Figure I'd start a build thread for my B210 station wagon, I'll be uploading pictures and getting everything up to current day tonight. (Hopefully)
TLDR I traded my old daily driver 1969 Fairlane for a 1979 Datsun B210 Station wagon (That did not move or run) (Yes I am a genius) I fixed it and have been daily driving this tin can for a year, More on that soon.
I'll be using this thread to pick y'all smart peeps brains for info and help on making this turd fun for auto cross. Thanks In advance.
Edit- I do have a new daily now(1994 Volvo 940 wagon), so I won't be trying to daily an autocross car.
As a guy that also daily drives a '94 940 wagon (turbo flavor), I am curious about this Datsun.
Here is a idea for a style.i am sure that your has 4 headlights
My dad bought a new 1979 Datsun 210, 4-speed manual, A14 engine. Not a rocket but that tranny shifted sooooooo smoothly.
Ironically today is 2/10 day.
I love me some '79 Datsun! Here's our '79 B310 sedan in LeMons trim. Initially we kept the A14 and stock trans for a few races, but swapped in an L20B after we won the Index of Effluency.
Trying my best to recall our setup:
- '79 280ZX front brakes, maybe struts too? I seem to remember it being most a bolt on affair.
- After we got bored of the stock A14 smoke show, we built a low spec L20B. I think it was a smog head, stock header, custom motor mounts and front cross member, Z 4 speed trans, custom driveshaft
- We grenaded the axle at our first race (who knew that a blown axle seal would cause a ring and pinion failure with old 35 hp?)... We replaced with a stock one, and later upgraded with a H190 from a Datsun 200SX, ~1982 maybe?
- Springs received the ghetto cut treatment on all 4 corners. It handled alright, but got way better when we installed a rear sway bar.
In reply to orthoxstice :
Volvo 940 wagons are the best daily of all time, and comfortable to boot!
In reply to Brotus7 :
That's amazing! I've got some 280zx strut/spindles lined up. The rear on the wagon definitely feels too soft, a sway bar is a great idea! Those diffs are a weak spot, mines got chunks coming out of it when I change the gear oil. ;-; Diff swap will be sooner than later lol
I learned how to drive stick on an '81 Datsun 210 wagon. I do not exactly have fond memories of that car; if I wanted to try to build one for fun I would consider a rotary swap.
The day I got it, front caliper locked and wont even start off gas down the carb. Perfect! Car was filled to the brim with crap, Set of SSR Speed stars, Random tools, trash, paint, fluids, so on and so forth. New battery, Cleaned up contacts in distributor, and a sweet weber 32/36 DGEV and it came back to life.
Interior took forever to get clean, had to evict some unwanted rodents. Lots of interior was already missing sadly. Overall, the car has almost zero rust! I did find that the car was automatic, someone swapped in a 5 speed at some point.
I did not take many pictures while I was working on the car unfortunately, so bear with me lol. At this point I got straight to work on rebuilding EVERYTHING on the car. Front brakes, hoses, master cylinder, every bit of suspension, shifter bushings, list goes on and on. Thankfully this car is super easy and very cheap to wrench on. I put new tires on it and started daily driving it, Took me about 1 month to get everything reliable . The diff whined, there was no heat or ac, no interior, tuned only by ear, and topped out around 60mph, so naturally I was in love.
I kept driving it daily for the next year, I moved out from my parents place (And finally got a garage!!)
This Datsun is unstoppable, by far the most reliable car ive ever owned. I was fixing small stuff all the time, but never once left on the side of the road. I was driving 45 minutes to and from work no problem, winter sucked big time with no heat but Berkeley it. Mechanically the car was perfect, but the primer drove me crazy. There is just something about a primered car that I hate. That and the interior sucked major Johnson
I've never been one for body work or painting. So my rattle can paint job has lots to be desired, but I'd like to have a proper job done soon.
After beating on this car daily (Without a tach) I over revved it pretty good and bent a pushrod :( Easy fix but I had to wait 2 weeks to get new ones. I had actually only found out about the bent pushrod because i was checking my valve lash as routine maintenance. I had no idea something was wrong, It ran and drove fine. After getting everything buttoned back up, it was back to 60 hp hooning, which leads us to current day. I removed the hood and grille for paint, but its been way too cold for anything to lay right.
It's ugly, slow, loud, But it's a blast to throw around.
Bonus pic of the 940's
It's amazing how those old Z car wheels fit everything. My buddy put the same wheels on his '68 Datsun 1600 Roadster.
In reply to maschinenbau :
I've read your build forum just a few weeks ago! The work you did was super impressive, gave me alot of inspiration for my car :)
In reply to Datsun240ZGuy :
They really do lol. The car came with a set of 5, with all the center caps.
Looks like I didn't need to post that picture of that green one. And your has 2 headlights not four like my Moms.
The 210 has horrible tires right now, Front is running the cheapest trailer tires wallyworld can offer, and the rear has dry rotted no name tires. I'd also like to get a wider wheel/tire combo, currently running 155/55/r14 on 6 inch wide 280z wheels. I was thinking about going up to 7 inch wide bassetts with a 185/65/14? Any thoughts on tire brands? Id like something on the cheaper end, and that will take street driving well. Forums say that 185/65/14 will not rub.
Thoughts on running cheap tires on the 280 wheels and then having a second set for auto cross? Two sets of tires would probably cost more than its worth?
Thanks in advance!
Auto cross Turb... Lol
Love it. We had a 210 & 610 back in the mid 70's. Brings back those long family road trips wo AC
In reply to greasemonkeyreborne_5x1gs :
Every time I stop for gas or go to a car meet I hear stories like this. It seems everyone has owned or rode in one of these things 
which I find odd because I never see em on the road.
DannyDattos said:
In reply to greasemonkeyreborne_5x1gs :
which I find odd because I never see em on the road.
My 1980 Datsun 310GX had rocker panel rust starting in 1985 - by 1987 it was a rusty $400 car.
