Do you remember your first car? For Kevin M, his first car was a 1967 Bluebird RL411 that he purchased as a teenager. For his 50th birthday he bought a Bluebird just like the one he had in high school and came to us for mechanical help.
Kevin is a long time Z Car Garage customer with his pretty Cherry Red Pearl Slicktop Z32 300ZX, so we happily obliged to take on the 411 project. We knew that it would be a challenge as his 411 was the very rare, “SSS” model. Not familiar with the 411? It is a hybrid of sorts with a body designed by the Italians and mechanics built in Japan by Datsun.
The Bluebird had a 1300 cc engine and its body was designed by Italian coachbuilder Pininfarina. The SSS was a high performance sedan version of the Bluebird that used a slightly modified version of the engine from our beloved Datsun Fairlady 1600 sports car. Let’s take a look at Kevin’s history with the 411…
Bluebird Beginnings
In 1978 at the age of 16, Kevin’s first car purchase was this 1967 Datsun Bluebird 411 sedan. He had many fond memories in it as a teen:
“I drove the car all through my time as a student at Cupertino High School and at De Anza College. The 1980s! It was kind of a funny looking car, but I just adored it. I drove it to my high school Junior Prom, as you can see from the photos. My brother and I once even drove all the way from Bay Area up to Sweet Home, Oregon to visit our mom. A bit gutless going over the big grades, but we made it there and back without many issues.
I drove this car all over the Silicon Valley, to school, to work, Santa Clara Vanguard rehearsal, ‘Tino football games, to midnight movies, to KOME where I volunteered, to KFJC, my college radio home, to the beach in Santa Cruz via the Old Santa Cruz Highway, and especially up and down Highway 9.
Birthday Bluebird
At some point while going to college, the head gasket blew and Kevin decided to sell the car. He regretted selling it, considering all the memories the 411 gave him. On his 50th birthday Kevin remembered the soft spot he had for his Bluebird and purchased one in 2013 from noted 411 expert Tom Neely:
“I was so excited to have this car in my hands. It was very nostalgic driving the car once again. The sounds, the smell, the look and feel were all too familiar. The difference is that this was the RL411 SSS, a more powerful version of the Bluebird I once new. I drove it all around the San Francisco neighborhood where I live, picking up loads of smiles and thumbs up.”
Getting The SSS Back On The Road
Kevin was able to enjoy his “new” Bluebird until the engine made a horrible noise. He visited Z Car Garage in 2014 and we diagnosed the R16 with a rod knock. Kevin and Rob discussed a restoration with premium replacement and NOS parts at the heart of the build. We knew that finding parts for a car like this would be very difficult and accepted the challenge. Early stages of the build included a hot-rod R16 engine from Rebello, refurbished brakes/hydraulics, upgraded ignition and gaskets.
Unicorn Parts
The original exhaust manifold crumbled to dust once removed so another one was sourced and replaced. The custom exhaust system built by Neely gets great reviews from other RL411 owners. Note the downpipe is routed through the fender:
One part, known as “the unicorn” part in the Datsun 411 community, is the RL411 variant of the water pump for the R16 engine. It is shorter and stubbier than the Fairlady Roadster version of the part. It is widely known that this part can no longer be found anywhere in the world. Kevin was happy we found one:
“Rob Fuller and Z Car Garage’s vast network had somehow found one last RL411 water pump! The unicorn! I could not believe the news. The part was installed, and I received the car shortly thereafter.”
The engine was treated to new upper/lower radiator hoses and a new Nissan gasket set:
Chassis
With the hot-rod parts being installed into a chassis from the 60’s, everything needed to be gone through to make it road worthy. The braking system was overhauled with new calipers, F/R wheel bearings and new rear wheel cylinders. We also rebuilt the suspension:
What vintage Datsun would be complete without a set of Panasports?! We couldn’t resist fitting some 14×6 Panasports with Star Spec tires. Lowering blocks in rear make it look sharp! More pictures in the gallery below:
Interior
We really dig the interior on the 411s as they have a very classy look and feel. The dash was worked on with attention to the gauge cluster and trim. The heater core was removed/rebuilt and the control valve pressure tested to ensure the heater/defrost was functional:
New seats sourced from another 411 with a matching rear bench and new carpeting were installed:
Details
We convinced Kevin to breathe some life into the old paint with a cut and buff…the results were impressive. The car was undercoated and detail painted, here is a before/after:
While buying some parts for Meghan’s 312 Bluebird we got a set of NOS 411 bumpers and hooked Kevin up.
Tuning
We replaced all the fluids, installed an upgraded East Coast Datsun distributor (Thanks Tom!), upgraded alternator and brand new set of factory plug wires. Rob dyno tuned the R16 with Z Therapy SU carbs making 79hp/95tq at the wheels:
Kevin took delivery of his refreshed 411 and he was stoked:
“I headed down to Z Car Garage. Rob handed me the keys and said, ‘take it around the block. Tell me what you think.’ I did so. The car was like another beast. The engine roared to life. It seemed was fresher and angrier. That extended out to the test drive. What performance! The Bluebird was was back! More performance than before and zero backfiring. I could really wind out the R16! “Well?’ asked Rob. ‘Amazing!’ I exclaimed.”
Enjoying The Ride
Kevin was so excited that his Bluebird was fresh and ready he made the long journey to attend the 2018 Japanese Classic Car Show. There, he was recognized for his long drive in the Bluebird from San Francisco to Long Beach:
“I received an “Iron Butt” award for distance traveled to the show. Even more importantly, the Bluebird made the trip home, as well. Since JCCS, I’ve shown the car locally at the ZONC show and got a lot of interest in the car. Again, it’s so odd that even Datsun enthusiasts had never seen one before. It can’t really win car shows, as there is no category for these oddball 411s!”
Indeed, we were stoked to see Kevin and Bluebird at the
ZONC Annual Classic Car Show:
He joined us on a local Holiday Fun Run through the Santa Cruz Mtns:
He even attended the Route 66 Classic Car Show in Williams, AZ where he joined a few other 411 owners, again driving all the way there and back!
The Bluebird is being daily driven in San Francisco:
We enjoyed the journey to bring Kevin’s RL411 back to life and it makes us happy to see him Enjoying The Ride:
“I thank the Datsun gods for putting this project into Z Car Garage’s hands because they came through for me in the end. I don’t believe I would be driving the car if it weren’t for their knowledge and persistence. Here’s how the car looked after I picked it up from Z Car Garage.”
Big thanks to Kevin for sticking with us through the build and everyone in the Datsun community that lent a hand like Mike Young. Datsuns Are Driven!
More pictures in the gallery below:
