1978 Datsun B210 First Month of Ownership Review

[NewDirection]

So about a month back I bought a 1978 Datsun B210 with about 43,000 original kilometres on it. Since that time I've had a chance to drive it quite a bit (~1000kms) as well as work on it and I wanted to share my impressions. My goal for the car is for it to be a "working classic", basically a 3 season daily driver that doesn't see snow.

 

1. Workability

So far I have had the car rustproofed, replaced transmission and differential fluid, air filter, changed oil, replaced rear shocks, and detailed the interior. This car is a dream to work on! It's been a while since I've owned a car this old and I forgot how easy everything is to access and take apart. It's like Lego. I have removed most interior pieces to deep clean and repaint as needed (shout out to Vinyl Paint by DupliColor) and have found it super easy, usually just involving simple screws. I look forward to doing more light work on it.

 

2. Driving

Drives great! The engine starts right away and the car is very driveable as a daily. It's reasonably quiet and in fact I was kind of hoping for more engine sound out of an old economy car. I had the inner rubber shift boot off for a bit and the sound that was coming through the transmission tunnel was really nice. I've taken it up to 130km/hr on the highway and it felt like it could have probably given a bit more. No vibrations, no rattles, no fuss. Handling is reasonable and the only thing I really miss is power steering at low speeds. But I wouldn't give up the simplicity of manual steering for it. I definitely wish I had a tachometer and am on the lookout for a used one. If anyone can tell me what RPMs are at common speeds like 60km/hr in 3rd and 4th, 100kmh/hr in 4th, that would be helpful. It's definitely fun to drive compared to more modern cars and this is exaclty what I was looking for, a classic car that could make the daily drive more enjoyable.

 

The brakes are quite reasonable as well and have no problems locking up all 4 wheels.

 

One big positive on ths car is the manual transmission. It shifts into gears very nicely and although the shifter needs a new bushing, gears click into place nicely. When cold the gears can be a little notchy but that goes away after a few kms of driving.

 

3. Features

It's a very simple car by today's standards but the features it does have work quite well. Heating is good, the signal stalk, headlight switch, etc. provide nice tactile feedback, the AM radio comes through the single dash speaker quite well and I appreciate the two-speed wiper option. I have never bee so acquanited with the options available on the AM band. All 4 seatbelts extend and retract quite nicely so nice to drive the kids around. Rear defrost and winsdhield wash don't work but I'm sure I'll figure those out at some point.

 

4. Cool factor

I will admit I like attention directed at my car and this car gets a tonne of it. Young people give thumbs up because it has that JDM cool. Older people tell me stories of how they haven't seen one in decades, or their father had one, etc. It gets more attention than any of my previous cars and I look forward to showing up at the Datsun meets this summer.

 

Next steps

1. Interior "restoration" and detail - almost done as I started with a pretty clean car. New carpet should be going in next week (moss green to match the current aftermarket carpet, which I assume was put in after the car had some water entry, I found a big pile of glass shards under the old carpet). I will then get the seats professinally cleaned. They look pretty good now but it will make me feel good to know that removal of 45 years of grime was at least attempted professionally. The original shifter knob is in 10/10 like new condition so I am taking it off and storing it, replacing with an aftermarket. I may get vanity plates but the cost has become astronomical so have to think about that one.

2. Mechanical - I don't care too much about the windhsield washer but I would really like to get the defrost working. I need to dust off my multimeter and track down the problem. Other than that, the odd hose needs replacing, fuel filter and try to figure out this scraping sound from the rear when I go over bumps.

3. Exterior - Car will be going to the body shop in late winter to be repainted in the original code 214 main body pain (Cocoa Brown Metallic) and the gold roof, whoch I suspect was done aftermarket. Steel wheels will be painted to match 214, with chrome lug nuts and "D" centre caps. I will ask a muffler shop to make me a stainless steel tailpipe extender and get the bumpers refinished. Yes, I like the North American style bumpers and will keep them. I was thinking of adding a passenger side view mirror but really don't want to drill into the car if I don't have to.

 

That's it for now, if you have any comments or suggestions they are more than welcome as I pretty much count on this forum and my Haynes manual to help me get this car sorted.

