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Cooper - 1969 1600SSS Bluebird Coupe


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Raise your hand if you've ever wanted a Bluebird Coupe...

I first raised mine after learning about this version of the 510 years ago on the bluebirds mailing list.

The first one I ever saw belonged to Dave Carroll at one of his 510-day barbeques. It had a Cima Turbo V6 but was so packed in his garage, I couldn't really see it enough to appreciate it.

Then, in 2004 at a Blue Lake Datsun Show in Oregon I saw one on the road for the first time. It was silver and pretty ratty looking but it was still cool. I didn't take pictures there but have video footage instead.

The Canby show started in 2005 and there has usually been a coupe or two there, plus a local racer Jim Froula has one that he shows periodically. Within a couple of years, I started looking for one for sale. As you know, they don't pop up every day, and when they do, the price tags can be pretty healthy! So healthy in fact that 3-4 years ago, I convinced myslef that I didn't like them anymore so I stopped dreaming.

Then, a friend of mine told me about a coupe project for sale up north of me that I might be able to get a good deal on. I spoke with the owner and he agreed to show me the car. It was a long term project of his that he had spent years and countless dollars on and all he had to show for it was a shell and a storage unit full of parts. He was ready to call it quits and pass on the project to someone else.

Well, I drove up there in one of my wagons and followed him to his house. He was watching me in the rear view mirror and by the time we got to his place, after seeing my car on the road, decided he no longer wanted to sell the coupe, but wanted to drive it again. No hard feelings, nice guy, beautiful project, I hope he gets to drive it again some day! So I went home empty handed.

Then, a few months later, one of the bluebirds list members annouced that he had a coupe he was considering selling. I replied but got nothing back. I tried again a few times and still didn't hear back so I figured it was gone. But then, a number of months later, I decided to try again just in case and this time I got a reply. He did indeed still have the car and was willing to sell.

We talked for a while over the phone and he sent some photos. A deal was struck and in June 2010, on Canby weekend, we drove to his place in Oregon, loaded the car on a trailer, and I was suddenly the proud owner of a 1969 1600SSS Bluebird Coupe!

Canby_2010_125_.JPG

 

oh, and by the way... This is the car I saw at Blue Lake years before! Thanks Brian!!!!

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Although it ran well enough at Brian's house to get it on the trailer, it was a different story when I got it home.

1969_1600_SSS_coupe_7_.JPG

It wouldn't start and when I finally got it going, it wouldn't stay running. It also had no brakes, so it took some time getting it off the trailer and onto my lawn so I could take some photos and see what it was that I just bought.

1969_1600SSS_coupe_06192010_15_.jpg

The more photos I took, the more details I found that reinforced what a special car this was. Things like the cast grill:

1969_1600SSS_coupe_06192010_54_.jpg

And the metal 69 SSS dash

1969_1600SSS_coupe_06192010_34_.jpg

And of course the taillights

1969_1600_SSS_coupe_17_.JPG

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But I also started to create an inventory of the things that would need to be fixed, like the rusted thru trunk floor:

1969_1600SSS_coupe_06192010_17_.jpg

All the rust, dents, and failing bondo work on the driver's side of the car:

1969_1600SSS_coupe_06192010_38_.jpg

And the passengers side as well:

1969_1600SSS_coupe_06192010_45_.jpg

The rusted out hood:

1969_1600SSS_coupe_06192010_60_.jpg

The non-running engine:

1969_1600SSS_coupe_06192010_74_.jpg

The brakes, the ride height, etc etc etc....

But it was still a beauty in my eyes.

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It pretty much sat in the garage from June 2010 to April 2011 while I started to collect some parts. I had to do something about the ride height first, and the meshies and big balloon tires that were on it wouln't take kindly to anything other than rally ride heights so I found a set of Longchamps wheels in North Carolina from another coupe guy and had them shipped over.
longchamps_1.JPG
I mounted them on my car and took some ride height measurements:
original_ride_height_with_lonchamps_2_.j
The tape measure reads "sky high"!
original_ride_height_with_lonchamps_6_.j

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Dave Caroll shortened a set of stock struts for me and I put together some coilovers, bump-steer spacers, and a big fat sway bar.

coupe_front_suspension_upgrade_1_.jpg

No issues getting the new parts in place

coupe_front_suspension_upgrade_7_.jpg

And now, at least the front end was brought down closer to earth

coupe_with_lowered_front_end_1_.jpg

Tape measure reads "much better"

coupe_with_lowered_front_end_4_.jpg

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The coilovers I was sourcing for the rear weren't ready yet so I decided to pull the motor, clean it up, replace all the bad hoses, etc.

coupe_motor_out_05142011_1_.jpg

Much easier to clean now

coupe_motor_out_05142011_6_.jpg

A radiator hose had split on the previous owner and rusty coolant/water was sprayed EVERYWHERE giving the entire engine and engine bay a nice warm orange hue.

coupe_motor_out_05142011_2_.jpg

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By the way, did I mention it was now May 14th and I wanted to drive the car to Canby in less than a month?

