Hello all. My name is Dan Anderson in Loomis, CA 25 miles east of Sacramento. I have the opportunity to purchase a 1963 NL320 from a friend of a friend. I am trying to establish a value so that I can make a reasonable offer. It is a nice clean truck that has probably been re-done in the past. Not 100% correct but clean. This person who has it has an appraisal for $9000 that came with it. I am thinking or offering in the $5000 range. It is red and the body, paint, interior are all in good shape. It has aftermarket white wagon wheels and a stereo but other than those things it looks pretty stock. I am going to meet with him this next Monday and drive it and then make an offer. Any ideas where the price should be? The motor is rebuilt and runs great. It has the original shifter on the column. The vin is NL-320-3-60449C. Thanks for any help. I am glad I found this forum as it is so hard to find any info on these trucks.

I'm not qualified to give an estimate. I have a 64 PU that is 99% stock and have not felt it has that kind of re-sale value. Look forward to seeing other responses.
P.S. I live in Roseville. PM me.
Gemmer

dbasdan,

Welcome Aboard and congrats on the find! I'm sure some other NL-320 owners will chime in with their expert opinion, but over the last 6-9 months 3 x NL-320 have sold on eBay -

- Exceptionally nice Robin Egg Blue (in CA, I think) for around $10K pretty much all original but with some flaws and paint is not an original Datsun color.
-A silver one (in CA?) with an A12 engine and transmission for around $9K, I think. Did not have the original E1 engine so I really did pay to close attention to this one.
- A red one south of the border in OK, for around $4750. I would have bought this one had I not picked up two 320s a few weeks before and the roads not been iced over. Mother nature was not kind this weekend and my wife said no, but changed her mind when she saw it was an NL.

Sorry, don't know if anything "local" has sold off of Craigslist listing along the West Coast anyplace.

But if what you are looking at is anything close to the one that sold in Oklahoma, then $5K sounds reasonable. Remember too that you do not have to pay a massive $1200-$1600 shipping charge. So being local has its advantages $$$$$.

A few thing to watch out for-
Rear tail light lens make sure the are present and in almost perfect shape - only seen two sets on eBay over the last 2-3 years. One set from Thailand for ~$500 bucks, OE and in the box.
Rear Bumper - different from the 320 truck, one or two were offered by a NiCo member a few months ago for $150 + shipping.
Door Glass - the NL door glass is different from the regular 320, can have fabricated but could be expensive.
Front Glass - hopefully no cracks, but not readily available. One, because its a big piece of glass and shipping is expensive and two, just not made anymore. One was on eBay last year for around $495 + shipping.
Door trim - again the NL door is a little longer than the regular 320 and I have yet to see NL door trim for sale anywhere. Something British might work from a MGB, but I haven't taken any measurements.

From what I know everything else is pretty much all the same. I definitely would take a close look at the rear tail lights and the bumper as these, to me at least, are probably the hardest items to source.

Engine, brakes, and mechanics - we got you covered here on NiCo on where to find just about anything to make a NL or PL 320 start, go, and stop. Just don't expect to go too fast or stop on a dime or even an Eisenhower dollar for that matter.

Oh, make sure the engine serial number by the #3 spark plug and that it matches the data plate. So don't forget to take a rag with you to wipe the oil and grim away. This is definitely a game changer in my books if they don't match!

Rust and body work is on you and where you might have it repaired as prices vary. But everything will have to be fabricated or purchased at a local swap meet. Again, shipping is expensive for a big cumbersome fender.

Here's a few links for you -
http://www.earlydatsun.com/index.html
http://www.datsuns.com/modelguide.htm

Well that will get you going.
Let us know if you have any questions and we'll do our best to answer them prior to your big day on Monday.

Best of luck with the purchase!
Li'l Truckie

I recently bought a '65 NL320 for $6200 from craigslist near Portland, OR. Even before buying it I was pretty sure I was overpaying a little bit, compared to the prices you find mentioned online in forums, etc over the years. I bought it anyway because I had been looking for one for over a year and they are rare enough that you just don't find them all that often. On mine the paint is rough, body has some small dents, but very little rust, all the trim is present and it is mostly stock, although not with the original E1 motor. I am still very happy with the truck and can live with the price I paid.

