"The Goon" Build (KA Datsun)

[WagDatto]

First, I'd like to say what's up, everybody. I'm Sean from Sacramento, CA. I've been lurking around the forums for a few months, reading up and learning a lot, so thanks in advance for all of the help you guys have unknowingly given me!

This is my first post, so let's start it right! This is my project (AKA The Breadbox), and I've had a blast working on it with my older brother. I've learned a ton about Nissans, and the racing pedigree they earned back in the day under the Datsun brand.

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/1/702455022.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=7440243)

A few months back, I bought this 1972 Datsun 510 Wagon with the stock 1800cc motor and 4 speed tranny that was nearing the last leg of its life.

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/1/702454758.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=7440224)
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/1/702454780.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=7440225)
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/1/702454763.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=7440226)
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/1/702454864.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=7440227)

My brother and I decided to scrap the stocker and upgrade to a KA24DE with future plans on turboing and driving on around 250hp. First thing's first, I tore out the stock L18 and 4 speed tranny, cleaned the engine bay, removed the windshield wiper motor assembly, cleaned the engine bay some more, and sanded it down. I sprayed a few cans of "Truck Bed Liner" rattle-can paint as a base, and finished it with a semi-gloss black. It came out really nice for nothing more than some elbow grease and 10 bucks from NAPA.

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/1/702454820.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=7440230)
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/1/702454831.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=7440231)
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/1/702454826.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=7440232)

A trip to the local junk yard, and I scored some 280zx struts and breaks for the front to give this beast some true stopping power, also allowing me the opportunity to go back and upgrade to drilled and/or slotted rotors when we turbo. I cut and flipped the engine crossmember to clear the stock oil pan and took the struts, control arms, TC rods and x-member in for powdercoating (as long as I'm doing it, I might as well do it right, yeah?). After some wiggling, we got the engine and tranny in and seated with a new transmission crossmember, all new steering linkage, poly bushings and some fresh grease all around to replace the worn out, 30 something year old parts.

(Pics of front suspension will be added this weekend sometime)
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/1/702455049.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=7440241)
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/1/702455089.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=7440242)

As it sits now, I have to shorten the stock driveshaft, finish fab work on my custom stainless fuel cell, figure out where I'm mounting the intake, get a radiator and electric fans small enough to squeeze in front of the motor, and get exhaust done, but I'm hoping to knock out those small things within the month. After that's done, I picked up some BRE style fiberglass flared front fenders, and some rear fender flares to match.

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/1/702454911.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=7440238)

However, as you can see, the rear flares can't just be molded on and call it a day, as they were meant for a 2 door. The idea for now is that we're going to have to recut the rear doors and retub the wheel wells to allow the flares to be molded in so some big-lipped, low offset wheels can come in!:) After some flare-age, the whole car needs a trip to the paint booth for a nice red color to cover up the stock... I have no idea what to call that color!

I'll keep updates coming as I can, as well as some more recent pictures as soon as I get over to my brothers house to take some. Any feedback is welcome, but I'd prefer constructive criticism over outright flaming, if at all possible, haha!

[BustedS13]

that's fantastic. +1

[WagDatto]

Wow, thanks for the quick response, I'll try to build it up a little bit more over the next week or so when I can get some more pictures when it was in more pieces.

[BustedS13]

looking forward to it. ka's being put to good use warms my heart. that bay looks sweet.

[S14Josh]

Goon is such an awesome word.

Build looks pretty neat so far!

[charlie321]

Looks awsome, can't wait to see the rest of it sean! +1

[S13Boosts]

word i wanna see this completed:keke:

[bloodangels13]

SHAGGIN WAGAN! sweet ... i cant wait to see the progress. good to see someone saving another piece of import history

[WagDatto]

I can tell you there is going to be NO Shag Carpet put in this thing, haha. Thanks for the kind words, guys! If any of you are looking into getting a Datsun of any kind, let me know. My brother has owned a dozen or so, and can pretty much tell you exactly what goes where, what size any bolt is and how to fix anything on them. He's definately my mentor in this build!

