So I've always wanted a 200B SX, but never managed to get my hands on a good one. A friend of mine found this one advertised for me, and although it popped up at a really, really bad time for me, I decided I had to go and have a look. It was located deep in country Victoria, a good few hours from my place. And all I had was these three photos to go on:
I drove up there one night after work to check it out. The story I had been told was that it was a one registered owner car, that had had an electrical problem many years ago. The engine bay wiring loom was replaced but then the car wouldn't start. So it was pushed into a shed and left. The last registration sticker is for 1988, which is before I was born! Whilst in storage some rats and possums made it their home, so most of the interior was completely beyond saving. Here are some picture I took of the car on the day:
Someone obviously started repairing it a long time ago, and whilst you can't see in the photos it was actually fitted with a brand new genuine bonnet a bit before it came off the road
this was never painted, but it's probably the best 200B bonnet I have ever seen. Strangely it also had (ruined) 200B Aspen seats (the seller was about to have a bonfire and was kind enough to let me leave them on his farm), and air-conditioning, so I think it way have been an optioned-up run-out. The engine is not original (it was swapped out in 1987) but the engine in there isn't seized. Long story short, I almost didn't but ended up buying it as they are very hard to find and I could see this being a good base for what I had in mind for a project. I then made the long drive back to a friend's place in Bendigo where I stayed the night before getting up at 4:30am the next day to make it to work!
A week or so later, myself and Callan (Dato200B) made the trip up there in his ZL Fairlane to tow it home. Just as we were getting comfortable in the car's living-room interior, the temperature gauge shot to the top, and we were then forced to stop at many country towns along the way (including a random berry farm just outside Woodend) to continuously obtain water. Upon arriving at the house to pick up the SX, we discovered that the brakes were completely seized, and we ended up stuck like this:
The winch on the borrowed scout group car trailer was broken, luckily the seller was mechanically minded and we managed to fix it, otherwise we would have never have got the car on. Getting the car back off at the other end was equally as difficult, luckily my housemate and her friend were there and with four of us straining we just managed to get the car off the trailer and into the garage. That was a very long day.
On the way home we found a car wash in Kyneton and the car came up a lot better with years of dust washed off:
So far I haven't really done a whole lot on the car. I began polishing the bootlid before realising that this was a complete waste of time as it will need a very serious cut and buff. In saying that the paint doesn't appear too thin. I have assessed the rust, it is quite minimal for a Datsun. I believe the car may have hit a kangaroo at some point as the bonnet has been replaced, the spoiler is missing, the drivers' side guard has been replaced with a red SX guard and an incorrect grill was fitted. The first thing I did was fit my SX grill, which conveniently happened to be red:
Not much will happen for now, but I plan to either get the existing engine running or source a replacement. Once I have managed to get the inside of the car to stop smelling I will fit my black SX interior and get everything working. It will need some minor touching up but I don't think a re-spray is necessary for now. The plan is to, hopefully by the end of the year, have it up and driving and ready for club rego.
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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
Green200B has forgotten more about 200Bs than we will ever know.