That being said, since buying my truck, I have seen another one on craigslist in CA(L.A.?) for $4500 I think that looked to be in good condition, but wasn't running because the engine needed to be re-installed and another one in Modesto, CA for $3750 that looks to be missing the engine completely.

My take in general is that if you want the truck and it is in good enough condition to be appraised at $9K then it is probably worth $5K easily.

Dylan

Well I bought it today for $4500. The motor is recently rebuilt with receipts totaling almost $2000. The brakes were just redone also, although they still need some bleeding. I drove it and had a hard time with the shifting. What is the pattern anyway? The body is good with no rust that I can find. The roof is not great so it will need attention. Looks like some kids had a good time up there. It has new white letter tires on white wagon rims (ugh) so I will be on the hunt for rims and caps. Tail light lenses are intact but showing plenty of age. Bumpers are good. All chrome could use re-plating. It has a custom made camper shell that will be removed . Let me know if anyone is looking for one. The original generator has been changed to an alternator. It is titled as a '65, it says 1964 on the data plate but the grill is a '63. Gonna have to figure that out. More to come I am sure. Gemmer, my # is 916-412-6786 and [email protected]

dbasdan,

Congrats on the purchase. From what you have described and the 5 or 6 NL that have sold within the last year it sounds as if you got a good deal or at very least paid the current "fair market value." But from how you describe it, I would have paid $4500.

I drove it and had a hard time with the shifting. What is the pattern anyway?

The shifting pattern is a little different as the 320 was still a right hand drive truck or at least a right hand drive transmission first.

First - forward and up
Second - down and forward or straight down from first
Third - back and up
Fourth - back and down or straight down from 3rd
Reverse - from neutral pull the shift lever out, go forward, and then down

The NL and PL column shift is backwards from American column shift trucks where first is back and up.

Would love to see some pic!
Li'l Truckie

Not sure how to post pics here. Do they need to be hosted like on Photobucket?

Yes, Photo Bucket, Flckr, or something along these lines.
Once you have the pics them up loaded -
-Right click on photo, find photo's properties, highlight, and copy. You want the url for the pic, it starts with the http and ends with the .jpg or whatever type photo/image it is. I say this as my old XP and new Windows 8.1 are both different when it comes to uploading pics from flickr.
-Back to NiCo, click Img in your post, you will see this [img][img]
-cursor should be in between the two [img], simple right click and past photo url property.
-hit preview and check your work.

Andy

[/img]http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af2 ... 66d648.jpg

Wow! I think you got an excellent deal (actually pretty jealous)! Most excellent.

Just drive this and enjoy the ride!

Andy

That is a nice looking truck you got.

I know that sometimes vehicles were titled based on the year they actually sold, so you would have a '47 titled as a '48......I figured all that would have gone away by the 60's, but perhaps not. As to the older model grill who knows over the last 50years a lot could have happened.

a few more times driving and you should have the shifting down. I've got 4 different trucks all with different shift patterns, once you learn where they are it's not a big deal that it's "non-standard"

Tad

So I have not posted in a while. I have not done anything with the truck as of yet. I drove it once and the brakes locked up and remain so. A friend suggested that the master rod may need adjusting. All brake components were recently replaced. I was very excited to stumble on a set of wheels, trim rings and caps last weekend at a swap meet. I think they are later like from a 520 or 620, but they were removed when new and are absolutely perfect. I basically stole them for a very good price. I think I am going to run them. I have also found what I believe to be 2 or 3 original 320 hub caps. They are in fair shape so I need to find one more. I found those in antique/junk shops believe it or not.

dbasdan,

Sounds pretty good, I'd revisit that antique store ever so often or ask who the booth belongs to and see if they have any other "parts." For comparison to rechrome 1 x hub cap here locally is around $50.

Andy

Good idea Andy, however I found them while on a parts run up to the Seattle area this Spring.

Sounds like a good reason to go back and visit Seattle!

When I started to bring my P/U back into service after a 10 year hiatus, the brakes locked up also. Fluid had turned to dark colored goop. Flushed the system out completely and added new fluid. Replaced the seals in the master and wheel cylinders. Works like a charm.