hey guys,
recently bought my first datsun,
1980 datsun sunny b310, **** piss weak 1200 auto haha as gutless as it sounds it runs very well after start up and recently took it on a massive drive up the country side of adelaide, didnt miss a beat staying at 110-130km/h most the way (was surprised it even had that as a top speed)
bought it from the second owners who had only had it for 8 months, 108,000kms on clock

cost me $1000 with 4 months rego, had a bit of rust which ive since cut out, bogged (where needed), primed and painted. (i know i may have paid a bit too much for it, but oh well, let me know what you think!
body is straight, paint good, all interior is great besides seats.







just got a few touch up plans at this stage. going to sand blast and powder coat wheels, with chrome rim dish, white wall tyres, lowered by about 1-2", tidy up of engine bay, new interior for 1983 holden gemini, sound system and re-upholstery of rear parcel shelf.

any questions or comments would be appreciated thanks,
Luke

she looks good for sure...at least yours isnt poo brown! worst colour ever! all they need is an a15, mild cam, twin sidies and extractors with a 5 speed behind it and it will go like the clappers

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71 1200 sedan! now a a14 turbo project

i was thinking sr20 or ca18det, haha nah **** that! not made of money..
yeah i really like the colour, think its half what made me get it haha

also, you would happen to have any idea if you can put holden gemini rear and front seats in them can you? gonna attempt to in the coming days im thinking.

yeah i was considering just a basic engine conversion, anything is better than a bloody 1.2 ltr shitheap, although i got 600kms off 2/3 a tank which aint bad!

Looks nice and clean . Wish i could find something like that in sydney =)

Go for the ca18det. I've got one in my sunny good power and so much fun.

You'd be surprised how much difference a manual conversion will make. Do that and see if you're happier. Out of curosity, when you're cruising between 60-80km/h in third gear, if you floor it to try and go faster, does it kick back to second before realising that it can't go that fast in that gear? My friend and I had an auto Datsun 1200 recently, which did that. It made us laugh, one of that car's many amusing perks.

The car looks like an excellent base for a project, lowering it a bit will make it look heaps better, as will cleaning up and polishing those wheels! I don't think you paid too much, I've noticed recently that clean Datsuns are getting somewhat more expensive than they used to be. If it's reliable and you haven't had any other issues you probably did fairly well, assuming there is no hidden rust

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green200b - aka Alistair

The fleet:

Australia:
'80 200B GX - the green200b - hibernating
'81 RX-7 - 12A extend port - daily
'74 RX-2 - 13B bridgeport - cruiser

Europe:
'93 200SX - CA18DET - tourer

Stanza engine cross member + S1 180SX CA18 engine mounts = CA18 straight bolt in

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Classic Auto Fabrications:
http://www.ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=31659

http://www.lescollinsracing.com/

thanks for the tips and comments guys!
always though the ca18det would be the go,
just as a ballpark figure how much do you guys believe it would cost to convert everything to suit the ca18det?
as for the gear change when going 60-80km/h, mine seems to go alright on straights, but going up hills it does do that, bloody struggles up hills,so weak!

theres not any rust hidden that i can see, but have done a bit of searching for it, theres a little bit under the drivers door, but thats it. was surprised to see that there is none in the boot whatsoever.

i will get some pictures up once ive done the appearance tinkering. thanks guys

you could also go for an L series motor for it which is where im headed with mine once i finish the 1200...the 1200 motor is one of the most effient motors ever made...also one of the most gutless until you add a few mods too

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71 1200 sedan! now a a14 turbo project

Nice sunny, Would look even better with shiny new number plates.

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SSS 180B

haha yeah its great on petty, low maintenance, but yeha as you said, gutless and in my mind the mods are hardly worth it.

as for the number plates, not to worry, they were ordered as soon as i got her, should be done by end of this week

Fitting an A14 or A15 instead of the A12 would be a good step, the greater torque would overcome the tall first gear & probably make the torque converter come in earlier too. Swapping over to a manual would involve finding either a clutch pedal & the longer large pin it pivots on or a complete manual pedal box, a clutch cable & a manual tailshaft, along with the manual gearbox, clutch, pressure plate (buy a new clutch kit) & a flywheel. Another way around it is to use the auto box from a Pintara. The bell housing of the A series auto will replace the bell housing on the Pintara box, & you can wire up the 4th gear to turn on when you turn on the overdrive switch. This gives you a 4 speed auto, which is the same size as the existing one. The tsilshaft should work, too.
The Gemini seats probably wont work, as the Sunny has the seat mounts at different heights, with the inner ones being higher than the outer ones. I've recently been told that Diahatsu seats have the same mountings, & have checked in a wreckers that they do, but haven't measured any distances to see how close they are. As for the rear seats, all you can do is measure the width. The Sunny rear seat back is held on by two metal hooks at the top, which the seat back sits over, & two self tapping screws into the floor. The seat squab is held in by the seat back & two more self tappers. If the Gemini seats are close, getting it to fit might be possible.

PM 'datdrift' on here, I believe he was selling a manual conversion kit for a Sunny recently

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green200b - aka Alistair

The fleet:

Australia:
'80 200B GX - the green200b - hibernating
'81 RX-7 - 12A extend port - daily
'74 RX-2 - 13B bridgeport - cruiser

Europe:
'93 200SX - CA18DET - tourer

orly :S thanks for all that info guys! espesh all that b310gx really helpful!
i reckon ill attempt to the rear seat, its only $30 for a gemini bench seat, so it doesnt matter really!
and as for the fronts couldnt you just put the rails from the datsun seats and put them on the gemini ones :S
not sure if i should put the a15 in may be pointless as im considering putting something a bit more powerful, gonna keep it for 6 months, do appearance, and see how i feel about it at that stage
any more help would be greatly appreciated! thanks!
Luke

Luke, the difference in the heights is in the floor, & the base of the seat has a kink in it 2 fit. The seat runners are both the same height. Found this the hard way when I fitted some Mazda 323 buckets using the standard runners to a Sunny Panelvan & I ended up with my head poking out the window. Well, not quite that bad, but you could tell you weren't sitting flat. Strangely enough, the 1976 120Y sedan I'm driving at the moment has the seat mounts the same way, but the 1973 120Y Coupe a mate has has the mounts at the same height. Slowed me down some when the seatback adjuster broke on the passenger seat in the sedan recently, I was just going to swap the seats over, but had to swap the adjuster instead. The bastard thing snapped right through a bolt hole in the seat back. Luckily I was stopped, I was just putting some shoes on in the passenger seat when it broke.

argh! thanks mate, saved me a bit of time and money then!
if you dont mind me asking, what sort of seats fit in the sunny sedans then?
i would rather something vinyl with a tan/ brown finish?
any suggestions would be great! thanks for all help