65' Bluebird 410

[Clade]

Hello all,

 

New to the car scene and the Datsun family but i am loving it 🙂

 

A month ago i purchased my 65 Bluebird from someone in Auckland, New Zealand. I was happy when inspecting the car in person and bought it. Went straight onto a trailer and home with me. The car had been 'green stickered' as the previous driver was driving it with no warrant of fitness and was caught some time in 2018. It then sat in a garage for 2+ years before i bought it. Because the car was in good condition i believed it would be easy to get a new warrant for so i could take it to a local meet early 2021.

 

 

I couldn't have undertaken this project without my good friend who helped with the trailer and has mechanical and electrical knowledge. For me this project is about passion and learning. I love old cars and quickly fell for this 'bird.

 

Since then I've made some mistakes and learned plenty. The car has a J13 engine, 4 speed manual (56a maybe?). The car has definitely been messed with but is still in good condition.

 

I have replaced a front lamp, removed the old cracked yellow film from the other 2 lamps. Removed the aftermarket spotlights on the front bumper. Messed with most of the bulbs on the dash to get them working.

 

Upon first receiving the car the engine was a bit sad. I had a look and saw the oil fill cap rattled and would spin back and forwards while the engine was running. I ordered a new one online and it arrived a day later. Upon seeing the new one i immediately realized the problem was the disc shaped seal.

 

 

The old one was filthy worn and thin. I'll keep the old cap lying around and maybe clean it up. The new cap fits on tightly and I'm excited to start the engine up again soon to see how she runs.

 

 

We also believe the generator/alternator (+ ground) is not charging the battery at idle. This was confirmed using a voltmeter. We have discussed the possibility of swapping to - ground, but him (my friend) being the electrician knows more about this then me. Any tips or ideas for simple solutions. Should i look at getting it rebuilt or find a replacement?

 

 

That's all i have for you now. Cheers 🙂

Edited January 14, 2021 by Clade
spell corrections

[rosso]

Congratulations! Great Car and looks in wonderful shape. Welcome to the forum - there is a great amount of experience on here.

 

Good luck with your progress and getting a warrant. I lived on the South Island for almost 10 years and remember going for warrants about every other month (3 cars twice a year =6).

 

Here's one of my previous NZ cars:

 

 

[Clade]

Thanks rosso, a bit of experience would be great right now 😛 Digging through the old posts to try find relevant content.

 

Might take the car in for a warrant check next week.

 

[the510keeper]

Very cool Datsun, Love the fender badges. 

Enjoy the ride

[]2eDeYe]

Welcome, great looking car 

[slowlearner]

Just across the ditch. Nice car.

[Clade]

Thanks the510keeper, ]2edeye and slowlearner 🙂

 

Hoping to get the engine bay cleaned up a little bit, i also need to try find out why there is so much exhaust in the cabin. Possible exhaust leak maybe?

[Clade]

Bit of an overdue update on the 'bird. Took it in for an inspection/WOF. Failed and was given a list of stuff to focus on.

 

Nice little shot across the street. Love seeing it parked next to modern cars 😛

 

As expected the suspension had been modified and has aged poorly so needs replacing. It was sitting directly on the bumpstops. Probably heated not 100% sure until its all pulled out. I don't have the equipment at home to do all this myself so im getting a local mechanic i know to work on it. Plan is to get the leaf springs sent to another shop to get retensioned. While its there he gave me good prices to do all of the suspension so i gave the thumbs up. It was all on the list so needed doing anyway.

 

 

Spotted a leak on a seal near the front/bottom of the engine. That explains some of the oil loss. Whole thing needs to be pulled and rebuilt if i grow some balls and/or find the money.

 

Another concern brought up was the seat belt anchor points on the floor. Which also raises concern about the structural integrity of the rear floor.

 

 

Doesn't look too bad under the carpet but who knows until its all been stripped back. Will have to find a weekend to pull the seats out and hit it with a wire wheel.

 

I have also been told my fuel cap needs replacing. The current one is a basic push/pull style which is illegal for road use. Need to get one that locks into place. Maybe something from another datsun can be made to fit?

 

Hope you enjoyed the updates. Can't wait to take it home on the cushy new suspension 😍

 

[Lockleaf]

On 510s, there are a number of newer fuel necks that have been successfully retrofitted and use new style fuel caps.  I woukd suggest starting your research there and see how those match up to your needs.

[Clade]

13 hours ago, Lockleaf said:

On 510s, there are a number of newer fuel necks that have been successfully retrofitted and use new style fuel caps.  I woukd suggest starting your research there and see how those match up to your needs.

Thanks for the advice Lockleaf. Definitely where i will go looking!

[Clade]

Wow, so like many threads here its been awhile since my last update.

 

The bird took longer at the panel beaters then expected but they did a great job for the amount I paid. 

 

Before the front floor was cleaned up.

After.

Couple of photos of the extensive rust in the rear floor 😞

After all that work was done and painted.

 

I also got the fuel neck sorted out and now that a compliant locking cap. 

 

I believe all I need now is a new pair of rear tires and ill be golden!

 

(edit oops i submitted the images as thumbnails) 😫

Edited May 31, 2021 by Clade
images apology

[Clade]

So my latest obstacle to getting the Datsun on the road is now the right wiper. It has too much play and the blade wont come down out of view. Anyone have any spare fresh ones? Trying to contact a scrap yard (Horopito) to see if they have what I am looking for. 

