A couple of months ago, I showed you a few front-end shots of my Datsun 521, and I promised more details on the thing. Let's start with a history. The year was 1970. Man had recently landed on the moon, The Guess Who was blasting on radios across America, and... Okay, I'm not going THAT far back in this poor truck's history! Let's leave it at this- someone bought this truck, and I assume they owned it until around 1983, because the underside of the hood has every oil change and tune-up documented in pencil!
Fast forward a couple dozen years, and we arrive in 1998. There's Something About Mary was one of the top movies, Diddy was still known as Puff Daddy, and I scored this SWEET truck for $200!
The owner had driven it to work one day, it wouldn't start to drive home, and he decided it was just too much for him to handle... I threw a set of points in the distributor and drove it to my luxury apartment!
Overall, the truck was in decent shape, especially considering its age. The only major damage to the body was the passenger side fender- someone had crumpled it, then pulled it back out, so there was a gnarly crease across it. But, more importantly, the grille, bumpers, and interior were pretty much intact!
Never being one to leave a vehicle stock, here's a quick rundown of the various stages the truck went through:
Stage 1
I replaced that nasty gray primer with much nicer black primer. Quite a step up, if I do say so myself! A good friend in the Datsun community welded new shock towers in the front, and I installed a set of air shocks with a 5 gallon air tank, giving me my first adjustable air suspension- to the tune of 3" of adjustment! The stock wheels were also swapped for a lousy set of 14" Mazda wheels with lower profile tires- I'm not sure why I did this, but there they are. This photo was taken at the Mount Shasta All Datsun Meet in 1999:
At this point, I had replaced the damaged fender, and it was a fun little cruiser. But, as usual, I'm never content to leave anything alone, so it had to go lower! At this point, I was working at Fender Bender International, so of course I had to put a real airbag suspension on. The Mazda wheels also gave way to some bitchin' (for the time) Chevy 4x4 16" alloys. And hey, while we're at it, let's break out some spray paint and throw a driveway flame job on there:
Super sweet, right? At some point I added more flames down the side, but I couldn't hunt down a picture of the full custom job, so this will just have to work for you! Suffice it to say, the effect was stunning. Other modifications at this point include some clear side markers flush-mounted in the fenders and bed, as well as some cat-eye light covers on the high beams. I know I have a photo somewhere with a Thule ski rack on the roof, too... because the truck had an identity crisis between "rat rod" and "old skool minitruck" styles! Aha! Here it is:
After driving the truck like this for a while, I did what I do with all of my cars- I sold it off! I know it went to another Datsun friend, Chad, but I don't remember the details of the transaction- knowing me, it was a trade for another Datsun! In any case, within about 6 months, I got the truck back. Again, I don't remember the details, but the deal must have come around at the right time and I missed the truck enough to bring it back into my life. Chad had painted over the flames, and I don't know what the scoop is with the headlight surrounds, but here's a picture shortly after it came home:
At this point, I had developed a good friendship with Curtis at Roadkill Customs in Orangevale, CA, and he offered to paint the truck if I covered material costs and helped with the prep. After a bit of work, here's how it came out:
The front valance never actually got put back on- it had a bit of damage, and Curtis was going to shave the holes in it and re-work it a bit before painting it white... more about that in a minute. In this photo, you can see that the exhaust exits just in front of the rear wheel. I installed a spark plug in there that would ignite the engine's unburned fuel at the flip of a switch:
So, now I had a mini that laid the frame on the ground, hopped on command, did burnouts like no other, and shot fire out of the exhaust! What now? I know, I'll sell it! And so it went to a guy named Bobby, and I started playing with other projects for a couple of years.
Sadly, about 3 months after I sold the truck, Curtis Riggs passed away. The new owner had fallen off the face of the earth, but I made a note to myself to get the truck back if the opportunity ever came my way...
...And a few years later, it did! A customer came into FBI asking about the truck- he had recently purchased it, and had proceeded to somehow blow up the rear end AND the transmission! If I wanted it back, it was mine for $1000. We made the deal happen, and the truck was towed from Stockton to my house. If you're the type that likes to take notes, this is the third time I've owned the truck!
Aside from the drivetrain problems, there was other damage to the poor truck. Someone had dented the hood from underneath and damaged the paint, the bench seat had been replaced with some raggedy buckets, and the door panels were covered in carpeting. Also, someone glued that "troll hair" stuff on the headliner, so it felt like a spider web was tickling the top of your head whenever you sat in it!
Well, at this point my life and money situations weren't in alignment with having a project truck in my garage. A good friend of mine, Chris, wanted the truck like you wouldn't believe, and he had a nice 1995 Toyota pickup that he had just put a bunch of work into... and I let the truck go AGAIN! I know, I know... here it had come back home begging for another chance to be rebuilt, and I let it slip out of my hands.
Chris put a new transmission in there (I had already fixed the rear end), and enjoyed the heck out of it- he took it to a couple of shows, and took pretty good care of it. However, as happens with so many custom vehicles, it ended up parked in his driveway, pushed aside for other projects. Here's a shot of it at a local show:
Okay, we're approaching the final stretch here, I promise! So, at this point, the truck was sitting at Chris's house, the engine and transmission had been pulled out for another Datsun project (my 510 wagon, which has it's own sordid tales of being bought and sold!), and Chris was involved with another minitruck project. So, like a fool, I traded a little Toyota pickup (a '79 this time) to him for it!
Now, if you've been keeping track, this marks the FOURTH time I've owned the truck. The thing is like a damned vehicular boomerang- I throw it out, and it just comes back to me! Next time I'll go into the current project details- the new frame (and why it needs one!), the new bed (and why it needs one of those, too!), and the ideas I have for it. If you've read this far, I appreciate it, but I have to wonder why?!
