1968 Datsun 510 GTL Restoration

The car was reassembled after paint, and then brought to the track for its shake down run. This was an affordable restoration; we kept the car with period piece parts so it would maintain its look from the 1970/1980s when it was campaigned as a production racecar.

With the current look of the car it is eligible to run in Vintage series racing as well as the local Club racing. It can also be used on track days just to have fun.

Here are some in process pictures from the shop at Thompson-Machine.

Additional roll bar tubes were added where needed to bring the chassis to current safety regulations.

Then the project was painted in primer. At this point components will be engineered and developed to fit back on the car for the new class designation of GTL (GT Lite)

All holes from years of different owners were MIG welded, ground. The chassis was stitch welded at all factory seems for rigidity. Any body panels that were beyond repair were fabricated and replaced.

The tub of the 1968 Datsun 510 was dismantled and all parts saved for evaluation. The chassis was then stripped of the many layers of different color paint. At this point the structural integrity of the chassis was evaluated.

This car was campaigned in SCCA in the GT-4 class during the 1980’s. The car was used up as far as the engine, running gear and safety equipment. It was then left unattended outside for 5 years where it continued to deteriorate.

At Thompson-Machine we evaluate cars of this condition for their value for parts and restoration. This particular car had a very extensive history and documentation, which we felt, made a restoration worthwhile.