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You know the story...


Tikka

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We've all heard the story about that guy who stumbles across a great find in a barn or old garage?  Well, here you go: Twelve years ago, when I was between jobs, I began doing handyman work for an elderly woman and her son. Under a cover in the garage was an obnoxious, orange, little car on four flat tires. As it turned out her nephew had left it there 30 years ago while moving out of state with the intent of coming back for it. He never did. Turns out he had a falling out with the family and broke off all communication. Over the years I became great friends with the woman and her son. Last year they put me in charge of somehow getting rid of the car so they could have their garage back.  I managed to track down the nephew on the opposite coast and, as required by the PA abandond vehicle laws, sent him a letter  regarding the car(see where this is going???). Long story short: The final reply was that he no longer had an interest in the vehicle. When I shared the information with my friends they agreed that If I could get it out of the garage I could have it. I just received the title to a 1972 Datsun 510 with 29k miles and hardley a scratch in the tangerine paint. This car was set up for autocross with all the required equipment. I joined the site looking for insite and support in getting this thing back on the road. As soon as I figure out how to post pictures I will include them. Looking forward to the project. 

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That auto cross 'equipment' is at least 30 years out of date.... but I certainly hear you on this car. Go to General Discussion forum and look near the top is the pinned "Photobucket and Ratsun" topic on how to post pictures. We all would love to see this car. Let's get her on the road.

 

What are your plans, a nice sporty street car? with auto X capability?

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Hope I got the pics right. These pics were taken after I got the brakes unfrozen and put on new tires. I pushed it out of the garage to get a better look at it. It was the first time in 30 years that this car had moved. It is currently in my garage gutted of seats, carpet, fuel tank and fuel lines.

 

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Does anyone know what air filters (part number) I should be looking for? These are Solex carbs and the old foam filters are dry rotted. Also, I added more pics which show interior with part of the carpet pulled out.

 

[/url]">http://http://s1174.photobucket.com/user/tikka16/media/20160906_185755_zpswpgr3xsr.jpg.html'>20160906_185755_zpswpgr3xsr.jpg

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Sorry, the other pics are gone. Must have done something wrong. I'll try posting pics again after a little practice. But the rest of the car looks better. If you click on the picture yo ucan see the other pics on photobucket. It's the best I can do right now.

 

 

 

20160827_161054_zps2oz7xouk.jpg

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hoodradKyle,

 

Yes. I live in Lancaster too. Great to see someone from my neck of th woods on here. Was hoping to have this thing ready for the Neffsville show on the 17th but don't think I'm going to get the time to put it back together. How about you?

 

[/url]">http://http://s1174.photobucket.com/user/tikka16/media/20160827_161033_zpsu8ylrzdy.jpg.html'>20160827_161033_zpsu8ylrzdy.jpg

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Thanks. Rims originally had slicks on them. I let the kid at Pep Boys have them. I've also got a set of aluminum oval slots for it but I like the looks of these better also.

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Tikka, I just stumbled onto your seat thread and left some info for you there. As for the car... my jaw is dangling around my belt. What a gift from heaven. I would be curious to know what has been done to the motor, and suspension as that will strongly influence it's drivability on the street.  Hight compression pistons and stage 2 cam would make it a bit high strung for street use. It doesn't look like it's been lowered much, so there may be no need to deal with slotting the rear, or bump steer. All that will come out in the wash though once you start driving it. Congratulations and welcome to the nut house.

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hoodradKyle,

 

Yes. I live in Lancaster too. Great to see someone from my neck of the woods on here. Was hoping to have this thing ready for the Neffsville show on the 17th but don't think I'm going to get the time to put it back together. How about you?

I may check it out, I am waiting on my antique registration to come in the mail before getting the 510 out of the garage. Mine looks like it belongs in a scrapyard compared to yours though

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hoodradkyle,

 

That may be, but I take no credit for it. I'm simply reconditioning mine. Restore and recondition are two entirely different things. So far all I've had to do is dissassemble the carbs and clean, replace fuel lines,pump and filter and replace gas tank with new fuel cell.Gonna bleed the brakes this weekend. Trying to get it running before the weather changes around here. I'm planning to "antique" mine also. How long has the registration taken?

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it has been more than 2 weeks so far, but lady at brimmers told me the antique department is really slow for some reason and that it could take 3-5 weeks. If you have the original plate with it you can use that, it just costs extra. I'm going to use a bicentennial plate I got at a swap meet with a '72 registration sticker still intact

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  • 1 year later...

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2017-05-31%2015.37.57_zpsl5uh99u0.jpg

 

2017-05-31%2015.37.20_zpszbjg9cay.jpg

 

 

 

 

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So it's on the road. Took longer than I thought. Needed to put new carbs on it.Taking it to a shop to have them tuned tuned this week.

Edited by Tikka
insert picture
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  • 3 weeks later...

Holy F, what if the guy wanted it back!!!  How could you not want that!

 

Incredible score man!

 

That guy had good clean taste for 30 yrs ago!

 

What did you do with the old carbs?  Can I have them ?

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