312 Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 Hello everyone. I've been snooping around for awhile looking for a wagon. Just recently I acquired a 1963 Datsun WP312. Some of you have seen it posted by other sellers in the past. After a few weeks of getting the title straightened out, it arrived. WARNING WARNING - Project 312 is going to be a slow build. I did not get to spend much time with the car since it arrived on Wednesday. From what I see the car is in really good condition for being a 63'. Saturday morning will be spent looking at it more closely. Plans include the following: Shorter Term Wheels - either Libre 13x5's with 155-80-13's or Libre 13x7's with 205-60-13's - this will be determined this weekend. Completely different ends of the spectrum. Drop - 2" or 3" in rear and front to be determined as I have do further investigation on the front springs Interior - needs work. May have original seats recovered or put some buckets in the front Longer Term Soda blast and repaint. As I progress through this project I will try and keep the pics up-to-date. Thanks for looking. DISCLAIMER - My knowledge and mechanical abilities are in the basic to novice range. So if you have a technical question I may have to divert this question to my brother whose knowledge and mechanical ability far surpasses mine. UPDATE APRIL 2012 Quote Link to comment
INDY510 Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 . Datsun test: ... .. did you see the 510 first? ..... or the kid with a pasafire??? ....... :lol: Quote Link to comment
Eagle_Adam Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 i fail - i saw what looked like a cop light bar first :blink: Quote Link to comment
312 Posted February 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 Project 312 is the new support vehicle for Turn Right Racing Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 Eagle_Adam has a few issues I suspect. First thing I noticed was there were hubcaps in one photo, and none in the other. Yea, we have seen this wagon, been threw a few owners, maybe it finally has found a home. Welcome to Ratsun Quote Link to comment
bananahamuck Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 . Datsun test: ... .. did you see the 510 first? ..... or the kid with a pasafire??? ....... :lol: Garage size for me..then i started day dreaming of drooling over this on E-bay... Welcome to you and your new-to-you wagon Please , even if you don`t change much ..dont just post once then disappear .I personally want to see alot more pictures of this wagon And to be honest because of the name, i thought this was a old Ford build when i clicked on it.. Quote Link to comment
312 Posted February 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 Garage size for me..then i started day dreaming of drooling over this on E-bay... Welcome to you and your new-to-you wagon Please , even if you don`t change much ..dont just post once then disappear .I personally want to see alot more pictures of this wagon And to be honest because of the name, i thought this was a old Ford build when i clicked on it.. I changed to post title a bit to be more clear. I have a bunch of photos and will have many more after Saturday. I really had a limited amount of time when we picked it up on Wednesday. Being new to this forum I'm not sure how many pictures I should post. I guess I can leave that up to those that are interested. Let me know what shots you would like and I would be more than happy to post them. Thanks again for looking. Quote Link to comment
fisch Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 I love love , love this wagon! So glad you are introducing it back into Ratsun! (And I saw the child before the 510, damn my paternal instincts!! (Cute kid BTW!!) ) Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 I'd much rather see it sitting in my shop! :) Welcome. Your front suspension should be the same or similar to the roadster or 411's...one of the two. :) Quote Link to comment
fisch Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 I'd much rather see it sitting in my shop! :) Welcome. Your front suspension should be the same or similar to the roadster or 411's...one of the two. :) HA I almost typed, "Mike Klotz should be showing up in this thread any second!" and there he is! Someday you will have one Mike! Quote Link to comment
312 Posted February 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 I love love , love this wagon! So glad you are introducing it back into Ratsun! (And I saw the child before the 510, damn my paternal instincts!! (Cute kid BTW!!) ) Thanks fisch. I think I see a paint scheme that may fit this very well. Quote Link to comment
bananahamuck Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 I changed to post title a bit to be more clear. I didn`t mean it like that ...i just saw it on the front page as new and clicked , the discovery of where it takes you ( like this ) is the fun of clicking. And to answer the picture question ..every one and then take some more. Quote Link to comment
flatcat19 Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 i fail - i saw what looked like a cop light bar first :blink: ^^^ Someone passed the Ratsun test, and is now displaying his speed away from here. :P Welcome to Ratsun. That wagon is beyond awesome! Quote Link to comment
