so hi and all that!

i find myself in possession of a 1982 Datsun 210 Deluxe, its a little 4 door sedan, and i fondly remember my brother restoring an old 280 (late 70s model, dont remember the year) and i started searching online for information about this little car i have, and i cant seem to find any information on it at all. i was just wondering if anyone knows if this particular model is something worth sinking money into, or if its not really in the window of classics?

it has a lot of body rust, and something is wrong with the engine, other than the leaking oil and possibly missing on a cylindar, but the interior is in surpsingly good condition and it runs fairly well, so i was wondering if anyone has any insight.

i've been told to run it til the wheels fall off, don't sink any funds into it, and then i've been told it could be worth the restoration process. (i thought about making it a project with my 8 yr old, and give it to him when he turns 16)

feedback? thoughts?

thanks all!

Hi Gretchen!

Well, first off, welcome aboard, yuo came to the right place. One of our Administrators here (Torry, a.k.a. EZcheese15) owns the same car, and he knows it inside and out.

If it has rust, then it's probably not worth sinking a lot of $ into. The 210's are not in real high demand, as they were the ugly workhorse of the Datsun lineup.

I think the advice you got was spot-on: Get it mechanically sound, drive the crap out of it, and let someone else deal with it once it dies... We might even be able to help you find a home for it.

Bottom line is, it's a cool little commuter, and it should serve you well as transportation, but it's in no danger of ever seeing the auction block at Barrett-Jackson.

Let's see some pics, we love our old Dattos here!!!

Rust is a pain to deal with. If you have the tools and the space, it may be fun just to strip it down completely and restore it from the bottom up. Wouldn't really be worth it from a monetary sense, but experience, and having such a long term project with your child would make it well worth it.

But yeah, welcome to the club!!

i bought the car for $250 from the previously mentioned 8 yr olds dad, and i am tapping into my inner mechanic i changed my spark plugs (one was apparenlty bad) replaced all the plug wires and the rotar button this weekend. the biggest issue i have with it right now is that it blows greyish blue smoke out the exhaust (needs seals or a headgasket? - neither of which i have the tools nor the expertise to do, will have to find a mechanic for that) and that it stalls out when its idling, but given the amount i paid, i can't complain too bad

i will definitely get pics as soon as i can, its parked right now while i decide what i want to do with it long term, i thought it would be decent on gas but whatever is wrong under the hood is causing it to get a max of 140 miles per tank, and its not so great as a commuter car right now.

i appreciate the warm welcome, i've been browing these boards since i got it 2 weeks ago, and finally broke down and made a log in to be able to chat with everyone on here.

have a great day!

Welcome to NICO!

Any old Datsun is fun to fix up and somewhat restore. Keep at it, should make for a great project for you and your kid

Post up some pics when you get a chance.

just spent the better part of the morning looking through the picture post, seems everything i'm seeing here is older than mine, lots of rounded fenders and headlights, and was wondering if Torry had any pics posted of his car? I'm definitely looking forward to playing with this car over the next few years! I dont have my own digital camera (i live in the dark arges!) so i am trying to borrow one to take some shots of my heap to post for you guys

have a great day!

Welcome to NICO! cant wait to see pics of your datsun enj0y

pictures are posted under the sticky post - page 5 i'm open for any and all suggestions and comments! (she was named white lightin' before i got her, just so ya know!)

bone_stock_240 wrote:Rust is a pain to deal with. If you have the tools and the space, it may be fun just to strip it down completely and restore it from the bottom up. Wouldn't really be worth it from a monetary sense, but experience, and having such a long term project with your child would make it well worth it.

But yeah, welcome to the club!!

co-sign. it's always best to try and find a car with minimal rust. but, if it's a sentimental thing to you i guess it can be worth it.