Project Unicorn, the resurrection of 1967.5 Datsun 2000 SRL-00342

[Mattk]

Just Beautiful!!

Excellent work!!

[nismou20]

Beautifully done car Michael. By the way, was the RMS seal done during engine out or while in? Just curious as to only 50 % or entire seal both halves. Also liking the contrast white visors to Burgundy interior. Was that done on the original 1/2 year? Anyways, great looking car.

[spriso]

Thank you for all the kind comments on the project-- it has been a really great project.

A couple questions in previous posts that I'll answer:

Nismou20 wrote:

...was the RMS seal done during engine out or while in? Just curious as to only 50 % or entire seal both halves.

So, when we decided to tackle this leak, we decided that if the leak was coming form the bottom half of the rope seal, we may be able to fix it, and that is all we replaced (since the engine is in the car). If this continues to be a problem, the engine will have to be removed to fix the upper half (and no one is very excited about having to do that).

Nismou20 also wrote:

Also liking the contrast white visors to Burgundy interior. Was that done on the original 1/2 year? Anyways, great looking car.

The sunvisors were repainted with a SEM paint that is a near identical match to the original color on the sunvisors. The top half was pretty sun burned so it required a refinish.

Michael

[Pjackb]

Congrats Michael this is a stunning restoration and clearly a future contest winner, the owner must be feeling ecstatic

What’s also really exciting is to see both you and Kevin D. Using your incredible skills and knowledge honed over the years on resto mods to restore original cars ,we are lucky to have you

[spriso]

Early Spring Outings

Shortly after delivery to the customer, Project Unicorn had an unfortunate 5th gear failure which took out the gearbox. Thankfully Steve Petterson came to the rescue with a fully-rebuilt 5-speed transmission, and while the engine/transmission was out, Bill Cole came over and worked his magic on that upper rope seal, and finally we have a leak free U20-- I am indebted to both of them for their mastery at fixing unique U20/5-speed issues and am humbled and always learning more about roadsters every year. With the pain of having to pull out the engine and transmission in my memory (thanks to Eric Straw as well for the extra set of hands on the removal and replacement) I get the fun part of putting more test miles on the car.









I gotta say, after driving the wheels off of this thing, the U20 with the Mikuni's is a pretty awesome combo... not sure I'm going to be trading in my SR20s for one, but I certainly have a lot of respect for a properly tuned Solex car-- it pulls fantastic, sounds amazing, and really works well. Hats off to the Nissan engineers!

Enjoy the ride,

Michael

[Gregs672000]

I was just showing these pics to my wife saying "This is what my car is supposed to look like...". Truly gorgeous. Thanks for restoring it to such a wonderful state and representing a car that does have a significant place in automotive history. I feel that so many things came together in a 67 2000 Solex, and not because I am fortunate enough to own and play with one. The owner must be really excited.

[Alvin]

Oregon is beautiful
and so is the Unicorn!

[Pjackb]

a masterpiece , thanks for sharing

[iloveredmeat]

Man, I never get tired of seeing this car, and the superlatives about your work are endless.

But, what I got out of this post (other than you're also an awesome photographer) is that I clearly need to get my 5-speed all sorted out before I install.

I'm antsy, and I've been on the fence, feeling pretty confident that my transmission is a 'good one.' But, this settles it.

If this can happen to someone who does everything perfectly, it can certainly happen to me. Driving the Unicorn is a heck of a silver lining, and I'm truly sorry for your troubles, but you've potentially saved me and others' the same fate.

Michael, thanks for sharing the good and the not-so-good.
PM

[spriso]

Peter wrote:

If this can happen to someone who does everything perfectly, it can certainly happen to me. Driving the Unicorn is a heck of a silver lining, and I'm truly sorry for your troubles, but you've potentially saved me and others' the same fate.

Michael, thanks for sharing the good and the not-so-good.

First, we don't do everything perfectly, not by a long shot, but we do try very, very hard to make things as correct as possible, and to make sure that things like this don't happen, but even then, sometimes they still do. I do believe in transparency, and felt that it was important to share that sometimes things don't always go to plan... as we sometimes say in the shop "...ain't cars fun?" Sometimes you need to take a break for a bit, take a step back, plan your next move, and execute the next step to getting the car back in your customer's hands.

The engine and the transmission rebuild were subbed out to a local "expert" with very good reviews, and needless to say, despite a lot of assurances that things were perfect, we did not have the same experience-- a painful and time consuming exercise to get things right on this car. Thankfully I have an amazing customer who has been very patient and is committed to being the best steward for this car as possible. And again, the local community helped me immensely on finding solutions to the issues that we were having, and I am forever grateful to them.

Michael

[funkaholik]

Sometimes you need to take a break for a bit, take a step back, plan your next move, and execute the next step...

Good advice in all facets of life, not just cars.

Peter, I also had a 5 speed that was "believed good", supposedly rebuilt, and even came with a bag of worn-out synchros that supposedly came out of it. Notice I used "supposedly" twice there. After several roadsterphiles telling me to at least get it checked out, I brought it to Steve Pettersen, who found so many things wrong inside that he called it a "time bomb". Get it checked out. If it's all good, you're only out the cost of labor and gaskets to seal it back up.

[spriso]

Always Learning

I am NOT a U20 or Solex carb expert. But I have been playing with Roadsters for a long time, and one of the parts that had been sitting loose in Project Unicorn's spare parts was this rubber T. I knew it was for something for the car, but I could not find a home for it, nor could I find it in the parts book.



This week, a NOS Solex air cleaner assembly was listed on Facebook, and low and behold, there was the home for the rubber T!



So, today, it was reinstalled in Project Unicorn's engine compartment-- back at home where it belongs.



And afterwards, a cherry blossom drive was necessary!



Never throw anything away! Have a great weekend everyone.

Michael

[spl310]

Glad that you figured that out. It is such a rare, esoteric piece. I know that I have one for 76, but think that I am missing the one for 237. Now I have to go look...

[Florida Roadster]

Wow! Speechless. I just picked up my '67.5 this past weekend and this thread is going to be my inspiration. Thank you for the complete documentation and all the amazing pictures. Wow! Awesome work.

[dynaguy]

Wow! Speechless. I just picked up my '67.5 this past weekend and this thread is going to be my inspiration. Thank you for the complete documentation and all the amazing pictures. Wow! Awesome work.

I see that you are new to the forum. You will soon learn that Spriso and "Awesome Work" are synonymous. Michael has produced many exceptional cars. Pat