johnnysomersett Posted March 19, 2010 Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 Hey y'all, Ive had a good look around here and like what I see. The Datsun 'scene' over here in England is pretty small - maybe because the weathers so shit they all disappeared a long time ago. Most models we had are down to less than 20 left, and a fair lot are into single figures! Ive had a few over the last few years... an F10, an N10, an 810 Station wagon etc. But my current project - and my 100% 'keeper for life' is my Cedric. There's only about 9 left in this country so I had to save it! Thought I'd share it with you. Its a bit ratty, and far from finished but here's a little rundown of it all so far: 1978 Datsun 330 (280C) Work so far: Welding all done (new sills, door bottoms, nosed & decked) L28E Transplant (from a 280ZX) Temporary paint in purple (going black sometime soon) 'Interesting' shifter Grille 'reworked' Lowered 5" up front, 3" at the rear How it arrived: How it is now: Quote Link to comment
johnnysomersett Posted March 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 Like I said, eventually it'll be black, and also - when money allows - it's gonna get airbags and a new interior. Also the 'VIP' badge I tried to use to hide a paint blemish has got to go as soon as I remember to pull it off. Also, gonna powdercoat the steels black and run spidercaps & trim rings. For now though Im just rolling like this. Hope you like JS Quote Link to comment
FoxyRoadster Posted March 19, 2010 Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 Looks cool, I'd leave it purple or some other color and get some good rims myself. Quote Link to comment
johnnysomersett Posted March 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 Looks cool, I'd leave it purple or some other color and get some good rims myself. Nahhh, the purple only got threw on as i had it prepped for paint for about 3 months out in the elements and needed something to protect it... purple we had kicking about! The overall look im going for is a 'knarly' look so steels are the order of the day. Ive just picked up some AMC Javelin steels which are a touch wider and better offset so Im gonna use them. Quote Link to comment
bonvo Posted March 19, 2010 Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 digging the shifter set up i might do somthing similar in my chevy with a claymore type sword Quote Link to comment
Skib Posted March 19, 2010 Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 holy shit, that shifter is BADASS! Quote Link to comment
Dat620guy Posted March 19, 2010 Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 That car is bad ass. Love the shifter. :thumbup: Quote Link to comment
johnnysomersett Posted March 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 Its worth noting also that, with the engine swap, I get an easy 130mph+ in this thing! Pretty scary when the crossmember is 1 1/2" from the road! Quote Link to comment
ESmorz Posted March 20, 2010 Report Share Posted March 20, 2010 Rad car. It will kick ass when it's done. I did something similar when I was bored one day with a broken katana. Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted March 20, 2010 Report Share Posted March 20, 2010 Like it. Reminds me of a Maxima I had for parts, sort of. Shifter too long and unwieldy but points for it! How is the rear end, solid axle or IRS like the 280zx? Where in UK are you? Quote Link to comment
fisch Posted March 20, 2010 Report Share Posted March 20, 2010 OMG dude, I've totally been planning to do a katana sword shifter and you beat me to it!!! But I totally dig what you have going on. WELCOME!!! (And when you see me eventually do a similar shifter, I swear I had already been planning it!!) Quote Link to comment
johnnysomersett Posted March 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2010 Like it. Reminds me of a Maxima I had for parts, sort of. Shifter too long and unwieldy but points for it! How is the rear end, solid axle or IRS like the 280zx? Where in UK are you? Its not too unwieldy really... being an auto helps. The rear is a solid axle and the front is double wishbone - so it drives very much like an old American car (bit like a boat around corners ). But its more a lazy cruiser really. Im down just south of London (about 20 Miles) in a town called Aldershot. Its pretty devoid of Datsuns until last week when a '79 Skyline appeared 3 streets down from me! By the time this thing is finished I'll have blown about £11K ($17K!!) on it But, it's nearly there so Im on the hunt for the next notch in my 'must own and keep forever' list - a 620 Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted March 20, 2010 Report Share Posted March 20, 2010 Im down just south of London (about 20 Miles) in a town called Aldershot. Its pretty devoid of Datsuns until last week when a '79 Skyline appeared 3 streets down from me! No kidding! I'm from a small town south east of Winchester about 30 miles away. Quote Link to comment
johnnysomersett Posted March 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2010 No kidding! I'm from a small town south east of Winchester about 30 miles away. Bizarre! Somewhere near Westmeon? Me & the lady are planning to emigrate over to the States sometime in the future - more likely Cali than anywhere.... wonder if they'll let the Cedric in?! LOL Quote Link to comment
shancerlelby Posted March 22, 2010 Report Share Posted March 22, 2010 whoa that thing is a work of art! i like where this is going! Quote Link to comment
johnnysomersett Posted March 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2010 Got an offer of some workshop space yesterday for tomorrow night and Friday so looks like the bitch might get painted black tomorrow! Happy days :) Quote Link to comment
DatsunKid Posted March 24, 2010 Report Share Posted March 24, 2010 Man that thing is sweet, I wished we could have gotten the Cedric here in the states. Quote Link to comment
johnnysomersett Posted March 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2010 Fresh out the workshop... a 'hit and run' paintjob hahaha Quote Link to comment
MikeRL411 Posted March 26, 2010 Report Share Posted March 26, 2010 [quote Me & the lady are planning to emigrate over to the States sometime in the future - more likely Cali than anywhere.... wonder if they'll let the Cedric in?! LOL The Cedric is over 25 years old so should qualify for an exemption for import. If not Catalytic converter equipped, you might have to have one installed, but that's probably only required by some states. If you do come to California and all else fails, donate it to the Datsun Museum in Temecula. I'm sure Mr K would love to see it. Quote Link to comment
johnnysomersett Posted April 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 The Cedric is over 25 years old so should qualify for an exemption for import. If not Catalytic converter equipped, you might have to have one installed, but that's probably only required by some states. If you do come to California and all else fails, donate it to the Datsun Museum in Temecula. I'm sure Mr K would love to see it. Thats good to know. I wouldnt mind a Cat' if it meant I could use it. Quote Link to comment
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