A year.

It just occurred to me that I've had the Datsun for a year. It's been a crazy year. My sister got married, I had three jobs though out the year, and we went through the whole process of pregnancy and now we have a beautiful daughter.

Now would be a good time to update on where we stand and what's been going on lately.

Too be honest, haven't been working on the car much over the last 4-5 months.

The body is almost ready for primer. I need to finish this headlight bucket, and a few areas on the tail panel.

Engine bay is almost ready. I need to remove the brake hydraulic lines and the front crossmember/steering rack.

Still need to make that panel.

Interior is ready for primer, short of a good scrubbing.

We need to get the primer/paint process moving because there's big things going on.



This is inbound. Hopefully next weekend I'll be mounting it on a stand.

When it gets here, we need to be ready to prep and freshen it up. Pictured above:

• Timing belt with tensioner roller and spring and idler.
• Water pump with thermostat
• Complete headgasket set.

All OE Nissan. If we remove the oil pan and valve covers and I don't like what I see, we have everything needed to replace the headgasket and rebuild the cylinder head. The video shows our actual motor getting compression tested so we should be good, but better to be prepared.

Of course, we needed a hoist to lift said engine unto said stand. Harbor Freight comes though again.

Because it's Harbor Freight, I wound up with more than I went in for.

• Ear Muffs
• 1/2 and 3/8 ratchets
• Utility Scissors
• Screwdriver bit pack
• Air line quick release
• 3ft electrical test leads
• Screwdriver set
• 3/8 6-point Deep Socket Set
• 4 piece hook/pin set for rebuilding electrical connectors
• 40 inch creeper.

All this, for less than $150 out the door.

We have a complete wiring harness for the chassis. This goes from headlights to taillights. Our engines wiring and ECU will tap into this.

We have everything needed to run our 3/8 fuel lines from tank to engine bay. Pipe bender, pipe cutter and flaring tool. These tools will be used on the brake lines too.

Remember when we talked about the fuel surge tank unit?

Check this nifty piece of kit out. A huge 1qt Diesel spin on fuel filter with a custom fitting.

One line in, one line out and the T fitting is for the return line.

So. Tons to do this year. I have another project to finish before I work on the Datsun again, but there is going to be a lot of updates though out the year.

Big things a brewin'.....

Look for a HUGE post next week. Some big things going on over here.

Major Update: The Other Woman.

So, the first major update only partially involves the Datsun. The Datsun is clearly a very important car to Automotive history, but it's not as important to me. Now, I should clarify I love Datsun, and all of their models. However, you never forget the first new car you really wanted.

In 2000 I was just about at that point where you make terrible decisions. I decided that I wanted to buy a new car. Terrible idea, but it was an idea all the same. In 2000 the Sport Compact Car was King and if you wanted a cheap fun car that could be tinkered with and would always run and wasn't a Camaro or Mustang you had very limited options. You had the Honda Civic Si. Boring, everyone had one, about as good looking as a piece of drywall. Nissan had some decent Sentra's, but they were overpriced for what they were. Again, boring cars.

Then, I saw and heard this drive by.

The Subaru Impreza 2.5rs. Those fog lights! Hood vents AND a functional hood scoop? Madness! How did this car even exist? The only thing I knew about Subaru is the Legacy Outback wagon had a cool commercial with Paul Hogan. And the sound! Like a old British fighter jet, thrumming along not quite like a four cylinder should.

So I went into obsessive compulsive mode and started absorbing information on the 2.5rs. All wheel drive. Two door and four door. As usual, Japan got the good ones. Over there they had a model that was the foundation of something that I was about to fall in love with almost as much as the car.....Rally.

With my new found obsession not only did I have a new motor sport that (at the time) was hard to find and fairly exclusive in America, I had a team to root for. Nascar and F1 were always fairly boring to me. Sure, the Nascar guys were fast in a straight line and turning in one direction. Sure Ferrari and the F1 cars were fast on a closed circuit. Subaru though..... They were fast in the woods, on the pavement, on ice, on snow. It didn't matter where they drove they were fast, and more importantly they were precise.



So, as any dumb kid does, I go to my local Subaru dealer picturing myself flying sideways down some wooded back road (keep in mind I lived at least 50 miles from any real trees.) and find out that there is no way I can afford one. Probably for the best though because a year later I see this.

A new Subaru Rally Car! This means there is a new chassis, and for the first time ever we would be getting the turbocharged WRX model in America!

So the new WRX comes, and it's great. So great that at least 3 times I go to try and buy one, but usually as the pen was getting pulled out to sign something would happen. They didn't like m trade in, or most commonly I would find a sub-$1000 car. That went on for almost 10 years, until about a month ago.

Allow me to introduce the most important WRX model..... MY WRX.

It's a 2002 Impreza WRX Sedan. Black, 5-speed. AWD standard. Great mechanical condition, and I got it for less than the price of a used 2.5rs Coupe.

It needed some love for sure. New tires, new windshield. New battery. Look at those fog lights! And the functional hood scoop feeding an intercooler!

