Goki's 1987 Nissan Vanette (GC22)

DomKDR · **Posted:** Tue Apr 03, 2012 2:30 pm

You don't want to lower a Vanette too much, trust me on that

gokiburix · **Posted:** Tue Apr 03, 2012 2:45 pm

DomKDR wrote:

You don't want to lower a Vanette too much, trust me on that

oh i know! way too much overhang in the front won't let me clear anything. I already scrape at stock height

I want to put it on an airbag suspension so I can raise/lower it whenever....I'm looking into the cost and see if it's worth it.

Do you have experience with these vans lowered?

DomKDR · **Posted:** Tue Apr 03, 2012 5:03 pm

If it's got front torsion bars like a hiace it should be easy to lower it, bump stops in the rear.
Slamming one of these will make it pretty undriveable.

gokiburix · **Posted:** Wed Apr 04, 2012 8:49 am

DomKDR wrote:

If it's got front torsion bars like a hiace it should be easy to lower it, bump stops in the rear.
Slamming one of these will make it pretty undriveable.

unfortunately...it's on a transverse leaf suspension in the front, so it's not as easy as the toyota one

Yah...I would agree that slamming this would make it ridiculously hard to drive....a static drop on this van wouldnt be good.

little red van · **Posted:** Thu Apr 12, 2012 3:01 am

I have a Nissan C22 van - diesel. 1987, and in need of a bit of work now. Apparently there were 500 of them brought into Australia for Australia Post - so all or at least most of the C22s in this country were originally Post Office vans. Mine is still the regulation red with a white lid. On the whole it has been most reliable. I haven't seen any others around Melbourne for ages - a couple of petrol ones, but not diesel. Are there any other C22 diesels out there ?

gokiburix · **Posted:** Thu Apr 12, 2012 9:09 am

little red van wrote:

I have a Nissan C22 van - diesel. 1987, and in need of a bit of work now. Apparently there were 500 of them brought into Australia for Australia Post - so all or at least most of the C22s in this country were originally Post Office vans. Mine is still the regulation red with a white lid. On the whole it has been most reliable. I haven't seen any others around Melbourne for ages - a couple of petrol ones, but not diesel. Are there any other C22 diesels out there ?

Post a pic or a few of your van! I wanna see it!

So these vans are limited in Australia too?

analise · **Posted:** Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:39 pm

YES! There are other GC 22 Van owners out there!!! I am one!!

gokiburix · **Posted:** Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:26 pm

analise wrote:

YES! There are other GC 22 Van owners out there!!! I am one!!

COOL! where are you from?

gokiburix · **Posted:** Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:28 pm

if anyone is interested...there's a twin of my van for sale in Santa Monica for $1000 (you could probably negotiate)

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/ct ... 65504.html

needs tune up and registration...150
310 955 7778

analise · **Posted:** Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:40 pm

gokiburix wrote:

analise wrote:

YES! There are other GC 22 Van owners out there!!! I am one!!

COOL! where are you from?

I live in Charlotte NC. I have a 1988 GC22 with a 5 speed. Love this car!! Bought it as a demo in 1989 with 2400 miles on it. Refused to sell it back at recall-just too much FUN to drive, holds a ton of stuff, and I love the way it looks!

It's currently in the shop for a rear differential replacement. Very hard to locate the part. I wish, despite the recall Nissan would at least allow parts to be sold in the USA. Since they still manufacture this vehicle and ship to other countries I don't understand why some parts can't be made available to the diehard owners.

gokiburix · **Posted:** Mon Apr 23, 2012 3:30 pm

analise wrote:

gokiburix wrote:

analise wrote:

YES! There are other GC 22 Van owners out there!!! I am one!!

COOL! where are you from?

I live in Charlotte NC. I have a 1988 GC22 with a 5 speed. Love this car!! Bought it as a demo in 1989 with 2400 miles on it. Refused to sell it back at recall-just too much FUN to drive, holds a ton of stuff, and I love the way it looks!

It's currently in the shop for a rear differential replacement. Very hard to locate the part. I wish, despite the recall Nissan would at least allow parts to be sold in the USA. Since they still manufacture this vehicle and ship to other countries I don't understand why some parts can't be made available to the diehard owners.

Where do you source your parts from? (in case I need help getting a new rear diff)

Yah..I don't understand it either, but I'm guessing Nissan really wanted to act as if these never existed and swept everything under the rug.
Other parts of the world saw these vans up until 1992, but the difference is that they didn't shove the 2.4 in it.

