It was an afternoon in May like every other, checking parts for sale on the internet, when I came across this 1971 B110 Coupe for sale.

Here on the east coast the chance to buy a decent coupe or sedan does not come up everyday. Lucky for me I work in the same town that this car was posted for sale. I went to have a look at it after work and was pretty happy with the condition of the car. However, the car was not running. The previous owner promised me it ran and I came back a few days later after he fixed the points on the distributor and it fired right up.

Took it for a test drive and was pleasantly surprised by the peppiness of the A12. It is numbers matching engine/body. Ran pretty good but had smoke on start up and sometimes at acceleration so may indicate bad valve seals. So I took a punt and bought the little coupe! Owned about 4 or so 1200 utes before (including my current B120 project build), but never a coupe. Also my first USDM datsun!

The car was missing alot of parts however. No cowl grilles, mirrors, bumpers, glove box, console, trim. Two front seats were in poor condition. Had an original passenger seat and the driver's seat was a dodgy old plastic drag racing seat held in with one screw. Missing seat belts too and few other parts.

Had temporary registration so I only drove the car a few times. Got caught in the rain one day. The wipers were not working so I had to manually operate them by disconnecting the linkage to the wiper motor and reaching in through the hole in the dash were there once was a radio and pull them back and forth. That's my aussie ingenuity kicking in.

Later on I found out the switch was disconnected on the dash.
Horn not working, interior light not working, license plate light has a smash. Wrong front driver's side lamp. Both fenders in rough shape. Hood has a nice butt size dent in the front. Various rust holes in the body. The usual Datsun rust in all the usual Datsun places.

Here are some photos from back in May when I first bought the car:

Holey Guacamole, That looks like a fun project!

Yes, that spells Potential. Looks like soon to be a long project thread.

More parts that were missing - windshield washer bag, washer nozzle, heater hoses (cut), heater vents, defroster trim, rear seat belts, high horn, ignition switch, crankcase breather hose, and a few other small pieces.

First order of business was some ordinary maintenance. (Late May)

Rockauto is my friend. Oil change, oil filter, drain plug, spark plugs, leads, dizzy cap, new ballast resistor, fuel filter, ignition switch, radiator cap. All new. The ignition switch from rock auto turned out to be for a later model or a B210. So instead I stole the one from my ute.

Oil was very foul smelling. I don't think it was changed in a long time. Also the old drain plug was nearly welded on. It took a 2 foot long pipe on a wrench to pry it loose.

Also discovered the fuel pump is disconnected. Electric fuel pump installed instead.

Gas cap leaking and needed replacement.

Some more shots of some exterior rust.

Are those Shelby rims? I had a set, the dish part was rounded, nearly all have a squared off dish section

Im not sure, never inspected them. Came with car.

Surprisingly little rust in the engine compartment

can you u post a photo of the middle aluminum tag plate on the firewall? Never seen one like that before. Is the ColoR ID tag still visible. I'm guessing it's CColor 930

Yes the engine bay is not bad except for all the areas underneath the battery tray. Also around the horn/engine ground point.

I will check the code for you and take a photo of the tag.

Had a quick peek under the carpets after the test drive and I did notice some rust there.

However, I didn't take a really really good look only a peek. The carpets were the factory ones which were bolted down to the floor so it was hard to really see.

So after a few weeks, sometime in June, I took the interior apart in the car totally. Took out the dodgy suicidal front seats (driver's seat was mounted by only 1 of the 4 bolts), the rear seat, the trunk cardboard, all the trunk trim, coin trays, kick panels, and all the carpet.

Rear seat belts were hidden below the seat and are pretty nasty.




Lookey what we have here folks!







Nasty carpets







Passenger side even worse than the Driver's










Rear passenger floor. Only the area underneath the wire got roached out over time




Rear of car interior




This seat bolt was snapped off - passenger seat side.