Datto_610's C31 Laurel Pillarless Sedan

[Datto_610]

Well discovered on the cruise we had on Sunday that my radiator is poooozed! All the fins on the front are absolutely poked so will get my spare R30 one recored and swap them over. Also got some wheels from a guy off oldschool was hoping they were the same as the one I already had from wrecking that skyline oh how wrong I was.... waaaaaaaay to positive offset they just clear the rear arms.... will need pretty narrow tyres to use them so might just flick them off

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[85_Z31]

Shame about the offset, those wheels are actually pretty sweet.

Guts about the Radiator dude, is the car still drive able ?

[Datto_610]

Yeah oh well should've asked about offset before buying. She's still drivable round town it's just the hills that get her hot and bothered haha

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[nzmax]

I cant believe that I haven't noticed your car before....I used to have one also, was a 1982 C31 NZ new facelift Laurel 2.4, same but with the bigger rubber bumpers and a couple minor interior changes. I see yours has also had the rear lights and number plate garnish changed, they were a bit different to the import ones, though it looks to still have the original bumper. I had mine for about 4yrs before trading it on a 1985 C32 NZ new 3.0V6 Hardtop, and now have that C32 2.4GL sedan that Ive taken on a couple of the Rakaia cruises

The facelift C31's at least had the AM/FM stereo with Datsun written on it and the tape deck was in the same place as yours but was moulded in like the radio was. They also had a joystick between the seats to control the sound balance/fade. Its weird how the NZ C31 hardtops have the air conditioning switch yet don't have A/C fitted. I believe it was an option.

If your keen I have an old AA Motor World from 1980 or 81 that has the Road test for the Datsun Laurel 2.4 from when it was new that I could photocopy for you. It shows the exact same radio setup with yours which makes the tape deck look like an afterthought, and says they have the "loose cushion" upholstery. BTW, the door mirrors are the same as the 910 Bluebird.

Couple of pics of my old C31

http://postimage.org/app.php

http://postimage.org/

[Datto_610]

Hey, that's a very cool looking C31 you had! Ahh I see what you mean about the tail light garnish, mine came with a bunch of odd spares that I had no idea what they were from now I see! In the back of mine were a set of broken rear tail lights so the tail light garnish must've been changed when they were replaced. I was just going to throw those parts out as I didn't know where they went but I may re-install them looking at your old one now! Actually I can't as the reverse lights are in the tail light garnish as opposed to being part of the tail lights themselves I have a few interior parts and manual conversion gear from a facelift import 31, centre console has the joy stick for speaker fade but it's right up the front on this on. Plan on doing the manual swap and other mods once I have my 180B on the road.

That would be cool if you could do a copy of that AA Motor World for me too!

[nzmax]

I bet you pondered over those spare bits for hours trying to work out where they might have come from....lol. The original tail lights must have been fitted to a few of the European destined C31's as they come up on ebay occasionally.

I see that your factory "2.4" badge has survived and put back on in pretty much its original position, so the reason for the tail light/garnish change cant have been too serious. Personally id either leave it as it is, or maybe just paint the garnish part body colour like it would have been when new.

If I remember correctly these were $23,010 when they were new, and a 910 ZXE Bluebird was $17,017 in 1982. Incidentally a 260C Brougham was $17,000 in 1980. I bought mine in about 1995 or so and paid $6995 from a car yard. I was amused by the fact that as a "luxury" car it still had a manually operated choke. I always had issues in winter with the carb freezing and stalling at every intersection on the way to work, and there was no summer/winter setting on the air cleaner horn or associated equipment to stop that happening. The other thing I remember was how incredibly over assisted the steering was. You could almost spin the steering wheel when stopped with one finger, and it was like that all the time, not speed sensitive like the C32's are. A guy I knew that had one the same as yours but that orange/red colour, said when he replaced the rear shocks, he used 280ZX ones as they have the same size holder that the spring sits in, as the import C31's have smaller diameter springs. I only found that out after I had already replaced mine with factory Nissan shocks, as the 2 different aftermarket brand shocks I tried had too small spring holders. His also had an economy light on the dash that flashed when you stomped on the accelerator warning that you weren't driving economically. My handbook showed it, and from memory it looked similar to the warning light for the manual choke. The facelift C31's only had a blank spot instead . And the L24S engine doesn't need a mention, we all know how good they are. NZ C32 2.4GL sedans have the same single carb engine.