My coilover parts arrived.

coupe_rear_coilovers_1_.jpg

And seemed to go together okay

coupe_rear_coilovers_5_.jpg

But after getting them installed

coupe_rear_coilovers_9_.jpg

I found that I was a little too low. I think it was sitting on the hardstops if I remember right.

coupe_rear_coilovers_11_.jpg

I ordered a set of 12" springs

12in_rear_coilover_springs_2_.jpg

And re-built the coilovers to get some useable suspension travel.

12in_rear_coilover_springs_3_.jpg

 

The 10" springs would have been fine but as you can see, the shocks I selected didn't have fully threaded bodies like I had planned, so with the adjusters all the way up and 12" springs, it's about as low in the back as I am comfortable running.

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Now then, back to the engine, I installed an aluminum flywheel and centerforce clutch set:

centerforce_clutch_-_aluminum_flywheel_1_.jpg

To link the SSS motor to the dogleg 5spd I bought for the car

L16_w_5spd_ready_to_go_2_.jpg

5spd install is easy with an Experimental Engineering 5spd crossmember

5_spd_tranny_mount_1_.jpg

I also made a custom air-cleaner housing and had it and a valve cover powder coated gloss black. I also had the heat shield ceramachrome coated and sand blasted and painted the exhaust manifold with high-temp paint.

L16_dress_up_kit_1_.jpg

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On May 30th I put the motor back in and started hooking everything back up so I could try to get it running.

coupe_in_progress_05302011_1_.jpg

It may not look like it, but the engine bay looked SO much better now. Make no mistake, it's no show car. I just wanted to get it all together so I cound enjoy driving it. It still looks pretty good though don't you think?

coupe_in_progress_05302011_5_.jpg

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In the next few days, I got the engine running, bled all the hydraulics, got all the lights working, etc. My first test drive was Friday afternoon where I took it for a quick spin around the neighborhood where I established 1) That the horn comes on and stays on when I turn the steering wheel and 2) that I had the rear brakes adjusted too tight. (do you smell something?!)

A couple minor adjustments and a trip to the gas station later and I closed the door on the garage Friday night, one year and a 4 mile test drive after purchasing the car, ready to make the 3 hour 45 minute - 211 mile drive to Canby the next day.

 

TBC...

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As you can see by my post count (105 including this one) I've just started using Ratsun. I prefer the bluebirds list for communicating but this is a nice format for documenting projects and since Ratsun covers all datsuns, I see a lot of cool stuff here that I wouldn't see otherwise. There are a lot of talented guys on this site.

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Why am i thinking it was faded green,, do you have another one that is ?

 

Am i losing my mind?

It's a multitude of colors really, but none of them really resemble green. It's the original silver but most of the roof is faded/oxidized to the primer which is kind of black.

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Okay then kids, where were we? Ah yes, Saturday we headed out to Canby. The kids were scared to ride in the new car (they were probably smarter than I was) so they both went in Tannenbrown (1972 510 wagon) with Brenda.

The trip was going remakably well but the brakes that I thought were "okay" round the neighborhood were actually a little "scary" on the freeway. I didn't have as much of a pedal as I thought - L O N G following distances would be the order of the day.

The dogleg 5spd I installed made so much bearing noise when I put it in 5th that I decided just to keep it in 4th the whole way down. Not a problem really because this car makes beautiful noises when it is turning around 4K on the freeway!

We stopped at a rest stop somewhere south of Olympia and everything was going fine. I think Victoria climbed in with me and we continued our trip South. Again, everything was going well 'till we pulled off the freeway in Kelso for lunch. At the bottom of the offramp, I found that I had almost no clutch pedal. I was able to make the left, right, left into the shopping center parking lot and that was it. No pedal left. Gone. Nothing.

Canby_2011_1_.jpg

Some friends of ours in the area came by to see if they could give us a help but it was no use. I could fill the master cylidner with fluid but one pump and it was straight on the ground. The slave cylinder was kaput!

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