1981 Datsun 240K GT - T-bar

[Datsun4Life]

Here are some pictures of my 240kGT. It's early days yet...

The story so far - it begins.

I've had this car since about 2000, when I bought it off a guy who used to be a Datsun mechanic, and had owned the car since it was about 3 years old. He'd maintained it meticulously - every filter and belt has a sticker next to it with the date and mileage when it was changed. I was a student at the time, and I ran it as my main car for a couple of years - including a 3000 mile round trip to Austria.

I moved away for work about 5 years ago, and it's been stored in various places since. It was getting a bit tatty a couple of years ago, so I started working on it, but I didn't have a garage, or much time so it went back to 'The barn'.

I've finally got myself a house with a garage, and it's almost time to start on the car...

So here it is:











The car is pretty much a standard late model C210 240kGT. The first owner had an aftermarket T-Bar roof fitted. The second owner didn't like the wind in his hair (or water in his ear) so he sealed it up with some black sticky stuff. It's opening again now, but also leaking again...

One of the rear indicator lenses was broken, but I've managed to get some reversing light lenses to go in place of both sides (Thanks spottedlaurel)...

What's next?

Strip it down
Stop the rot
Add some bracing (The T-bar roof doesn't help the rigidity),
Get it painted (I'm thinking powder blue with a black bonnet)
Change the front to twin round headlights (Oblong ones make it look like a bluebird..)
Fit some suitable wheels

How does that sound Datsun Fans?

Don't expect rapid progress - I've got a kitchen and bathroom to fit too...

[Hirst]

Hey, I like the oblong headlights! Keep them on for dull-cred! T-bar roof is definitely a weird one though, have to wonder about the rigidity as you say! Maybe you could get hold of an entire roof and plop it on.

[michiel]

iiiiinteresting! no slamming?

[street]

Thats a honey! Wicked looking car, like yourplans for it too.
I like the oblong lights, but i'd have to see the round headlight front end to be sure... I suppose the round lights will look a bit more sporty and in keeping with the T-top and sporty body shape, but either way, it's a cool looking motor
Welcome to RR!

[Hirst]

Right, here's my feeble attempt to persuade you to keep those headlights:



Also get those mirrors. And respray in beige or brown or something a bit mad. Go onnnnn.

[Datsun4Life]

I think it'll need to lose an inch or two to look right, but I don't know if the body rigidity is up to it yet... I'll judge how low to go based on how much I can improve it. Fortunately the one thing I do know a bit about is body-in-white structures, so I've got a few ideas.

It doesn't look as much like a roller skate as it could - I've found a photo from the early days before the rust started bubbling though - also shows the side profile a little better.

[lae]

datsun4life said:

The key to improving the rigidity is to get some extra depth on those sills

My main worry is welding onto closed box sections - once the paint has burned off inside, how do I stop of from rusting?

1. Can't you improve the stiffness of the T-bar roof too? That would help

2. Drill a hole, paint the raw edges and take out the metal shavings, waxoyl inject the inside of the box section, then stop the hole with a little rubber bung

[77liftback]

Very nice.
I vote for the twin round headlights, much better looking imho.
T-bar roof is interesting and will be cool when you get the strength issue sorted.
Do you know much about the conversion ? what the panels are off ? a 280 or 300ZX maybe ?
Also, for ultimate cool you could go for JDM rear lights

[Patina]

datsun4life said:

Don't expect rapid progress - I've got a kitchen and bathroom to fit too...

I dunno where your planning the kitchen to be, but I assume the bathroom will be in the boot?? Hehe..... sorry..... couldn't help myself ;D


Now here's something you don't see everyday. You certainly are doing your homework too, which is to be commended.

My opinion - the T-Top conversion rules...... makes your car rare as hell, if not a one-off

Also...... go the round headlights........ I reckon they will definately look right with the finished product.

[spottedlaurel]

Good to hear about some progress on this. I would vote round headlights, and I’ve actually supplied a grille, light surrounds and brackets to carry out the swap, but our Euro-spec ones look really gormless as they’re flush with the bonnet edge, not recessed like non-Euro cars (which is what I swapped into mine). Therefore, I’m tempted to say stick with rectangular. Also, don’t know if bumper arrangement is slightly different and might not sit right?

Whatever you decide, good luck with it!

[xbo11ox]

This T-Bar conversion is interesting, sounds a bit alarming that the car is sagging when you open the doors though. I wouldn't go too fast over a hump back bridge!

As for strengthening the sills, thats OK but surely reinforcing the roof is whats required? The T-Bar means you have lost the two main front-to rear structural members from the roof, i'd be looking at making some kind of 'H' shaped reinforcement, with one leg of the H along the windscreen top and the other along the top of the rear screen, to give that strength back. Have you had the headlining out? be very interesting to see what reinforcing (if any) was put in during the conversion.

[Datsun4Life]

I quite like the T-Bar roof, I used to have the roof off all the time when it was my daily driver... Ahh, the glory days...

