My Datsuns

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I have been the proud owner of many different Datsuns over the past 8 years. The first car I ever drove was a Datsun, I took my driving test in a Datsun, I drove to High School in a Datsun. The first wreck I was ever in was in a Datsun, too.

My parents were Datsun owners, too. They bought a brand-new Datsun 620 Pickup in 1973, right before the OPEC oil embargo. In fact, they still have it- a testament to the longevity and reliability of the Datsun. They bought their second Datsun in 1980, a used rental 1979 210 Station Wagon. They sold it in 1986, but it served well during the time they had it.

I've become somewhat of a fanatic about Datsuns. Right before I got my driver's license in 1990, my parents bought me a 1978 Datsun 510 Station Wagon. It was exactly what I wanted. Unfortunately, I was too attached to it, so they paid far too much for it, considering it was 12 years old and burned oil. I never got to fix it because in March, 1991 it was hit square in the passenger side doors by a Honda Prelude whos new owner ran a red light. Both the 510 and the Prelude were totalled, but only the Datsun was still driveable. Not one window was broken. The Prelude, on the other hand, had the engine block split in half.

The second Datsun I had was a replacement for the first, bought in June 1991. Also a 1978 510 Station Wagon, it had over 200,000 miles on its original engine but still ran strong. Now approaching 275,000 miles, it is showing its age, with some oil leaks. I fixed the biggest ones (the timing cover leaked at a rate of 1 quart/100 miles) but the oil pan gasket is still original and leaks consistently. It still runs great, I commute in it (how many people can say they still drive the car they had in High School - aside from High School students?) transportation. It still gets over 30 MPG in mixed drivin

In May, 1992 just prior to my High School graduation, a classmate who owned a 510 Hatchback told me she had wrecked it a few weeks earlier. Her parents had kept salvage on the car, but soon realized that repairing it would be too costly. It had been hit hard in the passenger side quarter panel, but was still somewhat driveable. I bought it in June, 1992 for $100 and it was the first car I actually owned. Against better judgement, I replaced the bent rear axle, lifted the body 4" to clear the irrepairable body damage, and took it through the State Retitling process. Since it was an Automatic, I let my younger sister use it for driving practice until I left for the Navy in Nov, 1992. She continued to use it after getting her licence, adding more "Custom bodywork" to the front fender in a minor altercation with a panel truck, until the alternator died in February, 1994. I drove it for 2 more months, finally giving up trying to chase a phantom faulty wire, and scrapped it into another car in April, 1994. The stripped out hulk was eventually hauled away in Nov, 1996.

During the summer of 1992, and knowing that I was to leave for Boot Camp in November, I decided to fix the "Green Truck" (my parents 1973 Datsun pickup) that had been sitting dead in the backyard of a blown headgasket since Nov, 1991. Using a Haynes manual and persistance I removed, disassembled, rebuilt, and reinstalled the engine over the course of the summer. When it fired up that August for the first time in 9 months I was the happiest person in town. I proved to myself that engine rebuilding isn't all that difficult. And I must have done it right; It still runs great 30,000 miles later. I also repainted it that September, but used cheap spray paint that only lasted a few years.

In the Summer of 1993 I realized that the Datsun pickup my neighbor owned had sat idle for almost 3 years. I got up the nerve and asked if he was willing to sell it. Turns out, he had just been considering calling the junkyard to come pick it up, even though it still ran. So, for $100, I had a 1979 Longbed Datsun pickup with a L18 SSS racing engine, dual SU carbs, as well as the original engine. Though I've tried, I can never get the thing to run right. I move it once a month (under its own power) but I have never licensed it.

When my sister hit the panel truck in the fall of 1993, I went out looking for a replacement fender for the Hatchback. I found it, all right. In fact, I found a complete, pristine 1978 Datsun 510 Hatchback body. This car had so little rust and no signs of ever being wrecked I was surprised it was even in the junkyard. Turns out the transmission had gone bad, the owner traded it in, and it went to wholesale Heaven and into history. I figured I could put the complete driveline from the Burgundy H/B (which still had a considerable amount of body damage), so I bought the whole thing, minus engine and tranny. But, the search for a new 5-speed transmission has been a futile one (I bought one in Jan, 1996, but it was stolen in 1997), and it too sits unrepaired in the garage.

