1963 wp312 photos

coronaowner · **Posted:** Tue May 31, 2011 12:13 am

Hello everyone,
Finally & if all goes well you should be able to see one of my current restoration projects that is about to come to life again.
This was originally owned by my father in 1977 but sold it in 1983. I then found it,the same car in a wreckers in 1993 and took pitty on it bying it back,
it had a full bare metal respray 15 1/2 years ago & was then left in dads garage.
recently i had it towed to my place where i have started to do the mechanical rebuild & finnish the car.
Enjoy, Drew.

tj75gc · **Posted:** Tue May 31, 2011 2:05 am

What a survivor! it looks great!

DaveW · **Posted:** Wed Jun 01, 2011 4:06 pm

nice car man :tu:

KC30 · **Posted:** Wed Jun 01, 2011 4:57 pm

My god that is beautiful!

mazdajon · **Posted:** Thu Jun 02, 2011 3:00 am

Love it. I have always liked the early Bluebird.

Nice colour combination as well.

pedro · **Posted:** Thu Jun 02, 2011 6:14 am

Nice one, what are you doing on the brakes side of things?

Im guessing parts arent easy to come by.

coronaowner · **Posted:** Sun Jun 05, 2011 8:13 pm

Thanks for the comments everyone, will keep updating the photos as i go,
shold be finnshed the engine rebuild this week and with any luck have the motor back in this weekend.
As for the brakes all wheel cylinders, slave cylinder, brake & clutch master cylinders have been resleeved with stainless steel inserts, new kits through all of them & had new flexible brake hoses made for front & rear.
all shoes have been relined, not able to by any hydraulic parts for them anymore but are still able to rebuild so just as easy.
have also just got hold of a set of period stainless steel side visors that the sixties jap car had. also replacing the door frames with stainless steel ones from a deluxe model wagon that i have for spares.
more photos to come as work progresses, in between other projects :lol:

MikeRL411 · **Posted:** Thu Jun 09, 2011 3:24 pm

When Datsuns first appeared in numbers in America in the early 1960s dealers were occasionally obliged to use Austin brake parts due to parts shortages. Datsuns were called "those Japanese Austins" at that time. Don't know if 1960 era Austin parts would be easier to obtain, might be worth a look.

Camshaft · **Posted:** Thu Jun 09, 2011 4:22 pm

MikeRL411 wrote:

When Datsuns first appeared in numbers in America in the early 1960s dealers were occasionally obliged to use Austin brake parts due to parts shortages. Datsuns were called "those Japanese Austins" at that time. Don't know if 1960 era Austin parts would be easier to obtain, might be worth a look.

They might be, since Moss Motors in California sells a ton of British car parts. Worth a try!

king bee66 · **Posted:** Sun Jun 12, 2011 2:14 pm

i want one

coronaowner · **Posted:** Wed Jun 15, 2011 2:22 am

mikerl411,

As it happens i work for a car restoration company that specialises in british built vehicles, unfortunatly the brake components are all different, some do appear to be very similar but bolt hole locations are different & the seals are very different,
The seals are still available for the early datsuns aftermarket and the best thing to do is have all the cylinders bored & fitted with stainless steel sleeves and not have to worry about the cylinders needing replacement.

With any luck i might get the engine & gearbox back in this weekend. time permiting.
Cheers,

Drive510 · **Posted:** Thu Jun 16, 2011 7:01 am

Gorgeous car and cool story.

Even though the brakes may be a little bit different, I think the engines share some similarities more specifically with the the MG roadsters. I thought these cars were six lug wheels.

I'll be keeping tabs on your build.

coronaowner · **Posted:** Fri Jun 17, 2011 12:26 am

Hey drive510,

I did go through a few different things with the english stuff and suprisingly their is very little that is the same, timing chains are the same as the mgb but only in double row, you can use the mgb tensioner though you will need to use the mg spacer behind it and also shorten it a little.
4 of the 5 oil gallery plugs in the engine block which are located behind the front & rear block plates are the same as mgb, the fith one closest to oil pressure releif valve is smaller, just made one on lathe.
with the cylinder head rocker gear which is very common to be worn out on these due to age i was able to use the rocker shaft from a 1960 mga 1500cc.
also use the rocker bushes to suit but will need to drill holes for the oil gallery in the rocker. then ream the new bushes once pressed into rocker to suit the new rocker shaft.

If anyone need sant further info just ask, cheers all & more photos to come soon, drew.

Drive510 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 17, 2011 9:15 pm

That's really informative to know what works and what doesn't. Did you change the lug pattern for the wheels or did they come with 4 lug?

coronaowner · **Posted:** Mon Jun 20, 2011 12:18 am

The wheel stud patern is the original 4 x stud 4 x 114.3
onth the comercials including the two door heavy duty wagon they were all five stud but not sure on the measurements, could check if needed though as i also have one of them, model number V320. :lol:

zzzzed · **Posted:** Sat Jul 09, 2011 11:40 pm

hi mate I have a wp312 wagon here in south australia but its no where near as pretty as this one. However it is in que to be restored as soon as i have finished with my 240z. Ill be watching this thred to see how it turns out.

Ps you wouldnt have a spare chrome strip for the front right side guard would you

coronaowner · **Posted:** Thu Jul 14, 2011 1:01 am

a fellow bluebird owner, well i never thought,,,,,
looking at the pictures of yours it looks like the delux model, am i right,
if so i dont have any side strips to suit, but , if it is the standard model with the narrow stainless mould i would be able to help. let me know and i will see what i can find as i do have a heap of parts laying around for the 312 model and once mine is finnished i will get rid of most of the left overs.
Cheers, Drew.

zzzzed · **Posted:** Thu Jul 14, 2011 1:42 am

when i have some day light i will take a closer photo of the strips so you can see. if they are different would you have a full set of the standard strips?? I would tathere have a full set of standard strips than a part set of delux strips if you know what i mean

coronaowner · **Posted:** Fri Jul 15, 2011 4:47 pm

just a quick update, I have now rebuilt the gearbox & refitted it back to the vehicle, the engine rebuild is now complete and also bolted in, I am doing one thing a little different and that is it will be fitted with twin 1 1/4 su carburetors
but this will be the only thing that wont be original, will have some more photos up shortly.
and zzzzed let me know what moulds when you get a chance and i will go through what i have, you may be in luck i could have a full set of standard moulds but i will need to pull all the panels out from under the parents house to see.

Cheers, Drew.

zzzzed · **Posted:** Fri Jul 15, 2011 9:42 pm

thanx mate. Here is a close up of my chrome strips.. can you tell me what they are and if you can help me.. There is no huge hurry as i wont need them for a little while but if you can let me know when you find something we can work something out :tu:

1963 wp312 photos

Who is online