just the weight and drag of that fibreglass canopy is already overtaxing that poor bakkie. its a wonder it hasnt swapped ends already.

Ha, thats nothing.
Asblik, do you know the Speed and Sound guy with the Rotary? Gavin Rouw?
Well, he passed through Bloem last year with a friend and my friend knows him somehow. They came over to his house due to the bakkie's fuel pump malfunctioning to quickly replace it.
On the back of the bakkie it was fully loaded with bags of nuts and bolts. Behind the bakkie there was also a big a$$ trailer full of nuts and bolts. I would say everything together was easily 1 ton. Gavin and my friend agreed. They drove from Cape Town to Pretoria with this freight at 80km/h.
Gavin said when hitting a bit of a hill they swap to 3rd gear and give it full boot all the way to the top just to hold speed.
No overheating and not skipping a beat except for the faulty fuel pump.

Even he was impressed with the 1400's reliability and ability to struggle but still pull the weight.
Gooooo DATSUN/NISSAN!!!!

Glad to hear the newer 1400s are just as reliable as the old 1200s. They will run all day at 5000 RPM and foot to the floor going up 30 mile mountain grades...