Faults:

I bought this truck in 1990 in Victoria, BC for $110 CDN. After a rebuild, it had given me good service. In 2001 I drove the truck from Vancouver Island to Edmonton, Alberta (800 miles) at a fairly high and constant speed. I was using a lower grade fuel and I believe this caused an exhaust valve to burn out. I was given an inspection order in Nanaimo and the truck has been off the road since then.

I took the head off and had a machine shop in Nanaimo replace the burnt valve and supply a head gasket and kit. It is now 2010 and I need to get it back on the road

General Comments:

This is a truck that has served me well, is simple and easy to maintain and service.

Faults:

Brakes had to be done a couple times. Blew heater hose that runs under the oil dip stick and almost over heated. Throttle cable came undone once.

Another time ground wire on distributor fell off on free way. On third set of seats. first set broke down. Gear box: Kicks out of 2nd gear when cold, and kicks out of 5th when letting off the gas.

General Comments:

This car is seriously slow, and handling is rather pointless to discuss.

The point of a Datsun is all about just always getting there! My 77 has after market side-draft carbs with a four in to one header. Didn't really make a difference for top end, but gave fantastic torque on the bottom end. Being in a hurry in a Datsun is pointless, because the truck has one speed, slow and mellow. I just kick back, listen to AM talk radio and just cruise. It's as simple as any car could hope to be, and if you have a Leatherman on you, odds are you can make any repair that might be needed. I've drove this truck for over 17 years, it got me through school. With a lumber rack and tool box it helped put me through school contracting. It's hauled my fire wood, helped move me several times, and most recently hauled my new mattress home. Last week I hauled 22ft beams on the lumber rack and an oil change takes 5 minutes. The brakes are terrible, and it rides like a truck. But every person I've ever met who owned one always says, "I always regretted selling that truck".

Faults:

Replaced distributor and starter.

General Comments:

I like the little gas saving truck, plenty of truck for what I need. could use better suspension.. swapped my cadillac for it, when the price of gas went up in 2004.

Faults:

Brakes are under-powered, head gasket blew at 200,000 miles.

The original transmission whined in 4th gear.

The shifter was very very loose, and the original engine above 200,000 miles loses much of its efficiency.

General Comments:

Originally, this truck came with a way underpowered L16 engine, which shares the same design as the 240, 260, 280, 280ZX engines (internally). Despite being the same design as a fast 240Z, it was very slow. The rear end gear is a 4.88 and it came with no overdrive, which means freeway driving is in the 4,000 RPM range. This truck has given me few problems for being so old, and is pretty good on gas.

I got tired of the slow engine, and built up a L20b engine from a newer 620 pickup, and swapped in a 5-speed from a '81 280ZX, which drops freeway RPM down about 1000 RPM on the freeway.

Overall, I like the styling of the truck. Mine is pretty straight, and most people that see it like it.

If you're considering buying one, I'd suggest getting involved in any online forums or chatrooms that you can, to find out how to get the most performance out of it, because it is so slow (i.e. nwde.org).

Overall, I like my truck. With the bigger engine swapped in, it goes pretty well, and spins 7,000 RPM and makes power up there. I'd suggest getting a newer 620, 76-78 model years came with the larger engine that I swapped in, and some came with a 5-speed. The newer models came with a more streetable 4.375 rear gear.

My truck has drum brakes all around, which can leave high speed braking scary - the newer trucks have front disc brakes.

Faults:

Electrical had to be redone around 200,000 miles. Many old parts have been replaced.. i.e. exhaust system/muffler, starter, ignition switch, alternator, heater core, general maintenance and tune up.

Throttle cable broke and had to be rewired. Found a rubbing spot and went through 3 cables before finding the problem.

I have been having difficulty getting an alternator that works because I need one with an internal regulator.

Something drains the electrical and I must jump the truck in order to get it started.

General Comments:

Overall, this 620 series body style pickup truck has paid for itself ten times over. When it runs, it purrs with the original engine.

The truck gets great gas mileage and doesn't use much oil. It is easy to maintain.