16x01 - Datsun Is Shining (1969 Datsun Sports 2000)

[bunniefuu]

There's something unmistakable about
classic British sports cars of the 1960s.

This is a cool car.

This is not a classic British sports car.
That much is true.

If you check the passport, this
house is from a very different land.

Japan.

So that must mean it's reliable.

Oh, it's really tired.

It sounds like a lawnmower.

But I'm sure with a little
sprinkling of ant dust,

everyone will want
a piece of the best

British sports car not
to be built in Britain.

Oh, no, no, that's the wrong one. You've
just pulled the choke and you've stolen it.

I'm on my way to go and
see a lady this morning.

A fair lady.

And if I was to mention
that name to any Japanese

sports car enthusiast,
they're inevitably going to say,

ah, you're on your way to
go and see a Datsun 240Z.

And they could be right because that
name is synonymous with that vehicle,

but actually the fair lady name goes
way back before that to the early 1960s

when the Japanese maker, Datsun,
needed to produce a two-seater sports car

to take on the likes of the established
MGs, Triumphs and the Little Fears.

Katsuji Kawamata.

Katsuji Kawamata.

Katsuji Kawamata.

The big boss at the time, Katsuji...
The big boss at the time, Katsuji...

Katsuji.

The big boss at the time, Katsuji Kawamata,

he once went to see the
Broadway musical My Fair Lady.

And that's it, that's the legend,
that's where the name comes from.

And he thought the best thing
to do was to adopt that name

and take on those established
brands, and guess what?

He did. The car was a huge success.

And there is the legend is born
of the little Datsun Roadsters.

They did it in two different
flavours, a 1600cc and a 2000cc.

Both of them are very good cars.

The problem is, they're
just so hard to find.

I've been looking for one of
these cars for absolutely years.

A few weeks back, I was visiting the
car customising legend, Gene Winfield,

out here in the Mojave Desert.

And whilst I was visiting,

I noticed he had a little
Datsun Roadster on his

forecourt, so I gave him
a bell and popped down.

Now, Gene is asking a quite
reasonable $9,000 for this one.

That's not bad at all.

God, there's puddles
everywhere here, it's wet today.

And he's put it under
a shelter, which is nice.

Oh, there it is. Look at that.

And there he is, look, hammering away.

Gene! How are you, bud?

Hey, Mike.

Good to see you. I see you're working away.

Yes, of course.

As always, great to see you.

Thank you.

How are you?

Good to see you again.

And you, yeah, very good.

So this is the little car we spoke about.

This is the Datsun we were talking about.

Datsun Roadster.

You know, I don't know anything about it,

except I know it's not
supposed to have that top on it.

So what's the story behind it?
How have you got the car?

Well, the guy owed me 10 grand,

and then I settled for nine,

and still couldn't get the money
out of him, so I took the damn car.

OK.

And you don't deal with this kind of stuff.

You deal with this kind of stuff.

That's right.

I don't deal with these sports cars.

Give me the keys. Let me look round it.

You can go and do your other stuff.

All right.

Leave it with me.

69 Datsun Roadster.

I don't know what model it is yet,
because there's no badge on the back of it.

But that is the oddball on this car.

Not so much that it's
got a detachable hardtop.

I've seen that before.

But this one is screwed down to the car,
and they've completely deleted the soft top.

It's not there at all, so there
is no soft top with this car.

The front bumper, that's been deleted.

I noticed that as I walked up.

That's a popular thing that
people do on these cars.

They take the front bumpers off.

They give the car a bit more
of a clean look at the front.

Right now, is this a 1600,

or is the more sought-after 2.0-litre?

The smile on my face says it all.

It's the 2.0-litre.

So this one's got the bigger engine.

It's got the twin carbs inside.

Remarkably clean.

A little bit rough on
start-up, but it'll have a choke.

There's a definite blow
coming from the header.

I can hear that.

That's right there.

And that'll have to be fixed.

Gene, is it all right to
take it for a test drive?

Yeah, go ahead.

Super. Thanks, mate.

Right, let's get it out on the road.

The engine feels
like it's got really good

power, and this one
has got the most power.

It's got a nice five-speed gearbox as well,

and it goes through into
every single gear, which is nice.

I'm on a straight bit of road,
but there's nobody around me,

and I'm in the middle of the desert, so
let's just try what the suspension's like.

