Draker's 1972 1200 Sedan - "The Pickle"

[Draker]

final product. After getting it in the car I gave the engine a shake by hand and heard some clunks. Sounds like the pan hitting the crossmember. I tossed some shims in the mounts and it seems to be good now. I’ll check it on a test drive. Worst case I weld a shim into the mount. I think it’ll be fine though. Not sure why this didn’t come up in my many test fits.
 

[Draker]

got a few more hours in the garage today so I put the drive line in, installed the exhaust hanger, bolted down the engine mounts. Then I started it up and checked the status of the wobble. I was able to get it up to about 70mph without the vibration. The drive line sounded like it was flopping around at lower speeds but I'm guessing that's because there was no load it. Also I thing the bearing in the tail of the transmission might be a little worn. I can wiggle the yoke a bit.. maybe its normal. Just seems a bit too loose. This the press fit solid bearing in the transmission. I'm sure that's impossible to get these days.

 

After I got that going I did a bit of welding to fix the T/C rod cup and a crack on the front of the frame rail near the T/C rod.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 18, 2020 by Draker

[Dguy210]

On 9/12/2020 at 9:29 PM, Draker said:

I attempted to do one mount at a time and test fit.. that was a huge pain in the ass.

If anyone is going to do this mod in the future, the best way to attack it is exactly how @datsunfreak described earlier. The correct way is to just put a spacer between the crossmember and oil pan. Center and level the engine, install the mounts with the crossmember towers bolted on. Good idea to raise the engine about 1/8 - 1/4" higher than you'd like because the rubber mounts will compress. Tack the towers in place. Remove the crossmember, weld it in permanently. Reinstall and check your measurements.

Next is to pull it out again and paint it. I'd love to powder it but I'll probably do that someday when/if I actually restore the car.

 

Damn, that's a lot of work to do an A14 swap. Does look very stock though.

 

My old redneck ass just use to do them with about 20 minutes and a couple pieces of angle iron or barstock and call it good. 🤣

[Draker]

38 minutes ago, Dguy210 said:

 

Damn, that's a lot of work to do an A14 swap. Does look very stock though.

 

My old redneck ass just use to do them with about 20 minutes and a couple pieces of angle iron or barstock and call it good. 🤣

yeah I can appreciate what the previous owner was trying to do. The driveshaft angles were completely fucked though. 

[Dguy210]

4 minutes ago, Draker said:

yeah I can appreciate what the previous owner was trying to do. The driveshaft angles were completely fucked though. 

Modding the crossmember really is the more elegant way to do it. Basically, you made a 1980+ 1200 ute crossmember. 

[datsunfreak]

19 hours ago, Dguy210 said:

a 1980+ 1200 ute crossmember. 

 

Which is the actual easy way to do the swap.  😄

[Draker]

Got it all buttoned up today and filled it with some fresh GL4. Did a quick alignment and took it for a test drive. It's super smooth now. I got it up to 70mph and no vibrations.

 

I took it to Costco to fill it up and then back home. Everything feels great now.

 

So now I just need to finish the console, paint the tranny crossmember and swap out the shifter. It seems to tilt a bit to the right. not a big deal but it would be better if it was straight. And I need to find a better shift knob eventually.

 

[Lockleaf]

Man i want a 1200.  Man i should finish any one of my 4 project cars first.

[KELMO]

Draker, man that thing looks the goods. 1200 Sedan, my first Datsun.

 

 

[Draker]

I received some 1/8" nylon sheet in the mail today and got to work on the shift boot. I made a rectangle ring for the top, and some securing plates for the bottom side. Screwed it in through the factory holes and done.

 

Here is the final product:

[Draker]

I've been casually looking for seats for this car for a while. I think I might have found something that will work. Initially I was looking at leather Miata seats, but I wanted more bolster. So I started looking at Golf GTI seats. I started a thread about them over here:

 

 

[KELMO]

A. Your shift boot beats the crap out of my "Crown Black" shift boot.

 

B. Seats, I'm in the same boat in the grey coupe.

[datsunfreak]

12 hours ago, Draker said:

I received some 1/8" nylon sheet in the mail today and got to work on the shift boot. I made a rectangle ring for the top, and some securing plates for the bottom side. Screwed it in through the factory holes and done.

 

Here is the final product:

 

Well done sir. 👍

[Draker]

Moving on to more rust repairs

 

 

[Draker]

Well I ended up buying the Golf GTI sport seats. I'll try to stuff them in the car once I get the floor repairs knocked out. Here is a preview and a size comparison to stock:

 

[Draker]

Seats obviously have some condition issues. These were incredibly nice seats before they sat in the yard and went to shit. I'm going to try to breath some new life into the seats with a little leather restoration.

[Lockleaf]

They look a fair bit like a modernized E30 sport seat.  Nice option to be aware of.

[Draker]

Been cleaning and reconditioning the leather. I pulled out a bunch of the dents in the seats. Still has some small dents and scratches but it’s a lot better.

 

 

 

[Draker]

changing gears again, back to floor pan rust repair. This is the drivers floor, it's going to be the most work to repair due to the amount and spacing of the holes. The passenger side rear floor pan is pretty rough too, but it's all concentrated in one spot.

 

[datsunfreak]

Somehow I figured in a place like Eugene, you didn't get these spots on the floor? Every Texas 1200 has those spots, only twice as bad...  😃

[Duncan]

2 hours ago, datsunfreak said:

Somehow I figured in a place like Eugene, you didn't get these spots on the floor? Every Texas 1200 has those spots, only twice as bad...  😃

 

Surprisingly enough, Draker's car came from my neighborhood.  I spotted the PO a few times when I was driving my old yellow 1200 Coupe.

 

My old Coupe had the same rust holes where the floor met the sill...

 

 

Edited October 2, 2020 by Duncan

[Draker]

I figured being a SoCal car it would be rock solid. I knew there was rust in the pan before I bought it. Didn’t expect it to be this much but as you’ve all said, I could be much worse. 
 

time to start chopping.

[Draker]

Started on the rear passenger floor board. Picked up a HF air saw to help get the cuts right.

 

this is as far as I got today. Doesn’t look too great but it will cleanup pretty nice I think. 
 

[Draker]

Was able to finish the metal work on the rear passenger floor pan.

 

[Draker]

I used a ball peen hammer form the piece to fit the factory metal. I moved the drain hole a bit to be at the lowest point of the new floor.