To the List,
Saturday morning my wife Laura and I drove up to Essex, MD and met
Scott Perschke and Bob Flint for breakfast. Then drove over to the
guy with the car's shop and met Mark Dent there.
From the subject line you know I didn't buy the car. My initial
enthusiasm for the car was silenced by our technical evaluation and a
crotchety owner who would move on price. So, I've decided to post a
somewhat long discription of the whole event (below), just in case
anyone else sees the car, you know about it going in. Bottom line:
not enough car with a few too many problems for the asking price.
Though if you have some extra $$$ to save a car......
My thanks go to Mark Dent, Scott Perschke, and Bob Flint for their
helpful, unbiased opinions on the car.
Doug Noble
Vienna, Virginia
Hopeful and still looking........
P.S. Mark, Scott, or Bob please add anything I may have missed.
______________________________________________________________________
THE CAR: Owned by Al at Venus Auto Body, Essex, Maryland. Asking
price is $6,000.00. 1968 Datsun 2000, 73,320 miles (SRL311-03989 or
SRL311-03998, I can't read my own writing). Engine block U20-10801,
the original block on the VIN plate is in the 4900's. Car is red
(faded to a dark coral red) with a black interior and top. Black
spider web wheels, has original wheels also. Also has entire
replacement dash. Car has frame mounted tow-bar bracket and roll bar.
THE STORY: The car was restored by Golden Classics in PA (what I was
told), not a frame-off. Sold in 1993 at Mannheim Auto Auction in PA
to Alpina Motors in Essex, MD. On the way back to Maryland the driver
broadsided something at low speed. Didn't bend the frame or damage
the radiator (confirmed), but did need 2 front quarter panels, hood,
front end trim, headlights, bumper, grill. The work is correct for
the 1968 year included brushed chrome headlight scoops (body parts
from Craig Halsted). The car sat for a year at Venus Auto Body, who
had the Alpina body contract at the time. Al the owner of Venus Auto
Body bought it from Alpina in 1994, did the work on the car, and has
had it ever since.
THE REVIEW: In no real order, our comments...
- When we arrived the car is parked on the street, and Al tells me he
has topped off all the fluids and taken the car out and warmed it
up.
- Compression test: cylinders 2, 3, 4 tested within 10% of each other,
good compression (Mark or Bob has the actual ##). Couldn't get to
the #1 cylinder because the connector between the radiator hose and
the block was installed 180 degrees off blocking the spark plug.
- Has helper spring(s) in the rear end.
- Tires have good tread, but sidewalls have dry rot.
- Speedometer -- does not work.
- Lighter -- does not work.
- Radio-- unknown.
- S/Brake switch -- works.
- Heater -- works.
- Fan -- does not work.
- Tach and other guages -- work (readings normal).
- Under acceleration, from all rpms, 1 sec delay/hesitation. We
speculated that the timing/advance or carbs are off.
- Car idles around 900rpm.
- Leather wrap on steering wheel coming unthreaded.
- Dashboard is badly cracked.
- Roll bar does not have backin plates under the body. Purely
cosmetic.
- 2 quarter inch tears in the top, one above each side of the
rear window. Otherwise top is in excellent condition.
- No evidence of water under carpets at all -- even with heavy rains
in the area recently.
- Carpet and seats in very good condition.
- Mark and I noticed on our first visit that at start up some light
blueish smoke from the back of the (carburetor) intake manifold.
This disippated as the car warmed up. The car had been sitting over
the winter.
- The clutch was good. All five speeds in gear box were fine, tight.
No problems/noise from the synchros.
- No transmission bearing noise.
- No rear end bearing noise.
- Some bondo in right rear fender well. Otherwise, the body is clean
except for a few minor dings.
- Some surface rust on the front and rear bumper chrome.
SUMMARY: Good ~$4,500 car, not worth $6,000 unless you have a spare
$1,500. We all had a real problem with the seller's attitude of: I'm
here for an hour, so don't be screwin' around with it. Seller not
willing to negotiate on price AT ALL. My personal opinion, I think
shared by others, is if I'm going to drop 6K on a car I want to spend
an hour driving the way I would drive were I to own it, and to look at
the body, interior and engine critically (another hour). I walked
away from it. There are others out there.
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