My search for a cheap 5-speed transmission for the above Hatchback led me to the classified ads in Nov, 1993. I found "1978 Datsun, $100" in the foreign parts section and made the call. Hoping for a 5-speed, I found a well-worn, whole 510 HB with a 5-speed transmission. I felt like my luck was changing, and bought it, too. At this point my Dad was getting quite annoyed; I now had 3 derelict Datsuns and 3 running ones surrounding the house. I tried to get it running to no avail, finding out later the head and pistons had been melted due to a crushed tailpipe. When the Burgundy H/B died in the spring of 1994, I parted its engine, driver's door, and other small items into this Blue one. I relicensed it in April, 1994. It was meant to be a temporary measure, just until I got the oil leaks in the Station wagon fixed, (which I finally got around to in 1999). It was my daily driver from 1995-1999. Unfortunately, it never got the same gas mileage (only about 19 city, 28 Hwy) as the Station wagon. Turns out it was timing- I fixed it during the summer of 1999, it got 31MPG after that. I reinstalled the blue Driver's door in Feb, 1997 (I had replaced it because the door lock was broken) making it somewhat one color for the first time since April, 1994. This was once again replaced with the Burgundy door after the hinge siezed (the door stop never did work right) and ripped out of the door- causing me a minor difficulty when the door wouldn't close when it was time to go home from work! Update- In December 2000 the "Blue Beater" rolled 200,000 miles and still going strong. I thought the engine was toast in 1999 but it was nothing more than a bad manifold hose.

I was good for several more years, not buying anymore cars until 1996, when my ship was at Todd's Shipyard in Seattle. A local truck company owner had parked his somewhat stripped 1974 Datsun pickup down by the docks. I checked the registration, called his finance company, and eventually got a hold of the owner, who bluntly told me it was not abandoned. I offered to buy it, and he even towed it to my house. It had been in a fron end collision with the back of a semi, which had destroyed the hood, grille, and both fenders but left the engine, cab, and bed intact. I had planned on keeping it for parts for the '73, but the City threatened to cite us for having too many derelict vehicles in the yard. I kept the engine, tranny, doors, windshield, tailgate, and wheels, but the rest was hauled away in 1997.

In October, 1997, during the search for a car for my (other) sister, I came across a 1977 Datsun 280Z that had been taken in for trade where I work. It was in fairly poor shape; the interior was gutted and the body was half JC Whitney. I took it home for a test drive (my sister hated it) and gave it back the next day. $350 was just too much for a rough running, patched-up stripped out Z. It sat for several more weeks, unsold. I was approached by one of the senior personnel who was hoping to unload it. They offered $250, I said $200, and it was sold. When I went to the holding lot the next day to pick it up, I realized it had been broken into in the 2 weeks it sat. It started, but only made it to the fence. I had it towed home, where I spent 4 months trying to find the problem. I eventually replaced the Air Flow Meter, and the problems disappeared. It now awaits repainting and completion of the interior.

The only non-OHV Datsun I have ever owned was bought in July, 1998. It was a 1976 Datsun B210. I had promised myself never to buy an OHV Datsun (210, F10, 310) but for $100, it was too hard to pass. The owner claimed it had a blown head gasket and was flooding, but within 2 hours of getting it home the problem was traced to worn points and a blown condenser. $5.80 later, it was up and running. Unfortuneatley, it also burned oil excessively, due to worn rings. I let a friend borrow it, but within a month the carb failed, pouring raw gas down the carb, and into the crankcase. I didn't have the cash on hand to fix it, and the friend had a B210 with a blown head gasket, so I gave him the B210 and swapped the carb for him. He got about a year more out of it. I would have taken it back, but the cost of towing it was a bit much for me at the time (plus I had just bought a house).

I almost made it 2 years before I bought another Datsun- this time, a beat-up, rusty, wrecked 1980 510 2-door Sedan. I saw it sitting on the side of the road with For Sale written all over it, and had to look. This little beaut had over 250,000 miles on the clock and aside from the paint (well, where it wasn't rusted through) looked every inch of it. The seller wanted $350 for it but a little haggling and pointing out that the body was trash, that dash was broken, it had no tailpipe beyond the catalyst, the windshield was shattered, it had no door handles OR window regulators, and the U-joints were shot (I told you it was a beauty, right?) I got it for $150. I had no more than given him the cash when he showed me his idea of a title- the bill of sale from an impound/abandoned auto auction that showed he paid $5 for it. Oh well, a deal's a deal, I took it home, fixed the big stuff, and started driving it. For 250K+ miles it sure has a lot of get-up-and-go- It's probably the best runner of 'em all.

My Latest purchase is a another survivor of the hard use crowd- a very rough '74 620 pickup. I bought this one at an abandoned auto auction (learned my lesson from the guy above) and paid $95 for it. Yes, it's banged up- the hood is bent, the grill I had to remove by pulling the bumper first, and the rocker panels are rust city. But it also runs fair (not perfect by any means) and has beed refitted with an L20B and a 5-speed Dogleg transmission. It does the dirty work around the yard- grass, weeds, brambles, old shingles, termite-infested wood, you name it, it hauls it.

Last Update: 3/6/2001 20:27 PST