Bang Van

[ArchetypeDatsun]

 

Well guys after selling my 77 200sx I told myself I wouldn't buy another vehicle.  Just had to be nosey and be scrolling the facebook marketplace and saw this 1987 Nissan Van XE.  Not only is it a rare base model but it's a fricken 5spd, runs and drives.  It was located in Tracy, California, messaged the owner got a response pretty quickly.  He was out of the country, but would get back to me when he was back.  Fast forward almost 2 weeks he messaged me and gave me his number I called, and we talked for a good hour.  He was the second owner had owned it for almost 30 years, and was the only one who drove it.  Not knowing how I would purchase it I hit up homie carlos konig209 here who is in Modesto and went to check it out for me on video chat.  Talked to owner again and made a deal even though he was hesitant to sell it since his wife was the one who posted it for sale lol.  He was retiring and leaving the country for good and was gonna drive it down with him.  

 

Thanks to carlos konig209 for doing a big favor and picking it up for me it's like a Xmas gift for myself since I always wanted one and just could pass up the chance to own one.  Another big reason is well I love old Datsuns and old Nissans and being single dad now thought well why not cruise my kids around too while I get the datsuns back on the road.  Guess you can say I'm filling in the empty spot I have in life at least the datsuns have always remained around as woman come and go, oh well.  

 

Anyway I will post more pictures when I go pick it up next week.  Now I just need to find some Hayashi Techno TVR's un 5 lug for the van since carlos put the one in the picture and made me 🤤.

 

Edited January 16, 2021 by ArchetypeDatsun

[Draker]

Love it!

[slowlearner]

Man, we had so many of them here down under. Another 80's car you just don't see anymore. Looks like you're having fun with it. Good onya! 😃

[ArchetypeDatsun]

10 hours ago, slowlearner said:

Man, we had so many of them here down under. Another 80's car you just don't see anymore. Looks like you're having fun with it. Good onya! 😃

 

All were up for recall here in the states, as you can see a lot of people didn't want to give theirs up.  

[datzenmike]

It was a buy back more than a recall. It was originally designed for a smaller engine but the N Am market got the Z24 and they tended to over heat. Eventually Nissan said fuckit and offered to buy them back from the consumers. They they were immediately destroyed. Saw one once in a local yard. They are unique in that the floor shifter is remote from the 71C transmission which is too far to the rear to reach and uses a very complicated looking dual cable mechanism.

[Clade]

Sweet van, cant wait to see more photos

 

45 minutes ago, datzenmike said:

It was a buy back more than a recall. It was originally designed for a smaller engine but the N Am market got the Z24 and they tended to over heat. Eventually Nissan said fuckit and offered to buy them back from the consumers. They they were immediately destroyed. Saw one once in a local yard. They are unique in that the floor shifter is remote from the 71C transmission which is too far to the rear to reach and uses a very complicated looking dual cable mechanism.

Cool backstory of the van being bought back 😮 I see a few of these around the place in nz too.

[datzenmike]

Those who have one wouldn't part with it.

[ArchetypeDatsun]

So bought some Appliance Diamags for the Van 14x7 5x114.3 just have to find the right roto lugs don't wanna run the lug nut with bushings read they are prone crack.  A plus the wheels have brand new tires still has all the titties mmm titties...any will be picking up the van this weekend hoping all goes well on my trip back home.

[slowlearner]

On 1/17/2021 at 8:58 AM, Clade said:

Sweet van, cant wait to see more photos

 

Cool backstory of the van being bought back 😮 I see a few of these around the place in nz too.

 

You guys have a huge van scene in NZ. Right? I've seen a lot of rotary powered vans on youtube. Chur bol! 🤣

[Clade]

16 hours ago, slowlearner said:

 

You guys have a huge van scene in NZ. Right? I've seen a lot of rotary powered vans on youtube. Chur bol! 🤣

Vans are pretty popular here yeah, not my thing though. Chur cuzzie from across the ditch 🤙

[Charlie69]

On 1/16/2021 at 1:20 AM, ArchetypeDatsun said:

 

Well guys after selling my 77 200sx I told myself I wouldn't buy another vehicle.  Just had to be nosey and be scrolling the facebook marketplace and saw this 1987 Nissan Van XE.  Not only is it a rare base model but it's a fricken 5spd, runs and drives.  It was located in Tracy, California, messaged the owner got a response pretty quickly.  He was out of the country, but would get back to me when he was back.  Fast forward almost 2 weeks he messaged me and gave me his number I called, and we talked for a good hour.  He was the second owner had owned it for almost 30 years, and was the only one who drove it.  Not knowing how I would purchase it I hit up homie carlos konig209 here who is in Modesto and went to check it out for me on video chat.  Talked to owner again and made a deal even though he was hesitant to sell it since his wife was the one who posted it for sale lol.  He was retiring and leaving the country for good and was gonna drive it down with him.  

 

Thanks to carlos konig209 for doing a big favor and picking it up for me it's like a Xmas gift for myself since I always wanted one and just could pass up the chance to own one.  Another big reason is well I love old Datsuns and old Nissans and being single dad now thought well why not cruise my kids around too while I get the datsuns back on the road.  Guess you can say I'm filling in the empty spot I have in life at least the datsuns have always remained around as woman come and go, oh well.  

 

Anyway I will post more pictures when I go pick it up next week.  Now I just need to find some Hayashi Techno TVR's un 5 lug for the van since carlos put the one in the picture and made me 🤤.

