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VW fastback resurrection


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Browsing the ol' craigslist can be dangerous sometimes.... Came up on this for $400, my girlfriend said she loved it, which was a green light in my head. It was justification on a sixth old car project to my agenda. I'm a little ADD I think... so I bought it on impulse, knowing the floors were rusty and it had been in a front end collision. But He said it ran! and had a spare fender and hood, so what the hell.

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Getting her on the trailer. I guess this was the only angle of the car that didn't look totally fucked and made me not ashamed of my purchase because its the only I have!

IMG_3684.jpg

Well after getting it home and unloaded, I realized the whole front nose was shoved over about 6". It was going to be more than just replacing the fender and hood. But on the plus side, I changed the fuel lines, threw a battery in it and she fired right up!! woohoo!So I took her for a spin, and it drove straight down the road no pulling or crab walking at all! I got lucky.

I found a guy parting out 2 type 3's not far from me, so I showed up with the sawzall and got a new nose and some other odds and ends for $200. Half the price of the car! but I needed it and he had it so it was my only option at this point. I got to 'practice' on his car where to cut, so I had a good idea of where to cut mine.

IMG_3717.jpg

It went smooth, I got it on there and all mocked into place in about 3 hours! One thing I found I liked over Datsun is the fenders are a screw and clip type nut to fasten them vs. bolts. Removing the fenders from my 521 and extracting all the broken bolts took me days! This took 20 minutes.

IMG_3728.jpg

I was able to straighten out the pass side door and fender enough to get them to bolt up.

IMG_3929.jpg

For $125 les schwab powder coated the wheels, they look like new!

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and now for the last 2 months shes been living right here getting new floor pans welded in. Which they don't make, so I'm adapting karmann ghia pans to fit. If I could have a do-over I would have started with plain sheet metal, all the contours are wrong. But, Im pretty much finished with them at this point, I just need to seal and paint.

IMG_4155.jpg

In the meantime my lady and I re-foamed and re-covered the seats, they look new! I wish someone made kits like this for datsun:(

IMG_4052.jpg

To be continued.......

 

On a side note, I've been driving my 521 and 620 daily so I'm not really cheating on datsun that bad.

 

 

 

 

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Browsing the ol' craigslist can be dangerous sometimes.... Came up on this for $400, my girlfriend said she loved it, which was a green light in my head. It was justification on a sixth old car project to my agenda. I'm a little ADD I think... so I bought it on impulse, knowing the floors were rusty and it had been in a front end collision. But He said it ran! and had a spare fender and hood, so what the hell.

IMG_3682.jpg

Getting her on the trailer. I guess this was the only angle of the car that didn't look totally fucked and made me not ashamed of my purchase because its the only I have!

IMG_3684.jpg

Well after getting it home and unloaded, I realized the whole front nose was shoved over about 6". It was going to be more than just replacing the fender and hood. But on the plus side, I changed the fuel lines, threw a battery in it and she fired right up!! woohoo!So I took her for a spin, and it drove straight down the road no pulling or crab walking at all! I got lucky.

I found a guy parting out 2 type 3's not far from me, so I showed up with the sawzall and got a new nose and some other odds and ends for $200. Half the price of the car! but I needed it and he had it so it was my only option at this point. I got to 'practice' on his car where to cut, so I had a good idea of where to cut mine.

IMG_3717.jpg

It went smooth, I got it on there and all mocked into place in about 3 hours! One thing I found I liked over Datsun is the fenders are a screw and clip type nut to fasten them vs. bolts. Removing the fenders from my 521 and extracting all the broken bolts took me days! This took 20 minutes.

IMG_3728.jpg

I was able to straighten out the pass side door and fender enough to get them to bolt up.

IMG_3929.jpg

For $125 les schwab powder coated the wheels, they look like new!

IMG_4166.jpg

IMG_4161.jpg

IMG_4163.jpg

and now for the last 2 months shes been living right here getting new floor pans welded in. Which they don't make, so I'm adapting karmann ghia pans to fit. If I could have a do-over I would have started with plain sheet metal, all the contours are wrong. But, Im pretty much finished with them at this point, I just need to seal and paint.

IMG_4155.jpg

In the meantime my lady and I re-foamed and re-covered the seats, they look new! I wish someone made kits like this for datsun:(

IMG_4052.jpg

To be continued.......

 

On a side note, I've been driving my 521 and 620 daily so I'm not really cheating on datsun that bad.

 

By the way this is a VolksWagen 411[AKA Variant]!  Which is the only 411 listed in the Nissan dealer's maintenance software!  Ask the owner of a "1967 Sentra" per the local dealer's maintenance records just how I know this bit of ephemera.

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Yeah its def more of a resto, and despite its name it is not fast at all so maybe slant is more appropriate? When i got it, it had the stance of a boat. I re-indexed the front torsion bars (much like datsun but the bar runs perpendicular) 2 notches getting the nose just slightly lower than the rear, witch I just left alone. I think it sits pretty good now but we'll see when I get it all put back together. If I had it my way, it would be slammed and loud like my 521 :devil:  but since my girlfriend will be driving it I have to keep it some what modest.

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