Datsun 1600 Special

[Doraemon]

Fuse box is fine It's been ultrasonic cleaned etc.. The two lights per side take together about 10 Amps. And the fuse is rated for 10 Amps and it it is literally glowing like a very dim bulb. You can see it on the picture. Need a 12 Amp fuse.

[Stu]

Great looking headlight relay harness. Looks like it is working well. The H4/H1 bulbs are so much nicer than the sealed beams.

Nice bender too.

[datzenmike]

Fuse should blow before getting hot. That's a bad contact causing resistance sort of like how a toaster works. Fix before the heat takes the temper out of the clips that grip the fuse then they never work right. Mike, I give them the Martha Stewart treatment, I wash in soapy water to remove any grease then use Real Remon juice and table salt scrub with tooth brush (never throw old ones away) soak over night.

[eastbaysolo_73]

sweet build keep after it.

[BrandonS]

Your work looks very nice; well have to meet up once these COVID border walls come down and our cars are both on the street.

[Doraemon]

Last late summer I had enough of all the working on the car and I just wanted to drive it again after all those years. And when I drove the 510 of the fellow Dutch member here also didn't help

Did some further metal works on critical points which need to be done to get the MOT. Slammed on the fenders, bumpers and exhaust and went for the MOT. One failure was that one side rear brake didn't work. Drove back to home, fixed up the stuck brake and within a hour I was back on the MOT station and it passed! Could drive around a bit before summer was over and oh boy it feels great to drive the car again!

Autumn and winter I didn't do anything on the car. I just had enough of fixing stuff all the time in and around the house and our cars.

Spring is coming slowly and there was a great sunny day. Wanted to start up the Datsun but without any luck.. Dead battery. Went to the wreckers and got my self a used battery for 20 euro's. Back home I used the battery tester and it showed 100%! Brand new! Winner! I never actually checked the charging voltage of the alternator. But after I measured it I found it was way too high about 15 something volts. Have to set the regulator or maybe will convert it to a modern one.

Slowly getting the joy back of working on the car. Still have some cool GReddy gauges laying around which I want to use in this car. I didn't want to ruin the radio bezel to put in the gauges and I actually want to tuck in an old Datsun radio. After watching an amazing British sheet metal worker ( Trev's Blog on youtube ) got me thinking that I should do something with metal for the gauges.

I started with a piece of board and used a router to smoothen the edges. Hammer time!

The GReddy gauges in the pictures will not be used.. Since I will use other GReddy Black faced Oil Temp and Pressure.

IMG_20220217_214446254.jpeg (409.79 KiB) Viewed 1537 times

IMG_20220308_175936797.jpeg (332.84 KiB) Viewed 1537 times

IMG_20220308_205234687.jpeg (303.95 KiB) Viewed 1537 times

IMG_20220308_205250560.jpeg (299.98 KiB) Viewed 1537 times

IMG_20220308_205256641.jpeg (299.86 KiB) Viewed 1537 times

IMG_20220308_204143707.jpeg (376.65 KiB) Viewed 1537 times

IMG_20220308_204501829.jpeg (322.15 KiB) Viewed 1537 times

[Doraemon]

Started with a plain piece of metal sheet and fold it in the same angle as the rocker panel. Hammering grinding cutting welding bit by bit until I got the correct form and weld it in. Also wanted to preserve the OEM metal overlapping line which worked out great. Finished it with a layer of zinc coating for a temporary protection.

IMG_20210605_125230311.jpeg (317.7 KiB) Viewed 1499 times

IMG_20210605_163605465.jpeg (433.15 KiB) Viewed 1499 times

IMG_20210605_170859301.jpeg (335.71 KiB) Viewed 1499 times

IMG_20210605_174719388.jpeg (345.21 KiB) Viewed 1499 times

IMG_20210605_174726800.jpeg (348.01 KiB) Viewed 1499 times

IMG_20210605_205409844.jpeg (312.47 KiB) Viewed 1499 times

IMG_20210605_205703150.jpeg (334.58 KiB) Viewed 1499 times

IMG_20210605_205720454.jpeg (371.16 KiB) Viewed 1499 times

[WxMan]

Nice work! That looks like it took a lot of time and patience.

[510rob]

that looks great

[Doraemon]

Nice work! That looks like it took a lot of time and patience.

Thanks! Yes it takes a lot of time especially for a beginner metal sheet work. Not only the work it self but all those hours watching youtube to learn how to do it as well.

Day before yesterday I painted the gauge cluster with 2k Epoxy and today I sprayed the VTH wrinkle plus paint. Almost the same finish as the Datsun plastic dashboard parts.

Can't wait to mount it in the car.

IMG_20220312_104045715.jpeg (263.38 KiB) Viewed 1459 times

IMG_20220312_114753472.jpeg (405.21 KiB) Viewed 1459 times

[ostaylor]

Good progress and excellent work - congratulations.

Glad to hear it's starting to warm up in the Netherlands... I'm going to Amsterdam in early April and hoping to spend a little extra time there.

[Doraemon]

Good progress and excellent work - congratulations.

Glad to hear it's starting to warm up in the Netherlands... I'm going to Amsterdam in early April and hoping to spend a little extra time there.

If you want we can meet up

[ostaylor]

If you want we can meet up

Just finalizing plans... We will be staying outside Amsterdam April 1 to 5 (likely Haarlem) as a base for day trips. Will PM you once we have a bit more of a plan.

[Doraemon]

If you want we can meet up

Just finalizing plans... We will be staying outside Amsterdam April 1 to 5 (likely Haarlem) as a base for day trips. Will PM you once we have a bit more of a plan.

Haarlem is nice! Sure let me know. I'm 1 hour drive SE from Haarlem.

[Doraemon]

After letting the paint to cure couple of days I mounted the gauge cluster. Fitted the sensors in the oil sandwich plate and finishing the wiring. It is now finished! I'm very pleased with the result and the gauge background light color fits the Datsun original background light. Only the Datsun light is a bit more dim but fine for me.

IMG_20220317_200848901.jpeg (380.63 KiB) Viewed 1341 times

IMG_20220317_200916246.jpeg (203.46 KiB) Viewed 1341 times