Loren O

I need to add that I have responsibilities at the Rats with Dats event from as early as I can get there (maybe Friday night,after work) until sometime Saturday. As part of Datslocos Oregon Leadership,I am responsible/& looking forward to helping put that event on. That means while I am trying to help organize the caravan between both events, I will only be able to go along,if that caravan is held after events are done for the day Saturday at Rat's with Dats, or Sometime Sunday.

Somehow some of the various nuts and bolts that went to the truck have gone missing. These things happen,but that's the hold up at the moment. That,& work,family life.

I'm taking a poll here. I want to try to organize a caravan/fun run between the Canby show, & the Rats with Dats event in Eugene. I would really appreciate it if everyone that would be interested in attending BOTH EVENTS would post,& let me know which days they would be most interested in attending which event,& from which event they would be most interested in joining a group of other Datsun people driving to the other event. That way we could make the best of schedule for the weekend, & have some fun in between both events. Any help organizing this is also appreciated. Thanks! -Loren

Here's a recent picture of my 521. I need to have it road ready by the end of March.

Here's a recent picture of my '72 521. I need to have it road ready by the end of March.

I really enjoyed going to the Sabin skills center, to drop off the donation with Al. I had attended some classes there when I was in High school,back in the early 80's,so it was nice to see the place again . The Automotive program will be having a Car Show in June,& I will be looking to get a group of us together to attend the show. I will post the information on that soon.

Nothing wrong with Facebook. I don't always have access to a computer, or time to sit in front of one. I appreciate that we have a mobile version of Ratsun, but it's clunky & has limited content. I have Mobile Internet only so I have had to learn to live with the regular site, on a smaller screen. It amazes me how many people have this irrational fear/dislike of social media. It's just like anything else, as long as you use it in reasonable sized amounts,it can be a useful resource.

I'm glad to hear some people plan on going to both events! Canby is practically in my backyard,& I have been attending that show for around 11 years (one of these days,I will take the time to figure out if that means every year the event has been going). I was attending Canby before I was a Ratsun member, & before I was part of Datslocos Oregon . I will continue to attend as long as they have the event. Having said that; I will be organizing a fun run,so to speak,from The Canby show, to Eugene to the Rats with Dats event. There is no real reason people can't attend both shows. I have personally talked to Steven Pepka, & EVERYONE is welcome at Canby, just like always,I know the same is true of the Rats with Dats event. This doesn't have to be a matter of choosing, you're all going to be in Oregon anyway,will already have taken time off work,or whatever, made your travel arrangements, you may as well make a really full weekend of it,& attend both of what appear to be shaping up to be two great events.

I am definitely going to be going to this!

I Personally am all for adding another Datsun Event to the calendar! having one that is even more RATSUN member friendly is even better, in my opinion. having that Event put on by DATSLOCOS OREGON, the only club I am currently a member of sounds great too ! The only thing I have any difficulty with is the date of the new event. I have already fielded several messages, asking me to try to get the date of Canby changed, due to several people having schedule conflicts with that weekend. Unfortunately, changing the date wasn't an option even before the new event was thought up. the Canby fairgrounds is booked quite awhile in advance,{think YEARS IN ADVANCE ! ] & there are other groups that would LOVE to take that slot, if Datsuns NW were to let it go,even for one year. there would be no going back. not an option. it's not up to me either way. I have received messages asking me if changing the date of the new event was possible. I do not know if it is possible, but I feel that would be the best possible solution for EVERYONE ! nobody would be made to feel like the missed an event, or that they were made to choose sides. everyone wins! there has already been too much feuding between Datsun clubs in the community with those in the clubs that put on Canby vs the club that puts on Blue Lake, I would prefer not to have any new ones.

I was at their officer nominations meeting. There was no one nominated as vice president at that time. To my knowledge currently, there still is no vice president. If he is vice president, he sure hasn't been attending meetings. Hell,I am not even a member of Datsuns NW, & I have been at every single meeting since after the Canby show last year. Even if for some reason he IS Vice president,he would still have to have the backing of the President of the club ,& the other members. Since I have already specifically asked their president about the subject,& was told that he DID NOT AUTHORIZE any statement being made at all,Green Bastard's officer status would be irrelevant. He was an ASS,but not in an official capacity.

I have mentioned it,I will do so again. My capacity for being the peacekeeper only works if both sides choose to listen. Anyone who has listened to me talk about the local club scene,will have heard me say all along, that I wanted to be able to bridge the gap between the club that puts on Canby,& the club that puts on Blue Lake. That fued has gone on far too long. I did not get into this to be part of yet another fued between clubs. I'm not here to boycott other clubs events. I hope this can be resolved, & if I can help with that,I will. I won't be part of the problem though.

I keep hoping that this will be resolved peacefully. I am beginning to lose that hope. I support Al, there should be no question about that. I also feel that Green Bastards comments were WAY out of line, I still think Zdizeeze didn't intend to offend anyone,although,his mention of Al's medical condition was uncalled for. as I have said, NEITHER of them were OFFICIAL comments by Datsuns NW. ,nor are any of mine for that matter. Steven cannot censor the other members of DNW. let's not blame him for their bad judgement in their posts. some of you have called for a boycott of CANBY. That, in my personal opinion is not the way to solve things either. this is not me making a statement as a member of Datslocos, it's just my personal opinion.

Yeah,I probably should have done that. Shawn is going to be doing some rust repair on that flat shelf like area,directly above the pedal assembly. I will clean up the rest of the engine bay when he's done with that. I need to get this truck moving under it's own power asap though.

You know,I wondered about that too. I just went back & looked at some pictures of my truck,before we pulled the old engine, it seems to sit at a similar angle.

