My Nissan History - A Story

[ahardb0dy]

Was thinking about this today and thought I would share my Nissan story from the very beginning.

 

The year was 1986 my 75 Mustang 2 was history and I needed a "new" car, my father told me that my uncle had just bought a new car and was selling his old car so we went to look at it, it was a 1980 Datsun/Nissan 310GX, 5 speed, nice looking car for what it was except while it was sitting in front of my uncle's house someone decided to key the entire drivers side, pic's below:

 

 

it was at the time when Datsun was transferring over to Nissan, I did a few "mods" to the car, never liked how the rear window looked so I had louvers put on it which I though made it look 100% better, I had the dual Monza exhaust tip installed and when it was time for new tires I chose the Pirelli P77's which were as close to looking like Mikey Thompson tires with the side biter tread, after all this was my on/off road "rally want to be car", LOL notice (how could you miss them) the Hella Rally 2000's and dick cepek lights on the front:

 

 

tune wise the mandatory at the time Alpine head unit (with knobs!!), FAS EQ/booster for the front Pioneer 3 ways and a Nakamichi Pa-300 amp for the rear MTX box which was a stereo box but both channels shared one 10" woofer, I made a board to fit the hatch area and covered it with peel and stick fake brick tile courtesy of my job as the store carpenter at Sears.

 

the next car that caught my eye was the than brand new at the time body style of the 87 Mustang GT, I would have bought one except for John, (more on that in a minute), the GT's were so popular that year that going to the dealer and trying to test drive one I was turned away as the sales man told me we don't take them on test drives as most people that look at them buy them and they don't want to put miles on them, guess me being a young guy he figured I wasn't serious at buying one, his loss.

 

 

Than one Friday night my ex GF's friend invited us to go out on the beach with her and her BF in his 4x4, we went over Debbie's house and loaded ourselves into the back of John's 86 Isuzu pup 4x4 turbo diesel, pic below:

 

John's Iszuz and my fairly new Hardbody (more on that in a minute)

 

 

and off we went, I had been out on the beach one time in my uncles old Toyota pickup ( like a 82-83 maybe) but I was very young and it didn't interest me at the time, so we make our way out onto the beach, keep in mind our beaches back home were not like driving on Daytona beach where cars can drive on them, the beaches back home on Long Island, NY had 4x4 sections that required 4x4's and a permit, and we're talking DEEP soft sand as far as you could see, air down the tires time !!! So we head out on the beach, the pup making that whistle sound from the turbo sounded cool and that was all it took for me I was hooked and wanted a 4 wheel drive truck!!!

 

So I start looking, I was looking at full size 87 Chevy short beds but didn't like the fact that every single item was an option, no packages, so scratch Chevy, Toyota did not offer a V6 in their 87 lineup, they had the 22R turbo but I wanted a V6, scratch Toyota, Mazda Forget Mazda, next!! than there was Nissan, the 87 Nissan Hardbody, the second year of the D21, V6, big fender openings, air craft style doors, 31" tires from the factory!! So long story short I bought one, my first brand new vehicle!!! pics below:

 

 

almost brand new with Nissan grille guard, Smittybilt nerf bars and Garfield!! LOl

 

 

a short time later with Smittybilt double tube bumpers front and rear, triple double roll bar, bosch fog lights up front, Lund visor, red wipers, that same Jim Connor skid plate and Wade window visors

 

 

So I was hooked we went 4 wheeling when ever we could and the Hardbody was only stuck one time as long as I owned it, A short time later I got a job at the local 4x4 shop, "The Truck Shop" in West Sayville NY, I started mounting tires (outside in the snow sometimes!!), doing some stock work cleaning up etc, but the nice part was the discount and the access to new and exciting parts!!

[ahardb0dy]

so The Hardbody started to be modified,LOL

 

3" body lift, 2" suspension, dual stage torsion bars, rear axle skid plate, triple shocks up front (never installed the hoops), double shocks in the rear, 35" tires one of the first and few I had ever seen around sitting on 35's, pics below:

 

 

35" BFG on 15 x 8 polished center line's with black lugs no less!! Stylin!!

 

 

rear view: triple double roll bar, pro net, 5 Rally 2000's ( 2 from the datsun!), custom light bar by me that said "go ahead make my day..."

