U320...any in US have one?

[Dirty666]

I'm curious if anybody has one of these rigs on this side of the pond? 

[wayno]

Yes I have one, I have not really done much with it yet.

 

There are 2 if them for sale right now in Australia.

https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/eugowra/cars-vans-utes/datsun-u320-1965-u320-1964-2750-for-both/1232107261

Edited January 16, 2020 by wayno

[Dirty666]

thanks for the reply Wayno...did you buy it after someone brought it over the pond, or bring it yourself? I kind of want to explore options going forward. I first drove my dad's 320 in 1976 at 16yo, then much later bought one in Bellevue, Wa in 1992....used it way too much in the 90's, then let it deteriorate for the last 20 years(fool). On a positive note I did obtain a Factory Parts Catalogue back in '92 & (pre-internet) scrounged all the new NOS stuff I could find in the Western US & Canada then collected more off and on for pretty much 30 years. Most still packaged up, not sure what all I have but I know I've got a treasure chest, actually a few of them. Everything from new W/S & seals to new '64 grill and in between. At this point I'm unsure if the old girl is the best example to start with, or if I should consider my options going forward. And seeing as I've got family near Brisbane this may be my opportunity to make up for past regrets(passed up on way too many NL's over the years). I can only image the shipping costs, but I'm interested in other's experience. Cheers.....dwayner  (back in the day pic inserted here)

 

 

 

[wayno]

I bought it from the guy that won it in an ebay Australia auction and imported it here in the mid 90s.

How rusty is your truck?

Them U320s over on Australia are a long ways away from Brisbane, they are a lot closer to Sydney, not sure if they are worth importing, one cannot really tell until one sees them in person, I have a friend near Brisbane.

I actually know where the back end of a NL320 is, I believe from the cab back, it is near Seattle WA, I only mention this because I am a fabricator and likely could attach it to an L320 cab, you may be able to do something like that also and make your own NL320, so just throwing this info out there.

That truck in the photo looks complete.

 

 

 

Edited January 16, 2020 by wayno

[Dirty666]

did PO offer any feedback on the process?, not so much the importing into the country, but more so shipping situation. 

My truck unfortunately put away wet if you will, life came along & it became smaller. Rockers/floors, etc a bit thin now. That would be something I've never done is metalwork but that's what it needs. 

[wayno]

I had mine shipped from North Carolina to Washington State in a closed type trailer, the U320 had no type of brakes at all(not even an emergency brake), it had to be winched up and when it arrived we used a come along to lower it, as I recall I paid $1600. and something and I gave the driver a $100.00 tip, I got another quote from a Florida port to Washington State for $1350. for shipping that blue U521 I was going to buy from Ticobill that I missed out on as another member on here showed up at his door and bought it in Costa Rica.

 

I didn't know how to weld when I made my first 521 kingcab, with sheet metal it's more about tack welding than it is about actual welding, this is the top of my 520 kingcab, see how I tacked this section in place, I didn't even use a welding helmet doing this below, I just aimed, shut my eyes, pulled the trigger for a second, let off the trigger, opened my eyes, moved forward 4 inches, and repeated, there is a little more too it involving heat and not warping the metal by welding too close to where you just welded, that is why I moved at least 4 inches ahead, that gives the metal time to cool, but there are hundreds of tack welds on that top in the photo below, by the time I got back around to where I started the metal was cool enough to start around again.

This is my Mini floor board, I did it differently, I bought a cover piece, drilled it in a bunch of places, then welded it to the existing floor below it which was mostly good anyway except for one area, you can see after fitting it I held it in place with screws(the holes were drilled but I forgot to take a photo).

 

Then I welded it in place thru the holes I drilled, you can see all the places I ground down smooth, basically this floor pan has been spot welded into place, the little "Xs" were places I was going to drill holes but I decided I didn't need that many holes in that lower section.

 

It did take time to do all this, it took me just over a day. to put that plan in place, it took me 9 days to do everything I did and put it back together(the pan and rocker covers).