Oh, it's really tired.

Very tired and woolly.

I mean, the car wants to... It wants
to lean right over onto its sides.

I'm almost rubbing the door handles

when I put in a, you know,
an input into the steering.

Yeah, it's not very nice.

So I reckon it could do with a
refresh in terms of suspension, bushes,

maybe a little rethink on the steering.

That's the bad stuff, and I
haven't even got to the interior yet.

I really don't know where to
go with this because the interior

is red and it's velour and it's
very dated and it's of a period.

I can't stand it, I'm going
to be honest with you.

Just stop rattling.

That is going to drive
me to the point of insanity.

That thing there is
going to drive me potty.

Gene is asking, I think,
a reasonable $9,000 for

the car, but it depends
what we need to do to it.

I reckon if I can go back
and get it a little bit cheaper,

it'd just give us a head start on the car,
just in case I want to change the interior

or just in case I can't
find the roof parts.

or the suspension parts run into much
more money than I originally thought.

So if I can get it a bit
cheaper, or even if I can't,

I think I'm going to take
this Datsun home with me.

Well, Mike, you drove it.
What do you think?

I'll tell you what, Gene, it doesn't drive,
it doesn't drive half bad. It's okay.

It needs a little bit of
tuning, the suspension's a

little bit woolly, and it
needs a little bit of work.

The one thing is the roof, the soft top,

has been completely
deleted, so it's no longer there.

I'm going to have to
find all of those parts.

But I like it. I like the fact that
you've got a rust-free example.

So you wanted how much?

Nine grand.

Would you take a gentleman's
bid as an old friend of eight grand?

Oh, you're hurting me, Mike.

I love you, but you're hurting me.

I'm sorry.

I'll tell you what, I'll go 85 if
you take it out of here today.

Done.

Okay.

Yes, sir, thank you very much, and I
just bought myself a Datsun Roadster.

Doesn't get any better than that.

Thank you.

Thanks, Gene.

The car sits in the sweetest of spots.

Demand is high for anything
Datsun, especially the Roadster.

The buyer is going to
be that middle-aged guy

who wants something he
can drive whenever he wants,

and not having to ever take it to
an expensive specialist garage.

It won't break the bank or your heart.

My fair lady!

My fair lady indeed.

I like it.

It's a great story as well.

You know, the boss of Datsun...
Yeah, this looks really, really good.

What sort of year are we talking?

Let me finish my story.

Yeah, forget about your story.
Tell me about the car.

1969 Datsun Roadster fair lady.

Yeah, my worry is, though, it
looks suspiciously good for a 69 car.

Well, clearly, at some point in
its life, it's been to the paint shop.

It's not been done too bad.

It's got a few nicks and giggles on
it, and we can always get those out.

Yes, I know it's good, innit?

It's got a detachable hardtop. It's nice.

Hey! See how light it is?

Oh, my God!

Do you know why?

Cos it's made of washing-up bowl plastic.

That's why.

It is bizarre, isn't it?

Like it?

Where's the soft top?

I've got the soft top.

Oh, you've got it. Good, good. Where is it?

Well, it's on the Internet, innit?
I've just got to get it.

Come and have a sit inside.

So you haven't got it?

I haven't got it yet,
but it's been deleted.

But I'll get you a soft top.

They seem so awful.

They are cinema seating,
I think you are correct.

They're just seat covers, aren't they?

We can get seat covers
for it, and I can do that.

It's very, very snug in here.

It is. Wait until you shut the door.

Feel that?

No, it's tiny, isn't it?

I think it's made for different kind
of... Look, just lean in. See the pedals?

I can't hit the accelerator
without hitting the brake.

Yeah, and there is a
little bit of a problem.

So if we could adjust that in some way, it
would open this car up to a wider market,

wider in terms of foot and,
you know, wider in terms of...

just make it more spacious.

Hey, but wait until you fire it up.

Go on, start it up.

There you go. Look, you've done it.

Do you want me to help you out?

Come on.

I know, it's tough.

Wow.

And look what we get.

All right.

Two litre?

Two litre, very good, yes.

What?

It's got a crack coming from the...

Oh, no, no, that's the wrong one.

You've just pulled the choke and stored it.

Right, look, twin carbs, two litre.

You heard the crack
coming from the manifold.

That's what you can breathe in as well.

Where's the crack?

In the manifold.

Yeah, but where?