I'm not sure where the roof is from, it seems to match the shape of the roof pretty well. It says 'Hurst Hatch' on the panel. I've had the headlining out a while ago, and there's nothing other than the frame around the hole to add strenght - scary. I think the C210 was a relatively stiff car in it's time, and being pillarless, much of the strength is in the sills. I think adding strength to the roof will be difficult, as there's not much to start from, and the weight of added metal will be at the top of the car, affecting the roll centre.

A small increase in sill depth will give a significant increase in rigidity. I think my plan should make the car more rigid than a n original body. I need to get hold of some suitable material - it needs to be the stiffest I can actually beat into shape. Modern convertable cars tend to use about 2mm of 590MPa or higher steel in the sills, but that needs some serious force to form - I've seen some parts that are 1350MPa - that can only be pressed when red hot... I'm going to try some different samples to get a feel for what I can work with.

[theundertaker]

I love it, especially the t-top.
As for putting in the additional structure, instead of adding the height on the top of the sills, and the door mods that entails, could you not carefully(1mm cutting discs) cut the outer sill off and weld in u-section or box inside then weld the outer sill back on? Section G on the structural diagram shows a large void which would be perfect for filling with quite large rectangular section box. This would tie in with the inner/middle sill structure, which in turn will tie in with the a and b pillar structure and should give much more strength without sacrificing the bottom of the doors. Just remember to tack a bar in across the top of the door shut to hold the door aperture the right shape and size before you cut the sill open.

[Ether]

Cracking car - I'll be following this with great interest.

Thanks for sharing!

M

[Davenger]

Love the T top, looks superb.
Maybe you could add strength with an H frame made from flat steel bar as opposed to box section. It'd save a lot of space.

[Datsun4Life]

Progress...

I've managed to find some time to start on the car. I've stripped the cover panels and started taking the trim parts off the RadCore and Hoodledge area. I'm not planning the pull the engine out if I can avoid it, but everything else needs to come out to make sure the engine comp is in decent condition. I'll treat and paint it before putting it back together.



I've also decided on round headlights. I've sourced some BMW E34 lights, which should do the job - once I've made some brackets.

The outside light is a projector lens type, so it's quite deep.

The headlights need to be as far back as possible to give the right look, so I might have to lightly modify the Radcore to give a bit more depth.

I've also decided on the colour - Ford Bermuda blue, with the bonnet, top of the wings and sills black (The car used to have a silver bonnet and wings - you can see the silver down the side - My plan is to copy the silver and follow the feature line down the side of the car to the C-pillar)


It's looking OK for rust so far - there's a bit in the bottom corners of the front panel. I've spotted a few suspect areas on the dash though...

[spottedlaurel]

Nice to see some progress. That panel in front of the dash is part of the shell, mine was certainly going - probably caused by a less-than-careful replacement windscreen fitter?

One car I broke had gone badly where the inner wings join the bulkhead, but they mostly seem to go round the back end.

[Ratdat]

Want a pair of brand new bumpers? They are for a square headlight car.

If you suspect rust around the screen then do the right thing and pull the glass out to repair it properly. You have enough structural issues without a rotten screen surround too! Bonded screens are far easier to work with so far as removal and fitting. Just be very careful removing it if it's laminated. Don't be tempted to use one of the purpose made cutters that snap-on sell or you'll most likely break it. Take your time and use a sharp blade instead.

-Ed

[Datsun4Life]

Actually, the bumpers are one of the few bits of the car in decent condition, so they're not at the top of the list... But I'll bear that in mind. The original windscreen started to de-laminate a couple of years ago, so I've put a new one in. I did some welding and re-painting along the cowl top at the time, which seems to be holding up OK. The worst bits I've found are under the bonnet hinges and along the seam between the floor and dash side on the drivers side. Neither should be too hard to sort. I'll pull the dash out to have a good look at the other side soon enough...

No progress today - I've realized that I'm going to loose all the bits, so I've started bagging up and labelling all the bits I've already taken off...

[Datsun4Life]

I've been itching to get on with the car, and finally the house is almost finished, and I'm not working stupid hours thanks to the downturn in the car industry. So I've done more in the past week than the last 3 years... If I can keep this momentum up I'll have it done by the summer. (That comment will come back to haunt me no doubt...)

So - job one - strip down, find all the rust and sort it (one side at a time as my workshop is long, but narrow)


Nothing too shocking inside


A couple of bits needed here, but I'll start at the front and work back

The front end has a few holes, but nothing too serious

A bit of (not great, but it'll do) welding later

It's not looking too rotten on this side - I know the other side is worse, but hopefully I might be able to weld better by the time I turn the car around.

I've still got this bit on the cowl top to sort out.


Also, started to look at the rigidity issues. I think some 50x50x2 box down the sills and add a gusset under the rear seats should be enough.
This is the structure added to the roof by whoever did the T-bar conversion

There's plenty of room under the big spongy rear seat to add a gusset between the rear seat cross member and the B-Pillar - that should stop the sides rattling when the doors are slammed, and help tie the rear end into the sills a bit more.


Plan for the weekend - finish the welding at the front end and get some primer on.