The Datsun B10

[KB10]

Well, I think that this is the right forum for this exercise.

 

The B10 range of models were never sold in the US, however they are the fore runner of the 1200 range & are a delightfull little car to own.

 

Smaller than the 1200, they started life in September of 1966, & were originally marketed in Japan as the 'Sunny' This name was never changed for the following three models, however some different names were used in export markets for this range.

 

For us over here in Australia, they were called the "Datsun 1000" & we got them in early 1967. In this first version they were available only as a two door Sedan [b10] & a two door Van [Wagon] [VB10]

 

In September of 1967, the new '68 models were released & these were face lifted somewhat, but included many mechanical refinements that improved the car immensely. The new 1968 model range included a four door Sedan [b10] to expand the range & the appeal.

A Ute [truck] [b20] was added in early 1968.

 

One year later, in September of 1968, the new '69 range was revealed for all to see. The grille was not as attractive as the '68, in my view, but the star of the show was the Coupe [KB10]. The Coupe engine had a better, dual outlet exhaust manifold & more compression. These, combined with a different carb allowed the willing little engine to produce a whoping 66 hp, & this was a 4 hp improvement over the regular A10 engine, but was probably done to haul the heavy 1,488Lb body around.

The '69 model was produced for a shorter model run than the previous two & was replaced by the 1970 model from July 1969.

 

There were no new additions to the 1970 model run, which was even shorter, as the 1200 was produced from January 1970 onwards, so all of the 1970 models were made in '69.

 

Lets see if I can find some pictures.

This particular car is actually a '67 model, but it has the 1968 grille & headlight trim. The 510 wheels & covers are not factory items either, but all B10 models used the same bodyshell for all of the models that they were made in. The Two Door was made in all four year-models.

 

 

Here we have the B20 truck, known here as a 'Ute' or Utility. This particular example is a 1970 model & both it & the '69 model used updated tail lights, so the '68 version is a bit of an orphan with its 'one year only' tail lights. The Ute was the lightweight of the range at 1,356Lb [615Kg] & even with just a stock 1200 GX engine [factory twin carb etc.] it hauls arse very bloody well.

It belongs to the owner & sole operator of the 'panel beaters, or body shop, where my own KB10 coupe is being repaired. These were made in three year-models.

 

 

Now this is a brochure picture of a very early 1968 model VB10. It's early because the small dome shaped blinker light on the front 'guards' [mudguards/ fenders] is a 1967 item while the grille & headlight rims are '68. The blinkers were changed to short 'spears' [like 510's] very early in this model run. These were built from the first cars untill the last, four, year-models.

 

VB10, just the thing for picking up trendy young ladies back in the swingin' 60's

 

OK, that's enough for one post. If you arent bored s*itless yet & want more, then just say 'yes'

[Jason]

If I remember correctly, we in Canada got the "Datsun 1000" here in 1969-1970. There's one here for sale now.

[Icehouse]

Yes I would like to hear more 1200 history :) Are we ever going to get pics of yours?

[Icehouse]

 

 

I really like that one, image that with a FJ20et, yeah!

[KB10]

If I remember correctly, we in Canada got the "Datsun 1000" here in 1969-1970. There's one here for sale now.

Jason

You are correct, Canada got some of these & I too believe that they were initially 1969 models. I know you got the two door sedan as one of the Canadian members of 1200.com has one & I have seen pictures of a parts car with it. I don't know if you got other bodystyles as well as the only Canadian pictures I have seen are of the two door. The 1970 model [from July 1969] was almost identical & the only difference that I can find is the change from the short-spear fender blinker to a longer one. It is in fact the same one as used on the 510 models.

 

Yes I would like to hear more 1200 history :) Are we ever going to get pics of yours?

 

Icehouse, this is a thread about the Datsun 1000, not the 1200, & I will get to my car all in good time. Like a good stripper, I like to tease a little before revealing all.

 

OK, some pictures.

 

This is the front of the 1970 ute. I said that these were small, but not THAT small. This is my body shop man [panel beater] & he is a big man, yet he has been squeezing himself into this thing for about 18 years. It has a 1976 A12 engine.

