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  • VG30_S12

    July 19, 2009 8:42 a.m. VG30_S12 New Reader

    as the title states, i need info on the 79-81 Datsun 210(Sunny B310 in other markets)

    Ive got a chance to snag one at babe rally prices, supposedly has 88k on it and is being daily driven, and is clean to boot... the only thing that i know about it is that it should be similar to the S110 and S12, has an H190 rear and this particular car has an auto-tragic, i don't care about it as long as it gets good mileage and doesn't leave me on the side of the road normally i would be picky, but I'm in dire need of a daily driver, and at the price I'm getting this, i could probably scrap it for what I'm paying.

    any info or opinions are welcome, but id namely like to know where can i get some parts for it and what can I swap from other cars without too much trouble. I'm hoping i could shoehorn an S12 "B" trans in there, or atleast a KA24E with a C trans)

  • suprf1y

    July 19, 2009 9:13 a.m. suprf1y Reader

    My FIL had one, and I did all the work on it. It was a low mileage, well maintained car that was rusting into the ground when a rod came out the side of the block and finished it off.

  • Jensenman

    July 19, 2009 9:51 a.m. Jensenman MegaDork

    Simple straightforward little cars. Not much to go wrong, really. Also little to no performance aftermarket. It should make a good DD. Remember it's carbureted, though. That's probably the Achilles heel of all older Japanese cars, the US emissions standards led to some screwy stuff. You could adapt a Weber 32/36 or similar pretty easily.

    The A series (A12, A14, A15) pushrod motor stays together pretty well but it's not really a performance lump. I had a 1970 Spitfire with an A12 in it. It did OK in traffic but was no faster than a stock Spit. It was much more reliable, though.

  • VG30_S12

    July 19, 2009 10:12 a.m. VG30_S12 New Reader

    thats good to know, cept the whole carby part... i fail at carb's if i ever wanted performance i could always toss in one of the extra FJ20s i have, but at this point i don't care...

    need something to drive reliably... wonder if there's any chance of getting MS1 to work with it cheaply for reliability purposes

    any chances of getting that slush box out for a better mileage getting 5speed? according to wiki, there was a special model of the 310, that got 56mpg

  • JFX001

    July 19, 2009 10:16 a.m. JFX001 Dork

    Check out:

    www.japanesenostalgiccar.com

    and

    www.ratsun.net

    Good luck,

    John

  • VG30_S12

    July 19, 2009 10:42 a.m. VG30_S12 New Reader

    pics for fun :D paying $300

  • ww

    July 19, 2009 11:54 a.m. ww SuperDork

    I LOVE the 3rd/4th tail lights!

    In NC you're not going to like it in the winter, but it WILL get good gas mileage and they are ridiculously easy to work on.

    Contact these people and see if you can get a factory service manual for your year:

    Dyment Distribution 20770 Westwood Drive Cleveland, Ohio 44136 Phone: 1-800-247-5321

    These are the people that actually print all the FSM's for Nissan.

    Good luck! WW

  • Jensenman

    July 19, 2009 12:32 p.m. Jensenman MegaDork

    Hmmm, I dunno if the A series motor was ever available with FI. That means you'd probably have to MS it with TBI of some sort. The 5 speed would definitely be worth at least a couple MPGs. Add at least a couple more for FI and no reason you couldn't get in the high 30's.

  • MadScientistMatt

    July 19, 2009 2:09 p.m. MadScientistMatt Dork

    I learned how to drive on an '81 Datsun 210... in 1996. Hated it - it was dog slow, the suspension was worn out, the shifter felt like trying to wiggle a fishing rod in a bucket of sliced bananas. It did have a nice tiny turning radius and just plain WOULD NOT DIE, no matter how much I wanted it to. It was a 5 speed, but the rear end gearing wasn't all that well matched to the engine's torque or lack of it, requiring some very careful clutch work to get it moving.

    If it had the suspension in better shape (there's no aftermarket for it, though), and a KA24DE under the hood, that might have been interesting...

  • mrwillie

    July 19, 2009 2:32 p.m. mrwillie New Reader

    I had an '81 b210 station wagon w/ a manual tranny. I loved the "road feel" of the steering, and the RWD drive of course. The engine, while great for gas mileage, def. won't win any drag races. Atleast against anything that has 4 wheels, and not human powered. Don't know anything about the automatics, though. I paid about $400 for mine, drove it for about a year and regretted getting rid of it. I would buy another if I could find one w/ rust issues, that people didn't want a collectors price for. There was plenty of room under the hood to fix things IIRC, but all I ever remember having to replace was the alternator and a tie rods. It was a light car that was very tossable, even in wagon-form.

    Long story short for $300 buy it and upgrade the carb(maybe) or at best replace the gaskets for the carb to intake and replace the shocks, bushings, etc... You won't regret it. I've got an old haynes manual for it that would be a good start for info, if you want it. Maybe a set of OEM shocks that may work for it too. I need to check for them, though.

    P.S - If you decide to pass on it, let me know. I'm about 15min from you and may be interested in it.

    or.... buy alot of batteries and make a 12sec dragster out of it

    http://www.opb.org/programs/ofg/videos/view/56-Electric-Drag-Racing

  • bamalama

    July 19, 2009 2:53 p.m. bamalama Reader

    MadScientistMatt wrote:

    If it had the suspension in better shape (there's no aftermarket for it, though),

    Maybe not, but 280ZX front struts, brakes, and a pair of coilovers would help. I want to do that to my Datsun next.

 

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