312 Posted February 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 I didn`t mean it like that ...i just saw it on the front page as new and clicked , the discovery of where it takes you ( like this ) is the fun of clicking. And to answer the picture question ..every one and then take some more. Got it. I will have some more on Saturday afternoon. Heading to work in a bit, but promise to get more up. Thanks! Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 Welcome aboard, love this goon. Please keep updating :D Quote Link to comment
Eagle_Adam Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 Eagle_Adam has a few issues I suspect. more than im aware of im sure :P Quote Link to comment
FoxyRoadster Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 glad to see that it finally found a home, it had been listed on the dallas CL for a long time. Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 HA I almost typed, "Mike Klotz should be showing up in this thread any second!" and there he is! Someday you will have one Mike! too funny :) I think his first project should be disc brakes. ;) Quote Link to comment
turn Right Racing Posted February 3, 2012 Report Share Posted February 3, 2012 We have the technology for front disc's, but need to sort out lots of other issues The goal is to have a fun support vehicle at the races (mostly Road America and Blackhawk Farms) the plan is to acess the drivetrain this weekend, and start on the interior. Also, we will figure out what engine is in the car (A14 or A15). And replace the non existent shifter bushings with some bronze ones from our stock of race car parts There are several loud rattles coming from the chassis, I suspect are mostly exhaust related as the tailpipe is tight up to the rear bumper I'll leave it up to my brother to post the updates, but it should be a fun project Quote Link to comment
Z chopper Posted February 3, 2012 Report Share Posted February 3, 2012 this goon is really cool, I love the patina. I beg you not to cover the beautiful patina. Quote Link to comment
312 Posted February 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2012 Thanks everyone for the nice welcome and comments on the 312. I'm heading out to pick up a set of 13x7 Libre's to try. Located that the engine is a A14. A couple more pics added with it being outside. 1 Quote Link to comment
312 Posted February 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Few more pics of the work done today. Accomplishments: Interior striped out as it was in very poor condition. Seats have been dropped off at the seat shop to be recovered. Decided to go with the original color and style. Overall the rust is minimal and we were very surprised as it is pushing 50 years-old. Two very very small holes in the drivers side floor board. Rockers to be replaced. Wheels - tried the 13 x 7 Libre's with 205-60-13's. Just a bit too wide for the front and will not allow for any lowering. Looking to go with 13 x 5 Libre's with 155-80-13's. This will allow a good drop all the way around. Won't fill the wheel wells though. The Patina paint is going to stay. May pull some of the stickers. (Attempting to order a Ratsun sticker or two - if you all feel it's worthy) Vertical bumper extensions removed. Tasks added to do list: POR15 - next weekend in the interior floors. Have to do some modifications to the engine mounts and tunnel to get the motor and dogleg 5 speed transmission sitting correctly. Headliner - needs new. Rockers - going to fab up a set of new rockers. Disc brakes - my brother has been talking with someone regarding this process. New set of 155-80-13's. Door panels - going to have dad resurface these. Quote Link to comment
312 Posted February 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2012 Well I had a chance to do some work on the 312. As we noticed one of the engine mounts was broke. So we have some left over 1200 engine mounts that we are going to use. This required some fabrication of a new mounting bracket to attach to this. So we ended up with a new mount that will fix this problem. Removed all the interior door panels to go to the upholstery shop. Carbs to our carb guy for a rebuild. Next week going to look at lowering. Not sure how much. Still contemplating the tire size. Have the 13x5 Libre's and original steelies. So I need to decide: Libre's with 185-60-13's or steelies with 155-80-13's and baby moons. Old mount shown below New mount for drivers side Quote Link to comment
KC Phirus Posted February 12, 2012 Report Share Posted February 12, 2012 I love it. Don't paint it. I want one week to work on my truck in that shop. Quote Link to comment
312 Posted February 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2012 I love it. Don't paint it. I want one week to work on my truck in that shop. Thanks KC Phirus. I am very lucky to have an awesome group of people that I'm associated with. One of our race team members runs a body shop. He opens his doors to our projects. Quote Link to comment
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