Will

Yup! It was Chris's engine. I'm pretty sure it's an L16, though maybe it was bored out? Those guys have an ideal garage. Chris wasn't around when I stopped by, but one of his roommates helped me load the engine and transmission into my car. I'm kinda surprised that it stuck around on craigslist for as long as it did.

I found it on Craigslist, and then skewed my return trip so that I could pick it up. My motor has been burning some oil, so it will be put to use sooner than later!

I know... if feels like trying to keep a house of cards balanced. I'll probably stretch some vinyl or fabric over the dash pad that is a close match, and fill the crack with epoxy. The old plastic can't flex or stretch too well, so it is bound to break someday.

I'm in Springfield tonight, but I'll be in Milwaukee by tomorrow night - I'm picking up my girlfriend at the airport next Sunday, so I need to travel quickly. (...and get that engine out of the passenger compartment so that there is space for said girlfriend!) Too bad, since there is so much to see - the section of Route 66 was great, and there were so many ghost towns by the roadside that looked like they would have been fun to explore.

I just reached 70,000 miles today, somewhere near the Oklahoma/Missouri border. Now I need to figure out the charging problem that popped up today - I needed to get two jumpstarts, and now the "Charge" idiot light turned on as I was parking my car for the night.

The place was closed for Memorial Day! I couldn't buy any dinosaur masks!

">

1,500 miles so far. The engine is burning/leaking oil, but the leaky differential seems like it was due to over-filling. There are shakes and rattles that can wait 'till I am home... here are some pictures from the trip so far: (the BBCode on flickr wasn't working today, so I had to go with links instead.) Visiting tourist traps in Holbrook, on route 66. I got to Amarillo last night and picked up an engine and transmission that came out of a 510 SSS Coupe. Not sure how to connect everything though - maybe I can route the power to the front wheels with the front axle from a 4wd Pulsar? And this morning a crack was waiting for me. Damn you Texas sunshine!

I got the car running again, and drove 650 miles today to make up for lost time. The whole southwest is very very windy.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I checked my ignition switch: no power. I traced the wire back to the janky maxi-fuses that replaced the fusible links, cleaned the contacts, and it is up and running again. Time to get on the road and resume the travel east!

The starter won't turn when the car dies (though it does turn if I hook it up to 12v directly) When the car dies and I try to re-start it, nothing happens when I turn the ignition switch.

the ignition has been changed to Petronix - is that what you mean?

It has petronix ignition, and the p.o. replaced the fusible links with maxi fuses, so there have been some electrical changes. When it dies out, the starter won't turn. When the car dies and I turn the ignition to "on," nothing happens - no starter, no gauges. I'm not sure why, but it seems to be temporarily cured by waiting. If any electrical geniuses out there are having a slow Memorial Day Sunday morning and want to help out with troubleshooting, I'll be here: (212) 470-7219 I'll still be checking this page too, whenever I get a chance.

This morning I set the idle speed, adjusted the valves, and un-lowered the rear leaf springs (one of the leafs was inverted, but I turned it rightside-up again... the driveshaft bumped the tunnel when I was driving on the highway, so it was too low for me) Everything was going okay until I'd gotten about 175 miles south and suddenly the power cut out - I hadn't touched the key, but the engine suddenly died and all of the gauges went to zero. Right now I'm stranded somewhere near Bakersfield - I'm going to get some much-needed sleep and see if I can get it running again in the morning...hopefully there will be some suggestions for stuff to try so that I can sort out my electrical woes. I started a new thread in the electrical section to try and get some help: http://community.ratsun.net/topic/32192-urgent-help-needed-stranded-710-in-ca/

Yeah - I'm going to try and clean the connections tomorrow morning. Hopefully I can figure out what is going on - everything was fine until the power cut out!

