1987 Nissan Pintara GXE review from Australia and New Zealand

Head gasket was leaking compression between the rear 2 cylinders

Heater core was leaking in cabin - big job to replace but I managed it

Thermostat was undersized so water pushed through gasket/leaked

Rocker cover gasket leaked oil down exhaust side of engine

Head is cracked at one of the spark plug holes on intake side

Fuel injector was leaking to atmosphere.

I love this car!

My sister had overheated the engine and killed it so it became my project, and with under $500 I brought it back to life and it has been reliable and great ever since.

For a 4cylinder car of this size, the acceleration is actually quite decent :) You just need to get used to using the kick-down switch and keeping your foot flat to the floor.

I usually get about 370km from about 50 litres of fuel... that said I drive with my foot flat all the time, so it's pretty good.

The front ball joints have failed and are loose, Nissan no longer stocks replacements - this means I cannot have a wheel allignment done as the car sits differently all the time.. I may be able to replace the entire transverse assembly per side though.

It makes amusing raspy rattle sounds (loose heat shield on exhaust) when taking the rpm all the way to 6000 :)

It's quite hardy too, it has been backed into stuff, driven forward into stuff and I have even bounced it off a concrete pole on the left side with little damage.

I have installed an immobiliser, central locking and alarm, making it even nicer to live with.

I love this car because I don't care about the body at all, and it is very reliable and easy to work on :) It sat under 10cm of snow for 24hrs and started first go when I got back to it :)