Well, in there somewhere.
You can hear it, can't you?

So you're going to have to fix that.

The suspension, when
you put a steering input in,

well, feels like you're riding on waves.

It really does rock and wallow around.

And the brakes, well, you
applied the brakes in 1969,

but it doesn't stop until
somewhere in the 1970s.

Right, so you bought me
quite an iconic two-seater

sports car that doesn't
steer, handle or brake well.

Yes.

Right, now, let's get it inside.

And did you know, right,
how this car got its name?

See, the boss of Datsun at the time,

he went to see the Broadway musical My
Fair Lady, and he liked the name so much.

Thank God he didn't go
and see d*ck Whittington.

Otherwise, we'd be looking
at the Datsun d*ck Whittington.

Now, this is a cool car.

You see, back in the day, the world was
used to two-seater European roadsters.

I mean, think about it.

You got MG, Triumph, Jaguar, Mercedes.

Even Alfa and Fiat were building
cars that were widely accepted.

And then along came this.

You see, it had critics,
though, and they used to

say that the car was kind
of like a Japanese whisky.

It did the job, but lacked any soul.

And I think that's really unfair, because
Datsun built a proper driver's car.

See, the concept may have come from Europe,

but this was built in Japan.

European, Japanese or Timbuktu.

It doesn't matter.

Classic cars suffer classic car problems,

and our Datsun's got
a whole list of issues.

But for now, I'm gonna focus
on the roadster's handling,

which means steering and suspension.

And when you boil it
down, rubber is rubber,

steel is steel.

They eventually fail anyway.

And this is pretty messy.

Now, up here, right there,
that's the steering box,

and on this side,
that's the steering idler.

They're both fixed
positions on the chassis.

And then the steering works with
a series of metal rods and joints.

In fact, the steering on the front of
this car, it's actually quite interesting.

Most cars have a rack and pinion steering,

but this Datsun has a steering box,

dare I say, a more agricultural system.

Now, this should have a split pin in there.

Mike bought me a rebuild kit,

so I'm gonna pull the
brakes, all of the steering,

and the front suspension bits.

No wonder it was sloppy.

That ball joint's toast.

Mike bought me a Datsun
roadster that handles like a tugboat.

It really does rock and wallow around.

So I'm removing all the front end
suspension and steering components.

I'm gonna be able to
rescue most of these bits,

so I'll have to be careful.

Right now, my main concern is the steering.

Now, right here, this is the idle box,

and this is the idler arm.

You can see it's pivoting
off the bottom of the box.

That's its primary job.

What it's doing is it's mirroring
the pitman arm on the steering box,

and it's quite obvious
this has seen better days.

I mean, there's grease and gunk everywhere,

and it's thrown it under
the underside of this car.

The problem is the steering
idler box isn't available brand new,

so it only leaves one
choice, and that is to rebuild it.

Rebuilding it's not as hard as you'd think.

Now, luckily, there's
a rebuild kit available,

and it's actually quite good value.

It's around $140.

That's a shade over 100 pounds.

I mean, I could send
it off and get it rebuilt,

and it would start around $400,
so I get to save myself some cash.

And there's only a few items in the kit.

There's a new shaft, a
couple of new metal bushes,

a new rubber seal, a rubber
dust cap, and a grease nipple.

Now, it's actually easier to tackle
this with it securely mounted in the vise.

The idler arm is pressed on, so
I attach a puller to wedge it off.

Perfect. It came off quite easily.

Now, this can be salvaged,

a bit of a cleanup and a paint.

Next up, this little dust cover here,

this rubber cap, just slides off.

Lose the grease nipple.

Now, before I think
about getting those metal

bushes out, I'm going
to give this a good clean.

And this.

All right, mate, how you doing?

That's heavy.

How's the steering on
our little Datsun all done?

Done? Done?
No, I'm in the middle of it now.

In fact, I'm giving it a nice clean
because what I want to do is clean it up,

give it a primer, give it
a paint, so when it goes

back on the car, it's
going to look brand new.

You can't compromise
when it comes to steering,

especially on a little
sports car like this.

Before, it was awful,

so any improvement is going
to improve the car knowing.

I see you eyeing up this little box here,

but you're wondering what it is.

Yeah, what is it?

It's a gift just for you.

It's a present for you.

So this isn't Datsun parts?

No, it's not Datsun parts.