Enough rambling, have a head full of trivial stuff like this...lol. Will dig out the Motor World, not sure if its here or at my parents place. Also found a factory C31 workshop manual, that I forgot I had which you are welcome to have. Was given it when I had mine.

Found this, a close up random pic (from a "cars in movies" website) of what yours would have looked like at the back. Pre-facelift C31's had the number plate lights in the bumper, where facelift ones had lights either side of the number plate.

picture share

[Datto_610]

Wow what a wealth of knowledge you are! I was having the exact same problems in winter was running really rough and would stall at every intersection, was driving me mad! Got Classicdat to give it a tickle up and it was much better. The steering is amazing can parallel park so easy for a big car love it. Cheers for the heads up about the 280zx shocks, will most likely use those when I look at lowering it. Service manual would be sweet thanks!

[nzmax]

The steering is amazing can parallel park so easy for a big car love it.

For a big car they are really easy to drive, and nice to drive as well, be it in town or the open road. A very goo balance of power and economy, even for a 3spd auto. 5spd manual would be better economy wise for sure. I think on these the front wheels nearly turn 90deg from straight, I remember with mine you could be on the inside lane of Moorehouse Ave and U turn into the inside lane on other side of median strip without crossing the white line into the 2nd lane and we are talking narrow median with turning bay. Used to freak a few drivers out in the 2nd lane waiting for you to cut them off. Try that in anything FWD. Even the C32's arent that nimble.

More random info....Was told by a guy at Nissan years ago that Nissan NZ had a couple of C31's fitted with the VG30 for evaluation purposes, guessing for deciding if we got the VG30 in our C32 Hardtop. Don't know if that was true, or how many, what trans etc. We also had those facelifted facelift C31's (same as Brocks red one) new here too in 1983/84. There was an immaculate 2 tone one on TM not so long ago. I used to see a couple of them regularly in Chch, both with two tone paint schemes. I seem to remember totally random unimportant stuff...maybe I need to get out more

Will be in touch re the workshop manual and road test.

[broke]

remember with mine you could be on the inside lane of Moorehouse Ave and U turn into the inside lane on other side of median strip without crossing the white line into the 2nd lane and we are talking narrow median with turning bay. Used to freak a few drivers out in the 2nd lane waiting for you to cut them off. Try that in anything FWD. Even the C32's arent that nimble.

I'll give it a go in mine and let you know how I get on.....

[Datto_610]

Ok so I have bought a new daily...... There is a lot of maintenance that I want to get stuck into but still wanted something I can get to work in. New daily is '93 Daihatsu Charade Detomaso. 1.6L 5spd with factory recaro's and nardi wheel! Got it mega cheap so will save $$ on gas and have a little rice rocket to hoon round in.



So the list of things I want to do goes like this:

*Fix leaky front screen and repair any rust that could be lurking underneath
*Alloy Radiator will be much cheaper than a re-core as mine is pooozed! Would be nice to drive up hills again without risk of BHG
*5spd conversion, pretty much have all the bits bar new clutch kit and new master and slave cylinders!
*Disc brake conversion, have all the parts may just need new pads and some rubber hoses also have matching brake master cyl
*Install spare R30 struts as my front discs are also poozed!'
*MAX SLAM! I've had this for about a year and half and I think it's time for some looooow. Will use the R30 struts for slammage as to retain factory spec orgi's
*Some sweet oldschool 14's would be lovely too
*Still debating on what to do with the engine, wanting to keep it L series but which direction?? Already doing a turbo build so thinking either supercharged, ITB's, triples or twin su's
*Headers and exahust but will need to work out what I'm doing engine wise first

The windscreen is priority at the moment hopefully can find a replacement C31 screen