PM sent to liitle dark one about measuring up the vanette

I spoke to QLD transport today about a few things, they said the following:-

spring leaf rear would need to stay spring leaf rear. cannot change to trailing link. :(

The front suspension can be fairly heavily modified if I cannot get parts anymore e.g. balljoints which sound like they are getting hard to get. This means I can remover the transverse leaf and change the suspension to
upper and lower link suspension with a coilover type shockabsorber most likely, similar to what they do on westfields,etc. But would need to get parts from a donor car, which I don't thin should be to hard to find possibly.

As for roll cages they say they are going to most likelt allow a 4 point cage but no longer allow 6 point cages in cars. Probalby can live with that.

Was also told that I may be able to go larger in the rolling diameter if I cannot get the existing brake parts for the car as standard and need to
put larger disks on it for it to work. One win I guess means I may be able to go to 14's or 15's yet :)

Was also told that QLd transport are right onto people trying to tub there cars in the rear and shifting chassis rails in and that they actually measure them now to make sure they haven't been moved, bummer cause there aint much room under there standard :(

Anyways with all the stuff that is going on on QLD transport at the moment I am going to make sure I get it all in writing before I start.
Was given the name and number of an engineer in brisbane so will talk to him about it. Sound like I will need to draw autocad plans though for QLD transport.

What measurements do you need from the vanette? I have one at home I was gonna do some stuff with, mainly kicking it to keep the bugs out.

Its cool to feel the way you do.
But a body mod and a disliked tattoo can both be fixed with an angle grinder.
If we can modify a panel, Why can it not be restored.
A rusted panel can be cut and restored to look original, Why cant a modified panel?
It might take time and skill, but if you love the datsun you will do it.

Having said that - if you dont have the confidence or determination - maybe think hard about it. I personally have the thought that with the things I do, If I stuff them up, I simply learn to repair it. If you scared to go in the water and never attempt to - you never gonna know what its like.

Steve, i understand what your are saying, but in my opinion, we should transform and improve our little toys, but with transformations that we can go back again.

This is like tatoos, do you have any? you have to think very well about the tattoo you gonna do, or youl regret some time later.

My datsun is part of me.



Or perhaps i do too mutch value to cars.

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Exactly. For this reason we build our cars the way we ourselves like them.
Your car is not my car. So you should not build it for me. We may like the same style but you should be building your car so you enjoy it regardless of what I think.
Exactly how many datsuns on this site are actually stock, just the way Nissan made them?
Where do you draw the line to say a body mod is any different to an engine change?


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Your opinion is respected, But which one is it? Datsun1200.com ideal or Your own opinion?

-i dont agree with this mod, if you want a larger car, why you dont buy another model? a larger model.



And to all who thinks that this is just a car.
This site was created to all who like datsuns, not for who like to destroy them.
And if after all that transformations , the car doesnt approve? what to do with it ? TRASH with it????

This is not the datsun1200.com ideal.

But this is just my opinion.

Am

For those who know of Mark Ashford "Ashford racing" who owns the 7 second nissan s14 drag car with the FJ20 in it well he is going to help me build the motor he also has flowed bens heads I belive for his a15 motor. Mark said he can probably get me 300Kw at the wheels so you can under stand why I want to change the rear diff and possibly go to a vanette front I have found that the tie rod ends on the vannette front are the same model as the
1600's so it might be a lot stronger front end but I have to try and find vanette in brisbane I can measure up which I haven't had much luck in. I was also told on Saturday that a friend of mine thinks that the vanette has fibreglass leaf springs which are lighter also and have better handling characteristics. Just need to find out widths etc of the vanette front end. Anyway I will be happy to keep everyone up to date once the project starts early next month hopefully.

As for the roll cage well it has to be steel for roadworthy in QLD they also can only be bolt in cages not welded. Last cage I built in a cams approved/ QLD transport approved car we made a large plate on the floor panels which the cage was bolted to and then there was stitch welds around the twin 8mm plates which helped hold them together we got away with doing it this way because the stitched tack welds are only to hold the cage while it was bolted and could easily be ground off to remove the cage. Obviously all the stitch welds are a lot stonger than the bolts through the plates though :)
the cage I am looking at putting in it will be a 10 or 12 point cage so the body will not move and rego will be 2 seater only as you will never be able to get to the back seats. the mandatory side intrusion bars will be made removable for department of transport but will be used at any motorkana, hill climb, drifting or drag racing event. roll cage will also go to major suspension parts (shocks) or as close as legal and practical I want to build this as a all round car.

The reason I want to make it wider is that I have been told they are very unstable and have a good oportunity at rolling, I do not want to build a car that will want to roll when I put it sideways at 100+ clicks around a corner. Especially if I am sinking $20K+ in it

I figure its a rare car and I want people to see it and say that is insane :)

So if anyone has a vannette out there and a tape measure :) can I have some dimensions

As for wheel sizing I want low profile tires to stop some body roll and I figure a 15" tyre on the back you would see rim only and no tyre in a 12" guard which always looks tough on a small car, plus the bigger the tyre the more rubber on the road.

If you have the ability to do the widening of the front and rear guards like say an old Audi Quattro I think it would look fantastic, the wide edge right down the side at top of the door height really lends itself to this.

I have often thought about it but its beyond my metal working capabilities.

Those brakes are probably overkill,I have always gone the smaller lighter faster route, but if its getting a CA18 transplant it should have plenty of power to spare for whatever weight you care to add.

Its everyones dream to build the ultimate Datsun, I say go get em ,I cant wait to see it.

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Like I said;
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A stub axle is an axle, is it not?
Therefore if you change the stub axle the wheel track limit is like I previously stated.
A hub is not and axle, it is fitted to an axle.
Example - Dattoman_1000's brake swap. Although good as it is, it doesnt meet the DOT requirements for increased wheel track.
It is to do with the loads applied to the components. If you increase the wheel track by just hubs or wheels, it will place more load on the bearings and balljoints. But if you increase wheel track with another axle from a bigger heavier vehicle, the axle components will be within there tested load handleing range.

Its not that hard to understand if you read it for what it says. No guidelines are set on visual ergonomics. They are all set based on engineering principals.


I do believe there is a pic located in the photo album somewhere, of a 1000 engine bay showing its had 1200 strut towers fitted.

Well...I've had time to cool down now after hearing about your plans to widen your kb10 body!

I'm still of the opinion that the original setup is brilliant, simple and easy to maintain. However, if your dead-set on widening it, then good luck to you. I've never heard of the vanette front suspension swap. What section is wider? Is it then the arms, the cross member or both. The spring must be. Nowing datsun, they probably used many shared components!

The panel work shouldn't add too much I guess. The diff, motor and gearbox will add a quite a bit though. If your doing any sort of hill climb or circuit work then a steel cage will be needed.