It's from Sweden.

What is it?

Yes, don't open it now, because
you know it gets awkward

when you open up things in front of
people, so open it up when I'm gone.

Okay, well, I was kind of hoping
it would be a little bit longer,

you know, like the size
of maybe an exhaust,

because this thing sounds like a lawnmower.

Yeah, but we discussed
that when I gave you the car.

It's got a blow coming from the header.

And you don't need to replace it.

All you need to do is
do what you normally do,

get your welding tool out
and do your welding stuff.

You love all that.

Put the gloves on.

Yeah, this is one of those kind of mite
brewer, you know, just do blah, blah, blah,

because ultimately the inlet and
the exhaust are on the same side,

so if I'm going to do
that, I'm going to have

to take loads of
stuff off just to weld it.

Oh!

What?

The roof.

The roof.

I haven't done the bloody roof.

I'm going to need to do
something about the brakes,

but for now I can pull
them off the spindles.

Disassemble them and see what I can save.

Once all the salvaged parts are washed,

I give them a coat of
black paint from a rattle

can, which will help
protect them from rust.

Now I need to start reassembly,

starting with the idler box.

The new shaft fits right down the center,

and I add a couple of rubber
spacers and remount the idler arm,

then secure it with a nut and split pin,

a new grease nipple and a dust cover,

and it's ready to go back on the car.

That's the steering sorted.

Mmm.

Our Datsun Roadster
has had its steering sorted.

And now, thanks to a rebuild kit from Mike,

a suspension has also been addressed.

Now, even though the steering's done

and the suspension's done,
the front end's not finished,

because, of course,
I've got to do the brakes.

Now, Mike very, very generously really
kind of him went and got me a secret gift.

So I got excited, I took the box home,
apparently it came all the way from Sweden,

it was really heavy, I opened it,

and it was full of a brake upgrade kit.

Thanks, Mike.

Now, the good news is it does
actually come from Sweden.

In fact, these parts here,
these are off a Volvo 240.

The thing about Volvo
parts is they're accessible,

they're affordable, and let's be honest,
Volvo knows a thing or two about safety.

And if you compare the original Datsun
pads with the now new Volvo ones,

these will be way better
at getting rid of heat.

Now, on top of new pads and
new calipers, I've also got new discs.

And when you look at the
original Datsun ones, they're very

simple one-piece discs, whereas
the Volvos are quite fancy.

They're vented, they're
drilled and they're grooved,

which means that these holes, these
valleys and all that space in the middle

is really, really good
at getting rid of heat.

And all this kit here
has been specifically

modified so it bolts
straight to a Datsun.

The brake kit is only
$400, around 300 quid.

I pack the wheel bearing in grease.

and insert it into the hob,

then gently tap in the oil
seal with a rubber mallet.

I'm going to use Loctite on
the bolts for a bit of extra hold.

Then I mount a bushing on the spindle.

The spindle bearing,
also packed in with grease,

goes on next with a
washer and a spindle nut.

It's actually amazing that a caliper used
on a Volvo 20 years after the Datsun fits.

In fact, all it needs is this little
shim to give it the correct spacing.

Once I've attached the brake hose,

I bolt the caliper to the bracket.

Then remove these pins so I
can slide in the new brake pads.

Then replace the pins.

That is really easy.

It literally only takes minutes,
although that is only one half.

You know, when I bought that Datsun
Roadster off of the lovely Gene Winfield,

it came with a plastic
hardtop, which is kind of cool,

but I really want the soft top for
the vehicle to make it complete.

So I've been looking round on the Internet,

trying to find one, and yes,
there are places out there

where you can go and get
yourself a replacement soft top,

or you can buy a second hand
one that needs a lot of work.

So then I thought, why
don't I just call my mate Lee,

because Lee has got an upholstery
business who changes roofs for a living.

So if anyone's got an old roof
laying around, it's going to be him.

So I give him a call, and guess what?

He's got a roof for a Datsun
Roadster, plus thousands of others,

but he said it's a little
bit tutty, but not to worry,

because us together, we can fix it.

And here he is.

Hey, Mike, how are you?

Lee, how are you?

Good to see you.

Good to see you.

So is this the one for the Datsun?

Yes, yes.

You called me and asked me
if I could look into my inventory,

and I think I found what you want.

Fantastic, Lee.

That's not bad, is it?

No, it's a little bit used.

