This is my 1972 Datsun 510 Wagon. I wanted a practical Datsun for the family since my Z cars really don't hold more than 2 people, including myself. Luckily I knew of a 510 wagon or two my friend from Montana had. I knew he would sell me a project one, but I needed something more ready to go. So I asked him if he would sell me his Bamboo Tan wagon. It was his first car so it took some convincing.
It took over 3 years to seal the deal on this one. Not only was my friend reluctant to sell but covid really made things more difficult! He had planned to come back to Massachusetts, but his family got sick. Then we couldn't secure shipping so I waited even longer. Finally, when his family was healthy and decided they wanted to see him in New Jersey he decided he would trailer the car to me from Montana to Massachusetts.
It was mechanically sound so I just had to work on aesthetics. I tried several different sets of my Z car's wheels. Unfortunately, the offset was way off and I ended up destroying a set of RA1 tires on the rear from the fender lips. The front suspension was swapped to a 280ZX coil over so I at least could adjust it. The rear was just old leaf springs with lowering blocks so it's less adjustable.
I started to clean up the little rust it had in the engine bay. I found the color a close match to a khaki color from Duplicolor so I spray caned the firewall and fender wells. This would have to do for now until I decide to fully paint it later.
It has a L20B swap with headers and a weber carb. Soon I will swap in the 200SX 5 speed and side drafts from my race friend Vinny. I finally found a set of period ET Mag wheels from the late 70s to suit the goon. They came off a 1969 240z that I had recovered from a barn that had sat since 1975.
After a little more cleaning and detailing work, the wagon was ready for work. It works exceptionally well for transporting my spare Datsun parts from my storage to my home shop. Also doubles as a family mobile as the kids fit as well as the dogs!
