New To Forum - Looking For Advice

[pfregeolle]

Hey All!

 

I recently was doing some craigslist hunting and came across this:

 

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/cto/3298835392.html

 

I emailed the guy who had the listing up and got a quick response, see below for the correspondence:

 

 

Hey Paul,

 

There are approx 145K miles on the engine. The engine is from a 76 b210 (my previous car) and it is an a14. An additional A14 is included in the sale, it is a 78. I've never had a problem starting the car. There may be a gremlin in the key tumbler, sometimes it takes a couple of turns to engage. Rust: the engine bay and underbody have been repainted, they are rust free; there is a few specs of rust on various body panels (less than dime sized). NW is nw dc, yes. 16th and Kalorama. The title is clear. The registration is washington state. The car has never been in any notable accident--I am the second owner and the previous owner said the door was once dented in a parking lot but that was fixed and I cant tell where the damage was. This car is my project so repairs and maintenance have been in keeping with that mindset. Shocks, struts, steering, all bushings are new. Engine has been well maintained but is burning some oil. This car has lived its life in Seattle until this year, garaged some of the time, street parking some of the time. Give me a ring 206 351 9395 when you get back to town.

 

Thanks,

 

clint

 

 

Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2012 09:23:42 -0500

Subject: Re: RE: Datsun

 

 

Hi Clint,

 

I'm really glad to hear that it's still available, as I'm seriously interested in it! I do have a few questions about it, that I don't recall seeing in the listing.

 

1. Roughly how many miles are on the car?

 

2. As stated in the ad, the car starts right up. Can you again confirm this is correct? Is this the A14 engine that should have been period correct for the vehicle?

 

3. Is there any rust on the car, and if so, the severity of it?

 

4. I assume NW implies NorthWest D.C. I just wanted to double-check that's correct.

 

5. Is everything clear with the title? Has car been in any accidents?

 

6. Any type of major repairs or maintenance?

 

7. Are you the original owner of the vehicle? If not, do you happen to know the history of where the car originated or how it was stored?

 

Thanks for the quick reply this morning! And thanks in advance for answering the questions above. Hope to hear from you soon!

 

-Paul

 

 

 

 

Good Morning,

 

The Datsun is still available. Email or give me a call with any questions.

 

Thanks,

 

clint

 

 

 

 

So I'm just basically trying to ask you guys if this seems like a good deal. It definitely does to me, and the price has already dropped from when he originally listed it, as I found another of his listings from about a month previous and he was asking 2250.

 

I was originally just dicking around looking for a 240z chassis or something, but came across this and REALLY liked it for some reason.. I feel like it has a lot of potential and I could have fun with it.

 

Any thoughts or help is much appreciated!

[izzo]

That looks like a good deal to me man. That thing is pretty clean, especially for location.

 

On my 210, if i turn the key to far the starter wont engage. Theres a sweet spot... Don't matter tho, she fires up every time and cruises.

[pfregeolle]

Thanks for the feedback! I really think I'm gonna pick it up. Especially since it's running and I can have some fun driving it around in the meantime. I get a bonus next week at work too, which will pretty much pay for it so that's awesome.

 

 

Any insight on how to lower these cars? I'm not familiar with the chassis at all...

[Eagle_Adam]

that looks like a well documented car coming from a loving and knowledgeable owner, id buy it.

[crackerjack69]

Buy that!

[pfregeolle]

Looking at buying it next week! I'm going to give this dude a call next Monday and see if I can take a look and pick it up. D.C. is only about 20 minutes from where I live, so I'm hoping I can just drive it back home and have a buddy take the engine and extra parts for me. :)

 

Thanks for the positive reinforcement so far guys! I'm getting really excited about this

[Ratwagon1600]

Buy it!, looks like a well maintained car from a pretty genuine seller.

 

Over here the 5 speed gearboxes can sell for up to $1k aud.

 

Haven't lowered one of these myself, though assume it would be coil cut (preferably replacement with lowered springs) for the front, and flipping of leaf spring or lowering blocks for the rear as the cheaper option.

 

Plenty of good info on this forum. Not that I'd ever suggest you would stray away from Ratsun, but, this forum has also got good info:

 

www.datsun1200.com

[pfregeolle]

Awesome! Thanks Ratwagon! I'm so excited for this thing already. I'm really interested in learning more about the motor. I'm wondering if I can find any old JDM mags or books with the sunnys in them or articles about them.

 

Already looking at some Work wheels for it :)

[datzenmike]

Interesting... the dogleg 5 speed wasn't available until April '76 but there's no reason why it couldn't be installed on an earlier car. I see he says the engine is from a '76 so he must have swapped the transmission as well. The B-210 gave phenominal mileage with the 5 speed option.

[pfregeolle]

I was kind of curious about that; I saw that it was 5 speed, but had read that the '75 manual trans was a 4 speed I believe, and the auto was a 3 speed?

 

Either way, that just makes this deal sweeter it sounds like. I really hope that this guy just doesn't have time for this car or something and is done with it, rather than there being some hidden issue with it. It just seems like for the price range, this sure is a good deal.

 

The price DID drop from an original $2250 that he was asking, so maybe he's just having a really hard time selling it. I've never even seen a B210 in my area, so I think it'd be pretty wicked to have one around :)

[datzenmike]

I bought a new '76 and they rust out very badly. (Ontario winters) Actually any east coast cars rust out. West coast cars get more rain on them to rinse it off.

[pfregeolle]

Calling this guy today! I'll keep you all posted on the outcome :) Hoping to be a B210 owner this weekend!