I always swore that I would never repeat the "mistakes" of the 70's era when Gasoline was rationed and we were told that there were shortages. I sold my Big Block 68Chevelle SS and later removed a 350 and installed a buckV6 in my 30 A coupe . Lately I have been rationalizing the use of a four cylinder in a little light driver type rod. I am slowly hoarding up the peices for a 28 29 RPU Project of sorts. I have a few body parts but thats about all in the sheetmetal dept-and have been thinking of a fuel efficient drivetrain. Its hard to part with the love of the V8 chevrolets Ive always used-But I purchased a Datsun today just for that purpose... Its a 73'ish B-210 with a tiny plain jane Four cylinder and a four speedtrans/ with a carburetor and no electronic frills.planning on using rear end too- AM I INSANE? CAN ANYONE TELL ME-what were these little motors like?I have no Idea-I had saw the guy drive this but have not had it started myself yet. call 911 and report me-mentally incompacitated
I've been thinkin the same thing. I've got a little 153 cu in. Chevy in the corner of the garage that's startin to look temptin, but I'm not sure what trans. or rear to run with it.
I've got a '72 Datsun 240z with a inline-six and dual SU carbs standard. It sounds pretty badass and you can get running motors with trannies for under $200 all day. Couple that with almost 200hp. They were rusting on the boat over from Japan, so they're easy to find...
They also have an aluminum valve cover that can be polished up well, if you're into that kind of thing...
My old Pickup is taking quite a few dollars a week in gas and I was thinking this could be a fun parts runner and interesting to build too. Im thinking the RPU would be handy with the bed for cargo and should weigh in at less than the B-210 so it surely would get incredible mileage with the Datsun rear end an all its drivetrain in place????
No, I've been thinking along the same lines. Something that REALLY is an everyday driver....hood, wiper, A coupe/truck, some sort of economical 4 banger with great MPG, etc, etc..... not to replace my hot rod but to REALLY be economical....... you see, I hate CPU cars.......this would be ideal.......cpu cars are the very reason I went back and bought a 77 and 78 GMC 1/2 ton (NO electronics)......but 12mpg SUCKS!!! I'm sick an tired of hearing how people's double over-head cam, fuel pump in the tank, ECM, head cracked crap costs a fortune to have repaired! When they tell me it cost them $2200 to have the head replaced, I tell them that my whole truck didn't cost that much and that my insurance is only $20 a month! sorry, I got a bit off......yes, I think it's a great idea....
Is that what we are going to get to? I know, filled my old Chebby truck up today at $2.47 a gallon, man, that sucks!! Still, have that late model small block out in the shop, that I have taken all the computer junk off of and gonna stick it in the truck, with an HEI, hi-rise and Holley. Actually, doing a driver with a small 4 ain't that bad an idea. Have seen quite a few like that at the SW Street Rod Nats the past few years. Kinda like all the years I rode Harleys, they weren't the fastest around, but the wind was in the hair, and bugs in the teeth.
I'm building an Olds aluminum 215 for my next rod. Relatively small and still looks like an All American V8. Using a D&D fabrications adapter to mate it to a small bell housing (2.8 V6) 700R-4.
PONCHO MAN=Im keepin the gas hogs-but I wouldnt mind having a little fun at the oil companies expense......maybe they could then re-fill all those big round tanks there in Ponca City....
I looked long and hard at an old Toyota Crown wagon in the junkyard. Straight six with 2 bbl. points, split exhaust. I was thinking the same thing. Maybe a track T or something. Not sure but I think it was a 2.4 or so. The 210 was a tough little beast. As is common on old Japanese cars, the clutches are the weak point. If you gave to replace it try and find a high performance unit. The worst part of running a 4 or any 6 is the sound, just never did it for me.
It sucks but you hafta do whatever it takes. I have been planning a similar build for the wife for a long time, just need to collect all the goodies.
Go for it. I have two four cylinder roadster projects going. The ever slow progress Quad 4 mod and the super cheap get some of this crap out of the shop $1600 budget special. That one has an S10 2.5 and T-5 That was purchased from Toomany2count and delivered by ironpile. I've never forgotten the gas lines and the shock of paying 69 cents per gallon for Sunoco 260 for the ol' 427 Galaxy back in the last oil embargo. If you can't find many performance parts for your little Datsun, consider it an opertunity to build your own.
I had a 73 Datsun B210 (A.K.A. known as the "Shit Box"...!) the damn thing wouldn't die..., 8,000 rpm holeshots only burned up the clutch to the point were you could leave it in gear with the clutch out at a Stop sign...!!!!! Great gas mileage..., but the Oil mileage dropped after a couple of months of "TOTAL ABUSE" and it eventually counter reacted the gas savings...!!! The death of this car was when I had both doors open and the car "Folded" in half...!!!!!!!!!! (Just a little rusty!!!)