It came off on a customer,

but I think it's a pretty good
condition for your project.

Original is the word we're going to use.

It's a little bit original.

Yes.

But we can tie it up, can't we?

Can we make it better than it is?

Absolutely.

Can I get stuck in with you?

Yeah, absolutely.

Grab this wrench.

We'll take these header screws
out, and then we'll take the other side,

and then dismount the vinyl.

The first job is to separate the frame
and the header from the canvas roof.

We also need to remove the rubber seal from
the header, as this one is all dried out,

and we'll need replacing.

Okay, so I think we're
free from the header here.

Yeah, lovely.

There we go.

Awesome.

Perfect.

There we go.

That's it.

Next up, we have to give the frame a
bit of a scuffing up with abrasive pads,

while giving it a clean with
good old lacquer thinner.

Give me some thinners, Lee.

Give me some thinners.

Perfect.

Lovely.

Okay.

We got it prepped, we got it wiped,

we got it ready for paint.

What they do in a baking oven
when they powder coat is they heat.

Yeah.

Well, do that on the outside.

with the paint does exactly the same thing.

Absolutely.

Cool.

Okay, so you got your heat g*n?

So whilst Lee heats the metal,

I give it a fine spray of satin
black paint for a really classy finish.

Look at that, Lee.

It looks like it's new.

That's part of this trick of heating it.

It allows the paint to dry quicker

and give you that soft look.

You don't get those bubbles.

No, it looks amazing.

Not only does Lee insist that the
heat helps the paint bond with the metal,

but it also dries quicker
for a really even coat.

Looks absolutely superbly.

With that done, I put
the frame out to dry in

the sun so we can
concentrate on the roof itself.

So we'll just do a little cleanup here.

Yep.

Not too much to it.

Lee uses some industrial adhesive ready
to secure the fabric back to the header.

Okay, so we'll put the header here.

That's your center.

Alright, gotcha.

So you know exactly where it is.

And we do it nicely like that.

Oh, that's already good, isn't it?

Look at it.

It's great, isn't it?

I just love it.

Love it, love it, love it.

Now we can reattach the bracket
and prep the brand new rubber seal

with more industrial glue.

Now we need a little bit of drying time.

As we wait for the glue to dry a little,

we reinsert the frame to the canvas.

Right then, Lee.

So this is the point of no return.

Rubber seal header to the windshield.

Yep.

And this comes a little extra long.

I always say, you know what?

Cut it on the car, make
sure it meets because this

is where the door and the
windshield come together.

Yep.

If you shorten it, you've got a gap there.

Gotcha.

So if we leave it extra, you
can always trim it on the car.

Trim it on the car, I can do that.

Yeah, no worries at all.

We'll go a little extra on the ends.

We'll just go one direction.

Yeah, just nicely tucking it.

This is really good for using.

compared to that dry one and flat.

It probably sat closed quite a bit.

Yeah, so we're finishing off.

We're leaving it a little bit long.

You can trim it in the car.

Yep.

Well, listen, I can't thank you enough,
Lee, for what you've done today.

A really, really satisfying job.

And I learnt something today as well.

And again, buddy, you've
pulled out all the stops for me.

Thank you.

No problem, mate.

Just a few hours' work with Lee.

We've turned what was a shabby old
roof for a Datsun 2000 into something that

even Datsun would be proud to
put on a brand new car themselves.

Now let's get it back to the
workshop and see what Ant thinks of it.

Now I'm going to emotionally
prepare myself for this

because I know exactly
how bad this car sounds.

It sounds like a lawnmower.

Or more precisely, a broken lawnmower.

It's really obvious where that
noise is coming from as well.

It's definitely coming from the header.

The problem is, for me to access this,

I'm going to have to
remove a load of parts.

And I think, starting with those carbs...

This Datsun has a reverse-flow engine,

so the inlet and outlet
ports are on the same side.

In order to get to the exhaust headers,

I have to take practically
everything else off first.

I start with the air box,
which comes off in two parts.

Then I pull the fuel
lines, unbolt the carbs,

and remove the rubber mats.

Now this car was originally
fitted with a manifold,

but someone's obviously
gone for an aftermarket header.

And these here, these are
the headers, individual pipes.

Now you see, the difference
between a header and a manifold,

a header is an individual pipe that
comes out of each one of the ports,

whereas a manifold
groups together quite quickly.

