O bachan - 1972 Bluebird DX 4dr granny car

[carterb]

This one is crazy!  It's the annual service records for the last 15 years:

 

 

76878 km   10/1/6

Heisei 10 is the year of the tiger - 1998

 

76284 km  10/8/3

 

77487km  11/6/7

Heisei 11 is the year of the rabbit - 1999

 

78589km  12/6/19

Heisei 19 is the year of the dragon - 2000

 

79314km  13/6/25

Heisei 13 is the year of the snake - 2001

 

81003km  14/7/26

Heisei 14 is the year of the horse - 2002

 

82496km  15/6/24

Heisei 15 is the year of the sheep - 2003

 

83264km  16/6/21

Heisei 16 is the year of the monkey - 2004

 

84065km  17/6/21

Heisei 17 is the year of the rooster - 2005

 

84845km  18/6/21

Heisei 18 is the year of the dog - 2006

 

85410km  19/6/16

Heisei 19 is the year of the pig - 2007

 

85865km  20/6/16

Heisei 20 is the year of the mouse - 2008

 

86617km  21/6/23

Heisei 21 is the year of the cow - 2009

 

87634km  22/6/25

Heisei 22 is the year of the tiger - 2010

 

88361km  23/6/27

Heisei 23 is the year of the rabbit - 2011

 

89392km  24/6/1

Heisei 24 is the year of the dragon - 2012

 

91300km  25/9/6  (first time car is listed as L18)

Heisei 25 is the year of the snake - 2013

 

The book was full so the remaining records must be in another location.

They significantly increased the mileage over the last two years before the sale.  Probably because the L18 was much more drive-able than the L14.

 

[q-tip]

Those are some awesome finds carter!

[Ranman72]

a little jealous maybe :thumbup:  :thumbup:  :thumbup:  :thumbup:  :thumbup:  :thumbup: 

nice score  

[the510keeper]

Very nice 4 door, me likie. I think the 4 doors are more rare then the Coupes

[Eagle_Adam]

Sooooo many unique things on this car!

 

Went thru ur pics 3 or 4 times and found new stuff every time :)

[carterb]

I switched back to the stock wheels and tires this weekend from the winter set.

During the switch I found that I actually have two pair of tires, slightly miss-matched.  I noticed that one set has cracks around the tread blocks and so with Canby coming up, I figured I should get a new pair ordered and mounted.  Just out of curiosity, I looked at the manufacturing date of the cracked tires - 1977!  Yikes!

[Lockleaf]

Haha! Excellent! Nothing beats vintage tires on the daily

[Z23T]

I switched back to the stock wheels and tires this weekend from the winter set.

During the switch I found that I actually have two pair of tires, slightly miss-matched.  I noticed that one set has cracks around the tread blocks and so with Canby coming up, I figured I should get a new pair ordered and mounted.  Just out of curiosity, I looked at the manufacturing date of the cracked tires - 1977!  Yikes!

 

1977, LOL, and I was worried about driving around on tires from the 90's.

[2wheel-lee]

Not only is this Bluebird a nice car, but I love the name of the post. Obachan no karuma....

[carterb]

Thanks 2wheel-lee!

 

My right side blinker went out and I was tired of doing arm signals so I dove in to find out what was going on.

 

Between driving lights,flashers, and R/L parking lights I was able to determine that the lights worked fine.

 

The left side blinker works fine so it's not the flasher.

 

Must be the switch.  So off with the wheel...

 

[carterb]

I cleaned all the contacts I could reach but the rocker that controls the blinkers is almost impossible to reach.

 

 

I unplugged the switch under the dash and checked the pins and I could get continuity where expected for all switch conditions.  Seems to work fine.  But no blinker.  Time for a little head scratching.

 

Next I grabbed another switch.

 

 

The two switches are slightly different so I thought about extracting the blinker portion of the assembly.

 

 

But I figured I should test it first.  So I plugged it into the car's harness, operated the blinker lever, and the blinkers worked fine, both right and left.

 

 

Last thing to try before making the switch (get it?) was to measure voltage through the contacts.  At first, I got 12v for left and nothing for right, but then, after some more probing, I got 12v and the blinker started working.  Then I couldn't get it to NOT work again.  Dang it!  It's fixed but I didn't fix anything.  That's the worst kind of fix...  Oh well.  I'll take it.  One week later and the blinkers have worked perfect every day.  I guess Granny just needed a little encouragement.

