That Strange Love...

[Spoona_Jay21]

Have any of you looked at your Datto and gone, "Why in Gods name do I like this thing?"

 

Well for me, it happened almost 4 years ago when I was 13, in Mid April 2009. Or, well actually in a sense it started a little bit further back when my Dad got his First 73' 620.

 

When my dad got his first 73', to be honest, I didn't like it. I thought it was just a junky little old truck, but my dad had liked em' since he was a kid, and he got the chance to get one cheap, so he did. over the course of the next few years it got a new set of wheels, got wrecked 3 times, a new paint job(a weekend with like 6 cans of flat black...) and I started loving it. not sure why, but i believe most of you Datsun guys know what I'm goin on about. and well anyway.... eventually the L16 blew it's head gasket. now for my dad, this was a perfect excuse to drop an L20 in it. Lil' more power, and just somethin just a little different. and THIS is where the story of Sebastien begins.... (yes I know I spell it funny don't get on me about it...)

 

In the Process of finding himself a running L20 he found a guy selling a 78' 620 KC (on Ratsun!), for from what I remember being 500$. so at the time, he thought, ok, i'll use it for a little while if it runs, and then part it out. Then he contacted the guy and set up a time that would work for us to meet up and see the truck. so one night after he got off work, we all piled into my moms Jeep, and headed down to this guys place. We get to this guys place and we see it immediately, sitting under a streetlamp in front of dude's house, and i can't help but feel slightly amused at this truck.

 

it was a Flat black King cab, on red painted wagon style wheels, lowered about 3 inches. and even though, this may seem all normal, one of the first things that caught my eye when i first saw it was the tail lights. now, while trying to remove them at some point, almost all the bolts broke on the housings, and well the person just decided, I'm goin to just mount Trailer brake lights on it! not only that, but this truck had a really bad de-hook that looked like someone just took a grinder to the hooks then... kinda just left it. the rear license plate was mounted on the tail gate, bright red later grille painted to match the wheels, OH! and too boot, it had rust spots EVERYWHERE! as in you could stick your fingers though the bed-sides. the seller came out and told us everything about it. Webered L20b, 4spd manual, no floors, and so on. hopefully you get the picture. Anyway, my dad had brought a down payment and i decided to ride home with him in the new truck. and that is where my strange love truly did start.

 

Now when the guy was goin over things with us, he mentioned, how the exhaust... kinda stopped about a foot and a half after the exhaust manifold. i didn't think anything of it, until Pops fired it up. we drove home, in i believe the loudest car ride i have ever had, backfiring and just ROARING! i remember how we were talking all the way home, but just basic talking wouldn't do it. we had to yell! and for most of you, you know usually, you don't have to yell to talk to the person right next to you in a Datsun due to size. from there my dad changed the grille to an early plastic one, put new tires on the rear, and a few other things including exhaust, and drove it for about 6-8 months. then he finally decided, because the gears were slippin in the 4speed in the KC, to pull the L20 and finally put it in his 73'.

 

But during that 6-8 months thoug, i felt somethin. somethin i had never felt before in a vehicle. Perfection. there was somethin bout being in THAT truck, with the windows down, blaring Rammstien and Rob Zombie, with me feeling the wind from the road through the carpets, and the rattle of all the rust, and looking at everything and just being able to tell myself "This is perfect. This little truck is so amazing.... I love it"

 

since that point though, the L20 has been pulled at put in the 73' the 4speed was pulled, the heater box was pulled to be put in the other 73' that we have, and it has just been kinda sitting. i am too broke to fix it at the moment, nor have any of the parts to even really get started. so for now, Sebastien shall sit, until he can comback, as a Zombie, and show the world, how amazing the underdog can be.

 

 

well anyway, for those people who wanted pics, here was it after the Grille swap back in April 09'

 

 

 

BTW the rust i was speaking of you can see here, and is even worse on the other side :P

[datson4life]

looks good man, my 521 is pretty loud sometime annoying, took it on a 1.5 hr trip and my passenger and i are losing our voices cause we have to yell back and forth

[MikeRL411]

Mufflers are cheap compared to hearing aids.