Now I'm not going to take
this manifold off just yet

because it's plumbed
into the coolant system.

Which means I need to drain it.

While I'm under here,

I'll unbolt the exhaust
headers from the pipe.

There are a number of ways an engine
can get air in and exhaust gases out.

Now this car has them
both on the same side,

the inlet and the exhaust
all jammed into one space.

And when you look at the engine bay
and consider what else is on this side,

you've got a lot going on.

There's the steering, the header tank,

the screen wash, the
clutch and brake reservoirs.

Whereas on the other side,
there's pretty much a battery.

Now this design of engine
is called a reverse flow head.

What that means is
that air comes in one side

and the exhaust gases escape out the same
side as opposed to a cross flow engine.

where the air comes in one side,

combustion happens somewhere in the middle.

and then the exhaust gases
exit out of the other side.

Finally, she's out.

Doesn't look too bad.

There's a crack there.

You can barely see it, but it is there.

I think the best thing to do next is
I'm going to take this, shot blast it,

get it back to bare metal and then
I can really see what's going on.

I'm actually quite impressed
with how well this has cleaned up.

It's not that bad.

That crack is now way more obvious.

In fact, it's not just a crack,
it's actually quite a big hole.

I also noticed there's another
hole here right at the bottom.

If I rest it against my bench,
which I know is perfectly flat,

you'll see that it wobbles
because the flange itself isn't flat.

When you consider that flange's sole job

is to come down and
meet the rest of the outpipe,

if it was flat and it sits together,
it would create an airtight seal.

Exhaust gases won't escape, but if one of
the flanges is slightly buckled like it is,

of course it's going to have a
gaping gap for gases to come out of.

Straightening that isn't going to be easy,

but for now, welding
up the cracks, I can do.

A MIG welder will fill these cracks nicely

and since I'm not going to
be able to flatten that flange,

I'm just going to remove it and bin it.

In the end, I decided to
cut the wonky flange off.

because I'm going to replace it with these.

These are components of a V-band clamp.

This side, this flange is going
to be welded to the header,

whereas this side is going
to be welded to the next

part of the system that's
currently underneath the car.

When they come together like that,

they're held in place by this clamp

and it's called a V-band clamp
because the inside shape is V-shaped.

Once that's all done up nice and snug,

the exhaust gases
aren't going to be able to

escape and that's going
to get rid of the noise.

Now this first one slides
in there nice and tight.

and that is one of the flanges done.

Now to make sure that they both marry up

and they're perfectly
accurate so they buck together,

I need to put this back in the
car and sort out the next part.

Now using the second new flange,

I'm going to Mark it with a little
line for exactly where I'm going to cut

because obviously I'm
going to cut off this old flange

which actually looks buckled as well
and then weld this new one back on.

Do you know what, this is pretty rusty

and this welding is unforgivable.

I might as well knock up a new bit of tube.

While fixing the cracks
and holes in the header,

I discovered the midsection pipe
was also rusty and falling apart.

So I've decided to make a new
bit of tubing and replace the lot.

Right, well that is it.

Head is repaired, no more
leaks plus a new flange.

New midsection with a new flange

and I've test fitted it to make
sure it all drops in nicely.

I'm actually going to go a step further

and it might annoy Mike because
I'm going to spend some money.

I'm going to get this ceramic coated.

Now this car is by its very nature.

a tiny little two-seater sports car

which is great but it's a
problem for people like me

because ultimately the word
tiny carries on to the inside.

So if I jump in here, make a
half attempt to try and drive it,

you'll notice that I can't use the pedals
and yes, I've got big work boots on

but really if I took them off,

I still don't think I can drive
this car with trainers on.

The accelerator and brake
are just too close together.

Now when it comes to selling
this car, this is a big problem

because what we're
basically saying is that.

you can only buy this
car if you've got tiny feet.

The Datsun doesn't have a pedal box per se.

Each individual pedal is mounted
one at a time into the footwell.

The pedal is linked to the
master cylinder with a push rod

and then held in place with a
single bolt acting as a pivot point.

Pretty simple to take out.

And I've got a number of
options to space them out a bit.

I could relocate each individual pedal
but that's going to bring a lot of work

because ultimately it would
mean drilling holes in the footwell,

moving over the master
cylinder so they stayed opposite

the pedal and then
removing all of the hydraulics.

