69Ronin

Well I'm dating things back a bit. I was 17 years old and the year was 1976. Yep, I have shoes older than most of you guys. I needed dependable car to get me back and forth to school from the Bay Area. I was starting Oregon State University in the fall and it was now June. I saw a 1971 240Z for sale. They were asking $2800. It had a fresh blue metallic paint and slotted mags. It was a 4 speed with that ice blue interior. Trouble was, I couldn't drive a stick. My sister's boyfriend went with me to test drive the car and see if it was a good one for me. I had $2100 of my own money and my mother said she would cover whatever the difference was. I had worked at Straw Hat Pizza for a couple years at this time. Anyway, my sis's BF and I went out in the car and I was in love. He drove it hard and said it was a great driving car. He tried to get me behind the wheel but I said let me first buy it, then I will drive it. he laughed. Anyway, we negotiated the price down to $2500. I said yes and would return with the rest of the money later that day. Got the money, and had my mom drop me off. I handled the whole transaction. I told the guy I was 18 already. Actually, I wouldn't be 18 until August. Got the keys and a bill of sale, the last registration work on the car and it was time to roll out. Fortunately I didn't have to back the think up and sort of bucked my way out onto the road. It was being sold by a body shop and had I inspected my closely would have seen that it was a salvage auto. but I didn't give a shit at the time because I had a Z!! Dan ( my sister's BF) had coached me verbally on what to do. I watched him drive the stick and he explained how the clutch must be engaged before coming to a full stop etc...Anyway, I'm rolling down the street, smiling like I hit the lotto or something and stalled when I got to the first light. But I was looking good!! I bucked to another roll and and if I was moving, shifts were cool. Its just learning that temperament of taking off. I even had to go on the freeway to get home but first I had to go to the Sun Valley Mall to pick up my other sister from work on the way home!! I was fearless. I made it home and quickly learned how to park and maneuver hills. Our driveway was on a slant and my car was the last one in line. Sitting at a stop with the clutch and brake down I quickly shut it off and pulled the parking brake. I then eased my foot off the clutch and was proud as heck I had made it home. that was day one fellas and I have been infected every since. Two 1971 240Zs, (1) '69 510 with a '69 4 door donor, (1) '510, (1) '71 510, '77 620, '86 720, '98 200sx, '90 S13 and currently...'71 521 and a '69 Roaster as one of the Ratsun guys dubbed it on a thread. And my future wife had a '69 510 wagon when i met her. It had the red body but the front fender fenders and hood were white. Corvallis, Oregon...1979! Thanks for the thread.

Guys, This tread was the ticket. I made copies of everything and will be ordering bulbs for the 521 and the Roadster. Pretty cool, thanks. And the pics were right on. It let us noobs see what you are talking about.

Izzy, Did you ever get that banjo Bolt? If not, check with "Hosestop" here on Ratsun. He's in SoCal and can mostlikely hook you up. I just got a bolt and fitting from him.

I came up on a guy that can cut and weld in the plates for me here at a decent price. Problem solved, thanks

Hi Ratsun, I have a '71 521 that has some holes in the floor. I have viewed all of the DIY jobs and they look cool and functional. Is there a SoCal shop doing the work? i just don't have time and dividing it with a '69 Roadster project. I'm in Ventura, Ca. Thanks

Thanks Leprechaun311 for the tip.

The car will have a set of Webers and street cam installed. The tranny came out of a 280ZX. I believe it was an '82. Very good fit. The engine sits nicely and with the battery moved to teh trunk gives lots of room. There will be several mods to the engine thus the header question. Very simple to make one using the flange and collector I have. Just thought this swap and mod may have been tried before out in the wide world of Datsuns. I have pics of before and current but also need a tutorial on adding them to the stream.

Okay I get it B) If it ain't broke don't fix it. Thanks King Rat for the tune up. The car is stripped down in the body shop and the engine is on a stand. I want it to look pretty and along with the functionality of headers I thought it would improve HP. Once I get the hand of this photo downloading I will post pics of the car in the build process. Sun West MotorSports in Ventura will have the motor out tomorrow afternoon. Thanks

Hello all. I'm new to the crew as far as Ratsun but a Datsun owner since the 70's. (yeah, that old). I have a '69 Roadster with a L18 swap. I have been using the stock exhaust manifold but now that I'm actually working on the car I want a header. The two that i had around the house don't fit. They fit the engine just fine but won't tuck inside the chassis. is there a set of L-Series headers that look like the close hugging roadster headers and drop straight down? Someone told me the shorty headers may fit but they look like the long ones to me. My alternative is to butcher a set of these to get the flange and the collector off and bend a set of new pipes. Any tech help is appreciated if someone has had this dilemma or know of a route to go. Thanks