dibo Posted June 28, 2010 Report Share Posted June 28, 2010 So I've had my 520 for a little over a year now and have left it relatively unmodified and therefore have avoided starting a build thread. That said, enough has happened over the past few weeks I thought it was time... I got a Datsun for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the look. Well... with a diving board rear bumper and lumber rack, some of those aesthetics have been lost I'm afraid, but in the name of utility, I left them. The lumber rack may linger (I'll probably replace with a custom box/bar combo so I can still set long pieces of lumber and such in without resting them on the roof), but the diving board is gone and will soon be replaced with some bumperettes... looking forward to that! Some of you have given me hand with the drop process in the past week or so (thank you!)... I added 3" blocks over the weekend, but haven't gotten around to the front yet, so I'm kinda sporting the desert truck look until I grind one of the bump-stops off (40 year old nuts/bolts... dammit!), which means removing the shock, which means buying new ones, which means getting those sweet Monroe Max-Air's for the back... and so on. Anyway, I think the front was slightly lower before, so the discrepancy isn't that drastic and/or ridiculous looking. Inside, I removed the stock bench, welded in some new seat mounts and added some '86 300zx seats I pulled from Ecology awhile back... I also made some black vinyl door cards to match and am planning on pulling a Neon center console and finishing with some dynamat and carpet. Oh, and one of those cool old-looking, but modern sounding stereo's mounted in the stock location with an iPod hookup somewhere discrete and a modest audio system (some 5.25 components and maybe an 8" sub behind the passenger seat). Outside, I'm going to take my time and fix as much of the rust and as many of the dings (particularly in the bed... single walled...) as possible and coat with one of the flat UV resistant black finishes (there's a ppg one, a por15 one... tractor paint... I'll figure it out when I get there). Inside and the engine bay will either get gloss silver or gloss black, depending on what seems right when I get there. Oh, and I picked up some sweet 16's off craigslist last week... I think they're GM wheels. They're ghetto painted black, but I'll get 'em powdercoated when I get new tires, along with the custom center-caps I'm going to make (I have a buddy with a plasma CAD machine... I already have some awesome ideas!!), so they'll be really nice eventually. Anyway, here's a few before and after pics. I'll add more when I get the front dropped and the interior a bit further along. Quote Link to comment
dat521gatherer Posted June 28, 2010 Report Share Posted June 28, 2010 cool. i would like a 520 someday. plans sound good. i love that rare locking fuel door. Quote Link to comment
gila Posted June 29, 2010 Report Share Posted June 29, 2010 I've got the same combo of vehicles, almost (a 69 521 and a 72 2002). I like how they look together, and it is interesting to jump between these two extremes of 1960s technology! Quote Link to comment
dibo Posted June 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2010 I'd like that rare locking fuel door if I had the even rarer matching key... ha! And I'm happy to see some fellow 02'ers in here :-) I know they're in direct competition with the dime (which I like too... I'd love to get a goon), but whatever... they're awesome little cars! And the funny thing is that I actually have an extra M10 sitting around and am tempted to drop it into my 520... I'm pretty sure that J13 will run forever, but I don't think I want it to. Anyway, just for fun, here's a few pics of my other projects. Sorry everything's so huge, but Photoshop's not playing nice with me right now. And suffice to say, I'll have my hands full for awhile... "take advantage of the economic downturn", I told myself... *69 Roadster - currently has a Buick V6, which has to go (really bad swap). Going to be replaced with either a Chevy 4.3l V6, a Honda f20/22c, an SR20 or... something else entirely... maybe even a U20 so I can race it. By the way, that's not me in the car (a buddy of mine), but I love the pic... it's almost as if the doors burst off when he got in the car. *71 BMW 2002 - Fully stripped, fully caged (rear towers to front frame rail/radiator support) and ready to build to VARA spec's. *75 BMW 2002 - My semi-daily driver (the VW takes most of the abuse), but with a blown head gasket. The green car in the background of the 520 pics is actually the donor for this car - really nice engine, 5 speed swap and some other bits and pieces for way less than an engine rebuild... should be back on the road in a month or two :-) *78 BMW 320i with an M50 from a 92 525i, E36 M3 trans, gc coilovers, big disc upgrade... all kinds of fun, but currently experiencing electrical difficulties and put to the side while I work on other projects... the 520 and black 02 specifically :-) Quote Link to comment
dat521gatherer Posted July 1, 2010 Report Share Posted July 1, 2010 here is a link on how to rekey your fuel door. this is a 521 glove box lock but the inside is the same. i'll include some fuel door lock nudies. http://community.ratsun.net/topic/6340-rekeying-a-521-glove-box-lock/page__p__80275__fromsearch__1#entry80275 Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.