So, last time I posted about the then-planned Minor auto conversion and the ongoing quest for suitable Datsun-sourced parts, I was contacted by someone locally who, when he's not stalking me on the internets, has been gaining experience of converting Toyota's compact, light(ish), strong and very, very sweet 4A-F, 4A-G and similar engines to run in RWD cars using the AW131 automatic gearbox internals fitted into a different casing from the original, combined FWD arrangement found in however many million Corollas they've built by now and naturally, I listened because there are many more automatic Toyotas around than there are 120Ys, so all I had to do was buy a donor car, remove the parts required and sell on whatever was left to someone who'd recently totalled their own Toyota.
So this one fell from the sky and landed right by me so I bought it:
Well obviously, because it turned out to be far, far better in every conceivable way than I'd dared to expect it to be, I couldn't take it apart, so the Minor, including all of its accumulated parts, went to someone who'd expressed an interest in taking it on as a stock restoration and the 2013 MK7 Glof is going back to its supplying dealer on Tuesday, the plan being to use the Liftback as a modern car and why not? After all, it drives at least as well as any other newish car and came with a complete service history from day one, is totally free from rust and every single square inch of bodywork that isn't visible from outside is caked with something clear and sticky topside - Looks a lot like Ensis V - and something equally clear but even stickier - possibly a Dinitrol product, possibly a different Ensis - in the engine bay, under the floors and inside the rear quarters all over the suspension turrets and spare wheel well.
So unless anyone has any rigid objection to stuff relating to a car that's only 25 years old and looks just like a modernish car, I'll be posting about how car and I get along in the coming months and years.
So far, apart from a sunroof that won't open, which was declared by the seller, only some very tiny bumper scuffs and the odd equally minor paint scratch, nothing at all needs doing. Hmm, best let Heather borrow it, that should provoke something into falling off...
) steering makes it feel massively different from a newer car of similar type. That, and seeing the receipt that tells me how few pounds I paid for it.