 

 

The green two door was my wife's car while the white four door was my ride. Both are '68 models & I still have mine, .... for parts. The photo was taken in about 1982.

 

Thats enough for this post.

[Jason]

I only seem to remember the 2 door myself, it was just before my time, I graduated from high school in 1978 and bought my first car that summer, a 2 door PL510.

[KB10]

So, you want to see my current project eh? Well first, a little background.

 

The state distributor over here for Datsun cars in the 60's was 'Capitol Motors' & they had a very large display & storage yard as well as a large showroom in Sydney [the capitol of New South Wales] Occasionally they would 'tart up' some showroom stock to generate a little more interest. This usually took the form of a Vinyl Top plus a few accessories & my coupe is one of these. I found it in a wrecking yard in their 'damaged but repairable vehicles for sale' section. It looks to have run off the left side of the road & hit a wooden marker post as well as something more substantial, damaging the fender, the hood, the inner fender & all that was in that area of the car, but only on that left corner.

 

Carefull examination has convinced me that the 42,018 miles on the odometer is original & it looks to have been garaged all its life.

I have no photos of it in the 'as found' state but I bought a digital camera shortly afterwards, so here goes.

 

This is the damaged area after I took it apart. Please note that it does not use a 'pogo stick' suspension, but instead, a real deal double wishbone design.

Springing was handled by a single transverse leaf spring & this very compact design worked a treat. It was replaced in the 1200 with the pogo stick suspension on cost grounds alone.

 

 

This is it under repair. The frame was just a smidgin out of square & when straightened, the left door closed perfectly again.

The body was found to be 99.99% rust free, so we welded all of the chassis seams to add strength & to prevent water ingress, then sprayed in a rust preventative wax.

 

 

Ooooh, nice arse.

The dealer installed Vinyl Top was fitted over a fully painted top as it is a fully imported car, & the vinyl was fully glued, so there was no rust underneath at all.

The new left front fender was one of the half dozen or so new ones that I had bought many years before. I had painted it for my sedan 'just in case' It was a 1968/'69 fender, so it was necessary to modify it it 1970 model specs. I have a new 1970 right side fender, but the poor quality repair job to earlier damage on the original was fixed properly & the new one remains in my rafters as a spare.

 

More tomorrow. :)

[Icehouse]

Sorry KB I'm used to calling them all 1200's. I won't slip up anymore I promise :) .

 

Dude you found a clean project car, wow. I like how it has dual A arm's. So much better than struts. Are you going to restore it back to stock?

[Cuts metal like mad]

looks like standard leafs in the back... do my eyes decieve me? your saying its a "stingray corvete" style suspension?

[KB10]

Zuum

The 'FRONT' suspension is double wishbone.

The rear suspension in B10's is pretty much the same as all of these small Datsuns, the good old reliable parallel leaf spring setup.

 

Icehouse

Restore it to dead stock? Ummmmm, NO, but I have been gathering some pieces for it & these include.

 

1200 GX head, bought new in the early 80's, wore it out twice in my sedan, now made better than new.

Factory EFI [not available in Aust.]

A13 block. This is not the long stroke one used in the '74 US model B210 but the short stroke one from the Asian B310. These were used in formula Pacific & F3 open wheelers. [Never sold in Aust]

A14 crank. Yes, It will be a stroker.

A12A rods. Not available in Australia, but needed for the stroker

F5W56A trans. This is a true five speed with its 'direct drive in fifth' [no overdrive] This is a dogleg type & I pulled it from my B10 sedan where I had installed it over 20 years ago. It transformed the driving experience. I will upgrade it to the Option 1 spec if I can find the parts. [5 speeds were never sold in Australia]

Nismo H150 LSD. The H150 diff will fit into my H145 axle housing.

Factory Datsport competition alloy oil pan. [i found this in Okinawa, $$$ Ouch]]

Disc brake conversion of the true bolt-on type.