Our 83 Volvo (2.5 liter,4 speed/o.d.) commited suicide on the rear end of a 1999 Bentley Fri. on the way home from work. I'm thinking about using it in my modified now,32 m.p.g. looks better then what the 292 would do,I don't think the price of gas will go down and I want my car to be a driver not a poser. How about some of the European H.A.M.B.ers up date us on gas prices. Fred
bolt on a turbo, bolt on a hood, and have no apologies. i'm pretty much thinking along the lines of you, i ain't getting rid of any cars, just adding more efficient ones to the fleet for dailys, then you can get even crazier with the big inch gas hogs! my winter beater in minnesota a few years back was a datsun 210, paid $50 for it from a cokehead iranian, painted it flat black and stenciled "ACME RALLY TEAM" on it and other racing sineage, and drove the living shit outta that car! bulletproof engine, rear suspension completely rusting off and threatening to puncture the gas tank finally retired it. guess catching air in it wasn't such a good idea in hindsight.
Count me in on keeping my V8 powered rod. I am, however, building a 24 Dodge lakester with a Ford Courier 4 banger and 4 speed. This engine is actually a Mazda B1800. With only 50K miles on it, I paid $51 for the thing on EBay, picked it up locally. I am gonna make a 2 2bbl intake using VW carbs. This thing should be rolling for well under 2K. Fun still can be had for cheep!
Getting 30-35 mpg out of my mildly tuned MGB engined sled but then we are now paying just under a pound per litre. It will cruise all day at 80 and still turn that mileage.
65 MPH mostly......If I need more speed -I can switch back and drive the 348 Roadster.......but if I exceed 85MPH it may blow the sunburnt skin offa my nose I guess what Im suggesting is I wanna drive ......FARTHER- not faster.....
get over it your gas it still cheap look at what the poor POM's are "paying just under a pound per litre" thats say NZ$ 2.47 or so say usd 1.70 makes the NZ$ 1.50 we are paying seem cheap. I do like the idea of the Olds/Buick/Rover 215 V8 and there are plenty of good 6's around, hell if you must use a 4cyl at least get one that performs and looks o.k. check out the last post on good looking 4's or something similar there were some good looking little motors on there. hey get one of the angled ones and install a mirror running forwards/backwards
My wifes car has a quad four...thats enough technology for one lifetime- I want simpicity-ease of maintenence-and I dont get much relief from what gas is costing around the globe -just what it costs me here is what matters .... I'd also like a little change of pace and all Ive had for years are gas hog cars....Im looking forward to the innovation aspect of building something small and light.....I dont have a cowl yet so I may opt for a 26 27 T to start making the body from......The Cowl is the only peice I intend to buy.
Here's the recent discussion on 4 bangers - http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=63995&page=1 Lotsa interesting stuff and some candidates I never thought of.
Thanks Jay -I did read that post with interest.......What tilted me towards this Datsun motor is the fact that it is tiny in size and more importantly the fact that it is a conventional motor. What I mean by that is it is a Cam in block- L design like a 235 Chevy or 223 Ford only smaller. NOT AN OVERHEAD CAM or "interference" motor I do not wish to work with anything that is exotic in any sense..... next to a flathead four this would be my pic!
kenny, bob galbraith still has both of the chevy II 4-cyl. engined model a's that he built back in the 70's. i think they both have a gazillion miles on them. totally stock bodies. 29 pu with a powerglide and 29 sedan with a 4 gear. i rode to gg indy with him about 15 years ago in the sedan and it kept up with all the interstate traffic with no problem. oh, yeah, 26T's t roadster has a chevy II engine and 4 speed. it runs out pretty good, too. i think you know both of these guys and their cars. don't know how these chevy II powered cars relate to your plans, but thought i'd give you something to think about.
I hear you there, but I'm pretty sure I would go for an OHC. Funny part is, couple of years back a drunk driver hit my daughter's Nissan in a typical 90 degree intersection crash. The pickup was hit slightly behind the front wheel which spun the truck around in a 360 so fast that my daughter couldn't believe it. She and her girl friend had seat belts on and that saved their butts. (Started teaching her the seat belt bit when she was little and both her and her sister are good about wearing them.) The truck was a total and at the time I didn't realize the little pickup had the desireable engine. The guys who bought it for parts were happy to find the Nissan with the desireable motor. That would have been a good one for me, but at the time I didn't have an interest in 4-bangers. One smart thing I did do when I ordered the Deuce Factory pedals for my 31 was to get a clutch pedal. Kind of a never-can-tell deal and now it looks like it could be used.
My take on it is to find a good tranny for it, maybe 5 speed and then play with rear tire sizes tall ones for trips and stock for around town its a lot cheaper than swapping rear gears
I don't know if I'd use a 210 motor for anything but mileage. I owned a 76 and an 82. The motor is a pushrod, solid liter four that traces it's heritage back to the English Bugeyed Sprite motors (Datson bought the rights). They are easy to work on but no power. Also, you might want to look at how it's connected to the rear axle. My 76 had a solid, enclosed driveshaft very much like an old Ford. That pretty well locks you in on the wheelbase.
I saw one in a mag out of a Ford Ranger pickup that they put side draft carbs on and it looked like an old offy motor
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