BigJohn's Datsun: The Saga Continues

bigjohnThe Pyramids of Giza. The Great Wall of China. These are just some of human civilization’s accomplishments that are nearly as epic as what we’re about to show you. Once in a while, you come across one of those projects that just makes your chin hit the floor like you’ve eaten a grenade. Such is our reaction upon seeing JNCer BigJohn’s ongoing restoration of his 1979 Datsun Stanza (or Violet, 160J, 510, 710 depending on what country you’re from). In case you missed it, this is a must-see.

We simply cannot describe the skill, dedication and thoroughness of this project in words. Neither can BigJohn. Being from Thailand, he doesn’t know much English, but his pictures and usage of a single emoticon speak for themselves.

BigJohn and his band of merry metalworkers have undone every nut and bolt and stripped the entire Datsun to bare metal. They’ve cut out every particle of rust and fabricated insanely complex replacements with the original contours, practically recreating the unibody from fresh metal.

They’ve also sanded down the high points, sealed the weld seams, even in places you’d never see again once the car was put back together, and taken a hundred other steps usually skipped before applying paint. Then they topped it all of with goodies from HKS, Cusco, Calsonic and put it on Wats wrapped in Hankook Ventus V12s.

The whole enterprise makes us feel like unaccomplished, lazy sloths. Before you even think about junking another car due to a few rust bubbles, remember BigJohn. This, boys and girls, is a proper restoration, except, perhaps, for the fact that it was done entirely in flip-flops. We salute you, BigJohn. Perhaps we’ll see the finished product at the next Bangkok Nostalgic Car Show.

P.S. We’re posting this on a Friday because it just might take you the whole weekend to go through the entire thread.

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This post is filed under: datsun, how to, howto, nissan.

2 Responses to BigJohn's Datsun: The Saga Continues

  1. This is an absolutly fantastic project

  2. QuasiMondo says:

    Reminds me of the ’78 510 my dad used to have.

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