 

 

I kept my Hardbody for over 14 years than we moved down to Florida and it was starting to get old and worn out and no AC was starting to take it's toll on me, that and $2000 to rebuild the tranny every time (3 times total!!), so I was going to trade it in for a Toyota Tacoma in 2001, the dealer told me they would give me book value which was right about $1500 so my wife and I went to the Toyota dealer where they proceeded to tell me they would give me $500 for my truck!!! well after a few choice words we were out of there, never mind I had just paid over $1500 to have the tranny rebuilt for the 3rd time, so my neighbor tells me her friend works at a Dodge dealership, long story short I traded my 87 hardbody in on a 2001 Dodge Dakota sport club cab 4x4 with the 4.7 V8, regret trading the Nissan in after that especially with all the good stuff I left on it, 160 amp custom dual output alternator from Wrangler, the suspension, 33's on 15 x 10 aluminum wheels another 33 on a 15 x 8 which was my spare, a lot of stuff I wish I still had now,

 

pic of the dakota:

 

 

after a few years and some headaches with the Dakota we decided to get rid of it so they came and got it and I needed transportation for work that weekend so I started looking for a car limiting myself to Nissan and Toyota, I ended up finding and buying this 90 Nissan Sentra for $580:

 

 

it was basically a stock 2 owner car, 111K miles which worked out to about 8K per year, needless to say I no longer had a 4x4 to mod by I had the Sentra:

 

upgraded the tires and wheels from 13's to 15's:

 

 

 

new interior:

 

 

brand new 5 speed tranny, upgraded sway bars and bushings, lowering coils ( still not installed yet), air horn, etc etc.

 

almost forgot my wife and I bought this used 94 Infiniti Q45t right before I got the Sentra:

 

A beast after I got it running 100%, 4 wheel steering, 317 HP:

 

Edited May 15, 2010 by ahardb0dy

[ahardb0dy]

We kept the Infiniti for a few years all the time I was looking for what I really wanted a 95 Nissan King cab 4x4 SE-V6 5 speed, the one's I did find were way too expensive, the Sentra was supposed to be a temp car until I found the truck I wanted, never did so I still own the sentra, we did how ever end up trading the Q45 in for a 2005 Nissan Titan king cab 2 wheel drive, I dragged my wife to the dealer to look at 4 wheel drive Frontiers but we decided they were to small for 3 grown adults and she spotted the Titan in the used car section and being red ( her favorite) that was all they wrote!! pics below:

 

 

 

well sadly last week we had to let the Titan go as we could no longer afford the payments due to medical issues with my wife and that began the next chapter of my Nissan story, it started when I invited a co-worker and his family over for a night of Rockband, during the evening he happens to mention he's selling his pathfinder... cheap, needs a engine just has to get rid of it, he was in such a hurry to get it out of his yard he wanted me to take it before I could pay him for it!! nothing shady he just already had/has 4 other Nissans!! 2 low rider pickups, a 93 pathfinder Xe and a Murano, seems the code enforcement guys were giving him a hard time having the 5th Nissan in his yard with no plates on it, and that's where I came in!!! LOL

 

So I bought it, oh didn't have $500 to pay him but had credit with Dell so worked out a deal where I ordered him a laptop for the pathfinder, good for me!!

 

and the 94 pathfinder was now mine, few weeks later picked up a used JDM engine and had it installed, about 10 trips to the junkyard, a lot of polishing and waxing, some paint here and there and here it is:

 

 

after re-indexing the torsion bars and scrubbing the wheels

 

 

after painting the spare tire carrier

 

[ahardb0dy]

So that's my Nissan story in a nutshell, still have the Sentra my daily driver,20 years old 220K miles still runs strong (for 90 HP), and averages 31MPG, have more plans for it but it's on the back burner now that the pathfinder is here, speaking of it,it is a 94 SE with LSD, auto, about 185K on the truck no idea on the JDM engine 40 to 60K they say I know it idles so smooth you can hardly hear it, rides great even with a half worn front tire and no alignment and best of all it reminds me so much of my first joy my 87 Hardbody, it even sounds the same when I first start it!! HAPPPY days are here again, I know one thing, it won't be for sale anytime soon!!

