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180bsss (610) New winter wheelz


datsfun

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Hi to all, its great to see a section dedicated to 610 or 180b's as they are called elsewhere in the world. I bought mine in winter 2005, stashed it away from the wife for 6 months in a rented garage, confessed to having purchased "another" datsun in summer 2006. Worked on it for a few weeks therafter and it hit the roads in late summer 2006. Always brings a smile everytime I drive it :D

 

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Next time you pop round to your ADIDAS store for a pair of trainers/sneakers, have a good look at the packaging box !

 

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The story brings a smile to my face. I got a set of S110 200sx factory mags for my 710 that my wife drives. Neglected to tell her that they were on another 710 wagon I drove home in. :lol:

 

btw... Is that a yellow 710 two cars ahead of yours?

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The story goes something like this....

 

Back in winter 2005, I was browsing through the UK Datsun Owners Club website, when I came across a thread started by a member..” I have been contacted by the owner of a Datsun 180b SSS, 610 series, red in colour, which is for sale. If you are interested, please contact me?”.

 

 

 

I knew there were only about 5 of these on the roads in the UK and suddenly I was intrigued and wanted to find out more. (As you do!) I sent off an email and got the contact detail of Paul who was selling it on behalf of the elderly owner.

 

Subsequently I found out that the car belonged to an elderly gent, who had bought it new in 1972 and had owned it since. As he was getting too old to drive the 180b had been parked in the garage for many years. He happened to mention about the Datsun to a friend (Paul), who then suggested that he would help him sell it and as a result got in touch with the club. The car had not been moved for many years and thus there was no way of establishing its current condition. Paul had never seen it either, so that didn’t help matters.

 

I decided that I was not traveling to Maccelsfield from London ( 150miles) to view a rot box, so it was arranged that Paul would go to the garage where the car had been locked up for many years. Once he was there, I would call him and direct him on what to look out for.

 

 

 

The call was made and I asked him to inspect the sills, arches, inner wings, doors, roof gutters and to my surprise he kept on saying NO, NO and NO everytime I asked him about rust. Yeah right ! My immediate reaction was that Paul, not being a car enthusiast was not looking carefully and could not diagnose the dreaded rust, given that he told me the car was covered in layers dust. I asked him to take a few snaps whilst he was there.

 

 

Bearing in mind this is 2005 and digital cameras or phones with cameras were not as popular, the pictures were taken using a conventional camera and I recall sending him £10 in the post to cover the cost of getting the photos developed on a same day service. Two days later, the pictures of a 1972 datsun stuck in a very tight garage popped through my door. As soon as I saw them, I knew that it was a good shell and I had to go and see it in person.

 

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He also sent me a photocopy of a picture given to him by the owner showing the car when it was last on the roads in late 70’s ( ignore date at bottom of the scan)..

 

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I then got a call from Paul saying that somebody else was interested, was not asking zillion questions unlike me, had a trailer handy and was happy to buy the car unseen for a lot of money. Jolly pain in the backside ! After a few phone calls with Paul and the owner, I convinced them I should be the first person viewing the car given that we had been liaising for 2 weeks etc and they agreed on the principle.

 

Needless to say, when I saw it, I was stumped. It had not moved for many years, the tax disc displayed shows that it was last legally on the roads in 1980 and it was covered in thick dust. The owner had parked it and turned the engine over every few months to keep the mechanicals well oiled. Sadly he had not done so for many years and after doing the basic checks, I failed to get the car started. The engine would not turn and I suspected that it had ceased. Being an elderly person with old school principles the owner did not want to sell it without starting it as he felt that it was his responsibility to sell me a working car ! He suggested that he would get it going even if that meant overhauling the engine and that I should come back in a month’s time. Bless him. I convinced him otherwise, agreed on a price and arranged for it to be trailered home.

 

 

 

It was tucked away in a lock up for many months whist I attempted to answer the big question, ? What am I going to do now? ? . Back in 2005, I remember seeing some JDM 610’s and they were inspirational to say the least...the idea was born!

 

This is when it was last taxed on the road and the first service cost of £1was a rip off !

 

 

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First service receipt

 

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Over the next few months, it was established that the original L18 engine was indeed ceased and the unit was replaced with one from a 810 bluebird. The brakes were overhauled and a new clutch slave cylinder fitted. I gave it a good clean inside out, after all it had 20 years of dust on it and there were traces of green mould on the seats and interior trim as it had been stored in a dark unlit garage. After a bit of fettling, the SU carbs were running ok and off I went for a MOT (Annual Motor Inspection). It passed and I was amazed as to how great the underside is. Not a single patch of welding .

