car started about 6 months ago, with a budget of around 8-10k max, you can imagine all the ones i had seen were in a pretty poor condition. I was starting to loose hope in finding a good car when i stumbled upon a barn on the outskirts of Sydney where a guy sometimes referred to as the "wood chipper" had about 6 zeds for sale, the barn was filled with about 8 cars, there were a few outside as well as Nissan prince skylines and a few other odd eccentric cars. I took a panel beater friend of mine late December to have a look at the cars with me, we inspected all the zeds for sale, and we picked the best of them, which happened to be this one: it looked good from far, but it was far from good, i was told it had a fresh paint job, as the top coat was faded, and that it had no rust, in reality, the person who painted it got lazy, and didn't sand it back to bare metal, as a result, the nice new paint job was worthless, as it has crows feet through the whole paint. So pretty much, it will need to be taken back to metal and re sprayed. On top of that, we did happen to find a few rust spots, mainly in the rear hatch where the window is, and also where the quarter panel meets the boot, its looking like the metal skin that folds over from the quarter panel into the boot channel has lifted, so maybe rust under there. Not much at all, and the car is straight as a arrow and never been in a hit, also all the door gaps etc etc are perfect. Unfortunately the car was in a million pieces, so we agreed on a price to supply the car assembled and running with a blue slip. It did take quite abit of time over our agreed completion date to get her together, with many late nights and back and forth, nearly 2 months later, but good things come to those who wait, and today i picked up my car! while it was getting the final touches at the mechanic/blue slip station: so much running around today and we got the car registered and i drove her home! the blue slip inspector must have had mondayitis, because the drive home was interesting to say the least, but i could not wait anymore! What i noticed on the way home! -no door mirrors, the one that was held on by tape fell off, and is on the great western highway somewhere! -no reverse lights -its easier to say only the tacho works, nothing else, no fuel gauge, no oil temp, no coolant temp, no speedometer. -misfire at low load rpm, at about 2-3k, in the 1000rpm band, then it clears up. -i have about 7 keys for the car, and cant lock the drivers door from the outside and the boot wont lock. -no carpet -alternator not charging, stalled her and had to push start her to get back going, lucky i was on a down hill. so it was the most interesting driving experience ive had in my entire life! and what a story to get the old girl home! but we made it! home safe: so first things on the list before i drive her on the open roads again is: 1. fix door locks 2. fix speedo 3. fix fuel gauge 4. make brackets for mounting license plate to original screws. long time plans, ZG flare kit, duck tail spoiler, either watanabe's with fat negative offset or some work equip 03's, work the L26, big cam, triple webbers and stroked. and my custom plates are ready to be picked up from the RTA or so this letter in front of me says, so ill need to take care of that too! hopefully all of you will help keep me motivated, and keep the updates coming! Rudolf.

hey mate, it seems you have started to uncover what i had feared would be underneath all that primer when i went to see the car. Looks like you will be learning real quick how to be good with a mig welder! but to be honest, for the price you got it for, i probably would have considered buying it too, like i said, i passed because it was the first week the car was advertised and his asking price was in the clouds, seems you got him when he came back to reality. Id be rubbing it back to metal to see just what you have to work with, and id invest in a rotisserie so you can get underneath it and see the condition of the chassis rails etc. Seems you have a bad arse skyline in the background, that's good, you can take your time with this car and even if it is in bad shape, you don't have to rush it as you have a daily driver already. Keep us posted and updated with the photo's! Rudolf.

nah id be happy with that price man, especially considering that included flights and fuel. to put things into perspective i ended up paying close to 9k for my 2+2. and thats close what he was initially asking. i saw it in the first week it was advertised too so would have been at a ridiculous price then. Cant wait to see what you end up doing to her! Rudolf.

i looked at this car to buy a few months ago but passed on it, as im not too great with a welder, so i decided to get a good condition 2+2 for the same price, hopefully you managed to knock him down from what he was asking. How did she drive? when i drove it she was a little rough down low. Good luck with it mate!

^^^^ i looked at that black one about 2 months ago when i was looking for my Z. Owner only had it 1 year or there about, no room for it after he moved if i recall.

Zac is the name of the bloke i bought it off, about 10-15 years ago he bought up around 30-40 z cars from all over the place, and probably back then for $500 a pop, mixed and matched, cut up the worst for parts, turned 2 into 1 etc, and now had to downsize his collection. As for putting in a SR20? ha no never, like i said Ive had 4 Silvia's and even i cant stand the sound of the "John Deere" My daily already makes 250kw at the wheels, so i wouldn't go down that path again. I really want to go old school and work the L26, triple webbers, stroked, the whole works. Or maybe RB conversion, but probably not, i already have the "turbo" thing.

Hi guys, my names Rudolf, hailing from Sydney, im 26 and Ive been lurking here for years, but only just signed up now, as i FINALLY just purchased my first Dato! I am a Nissan man at heart, through and through, all of my cars have been Silvia's, i learnt to drive in one, lost my license in one (a few times) among other "first times" in them also! I have had 3 S13 Silvia Grey imports, and my current run around is a 2002 S15 GT spec S. So as you can see, im abit of a nutjob! being 5"4 doesn't help, and they are just a comfortable car for me. However, i have always loved Datsuns, especially the S30 shape, and watching shows like Wangan midnight years ago only increased my love for them. I had been wanting a 260z for atleast 10 years, and i had been looking for a project car for around about 6 months before i stumbled onto mine, and had a budget of 10k in mind, mainly looking for something with the cleanest body possible, i had seen some junk, i had driven a 260z that was registered that had 10c piece holes of rust in the Pillars, a real death trap!, i had seen ones that had the sunroof sikaflexed shut and painted over! and i was really starting to loose hope in getting a decent one in my budget. However, while sifting through a random website, i managed to find 4 for sale, all at the same time, by the same person, abit of investigation led me to a farm house and huge barn on the outskirts of sydney, and what i found was a dato Z nutjob who had about 15 in a barn among other skyline princes and other bits and pieces! so i took a car restorer friend, and we picked the best of the lot. His asking price was out of my budget, but after some investigation, finding flaws and rust (the ad stated no rust, straight body and a fresh paintjob) we managed to settle on a price we were both happy with, currently the car is getting re assembled by the old owner so it can be driven home by me with a unregistered vehicle permit, who knows the last time it was registered. The car has its flaws, but it has never been in a hit, it had a top coat of paint done, however the painter cut a few corners, mucked up, and the paint has crows feet thoughout the whole body, so it will need a full metal respray, we also found some rust in the rear hatch, but all in all it seems like a honest car. my plans are to go old school JDM, ZG flares, superlites or work equip O3's, ducktail spoiler, but one step at a time! Anyway some photos are in order: Firstly, my daily driver my silvia: and here is the dato in pieces how i found her: hopefully she will be ready and running next week, and im keen to get my teeth stuck into it!