That's a lot of drama.

I could cut this flat plate off,
move it over and weld it on

so it's offset, giving a bit of
space between the accelerator

and the brake but actually
my solution is far easier.

Now that the pedal's out you can
actually see it's quite an obscure shape.

Now this bend here is to avoid the
steering column that passes through.

Now this bend here
Datsun deliberately put in

which invariably brings the
pedal closer to the accelerator.

So as long as I don't touch the pivot point

and I don't touch the insertion
point for the master cylinder

I can do whatever I like from here down.

So I can straighten this and
that will bring the pedal over.

In fact I could go beyond
it moving the pedal

further away by simply
manipulating the metal.

So just by straightening that up

it's already moved the pedal
further away from the accelerator.

But I want to go a little bit further.

So now you see I've maintained
the kink up here for the steering

but instead of coming
down and diving to the

right it now comes
down and dives to the left.

I'll just double check it.

Cars haven't always used
a pedal as an accelerator.

The old 1920s Ford Model T
had a lever on the steering column

a bit like a modern windscreen wiper.

The driver could set
the speed and leave it.

It was old fashioned cruise control.

Now I reckon I've moved
that pedal over about an inch.

Oh yeah.

So now I can freely hit the accelerator.

and the brake.

and the clutch.

So even with my big bulky work boots on.

the pedals are now
completely usable in this car.

It's a simple fix but it's going to
transform the sailability of this car.

The 1969 Datsun Roadster
is the finest British two seater

to come from a completely different
island nation half way around the planet.

It's very very snug in here.

It is. Wait until you shut the door.

Feel that.

And sorted out the sloppy
steering and spongy brakes.

while I got my hands dirty
resurrecting a proper soft top.

I paid $8,500 for the car steering and
suspension kit $1,798 Volvo brake kit $940

convertible top $550

exhaust clamp $2.

header ceramic coating $220
the wheel centre caps were just $56

and I got those cinema
seats recovered with

vinyl for $329 giving us
a total cost of $12,395.

and it was all done in just 34 man hours.

With the work on this British imposter
complete let's take her for a spin. Tally h*!

Now there's nothing more
British than a couple of English

gentlemen out for a Sunday
drive in the countryside.

Unless of course those gentlemen
were wearing their cricket white.

And it was raining.

Well, two out of three ain't bad.

Oh yeah!

Look at us two.

Look at us two.

Look at us. I mean just
suck it in sunshine, suck it in.

Here we are dressed
like a couple of pillocks.

Pillock?
I haven't heard the word pillock for years.

We are dressed like a couple of pillocks.

This is the perfect way.

There are other words.

Pillock.

Please beep that.

It's like the Japanese
just reverse engineered

the best of whatever
was great about British

sports cars and then
they made it reliable.

In fact, what would you call
a reliable British sports car?

An oxymoron.

And there you'd be right
because this is everything

that you want out of
a British sports car.

You can drive it with a
roof off, smell the vapours

coming off the engine, hear the
raspy sound of that exhaust note

but all of that with no fear that you're
going to be standing on the side of the road

waiting for somebody
to come and rescue you.

And I've just noticed, as I'm driving it,

I can dance across the pedal box.

When I bought this car, it
had a really tight pedal box.

What have you done, put a new one in?

In my opinion, that's one thing that Datsun
got wrong and you're going to love this.

They basically took the brake
pedal out, stuck it in the vice,

whacked it with a hammer a
couple of times, put it back in.

Didn't spend a penny.

Oh, I bet those Japanese
engineers will be...

No, no, no. Please don't let them find out.

I'll have found everybody.

A whole continent of people.

What you don't want to do is
just say that on national television.

Absolutely not.

Right, aside from the adjusting
pedals, what else do you notice?

I notice immediately this.

Look, when I push it into a bend.

Oh, yeah!

It's all right, innit?

It's all right when you wring its neck.

It's precise and beautiful.

Before it felt like the car
was just going to fall over.

Now it feels like you've put the car

anywhere you like on the road
and it's just going to get there.

It feels like it's been completely renewed.

That's because... It's been
completely renewed, yeah.

So, aside from the adjusted brake pedal,

aside from the rebuilt steering,

jump on the middle one.

Oh, blimey! Gee whiz!

I said jump...
No, like, don't actually jump on it.

Oh, they are... They are anchors.

They are proper anchors.

