1200 / B-210 Carburetor Warping Issues

When these poor little zinc/pot metal units get rebuilt time after time, the bolts WARP the mating surfaces causing air-inleakage.

Remove all things sticking up, and using a piece of glass, or hone-block, get some 800grit or so Lapping Compound and do "Figure Eights" till the surfaces are smooth.

Before honing, lightly tap the parts to get them close.

Finish off with a HOT CAUSTIC bath, Clean HOT water, and rebuild.

BTW, the "Failed" carb rebuilds that entail white crud in the bottom of the float bowl can be attributed to calcium buildup.

To remove, use a High PH Caustic [Danger-Eye-Skin-pet-hazard]to melt out the crud. "Liquid Fire" is the best I've found, but Red-Devil Lye diluted in COLD WATER will work.

BTW, to dispose, dilute 20-1 in cold water and flush down the toilet.
It's the same stuff as Draino,
[except Draino has aluminum producing Hydrogen gas and is NOT what you want to use in the carb job.]

Rusty Wrench

Hi Rusty Wrench, welcome to the club. We can use more members with experience in troubleshooting and old-fashioned solutions. Too many wrenchers only know about replacing parts.

In the 1200 carburetor top gasket, the only place where air is critical is is one hole for the power valve circuit. If this leaks you get poor fuel economy at speed from being to rich and poor idling from being too lean!

Quote:
Thanks.

During my entire stay with Datsun,
I NEVER saw a "New"
Carburetor,
Master or Wheel Cylinder
Short or long block engine. head etc
I even repaired windshield wiper motors.

We rebuilt everything, my "Bench was 16' long, and underneath were masses of extra "you-name-it" parts.

Now us "old" mechanics call today's "Technicians", "parts-replacers"
Swap parts till the symptom goes away.

My Mentor, Jimmy, was a Citroen, Lotus, Maserati and Lamborghini mechanic at Atlanta Gaddis, in downtown Atlanta Ga.

He was so sick of Atlanta that he quit a $45/hr job in 1971 to come work on Foreign cars at a Datsun dealer in NW Ga.. We'd work on ANY foreign car that did NOT have a local dealership.

When the Dealer closed, we had 4 hrs notice.
I spent my last paycheck, some $275~ on Datsun parts.
They sold them to us for some pittance, I forget, maybe 2-5 cents on the dollar, I forget.

After that I'd work at "Your-Home", tune-ups, head gaskets, didn't matter, I had parts and a good reputation.
My Dad worked at Berry College, one professor told him, Quote:

I told Pop, most shops called a "tune-up", points, plugs and "maybe" timing.

Our Dealer did those of course and these in addition

Valve-Adjustment [DUH, who doesn't?]
Clutch adj
Brake adj
Door Lube
Carb Adj, check Choke dashpot etc
Lube Vent Window
Fan Belt adj
Coolant and Vacuum Hoses check
All Fluids checked & filled
The car felt "New" again with quiet doors, full brake pedal, proper parking brake, clutch releasing near the bottom, not at the TOP, etc..

When I started there in 71, I had already worked on many engines at home.
Rebuilt my VW Beetle engine many times
[the thermostat "is" REQUIRED on VW's BTW, or rebuild every 50k mi]
Plus 2 years at a lawnmower shop,
9 months at a Chainsaw shop.
TWO years at Auto Tech Trade School, "free" work for pals, and Mom & Pop of course.

About my 4th year at Datsun, a light bulb went off over my head.
Quote:

I had been building engines, carburetors, tune-up's, brakes, electrical work, stereo's, TV repair, etc for some 5~yrs or so,

Fact of the matter, I was dumber than the dirt between the tread of the vehicle I was working on. Why ? because I THOUGHT I knew something.

At THAT Exact Point, I "Began" to learn, to pay attention to minute details, to listen to even the "village idiot" who one time actually had a good idea, to sit back and think, before jumping in.

Quote:

Anyone who watches the show, "the Big Bang Theory" may have seen Sheldon resolve his perplexing issue by taking a menial job so his mind could rest and work out the issue.

One guy who'd seen my mechanical & electronic "fixes" at Southern Company, made a comment. Quote:

Quite a compliment considering the brilliance of the source.

Thanks for attempting to decipher this mess, maybe the NSA, CIA, TSA or Homeland Security can assist.

from a Very
Rusty Wrench
thanks

Quote:

That is exactly where the carb would not press the gasket.
You may note the bolt holes and threaded bosses are pulled away from the mating surfaces, this means only the edges are pressed tightly.

Most wrenches don't realize those tiny screws only need a couple pounds of torque.

BTW, If I haven't mentioned it before, I think the Datsun 1200 to be the best designed vehicle of its time.

A "Perfect" Vehicle today would be this EXACT vehicle.
A Push-Rod, Cam-in-Block
Cast Iron Block
With 14-18" Runners each with a tiny TBI
and One O2 Sensor per cyl
Like the Cruze ECO, 3-Overdrive Gears

Who actually NEEDS Power Windows, Seats, Mirrors, Steering etc etc

Datsun Z-Cars drove fine with a non-power Rack/Pinion
The 1200 did fine with a recirculating ball system

[Anyone EVER take a recirc. ball system apart and get ALL the balls back in ?]

I hope the English-US to English-Au isn't too much of an issue..

Just noticed,
Australia = Gold,
the Periodic Table of Elements,
Au-Gold,
1220#/cu/ft
MAN, you guys must really feel HEAVY :D

Rusty Wrench

Great to hear the stories.

Nissan finally stopped making the last of the 1200s in November 2007. Seems most people want "new" as if they are tired of wearing the same clothes. They replaced it with a FWD built in Romania -- but "it's new"!

Quote:
No Kidding, we got stuck with the B-210 in 1974
An ok car, it ran, slowly, used more gas, uglier [sorry B-210 fans]

WOW, a 2007 Datsun/Nissan 1200

Did it Look like the Original Car ?

1971 Datsun 1200 Truck



1997 Nissan 1400 -- the last one ever built



Obviously, they forgot about this:

WOW !
Quote:
Here in the states we were stuck with the 1600cc truck, which obviously was the yucky OHC engine.

It sucked Gas like a 350 Chevy, rode rough as the old lady after sayingQuote:

In its defense, I do think it would haul a full Ton though, it sure rode like it..

Man, EVERYBODY here who got one of those early junks hated them.
When they came out with the twin-distributor, 8-spark plug, 2200cc pickup, then things changed.

Better ride, decent fuel economy, and OH MY MY, they were Powerful !