AndreP Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 Hello all! Although I've been here on the forum for some time now, I've never really presented my Datsun to the date. So here it is, a little bit of his story and some changes i've been made since I got it: I'm André, a 21 years old Automotive Engineering Student from Portugal, and this is my 3rd Datsun B110 Sedan 4 Doors that I've owned in a 1 year space time (the one that I have now, is a keeper for now though). I've bough one that didn't run for 13 years for as just as 200 USD, ended up selling it at 700 USD. With that profit and some money that I had spare, I ended up buying another one for 1300 USD, that run very very nice (had the engine restored for small races) but was a little bit rusty and not very nice from the outside and inside. Ended up selling that one for 1700 USD and with that and some spare money I got in the meantime, I ended up buying the one that I have now, for 1900 USD. It's a pretty nice little Datsun B110 from 1971, it's a 4 Door Sedan. It's in pretty nice shape from the outside and inside, with everything on the place. This is what It looked like when I first got my hands on it: After I got my hands on it, I started doing some minor changes to it. The Wheels were the first of all the changes: These were the first real photos I got from him with the new wheels on: Here's a little movie trailler that I've made in my spare time, that was suposed to end up with a more complete video, but then I started made some more modifications, so the video is now suspended until I got it the way I want: Here it is, alongside with some other folks on our Monthly based meetings from our club DatsunPT: The next thing were the fender mirrors: After this, I ended up installing up a brand new sporty exhaust! Here in Portugal is known as "Troféu" (Trophy) Exhaust, because it was used in most cars from the Datsun Trophy back in the 70's Here's a video showcasing the sound of the old vs the new exhaust. At just 160 USD with the service included, it was one hell of a deal: Right now, he looks like this: 3 Quote Link to comment
bananahamuck Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 There is another member from Portugal ( Batsun ? ) and he posts pictures of his cruises (or used to) and i must say Portugal seems to be a very beautiful country.. Car looks very tasty also. 1 Quote Link to comment
TENDRIL Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 great car!! great post welcome !! are you able to lower it? and still be legal ? Quote Link to comment
mrbigtanker Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 Another Portagee from Portugal, right on might be the new parts place over seas..Very nice car.. Quote Link to comment
AndreP Posted June 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 Thanks all for the welcome messages! unfortunatelly not all the pictures could fit on the first message, will now separate the topic in two after this. Yes, Portugal is a little nice country, with good weather and a little bit of everything (Beach, Mountain, Citties and some more remote places), the only thing we don't have is desert! eheh Well, about lowering... It's not legal, but if it's not very noticable you don't really have that much problems with the Cops, you may only have problems when going with the anual procedure to test the car, but on that time you have 2 options: Mount the original springs or leave an adicional 50€ bill inside the car :P Many of you don't know, but in the 70's these cars were HIGHLY requested for Car Trophies, wich resulted in MANY MANY cars sold here (mainly 1200 Sedans and 510's), so there are a LOT of wrecked cars, which resulted in a stupid number of spare parts! I can tell, on our national listings, in 3minutes we easily find more than 5 "A12 + Transmition Combo", for as low as 200 USD! 1 Quote Link to comment
AndreP Posted June 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 A month ago I started noticing that he was loosing a lot of coolant, and ended up discovering this: A head in a pretty bad shape. Bough the head gaskets, a new head, a new water pump/thermostat, and some new spark plugs. The head went to the shop for some maintnance before installing it. Here's the new head, that it's still awaiting spare time for me to installing it (I'm in the middle of finals, so it's a pretty though job to get it all done). New material: http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq92/m4fi0s0/IMG_20140530_134901.jpg] http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq92/m4fi0s0/IMG_20140530_135043.jpg] http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq92/m4fi0s0/CIMG4663.jpg] http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq92/m4fi0s0/CIMG4664.jpg] In the meantime, I received the new steering wheel and hub adapter: http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq92/m4fi0s0/CIMG4717.jpg] http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq92/m4fi0s0/CIMG4718.jpg] Old: http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq92/m4fi0s0/CIMG4731.jpg] New: http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq92/m4fi0s0/CIMG4736.jpg] http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq92/m4fi0s0/CIMG4738.jpg] Old vs New: http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq92/m4fi0s0/CIMG4741.jpg] Some future modifications (on order of works) may include: - Front Lip/Spoiler fron Golf GTI Mk1 (Next Week) - Lowering 2" front and back (Next Month) - Been thinking a lot of painting the Rising Sun on the inside part of the Hood (Considering) - Been thinking changing the front grill to the Coupé/UTE (Considering) at just 80 USD I think it's a good modd. - Long future: New wheels - Hayashi Street or Watanabe 13" I've been attending every meeting that I can with him, and having as much fun as I can. This is really an unique car, and I want to enjoy it at the fullest! With the time and money to come, I'll slowly turn it into a more personal project with some modifications that I enjoy! Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to present it from the start! Hope you enjoy it! Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 Nice and clean. Find out the correct height and if lower, try to get closer. Coil overs would make it easier to jack it back up and air shocks on the back? Corrosion like that is likely years of using without proper antifreeze coolant and or just sitting. Quote Link to comment