 

 

 

[pidge]

Clean looking interior. 

[KELMO]

13 hours ago, NewDirection said:

If anyone can tell me what RPMs are at common speeds like 60km/hr in 3rd and 4th, 100kmh/hr in 4th, that would be helpful.

I don't get all that metric stuff and it is too cold to go out and look at the Nissan that has Km on the speedo as well as Mph but, I do know that in my 1200 at 55 Mph the RPM's are 4000 to 4500.

This is a 1200cc motor, 4 speed, and 12" wheels/tires.

 

I think you probably have 1400cc and 13" inch wheels/tires so your results may vary.

[datzenmike]

"If anyone can tell me what RPMs are at common speeds like 60km/hr in 3rd and 4th, 100kmh/hr in 4th, that would be helpful. "

 

Easily done if you supply the tire size you are using. Just read off what's on the sidewall.

 

Stock are 155/13 or something not used today, and they have been replaced several times by now possibly incorrectly. Better to not assume what you have.

 

Just for fun, if you in fact have this tire size... 175/70R13 or 195/60R13 then...

 

60KPH= 2045 in 4th and 2818 in 3rd

100KPH=3408 in 4th

 

This will be close for the two tires listed.

 

 

 

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Nice fun car.

 

When you say "rust proofed", what does that mean?

 

If you want more sound, have a larger exhaust system made and install a turbo muffler. I don't know the size of the tubing now, but I bet it's really small. A 2" exhaust would sound great and give you a little extra throttle response too. I ran a 2" exhaust on my 320, which had an A12 in it, and the sound was nice, and the turbo muffler kept it quiet. The power was better than stock, and gave the engine more room to rev.

[Dguy210]

For the tach the installation technically requires removal of the front of the dash completely, which generally requires pulling the steering wheel. However, that is not actually required, you can instead loosen up the front dash fascia and sort of slip it in behind it if you can get your hand up in side the dash (how I did mine). For the Tach, there used to be a seller with a large stash of NOS B210 tachs on ebay but I could not find the link, pricing was about a $100USD. They are not really a rare item. Part number is 24885-H7200. You will need the tach for the LHD cars as the RHD is slanted the opposite way. The wiring should already be present so pretty simple plug in.  

 

Rarest item to find is the SMALL clock (there is a LARGE clock which goes in the tach spot also). 

 

Rated stock noise for a B210 at freeway speeds is 84 decibels. 

 

Agree with Stoffregen, the A14 seems to like a 2" exhaust without increasing noise. At idle you should be able to stand near the car and almost not hear it running.

 

http://datsun1200.com/modules/mediawiki/index.php?title=B210_Tachometer

 

General B210 stuff:

The 1978 had a few very minor changes in the B210 that occasionally need to be paid attention too at times (for example in starter and crossmember support). Most parts later than 1976 will usually interchange (i.e., drum brake cylinders change that year and first year with a Catalytic converter) but 1974 first year has a bunch of one year off stuff that you should beware of if looking for parts. Also, sedan and hatchback models have differences in how the rearends mount and some other non-obvious part differences.

 

For drivability on the freeway there are two available 5spds that fit, the dogleg 5spd (63A) which seems to be most common in the 1978 hatchback and the 5spd out of the 210. Both are highly sought after so not cheap. The dogleg is cheaper but requires a different clutch disc as the splines are different and a specific driveshaft as the tailstock is larger, as this transmission was basically adapted from an L series to an A series there are two versions around and the splines and tailstock retain the L series sizing. 

 

The other 5spd uses the same parts effectively as the 4 spd and has a normal shift pattern, however it is running about ~$1000 USD these days as many of the British sportscar guys like them when doing A series conversions and they are hard to find. 

[NewDirection]

11 hours ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

Nice fun car.

 

When you say "rust proofed", what does that mean?

 

If you want more sound, have a larger exhaust system made and install a turbo muffler. I don't know the size of the tubing now, but I bet it's really small. A 2" exhaust would sound great and give you a little extra throttle response too. I ran a 2" exhaust on my 320, which had an A12 in it, and the sound was nice, and the turbo muffler kept it quiet. The power was better than stock, and gave the engine more room to rev.

