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A10's U-nite !!!!


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Hmm, looks like the Aussies kept the old style dash with the later style headlights?  Or maybe someone switched parts around.  US, there's a BIG difference between '79 and 80.

 

1978 ('79 is similar).  Factory tach was a fairly rare option in 78-79.

510dash.JPG

 

 

80-81 gauges (full gauges and tach were standard):

 

81Wagon02.JPG

 

 

It's possible to put the '80-81 tach and speedometer into the '78-79 cluster, though the idiot lights aren't in the right places except the Charge light.  There's no oil light in a 80-81, and the brake light is in that position.  So, on my '78 Wagon the light marked Brake is actually the oil light, and the brake light makes the "4" in the tach glow brighter.  The 80-81 gauges are lit through the gauge faces, which are plastic, so the numbers "glow" much like most more modern dashes.  The 78-79 have metal faces and use reflected light like all prior Datsuns, and are harder to read.

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BTW, mine are not pretty.

 

I've had this wagon since June 1991:

78-wagonwheels02.JPG

 

 

The "Blue Beater" since Oct 1993:

 

78KHLA10.jpg

 

 

This one (and '81) since late 2006 or early 2007:

 

81_510WGN-2.JPG

 

 

 

 

A few from the past.

 

Had this one (bought wrecked, hard to see but the rear quarter was demolished) from June 1992 until scrapped in 1995.  Drove it until '94, after my Sister did in the front fender.   Engine (and driver's door) are in the Blue Beater above

 

Burg510-1.jpg

 

 

This one looked good only from this angle.  It had been rear ended, which isn't visible in this pic.  Had it from ~2000 until I traded it to Tdaaj as parts.  It still ran, but what can't be seen is rust had really run rampant and it was plainly unsafe to drive.  But I did drive it for 3 years anyway.  It ran really well.

 

80_510.jpg

 

 

This shows the rear quarter damage:

 

80HL510.jpg

 

 

I briefly had another just like it, but it too was rusted beyond help.  Since it had no engine and had been heavily parted, I simply scrapped it.  Never took pics.

 

Had a 3rd 2-door sedan from 2003-2004.  Had been someone's parts car, but it still ran.  Clutch was SHOT.  Couldn't get it to pass emissions, so traded it to a kid in Shelton who took the bumpers off and preceded to drive it into a ditch.  With no bumpers.  Tore it to hell in a month.  Worst part was I lost my '85 Mercury Colony Park due to the trade- it caught fire trying to tow the 510 to Shelton.

 

81HLA10-F.jpg

 

 

 

This was a sad one.  This car was gorgeous inside- totally reupholstered, and the outside was factory paint.  The hood had lost the clearcoat (may have been replaced), but the rest was perfect aside from the common rust spots on the rear hatch.  Bought it with a badly warped head, but it had 020 over flattops in it, I put a '81 200SX head on it and it ran like a dream.  Even the A/C worked perfect. 

 

81wheels05.JPG

 

10 days after I took that picture above, it looked like this:

 

wreck001.JPG

 

That's what happens when people don't pay attention.  A woman in an Explorer panicked when a wreck happened in the lane next to her, and she lost control, bounced off the center divider and slammed into me with her doors.  The front end damage on my car was from me getting knocked out of line, spun around, and into the center divider.

 

 

I've had 3 others not pictured.  One '78 Wagon I had in 1990-91, that got T-boned by a red-light runner.  One '78 Coupe that I rescued from a junkyard, and still have though it's buried in my Mom's garage.  And the other 2-door I mentioned above.

 

 

You may notice something:  I've never had a 4-door Sedan (in fact have never had a 4-door Sedan Datsun of any type), nor a 5-door Hatchback.  I've also never had a '79.  All the roundeyes I've had are '78s.  The blue, rear-ended 2-door was an '80, the rest were '81s.  So I've had 2 '78 wagons, 3 '78 Hatchbacks, 1 '80 2-door, 2 '81 2-doors, and 2 '81 Wagons.

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V nice wheel figment. I am after a pair of the side pillar vents, same as yours. How easy are they to find.?

I would say extemely hard...I have owned my hla10 for about a year now andhave yet to find any replacement emblems or those side vent covers ...mines is missing driver side emblem and rear vent cover lol

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I hear they made good rally cars...

 

a10side.jpg

 

 

Would love to do the Euro single headlight conversion to one...

 

fs_dsc01909.jpg

 

 

Starion wheels (needs a drop out back)...

 

7825284826_8d0ae6cb99_b.jpg

 

 

Kicking it old school...

 

Picture001.jpg

 

 

Flared rally car...

 

43303ad6.JPG

 They are Nissan's most successful rally car, FACT !

 

The white one belongs to a good friend of mine, complete nut and bolt restoration and runs SR20DET. Has pulled low 12's and aim is to get into low 11's..

 

The red coupe was also a ground up restoration performed by another friend, sadly he sold it and regrets it everyday !

 

A10 front ends are identical except for 3 things:

 

1) The grille (which is flat and boring on the 80-81)

2) The headlight assemblies

3) The rubber "pushers" on the bumpers.

 

Unlike a 210 (B310) switching from one style to the other is EXTREMELY easy.  No external sheet metal changes at all.

 

US/Canada got different 78-79 grilles than the rest of the world.  The square 80-81 ones were all the same, with the rare exception of the 2-headlight version.  There were a few odd rare ones, as the A10 was built past 1981 in a couple markets like South Africa.  Supposedly the A10 had an '82 model year in Australia.