Watinabe's [from Yahoo Japan]

Every factory option on my sales brochure. [still looking for factory headrests]

 

There's a lot more of course, but this is the basic outline & I am converting it from the Aiussie model Datsun 1000 Coupe to the JDM Sunny GL Coupe [GL = Grande Luxe, when De-Luxe is simply not enough]

 

Some pictures tonight, but for now, it's off to work.

[Icehouse]

So with all that said and done what kinda power will it put down? I know its a non turbo A series, just curious. So about the efi, why not quade throttle bodys? What makes the GX head better? I sometimes think my 1200 would be cool with a built A series.

[KB10]

So with all that said and done what kinda power will it put down? I know its a non turbo A series, just curious. So about the efi, why not quade throttle bodys? What makes the GX head better? I sometimes think my 1200 would be cool with a built A series.

Why the factory EFI? Because when I present this car, I want it to look as if it could have been factory built. OK, the Watinabes could be a 'dealer option' if you like.

Datsun made a lot of good stuff over the years, so there is no need to look past the parts bins for all that I need. The factory EFI will suit my conservative needs very nicely

I went for the short stroke A13 because of its rarity [two known in the country] & its racing herritage. It's ability to take a 10% stroke with factory parts didn't hurt either. It will end up at 1434cc with a 1mm overbore & A15 pistons

 

The 1200 GX head, & the following model A12 GX heads have the largest 'production' ports in the A series range. Larger even that the full JDM A14/15 heads. These come from the factory go-fast GX model with dual valve springs, the larger ports & the dual Hitachi side draughts [please don't call them SU's]

When I rebuilt mine I used the 2mm larger A15 inlet valves & custom stainless exhausts that are 3mm larger than stock

 

As for the power output, well, I don't know, & I don't really care. Whatever it delivers will be fine with me as long as it runs sweet & clean up to the factory redline of 6,500 rpm. See, I'm too bloody old to be a highway hero anymore, so as long as I can delude myself into thinking I'm Mario Andretti when I'm behind the wheel, then I'm in heaven.

 

This is my A13 with the alloy oil pan & the modified timing cover that allows me to reach the adjustable cam sprocket.

 

[below] This is the oil pan after the damage from a miscreant rod was repaired [this is the damaged side] & new stainless baffles were made for it.

 

<---- Of course, I can't finish up without showing off the F5W56A five speed. These are a bit fragile behind the larger engines as they can't really handle the abuse from the higher torque engines, but they absolutely love the free reving smaller engines.

 

Lastly, this is a Japanese GL & I was going to paint mine the same colour untill I was talked out of it, so it was repainted the original white.

This one serves as inspiration for me. I love it.

 

 

 

 

 

OK, more stuff later.

[Jason]

KB, I love the way you think and put together the engine and car! Best of luck with the build!

[Icehouse]

 

1200 GX head, bought new in the early 80's, wore it out twice in my sedan, now made better than new.

Factory EFI [not available in Aust.]

A13 block. This is not the long stroke one used in the '74 US model B210 but the short stroke one from the Asian B310. These were used in formula Pacific & F3 open wheelers. [Never sold in Aust]

A14 crank. Yes, It will be a stroker.

A12A rods. Not available in Australia, but needed for the stroker

F5W56A trans. This is a true five speed with its 'direct drive in fifth' [no overdrive] This is a dogleg type & I pulled it from my B10 sedan where I had installed it over 20 years ago. It transformed the driving experience. I will upgrade it to the Option 1 spec if I can find the parts. [5 speeds were never sold in Australia]

Nismo H150 LSD. The H150 diff will fit into my H145 axle housing.

Factory Datsport competition alloy oil pan. [i found this in Okinawa, $$$ Ouch]]

Disc brake conversion of the true bolt-on type.

Watinabe's [from Yahoo Japan]

Every factory option on my sales brochure. [still looking for factory headrests]

 

I'm still a beginner at the A series, so..... Did the 1200 GX head come to the states? Is there a number on the side like the L motors? I can see why you like the A series its like a collection and a engine build all at the same time. I was also wondering if the efi mani came to the states? I know ddzilla told me once but I have since forgotten.

