1970's Nissan Bluebird SSS Coupe

Saw this in Southampton as I was driving into work this morning. It should never be allowed on the road, as I nearly drove into the back of the car in front due to me staring at it so long. Gorgeous!

Brilliant



Me too, Oct/Nov I'll be back in the UK and hopefully will be able to start work on it.

Sounds good to me.

It's certainly looking a bit sorry. And so am I, lol. In fact, I'm very sorry. I was tasked by the inestimable Mr Wanger to stop by the Datsun's current lurking place and get some decent photos of it. Especially since the poor guy has never seen it in the flesh and must be frustrated as hell with not being able to get to grips with it. I was meant to get up there in August but I had catastrophic man flu of the face and couldn't get off my death bed. So the next attempt was yesterday. Again, I kinda failed. Due to a day spent having to help do this



a fairly long way away just outside London village, by the time we got back to the lair of the Datto it was the middle of the night. So there was little point in pushing it out of the garage as then it'd be dark. And fluorescent lights may be the anathema of good photography but at least they're ...well, light, really. So I got 50% of my brief correct; I did finally get there to take some photos but most of them are really shatulatory So I have some rubbish photos but I'm not convinced they add much to the ones already sourced and scattered through this thread. Naturally this won't stop me from putting them up anyway...









In actual fact, given that the car's been stood neglected for quite a long time and then subjected the rigours of being abandoned on docks for months and stuffed into a shipping container across who knows how rough a sea, the bodywork is in surprisingly straight order. The bubble arches seem of a very high quality, they're not flexi Blue Peter tat;



The fibreglass bonnet and boot are sturdy as well, but very lightweight. In fact, my overall impression is that this car was definitely put together by someone who knew what they were doing. It's clearly a race car and stuff has been done because it has to be done, not really because it had to look nice and the functionality has definitely overriden the aesthetics in some areas. But then, that's as appealing to many of us as show-winning prettiness.

One of the exceptions to this is the rear tow hitch, that seems to have been attached to some bodywork that was made from stilton. Needs a bit of remedial work here. Arguably a tow loop you can't tow on without pulling the car into the shape of a pretzel is about as much use as norks on the Pope...



...but examples of "becos race car" form over function come in the shape of the external isolator



and the fuel system breather



Dashboard also has a stark functionality about it. As does the entire interior, for that matter. One seat floor-mounted, a roll cage and two fire extinguishers. Hmmmm... two fire extinguishers . Did the previous owner know something we don't?



Internal isolator by Plumb-base. Hilarious all-Japanese heiroglyphics on the fusebox should make deciphering what's left of the electrical system a good laugh



Tacho by Toyota Race Developments via Nippon Denso. If this puppy revs out to the 11k limit I'll be mightily impressed, lol



Unfortunately, the li'l Datto's been stuck in a garage where building work's been happening so it's pretty grimy at the moment. I reckon it'll be needing new roundels and numbers at the very least, what neglect and the journey over hasn't destroyed doesn't look too pretty despite the shipping agent's best efforts to tape it down and save what's left. Crane flies will be evicted shortly



lol. Make - Datsun. Name - Unknown



The fuel system looks pretty much industrial strength and reassuringly has FIA approval rating. Cell pretty much fills the boot



I'm guessing this bloated thing is the pump, and it presumably has a lift pump in the tank. It was too dark to really get inside for a look



That signature on the roof; builder/drivers initials? The fabled Mr Obata?



The builder was evidently proud enough of the SSS badges that they're the only frippery, the only non-essential item that remains



I have to confess to little idea about antique Datsun engines so I'm not even going to offer an opinion on what this lump is. Axcept that even to my untutored eyes there seems to be some bits missing...