 

The one (well, 2) parts I badly, badly want to find are the rear taillights from a '80-81 3-door Coupe.  The US got the 3-door only in 78-79, then a 5-door Hatchback for 80-81.  The taillights changed at the same time as the headlights (except the Wagon which kept the same tails) and finding those 3-door 80-81 taillights has been a mission for me for 20 years.  Have never seen a set in person even when overseas (only saw a couple 140Js in Egypt and all were 4-door sedans).

 

In Europe, as a general rule we look at the PA10 as either early or late. 

mk 1 - first batch had twin headlights , highback seats and full chrome bumpers

mk II - still twin headlights but seats dont have highbacks ( now just like a normal sedan). Bumpers have over-riders and rubber end caps.

 

MkI & MkII are still badged datsun 140j or 160j depending on powerplant

 

MkIII - these have facelift grills, rectangular headlights, more plush carpeting, dash and instrument cluster is single panel (mkI+II had individual pods) and flat slab sided rear lights with no chrome surround. These are were badged Datsun/Nissan VIOLET

 

Front ends are inter-changeable between MkI <>MK3, however rear light swap needs a complete rear tail light panel.

 

 

 

Wide body coupe shell, welded onto S13 chassis/floor...  :huh:

 

datsun_front.jpg

This car is a work of art.  Have a close look at front and rear wings (fenders)...see the subtle flaring which is all steel and he has still retained the lines of the wheel arch. In person , it reminds of a e30 M3 or lancia intergrale, audi UR quattro...

 

Superb feat of engineering..

 

Oh and notice the bumpers, those are MKI- clean lines with no over-riders

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Love the dropped Yellow one, but the silver one is too high.

 

datsun_140y_160j.jpg

Silver one is mine, that picture is probably about 5 years old ! And has our resident expert has already identified, the yellow one is a b310 !

 

They look the same, just different taillights. Oh, that's because A10 and B310 use the same chassis. Same suspension. Same dimensions. Same engine on the base A10.

 

Love the HL - the HLA10.

 Attention to detail my friend, they are so different.. :rofl:

 

I am not so sure that you can state that they use the same chassis ! The front and rear suspension from A10 can be swapped into b310 but gives issues with track width on the b310. and one has to use high offset wheels. The engine X member bolts in with some minor mods.

 

Essentially the PA10 is the successor to the 710 which was L powered and I believe the PA10 was designed as a L series car from the outset..The A series power plant on the PA10 was to meet the needs of those wanting a poor mans Nissan ! 

 

Its quite fascinating to see the marketing trends..

 

In Europe, these were sold with A & L series

In USA - L Series and later Z

In Japan, I assume all 3 

In Africa, L series ( A series were personal imports)

IN Aus/NZ these were L series..

 

Yes the base engine was the same but the B310 was designed with the A series in mind, whereas the PA10 not. This is evident in the strength of the respective shells. The b310 is the successor to the b210 (120Y) all of which are A series powered ( except for some special L series variants).

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@datsfun didn't you have an a10 with a l6 swap?

 

No that car still exists, supports a L28 on triple 45's. Mine is more sedate, just CA18DET

What is this MK I to MK III thing you are talking about? Do you mean the A10 to A11 minor change (square headlight change)?

I guess its the way we look at the  A10 chassis in Europe. The A11 was a JDM evolution...

 

I will try and dig some brochures that detail the minor styling differences...gives me something to do during the festive holidays !

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Yes the base engine was the same but the B310 was designed with the A series in mind, whereas the PA10 not. This is evident in the strength of the respective shells. The b310 is the successor to the b210 (120Y) all of which are A series powered ( except for some special L series variants).

 

 

This is what I wanted to say to David. They share suspension pickup points, but very little else. The A10 is a way more solid and better built car than the B310. Everything on the B310 is cheaply made and as light weight as possible. 

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Yes, the definition of "chassis" does not mean "same car" or "same body". It could even have different wheelbase. See the Nissan FM chassis which includes both the Nissan 350Z and the Infiniti FX suv vehicles.

 

And for you Aussies with your Aussie-built versions, the JDM and USA versions share the same suspension and same offsets. There are some A12-powered B310 with narrower offset too.

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And for you Aussies with your Aussie-built versions, the JDM and USA versions share the same suspension and same offsets. There are some A12-powered B310 with narrower offset too.

 

What ! No Aussies on this is thread yet AFAIK :confused: ...The smaller suspension items like ball joints and track rod ends may be the same but to the best of my knowledge there are differences when it comes to shock absorber inserts, spring rates, even the lower control arms are not a 100% match.  And for the record, in Europe the A10 and b310 were all Japanese imports and no local build so we are comparing apples with apples so to speak.

 

Having driven and owned both models with A series powerplants, the A10 feels much stronger and robust and this can only be down to the shell being more rigid?

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The very early A10 models went up for sale in late 77 (In Europe). These were what I refer to as mkI models. Hopefully the picture hosting link works ?

 

img038_zps7d95edb9.jpg

 

These had slimline bumpers ( full chrome with no rubber over-riders or end caps)

High back half vinyl seats

Twin headlights and rear tail lights had a chrome surround.

 

 

wallpapers_datsun_160j_1977_1_zpsc46db71

 

The hub caps (wheel trims) were also were unique and comparable to those last seen on 710 and 610 models

 

datsun_violet_yellow_4door_1978_zps98828

 

6021786102_2823c91e99_z_zpsdf676700.jpg

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