Yes I agree. Up to Sunny level you dont get much luxury although the mechanics are virtually unbreakable. I had a 1979 Cherry Coupe stolen in December 2003. Was the same 1171cc engine but it went like hell and had a 5spd box.
Moving up the range to Violet, and the interior luxury improves slightly. A bit less tinny. There is no metal visible on the inside of the doors, and the carpets are better, although the seats are not very comfortable. From Violet upwards, they use coils at the back instead of leaves except on estates. My Violet is a 160J (1595cc overhead cam) and have just fitted twin carbs off the SSS Coupe model, and fitting a LPG conversion. Bought it for ?*** off a widow who had recently lost her husband who had had the car since new, so 1 owner before me and only 25000 miles! Trying to arrange a 5spd box for it soon.
The Toyotas seem less tinny. Both my Carinas have the 1588cc ohv engine which can also go on forever. The one I'm using daily has 104,000 on the clock and uses no oil, idles so quietly you think you have stalled, and can pull quite well. The '72 model is a restoration project, but its nearly all there, just needs straightening up, a bit of welding, painting and assembling. I might scrap the '79 at some time to give parts for the '72 as this one has some bodywork problems i.e. rear wheel arches are a crumbling mess of rust, fibreglass and filler.
Too Many Cars...
Re: Old Japs
I'm having the front seats of my black 120Y re-bolstered, it's like sitting on a wood bench at the moment - whether or not this is due to age I'm not sure. The Datsun club provide excellent spares service, more or less anything, including panels.
There's an orangey V-reg Violet around here somewhere, an old man drives it, probably had from new -it's an absolute minter. I wouldn't mind adding that to my collection sometime... it's one of the few remaining cars of that era around here that I don't own!
I've just noticed a blue 74 Dolomite a few streets away from me, looks ok. It's on rostyles, but I can't see the back end to see what model it is, other than the twin headlights...
There's an orangey V-reg Violet around here somewhere, an old man drives it, probably had from new -it's an absolute minter. I wouldn't mind adding that to my collection sometime... it's one of the few remaining cars of that era around here that I don't own!
I've just noticed a blue 74 Dolomite a few streets away from me, looks ok. It's on rostyles, but I can't see the back end to see what model it is, other than the twin headlights...
www.credence.org
Re: Old Japs
The Violet seats are exactly the same. Feels like a metal bar or something right accross your bottom. Aparrently they were like that from new according to Datsun club, and when a Bluebird/Laurel/Skyline made its way into a scrapyard the seats were the first things to go as people put them straight into their smaller Datsuns for more comfort. Will be hard finding any in scrapyards these days though, they all get exported to Africa.
I'm selling off whats left of the Dolomite stuf on eBay. They are still great cars apart from the obvious rust problems, but I am not someone who keeps just 1 of each type of car, I tend to stick to 1 type at 1 time and get a few of that 1 type. So its out with the Dolomites and Japs are staying for the moment.
I'm selling off whats left of the Dolomite stuf on eBay. They are still great cars apart from the obvious rust problems, but I am not someone who keeps just 1 of each type of car, I tend to stick to 1 type at 1 time and get a few of that 1 type. So its out with the Dolomites and Japs are staying for the moment.
Re: Old Japs
I was quoted ?60 to rebolster both my front seats in the 120Y, providing I take them out and drop them off. Not bad...
www.credence.org
Re: Old Japs
Fascinating stuff. I look forward to many more years reading.
Mart
Mart
Re: Old Japs
Doesnt seem a bad price, but us small Datsun owners have to keep costs to a minimum. I'll sit on a cushion for now.
The 120A coupe that got stolen had very nice velour bucket type seats. They would have done just the job. God knows where they are now. Probably in Africa.
The 120A coupe that got stolen had very nice velour bucket type seats. They would have done just the job. God knows where they are now. Probably in Africa.
Re: Old Japs
Apparantly the most "at risk" of being nicked, chopped up and sent to Africa is the B310 (78-82) Sunny - I've got a rare-ish 1500cc metallic red one on an X-plate, it was given to me for nowt in 2002. Funnily enough, I went to look at the same car ten years earlier when it was about ?2000... Gonna get some new doors for it from Will soon and get it back on the road
www.credence.org
Re: Old Japs
Someone who works at my place had a metallic blue B310 Coupe for the last God knows how many years until last December when a wagon drove into her at a junction and wrote it off. She got ?600 insurance payout for it which I thought was reasonable. There are 2 brothers who like old Jap cars here who have a brown B310 1.5 Automatic for sale. I gave her their contact but it was too late - she'd gone and bought a Corsa in desperate need for a car quickly - and she hates it. She didn't want that brown one though as it was Auto and not a coupe.
I think she kept the 5spd dog-leg gearbox off the crashed one to sell though.
