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Pour out a 40 for my dead homie...


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Some of you may remember this car. It was my best effort to date to build my "perfect" 510 (yes, I've owned 20+ 510s :P )...

 

Born in February 1971, died yesterday. :unsure:

 

When I bought it back in 2006, got a good deal because it was wrecked in the front...

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Got it running with some fresh SUs and a new radiator...

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Got it lowered on some BBS mesh and the front end back together...

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Drove it like that for about 6 months, then changed the wheels (Rota RBs) and added SSS fender mirrors, replaced the fenders and lower valence with semi-unbent versions...

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Drove it like that for about a year...

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Got a call from a friend at a movie production company. She knew I was into 510s and asked if I knew of a blue 4dr 510 as they needed one for a film they were working on. It needed to be all one color for the movie so I talked them into paying to put a fresh coat of paint on it. The film was called "Mao's Last Dancer". Came out in theaters last year, should be on DVD soon...

 

Body work phase...

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Final sanding right before paint...

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After spraying on the original "817" Robin's Egg Blue color...

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For the movie it had to look all stock, so some concessions were made (wanted to shave the license plate lights but didn't), but some weren't (did shave the side markers)...

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For the movie we "re-attached" the stock side markers with double-sided tape... :P

 

Photos "on set"

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Spraying on fake dirt...

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Fake clutter added...

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I'm ready for my close-up Mr. DeMille...

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Second day, second location...

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Cinematogropher...

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When we arrived we found out the actress they hired couldn't drive stick. did not mind teaching her one bit... :cool:

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Day 3, location 5...

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Last location...

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All the pics of the movie adventure are here: http://datsun510.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=3520

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We got the car back home without a scratch on it, then it was time to get serious. :cool:

:cool: :cool:

 

Rocked the Rotas and stock tails for about two months...

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Got bored with the Rotas (yes, I change wheels like some people change underwear), and bought some limited edition Volk GT-P's, 16x7 and 16x8...

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Had some paint left over, so color-matched a vintage Dobi air dam...

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Went badge crazy, got some DELUXE fender badges...

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And DELUXE rear badge...

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Picked up some "Bluebird" badges for the fenders and trunk, and some NOS Euro tails, new look for the ass...

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Picked up some "Deluxe" fender mirrors, and JDM side markers...

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How it looked when it was "finished"...

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Drove it like that daily for almost two years. Decided to sell it to a good friend because I wanted to get my 1200 Coupe finished. He took good care of it, maintained it well, but as often happens...

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You do something stupid for just a second, and it can seriously bite you in the ass. :mellow:

 

This happened last night...

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Nothing more than a moment of inattention by my friend and the car spun out, hit a curb with the wheels parallel, rolled over on it's side, rode the curb for a few feet on it's side, then slammed back down on all four. Other than bumping his head on the roof when the car came down, he's okay. The car is toast.

 

Whole right side smashed in, roof buckled, rocker buckled, rear door won't open, and right side suspension broken/bent. In theory it could be fixed, but it would take way more work than it's worth.

 

I'm going to buy it back from him this weekend, then I'm going to buy a '71 roller I found today and swap all the parts from this shell to that one. So she will live on, in a way...

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That is a major bummer. The car looked really nice. On the other hand, fix the suspension and go rally? I almost did exactly that in my Miata. Had a buddy in the car, tried to show off and hung it out around the corner. I got lucky with being just inches away from the curb. Stupid happens.

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AWESOME! Funny thing, I was the projectionist for the NW premier of Mao's Last Dancer @ S.I.F.F. I watched about the first 5 minuets of the movie and then logged onto Ratsun :P I Worked about 50 films that year so I tuned alot of them out, Now I wish I would have paid attention! We had a talk-back with the audience after. The Director and Cinematographer were there ;) Sweet Dime & Great story!

 

 

You have a friend in the production field eh? Been thinking about warmer weather, They looking for anyone? :rolleyes:

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I hate seeing projects go out looking like a prom queen and come back beat up like that. Sad. It saved your friend's life, really. A newer (read: plastic) car would not have taken that kind of accident. You're doing the right thing bringing her back to life. And this is one more good reason to never, ever, sell my car...

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2eDeYe' date='21 April 2011 - 09:54 AM' timestamp='1303397689' post='463425']

It was his car, Datsunfreak is buying it back now. ;)

 

Sad tale :(

 

FYI, I am not technically buying it for myself. A friend asked me to buy it for him to help bring his car back from the dead. But I'll probably end up doing most of the work. :P

 

He's a little shy, so I figured it was just easier to say I was buying it back. ;)

 

I don't mind, though. Hopefully it will be cathartic for me...

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