[carterb]

Now, as mentioned earlier, I swapped back to my stock wheels/tires from the winter set I was running:

 

 

I found that one pair of my stock tires were from 1977.  Here is what the tread looked like.

 

 

 

Turns out 165/80 R13 tires are in short supply these days.  I was hoping for another set of Bridgestones but couldn't find any.  Discount had some Kumhos in their computer but they were NLA.  The only thing they had were Nankangs. They look like space saver spare tires!  Oh well.  I should at least be able to drive without worry of them blowing up.

 

Back in business!

 

 

[q-tip]

Bone stock 510 rides so nice too

[carterb]

No kidding!

It's like riding on a cloud, resting on a pillow, atop a waterbed, sitting on a cube of jello, gliding over an air hockey table.

[q-tip]

First time I rode in one my reaction was "this can't be a 510, its so smooth!" Like just drive over that speed bump and barely notice it smooth.

[Phoenix]

very tidy & nice ride there, very interesting story too, very sweet Bluebird

[banzai510(hainz)]

Carter you check with Tires EZ. that's where I get mine. maybe Cooper trensetters????

 

I like the stock hubcaps but with small white wall. Jeff had some on his white 510 at one time. they were 75 or even 80 series.

 

yes even my 510 rides a lot smoother with the stock tires and ez to turn

[carterb]

Thanks for the tire store advice.

But I guess I won't need new tires for another 40 years right?

--carter

[carterb]

Update time...

 

Granny's alternator went kaput (how do you say kaput in Japanese?) so out it came.

 

 

Kind of cool to be able to do this without a floor jack.  I guess there is one good thing about stock ride height cars...

 

 

Think the guys at the parts store will know what it is?

 

[carterb]

There was a really annoying squeak/whine coming from the A/C compressor or idler assembly.  I really didn't want to listen to it all the way to Canby so while I was in there, I thought I would investigate.  After loosening everything up, the belt was trapped unless I removed the fan which I really didn't want to do as that usually involves removing the radiator and this started out as a simple alternator swap.

 

Then I noticed something... 

 

A clever Japanese mechanic had been in this predicament before.  They carved a small notch in the back of the fan that when clocked correctly, allows for extraction of the A/C belt!

 

 

Look ma!  No belt!

 

 

 

The idler bearing is quiet - at least spinning in my hand - which means it may be the A/C pump bearings that are squeaking.  : (  Not what I was hoping.

 

[carterb]

I got a new (remanufactured) alternator (two actually, just in case, different amp ratings each).  I can't believe how cheap these are.  Less than $50 each if I remember right.  Someone is NOT making money there.

 

 

Got a battery hold-down kit as well.

 

 

Just a little better than a bungee chord don't you think?

 

[carterb]

Canby 2016 was pretty much the next thing on the agenda.  Had time for a quick wash the morning of departure.

 

 

Followed by a trouble free drive to Canby.  Mostly trouble free that is...

The 3 on tree and short rear end gears kept the speeds slow.  Then someone's accident in the rain slowed us down even more, but we did get to see a Datsun friend waiting for the traffic to go single file around the wreck.

 

 

It was nice when we got there though.

 

Photos of all the cars here:  http://datsun510.com/index.php?/gallery/album/752-canby-2016/

 

I liked these "posters" in the pavillion

 

 

 

[carterb]

We didn't camp this year, electing to stay at a hotel instead a little ways down south.

 

 

But we made it back to the lawn on Sunday morning.

 

 

 

 

 

[carterb]

With Canby over, thoughts started to turn to "next year".

Bluebird prices keep climbing in Japan and I have still not found a 1969SSS in my price range so I have started to realize I may just have to give granny a face lift...

I have a year to collect parts right?

 

Let's start with new shoes!  Found these on ebay!

AME 182 14X6.5 +8

So excited!!!

 

 

So fun when a big box from Japan shows up on your doorstep.

 

 

 

 

 

[carterb]

Starter went out later in the Summer and was busy driving Cooper and Bruiser so Granny was pretty much just hibernating in the driveway dreaming about next Summer.