A question for car fans and those who know about mechanics....

Here's one for those of you who are car fans.

My grandfather (May he now RIP), used to drive a bright orange 1981 Datsun 210 which he had bought when it was brand new. Since the time he fell ill for the first time, back in 2002, he stopped driving, and since then the car hadn't been used. After he died, the car just sat in the garage.

I have always had a penchant for antique cars, specially those cute little Datsuns and Toyotas that came out in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Exploiting the fact that I will finally be in age to get my driving licenses tomorrow, Vicky and I have started to try to revive the little relic or the "little orange fella" as Vicky and I call it jokingly, before it damages beyond repair. Besides, its becoming valuable.

Today, we opened its doors and windows... first time in over a year... we almost coughed ourselves to death when we tried to get inside. The air inside was so stale. While the outside is very covered in dust, the inside wasn't that dusted... probably because it was closed for so long, no outside stuff would come in.

The keys had been in the ignition all this time. They had spent so much time, they were stuck and had a hard time getting them out of the ignition, but we managed to get them out. We got them back in and turned on the car.... nothing. It just moved around and nothing. Not even the electric motor would turn on. I started pressing the honk... nothing, nor the lights would turn on. The thing was as dead as a skeleton. Obviously the problem was that the battery was dead. Not surprising considering the amount of time that thing has been sitting there. We had some jumper cables and a battery charger, to try and charge the battery.

It still didn't work. Absolutely nothing. We will obviously have the battery changed and see if that works, because probably the battery is so dead it cannot be charged. But, I know very little about this stuff, and Vicky knows even less. Any suggestions and ideas on the project of reviving the old Datsun?

First off, a 1981 would be considered a Classic, not an Antique. I agree that a battery change is in order. Once that's installed, and some gas is as well, start her up, and see what else is in need of attention. Give it a nice cleaning, put some aire fresheners inside, and take it as it comes.

You'll probably have to take it through inspection, so the air filter will most likely have to be changed, otherwise I'm sure it'll fail emission testing.

I'll try to get Brandon "Cougar" to reply to this site. I'm quite sure he'll be of help as well. Good luck and keep updating us.

*** Check the Oil and other essential fluid levels before starting it. ***

Spotz

Hey Vic, yeah replace the battery and see what happens. I've dealt with cars in storage for years and years and they've all started up fine. The gas in there will be stale so you'll need to replace that (but it'll probably start just real rough ), and yeah take Spotz's advice and check the fluids. Also after you get it running, replace them all just to be safe.
Other than that, can't think of any reason for it not to start.
Oh yeah, on a couple cars stored in a damp environment, I've run into spark plugs that have gone to hell... and new plugs never hurt anyone

-Brandon

Edit: since we're on the topic of cars, I thought I'd let you all know Im suddenly obsessed with Dodge Demons now thats a car!

I asked my dad about the idea of the old Datsun. He apparently knew something I didn't about the car.

I used to remember alot that when my grandfather used to drive it, it would cause a massive smoking... black smoke from the exhaust, and it would smell horrible. But since it would only happen inside the garage where its closed and the fumes never get out I never minded, provided he didn't think of warming the engine up inside the garage.

He told me about the whole affair, in plain mechanical terms: My grandfather was a bit of those grumpy people (no secret there), but there was no way in telling him he needed to take the car to fix up, because it was mixing gasoline with oil. Apparently the rings are worn out, and its mixing gasoline and oil. That explains the smoke and exhaust from the smell as the car was burning oil along with the gasoline. But the more dangerous part, is that when you take out the oil there is gasoline inside the oil.

Most of you will know that gasoline breaks up the viscosity of oil, and in fact, some car mechanics, when they have their hands incredibly full of the stuff, just wash it with some bit of gasoline, and that speeds the washing of your hands a lot. So its a miracle that oil never lost its viscosity to the point the engine had a breakdown. Apparently that was the main reason my dad was always wary of using the car for himself.

Whats even funnier, is that he himself was making plans of reviving it at the same time that Vicky and I were tinkering with the thing, so he could stop using the pickup truck as main car. It can be repaired, but its gonna have to be something beyong changing a battery. We would have to take it to a mechanic (We know one that is specialized in that type of car), and have a few pieces there changed. That would be a bit pricy (ranging in the several hundred dollars), but would fix the "Datsuncito" which is otherwise in almost mint condition.

Any ideas on it?

Meh, that sucks. You'll have to go in and replace those rings.... but hey while your in there you can replace whatever you want and have her back to perfect condition
Guess it depends on how much time/money your willing to put into it.

Good luck,

Brandon