Thanks for the advice, sounds like exactly what I'm looking for. I have an A15 btw.

 

I mean Krown rustproofing, with drilling into the doors.

 

When you refer to a 2" exhaust, which part of it is 2"? Does that mean at no point is the tubing narrower than 2"? I measured the part after the muffler and it is 1 3/8". the muffler looks new so may have been done already. Is "turbo muffler" a generic term? I can ask the muffler shop for that and they will know what I'm talking about?

[NewDirection]

12 hours ago, datzenmike said:

"If anyone can tell me what RPMs are at common speeds like 60km/hr in 3rd and 4th, 100kmh/hr in 4th, that would be helpful. "

 

Easily done if you supply the tire size you are using. Just read off what's on the sidewall.

 

Stock are 155/13 or something not used today, and they have been replaced several times by now possibly incorrectly. Better to not assume what you have.

 

Just for fun, if you in fact have this tire size... 175/70R13 or 195/60R13 then...

 

60KPH= 2045 in 4th and 2818 in 3rd

100KPH=3408 in 4th

 

This will be close for the two tires listed.

 

 

 

 

Thanks datzenmike, that's exactly what I wanted to know. The tires on there now are 155/80 R13. I am replacing these with 175/70R13 (almost same diameter) after the painting is done (in a whitewall no less).

[NewDirection]

4 hours ago, Dguy210 said:

For the tach the installation technically requires removal of the front of the dash completely, which generally requires pulling the steering wheel. However, that is not actually required, you can instead loosen up the front dash fascia and sort of slip it in behind it if you can get your hand up in side the dash (how I did mine). For the Tach, there used to be a seller with a large stash of NOS B210 tachs on ebay but I could not find the link, pricing was about a $100USD. They are not really a rare item. Part number is 24885-H7200. You will need the tach for the LHD cars as the RHD is slanted the opposite way. The wiring should already be present so pretty simple plug in.  

 

Rarest item to find is the SMALL clock (there is a LARGE clock which goes in the tach spot also). 

 

Rated stock noise for a B210 at freeway speeds is 84 decibels. 

 

Agree with Stoffregen, the A14 seems to like a 2" exhaust without increasing noise. At idle you should be able to stand near the car and almost not hear it running.

 

http://datsun1200.com/modules/mediawiki/index.php?title=B210_Tachometer

 

General B210 stuff:

The 1978 had a few very minor changes in the B210 that occasionally need to be paid attention too at times (for example in starter and crossmember support). Most parts later than 1976 will usually interchange (i.e., drum brake cylinders change that year and first year with a Catalytic converter) but 1974 first year has a bunch of one year off stuff that you should beware of if looking for parts. Also, sedan and hatchback models have differences in how the rearends mount and some other non-obvious part differences.

 

For drivability on the freeway there are two available 5spds that fit, the dogleg 5spd (63A) which seems to be most common in the 1978 hatchback and the 5spd out of the 210. Both are highly sought after so not cheap. The dogleg is cheaper but requires a different clutch disc as the splines are different and a specific driveshaft as the tailstock is larger, as this transmission was basically adapted from an L series to an A series there are two versions around and the splines and tailstock retain the L series sizing. 

 

The other 5spd uses the same parts effectively as the 4 spd and has a normal shift pattern, however it is running about ~$1000 USD these days as many of the British sportscar guys like them when doing A series conversions and they are hard to find. 

I'd love to upgrade to the 5spd one day but it's not a huge priority for now. I'm also wary of taking out a tranny with such low mileage and swapping it with a higher mileage one. The old transmisison fluid came out pretty clean looking.

 

I will be on the hunt for that tach, thanks for the encouragement.

[datzenmike]

The 155/8R13s are a little taller than the two I calculated for. The RPS would be slightly less. 175/70R13 should be close to stock diameter.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

13 hours ago, NewDirection said:

Thanks for the advice, sounds like exactly what I'm looking for. I have an A15 btw.

 

I mean Krown rustproofing, with drilling into the doors.

