Hello gents... First post here. I've found a 1964 Datsun 320 pickup in a backyard that on first look is straight, solid, complete, and filthy. Last tagged in the late 90's. I want to knock on the owners door tomorrow and make a fair offer for the truck, but I've been doing my research and I'm having a hard time finding ANY 320's for sale to determine its value. They must have been very low production? I know a picture is worth a thousand words in this case, but if I could just find a couple few examples of trucks that have sold, it would be immensely helpful. Hopefully I can report back here soon with good news and pictures

GTV,

Bongiorno!

Based upon the "last tag in the late 90s and straight, solid, complete, and filthy" say maybe ~$700-800. Some reason for this price -

-No idea what it looks like, exterior, interior, or engine, rust, glass, chrome, etc. Yes picture would be nice.
-No idea why it was parked? Tired of truck, brakes, won't pass inspection, would not start one day- endless possibilities with this one.
-Let them shoot you a counter offer of a little more and "feel good" about themselves.

We are probably both guessing it has NOT started for 15+ years so you should figure this into the cost. From all of my rebuilds- running or not - you should figure in $500-700 parts (no labor) to drive it around the block. This is if everything checks out and all you have to do is fix -
Brakes ~$150 for major rebuild of all hydraulics with kits and new brake shoe. Price will go up significantly if you need new Brake and Clutch master cylinders. And don't forget you will need about 3 bottle of brake fluid to flush/bleed the system
Tune-Up- ~$120 with all new parts, but good luck finding a distributor cap. $45 cap, $8 points, $4 for rotor, $6 condenser, $15 generic plug wires, $12 spark plugs. You can get the plugs, wires, and condenser from your parts store - all else is on eBay
Battery - ~$100 for a generic house brand.
Tires - ~$300 - $400 when its all said and done
Anti-Freeze - $25 or so.
Hoses/clamps - $55

Oh, and don't forget the tow truck fee if you have to go this route.

These are some initial consideration so your $700-$800 backyard find is now at $1400-1700 and all you have done is get it running. Now that the gremlins have had sunlight and food here are some other cost to consider -

Clutch replacement - ~$400 for all new parts, a little less if you rebuild the disc and pressure plate.
Gas tank boil and seal ~$175
Radiator tank, pressure test, and fix if necessary - ~$50-125
Generator bench test and fix (if possible) ~$10 up to $150
New starter ~$130
New battery cables - $25
And of course "big brother" will want his/her cut for taxes, tag, and insurance.

Some of the latest running 320s to sell on eBay have been around $1800-$2200, but all have major issues - missing bumpers, badges, wrong engine/transmission, rust, botched/no interior, flat bed/non-OE steel box, missing tail gate, bad glass, other issues.

I paid $356 for a '62 parts/disassembled 320 and $675 for a non-runner '64 that with a little work started right up. The 64 is now getting a new clutch (~$125) and engine rebuild (under $1200 with parts and labor).

Here are import numbers to the US- around 8300 from 1962 to mid-1965-
http://www.datsuns.com/modelguide.htm

Other info and changes per year, you'll need to scroll down some -
http://www.earlydatsun.com/index.html

Here is the link to my 320 stuff on Flickr - feel free to peruse the photos and videos.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/113742723@N07/sets

Let us know if you have any more questions and we'll try to get back with you as soon as we can.

Welcome Aboard,
Li'l Truckie

Thanks for the reply! I just finished going through your thread, you're doing a great job! This wouldn't be my first old car that I've rescued from rot, just my first Datsun. I'm mostly an air cooled VW guy (GTV is actually a VW thing) but I've also played around with a few Porsche's, Alfa's, etc. I like stuff that's different, Datsun's are definitely that.

Having trouble making the picture link up directly but anyway...
http://i1031.photobucket.com/albums/y37 ... age-10.jpg

I have seen the front, it looks clean as the rest of the truck and has the 64 grille.

So no Veloce, Guten tag, Herr GTV,

Yip, got the picture thanks. Okay, "looks" good. From the pic I go the $700 route.



From the single pic
Good-
OE bumperette
OE tail light housing with lens
OE tag mount
OE reflector
Pop top will have to go, BUT it has kept out rain, dirt, and debris that causes rust. I guess the next question to ask is what IS back there that could be all dead, damp, and decaying? Magazines, more car parts, split petroleum products, Jimmy Hofa?????
I can live with the OE white paint, but will need to be scrubbed with a green scratchy pad to get the mold off.
I see the two badges on the front left fender and trim pieces

BAD-
What looks like rust on the driver rocker
No driver side mirror. No biggie, but where was it attached and what do the holes look like.
Hub caps are from a 620/720, but no great concern

If I had access to this and did not have to pay an exorbitant amount for shipping, I'd jump on this one.

v/r
Andy

It's actually light blue in colour, bad lighting with the picture. Original paint? I'm an original paint perv!
I think what you're seeing as mold and/or rust is actually just filth. Don't see too much of that here in AZ unless the vehicle spent its working days back east.
I thought those hubcaps were wrong! Thanks for clarifying.

And thank you for the multi national welcome!

I agree. If you like these trucks, are looking for a project, and can get it for under a grand, I say go for it. I would be a buyer at $1000 (except my wife would kill me).

No problem, Welcome Aboard!