Theres quite a lot of B310s to be seen on the roads in Pakistan where I went twice last year, but far more common are B110s and B210s, which are about in joint second place as the most popular car, beaten only by all the different variants of Toyota Corolla that they have out there.
I spotted 2 Mazda 929 Coupes, a mark 1 Carina, mark 1 and 2 Cortina, hundreds of mark 1 and 2 Transits, 1 N10 Cherry, 1 60s Datsun that must have been made before they started imprting them to UK because I'd never seen that model before.
The most common cars are all RWD Corolla, but other common sights are Corona, Cressida, Crown (normally chauffer driven for government bigwigs), B110, B210 (badged sunny!), B310 (badged 120Y!), few B11 known as Sentra, (their modernest Sunny has a front like a B11 and a back like a FWD Bluebird, very strange to see), 610 series pickups, Mazda 1000, 1100, Montrose 626, 1500, 818, 929, Daihatsu Charmant and Charade, Suzuki Swift (badged Khyber), Alto (badged Mehram), Carry and so on. Basically not time to blink or you will miss an intersting car. I came accross a late 70s Datsun 260C with a diesel engine in it.
Someone I know out there works in a garage and explained to me when I asked him about a car I saw. It was a Peugeot 309 with B11 Sunny back lights and a Toyota Corolla grille. He explained that some time around 1994 a shipment of 309s were sent to Pakistan which were all diesels, but no spares have ever been available for them over there, so people have to make do with what they can. Most cars dont have lights at all and there normally isnt a straight panel to be seen. Most of them are hanging together with filler which they apply with builders trowels by the side of the road and spray over it. It is also not uncommon to see a car pull over to the side if the road, someone jump out, drop the gearbox, open it up, fiddle about inside it, gearbox back in and away within half an hour. This happened a few times.
Almost all the vehicles run on gas which is filled up from under the bonnet, or under one of the seats in the car!
When we ran out of gas in our Suzuki Carry we tried to put some petrol in that the police helped us carry in plastic 7up bottles, and it came straight out onto the road beneath. The owner explained that since he'd had the van he'd never tried it on petrol so didnt know there was a hole in the tank. We got towed by a wagon (nearly all wagons there are Bedford TJ from the 50s) on a rope about as long as a skipping rope and I dont mind admitting I was very scared. With those forward control vans, one delayed brake and there would be nothing between us and the back of the wagon.
Anyway thats all for now
I think she kept the 5spd dog-leg gearbox off the crashed one to sell though.
Theres quite a lot of B310s to be seen on the roads in Pakistan where I went twice last year, but far more common are B110s and B210s, which are about in joint second place as the most popular car, beaten only by all the different variants of Toyota Corolla that they have out there.
I spotted 2 Mazda 929 Coupes, a mark 1 Carina, mark 1 and 2 Cortina, hundreds of mark 1 and 2 Transits, 1 N10 Cherry, 1 60s Datsun that must have been made before they started imprting them to UK because I'd never seen that model before.
The most common cars are all RWD Corolla, but other common sights are Corona, Cressida, Crown (normally chauffer driven for government bigwigs), B110, B210 (badged sunny!), B310 (badged 120Y!), few B11 known as Sentra, (their modernest Sunny has a front like a B11 and a back like a FWD Bluebird, very strange to see), 610 series pickups, Mazda 1000, 1100, Montrose 626, 1500, 818, 929, Daihatsu Charmant and Charade, Suzuki Swift (badged Khyber), Alto (badged Mehram), Carry and so on. Basically not time to blink or you will miss an intersting car. I came accross a late 70s Datsun 260C with a diesel engine in it.
Someone I know out there works in a garage and explained to me when I asked him about a car I saw. It was a Peugeot 309 with B11 Sunny back lights and a Toyota Corolla grille. He explained that some time around 1994 a shipment of 309s were sent to Pakistan which were all diesels, but no spares have ever been available for them over there, so people have to make do with what they can. Most cars dont have lights at all and there normally isnt a straight panel to be seen. Most of them are hanging together with filler which they apply with builders trowels by the side of the road and spray over it. It is also not uncommon to see a car pull over to the side if the road, someone jump out, drop the gearbox, open it up, fiddle about inside it, gearbox back in and away within half an hour. This happened a few times.
Almost all the vehicles run on gas which is filled up from under the bonnet, or under one of the seats in the car!
When we ran out of gas in our Suzuki Carry we tried to put some petrol in that the police helped us carry in plastic 7up bottles, and it came straight out onto the road beneath. The owner explained that since he'd had the van he'd never tried it on petrol so didnt know there was a hole in the tank. We got towed by a wagon (nearly all wagons there are Bedford TJ from the 50s) on a rope about as long as a skipping rope and I dont mind admitting I was very scared. With those forward control vans, one delayed brake and there would be nothing between us and the back of the wagon.
Anyway thats all for now
Re: Too Many Cars...
Exactly why I had to move out of London. And everytime I go back now I am screaming to get out after 30 mins.