Restoring a 1968 Datsun 510 Sedan – Part 16

With all the major events of 2013 in the books, the fall is a great time in AZ to really crank out a lot of work on the Datsuns – except that it’s also the best time of year to DRIVE them!

So, we’re not getting in over our heads this year – One car out of commission at a time, so that we can drive the others when it’s cool outside.

Aside from the 510’s bent hood and the busted cowl panel, a couple things had been bugging me about the finished product. The PPG HotRod Black paint looked great, but cleaning it was a pain. Non-gloss paints are porous, and “soak up” whatever gets on them. Then, when you try and wash them, you’re dealing with hard water spots, road grime stains, bird dropping residue, and even fingerprint oils. It’s a challenge for all hot rodders, but most cars with flat or satin paint have no real concern for “cleanliness.”

Aside from that, I never have been real happy with the color of the stripes, or the wheels, for that matter – They never really matched, and neither was the true gold color I envisioned. The wheels were too pale, and the stripes had a greenish cast to them.

I thought, “Well, let’s just shoot a couple coats of clear over it.” After consulting with Greg and Chuck (my good friends who run Sakura Garage), they educated me on why that wouldn’t work. However, they floated a few ideas that sounded great. I was already planning to let them handle the hood and cowl repairs, so now they’d just be spending a little more time with the car.

With that decision out of the way, she was off to the east side for a couple weeks. I’d periodically pop in and shoot some pics:

While the 510 is over at Sakura Garage getting her appearance transformed (yet again), I set out to find the two pieces that have eluded me thus far – an ashtray, and a functional speedometer.

Like a lot of other pieces on the ’68 510, the ashtray is a one-year-only piece, and hard to find. The speedometer is also exclusive to the ’68, with a horizontal sweep design. Mine had a broken needle, and disassembly confirmed that it isn’t easily serviceable.

We’ll get together once she comes out of the paint shop. Ready to see the final results?

I hope you guys can stand one more page of this… Here you go: 510 Restoration – Part 17 (The End)