 

I have never really learned how to weld(I taught myself), but I learned if one messes up you just cut it out or grind it down and do it over again, but you do need a Mig welder, even a cheap Harbor Freight Mig welder will work fine for sheet metal, I made a 521 kingcab using a cheap Harbor Freight Mig welder, I also made a 320 kingcab with the same welder.

Edited January 16, 2020 by wayno

[MattSheldon]

12 hours ago, wayno said:

I bought it from the guy that won it in an ebay Australia auction and imported it here in the mid 90s.

How rusty is your truck?

Them U320s over on Australia are a long ways away from Brisbane, they are a lot closer to Sydney, not sure if they are worth importing, one cannot really tell until one sees them in person, I have a friend near Brisbane.

I actually know where the back end of a NL320 is, I believe from the cab back, it is near Seattle WA, I only mention this because I am a fabricator and likely could attach it to an L320 cab, you may be able to do something like that also and make your own NL320, so just throwing this info out there.

That truck in the photo looks complete.

 

 

 

That NL320 back half ever becomes available, I am interested.

[Dirty666]

On 1/16/2020 at 10:37 AM, wayno said:

I had mine shipped from North Carolina to Washington State in a closed type trailer, the U320 had no type of brakes at all(not even an emergency brake), it had to be winched up and when it arrived we used a come along to lower it, as I recall I paid $1600. and something and I gave the driver a $100.00 tip, I got another quote from a Florida port to Washington State for $1350. for shipping that blue U521 I was going to buy from Ticobill that I missed out on as another member on here showed up at his door and bought it in Costa Rica.

 

I didn't know how to weld when I made my first 521 kingcab, with sheet metal it's more about tack welding than it is about actual welding, this is the top of my 520 kingcab, see how I tacked this section in place, I didn't even use a welding helmet doing this below, I just aimed, shut my eyes, pulled the trigger for a second, let off the trigger, opened my eyes, moved forward 4 inches, and repeated, there is a little more too it involving heat and not warping the metal by welding too close to where you just welded, that is why I moved at least 4 inches ahead, that gives the metal time to cool, but there are hundreds of tack welds on that top in the photo below, by the time I got back around to where I started the metal was cool enough to start around again.

This is my Mini floor board, I did it differently, I bought a cover piece, drilled it in a bunch of places, then welded it to the existing floor below it which was mostly good anyway except for one area, you can see after fitting it I held it in place with screws(the holes were drilled but I forgot to take a photo).

 

Then I welded it in place thru the holes I drilled, you can see all the places I ground down smooth, basically this floor pan has been spot welded into place, the little "Xs" were places I was going to drill holes but I decided I didn't need that many holes in that lower section.

 

It did take time to do all this, it took me just over a day. to put that plan in place, it took me 9 days to do everything I did and put it back together(the pan and rocker covers).

 

I have never really learned how to weld(I taught myself), but I learned if one messes up you just cut it out or grind it down and do it over again, but you do need a Mig welder, even a cheap Harbor Freight Mig welder will work fine for sheet metal, I made a 521 kingcab using a cheap Harbor Freight Mig welder, I also made a 320 kingcab with the same welder.

Nice work Wayno....inspiring 

[Dirty666]

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Datsun-U320/114067001402?_mwBanner=1&ul_ref=https%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F0%2Fe11050.m43.l1123%2F7%3Feuid%3D7a5aca469d294fb2a3a10ba0ae75a749%26bu%3D43212838021%26loc%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com.au%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F114067001402%26sojTags%3Dbu%3Dbu%26srcrot%3De11050.m43.l1123%26rvr_id%3D0%26rvr_ts%3Dba29a82316f0aaa307956025fff6bf8e&ul_noapp=true&pageci=e72292a4-1593-497e-b3c5-18c0556e0174

 

...guess there’ll be two U320’s over here.....one for USA, and soon one for Canada. 👍

[wayno]

That appears to be a 1962 Datsun U320 like mine, it does not appear to have the side trim and all the holes have been filled, the U320 rear side trim pieces are U320 specific, no other model rear trim fits the U320.

