I was sad to part with my Lada Nivas, and was left with an empty spot in the garage but with almost no play money. What I needed was something interesting at scrap metal value. I managed to find a suitable candidate, but it did not quite work out the way I planned.
I came across this rather solid but neglected looking Datsun 210 in my travels around the city. I took a few photos of it, and despite the For Sale sign promptly forgot about it, as I figured they would want some real money for it. A few months later it showed up in the local classified ads for a mere $250 and the ad claimed it was only in need of a starter and clutch. Both those items could be obtained rather cheaply and would be easy enough to do on such a simple car.
The Datsun 210 has been covered quite well already at CC here and here. This car had the smaller A12 1.2L engine and a four speed manual gearbox. It was probably about as base as a 210 one could get: smallest engine, two door form, white paint, floor mats and no options. Although the Japanese had largely killed the market for American “strippers,” they then went and made their own.
I went to take a look at the little Datsun and closer inspection revealed the body to be in very nice shape. The interior was presentable. My aunt had a 210 over in the UK years ago which I had admired for a its simple, honest lines. I put in an offer of $150 which was promptly accepted. Perhaps too promptly.
While waiting for the tow truck to haul my score home, I poked around the engine bay a bit and noticed that the starter solenoid was merely disconnected. Surely it could not be that simple could it? I plugged it back in and the little Datsun immediately fired to life. Unfortunately as soon as I let the clutch out even in neutral, it bucked and stalled. Very strange. Could it be the faulty clutch? I’d never heard of a clutch failing in this manner but I do not claim to a master mechanic.
The interior cleaned up very nicely with nothing more than soap, water and some hard work. As a base-level car, it just had rubber floor mats. Even the seats didn’t have arm rests. The door buzzer would not quit when the battery was installed; tracing the wires let me to a mechanical bell device deep in the dashboard. A quick snip of its wiring lead to peace and quiet.
I was able to snag a replacement clutch kit off of eBay for dirt cheap; something like $20 plus shipping. An advantage to having a mass produced car that everyone has long ago scrapped is that mechanical bits can sometimes be found very cheaply: No one else needs them. I then started to remove the old clutch. With the gearbox out, I came face to face with a brand new clutch. Oh dear. Hoping that somehow this one was defective or improperly installed, I proceeded to replace anything clutch related with the new parts I ordered. Buttoning it all back up I was faced with the same bucking and stalling as soon as the clutch was let out.
The transmission came out again for closer examination. I found that turning the input shaft by hand turned the output shaft even in neutral. It was obviously locked into a gear. Bugger. I suspect my seller knew this and had disconnected the starter for an easier sale. The instructions to separate the transmission housing first specify that it must be in neutral. With nothing left to lose I tried to, despite this warning. I can confirm it does not come apart when locked into gear. I spent six months searching for a gearbox to swap into my Datsun. I could not find anything locally, and any that were available further away were massively expensive due to the cost of shipping. I pondered an engine swap, but it would have been a bigger project than I wanted at the time and it seemed a shame as the little 1.2L A-series ran so smoothly and sweetly.
Eventually I put the little 210 up for sale and clearly stated it need a transmission replacement. Interest was quite low, as might be expected. I did finally get an offer from a guy who had a Nissan 300ZX V6 and transmission that he wanted to swap in. That left me with the engine and broken gearbox which I later sold to a guy who used the engine in his 1973 Datsun 1200. It was not the ending I was hoping for, but hopefully both the car and engine have been well used.
Your luck with old beater cars changes soon, right?
We will see the good, bad and ugly in the series. Just not the dull. Skipped a ’86 Camry and a couple of Jeep Cherokees.
There are no dull cars! Every one has a redeeming feature (of some sort) to someone…
…just one of the nicest little engines ever!! that, and the Toyota 2K equivalent!! (1172cc and 1166cc, respectively) both sweet little gems of engines..:)
Bummer that you couldn’t find a trans. I hope the new owner is able to pull off the V6 swap. That ought to be a real runner, light as it is. My choice would be a 3800/5 speed from a 4th gen Camaro or Firebird.
The rust monster saw off most UK examples long ago.It’s a very long time since I saw one here
Certain Datsun 210 transmissions are prized by the Sprite and Midget community as an upgrade. You may have run into that when you could not find a reasonable replacement.
The five speed is quite prized to give Spridgets an overdrive gearbox.
What a shame .
For the low $ invested I’d imagined you would have ponied up the cost of a tranny .
IIRC those 1200 210’s had four speeds , maybe up grade to a five speed like was done to my old 1973 PL620 Datsun ” Lil Hustler ” pickup when it’s four speed box died .
I’da bought this nice car from you complete to fix and I live in Sunny So. Cal. where these are scarce as hen’s teeth now .
-Nate
David: let us help you before you sell a project that is stuck. Look at Keith Thelen’s projects. He will take help anywhere he can get it.
Even though it appears you succeeded in keeping a nice little old car out of the scrap yard. It will be a fun project for the new owner. Maybe you can follow up with him and Sunny in a few months?
Most of my issues were/are money scarcity – I doubt he wants to help there!
That sucks! This car looks like it was in great shape and probably would’ve been a lot of fun to drive. The interior is especially impressive and the rust appears to have been benign. I’m impressed that you were able to pass the car and engine along at all, and I’m sure it’ll be Tokyo Drifting Everywhere in no time with the V6.
The brittle plastic dashboard actually exploded one day which was a major bummer for me on this car.
Great little engines the Japanese A series there a wagon nearby in good going condition.
What a nice little car! And rare, too! How nice it would be to restore it to original perfection. It sure would be a piece of automotive history well preserved.
So this Sunny is getting a Fairlady V6?! That is a really nice ending to this story
Surprised at the low dollar amounts. Here in Connecticut (well Hartford area at least) these have a cult following much like they do on the west coast except here they rust. Which means one with a resolvable body will usually net $1500.00 bucks even with mechanical issues.
What a nice little car for $150, even if it needed the trans. That’s well below scrap value and these are so rare nowadays… Nice interior too. Shame about the gearbox but at least it went to someone who plans to keep it alive with a new motor. Hopefully the finished project is now roaming the street somewhere!
Scrap value seems artificially deflated at around $100-200 here. Not sure why but it sure does help when buying affordable beaters.
Hey nice sunny man, sorry about your luck. I recently purchased my 1981 datsun 210 (sunny) over here in Cali. The price you got yours for and the condition of the interior is a steal. Mine was a bit pricey, but it has a rebuilt A15 with 500-1000miles and a rebuilt 4 speed as well. As for parts, the non interchangeable ones can suck. I just put about 500 for a stock carb rebuild… All In all fun car, classic and rare. I wanna swap a 5 speed later and maybe an Sr20de(T), depends.
My 1981 datsun 210, all stock, 280z rims, gutted rear interior, glove box delete with custom polk audio system & Aftermarket stereo.
Damn by the way, I woulda payed what you did for that car just for the shell haha, I want those mudflaps and I needa replace my driverside taillight xD
I saw a black Datsun 210 2 door coupe of this vintage at a Fred Meyer parking lot and I briefly looked inside of the car from a distance and to my surprise the car was an automatic instead of a manual that I’ve predicted it to be! The car didn’t appear to be in the best shape but it was still sputtering around when I’ve seen him drive his car away.
David, Iam looking for a 1980 to 1982 datsun 210, is your car still available and if so can you send me some photos of its present condition and how much you want for it. my name and email are listed below.
zenturadragon@sbcglobal.net
David Britt