I thought it was about time to begin a car diary as i am making progress on my project.

This is my first datsun although I have had many cars over the years but mainly modded them with bolt on bits n pieces and had always wanted to build a car from scratch, the way i have always wanted and learn some skills and get frustrated along the way.

I have always been influenced but the jdm style and always wanted something a bit more old school and less tech so i could get my hands dirty. This will be the final car i will build and will become my weekend toy which will eventually be handed down to my little one ( due in october this year)


The car i have chosen for my project is an 1981 datsun utility also known as a sunny truck in japan, here is a bunch of info stolen from wiki.

[B] B120 series Sunny Truck[/B]

Nissan GB121 Sunny TruckThe B120 commercial truck debuted in February 1971, based on the B110 passenger car chassis. The B120 used the same wheelbase and running gear of the Datsun 1200 sedans, coupe and wagon models. Initially it used the same stainless steel grille as the 1200 sedan, and the rectangular gauges of the Standard model B110s. Both regular (B120) and longbed (GB120) models were offered. After the 1200 car series ceased production the B120 continued. Interestingly, in certain markets the B120 was actually badged as 120Y, to correspond as part of the updated 120Y range. The B120 ute was sold in Australia until 1985. It was marketed in New Zealand during the 1980s in two trims: RoadStar and SportStar. This model was known as a bakkie in South Africa. It

congratulations and welcome to the wonderful world of japanese styling i look forward to seeing progress which hopefully turns out to be a good example of sunny goodness from the land of the rising sun.
Long bed or short?

Well here we go the first group of photos are from the carsales ad where my eyes first met the datsun, i had looked at quite a few (heaps actually) in various stages of disrepair an disbelief at some of the prices people want for and unregistered unregisterable rust bucket i felt this one would suit my needs perfectly. It had been painted in primer and the guy told me it had no more rust, i didnt believe a word he had said but it did have a few brand new panels and a tonne of spares so i low balled him to a price well below what he wanted but what i was willing to pay - and he refused...... rang me back in 15mins and it was mine...




pix of it in his backyard, yep thats a battery lead he had run because he had cut the battery tray out of the engine bay and was jump starting it all the time????




and an awesome interior shot!!! note the cracked dash :)






looks like i dug myself a massive hole doesnt it?




thats my mate sean who went out west with me to pick it up.cheers mate.



Once i got it home i was able to start stripping the paint from the car, all of it!!!!
photos to come/ stay tuned

here are a few more pics and progress. here are a few of the beast when i got it home, give you a better idea of its condition.










a few extra parts in the back like chrome bumper, trims and stone gaurd which is good because the one on the car had a dint in it...

My plans where to strip the car back to bare metal so i could see exactly what i was working with, you may or may not be able to see it from the pics but it seemed like there was alot of bog over the surface of the vehicle. A long process but it would enable me to see what rust there was and prep the body properly so i will not have to repaint the car down the track when rust bubbles pop up again etc.





I started sanding, using sanding blocks, and an electric sander to start braking down the primer coat

Quote:

cheers that was quick, btw its a short bed.

started using paint stripper and a plastic wheel because as you can see from some of the pics the car seemed to be sculpted from bog - and it was my job to get to the bottom of it all to see what i was working with.

....














^^^^ this just shows the process of paint stripper (under glad wrap because it works faster and makes clean up easier) and then working with the plastic wheel to strip the remainder of paint from the panel. There were many layers and this process had to be done many times to get rid of it all.

Below are just some of the shonky repairs that were done and covered up under bog for me to discover.

mmm tasty







this fine craftmanship was found on both side of the car, lucky me.

updates soon

Time to start on the rear quarters, big job, lots of bog and rust etc in these, in some parts up to an inch thick :(






other side

After the car treating me so nicely with is silky smooth body work i decided to treat the project to some toys..... in this pic above is, new tailgate handles, a factory radio i was able to find, standard carby hat, an original steering wheel, a set of a-series extractors, a coupe dash with factory tacho, a metal grill which will need all the black stripped off it and my favourite - a cusco strut brace for some jdm goodness!!!!

started on the inside of the tray, one of the most trickiest spots to do...hated it. here are some pics of the progress!

Also picked up a set of "vintage" ENKEI sport comp wheels for the beast, need a sandblast and repaint before even thinkin of using them. Im not really sure i like them but they were kinda cheap and are era specific ( they were produced between 82-85 by enkei japan).




I still have my dream wheels in mind and until them these MIGHT find there way on the car?