 

 

Hope who ever reads this enjoyed it, how about your history with Nissan??

Edited May 15, 2010 by ahardb0dy

[nismothunder]

Badass man,I dont think any ones ever did something like this...but I'm sad to say I like the Izusu better then the stock hardbody...roll bar with lights...*drools*

[ahardb0dy]

thanks, he had his "pup" quite a while before I bought my Nissan, he had a 3" body lift and had to crank the torsion bars just to fit 31's!! needless to say there was no comparison, than after I went up to 35's for get about it !! LOL, took me quite a while to write this all up and upload some of the pics that I didn't have uploaded already, but I wanted to share my story.

[Toby]

I have a story too.

 

and it's a story all about how my life got flipped turned upside down. And I'd like you to sit right there while I tell you about how I became the prince of a town called bel-air.

[ahardb0dy]

not to get off my own subject but I think I've heard that story already

[Tsingson]

Man, another fresh prince of bel air reference.......

[BIGPHIL]

 

this = the creepiest pic on this site.... what the HELL !!!!

[Toby]

not to get off my own subject but I think I've heard that story already

 

My bad. Maybe I told you already

 

Man, another fresh prince of bel air reference.......

 

Another? First I've seen/made on here. I dunno lol

[nismothunder]

 

this = the creepiest pic on this site.... what the HELL !!!!

I thought so too,kinda has the whole,hey baby,wanna go for a ride,thingy going on...

[ahardb0dy]

that's not nice!!

[nismothunder]

I didnt mean anything by it,but you glanceing out the window at something and I'm listioning to Creams Politka at the time so...

But hey,dude,did you have red whiper arms...

[ahardb0dy]

I didn't take any offense to any thing that was said, and the colored wipers were popular back than, don't forget the red wiper arm covers!! LOL and the POS stock firestone ATX tires

[doughboy]

You can see my nissan history in my sig... kinda bland, but this has been in under 4 years... and I think one of my maximas is left out of that list... a 93...

[ahardb0dy]

cool, nice list !!

[olddirtyrake]

Nice story, clean pathy. I'm starting to hate living on the salty roads, every vehicle I buy has rust. I need to go south and pick up something.

[180sx]

I love nissans (But I love Mazdas just as much). My story:

When I was a kid my dad had an 87 200SX Turbo (CA18ET FTW!). That was the second car I ever worked on (First being an 81 RX7). But it was the first turbo car I worked on. Dad used to take it to the strip a lot. Eventually we dropped in a VG30E in to it. Lasted a while, then swapped it for a CA18DET. That made 315WHP and was fast. Sadly, one day on the dyno (tuning for the new Garrett turbo) we blew the head gasket (made 382WHP before that!). If you know about CA's. the head gasket usually goes at about 350HP. Then to make it worse, on the tow home, (ON THE TOW HOME!) it was side swiped. Totaled! Ahh!! So then it was done with nissans for a while, and I had a gang of RX-7's to work on. I tried a few cars (My Ford EGT being one of my faveroties, with a Supra coming in second). Ended up buying a 240SX coupe. Finally! Swapped the front for a Kouki, dropped a CA18DET (love this engine to this day) into it. Did a 5 lug conversion with 300ZX rear brakes. Full suspension, and it still had a full interior (whcih from where i was was odd because people liked to strip at least the rear of the car, bah! to that!). Sadly, It got into an accident. Sold it after that for about a third of what I put into it. Then later got a 93 RX-7 (went half with my dad, so it's half his...damn it). Then moved to VA (damn it) and got a Sentra. Boring. Then my neighbor was selling his Pathfinder. I had been off-roading a couple times and loved it. The pathy was 4x4, SE, LSD, loaded. $2000 only. can we say yes? And that's how I got the Pathy.

 

Jose

 

p.s. the 'creepy' picture for some reason reminded me of Jefery Dahmer...that's a lil creepy. haha. But nice truck!

[ahardb0dy]

p.s. the 'creepy' picture for some reason reminded me of Jefery Dahmer...that's a lil creepy. haha. But nice truck!

 

Jeffrey was my dad !!, lol, thanks wish I still had it but now I have a 94 pathfinder that I got for the low low price of $500 with no rust to work on!!