Anyone have other suggestions? I guess I could completely swap the wipers for something else.

 

Pic attached below for the specifics

 

[wayno]

You need to pull the complete wiper assembly out and find what is loose, I had one that got loose at the pivot/pivot arm where it is not supposed to be loose(pressed in assembly), so I welded it solid and have never had an issue since, I suspect it became loose because the arm was hard to move, but when I removed it I fixed that issue also, it is in a place where once installed it cannot be seen by anyone.

 

The suspension may share parts with the early Datsun Roadster(thru 1970), if you have trouble finding parts you may want to look at them parts.

 

If that is a positive ground car it is a rare one indeed, if you change to negative ground or keep it positive ground, MG Midget distributors will work in your J13 engine, and they came both positive and negative ground.

[Clade]

11 hours ago, wayno said:

You need to pull the complete wiper assembly out and find what is loose, I had one that got loose at the pivot/pivot arm where it is not supposed to be loose(pressed in assembly), so I welded it solid and have never had an issue since, I suspect it became loose because the arm was hard to move, but when I removed it I fixed that issue also, it is in a place where once installed it cannot be seen by anyone.

 

It was seized when I got the car and couldn't move at all. Had to get help to take it out and in the process the thread snapped. Maybe welding it is an option?

 

I did not realize positive ground was so rare. Thanks for the tip about the MG distributors. Will have to look into that.

 

Edit: Grabbing the car tomorrow ill take a photo of it if I can.

[MikeRL411]

On 2/4/2021 at 1:27 AM, Clade said:

Bit of an overdue update on the 'bird. Took it in for an inspection/WOF. Failed and was given a list of stuff to focus on.

 

 

 

I have also been told my fuel cap needs replacing. The current one is a basic push/pull style which is illegal for road use. Need to get one that locks into place. Maybe something from another datsun can be made to fit?

 

 

The normal configuration for the fuel filler has an external lock on the door flap.  Do ou mean that the local regulations require a "fool proof" retainer on the actual fuel receptical ?  

 

From the droopy drawers butt view of the rear end I surmise you have the "keyhole" shaped rear lights.  You don't have the original 410 sheet metal crease extending the under door chrome strip line to the rear whel arch so I guess this is an intermediate 410  to 411 design change.

[Clade]

11 hours ago, MikeRL411 said:

 

The normal configuration for the fuel filler has an external lock on the door flap.  Do ou mean that the local regulations require a "fool proof" retainer on the actual fuel receptical ?  

 

Local regulations require a cap that "locks" into place. They sort of click when you spin them like the top of a medicine bottle. I retrofitted a new one on and its hidden under the locked flap. (To be honest I think that regulation is utter bollocks) 

 

11 hours ago, MikeRL411 said:

 

From the droopy drawers butt view of the rear end I surmise you have the "keyhole" shaped rear lights.  You don't have the original 410 sheet metal crease extending the under door chrome strip line to the rear whel arch so I guess this is an intermediate 410  to 411 design change.

 

It definitely has the keyhole shaped lights and the Datsun plate in the engine bay calls it a P410. Interesting thought about the 410 sheer metal crease. Love seeing more knowledge come from this community.

[MikeRL411]

10 hours ago, Clade said:

 

Local regulations require a cap that "locks" into place. They sort of click when you spin them like the top of a medicine bottle. I retrofitted a new one on and its hidden under the locked flap. (To be honest I think that regulation is utter bollocks) 

 

 

It definitely has the keyhole shaped lights and the Datsun plate in the engine bay calls it a P410. Interesting thought about the 410 sheer metal crease. Love seeing more knowledge come from this community.

 

The corporate NISSAN Zama collection site refers to the original 410 rear end design as "controversial".  The change to more acceptable design in the 410 and 411 was made with no rear end specific model change designation.  So a P410 can be either old or new rear end and even keyhole or "rectangular" tail light without model designation change.  The official Nissan model change chart even completely ignors the 411 model in its generation chart.

[Clade]

Another update. Went to get the car check again and this time the only two things they want me to fix is the brakes imbalance and very unfortunately the right lower ball joint.

 

I also understand the left/right are not interchangeable.

 

As far as I am aware they are quite hard to find? 

I am in NZ so if anyone has any suggestion or knows of someone with one willing to sell please let me know 🙂

[datsunrides]

I believe the ball joints are the same as the roadster (sp311). If that’s the case, Rare Parts here in the states makes replacements.

[Clade]

7 hours ago, datsunrides said:

I believe the ball joints are the same as the roadster (sp311). If that’s the case, Rare Parts here in the states makes replacements.

Can anyone else back this up before i spend my hard earned cash? 😛

[bananahamuck]

4 hours ago, Clade said:

Can anyone else back this up before i spend my hard earned cash? 😛

They aren’t even close to the same . 
 

 

 

.

[Clade]

 

So my car is at the final step before its road legal. Brakes. Ball joint just needed grease.

 

Been having a few problems with this little control panel thing. Its definitely seen better days. Was driving trying to use the brakes to get them to come right and suddenly i lost the ability to turn my window wipers off. The switch pulled all the way out and went floppy. Had to pull over and unplug the switch myself to get it to stop haha.

 

Anyone in NZ/AUS got a replacement i could buy to make the solution a bit easier?

[Lockleaf]

Snap a pic of the connector.  It might match some early 510 stuff that is still available or easily be retrofitted to an aftermarket/universal knob?