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New to club with '72 1200


EPTXDatsun

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  • 1 year later...

This car had been on backburner but I'm bringing it back.  

After 1 1/2 years I got a call a couple weeks ago from Wrenchpro to tell me they were being shut down by the city. We had 2 weeks to pick it up unfinished. Sucks, but oh well.

Before sending it to them, I had started the bodywork but decided against finishing it due to the fact it was going to get a little cut up from the swap. 

One of my many automotive hobbies includes lowriding and I'm an Imperials Car Club member (58-64 Impalas are one of my major weaknesses).  I called a club brother in our L.A. chapter who owns a body shop in Hesperia and he offered to help us pick it up and store it. Well, I figured it needs paint and it's out there anyway, so he will be finishing up the body work. It will be finished Porsche GT3 RS Orange. It may be overly ambitious to shoot for the JCCS '14 but we'll try! Here's how it sits:

A6E54238-347E-4D00-B21D-B6E8089DC0AA_zps

9020DAD8-83C9-4983-88E9-CF1BEFD6F28F_zps

 

Work has begun, er, continued on the body. I'll post more pics as it progresses. 

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You just burst my bubble. I haven't heard of another 1200 2dr Sedan in Texas. My Dad bought my Sedan brand new in '72 and has been in the family all this time. Guess we are in a very exclusive club. Good luck with the build. If you have more than 200whp, buy adult Pampers by the case! You will need them.

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Mattndew, I agree. I think it's a good fit for this little car.  :devil:

Don't worry, KT1200. I'm 600+ miles from you, so you'll have North Texas and I'll take West Texas, lol. :thumbup: 

I've had MUCH more powerful (1k+whp) cars, but something tells me this one will be just as much if not more of a handful especially with what I want to do. My plan is to get it dialed in and overbuild the driveline so I can turbocharge it and bump it up to 500whp eventually. At a minimum, a rollcage is definitely in the plans.

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With 500hp the only thing that will be able to pass you is your own rear bumper. But if you can get traction It will blow people's minds. A guy here in DFW has a SR20DET powered 1200 UTE that that put 412 whp on the dyno. He said he has to be very careful when he drives it.

 

IMAG0668_zpsaaf97cdc.jpg

 

 

IMAG0661_zps12736f65.jpg

 

 

If you're going to be a bear, be a Grizzly.

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  • 1 year later...

Well, three shops in a row let me down. First one didn't do the job correctly, second one called halfway through the project and told me to get the car out because they were shutting down. Picked it up from the last shop in pieces with body work only halfway finished after 2 years.   :no: I'm thinking about just cutting my losses and letting it go. 

5EEE7BDD-5C62-4BE2-8D1D-37C8735500B6_zps

 

At least it's back in my hands but motivation to complete is at an all-time low. 

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Thanks, guys. I have some big plans with this car and don't plan to be too slow with it. Paint should be done in a couple of weeks and then its on to the suspension and engine swap.

Hahahahaha

It's not for lack of resources, just terrible judgment in picking shops.

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Is there any decent reputable shop left?

Hate when that happens. Keep pressing on, it doesn't look too far to finished.

Good luck on that EPTXDATSUN.

Hope You took good care of the interior as they look really good.

Are You planing on mod the interior too?

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Is there any decent reputable shop left?

Hate when that happens. Keep pressing on, it doesn't look too far to finished.

Good luck on that EPTXDATSUN.

Hope You took good care of the interior as they look really good.

Are You planing on mod the interior too?

There are good shops, which is why what happened with my Datsun in inexcusable.  My Datsun would have been a little brother to my Nova. Here's the funny part. I know this is off-topic, but shows an example of a good shop vs the BS I put up with on the Datsun. I had this car finished in a period of 14 months, of which 5 were attributed to parts delays. 