It's like just throwing an anchor
out and it catching the ground.

I am absolutely delighted
with the way this car turned out.

Yeah, me too.

Pull over!

All right!

Check it out.

Yeah, look at that!

Ceramic coating, I love it.

Looks really nice.

Yeah, but it's not just about looking great,
because ultimately it serves a purpose,

because it actually helps reduce
the temperature under the bonnet.

Yeah, very nice indeed.

But have you seen the roof?

Because the roof was a thing of joy,
because when I went and got the roof,

all the frame, that was all tatty,

so I did this process where
I painted it, but heated it up.

Yeah, but the ceramic coating's
not just about looking good.

In fact, it also helps efficiency,

because hotter gases flow
smoother than colder gases,

and the idea is you want to
get the gases out the back

of the car as quickly
and efficiently as possible,

and ultimately, that helps
improve brake horsepower,

it gives the power,

the extra bit of power to the rear wheels.

Yeah, but talking about efficiency,

I mean, how efficient was I
going to find a roof for this vehicle?

A lot of people think you
can't find these old parts,

but you can throw me
anywhere in the world, and

I find a part for you,
but not only do I find

it, I make it look like
brand new and original.

Yeah, but the thing
about the ceramic coating

is not just about being
efficient and looking good,

it also serves a purpose
for rust, because the coating

itself protects the metal, it
prevents it from oxidizing.

Yeah, it's all very good,

but think about the salability of the car.

Got a soft top, now we've
got a hard top as well,

we're going to sell it so much easier,

it's going to be brilliant.

Huh?

Like it?

The roof?

You like the roof, don't you?

Yeah, that's good.

And the interior?

The soft top's great.

Interior's great.

It's all great.

When you think about it,

we've more or less ticked
every box, haven't we,

for the potential buyer of this car.

It's reliable.

It's got the more
sought-after 2-litre engine.

It steers, it stops, it handles,

and it looks bloody cool.

And it's convertible,
2-seater, rear-wheel drive,

manual gearbox, but it's white.

Think about the advert
when I'm writing the advert out.

All of those things are just going
to make it so much easier to sell.

Trust me, I'm going to find us a fair lady.

Or a fair gentleman.

One or the other.

When I bought our 51-year-old Datsun Roadster
off the legend that he's Gene Winfield,

it looked every inch of its very old age.

But now, thanks to Ant's brilliant work,

it looks like it's just rolled
off the factory production line.

This is going to be an easy car to sell.

Now, Josh has already driven it.

I think he wants one.

Let's see if we can put a deal together.

So then, Josh.

Hey, mate.

Tell me a little bit about your story.

So why a Datsun Roadster?

Well, when I was 19, I had one,
and I ended up having to sell it

because I couldn't get it smogged at
the time, and I've regretted it ever since,

and it's time to pick up another one.

Oh, that's lovely.

So this is like a nostalgic
road trip, if you pardon the pun.

Yeah, exactly.

And if you was to buy this car,
what would you be doing with it?

Oh, just spend time with the wife on the
road and hit the coast and just enjoy it.

That's fantastic. Wonderful.

I mean, it's the perfect
car for that as well.

And we've done some really
good work to make it really drivable,

especially today.

You know, we've done
some work to the engine.

We uprated the braking system on the car,

so it's got disc brakes,
it brakes really well.

We even adjusted the pedal box,

so it's easier for a big
fella to drive the car.

It makes it much easier
for me to drive the car.

But the real bonus to
this car is when I bought it,

it didn't have a soft top, but we
fitted a brand-new soft top to the car,

so you can take off this rare
hard top and stack it away

in the garage, and you can
always flip back that soft top.

So I've asked, I think, a very
reasonable price, just $14,000 firm.

Where do you want to be?

Well, Mike, I've been
looking for one for a

while now, and I think
$14,000 is a fair price.

I'll bet you're right.

You've got yourself a deal.

You just put yourself a crack in,
and that's in $2,000. Well done.

Thank you.

Well, there you have it.

Josh gets to enjoy
what I think is the best of

British wrapped up in
some Japanese reliability.

This has been a fantastic car
to have through the workshop.

Me and Ant have really enjoyed it.

And get this,

we've got some profit in
our back pocket as well.

Not bad, eh?

If you want to see more legends like
this being turned around by me and Ant,

join us again soon on Wheel of Dealers.

Salut.