The interior is nice, but the radio was shot. Already fixed that too. I mounted the Alpine that I was going to put in the Datsun, and made a custom cell phone mount. I ran the charging cabe through the dash so it's hidden behind the radio now.

It needs a new wing, which I hope to have soon and some cleaning/paint touch up work but all in all I love it. There is something very magical about getting in the car you've wanted your entire adult life. Sure, there are other dream cars and the Datsun is one of them. But there aren't very many dream cars you can load the wife and kid into and head up to the snow and have a blast in.

So what does the mean for the Datsun? My old daily driver, the 2000 528i 5-Speed is for sale and when it does sell, I will have some funding for the 260z. Hopefully I can knock out some of the bigger purchases to keep me wrenching a while like our entire powertrain.

Sometimes I might post about WRX projects on here. If you don't care, you can skip them, but I'm still going to post them.

I haven't forgotten.

I have not forgotten the project, nor have I forgotten you the reader.

Some delays have appeared. Some of you know me in person. You know what's going on. For the passer-by my Wife/Assistant is pregnant with our first child. Our Daughter. Sophia Jean. Sophia has already been a bit of a problem child, causing my lovely wife to spend a couple of weeks in the hospital leading up to the delivery date. As I'm sure many of you would agree, my priority's have shifted a bit. My weekends have been spent building a pretty awesome nursery and getting our house ready for the greatness that will be Miss Sophia Jean.

In all this excitement, I have gotten a very small amount of time spent getting the car ready for the next step. And there will be a major update post soon. The engine bay is almost done. I need to remove the hydraulic brake lines and weld the panel in. Finish grinding the paint off the rear and then I can start the primer process.

In the mean time I can announce that I've made some hard goals that I will be adhering to and building towards.

• White. Flat black. Gold. Simple. BRE Wing, Xenon Front air-dam. That's it.
• No flares (for now.)
• No A/C, but working Heater.
• Daily drive-able. Needs to be driven to Car's and Coffee in Blackhawk. About a 40 mile drive one way, and I don't want to beat up and exhausted when I get there. That also means no coil-overs. A use-able suspension.
• RB20DET. 5-Speed. 300whp, 8000rpm. Wide power-band and rev's for DAYS.
• Throttle Response will be Key. That means, basically, using factory turbo and parts to hit out 300-350 wheel horsepower goal. Make our 2.0l engine perform like a bigger, non-turbo motor. This is hard to describe, but imagine V8 non-turbo horsepower and torque out of our measly 2.0l motor.

Keep your ears open. The time is nigh, and a major update is coming. The die is cast, and our plan is made. 

Be well readers. The new year is coming. As The Wise Man Said, 

"Don't you Worry 'Bout a Thing", released in 1974, the same year as our 260z.

Craigslist!

Ebay isn't the only place to bargain hunt for parts. Craigslist is a great resource too.

Behold our new (to us) Urethane Air Dam. Brake ducts to keep our front brakes cool. A good lower chin spoiler will help direct airflow where we want it.

You can see it zip tied in place it's a great fit.

We also got some new quarter windows that match. One of our old ones was cracked, and they didn't match tint/sun fade wise.

So, we got a $300 air dam, and at least $50 per window for the grand total of $100. It did require driving about 2 hours each way, but that's whats great about project cars. They give you an excuse to go on long trips to places you wouldn't normally go.

History.

This is an excellent primer on the history of Nissan/Datsun and the entire post-WW2 Japanese auto industry.

Produced in 1995-96, it's a little out dated, but it's a great 47 minute history lesson.

Hello? Is it me your looking for?

Look. I know it's been a while. In the last two months I've judged TWO car shows, built a nursery, quit my job, got a new job and yet I still found a little time here and there to get the car to about 90% bare metal.

The Blue isn't the top coat of paint, there's a blue cot on the wall that is giving some reflection.

So, where are we? What's left? Lots, but just to get primer down we need to

• Remove the inspection lids (the hinged lids next to the hood). They are warped beyond repair. Going to replace them, maybe with louvered lids to help expel the under hood heat.
• Finish grindering the rear of vehicle.
• Weld the hole shut in the passenger front wheel well.
• Drill out the rusted screws that are keeping the quarter panel windows and trim in.
• Strip the engine bay. All that's left is a few electrical relays/modules and the brake hydraulics.
• Remove the window wiper motor and tracks.
• Mask/tape off the chrome window trim.
• Drop the gas tank to remove the safety bumper supports. Patch the holes in the rear shut.
• Get a front spoiler and wing.

For the interior we have a smaller list.

• Remove that rusted out heater system. 
• Remove the last few relays and vents from the passenger firewall area.
• Remove the last bit of electrical wiring from the back.
• Scrape what is left of the headliner padding off the roof.

Once the primer is down, it's sand, sand, sand and more sanding. Multiple coats of primer and sanding. 

You'll notice that cutting and fitting flares not on the list. A shift in thinking for this project. No more classy street driven race car. I'll get into it later, but this car will be driven on a more regular basis than originally thought. That means no rotary that needs constant care and rebuilding. Turbocharged Inline 6 power inbound, once the bodywork is done of course.