AndreP Posted June 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 The post is now completed with all the images :) Now I'll start keep it updated with the things I'll working on. Some people may not have idea, but on the other day I was talking with an Australian member and he told me that, in Australia, a 1.2L Car could Easily take a LEGAL 1.8 Turbo or 2.0 NA engine in it's place... I was shocked! In Portugal it's totally the oposite! Here it's completly illegal to swap the Engine, even if it's from the same model but another engine (for example, a car that comes with 1.2L and 1.4L engines... You can't use the 1.4L engine on the 1.2L car, even if it's exactly the same model, but only with different engine!), the rules here are very strickly about modds! You can only change visual things that don't affect the ride of the car, and even those, some of them (paint for example) you have to pay for them to change on the documents of the car! It's insane! Legally, I can only go up to 13" in this car! That's why, usually in Portugal, there arent' that many modded cars, because if you're caught by the cops with a Engine swap for example, you just don't get finned... They confiscate the car! And then you'll have to put it completly stock and undergo a super minuscious inspection to all the parameters of the car! Quote Link to comment
AndreP Posted June 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 Well, due to my super controlled budget I'll press the front springs and on the back I'll the use the 2" block! I've been thinking using the front Adjustable Coilover Convertion Kit from TecnhoToyTuning, but for now I'll just press (or cut) the springs, and in a near future, use a more reliable option! Yeah, that corrosion was too much... certainly never used a proper coolant! Fortunately I founded the new head in perfect conditions, just needed a good cleanup and some little work to get perfect to mount! Quote Link to comment
mrbigtanker Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 Very nice 1200 my friend. :thumbup: :thumbup: Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 For the most reliable lowering don't use the kit. See http://datsun1200.com/modules/mediawiki/?title=Lowering#Lowering_the_spring_perch Datsun1200.com is a Portugal web site. Quote Link to comment
AndreP Posted June 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2014 Thank you all! ggzilla, why you say the Kit isn't a good option? The problem is that I never seen that much options about the kit, so I don't really know it's pros/cons. I already seen and read that site for many times for many informations. Thats where I taken the idea of using a lowering block at the back. About the front i was thinking pressing/cutting them, but as the pressing here where I live is really cheap (10€ for the 2 front springs) i was down to try it out! Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted June 22, 2014 Report Share Posted June 22, 2014 pressing/cutting is OK but not adjustable. Quote Link to comment
AndreP Posted June 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2014 Hmmm ok! But what is the main problem with those Weld-On Convertion Kit then? Like I said, didn't really read that much feedback on these Quote Link to comment
Duncan Posted June 22, 2014 Report Share Posted June 22, 2014 That is a very nice 1200. Someone has either put the wrong shock absorbers on it, or has done something to make it higher than standard. Here is my 1200 sedan with the 12" tires on it. Mine is completely stock and not nearly as high as yours.. 1 Quote Link to comment
AndreP Posted June 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2014 Hmm that's very strange. Although with my 13" with 55 profile the wheels are smaller than the 12" with 80 profile tyres, that's a significant size different. The point is, all the other 2 Datsun's I had were from this same size, also I have at least more 2 from my friends and the ones that go to the meetings, and all of them are more or less the size of mine. What could originate this? Your seems in Mint conditions, so I wouldn't point it could be the use/abuse of your shocks... Btw, your seems just perfect! Those 12" with the original covers and the white walls, are a MUST! Congratulations man, what a piece you've got there! Quote Link to comment
AndreP Posted June 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2014 Mine look a LOT higher because of what I said above... The 13" wheels with 55 profile tires, are a lot smaller than the 12" wheels with the 80 profile stock tire. Here's a compairason: Perhaps this is what it makes it look a lot higher? Quote Link to comment
AndreP Posted June 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2014 Really been thinking painting the center inside of the hood with the rising sun flag... Here's a photoshoped pi of what it may look like, what you all think? 1 Quote Link to comment
sunny310 Posted June 22, 2014 Report Share Posted June 22, 2014 I love ur car man...too bad u cant mod it for more power...a nice twin carb setup and headers would really wake that car up. Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted June 22, 2014 Report Share Posted June 22, 2014 Someone has either put the wrong shock absorbers on it, or has done something to make it higher than standard. Only the spring supports the body. Shocks/struts have zero effect on ride height. (well, unless they are bottomed out) Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted June 23, 2014 Report Share Posted June 23, 2014 Gas-charged shocks raise the car slightly. About 10mm on a Datsun 1200 compared to original shocks. Its more than usual because a 1200 is so light. Andre your 1200 looks stock height to me. The small tires create a larger gap between tire and body. Quote Link to comment
AndreP Posted June 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2014 Thanks a lot Sunny310, I love the way it looks! Yes, unfortunatelly due to strictly legislation I can't really put more mechanical work on it like i would like, but perhaps, in a near future (when I got some more budget), maybe I'll start working the internals and go for another carb setup that delivers some more power! :) datzenmike and ggzila, that's what I though... From all the Datsuns i've seen personally mine looks barelly the same height, It only looks higher from the wheel arch, and that's because of the wheels that are smaller in total diameter! But yes, it's higher than what I would like so, a lowering is in the works for a near future! :) Quote Link to comment
TENDRIL Posted June 23, 2014 Report Share Posted June 23, 2014 i dig the center with rising sun, its not to big and blown out, small and tasteful Quote Link to comment
AndreP Posted June 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2014 Yes, that's what I though. It's not something really invasiv to everyone who looks at it (only when the hood is opened), and somehow it's a unique statement. Will put my hands on work after all the college finals! :D Quote Link to comment
Duncan Posted June 23, 2014 Report Share Posted June 23, 2014 Perhaps this is what it makes it look a lot higher? Could be. Here's my car with 13x6 minilites. The tires are 175/60/13's. I also put new gas shocks on the back of my car, and it did raise it up a little bit. And I still love your 1200. The engine bay is particularly clean. Great car! Quote Link to comment
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