The exhaust was apparently dragged off in transit, sadly. Might be salvageable, didn't really get a chance to inspect it. No sign of an intake manifold or any means of carburation, sadly. What I can spot however, is adjustable camber top-mounts and plenty of neat engineering touches. And, rarely, an external-mount oil cooler (Earls, no less) that's actually plumbed into an engine. Rare in these days of scene points over function





The smell of rodent is alarmingly strong in the engine bay. They clearly had a thriving colony in this car at one point. Fortunately, there's not much in the way of interior for them to muller, but I'd be checking the wiring in the engine room quite carefully were it me!



VIN number might take quite a bit of deciphering, too. This is not so much detective work as it is archeology!



Two different flavours of wheel; miss-matched pairs front and back. No idea what either are. The front ones I managed a pic of at least. The rears are those old-skool SSRs or whatever that are a bit like Stratos coffin-spokes



and there seems to also be a spare set of wheels with Goodyear centre caps and some very scary old matching tyres. No idea what they are either, mind. Also the Yokohama slicks on the actual car are pretty terrifying. I wouldn't put them on a go-kart myself, but I;m sure they won't stop Mr Wanger from caning it around the estates as soon as he's back from le Francais



and sorry to say, that's alls I got. I would have taken more but it was already a 14 hour day and I still had a good hours' drive home. Besides, the False Widows were coming out with murder on their minds and I'm so acutely arachnaphobic even posting this photo has my palms sweating. Getting close enough to actually shoot it was an act of bravery equal to rolling your old chap in spam, flopping it through the bars to the Staffie pen at Battersea Dog's Home and wondering "are they lickers or biters?"




Hope some of those awful attempts at photos strike a chord. I promise I'll do better next time. And maybe even give it a wash first. The car, dammit. Although if I know Randy, he'll like it just the way it is

I know a guy that has a garage full of old Mazda's... He has a few he'd sell too. Some rx2 projects. Nothing that bad. He's about an hour outside Frankfurt.

Thank you luckyseven. Very much appreciated.

I can fill in some blanks, I've been doing my home work.

The engine was originally an L18, I doubt it would ever rev to 11500rpm but, with the right modifications should rev to Honda limits, I can't wait to take it apart and see whats been done/broken.

The fuse box is easily translated as the USDM Datsun 510 had the same fuse box in English. But apart from the lights and wipers, nothing else original has been kept, I think it was run without rad fans or and alternator. #BecauseRaceCar

The car has been painted a few times and the exporter couldn't see the chassis number so he had to sand it back which is why it looks so bad. The printed plate had been painted over too.

Glad to hear the body work isn't that bad, I know of a few areas of concern, but more cosmetic than structural so I should be okay for a while.

The front wheels are more Toyota parts, they are TRD Tosco wheels, rather popular on old Nissans in Japan for some reason. Rear ones are indeed SSR MK3, the other set of spare wheels are SSR MK1.

What amazes me while researching is that you can still buy parts for this new, not like owning an old Mazda! I can get a new intake manifold, carbs, exhaust manifold and exhaust from Nissan, with bolts and gaskets. Not that I'll be using Nissan parts. New bushes, no problem, healthy aftermarket scene for them in Japan, Australasia and North America.

What is this false widow you speak of? We don't get spiders up here, they don't like the snow.

Thanks again, shall arrange to meet once I'm back in the motherland, maybe FDUK xmas meal or something? ;-) Can I post your pictures on other forums please?

Those dusty photos just make it more exciting, thanks.

I hope the aged race stickers stay as they are rather than replaced though, even if extra temporary ones are added if required for track days.

I can't tell what block that is from the pics but that head looks like it might have had some work done on the ports. 510 SSS heads have inlet bigger ports than the later SSS engines and are a different casting. They have "219" cast into the front of the head at the bottom right as you look at it from the front of the car.

W53 is usually found on A10s and later models. It doesn't make much difference what head it is if it's been worked TBH. The only really significantly different heads are the small chamber 210s and open chamber U67s. Anything else is fine for L16/L18. I would wager it is an L18 as you say. I have an L18 in the shed as well as an L16 and L14 so if you need some decent pics to compare your block to let me know.