my new project dads old project

[shancerlelby]

Well i've never really thought about buying a datsun till i became a father afew years ago and started thinking about my dad who sadly passed when i was about 4. When i was about 6 my mother finally rolled my dads old 71 red datsun out of the garage and gave it to my uncle. Where it went after that i have no idea and honestly don't know where that uncle is either :confused:

 

Okay so long story short me and gf got engaged and that day i bought a buy and sell. Low and behold theres a datsun on the front page for sale.

 

"71 datsun pickup 500$" simple.

 

So i pull into the yard and look around, dont see it, knock on the door and the lady brings me out back and i see the back end of a faded red single cab 521 pickup. "It's my dads!" so at that moment i am buying it. Look at it, try to fake being uninterested. Get it towed home that day lol. So it's kinda like my dad came home alittle.

 

Trying to relive part of my broken youth i guess. :driving: So heres the pics!

 

 

 

 

 

 

71 datsun 521 pickup. 1600cc 4 speed with less rust than my dads had in the 80's so thats a plus. Just need to find some fenders up front. Maybe some sort of race ready nissan drivetrain?

 

Discuss.

[dato]

thanks for this post!, brings back a lot of good memories of when i was a kid my dad had an 83 720 that we would take up to the mountains to go camping, i was so sad when we had to sell it

 

but i'll buy another someday :)

 

good luck with it, i can't wait to see when its done!

[nukeday]

Good find. Curious where in BC you are? If you're down south, I'm sure finding the fenders should be relatively easy.

 

I used to travel BC A LOT. I don't think there is a sawmill town in BC that I haven't been to, PG was like a second home. Miss that country, I even have a worn out 'Bulkley Valley Cruisers' T-shirt I got at a local swap-n-shine in Smithers. I think there's a yard in Oliver (maybe, OK Falls?) that might have sheetmetal if you're out east...

 

Anyway, welcome and good luck with the project.

[inline4]

what gave it away that it was your dads old rig?

[JDM510]

thats crazy it was meant to be your pops is coming back to you in that datsun!!!!

[FoxyRoadster]

Datsuns are special lil cars, they seem to find their owners at crazy moments. :D

[shancerlelby]

Haha bulkley valley cruisers, we just had out yearly car show and we had afew guys from up there come down for it, I'm in Quesnel which is about an hour south of pg. Well i have no way of telling if it truly is his other than my mom telling me about the shoddy repairs he made on the door sils with aluminum sheet and rivits which this one has. Shes still looking for pictures but if it isnt really his old one its damn close to it.

 

This week i got to do some work on the old girl, she needs a new fuse box as this one is cracked in half. The ghetto casette player and 2 channel amp has been removed as well as the ratsness of wiring that came along with it. Also sorted out the tail lights and the super awesome previous owners fix of running a speaker wire fro mthe brake switch to the rear harness to make the brake lights work :confused: Some people i tell you. Also installed a personal wheel out of a 240z that i bought off of ebay. not as ugly as the green 720 wheel it had.

 

 

not bad after a wash and some mazda 15" rims and bfg ts's?

[fisch]

Congrats man, great story! Always glad to have another fivetwoone in the family!

[myfairlady]

good story, datsuns are in our blood.i now own a 1972 521. my dad was a datsun mechanic in the seventies, and he owned a yellow 521 and me and my sister rode in the back of it from hemet california to grand-mere quebec canada 3,000 milesone one summer . i remember it clearly. i need to post the datsun sales brochure i have of my dad at the dealership working on a 620. as soon as i figure how to use my scanner i will post. congrad on finding this truck. it was meant to be yours, i think your dad made it happen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! looking forward to seeing what you do to it.

[Pedro]

Good luck the project, would be really cool being able to find a car with meaning.

 

Wish I could find my old mans old 56 beetle that was in the family since new (sold about 13 years ago).

[shancerlelby]

well i brought the truck back home for the winter, not going to have any time to work on it anyways so its parked in moms back yard. She laughed because it has less rust than my dads did in the 80's. Guess its not his :P She found a file folder of about 12 years of recipts and note books full of every dollar spent down to the 1.50 car was in 78 to the headgasket job done at the nissan dealer while on a trip to alberta. Good times.

[shancerlelby]

still havent tracked down and of my dads. He wasnt the type to take pictures of a truck altho i did find one of him standing on the hood of some sort of british sports car he owned and drove across canada in which was fun. I walked out back and checked to see if the mice were eating it and how long till the snow melts and i can get it out again.

 

flat tires and melting snow

 

 

new wheel and funny shift knob from japan. Fits nicer than a domestic hurst t handle or something.

 

 

 

 

plans are in the works to drag home another possibly early 80's late seventys datto for some front discs and other random bits. Has A cool steering wheel i want and im pretty sure i have to take the whole thing to get it. oh well my moms house has lots of yard anyways lol.

[freaky510]

wow what a cool story!!!!! good luck with it and it's looking good

[shancerlelby]

started work on a set of wheels i am toying around with using. 15x8 3.75 backspace almost stock 4x4 toyo truck wheel specs.

 

 

fogged with acid, steam cleaned then re acid'd, then semi polished lip, spokes and centers. some are alittle more weathered than the others. Will end up painting inside the spokes black or a graphite colour maybe?