Here's a few progress pics of my 180B project.

The latest plan, and one that won't change as I've started accumulating the bits and pieces needed, is to run a supercharged, efi L18.

I'd had my eye on this car for a long time, as it was owned by a friend of my father-in-law. He had owned it from nearly new, but unfortuately lived only 50 metres from the beach. This accounted for a bit of rust

He had passed it on to his son, who had used it for a few years before deciding to upgrade to a commodore wagon (or downgrade ?). I got a phone call one night to see if I'd like to buy it, as they wanted it to go to someone who would appreciate it.

Money was handed over, and I drove it to work for a few years before the rust started to take over and I took it off the road for restoration.

After stripping the car down, it was obvious it had taken a hit in the driver's rear 1/4. This had been replaced (badly), but not rustproofed after replacement , leading to massive rust probs in this area.

It had also taken hits on both front corners, though not as badly.

_________________
1970 ex Group A Rally P510
1971 P510
1972 180B SSS
1965 SP310 Fairlady
1966 SP311 Fairlady

More rust shots

Plus the old motor on its way out. Spot the 1600's in the forst and last shots

_________________
1970 ex Group A Rally P510
1971 P510
1972 180B SSS
1965 SP310 Fairlady
1966 SP311 Fairlady

First corner of the car finished

_________________
1970 ex Group A Rally P510
1971 P510
1972 180B SSS
1965 SP310 Fairlady
1966 SP311 Fairlady

After plenty of paint stripper, wire wheels and the odd night in the shed, its starting to look nice and shiny

The complete engine bay has been stripped to bare metal and had all extraneous holes filled. Windscreen washer bottle mounting bracket has been removed as this is where the Subaru water-to-air intercooler will be mounted.

_________________
1970 ex Group A Rally P510
1971 P510
1972 180B SSS
1965 SP310 Fairlady
1966 SP311 Fairlady

Whole front half of the shell just about finished .

Pity the worst rust is in the back half

The rotisserie has been an invaluable addition to the project. It did take me two months to build though Main reason it took so long was that all welding was done with oxy.

And finally, all the good bits in the second pic will be going onto the original motor in the third pic after its fully rebuilt.

_________________
1970 ex Group A Rally P510
1971 P510
1972 180B SSS
1965 SP310 Fairlady
1966 SP311 Fairlady

awesome stuff there Dave! love seeing resto's done on oldschool cars to this extent, especially when its a datto! keep it up mate

Looking good Dave

had some pretty bad cancer in there

should be schmick when its all done

_________________
1971 Datsun P510 SR20DET 276 rwkW
2005 Mercedes AMG E55 350 kW
1969 Datsun P510 L20B EFI 95 rwkW
1975 Ford XB Fairmont GS Wagon 179rwhp
1980 Escort Van SR20DET unfinished
2002 Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa 185hp

Good to see another early model 180b being saved. You would have found my old shell that I got towed invaluable for your rust repairs dave.

If I knew at the time I would have let you know or cut out the bits you required

Making progress (slowly )

So far the car is almost completely rust-free and completely stripped back to bare metal from the radiator support to near the rear wheels, both inside and out. This is all coated in POR-15 rust preventative paint and primer.

Only exception is the bit of the radiator support panel that runs underneath the radiator. This has rust, but I may need to open it up to alter where the brackets for the castor rods bolts on. Won't know till I sort out the 200B x-member, so I'm leaving it till then.

_________________
1970 ex Group A Rally P510
1971 P510
1972 180B SSS
1965 SP310 Fairlady
1966 SP311 Fairlady

Nice and clean inside and out

All surfaces have been stripped back to bare metal, then painted with POR-15 rust preventative paint. This will be covered in primer, then topcoat.

I switched from the black POR-15 I was using inside the car to grey on the underneath as I thought it would be less obvious if the topcoat chipped and the rustproofing paint showed through.

The underside will be filled where neccessary, smoothed, then painted the same silver as the rest of the car. Instead of normal clearcoat, I'll be using another product from the POR-15 range - an extra hard, extra glossy clear coat to hopefully reduce stonechips.

_________________
1970 ex Group A Rally P510
1971 P510
1972 180B SSS
1965 SP310 Fairlady
1966 SP311 Fairlady

Nice work dave, i'm glad mine dosen't have rust to that extent

keep the pics coming

cheers

_________________
Ne one can restore a car it takes a real man to chop it I am able to do general fabrication work mild steel, stainess steel, rust repair patches, catch cans etc. pm or email me at cording_da_revhead@hotmail.com

Moved onto the bolt-on panels for a bit of a change.

All the front end panels have been stripped and are ready for repair / filling (except for the bonnet - anyone in the Sydney / Newcastle area got one they will part with ???)

I've never been a fan of the plastic blob things that fill the holes in the tops of the guards where the Jap-style mirrors would go, so I've welded these up.

The left hand guard has pretty bad rust, but I've found rust repair sections available from Rare Spares. Made to order with a 3 week wait, but for $40 its easier than fabricating my own from scratch.

_________________
1970 ex Group A Rally P510
1971 P510
1972 180B SSS
1965 SP310 Fairlady
1966 SP311 Fairlady

Next thing to tackle - the spare wheel well.

And a gratuitous shot of the new wheels - an eBay special at $280 for the wheels (brand new ), with the second hand tyres I've had for a while mounted up on one wheel. Pity it's still going to be a long time before the car's back on its wheels

_________________
1970 ex Group A Rally P510
1971 P510
1972 180B SSS
1965 SP310 Fairlady
1966 SP311 Fairlady

Dave..

Your doing an awesome job on your SSS mate.
Next resto I undertake will be using the patent pending "Dave" resto process.

I should have done my 1600 resto like your doing now.

Keep the pics rolling in mate.

Dave M

_________________
1975 P610/180B SSS ex PRC3 Rally car (parts car)
1974 P610/180B SSS (parts car)
1972 P510/1600 Currently sitting untouched
1977 P610/180B Wagon Daily Driver

Aww, gosh, thanks

I do tend to get carried away with things. The SSS was only supposed to be a "practice" project to perfect my technique for the "REAL" project - a 1600.

The more I do on the SSS though, the more I'm liking the lines of the coupe. I know its sacrilege, but I'd even go so far as to say its a more attractive looking car than a 1600

_________________
1970 ex Group A Rally P510
1971 P510
1972 180B SSS
1965 SP310 Fairlady
1966 SP311 Fairlady