 

I just want to add, you have a great collection of cars! Wow

[KB10]

I'm still a beginner at the A series, so..... Did the 1200 GX head come to the states? Is there a number on the side like the L motors? I can see why you like the A series its like a collection and a engine build all at the same time. I was also wondering if the efi mani came to the states? I know ddzilla told me once but I have since forgotten.

 

I just want to add, you have a great collection of cars! Wow

Thanks for the kind words [blush] but all you are doing is encouraging me to write heaps more stuff. [Keep it up]

The two Ute's in the other thread do NOT belong to me & I included them in there because it is a thread about pictures of 1200's & I though that few Americans had ever seen a 1200 Ute & even fewer had ever seen a high stepin' 4x4 version

 

OK, ... The GX head was available in the US from the Nissan/Datsun factory performance people, however their name escapes me for the moment. They offered the head/intake [with carbs]/exhaust/cam & other related components, but the genuine 1200 GX car [coupe or sedan] was not sold in the USA & we got a very small number of them. Probably no more than 250.

 

There are no identifying numbers cast into the head anywhere, but once you know what one looks like, you will pick it on sight.

 

I don't know if the EGI [Electronic Gasoline Injection] was used on any US model, but if it was, it was pretty rare. EGI is Nissan/Datsun's name for it, but of course everyone uses the industry standard 'EFI'

 

What I am basicly attampting to do is to build a rolling museum of the rarest & most desirable components that I can find or afford, & trust me, some of it is NOT cheap.

I don't know what a custom oil pan with the extra volume & the baffles would cost, but that factory alloy one was over $1200 [Au] by the time I purchased it [in Okinawa], shipped it here, had it cleaned & repaired, then had the new internal baffles made with the new custom pickup along, & of course shipping from here to interstate where the work was done, & back.

Quite naturally I don't NEED it, but hey, you only live once. The clincher for me is the fact that it is the genuine factory item.

[KB10]

Right, boys & girls, time for some more small Datsun stuff. Since my engine is being built from a bare block, [truely, that's all I had to start with] I might as well use a few 'select' components to build it with.

 

Now we all know that correct cam timing is critical to proper operation, but once it's set, it's set, .... right?

WRONG. This 'made to order' adjustable cam sprocket will give me the ability to try various settings to help tailor the engines performance. Retard the cam a little for more top end, or advance it some to fatten up the bottom end. Only time will tell what works best.

 

Of course, we need some good sparks to make it run smoothly, so this modified High Energy Bosch electronic distributor from the last model that used the L20b engine will do the trick nicely. [P910, series-2] Ready availability of new parts is a bonus.

Mmmmm, factory high energy sparks

 

Next, we need something to open & close the valves & those factory rockers are so, ... like, .. yesterday, so I bought myself a set of higher ratio true roller rockers. These are 1.54 to 1 [stock= 1.44 to 1] & have rollers on the shaft as well as rollers on the tips & are made from high strength aluminium. Anodising actually reduces their strength, so they are left as god intended.

 

A mate found some of these unfinished rocker cover castings in Germany. Armbrust was associated with some racing Cherry/ F10 models over there & none of these rocker covers came here, so now there are three & one of them will cover those gorgeous roller rockers. It's almost a crime I tells ya.

 

Finally, we return to the car.

After the nice car doctor at the car hospital had finished with the facial reconstructive surgery, it was time to give my little lovely a whole makeover, but in order to do that, she had to get naked.

Here we se her, looking all dejected & alone at the blasters. He used pellets of lime to do paint removal only. There was no need to use anything more as there was no rust to remove & the lime is gentle to thin, ummm , ahem, errrr I mean, 'lightweight' body panels.

The hood had been damaged in the 'prang' [crash] & I could not find one that was both straight & rust free, so three days were spent fixing the rust free, but damaged original. [At $$$ per hour] Some weeks later I finally found a good one, so I bought it as a spare.

 

 

More tomorrow.

[Icehouse]

Wow KB that is one hell of a engine build. Car build for that mater. Okay my next question... I saw a crossflow head on the 1200 sight, they said it was very rare. Have you seen that head and what do you know about it? Was it production or race only?

