Aviator 902S

Well, I wasn't in the market for another 12A-powered 1st gen. What I really need right now is a small Japanese pick-up in good running condition to use as a winter beater/ to-and-from-work vehicle.

But a couple of nights ago Alak called and told me about another member's (Felgar) charcoal grey '84 GSL that was in almost as good shape as my wife's red '85--- except for a howling transmission and some very minor rust. He needed the garage space, had an SE to drive and if he couldn't get $1000 for the GSL he was going to call the wreckers.

Well, I wasn't about to let that happen so I called Felgar, looked at the car, test-drove it--- and then bought it. This now brings the total number of first gens I've owned (or in the case of my wife's GSL, co-owned) to six--- three of which we still have.

Since this car is in much better shape than my own silver '85 GSL (which was rear-ended last October and lost an apex seal last week) it will make a much better project car. I'll swap over the good transmission and other parts from my silver car as soon as we've moved into the new house this spring.

Too bad the purchase didn't go without incident--- my wife, who was following in her red RX7 while we delivered the new purchase, scraped paint with a Chrysler Cirrus en route. Some clueless moron in front of her stopped in the middle of traffic because she didn't know where she was going or what she was doing. Tiana got impatient and tried to go around her to the left--- at exactly 1/2 a second after the guy in the Cirrus behind her tried to do the same thing. Shoulda shoulder-checked more carefully. (Live and learn, darlin'. Good judgement comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgement. Today you became more experienced...)

No harm worth mentioning to the Cirrus, but there's a scuff and a couple of dented panels on the left front corner of the wife's car. Oh well, I guess I'll have to touch those up when I pull off her fender to replace the worn upper left door hinge...

Alak

iTrader: (9)

I knew you were going to get that car. I was like, this is bretts car when I saw it. Minute you said you blew a seal, I knew it was all you.

Glad that worked out.

However, my finders fee involves 12A End Plate, Intermediate Plate and Front Plate. Hahaha, just kidding.


If you part out your car (which you should) I know a guy whos looking for lots of parts for his silver California GSL.


Sorry to hear about the wifes car. Can't say she didnt have it coming. Her driving scares even me. And you've all seen the way I drive. Ask Nubian about the ride in my Miata.

Felgar

Yeah I was driving the charcoal GSL stopped at the 3-way intersection right behind her. Brett and I were chatting and so I wasn't really paying attention but I saw the last 1.5 seconds. I was like "crap! that green car just nicked your wife's fender!"

Kinda hurt to let my very first car go for so cheap after she gave me so many years (7+) of good service. But at least it's not off to wrecker's, and I know it's going to a good home.

Aviator 902S

Yeah, it's always hard to part with these cars. Speaking of scraping paint, as if Tiana's incident yesterday wasn't enough I was on my way home in the Sentra today and stopped for a pedestrian. The pedestrian started to cross, then became very wide-eyed and jumped back onto the curb. I looked in my rear-view to see a beat-up '87 Tercel looming larger and larger.

WHAM! We pulled over to the side and the 19-yr-old guy behind the wheel got out. His car was a write-off but at least he was more concerned with my condition than his car. I was ok (no, I won't file a bogus injury claim) but the Nissan's trunk no longer opens and a muffler clamp rattles at anything above idle. The car is a beater so I'm not concened about the minor scratches in the bumper.

And unlike the last time in the silver RX7, this time I got all the info exchanged. I'll put in the claim with the insurance company, but if the guy makes good on his promise to take care of getting my trunk to open and close properly and the muffler to shut up I won't persue the claim. If I did I'm sure his rates would skyrocket so it's in his best interest to do the right thing.

Incidentally, this rear-ender happened on 20th Ave and 12th St NW eastbound--- exactly one block east of where the 7 was hit. I think I'll start taking a different route home...

Felgar

No way! Man, that's just terrible luck. It's been a rough winter for you! It's one of those "gotta laugh or you'd be crying" things...

Alak

iTrader: (9)

It just keeps getting better and better. Ever think about like.........NOT DRIVING?

At least stop in front of a guy in his winter beater ferrari.