So did you buy that one?

I do not appear to have a photo of that one, check this thread out.

http://ozdat.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=31580&p=266480#p266480

[320 Newb]

Anyone know what it'd cost to ship one from down under to North America?

[wayno]

I suspect as a regular John Doe you would likely have $6000.00 before you take possession(shipping/taxes/ect.), and you have to add on what it cost you to buy it unless you know someone that is looking to fill a container coming over here.

Edited January 21, 2020 by wayno

[Dirty666]

9 hours ago, wayno said:

That appears to be a 1962 Datsun U320 like mine, it does not appear to have the side trim and all the holes have been filled, the U320 rear side trim pieces are U320 specific, no other model rear trim fits the U320.

So did you buy that one?

I do not appear to have a photo of that one, check this thread out.

http://ozdat.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=31580&p=266480#p266480

I’m hoping he’s got them in that batch of spares that comes with the truck. I’m headed over on the first of the month to get things sorted. I do see some trim in the couple Ute loads of spares. I’m gunna get an education I’m sure as I don’t have any knowledge of shipping procedures. At first quiry the shipping is cheap compared to what they want to prep & load up so we’ll be hands on as much as possible. 

[320 Newb]

13 minutes ago, Dirty666 said:

I’m hoping he’s got them in that batch of spares that comes with the truck. I’m headed over on the first of the month to get things sorted. I do see some trim in the couple Ute loads of spares. I’m gunna get an education I’m sure as I don’t have any knowledge of shipping procedures. At first quiry the shipping is cheap compared to what they want to prep & load up so we’ll be hands on as much as possible. 

 

Congrats on the UTE, make sure you start a build thread on here! I'd love to watch the project progress. 

[wayno]

The U320 has a few parts that are U model specific, the rear side trim is one of them, it is just over 75 inches long, the NL320 and V320 rear trim is around 6 inches shorter, and the L320 never had rear trim, I seen a couple pieces of trim in the photos, hopefully they are the rear trim pieces, you can use door and fender trim from the NL320 and V320 as they are the same size and profile but I seen doors with the correct trim pieces on them, the rear bumper brackets were extended 6 inches for the U320 model and I seen an extra rear bumper in the parts, the only other parts are associated with the upper box trim, specifically the side pieces and rear window, and it appears you have an extra rear window also, be very careful with that piece of glass, treat it like what it is, unobtainable, un-replaceable.

Also I hope you have 4 good hubcaps, I have a lot of money into hubcaps, I would also remove the rear taillight bezels/lenses and the pieces of metal below them as yours look good, them pieces get messed up easily and are expensive to replace if you can find them, there are several people that appear to have given up on their NL320/U320 because they could not find replacements, take them off and bring them home with you or pack them inside the cab with padding on all sides like the rear window.

Hopefully you will tell us all about everything involved with getting it from Australia to Canada.

My friend over there lives near Ipswich which is southwest of Brisbane about 20 miles, I knew of another white U320 west of Brisbane, but I never seen this one before, it's another new one, I suspect more were imported to Australia than was thought.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

I looked into getting vehicles from South America and I found out that there were eight customs stops along the way, and every one of those stops would benefit from greased palms.

[difrangia]

A well experienced export broker on the down-under end and an Import broker on the receiving end would be money well spent. They will be able to grease the skids on customs requirements on both ends and pay for their fees in time and also $$. Transfer from one country to another sometimes requires a certified acceptable cleaning of the underside and maybe interior to eliminate migration of plant/animal organisms. Proximity to a major import-export port has big impact on transfer price. As someone posted if space in a container can be found that is a big positive. An alternate method might be Ro-Ro (roll on- roll off) but I believe that most shipping firms dont allow much in way of spare/loose parts inside the vehicle when using Ro-Ro. Don't know about container transfer. I almost bought a very nice FIAT 126 in England 10-12 years ago and had it all worked out but couldn't line up transportation from where the vehicle was to the port of Southampton.