[]2eDeYe]

Damn nice build...wonder if theres roller rockers available for my L :D

[KB10]

Okay my next question... I saw a crossflow head on the 1200 sight, they said it was very rare. Have you seen that head and what do you know about it? Was it production or race only?

Rare? I think that you would have less trouble finding Jimmy Hoffa than finding an 'available' example of the crossflow head. [see picture]

Even if I found one, I think I would need to hock my firstborn child to secure it.

 

The one in the picture is fitted to a 1200 engine [front distributor] & it needed a right angle drive adapter that allowed the distributor to lay horizontally under the carbs, which were now mounted on the right side. There were also eight spark plug leads, so it must be a twin plug head.

 

I see it in my mind's eye with EFI & a seriously shortened distributor body that is used as the magnetic, or optic, ignition trigger. Basicly nothing more than a TDC detector, then the computer can control all of the ignition needs with much less drama.

Aint technology wonderfull?

 

EDIT.

This is still a pushrod engine, but check the factory competition oil pump & the right angle drive for the 8 plug distributor

 

[]2eDeYe]

And what looks like equal length headers...thats a nice lookin motor :cool:

[KB10]

And in my view, it belongs on the street, ........... in my Sunny Coupe. ;) [but with more conventional extractors/ headers]

 

More blurb & pictures tonight [my time]

[Icehouse]

If I had that engine, I would slap megasquirt with EDIS on that bad boy and rock it daily. Quad throttle bodies, yeah.

[KB10]

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my dear little coupe was all naked, but back amongst friends again. The windows were later removed & any remaining paint, & any rust staining that was under the paint in some locations, was removed by hand. The lime blasting process is for paint removal only.

Yes, the red car in the background is a Studebaker GT Convertible for those who are astute enough to pick it.

 

 

The next step was to protect her naked body & to cover her modesty with a protective coat, .................. of primer.

This was applied after several days were spent filling in all of the spot welds that are normally visible on the finished car, including in the engine bay & door opening area. All body seams were left clearly delineated, but 'My Lovely' [her name] is now free of all those unsightly blemishes that detract from a lady's true beauty.

I just about guarantee that nobody will notice that the spot weld dimples are gone, but if it makes some people wonder just what it is that is different between my car & other examples of the same model, then I will be happy. I'd better be happy, it took three days at $$ per hour to get it right.

 

 

Turning to the engine for a moment, we once again take a peek into the parts bins, & what do we find? Well, this 1200 GX exhaust manifold is the recommended part for rally cars according to my factory Datsun 1200 Competition Tune Up Manual. These things breathe as well as extractors [headers] on a street engine, but are much quieter, they will take a coat of nice glossy porcelain quite well [like on Jag manifolds] & will never rust out. They clear the factory twin carb setup too so they will have absolutely no problem with the factory EFI. I like my engines reasonably quiet but with a healthy note. That way I don't need to turn up the AM radio too much.

I bought the exhaust manifold new in the mid eighties, so it's about time that I put it to good use.

 

Once again we can see that aftermarket parts are not required &, that in this instance, the factory part has much more to offer if your car is strictly street like this one is.

 

 

Icehouse

The plan is to use a fully featured computer in this car so that I can reasonably approximate a new car with it. I will run a Cat Converter too as it should be no real problem to get one big enough to handle the flow from such a little engine. Gotta be environmentally friendly these days ya know.

 

Clean, mean & legal, that's the way I like it. It might be hard to achieve, but it can be done, & I will give it my best shot as I will not give the registration Nazi's the slightest excuse to give me grief. [but I just love giving them some]

[Icehouse]

Icehouse

Gotta be environmentally friendly these days ya know.

 

Not to side track to much from your intense restore project.... but have you seen the movie "An Inconvenient Truth"? I liked it, and think it is really happening.

[Icehouse]

Icehouse

The plan is to use a fully featured computer in this car so that I can reasonably approximate a new car with it.

 

Any hints on the system you will be running? O that reminds me I meet the dude that works at Haltec. He was at one of the biggest car shows in the US call "Sema" in Vegas. I met him there, cool dude. He drives a ca18det powered 510. So it turns out I know one Australian :)