Started with this (350, 3-speed)
A6902BEB-6434-4A25-B86C-98FF7AB13E8A-640
They did this:
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image_zpsez7bhfgt.jpg
 
Ended up with this (LS3, TR6060, 9-inch, 4-link suspenion, mini-tubs, audio, etc.)
BA3EA624-D58D-4963-AF81-D71769F2BCC9_zps
75E2279F-AFEA-4E5C-BE77-A847C791222D_zps
 
 
I'll probably end up giving him the Datsun if i can convince him to work on a "foreign" car. lol
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I know it's a bit of a hike, but I know a good guy here? 

 

I feel you, though. The guy who did my last Nova wouldn't touch a "thin, flimsy old Jap car". Hell, even the guy doing my Roadster had to be talked into it...   :rofl:

Yup. I've been working on him.

Next up is my '57 Bel Air Rag. It was an impulse buy at Barrett-Jackson and when I finally pored over it, decided it wouldn't be worth keeping unless I redid the body/paint. Figure I'm way past the point of no return (I'll probably lose every penny I put in it going forward) on the 1200 and my plans for the Bel Air will actually increase the Chevy's value so that goes first. Because, well, priorities. 

It would be worth it because the work is second-to-none.

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Great car. Love the Nova.

In the other hand. Is there is any reason shop don't like to even touch  a imported car?  Jap in this case. They act if they going to get some terminal disease  if they work on a Japanese car.

Money is money. You quote your job fairly and You should  care less  if it is a Jap, Korean, o whatever that may be.

That happens to me couple of weeks ago, when I try to get my ID Tag refurbished. They simply say no.  When in there wed they stated they would be able to do to any car and model.

Well, that is how thing goes.

Good Luck with the 1200.

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Great car. Love the Nova.

In the other hand. Is there is any reason shop don't like to even touch  a imported car?  Jap in this case. They act if they going to get some terminal disease  if they work on a Japanese car.

Money is money. You quote your job fairly and You should  care less  if it is a Jap, Korean, o whatever that may be.

That happens to me couple of weeks ago, when I try to get my ID Tag refurbished. They simply say no.  When in there wed they stated they would be able to do to any car and model.

Well, that is how thing goes.

Good Luck with the 1200.

Thanks. It's all good. I'm gonna put it up for sale and see if anyone bites. If not, I'll be having it built locally where I can at least monitor progress. My favorite part about the Nova build was that every time I dropped in say, every other week, I saw progress. It was the first shop I've experienced this with which, sadly, is rare. It was pretty disheartening to go twice in 6 months to the last shop the 1200 was at and only see it under a thicker layer of dust.

Oftentimes, builders prefer to stick to what they know, which is why some are hesitant to try different stuff. I'm sure shop that built my Nova would do it since it would be a cakewalk for them and it is, at least, "vintage", lol. While the work they do is not cheap, you get what you pay for. Although the quality is worth it, I dont know if I want to be sinking $40k+ into a 1200 either, lol. 

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Hear You my Friend. But and the end of the day, if You take in account the money and time sometimes it is worth it to go with the reputable and expensive cause it would be cheaper when it is all said and done. But 40K it is a really big bill  for a Datsun 1200 coupe, maybe a 240Z with a really low Vin number would justify that kind of money.

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Just saw Your Sedan on Craigslist.

Sometimes You got to know when to throw the towel. Wish i was in Texas, most of the good Datsun are close to You guys. I just keep looking to see if I can grab one close from South Florida.

Well good luck with the sell.

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Thanks, guys. We'll see what happens. I put it on CL to see if there would be any bites but then the ad was flagged for removal for some reason.

If it doesn't sell, I'll just continue stacking parts and getting it ready to finish eventually. I took a look at it this morning and most of the work that was done was of decent quality and it's pretty complete.If it doesn't sell, I'll just continue gathering parts and eventually get to it. I don't need the money, the space isn't an issue, and the wife doesn't care what I do. It's just a matter of lost interest due to so much time wasted. I just need motivation, lol. 

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If you decide to let it go, just know that you might not find another 1200 2 Dr. Sedan anytime soon. There are 3 known to Ratsun in the entire state of Texas. Your's, Mine and Coda's. Maybe 100 survivors in the Northern Hemisphere. These things might not be worth much money, but they are really rare. If I could afford it I would bring a trailer tomorrow.

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