Just to keep the pigger happy....

This is my 1974 Datsun 180U SSS. Finished in an unsubtle shade of lime and with more faults than the Zuma administration, she nevertheless continues to surprise with the quality of fun she delivers.
She is stripped barer than a Playboy bunny, with no carpets, door cards, rear seats or hoodlining. The motor is a lightly-fettled L18 with a 280 cam and a set of 45 DCOE's. Her diff is locked, her springs cut far too short, her brakes shot all to hell, she manages to make very little power while consuming vast quantities of BP's finest, but is a real hoot to drive. She is nowhere near the same quality as some of the other cars on the circuit, but still manages to punch above her (quite considerable) weight.

At rest:



Exiting the esses @ Aldo:

At full chat trying to (unsuccessfully) outrun Dale Langfield's Capri through Hangar:


I keep on wanting to call her Uriah, because she's such a heap geddit?, but I'm just a little bit in love with her all the same.

Can't kill a Datsun.

Just love RWD tripods. A couple of extra horses and she will have that front wheel clear off the ground. Nice cabby.

Oh, and DD got his first win overall in Pre-Historics last week in that lime green atrocity! Hats Off!

Nice one, congrats.

Ouch.

So it is indeed rane ... i think your car is really cool actually... maybe thats because I have seen it in some far more exciting photos :

Young Grant, I assume?
Ah, some fun shots there, thank you kindly young sir!
What's the chance I can get you to mail me the 2nd, 3rd & 4th pics? Come on, be a sport!
Oh, I think I might as well take a copy of the last gymkhana from you as well. Still R30?
Let me know....

Faster than that slow-assed white GTI

Right click "Save picture as..."

Thanks. I also need to sort the suspension out, but she's getting there bit by bit.



Thanks, bud!



Thank you. It was good to finish ahead of the more experienced campaigners, only problem is I now have to back it up with a good result in East London....


Thanks for the kind words.

Already done, but high-res would be so much more tasty...

Sideways Diggler ..... sounds like 70's porn.

Yip , its me .. Hi-res would be good , except I dont have that ... because its snapshots from video ...I could email you the pics except I dont think there will be much of an improvement , dvds are still R30 , do you want one ?

Yep, give me one of the last gymkhana. Thanks.

Awesome little car! I like that colour!

Thanks!
Green is not my favourite colour for a vehicle, but this is my fourth green car & my favourite one yet. Will can vouch for the size of my smile when I pedal her around the track.....

You used to be such a nice front wheel drive kind of guy

Bit of an update:
The front valence was looking particularly scrappy and while the car was in J-bay having the gearbox repaired (read destroyed... ) a mate decided to surprise me and had a Cortina fibreglass bumper/scoop affair fitted. When he broke the news I was seriously pissed off, until I actually saw it. It definitely neatens the frontal aspect up & makes me all .




Playing at the last track-day:






The clever-trevor who repaired the box of gears stuffed things up properly, the bearings were not replaced (all are worn), the striker pin is stuffed, sliding hubs are incorrect for the box, incorrect reverse idler was fitted, most of the gears are worn, the centre-plate is incorrect for the box, he modified the selectors for some unknown (did you see what I did there?) reason and they have to be replaced or if none can be found, re-engineered & the syncro's are worn. Anyhoo, my local gearbox chappie reckons all is not lost & he will be able to build up a decent box. Sponsored nogal! Gearbox & Diff Centre Sueltz St FTW!
It looks like I might be getting a new propshaft sponsored as well, things are looking up, I tell ya!

I have received the new brake discs and am just waiting for new bearings so that I can install them. 14 August is getting closer far too quickly and I have to be ready for that race day, it is going to be the biggest Aldo Scribante has seen for the last 30 years, or so the old-timers tell me....

Hey...can see having fun... and thats what lifes all about...enjoyed the ride txs

Awesomness !!! was nice seeing the car back ... I dont think black steelies do it justice though

Not everyday that you see a race car with a bullbar
So how much of the work on the car did you do yourself, or was most of it outsourced?

Shot, Grant. Yep, I reckon she looks a lot better with the superlites on.




Work done before I got the car was the motor, gearbox, brakes, gutting of the interior & cutting of the springs.
Outsourced:
New front bumper/spoiler/thing.
Several shoddy gearbox repairs.
Propshaft balancing.
Overhauling the DCOE's
Rewiring the fan & lights.

I did the following:
Brakes: I overhauled and installed R30 Skyline discs and calipers & overhauled the rear brakes.
front suspension: I extended the lower control arms by 20mm to get more camber, installed new ball joints and poly-bushes, fitted new front wheel bearings.
Chassis: I rebuilt the box-sections of the chassis, braced the steering box and plated the floor.
Roll-cage: I built a half-cage. (I will be converting to a full cage soon.)
Engine mountings: I modified the brackets to accept Cortina mounts.
Fuelling: Fitted side-draught carbs.
Installed a 3" harness.
Built and installed an oil catch-can.
Fitted the driver's seat correctly.

.........that's all I can think of right now. She still has a load of work needed, but given enough time I'm sure I can get her looking halfway decent.