12/5/14 9:40 PM

I am getting a little devil on my shoulder over this 1966 Datsun 520.

12/5/14 10:18 PM

I imagine parts would be difficult to get.

12/6/14 8:18 AM

Pat is right. In 1966 Datsun was a very small player in the US so parts are going to be hard to source. Also, Japanese cars and trucks from that period were very rust prone so that truck could have serious structural problems unless it spent its entire life in the desert Southwest

I had a 1971 Datsun 510 sedan that i loved and it was my first 100,000 mile car but I basically scrapped it in 1980 when the rust damage made it unsafe to drive.

12/6/14 11:44 AM

These actually have a frame, and no rot. Although an underneath exam could show otherwise...

The parts existing is another story entirely...

12/6/14 12:56 PM

This little beauty is about an hour from me, available for pretty short $. I'd love one, but won't buy it because I don't want the hassle of maintaining it. Though I do know a tech with a boneyard full of old Saabs....


http://www.saabnet.com/tsn/class/ci.php3?ph=photos/10893/1

12/6/14 1:06 PM

Ahh, another SAAB story.

I was looking at a few 96s on CL here. That is when I saw the 520, and it spoke to me. There is a v4 and a 3cly 2 stroke in drivable condition reasonably priced. There are also a few $6-9k gorgeous one around here as well. I only lived in Boston for 2 years, yet that infection exists. ;)

You should hold out for a Sonet maybe?

Last edited by Sparky on 12/6/14 7:30 PM; edited 1 time in total

12/6/14 2:46 PM

It's the 96:

http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/fred-armisen-i-wasnt-told-about-this-with-special-feature-i-m-dying-jerry

12/6/14 5:30 PM

I think you should get the two stroke "cornpopper." It's one of the most amusing vehicles ever made. You have not truly experienced understeer until you've driven one of these. What other car blows smoke rings at idle? What other car can pass another while coasting at idle? Not to mention being able to downshift without the clutch. Four on the tree, with little brackets to hide a spare quart of oil under the front seat, and in the engine compartment. In its day the other thing the Saab was known for was that, cheap as it was, it did not ever rattle. If you ever heard a Saab rattle, it was broken.

If you adjust the timing wrong, the engine will run backwards.

Way back in the day, my dad had a couple of these. They were advertised as having an engine with only seven moving parts. Yeah, said he; six squirrels and a cat with a whip.

12/6/14 8:13 PM

When it comes to Saabs, I always remember what Click and Clack said so memorably: "Where there's smoke, there's a Saab."

12/6/14 8:22 PM

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/4790236079.html


Seattle bleeds into the PDX Craigslist as 'near by'

3300.00 seems reasonable to me.], V4 not ring-a-dinger

12/6/14 11:58 PM

I think it's funny that both the Saab 96's linked here are missing the chrome trim from the doors. A common loss, as I recall.

You'll need one of these vintage stickers too:



[/img]

12/7/14 9:04 AM

I also remember the two-stroke SAABs in the mid-60's and that was when front wheel drive was very rare. I recall seeing one on a snowy day with chains on the REAR wheels. Apparently the owner had no clue it was front wheel drive.

12/7/14 10:12 AM

It's possible the chains were to solve the rather common problem that the front was so heavy and the rear so light that under sudden braking the rear would let go and the car would spin on its front wheels like a propeller.

12/7/14 1:29 PM

I used to have a 9-5 wagon, and once while getting it serviced I had a great conversation with a retired paper company forester who had been driving Saabs forever. He said the old 2 strokes were the best cars ever for driving way back in the woods "with the moose running alongside polishing the paint." The pipes on the underside were flexible, so they just bounced over rocks and stumps. They had "throwaway motors" so if one went bad, no problem, just bolt in another. And they always ran in the cold. One year the company got Land Rovers, and they sucked.

It did take awhile to add oil at -20F though....

12/7/14 4:55 PM

quote:

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It's possible the chains were to solve the rather common problem that the front was so heavy and the rear so light that under sudden braking the rear would let go and the car would spin on its front wheels like a propeller.

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12/7/14 5:55 PM

We had a 66 Riviera, RWD but very similar to the Toro.. All had big block motors and guzzled.

Jay Leno has a cool 66 Toro in copper.

<img src="http://www.seriouswheels.com/pics-1960-1969/1966-Oldsmobile-Toronado-Jay-Leno-FA-1024x768.jpg" width=320>

12/7/14 7:24 PM

Never wanted a SAAB before seeing this earlier today:

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/craigsinclairphotography/15971694735" title="saab sonet 2 by Craig Sinclair, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8682/15971694735_1a7ba9529f_o.jpg" width="800" height="532" alt="saab sonet 2"></a>

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/craigsinclairphotography/15352082423" title="saab sonet 1 by Craig Sinclair, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7516/15352082423_f42bfcfb3b_o.jpg" width="800" height="532" alt="saab sonet 1"></a>

RE: original post. Buy the Datsun. If you're considering it you're already a glutton for punishment. But you could rat it out, put a bigger modern motor in it and upgrade the suspension and brakes. It would be a fun car and you wouldn't be worried about trying to get into the wrong one in the grocery store parking lot. It would be a lot of work but sure would be great when it's done as long as you accept you won't be able to sell it for half what you put into it. Those of us who buy new bikes already understand the law of diminishing return.

12/7/14 8:01 PM

Yeah baby, Sonets are too cool for school... ;)


re: the 520, I was thinking what rear and maybe and newer, not really bigger motor/trans could fit in there...

A nice modern 5 speed and injected motor. Discs all around etc...


If I don't stop looking at how cool it is, and different looking, it may wind up out in the shop here...

12/7/14 11:49 PM

You must have stumbled upon this by now:

http://www.miataturbo.net/insert-bs-here-4/miatsun-520-pickup-cool-swap-52781/

Looks like it was a lot of work to get the guts of a Miata into that truck but it's probably a blast to drive. Bet you a dollar that a guy that puts that much energy and passion into a thing would probably be happy to mentor you through your own conversion, unless you live next door to him, then he might get a bit possessive of his work.

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/7446-project-mx520-top-secret/

12/8/14 12:21 AM

You are a bad influence...

12/8/14 7:03 AM

I will admit that when my spouse and I were given our first car (it was 1989, and I was 31, and the car was a '77 Audi Fox) I had no idea that it had either front wheel drive or fuel injection. I was an innocent. But once I had a chance to look inside, I figured it out.

I was an innocent.

My brother, on the other hand, crossed the country in one of his many vehicles--a VW minivan with a BMW engine shoehorned in back, along with a semi-style exhaust pipe hanging off the right rear corner...

12/8/14 1:14 PM

...that absolutely hoovered when put to the test (Example: The Original Mustang Mach 1: can you say "steering issues"?).

Buy it. Gut it. Put it together and having something far too cool for school. Besides which, it looks like an excellent bike carrier!

12/8/14 2:05 PM

quote:

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Example: The Original Mustang Mach 1: can you say "steering issues"?).

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quote:

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Buy it. Gut it. Put it together and having something far too cool for school.

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quote:

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Besides which, it looks like an excellent bike carrier!

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12/9/14 4:25 AM

There's only one thing to say about that:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-ZI5cPvQus