[Serge]

Well bought, you appear to have got it for a very fair price. I was the other bidder, and live closer, but as it was also an export was a bit cautious with the biding.... Australian ports are strongly unionised and frankly uncompetitive globally (which is good for their local economy, less imports etc). My investigations some time ago were that roll-on-roll off was around 60% of containerised pricing but there are restrictions, and it may not suit such a long haul....   You might like to try Famous Pacific Shipping. They do a lot of West Coast US to Aus and New Zealand (me) traffic and I have heard good things, but have no personal experience. 

I have a V320 under restoration... sorry to advise that the metal is really thin and wasn't well protected when new - there will be rust... 

Very cool car - well bought. 

[320 Newb]

On 1/21/2020 at 10:43 AM, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

I looked into getting vehicles from South America and I found out that there were eight customs stops along the way, and every one of those stops would benefit from greased palms.

 

My little brother bought an old FJ from Columbia and had it shipped to the US. I remember shipping was a pain and getting the title transferred was even a bigger pain.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Yeah, I spoke directly with the owner of "The FJ Company" about the process. He said it's a royal pain.

[Draker]

On 1/21/2020 at 9:43 AM, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

I looked into getting vehicles from South America and I found out that there were eight customs stops along the way, and every one of those stops would benefit from greased palms.

 

What if it shipped by sea?

[difrangia]

Australia and North America are separated by water and air.

 

You pretty much have two shipping options in moving a vehicle from Australia to North America, sea or air, and you probably don't want to even see the price by air.

 

I'd recommend that you locate a few off-road truck type businesses in the area of Australia where the vehicle is and see if they import digger trucks from the US. I understand that that is a fairly common activity. I have heard of businesses here in the US that modify US pickups for export to Australia. Aussies in that business might be able to provide some advice. I know the transfer is the opposite direction that you need to do but you know; Yada-Yada.

[wayno]

I have had no personal experience with getting a title for an imported vehicle, but this is what happened with my U320, the guy I bought it from told me in my first or second email from him that he had a free and clear title to the 1962 Datsun U320 I was interested in, when it came time to pay him for the vehicle I asked for a copy of the title on the phone, I said just scan it and send it to me in an email, he replied that he didn't have a title, I then said he had said he had a free and clear title and I could not buy it without a title because I would have to wait 3 years to get one and that was with the understanding that anyone with a title for that vehicle could come and take it away from me, I was not going down that road, I said no title no sale, when I got home I forwarded the mentioned email saying he had a free and clear title from him back to him, I did hear a thing from him for a while, then a few weeks/month later I got a email from him that he was working on getting a title, he had to get a bond and have it inspected, it at least had to appear to be derivable , there is a lot more to this story, of which one was there was no signature of release anywhere on the paperwork/import papers he had,  I  expressed my interest in the vehicle August 6, he started working on getting a title September 19, and January 21 of the next year he had the title, and I received the vehicle February 4th.

I posted this because you need to make sure all the things that need to be signed need to be signed, it was a real pain for him to get that title.

[difrangia]

Wayno, everything that you say is true and it can get a lot worse than what it was for you. and your vehicle was already in the US. That is what I was referring to when I spoke of the export and import broker on either end. They can save a lot of grief but you need to be sure that they are experienced and with good references. As I remember this U320 is headed for Canada. I know nothing about their vehicle regulations. Gonna guess they are something similar to US. In the US you need to be sure that the 25 year old exemption, whatever the technical name for it is, is properly filed and I believe that requires a valid title or equivalent. One of the BIG words you don't want to hear is 'IMPOUNDED'.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

The way I see it, if the vehicle is not stolen, and you can verify that online, and it is not in the DMV system, all you need is a bill of sale. Sometimes less paperwork is better at DMV. I've registered plenty of vehicles with no paperwork at all.