Duram:
I am the proud owner of two (2) Datsun 1500 Fairladies: SPL310 - #00084
and SPL310 - #02015. Altogether there were only about 3,400 of these
cars imported into the US beginning in the fall of 1962 and ending in
the spring of 1965. I believe all of them were left hand drive, with
the right hand drive ones going to Australia primarily. A few RHD's may
have ended up in the US.
Other than the number 1 car that is located somewhere in California, as
I understand it, yours is the next lowest numbered 1500 Fairlady I have
ever heard of. From time to time, on this Mailing List, whenever
someone mentions a 1500 I ask them what their serial number is. To be
honest, most of the time I don't get a response. I think I have only
had a response or two with a number lower than mine - #84. So, you now
have one of the rarest of the rare!
As far as your questions are concerned:
The car come positive ground. In my case, rather than fight worn-out or
virtually unobtainable and/or way too expensive ignition parts, I
switched both of my cars over to negative ground using Ford parts.
These cars are soooo primitive that you can do that without worrying
about blowing out anything of significance or consequence. Since I did
that both of my cars start all the time without hesitation - and I even
used old Ford stuff from the 1970's.
My cars are non-metric.
The 1500's were three-seaters.
First gear is non-sychronomeshed.
The question of the "year" is a puzzle and I have never had an
explanation that squares with what I understand to be the facts with my
cars. If you look on the plate, you will see that the "1 9 6" is
pre-printed and then the "5" is handstamped. On my #84 car, which
presumably had to have been built before my #2015 car, it is also
handstamped "5" - meaning, I suppose, "1965". On my #2015 car, again
assuming that it had to have been built well after my #84 car, is
handstamped "4" - meaning, I suppose, "1964". So, that has never made
any sense to me.
Then, while I know nothing of the history of my #2015 car, I believe I
know everything about the #84 car. I am the third owner and the
original purchaser, a farmer from Kerkhoven, Minnesota, according to the
family - ordered the car sometime in 1962 and then flew out to Santa
Monica, CA., later in the year and drove it back. It is also titled as
a 1962 car. I do not know why it has the "5" stamped on it - and your
car, being #6 and having a "5" also stamped on it, makes no sense to me
either. Maybe someone knows the "real" story!
I have studied your pictures. The first thing I would do is get rid of
that unsightly roll bar. The car doesn't go fast enough for that to be
a need!
You may consider taking the top off and the convertible frame out and
hang them on a wall. I have Hartz cloth tonneau covers made locally for
both of my cars and that is all I have used in the past three years.
Such covers are offered by Rallye also, I believe. I think you will
also find the top and the frame to be more of a pain you know where than
you are willing to put up with - and the tonneau covers are the perfect
solution.
You do not have the standard-issue luggage rack, but so what! Yours
looks more like one for an MGB.
You also have an after-market radio and shift knob.
Does your heater come through the center of the firewall or through the
rider's side? Either way it probably doesn't work. The street-rodders
have a great solution!
My picture of your engine area was not very clear, but it looks to me
like you have two (2) pots on your Hitachi carb set up. So does mine.
Now, supposedly the "early" 1500's came with a single pot set-up. I
don't know how much earlier you can get than #6 or even #84 - but I know
my set-up is original. I suppose yours could have been switched to the
two-pot system.
BTW, does your convertible frame have some wood parts? That was another
indication of "early".
What I have shared with you is what I recall off the top of my head. I
will check some of my information sources tonite and, if I have led you
astray, I will make corrections and/or additions.
Finally, I drive my #84 every day to and from work, from about the 1st
of April until about mid-November, and then around the countryside.
Yesterday was over 100 miles. No one knows what it is, so you get a lot
of questions. While it is a very basic car, there is also not a lot
that can go wrong with it, making it easy to fix. To be honest, since I
switched to negative ground two years ago there hasn't been anything to
fix. I routinely cruise it at 70 mph, but I don't push it much beyond
that. I don't think the engine can handle the heat build-up all that
well. This car now has 67,000 miles on it and it uses about a quart of
oil in 3,000 miles or between changes.
So, there is hope! They are good little cars.
Arlo Levisen
Revillo, South Dakota
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