Jake

[Daryl]

Now I am no writer, rather quite bad at it so I'll do the best I can.  Finally going to get down and do a "build thread" on some rusty  :poop:   .

Where to begin....start, well maybe. I tend to get lost sometimes.

 

 

March 2016: On my local FB cars for sale page looking for a roof rack and I come to see this dats truck post, no pics. It hit me like a hammer hitting your fingers. Ya that's the Rig I need!

 

vgg by cad lab, on Flickr

 

Raced over. Didn't even break a sweat. Same day I was there purchasing it.

 

12512377_1079930802029154_4470967612395419376_n by cad lab, on Flickr

1463161_1079931872029047_1267133945556141865_n by cad lab, on Flickr

Present Day: Having owned a late model datsun, to be more specific a 1979 A10. The ones that most people regard as "not an official 510". Time had flown. It had been 4 years, 460k miles of roads driven and so much enjoyment. Something about the napz makes it one mean motor, I tell ya. Don't matter what anyone says it's awesome in my book. To financially support the move or "upgrade" I sold the A10 to someone who had one years ago. Now it's only pictures and memories but forward we must go.

 

A lot has been done and I'll slowly be updating the tread. 

[Rjawm]

From State Farm?

[Draker]

Thanks for sharing.

[datzenmike]

 

 

  Having owned a late model datsun, to be more specific a 1981 A10 hatch. The ones that most people regard as "not an official 510". Time had flown. It had been 4 years, 460k miles of roads driven and so much enjoyment. Something about the z20 makes it one mean motor, I tell ya. Don't matter what anyone says it's awesome in my book. To financially support the move or "upgrade" I sold the 510 to someone who had one years ago. Now it's only pictures and memories but forward we must go.

 

 

 

It's more accurate to call it an A10 you can also call it an HL510 which designates it as a L20B or Z20 engine so it's understood to anyone that it's not the earlier PL510 With L16. The A10 has  510 badges on it and calling it a '510' can lead to confusion. Personally I really like the round eye A10's looks, specially that forward leaning grill..

[Daryl]

Tons of work has been done in the recent days to get er going smother. Such things to improve the mechanical stability for the long run.

 

Racho shocks an improvement over the Monroe twin tube style to Front and Back.

Handling has never been better.

 

Timed, full tune up and fluid change all round were done as well. Might as well do it while changing out other stuff right.

[Daryl]

Onto some better best stuff. Getting er going for the traveling. 

 

A quick search on the CL proved hard to find a classic looking canopy. I was on the search to find the correct one that fit the bed size but also around the same year model as the dats.

 

Onto FB (Facebook) we went. Several hours wasted there but 3 canopy's we find. All from the same owner and the best part was the price, free. All different but apparently same sizes to fit the bed.

6 trips, 3 days and 200 miles later I had them. What a hassle , but fun none the less.

 

Only the filthiest canopy I've ever owned, but shows that weathering sometimes does protect gel coat. Couple washes later and it shined.

 

I passed on the red one to a Yota dude in the SF area and the cream colored one to a Nissan lady in Middletown. Out of all three I only kept the bottom one. It just fits the personality of the dat. Just awesome!

2555 by cad lab, on Flickr

 

Couple days camping out of the camper shell and I find quite nice. More space for sure.

[Daryl]

So here goes the plan: I get home, tear everything out, undercoat and drop it back on. Done! One majorly awesome camper rig!

 

Bed and canopy removed. Sanded down the frame, primed painted and threw on rubberized undercoating as well. Memory card corrupted and sadly those images are lost. But because of FB I had this one.

DSCN0761 by cad lab, on Flickr

 

Still tons of work to be done...

[hobospyder]

that's a nice canopy you found. if i was closer i'd be making offers on it

[distributorguy]

That's pretty cool.  Be sure your rear tires are up to the challenge - they may need more than a standard 4 or 6 ply by the time you outfit the camper.  

[Daryl]

A lot has occurred in the last couple of months.

 

To make it short:

Canopy really brought out the flaws of the stock 620. Knocks and noises that weren't there before. Guess new parts are the need. 

 

Took er on 200 mile journey, and was quite the site on the road. Made it to and fro, for another dayz drive.

 

December's weather didn't allow for mods, downtime it was.  Sometime later, An offer ($$) was given and canopy came off...

 

Thus giving Jake the necessary parts/work to get er straight as a stick once again. Pics to be loaded later on.

[Daryl]

Now if you ever need to get parts, or as I call it "things" for the dato, Rockauto maybe as well be your next door neighbor.

Not much needed just a week of time to get the supply's needed to do rebuild or repairs.

 

All the balls and bushings to get er as strait as a stick. Now was it all worth it? Heck ya, Took-er in for a digital alignment and came out great!

It was no more than two dayz to redo pretty much all. Pics are mostly in order of install.

[Daryl]

[Daryl]

[Daryl]

For the moment Im looking forward to leaving er in truck form and repairing as many "things" as possible. Will there be more?...

Time will tell.