Aviator 902S

LOL. The problem with 20th st N.W. is that it's a viable shortcut around the (major) construction zone that is 16th ave N.W.--- people use the 2-lane 20th st instead and drive with the same "comin' through/ get out of my way" mindset as they would if they were on the main route.

The problem with this is that S.A.I.T. is only four blocks away, and students living on the north side of 20th are always using the crosswalks. Some wait for the coast to be clear before crossing; others don't. The results are as predictable as they are annoying.

For the record, the guy did fix my trunk and then gave me $40 for the 20 minutes I spent under my car putting the muffler back onto its third hanger. The trunk latch actually works better than before so no complaints. The claim is now closed.

Manntis

B, you're too nice. A trunk sticking could indicate frame damage (unibody no longer true) and could lead to nastiness down the road. @ least report it to the police so there's a paper trail, whether or not you go the insurance route.

Aviator 902S

The issue has been taken care of now and everything's back to normal. If this were a car worth over say, 2K I'd be more concerned but it's not. I've had this '91 Sentra for over nine years and it is now a rust bucket with over 300,000 kms on it. A reliable beater, but a beater none the less--- most likely not worth more than $800. It wouldn't even be worth the aggravation of getting any unibody damage fixed even if someone else were picking up the tab. My time is worth more than that. Now if it were the 7...

Manntis

I just chenged a dash bulb in a 91 sentra. Who the hell designs a dash that requires you to undo 2 screws from the top of the transmission just to change a dash bulb??

Aviator 902S

I'm guessing you mean you had to undo bolts in what would normally be the transmission hump on a rear-wheel-drive car (?)

Was this the Sentra XE (same as mine) or the Sentra Classic? Nissan sold both during the '91 to '93 model years and the two cars are as different as night and day--- the cheaper-looking Classic looks like a late-'80s Sentra/ Stanza and the XE looks similar (if you stare at it long enough) to an early '80s BMW 320i.

I'm asking because I've changed the bulbs in the instrument cluster and those are no problem. But the ones that illuminate the heater controls on my center panel recently cratered and I haven't gotten around to replacing them yet. But I have had that panel off previously to install stereos and replace the heater fan switch.

Manntis

nope - I had to undo the screws securing the speedo cable to the tranny to get enough slack to pull out the underbezel, as per advice from the nissan owners forum.


It was an XE - the top 2 bulbs are no problem, but it was the bottom centre bulb that's obstructed by the plastic from the tach face backing.

Aviator 902S

It's been a while (8 years) since I had the instrument cluster out, but I don't recall removing the bolts you've mentioned. If I remember correctly all I did was remove the instrument surround from the front and then pulled the instrument cluster retaining screws. I then disconnected the speedo cable from the back side and voila. (Mine doesn't have a tach btw. Coul).d yours have been a GXE?)

Manntis

could be - it's not my car.

There is space to reach up and over the right 'shoulder' of the inner bezel to disconnect the speedo, but you need little (japanese?) hands to get in there. You'll recall that despite my asian heritage, I'm somewhat larger in scale

Nismo Convert86

iTrader: (7)

You don't have to remove any bolts near the tranny, it's like 4 under the bezel, and 3 on the inside just above the tope of the gauges, and something like 5 on the steering column.

I had a 89 sentra, and I had the intruments out like 15 times, to replace lights, speedo cable, gauge volatge regulator, and lots of other ****.

Aviator 902S

LOL... Yeah, no kidding--- I do recall turning the air blue with profanities while mucking around with that sob of a cable connection...

Aviator 902S

If you go back a few posts you'll see that Manntis explained that it wasn't bolts on the tranny per se but rather, the two screws that connect to the speedo cable--- which is connected to the trans.

I haven't had to remove the cluster from an '89 so I can't confirm any similarities between it and the '91 through '94 Sentra XE. However, the '89 is pretty much the same car as the '91 through '93 Sentra Classic--- ie: it's a completely different car from the XE and GXE.

Nismo Convert86

iTrader: (7)

Yeah the Classic was all the unsold Sentras left over from the US and previous years, in Mexico they use the Sentra, under another name as taxi's.