Company Spotlight: FutoFab went from building race-car cages to helping save rusty Datsuns
Updated: Oct 19
There are plenty of ways to make a classic Datsun faster.
Keeping the body from returning to the earth is an entirely different problem.
Rust doesn't care how much horsepower an L-series engine produces. It isn't particularly impressed by expensive suspension components, either.
Once corrosion starts consuming structural panels and complicated body sections, a restoration can quickly turn into a search for parts that Nissan stopped manufacturing decades ago.
FutoFab has developed an interesting niche addressing that problem.
The specialist supplies reproduction steel body panels, restoration components and performance hardware for classic Datsuns, including the 510 and early Z cars.
But the company didn't begin with sheet metal.
It began with two enthusiasts trying to build roll cages.
A fabrication business born in a garage
FutoFab traces its origins to the mid-1980s, when Dave Patten and his longtime friend Drew Young needed roll cages for their own SCCA road-racing cars.
They built the cages themselves.
Other local racers noticed their work, and what began as a personal fabrication project developed into a small business supplying similar equipment to grassroots competitors.
Over time, the work expanded into suspension design, chassis fabrication and related engineering.
Patten eventually became the company's sole operator.
According to FutoFab's own history, he has been involved in racing Datsuns for more than three decades.
That background helps explain the company's current catalog.
Rather than concentrating exclusively on cosmetic accessories, FutoFab offers components addressing the structural, mechanical and restoration challenges of maintaining older Datsuns.
And yes, the company has a sense of humor.
Its name originally stood for Fat, Ugly, Tired and Old Fabricators, a self-deprecating reference to the increasingly uncomfortable experience of squeezing around the tubing inside small race cars.
Anyone who has welded a roll cage into a compact unibody probably understands the sentiment.
Saving the Datsun 510, one panel at a time
The 510 is a particularly good example of why reproduction body panels matter.
These cars were affordable, practical transportation when new.
Many were driven extensively, modified, raced or simply worn out.
Decades later, finding an undamaged replacement quarter panel or rear body section can be considerably harder than sourcing an engine or suspension component.
That distinction matters because the two body styles have different panel geometry.
The company's current listings also distinguish left-hand and right-hand applications.
The advertised two-door rear quarter panels cost $650 each, while the four-door versions are listed at $480.
FutoFab's reproduction right-hand rear quarter panel for a two-door Datsun 510. Photo: FutoFab
Other offerings include replacement tail-light panels, rear valances, trunk-floor drop sections and wheelhouse components.
Those aren't glamorous modifications.
But repairing a damaged quarter panel or corroded trunk section with correctly shaped replacement metal can determine whether a restoration remains economically practical.
The alternative may involve finding a rare donor car or fabricating the missing geometry by hand.
Neither is necessarily cheap.
The Z-car catalog takes a different approach
Its offerings include reproduction front and rear bumpers, replacement hoods, tail-light assemblies and smaller restoration hardware.
The company lists separate hood applications for 1970–1976 Z cars and the 1977–1978 280Z.
The later version accommodates the ventilation openings associated with those model years.
That difference illustrates an important restoration principle.
A component that looks nearly identical in a photograph may not match the original vehicle's exact configuration.
FutoFab also offers both U.S.-market-style and Japanese-market-style tail-light assemblies for the 1970–1973 240Z.
The Japanese-style lamps incorporate amber directional sections.
However, the manufacturer explains that achieving the intended amber turn-signal operation requires additional wiring changes.
The assemblies also include an extra lamp function that must be wired separately if the owner wants to use it.
In other words, installing a component that looks factory-correct doesn't necessarily mean every electrical function becomes correct automatically.
It's a small but important distinction.
Replacement panels don't eliminate fabrication
Having access to a reproduction panel is enormously helpful.
It doesn't remove the need for careful bodywork.
Replacing a corroded section requires determining how far the damage extends, removing compromised metal and confirming that the surrounding structure remains sound.
New panels should be test-fitted before permanent attachment.
Door gaps, panel contours, mounting positions and adjacent components all need to be checked.
Even an accurately reproduced quarter panel can become an expensive headache if it is installed before the rest of the body is properly aligned.
And once the welding is complete, the repaired area still needs suitable sealing and corrosion protection.
The replacement part is one piece of the process.
The craftsmanship involved in installing it determines whether the repair lasts.
Beyond sheet metal
Although restoration components make an interesting entry point into the business, FutoFab's catalog extends considerably further.
The company also offers suspension hardware, wheels, drivetrain components and accessories for several classic Datsun platforms.
Its drivetrain range includes CV axle conversions intended for certain Nissan differential applications.
As with the body panels, compatibility depends on the particular vehicle, differential and associated components.
A part marketed for a Datsun doesn't automatically fit every combination of Nissan hardware assembled over fifty years of modifications.
The important contribution is having another source of components designed around these aging platforms.
The parts that make a restoration possible
The classic Datsun aftermarket attracts plenty of attention when someone develops a new turbo kit, cylinder head or suspension conversion.
But replacement body panels deserve at least as much appreciation.
They address the less exciting problem of keeping the original vehicle structurally intact.
FutoFab's development from a grassroots fabrication operation into a specialist parts supplier illustrates how enthusiast knowledge can become an important resource for an entire community.
Its catalog isn't limited to making Datsuns faster.
Some of its most useful products help make them repairable in the first place.
And for an owner staring at a rusty quarter panel, that's probably the more urgent problem.
Sources
FutoFab company history — undated; reviewed October 18, 2026.
FutoFab Datsun Z restoration catalog — undated; reviewed October 18, 2026.
FutoFab Datsun 510 body restoration catalog — undated; reviewed October 18, 2026.
FutoFab Datsun 510 rear body panels — undated; reviewed October 18, 2026.
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