LS1S12, is that you Lee? I'm the other Leigh... anyway as for the randy thing i don't spend my time on the net shitcanning him! I have plenty of experience with randy and used to go there years ago a lot. While his work may be solid and his prices are fair i'm not arguing about that but i feel that the experiences shared aren't real or at least are biased because there is a culture of only putting up postive responses.

If someone says they are new to datsuns and asks a question its almost a given that ryan1600 will be the first poster giving the details of the nissco workshop along with the phone number. This will follow with other people saying that they also endorse randy and his work. Nobody says - constructively - that they have not had such an experience and so randy seems, to this new person to be the man to go to. I just shared my experience and so did someone else. It fixes the bias up a little. i'd rather be fair to datsun owners

the fact that randy doesn't 'waste his time' on the net doesn't mean he won't shitcan people - he just does it from his shop to people who walk in. I used to think of him as a friend now i won't walk in his shop. I haven't canned anything about his work on this public forum, but there shouldn't be anything wrong if i did based upon a reason. he has spent many a time making sure people know how allegedly uncapable i am of modifying and playing around with my datsun. I haven't seen the guy for years but i bet if you asked him what he thought about my car (not that he's seen it) you'd need to take a seat and get comfy. Or ask him about baz, another respected datsun parts provider, or CM510 a guy who races and develops and proves his mods with the times he produces. As stated in my above post, i don't like the guy and i shared my experience. But i guess for the new datsun owner wanting work done there ain't many datsun specific workshops left!

There is a wealth of knowledge on this site from the many people who have vast experience with datsuns over a long period of time, it'd be silly to have a site that you read the info and advice from but noone ever challenges it if it was wrong?

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LAGWAGON gracefully retired... LAG 510 - the next generation

In my opinion there should be nothing wrong with having your own say on a forum such as this. We all should give our opinion be it positive or negative, and those that want to take it with a grain of salt can do so. It would be unfair to hide your negative opinions, as all this achieves is an inaccurate portrayal of the matter.
No one here questioned Randy's abilities, or even mentioned pricing. The fact is that if you ask me, Randy just hasn't played his cards too well. In a small Vic Datsun community, it doesn't pay to backstab people. It only gets back to them and then creates negative opinions.
Now i'm not one to 'rave and rant about how good my car is' and nor do i 'think i know better' - what its all about to me and to most Datsun drivers i know is doing what I want to do with my car and enjoying both the process and also driving it. It shouldn't be about doing things a certain way or using a certain product - at the end of the day its your own car and can do what you want with it.
This was never about making people believe or agree with my opinion, but instead trying to create an accurate portrayal for PLZB18 and other users to read. Its only fair.

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1975 Datsun 180b - EFI turbo L20b Sold

Maybe it would be better for PLZB18 to be informed about which shops are out there and he can make his own judgement on wether or not he will deal with said persons...
He asked the question "who/where" can he go for 1600 parts or advice whatever in melbourne, it was answered .....
But before he could make his own assessment, that place was knocked .....

As i said before i was there during the first few years of him owning that shop and I never heard or saw anything like that, then left the car scene due to other things in my life..

Now I have got the bug again, that was the first plcae i went to source a car and various other parts ....(and to be honest he and the boys are quite eager to give a hand for my project for what it is).

During the last three months i have dealt with other shops around melbourne/interstate chasing this or that and the response wasnt always good with them either...

(Although some shops were very helpful and i would recommend them highly for service and value)
Now if someone asks the question "has anyone tried this shop or that one", i wont chime in say yeah but they were ( insert whatever ), but if i did i would just other alternatives ......

I hate groups that just band together, and you know me (LAG510), i didnt care who was affiliated with who i was in it for the joy...
When you used to come down to the shop i would spend heaps of time with you and mark,go to your places help out for whatever...
BTW where is my Blue 1600 with twin pipe outlets...????

Blue?, c'mon mate it was green haha i think its floating around in adelaide somewhere?

Surely Randy's name would be bigger than two people's opinions. People have posted issues with maddat's gear, with datsports gear there is nothing wrong with telling of experiences. It brings a balanced argument

i'm sick of trying to find info on a forums such as nissansilvia and all it has is the one point of view about something but it turns out to be wrong. You have to sift through the crap to find the real answer. i could be the crap or a little bit of the truth but everything on the net needs to be taken as opinions and experiences of people, not necessarily fact. i didn't post anything scanalously innapropriate, and i'm happy to be known as the guy who doesn't like the the 1600 workshop due to randy if thats all that comes of it.

like you said, you take info advice and parts from lots of different sources and i reckon thats the way to build a datto.

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LAGWAGON gracefully retired... LAG 510 - the next generation

BLue /green/ black whatever i'm color blind....IT WENT TO ADELAIDE!!!!!!!

Damn that car should've stayed in vic...

As for building a datto/nissan do whats right for you....It becomes hard especially when there are fark all shops around anymore...

Be good to catch up with you soon for a drink and chat...Send me a PM one day and we'll catch up

No worries mate, you'll have to get back out and racing again. i'll see you at the dyno day if you're about

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LAGWAGON gracefully retired... LAG 510 - the next generation

So now we have discussed the whole history of Nissco, does anyone else recommend any other shops?

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1972 Datsun 1600, S14 SR20DET Engineered (204rwkW @ 17psi.)
viewtopic.php?t=6579
#SR20Datsun @SR20Datsun

Depending on what you want/need done to your car, a mechanic who is knowledgable with old cars is a good way to go.

I recently took my 200B into a Bridgestone mechanic to get tune up, when it was still fitted with the twin SUs. I have dealt with them in the past with this vehicle and they had served me well and fairly, and also been the first mechanics that didn't brake something on the car without telling me.

Unfortunately, on this occasion I wasn't as lucky, because no-one there could tune a set of twin SUs (even though they had initially told me that this would not be a problem). If you want something done to the car, such as a service and head gasket change (as I had had done there in the past) then most mechanics can do this. If you want something more specific done, such as tuning a set of twin carburettors, then that is when I would suggest you should look for a mechanic who more specialises in this.

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green200b - aka Alistair

The fleet:

Australia:
'80 200B GX - the green200b - hibernating
'81 RX-7 - 12A extend port - daily
'74 RX-2 - 13B bridgeport - cruiser

Europe:
'93 200SX - CA18DET - tourer

history ha...

Chris boland used to own it 6 years ago before Randy and he was majorly into rally...
Now the history on chris.......nah only shittin..

As for more workshops the are few and far between

Unfortunately I have no help for the Melbourne scene, but in Ballarat we have a new performance shop for mostly Datsuns and rotary or nissan engine conversions, custom fabrication etc etc

E-mail - renix_spec@hotmail.com if you wanna find out costs for anything you need done to your Datsuns. Otherwise PM me if you want more info - cos I am not 100% sure of everything he does and is best to talk one on one with you. Just one convestation with him on the phone and I am sure you will understand how much he knows about Datsuns and performance.

It's my brother so of course I get my stuff done there, but there are other very happy customers that have dealt with him in the past before he opened his own shop. As I have stated before, my brother worked for Dysons in QLD, Mazfix in QLD and Rocco's in Sydney. Really knows his stuff and has always owned Datsuns himself.

Only thing is, he is a perfectionist with his work, so if you want a cheap quick job, he may not be able to bring himself to do it lol

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71' 1600 purple with L20 (wasting away in the shed)
Nissan Stagea Dayz 1999

YES IM A CHICK

Another good workshop is Pronto Automotives in Dandenong, they are old school, and top blokes... they know their stuff..
03-97692422, good rates also...

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http://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=14169
D4TSUN
Engine Management Sytem: Screwdriver!

Alot of the old school datto men have packed up as there is no money in it for them anymore so they move on or get out of the trade. And as a mechanic of 19+ years I have found that you will rarely hear good things about a company, only the bad. And it's the bad that always sticks in the mind.

On a positive note Feral from Datrats is back from the mines and back to his old tricks again modifing the crap out of datsuns. He is a top bloke to deal with and makes some rad stuff for the old school.
http://www.datrats.com.au/

As for the Randy situation... Anyone who has seen the conversion that I have done on my car knows that it's well done. I took the oposite direction of Randy's advice. He seems a bit pre occupied with home made firework cannons to do buisness to me. He only has one mechanic at the moment and a long waiting list. Say what you want about the man but you can't say he doesn't know his datsuns.

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Some people play hard to get... I play hard to want!

haha, what other datto workshops are there?
my parents went thru three other mechanics who supposedly fixed a problem with one of their cars, went to randy, back the next day sorted... i have had many bad experiences with mechanics, but when i next have a car needing another built motor, i'll be back there.
FFS, local mechanic put a swaybar on up the wrong way, didnt go back there


and randy used to train for ultratune

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Daily: 1997 Nissan Stagea RS4(for sale) http://www.nissansilvia.com/forums/inde ... pic=394987
Weekender: 1993 Nissan Skyline GTS-T FOR SALE:(or swap for 1600+cash) http://www.nissansilvia.com/forums/inde ... pic=419344

Ryan,

They don't call themselves Datto workshops anymore. They call themselves NISSAN workshops... And there are heaps of them.

You can't use the example of taking a car to three other mechanics and then to Randy's and the problem is sorted. If you told Randy what the other mechanics did, then it saves him heaps of time diagnosing what he should be working on. Sort of makes the problem too easy.
This may/may not be the case, but you just have to be careful singing someone's praises and knocking another.
I have had some 'bad experiences' as well... Things that are MAJOR safety issues too FFS! I'm not going to share them, but needless to say, my Dad and I don't go to a particular mechanics any more and wouldn't recommend them to anyone for that matter.

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1972 Datsun 1600, S14 SR20DET Engineered (204rwkW @ 17psi.)
viewtopic.php?t=6579
#SR20Datsun @SR20Datsun

I know one!

My garage @ on emely drive narre warren!

Nah seriously there is no where to go now day but it is good to see more people trying to tackle the modifications on their Datsuns all on their own.

I try to do as much as I can but when it comes to fab work or things that would require further knowledge or equipment I dont hav I'll just pass it on to the likes of Nissco, DatSport etc.

Kudos those who try and save a penny or two.

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"You stay classy OzDat"