 

That van screams socker mom!  LOL

[ArchetypeDatsun]

On 1/20/2021 at 7:43 AM, Charlie69 said:

That van screams socker mom!  LOL

 

Haha more like Soccer Dad Van, if the woman don't like this dad bod they can't handle this dad rod.

[yenpit]

Thought at first it was the early Toyota van...........didn't those also get recalled/bought back?  Cool van!! 😎

[ArchetypeDatsun]

7 hours ago, yenpit said:

Thought at first it was the early Toyota van...........didn't those also get recalled/bought back?  Cool van!! 😎

 

Nissan did a buyback in 1994 to all the people who brought theirs back not all of them were taken in there are some still out there.

[datzenmike]

On 1/16/2021 at 2:33 PM, datzenmike said:

Those who have one wouldn't part with it.

 

Worth saying again. I haven't seen one in years. Might not even recognize one at a glance. Rare as rocking horse shit.

[ArchetypeDatsun]

Well this weekend didn't go as planned, so next weekend hoping will workout for me to head down to pick up the van.  Next weekend it is.

 

[ArchetypeDatsun]

As of last weekend on Sunday i was finally able to drive it back home from Modesto California to Medford Oregon.  Sketchy road trip but I've had worse.  Looks like the previous owner wasn't as honest and truthful about the Van.  Overall it is pretty complete and everything works, has no radio/stereo, No Ice maker/Cooler, don't think this van ever had one.  Has a hard time starting in the mornings you have sit on the van and manual warm it up until it will idle on its own.  Found out when I drove in town in Modesto it only had 2nd, 4th and reverse working gears lol.  Carlos my friend who picked it up for me a month ago figured out how to wiggle every gear.  I'm almost certain the clutch was on it's last leg, clutch pedal is strong but won't go into any gear now that it is home.  I did buy some lubricant spray to spray onto the shifter mechanism it helped a little go into 2nd and 4th as i got a scare just 100 miles away from home when I was refueling.  Never overheated the clutch fan works flawlessly and it even has electric vans lol. 

 

I'm pretty determined to swap out the Z24i got a KA at this point, but i do want to get this running decently before i do the swap or have help getting it done.

[Draker]

Pretty cool! If you can shift the gears when it's off, then it's likely a clutch or hydraulic issue. You'll get it sorted. 

[datzenmike]

Idle in neutral, put clutch pedal down and try shift carefully into reverse. If continuous grind the clutch is not disengaging the engine from the gear box. Could just be low on hydraulic fluid in the clutch master, could be air in it and need bleeding, could be pressure plate damage or clutch disc damage. Don't drive it like this as it's really hard on the synchros. 

[gene knight]

5 hours ago, ArchetypeDatsun said:

As of last weekend on Sunday i was finally able to drive it back home from Modesto California to Medford Oregon.  Sketchy road trip but I've had worse.  Looks like the previous owner wasn't as honest and truthful about the Van.  Overall it is pretty complete and everything works, has no radio/stereo, No Ice maker/Cooler, don't think this van ever had one.  Has a hard time starting in the mornings you have sit on the van and manual warm it up until it will idle on its own.  Found out when I drove in town in Modesto it only had 2nd, 4th and reverse working gears lol.  Carlos my friend who picked it up for me a month ago figured out how to wiggle every gear.  I'm almost certain the clutch was on it's last leg, clutch pedal is strong but won't go into any gear now that it is home.  I did buy some lubricant spray to spray onto the shifter mechanism it helped a little go into 2nd and 4th as i got a scare just 100 miles away from home when I was refueling.  Never overheated the clutch fan works flawlessly and it even has electric vans lol. 

 

I'm pretty determined to swap out the Z24i got a KA at this point, but i do want to get this running decently before i do the swap or have help getting it done.

i want that yellow datsun next to it

[ArchetypeDatsun]

Forgot to post these.  I'll post more.

[Soundline]

There’s something about this beast I like.  
 

I’m not a van guy, but that looks interesting.  I’m interested to see what you do with such a rare van. 

[ArchetypeDatsun]

I slapped 2 of the Appliance DiaMags in the front to see what they would look like.  Like it so far just needs way more low.

 

 

Edited October 14, 2021 by ArchetypeDatsun

[ArchetypeDatsun]

Finally doing some work on the van.  3 weeks ago a friend came over and wanted to see the van move so we looked into the shift linkage cables exposed after taking off the center console.  So the previous owner had the the cables held on with bailing wire and the same thing for the cable down below next to the transmission shift lever.  The van shifts into 1st, 3rd, & 5th, so I'm thinking the other cable that goes to the back of the transmission where the second lever is might have same "fix".  Of course parts for these are NLA so I'll have to figure out some parts off another vehicle that use similar set up.

 

The shims that hold the cables in place were missing, i replaced them with some i had at home that fit perfectly to hold one of the cables in place where the shifter is located.  Did the same for one of the cables and seem to do the trick.  Just need to figure out how to get 2nd, 4th & reverse back.  Other than that the van definitely needs a tune up, oil change, plugs and wires done.  

Edited October 14, 2021 by ArchetypeDatsun

[yenpit]

See if you can find a parts blowup like above, but for the 1990's Toyota Previa van, that had the engine in a similar position in the chassis.  Maybe Toyota used a similar cable......??  Toyota DID make a manual Previa, but most were automatic.  Toyota likely sold many more of the Previa's, so if you can "borrow" a similar manual shift cable, would be much easier to find in a junkyard...........heck, if you think it would work, might still be available from Toyota.......??