The Rat

By Leigh Brooks

A '68 Datsun Roadster gets back on the road

Strays
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A couple of stray cars On my morning walks, I often passed by a pair of ’68 1600’s in InterBay on the way to the Ballard Locks. They were stored in a …
Victim
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Victim of a swap? There was no engine and from the looks of things someone had attempted a swap. Dual coils make me think a rotary was tried. Note the …
Ratty
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Ratty The interior of the first car was in rough shape, but more or less complete. It still had the ignition key (no door or trunk keys, however). The …
Curb
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Kicked out to the curb All-in-all the first car was in fairly good shape. Originally a 665 Yellow car, it has been repainted a generic red. No major …
The Donor
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The Donor The second car (SPL311-177226) was also a ’68 1600 and this one featured an engine! Rust had really taken hold on this car. The hood and …
The Donor’s engine
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The Donor’s Engine The donor came with an earlier 3-main bearing R-16 (R 27460). The motor turns over easily by hand. “Ran when parked,” according to …
A new home
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A new home Thanks to NWDE I tracked down a guy with a big truck and a trailer with a winch to drag the cars home. They were an immediate hit with my …
Under the hood
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Under the hood With the radiator removed you can see a fairly complete motor. Whoever put this engine in the ’68 combined early and later parts. The …
Shag-a-delic
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Shag-a-delic! The interior of the donor was a throw-back to the 70’s. Early 240z seats surrounded by a sea of black and red tiger-striped shag …
Nagging question
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A nagging question With the help of a few friends I got the car up the sloped driveway and into the garage to start the strip-down in earnest. Hardtop …
Tear down
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Let the tear down begin! The duct tape speaker wiring job contrasts nicely with the shag. I had to cut the mounting bolts to remove the seats. They …
Carnage
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Ah, the carnage Windshield came out easily with a little help. Made it very easy to remove the dash. I’m thinking of using this steering wheel for the …
Plucked
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Engine plucked The engine came out easily with the radiator, grille and hood removed. You can see that this car was originally 664 Spanish Red. A …
Tasty lump
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Tasty lump One of the exhaust manifold studs broke off flush with the head. Against my better judgement, a friend persuaded me to try Easy-Outs. Of …
Next victim
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Next victim The donor was rolled back outside and covered with a tarp. Next under the knife - the rat. The idea is to leave the outside alone and just …
Gutted
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Gutted Everything came out easily – I’m getting pretty good at this! A few surprises - rust holes in the floor of the foot wells on both sides right …
Eastwooded
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Eastwooded Note to self: next time use the Eastwood Rust Convertor that comes in the spray can. Brushing this stuff on took weeks!
Insulated
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Insulated Another note to self: next time use thinner insulation. I tried some aluminum-backed insulation from Home Depot. It went in nicely, but …
Vinyl
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Mmmmm, vinyl A black interior vinyl kit from Stan made it begin to look like a car again! I had to trim the padding using the original jute as a …
Carpet
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Ooooh, carpet On a whim I decided to go with a red carpet kit. It is actually a little more maroon than it appears in the picture, but it looks pretty …
Snow
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Gratuitous snow shot While the work continued in the garage, this is what it was like outside! I’m originally from southern New Mexico, and lived for …
Might as well
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Might as well With part of the interior dealt with, it was time to get the car ready for the engine. The more I looked at the various colors under the …
More Eastwood
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More Eastwood This time I used the rust convertor in a spray can. Much easier! It takes a while to mask everything off, but the paint goes on in 30 …
Rattle-canned
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Rattle-canned Three coats of rattle-can red were sprayed on the body after a long time spent masking. The color is not an exact match. Next time I’ll …
Pipes, hoses and cables
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Pipes, hoses and cables Here’s a few tips for replacing all the spaghetti: 1. Take lots of pictures when you take things apart. You’ll need them to …
Center console
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Center console Combining bits and pieces from the two cars, I was able to cobble together a center console. A bit of SEM Landau Black vinyl dye and …
Radio wiring
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Radio wiring This is an early 80’s Datsun Hitachi A-1551. I’m desperately trying to figure out the hook-ups! The 2 leads on the right on the top row …
Smiling
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Smiling The rat seems happy to have her R-16 back in place! I’ve pulled and placed this motor about 4 times now. Each time it gets easier. Next the …
Wiring
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Fun with wiring Work on the Rat has been slow this summer - it’s been too nice to spend time in the garage. A top-down drive in the Miata is much …