Pray for a good windshield.

Steve

Welcome to the forum. Good luck on the acquisition.

As I said: Pray for a good windshield. and also an uncut dash. Look for a sprun or bulged hood from a previous owner/station attendant trying to shut the hood without releasing the prop rod.

Like yourself, I like original paint and as much original un-altered stuff as possible.

I like varied and uncommon machinery too. Take a look at the car list under my tag on here.

Steve

difrangia wrote: Pray for a good windshield. and also an uncut dash. Look for a sprun or bulged hood from a previous owner/station attendant trying to shut the hood without releasing the prop rod.

No windshields available?! Wow... Even the most uncommon VW's you can find that for. I'm familiar with the prop rod damage, it is exactly what pre 61 Beetle's are susceptible to. Thanks for the info.

Later today I'll try to snag this old truck. Fingers crossed this thread wasn't for naught.

GTV,
Yeah, you can even cut the 64 & earlier VW Type I windshields; they're flat. I'm 64 & earlier VW nut. Have a 64 daily driver with earlier cloth sunroof (Type 117) roof panel added. Always loved the German and Italian machinery. In the last two years I've added the Japanese invasion of the 60's & 70's.

Steve

Right, type 1's and 2's are easy to find nearly everything for (I've got a 55 oval and a handful of busses currently). But you can also easily get windshields for the Type 3 Ghia (most people think it's a Corvair), that they only produced 43,000 of over 9 years, and were never officially exported to the States. I'm thinking the 320 had to have much lower production, very much a niche market back then as well as now.

From what I've picked up off the net, approximately 20,000 separate bed trucks and 1000 unibodies. I may be wrong. 'Lil Truckie' probably has input.

The VW I've always lusted after is the Type III Variant knotchback with sunroof. And of course the Hebmuller two passenger cabriolet and Fridolin. Currently have the 64, and a 57, 61 cloth top sedan, and 64 cabriolet in storage for later.

I had a '68 Type 3 Fastback once, I built a really nice 1776cc for it. Drove it all over the southwest, and to Mexico a few times. Type 3's make a much better daily driver than a Beetle, but parts availability sucks! I don't miss it.

I stopped by the owners place a half a dozen times last weekend, I coudnt catch them at home though. Neighbors said that I just missed them... It will be a week or two until I'm in that area again so it will have to wait. There is a '68ish Datsun 1600 roadster right around the corner from my house, maybe I'll look into that one...

There is a '68ish Datsun 1600 roadster right around the corner

Parts are a lot easier to come by for the Fairlady Roadster. If it was a 2000 and not to rusty I'd be interested. However, the Fairlady does not handle as well as its British competition....or so I am told. Still a 2000cc is bigger than a 1800 BMC B engine.

Windshields - sorry good luck with this one. There was a sedan front glass on eBay about 2 years ago. $450 + $150 for shipping. However, I am concerned even though I have a flawless extra one. Point here is where do I, and everyone else, get a new front glass? More importantly where will my insurance company get one when some loser decides to take target practice on it with a pellet/BB/22 long? No problem with a '69 MGB-GT (older brother got his shot at). No way am I giving up the one in the crate for something like this. Worse is that my classic car insurance company has been a little vague on this one.

Production number? Don't really know. The Datsun Model Guide only list import numbers to the US, with no mention of import/production number for the rest of the world. I am tracking the 8223 or so PL, a 1000 NLs, and around 3200 of Sedans and Station Wagons, but nothing on total Yokohama plant production numbers.

I'm trying to get this article from the KSU library-
Paper #:741127
Published:1974-02-01
DOI:10.4271/741127
Citation: Suzuki, F., "The Economical Design of the Datsun Pickup," SAE Technical Paper 741127, 1974, doi:10.4271/741127.
Author(s):Fumio Suzuki
Affiliated: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

So curious to see what information this article has to offer. I will also check to see if I can share this.

v/r
Andy

Andy,
That report could be groundshaking for vintage Datsun pickup nuts. I just know that you'd love to get your eyes on that and pass it along. You've done more to help people trying to preserve this specialized little, very little, corner of transportation history than anyone on the planet.

Steve

I'm pretty sure i have that. Give me 24 hours to load it up.

Is there a factory colour chart somewhere online?

I suspect I have one buried in my memorabilia boxes.

We recently relocated HQ, and we're still tripping over boxes - I seem to recall, however, that age has not been kind to the color cards, as they were printed, rather than "chips."

Andy & Steve (and others) - see below:

http://datsunforum.com/datsun-pickups-d ... facturing/

Well it looks like this old truck is a "family heirloom"... Most likely doomed to rot

Right........"Family Heirloom" , seriously doubt they will do anything to it.

Well, sorry to hear that. You are in SoCal so I'm sure another will turn up.

Andy & Steve (and others) - see below:

http://datsunforum.com/datsun-pickups-d ... facturing/

Greg, yes, thank-you for a much "cleaner" copy than what I got from the library here. A little surprised to read the 320 is a truck built on a sedan chassis and not the other way around.

Andy

Realistically, they could have called it either way.

The underside of my NL320 and the underside of my PL312 are near identical.

Hey Andy, could you email me that pdf on the colour charts? I'd reply through PM's but I guess I'm not allowed yet

[email protected]

on the way
andy