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From France to USA : help please!


oukippy

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If you are a Datsun 620 addict I would take my time

If you want a short bed don't buy a long bed

 

A lot of people went pre-1975 especially in California because there is no smog

 

If you can live with a 76 or 77 78 or 79;you can probably get that cheaper in better condition

 

If you buy one that needs a lot of work and that's a premium price right after you purchase it

 

You're going to start to see a lot of them that looks like a better deal

 

If it was me I would keep looking until you found what you want

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If you are a Datsun 620 addict I would take my time

If you want a short bed don't buy a long bed

 

A lot of people went pre-1975 especially in California because there is no smog

 

If you can live with a 76 or 77 78 or 79;you can probably get that cheaper in better condition

 

If you buy one that needs a lot of work and that's a premium price right after you purchase it

 

You're going to start to see a lot of them that looks like a better deal

 

If it was me I would keep looking until you found what you want

 

Thank you for your opinion.

My first choice will be a 78 or 79 King Cab as I'm not concerned about smog (except if the seller needs to pass it before selling the car) and prefer to have disk brakes.

 

Sometimes I'm thinking that I could buy a non KC (short or long bed is not a real problem for me) because of the bench which could be interesting to bring my 2 sons with me (they are young enough to sit in the bench). But I understood that I will be better in a KC (I'm 6.1 foot). I don't plan to travel more than 30 miles distance.

 

The only thing that I'm sure of : I will wait for a pretty nice one and don't buy one cheap with many work on it, as I was planning to do at some point.

 

I don't see anything really interesting for now so I'll wait until the good one comes (I thought I've found it in UK but unfortunately it was sold this week).

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Keep looking buddy, you will eventually find the perfect one. It took me since my grandfather taught me to drive in his 76 long bed down in Mexico, I was around 13 if I remember correctly, I’ve just never had the fund nor the opportunity to grab one. This year it happened, and it is faaaaaaaar from perfect

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Are there still a lot of VW bugs and VW buses from the 50s 60s 70s in Europe

 

It's difficult for me to compare as I don't know every European country but VW bugs ans buses are very well represented on French (and English) roads , especially buses. I think bugs are less numerous than Austin Mini but it's my own opinion.

Two weeks ago, I was in England and I saw more or less ten VW buses during a 2 hours motorway drive. I don't know if it was for a meeting or something but I noticed it quickly.

 

Currently you can find at least 150 buses for sale in France: https://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/offres/?th=1&re=1980&brd=Volkswagen&mdl=Combi

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Hello guys,

 

I'm in contact with the owner of a 620 short bed. It was inspected by a pro who told me the main issues are concerning stripe tape on all glasses (and doors) and the missing moulding stripe on the front of the hood (the part of the hood completing the grill). He told me that the mounting holes on the hood were rusted and I wonder if it can be repaired enough to put a new part on it ?

 

I also want to know if it's tricky to find the missing part ?

 

As I'm not sure I explain it correctly, I've put some pictures on wetransfer.com (click here to download the pictures).

 

Could you give me your opinion on what you see ? There's also a short video of the truck running.

 

Thank you very much !!!

 

PS: I'll need to use photobucket I think.

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If there is rust on that lip, where else is there rust under that paint? As far as the part, I don't think it'd be hard to get here on the west coast.

 

I'd look for original paint truck personally. 

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I downloaded the pictures and only looked at 4 of them to determine the truck is a rust bucket. Stay away.

First you are a tall person from what you have posted and this is a regular cab truck.

The paint and body work on that truck is shit!

The rust showing in the first 4 pictures is bad enough in the easier to see ares that if this truck was torn down and media blasted you would have a pile of rusty scrap that would not resemble a 620. sheet metal would resemble Swiss cheese.

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Hello guys,

 

I’ve read very carefully your opinions and I’ve taken the time to discuss with the pro who has inspected the car. Painting is not perfect for sure but it’s a 10 years old job so if it was as bad as suspected, he would have seen it. Furthermore it’s black as I planned to paint it (but won’t have the money for it).

 

The interior is not perfect but nicely renewed. Tires are brand new and the engine, clutch and shifter are running perfectly according to him. As he’s even taller than me, he give me his advice on the seat position, not ideal but not too bad if you don’t drive it for hours (and I won’t: 30 miles maximum).

 

As you may have understood, he convinced me to take it and I finally decided to do it, partly because of what he told me, partly because I’ll need a work truck for my future house and timing is perfect.

 

Consequently I’m very proud to say that I will own a Datsun 620, not the perfect one for sure, but mine. With it I will have the opportunity to learn many things in mechanics. First things to do will be to change the blocks and modify the torsion bar because it’s too low for French roads (it’s probably too low for any road I think). And find a hood molding, which seems to be hard.

 

Now I will need to wait for a couple of months before driving it and I think I’ll spend some time here to read your posts!

 

Thank you for your help !

 

Oukippy

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Thank you for your support. If it's a mistake, it will be MY mistake. I saw plenty of 620 in very bad condition around here and no one saying that it was a mistake to buy them. Of course we will find better ones in the next months but I made a choice and I will follow it. I could have done like many many French people : to import a Mustang or a Chevy truck. I decided to buy a Datsun pickup, not a muscle car. I hope the Ratsun community can support me for that :) .

 

Let's move on to the next step and start to talk about mechanics (ok I will need to have the car to do it :lol: ).

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