I picked up my 710 yesterday in Sacramento, and I'm having a weird problem that's left me stranded somewhere near Bakersfield - the car was driving along just fine and suddenly the power cut off - it acted as if the ignition was shut off (headlights still worked, but the motor died and all of the gauges went to zero.) I checked all of the wiring underhood, and the most obvious thing was the "Neutral relay" which had a burnt wire. I spliced in a new wire, but no change. I went off in search of parts, and when I came back the car started right up! Drove another 150 miles and was getting 29mpg. We stopped to get gas, drove to a restaurant, and the car konked out again. an hour later it started up but then died again after driving a hundred feet. Any ideas about what could be causing the problem? I checked the wiring diagram, and the Neutral Relay seems to hook up to the Starter Interlock, and Emissions Solenoids... but it is currently sporting a Weber without the emissions solenoids, a disabled starter interlock, and the transmission has been converted to a ZX 5-speed, so I'm not even sure if the relay controls anything. Any suggestions about what could be causing the trouble? The ignition switch can take some jiggling to turn, but not much more than other old cars I've driven. Are there any wiring bypasses that I could run to test things out or get this car mobile once again?

I know it's not a Datsun, but it IS on the east coast, and it is weird enough to be of interest (Japanese manual transmission wagon with power windows!!) Probably a 67-69 car and not a '62. ...and the price is reeeeeallly reasonable. http://norfolk.craigslist.org/cto/2390949521.html in great condition 1,500 obo power windows and starts up needs inspection have to sell ASAP!!!! If I weren't in California to pick up a Datsun, I'd seriously consider this one.

Okay, I'm finally in California, and I'll be picking up the 710 today (along with a front bumper and some other parts from a nearby Ratsun member!) The radiator on the car I was borrowing blew out the day before I left, so it needed to put a new one into the car so that I could return the car and get to the airport. I was giving the car a good washing to thank the owner, and I rinsed away some corrosion that was holding the radiator together. Jeez! And then my second flight got cancelled after I landed in Detroit, so it took me four flights to get from Syracuse to San Francisco, and I arrived 14 hours late. At least I had some time to read the service manual while I waited in the airports. Hopefully the return voyage will go more smoothly!

I saw these pages from a Datsun salesman's brochure on ebay:

How long was it parked in the bushes? It looks like you picked up the black 510 wagon too!

I was curious what would happen if the 710 wagon's lines didn't change direction after the rear doors, so I mocked it up quickly with photoshop:

Datsuns are not for pee! 510=Datsun=4 peed - $1600 (Orange) Date: 2011-05-19, 8:18AM PDT Reply to: sale-k3jtu-2390251553@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?] this particular car is runing good and the motor is very clean. it needs interior work but i do not have the room for a second car. please take it for $1600 OBO I am really interested in selling it. please make the call 7-1-4 865*2651 ablo espanol

Super cheap 710 wagon: (((NISSAN/DATSUN PROJECT CAR))) - $350 (WESTSIDE) Date: 2011-04-23, 11:15PM MDT Reply to: sale-zrcjz-2343210966@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?] 1974 Datsun 710. (For an extra 15.00) you can take the chiltons, it's never been used. The only paperwork I have on the car is all of the past registration/insurance documents. I've attempted to contact the owners in California but they haven't responded, so AN ABANDONED TITLE will need to be applied for. Evidently a one owner car. The body has been painted (volcanic ash--see pics) and the dashboard recovered. It's missing a few interior pieces, the front seats and the battery cables. I did drive the car here from the north side of Albuquerque. It does have good tires and a very straight body. All of the glass is intact and the windows are flat and will be a cinch to tint. I have a Sony CDXGT510, CD, MP3, Radio W/ Remote stereo that has already been fit to the dash and the wiring harness is labled for the car, for another 100 bucks. It's easy to see this is gonna be a sweet little ride when it's done. Contact me at: CiNdYrOcKeT@rocketmail*(dot)com or 505-312-3535 with any questions. Thanks for checking me out!

Sure - I'll be driving through Liverpool near the beginning of next month, so I'll send you a message when I'm about to get there.

Maybe - It is a little out of our way, but the route does cut through Oklahoma a bit.