 

 

 

I got rid of the tow bar and front driving lamps as the Datsun would not be towing caravans anymore. Found some 6.5J front and 7J rear watanabes which were running on 185/60/14 rubber. The pictures show car after the MOT test and factory ride height, which was not staying for long

 

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positive camber heaven !

 

 

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Then, it was time to get it looking right. I had seen some tasty 610 coupes on Japanese websites and they were a great inspiration. I wanted it low and we decided to go with coilovers so as to be able to play around with ride height. There was a major car show in 2 weeks and the plan was to get the 610 there. A good friend of mine Tim sorted out the front struts by welding adjustable collars on the factory 610 struts. I knew this car was never going to be SR20det’d or turboed, so the stock brakes would cope with L Series grunt. I used a set of HKS camber plates for camber adjustment. At the rear, he had a spare set of adjustable spax rear coilovers meant for a Silvia S12 which slotted in fine. Spring poundage were wrong, front was 325lb and rears 225lb,but with a tight budget and no time, we didn’t have many choices. We installed the coilovers and had big smiles after doing the job. I was over the moon. The ride was far too stiff, but who cares?

 

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The picture above shows how wide a wheel the 610 can take. The rears are a 7JX14 with 0 offset on a 185/60/14 and they look lost in there...hmm, I was not happy. Do I get spacers to fill out the arches???

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As luck would have it, I had bought a set of very rare 8J X 14 ET -5 Hayashi Street Fins alloy wheels of Ebay UK. They had been listed under MGB cars which share the same stud pattern. The wheels were badly corroded and slightly buckled as they were on a racecar. I took them to a few wheel specialists , all of whom refused to polish them as they said that they were too old and looked fragile to put on a lathe machine..Bummer, in the end I had to settle for powder coating instead of polishing.

 

Next on my list was a front spoiler, but this proved to be very difficult to find. I understand that 610 spoilers do not exist even in Japan and they use the c110 ones which fit. I priced one of these and the landed cost was in excess of GBP400 and no guarantee that it would get here in one piece given they are fibreglass.

 

 

 

Thinking outside the box, I decided to raid the local VAG store and came back with a Mk I golf GTi chin spoiler as this was the nearest I could get for the proper JDM look. And to my amazement, it went on fine with a little TLC. Excellent, next I took the car to a friend’s garage and he gave the paint a good mop to bring the paint back to life. The wing mirrors and the number plates were replaced and the car was almost ready. I just had to get new tyres on the Hayashi’s which had come back from being refurbished.

 

With one day to go before C.A.R.S, I hit trouble. After visiting 3 local tyre shops, none of the guys could fit 185/60/14 on a 8J wheel as back then the whole stretching tyres scene had not kicked off and only specialist tyre shops could cater for that sort of requirement. Things were not looking good.

 

 

 

Then as a last attempt, I went to a local tyre specialist (who I should have gone to in the first place!). With the help of a bead blaster, the tyres were on the hayashi’s. The following day, we took the 100 mile trip to the show and the Datsun made its first motorway journey after being off the road for over 20 years without any drama?s !

 

Pictures from the show in 2006

 

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Other pictures - interior

 

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random pics

 

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I think those interior shots are some of the best photos of all time...OF ALL TIME !!

 

Thanks for the kind words all....I like the interior pictures VVV below

 

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mainly because they were taken by someone who understands how to operate a camera and not a numpty like moi :D

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  • 2 weeks later...

Clean 610!!!!!!!!!

 

Thanks buddy...right some more pictures of the car, taken about 2 years ago when it was featured in a UK J-tin publication called BANZAI.

 

 

close up grille shot

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Hayashi's

 

 

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Exterior shots

 

 

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bay

 

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interior

 

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What I really like about this car is that it smacks the average Joe's ignorance and classification of vintage japanese in the face...the conversation normally starts off ...

 

AVG Joe ..."lovely car mate, who ever did the restoration must be commended, wow, that refurbishment must have cost you a fair few notes.!.."

ME .. sorry to dissapoint, but the datsun has not been restored and is still on factory paint:)

AVG Joe..You kidding me:blink: , I thought japanese cars were rot boxes,,,,ah well...and conversation normally ends abruptly:lol:

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