smellyferret
Posted a lot
Back in a retro after 7 years!
Posts: 1,121
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Hey folks. So for the last 7 or so years I've not had a retro. Before that I was a serial offender.. Mainly Skoda felicia fun's and L300 Delica's. This year I've found myself hankering after a retro again and with the fact I no longer have a long commute and will need a really reliable + decent MPG thing.. I went looking! I pretty quickly set my eyes on a pickup., not sure why really.. I just like them and I always like the idea of practical cars.. This (after several nights trawling the internet) lead to what in USA they call the "Nissan Hardbody" or here in the UK the D21 pickup. I joined a few groups, followed a few ebay items and then.. I saw this: angliacarauctions.co.uk/classic/sat-27th-sun-28th-february/2000-skoda-felicia-fun-pick-up/ OMG I wanted it. I registered, waited (saw several D21's sell) and then on the day watched this sail off into crazy lala land prices over double what I would have considered.. So back to square one... Only it wasnt quite square one  I'd been talking to someone about their D21 and they said they may sell... Long story short, they did and this happened:  Fits on the driveway lovely!  And basically there is sat almost all week... as the rain decided to lash down and I had to make it road legal! - Tax (now done) - Insurance (added to current for now) - Wheels sticking out from body far too much.. Yet to be done (I've got the original wheels with it - tyres not great though..) but have ordered some lorry mudflaps to try and make some arch extension things for now until I can decide what I want to do.. Other jobs / to-do list so far: - Needs more keys cut - One of the headlights is shot. - Remove bullbar (not my taste and its not great up close) - General assessment of the car.. - Fill it up! - Exhaust will need doing this year. - General service - Clean / detail. - Treat rust (bed, wings) So errr yeah happy new-old car week to me! |
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75swb
Beta Tester
Posts: 1,052
Club RR Member Number: 181
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Can't see the d21 photos (maybe because I'm in mobile?) but do like them. Plenty of them still running around here in NZ too
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smellyferret
Posted a lot
Back in a retro after 7 years!
Posts: 1,121
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Can't see the d21 photos (maybe because I'm in mobile?) but do like them. Plenty of them still running around here in NZ too I'll check them.. wasn't sure when i linked them from google photos... Thanks for the heads up  |
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I think Nissan, like other brands use various names, model series for cars, trucks based on local acceptance and also whoever registered a name first.
In South Africa we know them as a Hardbody.
Cannot see the pics, but like the idea of any commercial/practical vehicles.
Looking forward to the pics.
As far as wheels and arches are concerned, could you “glue” bond some Land Rover arche extensions, or whatever would fit, onto the truck, in a way that you skip drilling g holes?
I see you are in Somerset, so the set of car arches I have would cost more than they are worth, to get there and are unlike;y to work for you.
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smellyferret
Posted a lot
Back in a retro after 7 years!
Posts: 1,121
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Pictures in original post re-done! (uploaded this time... will avoid google pics)
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smellyferret
Posted a lot
Back in a retro after 7 years!
Posts: 1,121
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Ok updates! (bit annoyed google photo's doesnt seem to like forums - will have to play and see if its me!) So some general condition pics:      Rust areas are the front wings and a bit of the bed. Bed doesnt look too bad.. wings hmmm! (I'm told they all go here). Exhaust looks decidedly dodgy.. And also a pic of the wheels 'poke' |
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smellyferret
Posted a lot
Back in a retro after 7 years!
Posts: 1,121
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I removed the bullbar from the front (no before pic sorry!) Here it is with the original wheels that I got with it:  its not in great shape and tbh I don't need it nor am I really in love with it!   pic after the bar is off:  |
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smellyferret
Posted a lot
Back in a retro after 7 years!
Posts: 1,121
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I made progress with the rear "lets at least try to be legal whilst I figure out what to do with wheels" arches. Managing to do these on both sides (Grizz, this car has so many holes etc I'm not too worried about a few more where they wont be seen and are not in any way structural.... (its not like this is concours!)  Pic also shows a dent in the rear panel that I need to deal with at some point.. I also forgot to take a pic of the melted electrics around one of the front lights  It doesn't work I removed a mess of 'extra' wiring that was still live (looks like it had once been connected to the extra lights on the bullbar) and was patched into this headlamp.. This didnt fix the light, but it seems I now at least have a warning bell (yes a genuine bell!) when I leave the lights on lol! There is also some sort of buzzing noise.. The other headlamp has a stone ship.. so I have ordered new glass and a replacement connector.. Will look to source some wiring and will see what I can do to solder in the new connector and so a decent job on the woring (not the cut wire blue clip stuff that the other wire was using... eughh hate that stuff...) Wheels thoughts at the moment: I probably only need one tyre for the old wheels to be ok. Get that and put old wheels on..? then source some wheels I actually like and don't stick out loads? (I do like the current wheels but but the ET is just far too much imho... need to think... Front arches are harder to do the temp arch covers on... hmmm! |
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smellyferret
Posted a lot
Back in a retro after 7 years!
Posts: 1,121
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I agree on the current wheels - they do look great! What I'm wondering is if I could basically get the same sort of wheels but with less poke (ET) I think arches like those are likely... but I don't want to commit until I know what sort of wheels I want.. lol! I don't intend this to be a big 4x4 green lane beast, I want it to be more of an adventure wagon, so I can go kayaking / fishing / swimming / camping / bushcrafting etc and use it as a base that can get anywhere. |
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I am now sitting with a huge grin.
