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New to Ratsun, purchased 510 wagon..


chumstone

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Howdy! New to forums and just wanted to join in. I the new owner of the KA wagon that was on Craigs Seattle last week, and am damn happy:D

What a blast to drive! I had a 73 yellow 510 that I purchased in Bellingham at the turn of the century and moved with me to Chico Ca and them to Ashland Oregon before I sold it to a kid in Bend that had it impounded within a couple of days. The kids uncle has a fantastic 510 swap. Anyways that was 4 years ago. Now I'm back and I have a carport in a neighbor hood here in Washigton where everyone has vintage projects and RV's sitting all over their properties, no covanants:)

My wife and I are interested in any classic cars or trucks, so we will be looking for meets and shows to check out. We are old and weathered from the eastern washington sun, but still enjoy our youth.

 

The basic plan I've hatched is to, over time to make this wagon into a utilitarian beach wagon and I'd like to :cool: put a hitch on it to pull my catamaran to the regatta's that I've been missing out on. I would like to replace the trashed door panels with aluminum, install a utlitarianroof rack and etc. I'm open to any ideas that folks have on this project.

 

So anybody have any ideas on how to mount a hitch to pull 600 lbs of boat and trailer. Thanks and glad to be back!

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welcome, pics are always appreciated here.

 

my dad and i sat around one afternoon probably 7 or 8 years ago and came up with a concept for a utilitarian beach wagon. some of our ideas were pretty extreme, some were goofy... but in the end it was a wagon you could drive to the beach and it would do everything you would need it to. i would love to hear your plans. i caught the roof rack and tow hitch and alum door panels. all sound just right. a big part of what me and my dad were talking about was the proper wheel and tire combo. and the fact that alot of the metal surfaces, both inside and outside the wagon were going to be sprayed with truck bed liner. well i won't bore you with my ideas... sounds like a great project. welcome again.

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welcome, pics are always appreciated here.

 

my dad and i sat around one afternoon probably 7 or 8 years ago and came up with a concept for a utilitarian beach wagon. some of our ideas were pretty extreme, some were goofy... but in the end it was a wagon you could drive to the beach and it would do everything you would need it to. i would love to hear your plans. i caught the roof rack and tow hitch and alum door panels. all sound just right. a big part of what me and my dad were talking about was the proper wheel and tire combo. and the fact that alot of the metal surfaces, both inside and outside the wagon were going to be sprayed with truck bed liner. well i won't bore you with my ideas... sounds like a great project. welcome again.

 

I'm building a 620 KC for the wife and the bed AND cab floor will be sprayed with bedliner.THe cab will be color matched to the interior.

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nice... i think it's an underestimated finish. rust proofs, insulates, absorbs shock, wont wear like paint, doesn't really fade. i've seen it where you get it sprayed real thick and then you can shave it smooth somehow, i think sanding it might do it... i can't remember exactly.

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Some time ago someone (maybe here or NWDE /Realm) posted a beautifully done tan 'goon with 720 4X4 running gear. I'm not talking about 2' lift an 36" swampers. This was very low key, hardly noticeable and that's what really impressed me. I remember it had a surf board mounted on the roof. Perfect for in the sand.

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That's the one!!!! Guess it was a bike rack:D Tnip, as you can see it's so... quiet, it's great. And I want it!!!!!!!!!!

 

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q251/datzenmike/5104X4one.jpg[/img]"]5104X4one.jpg

 

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q251/datzenmike/5104X4two.jpg[/img]"]5104X4two.jpg

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Great idea with the bed liner, I did not know it had so many fuctions.

 

Just to let you know that when I lived a summer in Chico CA I rented a shop space and several other dudes had datsun projects. I gave a 510 body to a guy, and his buddy had a 4x4 wagon very similar to the photos above.

 

One thing for sure is that I,ll be laying down lots of POR 15. No holes but surface rust. Always the delima, drive it as it is, or go all out and cherry it out. I wonder how long it would last here where it rains 8 inches a year and parked in the carport and driven only in summer. Coin toss?

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that wagon is pretty kickass... from the back with those wheels peeking out it looks kinda like an international scout II.

 

i would do something like that but smaller tires. the actual design plan me and my dad came up with was def not "low-key". it was to be a volvo wagon, only because they have an awd option, but a 510 wagon on a 4x4 frame would work. only lifted maybe an inch, tires were to be about 29 or 30 inches, some sort of cross terrain tread, nothing too knobby. and the body mods ended up making it topless and doorless.. kinda. a roll cage would allow a bikini top or even a fibreglass hardtop that i drew up and the doors would be welded shut and then cut down, with an optional half door that you could remove, basically like jeep doors. you do a tan "line-x" outside about halfway up and then a complimenting tan paint above that, all tan "line-x" interior with a few strategically placed drains built into the floor, marine grade vinyl seats and totally waterproofed dash and speakers so that in the height of the beach season to clean it out you simply pull the top off and use a hose. this whole thing got as far as paper, made a few sketches and a few quick "photochops" that i don't have anymore. he was never very gung-ho about actually building it. the point was to have something that was purpose built to haul you and a few friends to the beach comfortably along with plenty of junk. it would be fun to drive and if you went to a beach where you could drive out on the sand you wouldn't have to worry about getting stuck.

 

i would still like to build something like this, altho with the new four door jeeps it'd be way simpler to just get one of those and do the body treatment to it and waterproof it alil better and be done. but it wouldn't look as cool as something like a 510 wagon that's not designed for that from the factory.

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A body shop friend of mine once told me that Mercedes and Porsche have a special extra thick under body urethane coating that works real well and is put on with a heated pressure gun. Might be worth a look as another way to protect the body of the car. Call some body shops to get a quote to compare to bed liner material.

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Yea its a white wagon. Dang, I took my memory (wife) with me but she was busy sorting out all the goodies that were thrown in the deal and I was crawling underneath looking for holes that we can't remember the owner that did the swap. He did trade it for a sport bike. Its got a bad ass exhaust that probably will get me in trouble.

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