I'm looking for a pair of these fender flares for the rear of my truck.

I'm going to put these side pipes on my truck.

Time for an update! Shawn Drawdy & I made some progress on my truck yesterday. My rebuilt L20b is in it's home I'm the engine bay! I'm pretty happy about this news,since it has been difficult for me to make time to go work on it,these last couple of months. Due to the damage to both transmissions that I was planning on swapping into this truck,we have decided to run with the factory 4 speed,at least until I can find another transmission, or repair one of the other 2 that I already have. We also have decided to start with just the 2" lowering blocks for the rear at first, then see how the truck looks after re-indexing the torsion bars. I can always swap in the 720 4x4 leafs later ,if I decide it needs to sit lower. I am going for more of a 70's mini muscle truck look,so I want the back to sit a little higher than the front. I may eventually go with wider rear wheels,once I find some that match the front ones,& a pair of rear "Fontana " style fender flares.

Hey guys,Flatcat pointed out something that made me realize I need to clarify something here. While I have been attempting to keep things pleasant between Datsuns NW & Datslocos Oregon, as well as with anyone here on Ratsun, I must clarify that I am in no way an official spokesman for Datsuns NW. I am only a representative of Datslocos Oregon, that goes to the Datsuns NW meetings. My statements here on this subject are valid oly because I have been at their meetings, & have contacted their president personally before I made any my posts,rather than just shoot my mouth off randomly like that green bastard guy did. I will continue to handle this matter as a representative of Datslocos Oregon, until Al tells me otherwise. I think you all know where I stand on this ,but someone needs to also be the voice of reason, & try to keep the peace.

Hi Al , I am so glad you finally had an opportunity to comment on this,& hopefully clear this all up! I have to say that being the person in the middle of the two groups has been pretty uncomfortable at times. I have never had any doubt that you were taking care of the situation, but some people expected more of an answer than " Al is taking care of it" . I know neither you, Dave, or now Steven intended to put me in that position, but that is the way it worked out . I will be glad when this is all done,& not hanging over anyone's heads. as far as DNW goes, I hope everyone here will try to keep in mind that the negative comments made towards Al were made by one random person, who is supposedly a member of DNW, but not an individual authorized to speak OFFICIALLY ON THIER BEHALF. The CANBY show has been a fun event for so many of us, for so long that I would hate to see it die off. that is the only reason I ever volunteered to step up & possibly accept a role in DNW. Honestly, I am glad Steven stepped up to take over as president of DNW. I have enough on my plate with Family & my role in Datslocos, both of which will continue to be priority. With all of this drama that has happened over the donation, I don't envy either Steven, or Al's job's as president of the clubs.

welcome! nice 521,& nice 510 Goon . I have been seeing pictures of your truck for quite awhile, & your wagon looks familiar also. I just assumed you were already a Ratsun member.

FAT510, The main reasons I can see that we, as founding members haven't just "pay what is owed" to the school are that 1] we know Al has the donation money set aside waiting for them,& will take care of it . 2] we are all broke as f---, just like most other people here ! LOL! none of us have that much extra cash, just laying around.

I can vouch for zdizeeze (spelled correctly? ) being an official member of Datsuns NW,(I know him) & I am choosing to look at his posts here as what I believe them to be,an explanation from some of DNW's feelings on this subject, since whoever that random green bastard guy was made it sound like he was making an official statement on DNW's behalf,which I can assure you, he wasn't authorized to do. Steven did not authorize those comments. Steven & Al have this all worked out,& I will be glad to hear when it's done & behind us,so all involved can move on. You all know I have Al's back,& we all believe that whatever caused the delay, was in no means intentional,or dishonest in any way. Now,please also try to look at the situation from DNW's position. They were stuck in the middle between the school & whatever was causing the delay in paying the donation. They feel it reflects negatively on the club,& that they potentially have a responsibility to pay the donation, if it didn't get taken care of . The school just wants the money they were promised, & have been asking DNW to get it for them,(if I understand that part correctly ) Neither Steven or zideeze said anything to slander Al,they just attempted to clear up whatever mess the random comments the green bastard guy may have caused. None of this would have been publicly mentioned here on Ratsun, had the green Bastard not made his "official" comments, without the official backing of Datsuns NW. I only added my own comments because I have been in the middle of this,between Datsuns NW, & Al,since I am part of the leadership of the club that built the truck,Datslocos Oregon, & I have been at the Datsuns NW meetings when the subject has come up. You can imagine how uncomfortable that has been. I know Al will take care of it, & am looking forward to the subject not hanging over Datslocos Oregon 's heads as a club. As for the person who "bitched out" Al at Canby,on video ,to make things worse,just know that was also not an official action by a member of Datsuns NW. That subject has been covered here already,& I only mentioned it now,because someone else brought it up, & implied that it may have been someone actiing officially on behalf of Datsuns NW, which it was not.

I have PERSONALLY been in contact with both Albert,& Steven about this. as was stated Wednesday night at the Datsuns NW meeting, Steven has made arrangements to pick up the donation from Al. Unless I was temporarily deaf at some point during the meeting, there was no vote, or comment from Steven, suggesting that anyone publicly comment about this, or slander Al in any way. Steven has stated that he does not want to have a wedge between Datsuns NW ,Datslocos Oregon, or anyone else here on Ratsun over this subject. in my opinion, Green Bastard was COMPLETELY out of line with his post, but as far as I know his post was not an OFFICIAL comment from Datsuns NW. having said that, now I will say this: I am personally offended by his post, as I am sure are all of us that donated our time ,parts,& money to the build of the Canby truck. I will be contacting Steven about the subject as well.