I like that a lot.
Really hope you do leave the side stripes alone.
Good thinking with the change in wheel pcd and offset etc.
What are those wheels spaced at?
My 1966 C10 is actually on a set of modern Mitsubishi Shogun steel wheels and looks decent too.
There may be something obscure, interesting, or less obvious that is a perfect replacement.
And the wheel arch extenders...... pretty sure you will find something worthy.
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zeberdee
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,042 
Club RR Member Number: 2
Member is Online
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I think it looks great as it is .
If it was mine i’d be trying to keep that wheel & tyre combo .
But it’s not mine .
Good luck with it , definitely a good looking truck .
👍
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smellyferret
Posted a lot
Back in a retro after 7 years!
Posts: 1,121
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Jan 29, 2022 17:53:56 GMT
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Well overdue updates! I refreshed the grill: New (actually see at night) lights Replaced the indicators with clear lens units and adapted them to fit the new grill. (and painted) New grill (different, older style)  Wheels... I found these on FB marketplace 'reasonably' local, they looked cool and it looked like they might sort out the poke..  Pretty manky though! So one refurb later (not me... i paid for this!) they ended up like this:  and on the truck:  This did me fine for some adventures including RRG21  |
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smellyferret
Posted a lot
Back in a retro after 7 years!
Posts: 1,121
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Jan 29, 2022 17:55:28 GMT
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The old indicators were a bit crusty..  |
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smellyferret
Posted a lot
Back in a retro after 7 years!
Posts: 1,121
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Jan 29, 2022 17:59:20 GMT
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However... after using it most of the year I never really fell in love with it.. It was a bit big, a bit slow and just a bit much for me.. It did look great though! But i sold it... Some of the sale post pics:   |
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smellyferret
Posted a lot
Back in a retro after 7 years!
Posts: 1,121
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Jan 29, 2022 18:03:27 GMT
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I learned from this more about what would suit me...
I like something that stands out a bit.
I like "practical" vehicles.. so another pickup or a van or maybe an estate would have to be the next thing.
Seems I need something smaller than a D21 (I think it needs to be easier to drive in urban areas / fit into carparks!)
So I learned from this and enjoyed it (although didnt fall for it!)
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smellyferret
Posted a lot
Back in a retro after 7 years!
Posts: 1,121
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Jan 29, 2022 18:10:32 GMT
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This brings me up to about October 21.. I needed something to tide me over so when this turned up about an hour away for £500 with full MOT I snapped it up and small roadtrip ensued!  Not a lot to say really.. its a 1.0l 'sport' It needed a coil pack and some leads and its done me proud since then with nothing else. Great basic transport tbh. (picture isn't great.. the paint work is OK and not quite as faded as the picture shows!) |
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smellyferret
Posted a lot
Back in a retro after 7 years!
Posts: 1,121
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Jan 29, 2022 18:15:30 GMT
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The Arosa did fine over the Christmas period, but I was looking at vans etc as a D21 replacement though... I looked at some 2k Caddy's. The long and short of this is that they just didnt feel great and the money needed to get any decent spec in a colour I'd want was just plain silly. So a big nope! I started to look at the Mk2 Caddy's and this really floated my boat.. they seemed to be decently priced (1.7k ish seems to get something pretty good) I started to talk with several sellers and was close to visiting some when this came on the market:  |
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smellyferret
Posted a lot
Back in a retro after 7 years!
Posts: 1,121
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Jan 29, 2022 18:21:04 GMT
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Anyone that knows me.. knows that I am a sucker for these rusty heaps. Also anyone that knows these will (even from the above rubbish angle) know this looks pretty good for one of these! (skoda felicia 'fun' if you are wondering) I have history with these and had been on the lookout for one that wasnt a complete rusty heap for a while..  (I'm no metal sticking wonder.. my car skills are rudimentary at best - I need help for most things lol!!) anyway here is a pic of my old one:  (porsche teledials) |
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smellyferret
Posted a lot
Back in a retro after 7 years!
Posts: 1,121
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Jan 29, 2022 18:33:15 GMT
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So what happened next? Well several messages and phone calls, a train journey across the country, a chunk of cash and a long drive home... A drive where the gearbox decided to eat itself Luckily I managed to limp it home and get it onto the drive... (5th gear was OK) and thats where it sat for a couple of weeks as I got annoyed at it and looked into how to fix the gearbox.. (we'll get back to plans for that) One of the things I realised was that I really didnt like the P-Slots on it. (it needs the wheels spaced out a bit / better ET and needs some lows too.. but thats not for now) Basically the gearbox issues and the wheels I didnt like were making me ot like a car I knew I loved! One of the alloys also went flat in a week so I had to do something... Setting up ebay and bookface market searches some old golf steels came up locally for a very decent price with decent tyres... So I did a buy and this happened...  I'm not over the moon, but it is better and it does several things! 1) Its a lot more "mine" now 2) The P-Slots are for sale (they are in decent shape, just not my taste) 3) They all hold air! which means when I get a way forward with the gearbox I can grab it! and gearbox? I've tried a local company that does rebuilds but they have not been great at talking back to me.. I don't think they want to do it! So I'm hoping to source a replacement instead... (to at least keep me going - an impending house move means I'm not really in the place where I can learn about fixing gearboxes myself yet!) |
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I'd been talking to someone about their D21 and they said they may sell...