 

When you refer to a 2" exhaust, which part of it is 2"? Does that mean at no point is the tubing narrower than 2"? I measured the part after the muffler and it is 1 3/8". the muffler looks new so may have been done already. Is "turbo muffler" a generic term? I can ask the muffler shop for that and they will know what I'm talking about?

Krown looks like quality stuff. It is sprayed into the cavities, yes? I assumed you were talking about an undercoating, which is NOT rustproofing.

 

If you walked into a muffler shop and said "I want a 2" exhaust with a turbo muffler", they would start at the manifold and run all new 2" tubing, and install a generic "turbo style" muffler somewhere near the rear bumper. A turbo style muffler refers to the inner design of the muffler case. It is less noisy than a "straight through" muffler, but better performing than a regular stock style muffler which has way more obstruction.

 

Now if you're detail oriented, pay strict attention to the exhaust hangers. OEM hangers are always better than the strips of tire rubber that muffler shops use, whcih they usually weld on willy-nilly to the closest body or frame part. I make my own hangers, but use a bushing from Pypes, which are an OEM type (though maybe not Datsun type).

 

[NewDirection]

The car has had some mechanical work done and is now off to the body shop for a complete repaint in the original colour (214). I've bought some rims for it, see below!

New carpet was installed as well and I will provide pics when the car comes back from the body shop.

 

I think I will get rid of the two-tone roof, thoughts?

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Wheels look nice. The gold matches the wheels though, so maybe I'd keep it.

 

I would definitely weld up the trim holes and get rid of that strip.

[MikeRL411]

Keep the strip! Asshole parkers will screw up your restoration otherwise. Parking has gone the way of cursive writing.

[IZRL]

On 2/5/2024 at 12:48 AM, NewDirection said:

The car has had some mechanical work done and is now off to the body shop for a complete repaint in the original colour (214). I've bought some rims for it, see below!

New carpet was installed as well and I will provide pics when the car comes back from the body shop.

 

I think I will get rid of the two-tone roof, thoughts?

What color is 214? I actually really like the current color. I would also vote to keep the 2 tone. The 2 tone paint job might be one of the reasons the car gets so much attention IMO. if it were me I might have chose a different color for the top. Maybe a lighter shade of silver? Hard to say? The current colors are a cool combination too. 

 

If those stripes are door panel protectors I also vote to keep them. My honda has rubber ones. A few times, I've had people smash their doors against mine hard enough to where my car rocks back and forth while I'm sitting in my car.  And the idiots don't even apologize knowing that I'm sitting in the car. People don't give a shit anymore. 

[datzenmike]

 

214:  Cocoa Brown Metallic / Dark Brown Metallic

 

 

Note that colors can change drastically across monitors and any color swatch must be viewed in sunlight or 6,000⁰ kelvin lamps.

[NewDirection]

100% agree that it's risky taking off the door/fender guards but I can't resist the clean look that it's going to give with a fresh coat of paint. I always park far anyway to minimize the risk of dings. I've also asked the body shop to hold back some extra paint for me in case touchups are needed in the future.

 

In terms of the roof, I'm really on the fence. My vision was of a very clean look with "loud" wheels, maybe augmented by some pinstripes or other accent decal, like below, to mach the wheels. But overwhelmingly the advice I've gotten is to keep the two-tone so may end up doing so after all.

 

This is how I imagined 214, btw:

[NewDirection]

Possible decal look, sides not hood:

[datzenmike]

Those bumper strips are put on by the dealer. They drill and rivitt? them on. I had my 710 sedan painted. They filled the holes and the car looks WAYYYY better without. 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

If you want to keep a two-tone, but lessen the contrast between the two colors, find a color within the same spectrum as the lower color. There are many online color wheels to play with color. I find good color info on powder coating websites.

 

https://www.color-hex.com/

 

https://www.ralcolorchart.com/about-ral-colors

[datzenmike]

 

 

It seems like there is a pin stripe where they meet. If there isn't there should be. This will help blend the sharp boundary. I had a new '76 with that 'caramel' color. Didn't really care for it much but I like this two tone. No Datsun was two tone.

[NewDirection]

Yes they are rivetted on, and will be removed and filled. good to hear looks better without.

 

There is a pinstripe yes, I will check out the colour wheel and maybe look for a different two tone then.