Fabrux Posted February 6, 2015 Posted February 6, 2015 The design of the engine in this kit makes it difficult to add the distributor due to the lack of timing belt cover.
Erik Smith Posted February 6, 2015 Posted February 6, 2015 Anybody have a good pic of the completed engine?
Zarana-X Posted February 6, 2015 Posted February 6, 2015 The engine looks pretty good, other than the molded in starter, until you get to the front. I think someone had had enough and went home early. No distributor, or fuel pump:
Casey Posted February 7, 2015 Posted February 7, 2015 (edited) The engine looks pretty good, other than the molded in starter, until you get to the front. I think someone had had enough and went home early. No distributor, or fuel pump   Let's not forget this kit started at Monogram in their SNAP-TITE lineup, so it was minimally detailed and had a low parts count (even for '80s Monogram kits) from the very start. Edited November 9, 2016 by Casey
martinfan5 Posted February 8, 2015 Posted February 8, 2015 Let's not forget this kit started at Monogram in their SNAP-TITE lineup, so it was minimally detailed and had a low parts count (even for '80s Monogram kits) from the very start. :wub:
Zarana-X Posted February 8, 2015 Posted February 8, 2015 (edited) I had two of the off-white originals as a kid, that's why I have the Goodyear tires. Before the reissue,.Id look for these on ebay, never found the original in their boxes, only as glue bombs. The Miller one was always overpriced. I ended up getting a body from the yellow one and making a post-apocalyptic car out of it. I drilled out the holes on one of the old wheels, and it came out good, I'd recommend taping the sides of the wheel to protect it, though. I'll use that one as the spare. The firewall is kinda ridiculous... I'm gonna add a fill in to where the Sharpie marks are. Edited February 8, 2015 by Zarana-X
unclescott58 Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 I have little to no interest in this kit. But, another great video review by Chris. I tend to watch all of his model reviews. Whether I'm in to the kit or not. He does a great and fun job on these review. Scott
hpiguy Posted February 11, 2015 Posted February 11, 2015 Let's not forget this kit started at Monogram in their SNAP-TITE lineup, so it was minimally detailed and had a low parts count (even for '80s Monogram kits) from the very start. Oh man, anyone out there have those racing decals? Always loved that style. I have little to no interest in this kit. But, another great video review by Chris. I tend to watch all of his model reviews. Whether I'm in to the kit or not. He does a great and fun job on these review. Scott Thanks, I really appreciate that! I do it all for fun.
JTalmage Posted February 11, 2015 Posted February 11, 2015 I keep picking this kit up but never walking out with it. One day I will
Daddyfink Posted February 12, 2015 Posted February 12, 2015 I bought the Miller kit at a show a few years back and was quite excited to get it, until recently I had not really looked at it too well and when I did, the decals where gone! The decals are what sold me on it to begin with, and the fact that I am a Datsun guy, so know I need to find me some spares.
SSNJim Posted February 12, 2015 Posted February 12, 2015 My second one will have a solid front axle swap (from a Monogram K10), and has had the goofy molded spare tire removed as well. Might go with the BFG Krawlers from Fireball Modelworks. I also cut away those butt-ugly stock fender flares. How did you remove the fender flares? They seem to match the pictures posted by Zarana-X pretty well. After seeing these pictures, it looks like the stock metal fenders are under there somewhere on the model. I'm assuming you cut them off with the blade parallel to the longitudinal vertical axis of the vehicle. I've been seeing this kit in its various incarnations since it was first offered, but the flares have always prevented me from buying it. Maybe not this time....
Chuck Most Posted February 12, 2015 Posted February 12, 2015 I'm assuming you cut them off with the blade parallel to the longitudinal vertical axis of the vehicle. That's basically what I did- I just left a little bit of the end so there's a bit of a 'lip' to the opening. With a little more work they could be made to look like the regular fender openings, but for my purposes, just cutting them away worked just fine.
Fabrux Posted February 24, 2015 Posted February 24, 2015 I picked up a 1980 Datsun trucks brochure, and wanted to share some scans with everyone. According to the brochure, the truck depicted in this kit would be a Lil' Hustler 4x4 with a Grand Luxury trim package. The engine in the kit is the 2.0L L20B and not the NAPS-Z engine as indicated on the box. Here is a stock truck with the decals included in the latest reissue: Grand Luxury dash: Standard/Deluxe dash: King Cab GL interior: Standard/Deluxe RWD interior: GL 4x4 interior: And finally a closeup of the 15" 4x4 wheels in the kit. From my research, these wheels were all white with the black centre caps. Some pictures I have seen have the front centres open.
Chuck Most Posted February 24, 2015 Posted February 24, 2015 The engine in the kit is the 2.0L L20B and not the NAPS-Z engine as indicated on the box. In addition... the style of truck depicted by the kit was not built in Tennessee. Tennessee production did not begin until the revised 1983.5 model arrived. You could rework the kit into a 1983.5 model if you wanted to, no doubt, but the kit doesn't represent a Tennessee-built Datsun.
Zarana-X Posted February 24, 2015 Posted February 24, 2015 Thanks for the scans, especially the interiors.
Zarana-X Posted April 12, 2015 Posted April 12, 2015 (edited) Finished the Datsun. It gave me more issues than I care for. The decals didn't adhere well, so I used Future to make them stick. Then the chassis wouldn't sit flush, because the interior was hitting the windows. So, I had to clearance the windshield, and the tab that held the interior tub to the body, in order for the chassis to sit flush. And I broke the shocks and spare tire off during my repeated test fittings. Save yourself some trouble, and just cut off the locating pin for the windows and interior tub. Then shave off the tab for the tub. I also had to shave down the windshield because it was hitting the dashboard. All of these were making the floor of the chassis stick out past the bottom of the body. I got it where it sits flush. Glad I spent the extra time to detail the Datsun script on the grille , also added a radiator. You cant see it, but there's an opening behind the bumper, if I didn't add it, you would see the fan. You can sorta see the Datsun script here. The holes in the skid plate should be actual holes, but its a mounting point on th emodel, otherwise I would've opened them up. Distributorless engine, not really enough room to add one, either. I did add a carburator, but you can't see it anyway. Added a rearview mirror. Replaced blob with an actual spare tire. (yeah, I know it has lugnuts in it still, I'm not that good) and added shocks. For whatever reason, there's a pretty big gap behind the cab, and roll bar, so I made it a double tube to fill in the gap. Added the license plate from the original release. The taillights are molded into the body, that's one of my bugaboos. Tried to shade them, but I have mixed feelings how it turned out. Edited April 12, 2015 by Zarana-X
Aaronw Posted April 17, 2015 Posted April 17, 2015 Does anyone know of a RHD conversion for this kit? I had the idea of building an Australian bush truck, but the steering wheel is on the wrong side for that.
Zarana-X Posted April 17, 2015 Posted April 17, 2015 Does anyone know of a RHD conversion for this kit? I had the idea of building an Australian bush truck, but the steering wheel is on the wrong side for that. The Aoishima 720s are right hand drive.
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