Andrew's 1971 Datsun 1600

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Update 6th January 2006

This car is now a completed project, with CA18DET and sweet paint - overall a very tidy and quick car. There will probably (unless I'm feeling energetic enough to do updates for the entire 12 month build in one hit) be no more progress updates for this car, but expect to see a full feature on it soon in the Readers Rides section.

Here's a sneak preview in the meantime...

Datsun 1600 CA18DET

The car mentioned in the update below, Andrew ended up buying, but unfortunately it with met an untimely end about 6 months afterwards. Click to visit the specs, updates and videos pages for his other Datsun 1600, and old-skool L18 beast.

Update 20th October 2002

Andrew is now considering buying another car for the CA18 to save the time and expense of fixing up another shell for the motor. The shell you see here may be turned into a long term race project. ;)

Update 9th July 2002

This is probably not worth a dedicated update but here's just one pic of the car up on the hoist ... waiting ... waiting ... ;)

Update 13th June 2002

Here's some pics of the shell sandblasted. This project is momentarily on hold until my 1600 is fixed.

Update 25th May 2002

Since the GTi-R has been sold we have been getting the datto ready for its conversion. Originally the plan was to install an SR20DET, but Andrew really likes my motor and is happy with the performance, so has decided to go with a CA18DET instead.

We sourced a complete 180SX front cut and the car has been stripped and sandblasted.

Update 19th February 2002

Some vids have been added to the video page.

Update 31st December 2001

The car has not really been doing much lately other than sitting in the shed and occasionally being driven around the yard, as the L18 is now in and running perfectly. We are waiting to see if we can sell the GTi-R before going to the trouble of registering it, as there would be no point in doing that if it's going to be pulled off the road soon anyway.

Good news though, Andrew recieved some new wheels for his birthday/Christmas, they are the Sigma turbo wheels you see below. The red paint has been stripped and the wheels polished, all they need now is tyres!

Update 5th November 2001

The L18 is now in and running well. We are going to put a Weber we have on the car, but it will need a rebuild first. The car is still not registered, we are waiting to see what it's future will be as it is hoped it will be our SR20DET project car, financial situation allowing. We'll keep you posted! :)

Update 26th September 2001

The L18 is in, but it turns out the head gasket needs replacing as its leaking compression between no. 2 and 3 cylinders. This is being done at the moment, but is progressing slowly as it's hard to find the time to work on it.

Update 12th September 2001

Andrew likes my Datto so much he has decided to buy his own! We picked up the car last week. It will just be a runabout for a while until my Datto is on the road, but after that there are big plans, presently undisclosed, so keep watching for updates... :)

The 1600 is pretty stock and clad in the original baby-poo brown ('honey brown', according to the documentation), the only mods being an aftermarket steering wheel. The standard L16 was VERY tired so has been replaced with the L18 from my Datto, as the pictures show. There was a rather dodgy *repair* job done on the pasenger side rear quarter which has been patched up quickly for now but will eventually be completely replaced.