Roll call for 4WD B12 Sentras

blownb310 · Jan 4th, 2009, 09:34 PM

Who's got one and where are you from? For those of us in the USA, I'm trying to figure out where they were sold in the US. I know the northeast had them, and I know of someone from Colorado with one. But I'd like to hear from members from all countries too.

I know there have been a few people on these boards that have posted about their 4WD B12's in the past, [very few in fact] but those posts are scattered all over. This thread is to join [the small group of us] all together in one place.

I've had three of them over the years, an '87, an '88, and my current '89.

[Bear with me I took digital pics of print pictures] Here's my white '87:

The 87 and 88's used part time 4WD with the button in the shifter to engage the rear wheels.

Here's a pic of my '88 winter beater:

Yeah it was a bit rough. I bought it for $125. Needed lots of work. My son and I took it out on frozen Round Lake in NY to practice ice driving it a bit. I am switching it over to 4 studded tires here. It's now in my back yard as a valuable [to me anyway] parts car.

And you've all seen my current red '89 [but probably not these pics]:

This was with the GA16DE swap [I never drove this one with the original engine] but before the turbo.

With 14" B12 Sport Coupe wheels.

Same view but with B14 SE-R wheels.

Here's are a couple portraits next to my '92 SE-R:

I know that these have gotten to be quite scarce today, but if you've got one, or know of someone that does [or did], please chime in here, post pics, etc!

Mike

OuttaHell · Jan 4th, 2009, 11:35 PM

-tears up- its all so beautiful -sniffle- thanks Mike!

alfsentra · Jan 5th, 2009, 08:20 AM

B12 4wd R U L E S ! ! ! Nice Work Mike! Good Luck!

sonicgundam · Jan 7th, 2009, 12:53 AM

"Sniff" i wish i had one.... i love my sport coupe, but a 4WD wagon would be killer... a 4WD sport coupe... would be even better...

dc588 · Jan 8th, 2009, 08:34 PM

CLEAN B12 4WD WISH I HAD ONE OF THOSE

sonicgundam · Jan 9th, 2009, 12:10 AM

mike, the original owner of my sport coupe ditched the sport coupe wheels and threw on 13" steelies at some point. i want a set of 14" sport coupe wheels, where the hell should i get some??

blownb310 · Jan 9th, 2009, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonicgundam

mike, the original owner of my sport coupe ditched the sport coupe wheels and threw on 13" steelies at some point. i want a set of 14" sport coupe wheels, where the hell should i get some??

I can only think of using the ususal sources like salvage yards, ebay, etc. Like many other things, the set I have were gotten 10 to 15 years ago when it was readily available in the junk yards. It's harder to find these things today, but not impossible. The center caps might be a challenge to find also. Many times they are missing on salvage yard cars.

Valanda · Jan 17th, 2009, 02:56 PM

I currently have an 87 sentra 4WD in my garage. It was originally purchased from a dealer in Champaign, IL. My ex-boyfriend also had one that was red. Same dealership. He traded his in for a jeep after a couple years.

blownb310 · Jan 18th, 2009, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valanda

I currently have an 87 sentra 4WD in my garage. It was originally purchased from a dealer in Champaign, IL. My ex-boyfriend also had one that was red. Same dealership. He traded his in for a jeep after a couple years.

Welcome to the forums Valanda.

Thanks very much for chiming in as there aren't many people who have these cars any more. You're the first person from Illinois that has confirmed that the 4WD Sentra was sold there. It makes sense, as there is plenty of snow up there.

If you are so inclined, I'd love to hear a few more details about your car. Like how many miles on it, what color, how you came acrossed it, and how long you've owned it?

Cheers,

Mike

Valanda · Jan 21st, 2009, 06:50 AM

I've spoken about my car before in another Nissan forum awhile ago.
I've had it since about 1992. It's got 225k miles on it. (Only 30k on new engine).
It's about the same color as the winter beater you pictured (tho not nearly as rusty).
There are a few pics of it sitting in my garage being neglected in the first post I made on this forum. (about pg 3 i think)
I got it because it just seemed perfect to me. My first car was an '81 Honda Civic and I've never felt comfortable with a car much bigger than that. My son is in a wheelchair, and it had plenty of room for his chair in the back. I grew up with both of my parents driving Datsun 510's and racing those in the local sports car club's road rallies and autocrosses, so Datsun/Nissan was a name I knew and trusted. Being able to switch to 4WD when the road was a little slick? HUGE bonus!!

I drove her everywhere. We've been to California, Utah, Wyoming... all over the country really. And I've never felt safer in the winter driving anything else.

Currently tho, she sits in the garage because she loves to go, but she has forgotten how to stop. $4000 in repairs to her brakes so far, and still stopping is a problem. The mechanic who helped me take such good care of her for so long returned to the Phillipines and I have numerous horror stories from my attempts to try to find someone who understands her.

I tried once to find a good home for her because I really do not understand how she works, and try as I might I just can't grasp it. The people who responded seemed more interested in ripping her apart for organ donation than in preserving her and I just could not let that happen.

So, she sits in my garage until I learn auto mechanics or I hear about someone around here who is willing and able to take the time to correctly help her with her troubles without making remarks about how she isn't worth the money it would take to fix her.

Probably alot more than you wanted to know, but that's her (and my) story.

Val

blownb310 · Jan 21st, 2009, 07:07 AM

Thanks for filling us in Val. It sounds like the brake lines have rusted out and they are very time consuming [and pain the butt] to replace. I know, because I have replaced all of my brake and fuel lines when I restored my car 8 years ago. It took several days, even working with a lift to make it easier. I had to remove all of the old lines and duplicate them with a hand tubing bender and lots of TLC. Your local garage mechanics will not usually even consider doing this. Firstly, they don't want to do a job like that, secondly, they can't charge enough money to make it worthwhile. So they throw a huge $$ number at you and know that you will say "forget it". It takes a certain dedication that not everyone possesses.

Regards,

Mike

P.S. Many newer cars that I have seen from underneath, have a plastic coating on the fuel and brake lines nowadays to protect them from corrosion. Too bad our B12's didn't have this!

blownb310 · Jun 14th, 2009, 09:47 AM

I guess our 4WD B12 Sentras are getting scarce these days. I'd love to hear from other owners of these cars, including the 4WD Sunnys in Europe and such.

bob89sentra · Jul 9th, 2009, 04:31 PM

I have seen a few running around in the Colorado Springs area. There was one for sale in the Colorado SPrings Craigslist the other day 1987 Nissan Sentra AWD
$1500

sonicgundam · Jul 9th, 2009, 05:00 PM

frig i really want an AWD b12.

i think an AWD GA16E SportCoupe would be an awesome project.

blownb310 · Jul 9th, 2009, 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bob89sentra

I have seen a few running around in the Colorado Springs area. There was one for sale in the Colorado SPrings Craigslist the other day 1987 Nissan Sentra AWD
$1500

Thanks for chiming in Bob and for the link to the ad. Too bad Craigslist's pics are so small. Looks like a nice one. I'm not sure I've ever seen that color of blue on a B12 before. Anyone know if it's factory?