By the way...I'd LOVE to see pics of your van!

gokiburix · **Posted:** Tue Apr 24, 2012 2:33 pm

due to image size restrictions, I posted my latest additions to the vanette here:
http://datsmo.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/lastest-additions-to-vanette/

gokiburix · **Posted:** Wed Apr 25, 2012 8:37 am

Things I added yesterday:

Thermocap....to keep an eye on the temp

Front sun shade retractable screen

Front sun shade retractable screen (retracted)

(close up)

Rear sunroof closed (dirty...I know)

Rear sunroof open (cloudy but bright)

Rear sunroof sun shade retractable screen

Rear sunroof sun shade retractable screen (retracted)

DATSMO windshield decal "official DATSMO van"

analise · **Posted:** Wed Apr 25, 2012 8:55 am

Goki- Did you receive my reply to your post about pictures and parts?? I don't see it here and may need to resend. Please advise. Analise

gokiburix · **Posted:** Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:58 am

analise wrote:

Goki- Did you receive my reply to your post about pictures and parts?? I don't see it here and may need to resend. Please advise. Analise

no i didnt see any replies

gokiburix · **Posted:** Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:25 am

aww yea~! Datsmo Ironhide!

trivia: Ironhide/Ratchet were modeled after the Nissan Vanette

gokiburix · **Posted:** Thu Apr 26, 2012 9:28 am

Some info from Analise...

I think the recall was a knee jerk reaction to the threat of the class action suit. When I did my due diligence, I was only able to find a few references to engine compartment fires(no one was killed or injured) and all in states with 100 degree plus temps, with the AC running constantly. I thought I read the fires were also the result of hose failures that spewed hot liquid on the engine which then ignited. I have never had an overheating or engine problem with my van. I did not use the AC much because of the drain on acceleration, tho. I think if Nissan had not had 4 recalls on the van there would not have been a buy back and crush. The last recall was for seat belt latches of all things. The most extensive recall was the one with the placement of the heavy duty cooling fan in the engine compartment. People are too fast to sue where no real extended cause exists, and the lawyers get the bulk of the settlement money.

On a rather impressive note, tho dark, my mechanic(who has worked on these vans since their release), said at the time of the recall that Nissan brought in engineers from Japan to test(in Atlanta) the Mitsubishi minivan, the Toyota, and the Nissan. All were set to run at an accelerated speed and over time all three caught on fire, but, the Nissan was still running despite being on fire. Makes me laugh when I think of the other two burning out and that z engine still going. I think if the Nissan van had not had the other recall issues, the van would have been modified and released for sale many more years.

I have been accumulating parts for my van whenever I find them so I have back up. Things like air filters and front end parts. Pretty sure it will be a 25 cent something that puts me out of business but until then, I am keeping this van!

Analise

cool stuff!

analise · **Posted:** Thu Apr 26, 2012 10:00 am

gokiburix wrote:

Some info from Analise...

I think the recall was a knee jerk reaction to the threat of the class action suit. When I did my due diligence, I was only able to find a few references to engine compartment fires(no one was killed or injured) and all in states with 100 degree plus temps, with the AC running constantly. I thought I read the fires were also the result of hose failures that spewed hot liquid on the engine which then ignited. I have never had an overheating or engine problem with my van. I did not use the AC much because of the drain on acceleration, tho. I think if Nissan had not had 4 recalls on the van there would not have been a buy back and crush. The last recall was for seat belt latches of all things. The most extensive recall was the one with the placement of the heavy duty cooling fan in the engine compartment. People are too fast to sue where no real extended cause exists, and the lawyers get the bulk of the settlement money.

On a rather impressive note, tho dark, my mechanic(who has worked on these vans since their release), said at the time of the recall that Nissan brought in engineers from Japan to test(in Atlanta) the Mitsubishi minivan, the Toyota, and the Nissan. All were set to run at an accelerated speed and over time all three caught on fire, but, the Nissan was still running despite being on fire. Makes me laugh when I think of the other two burning out and that z engine still going. I think if the Nissan van had not had the other recall issues, the van would have been modified and released for sale many more years.

I have been accumulating parts for my van whenever I find them so I have back up. Things like air filters and front end parts. Pretty sure it will be a 25 cent something that puts me out of business but until then, I am keeping this van!

Analise

cool stuff!

Did you get the link to the recalls for your year van?

gokiburix · **Posted:** Thu Apr 26, 2012 11:03 am

analise wrote:

Did you get the link to the recalls for your year van?

yah...i found it on automd thanks!!

shauskie · **Joined:** Wed May 30, 2012 8:19 am **Posts:** 3

hello..i'm newbie here from philippines...i would like to share my ride...1993 model nissan vanette local version here in philippines...we have lots of this ride here and we have also club for this ride...vanette club of the philippines..
hope we can share knowledge with different variants of our beloved vanette..thank you..

the club

the ac

the speed

Goki's 1987 Nissan Vanette (GC22)

Who is online