Hello. I've been looking at some of the restorations here and am impressed by you all that are bringing some of these Datsuns back to life: Which leads me to my question after a little history:
I just towed a '73 1200 coupe 1100 miles from where it's been sitting in a field for maybe fifteen years and hasn't been registered or driven since '79. My sister rear-ended somebody and dad put a clip on the front and ordered/received all the parts necessary for repairing the front end, including a new windshield. There was a brand new hood, right fender skin, left door skin, turn signals, marker light, grille and grille trim headlight trim pieces. All parts, including windscreen are OE Nissan parts. The top end of the motor was "refreshed" with valve job, new rings, etc. Mileage shows 88k miles and was never put back on the road or finished. When I was home visiting, I expressed interest in taking the car back and restoring it. During the time it sat in the field it became the home for many generations of field mice and suffered not only their “industry” and waste products, but external areas of the car suffered as well. Some fine and not so fine holes established on both sides of the roof line and allowed water into the headliner area which in turn rusted the head rail on the left side to the point where the clothes hook and rear window latch have rusted completely off. The majority of the rail looks fine and could probably be repaired, however, there is rust on the interior of the right A pillar and some rust-through behind the right rear wheel. I’m concerned that water may have caused too much rust down the C pillar into the inner fender/body from the roof holes.
I know the answer to the question of whether or not I should tackle this: It depends on how much you want to spend.
I want to build a dependable driver as a racer/replica style 1200 and I’m thinking of the U20 powerplant from the roadster for the engine swap.
I can do mechanical, but I don’t have the experience or the tools for the body work. Would anyone here with the body work experience tackle this type of job on a 1200 for their own project? (That is, if they would even consider a 1200 coupe)
Thanks for the input
Tom
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