[ctm_motortrends]

Nice Wagon always wanted one of these Good Luck.

[ROUGE180]

I can't wait to see what you get done. I have been thinking about getting a 510 wagon and just going nuts with it. That or a Datsun 2000. Good job bro. Keep the pics coming. +1 for stylinz

[WagDatto]

**********UPDATE**********

So I got to work and fiddled with some numbers with one of my colleagues, and discovered that I had to remeasure for my fuel cell. As perfect as a 23"lx17"wx11"h cell would fit in the stock location, I crunched some numbers and found that it would hold about 18.5 gallons of fuel, which is WAY more than I need. I dont need to drive to L.A. one one tank!! So tomorrow, I'm heading over to mount the alternator bracket, do some wiring, take some pictures, and come up with a new measurement.


Rogue, swapping an SR or KA into a 510 is... easy. Like, stupid easy. You cut and reverse the front crossmember, reuse the stock motor mounts, and buy a new tranny crossmember, plumb and wire and you're done. I can't speak from experience on a 2000, but I've done two KA 510s and it's so perfect for that engine bay.

[ZX88]

this is going to be awesome! +1

[status:one]

looking forward to seeing the progress.

[ManoNegra]

Beautiful build. I'm looking forward to following it's progress.

[jackjack]

thats gonna be sweet.

[WagDatto]

Thanks again to everybody that's replied so far. I'm even more excited to get some more work done on it now that people are stoked for me! I thought it was definately a unique build, as I haven't seen a 510 Wagon on the roads in a few years. I got a much happier response here than I did over at the510realm forums, but then again they see 510's being posted 24/7.

I vow to take no more Camera Phone pictures, though my digital camera isn't a huge step up. I'll get front suspension and crossmember pictures tomorrow, any other requests?

[SimpleSexy180]

sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet! good luck man cant wait for more pictures.

ive seen one datsun wagon here in my city. i was shocked to even see one still around.

[BustedS13]

my dad's been wanting to team up on a 510. he had one when they were new. or a Z, same story

MORE SNAPS

[WagDatto]

More pictures?! Haha, I'm at work right now, I wish I could be working on it. But I AM bringing a few things back with me today. Grabbing some 3/4 stock bar, some heim joins and 3/4 bushing ends. And the jewel, I've got to pollish up my new battery hold-down tray for my optima. Yay pollished billet!

http://www.fbirides.com/assets/files/product_images/266017.jpg
http://www.fbirides.com/assets/files/product_images/266016.jpg

[Aeroscraper326]

Awesome stuff man, I can't wait to see her finished!!

[jyon9689]

thia thing will have a great stance one it's lowered with the flares and the nice offsets

[Addicted2Kouki]

so my question is...
Why the wagon?
Not that theres anything wrong with it. just wondering.

[WagDatto]

Honestly, because of availability. My older brother had it and was buying a 2 door shell to do his KA swap, so I took the wagon off his hands for 700 bones. Plus, to find a 510 with a decent body, with no major rust and in running condition is hard enough as it is. It was a steal.

Plus I think they're sick. You rarely see a 510, but to see a badass 510 wagon is unheard of!

[drifter808]

nice build. Got a friend here that used to drift a wagon. didn't do to good with the stock engine. it did have 4 barrel side draft carbs though.

[Bushido]

lookin good man, lets see some overall shots of the car.

what are your plans for wheels?

[Bubbles]

Honestly, because of availability. My older brother had it and was buying a 2 door shell to do his KA swap, so I took the wagon off his hands for 700 bones. Plus, to find a 510 with a decent body, with no major rust and in running condition is hard enough as it is. It was a steal.

Plus I think they're sick. You rarely see a 510, but to see a badass 510 wagon is unheard of!

I think it's a great idea.

Originality but not just for the sake of it.

Originality because it's going to be badass.

[WagDatto]

Yeah, the stock engine that was in mine was pretty tired. As soon as I would corner, the engine would sputter and try to die. Rather than try to tune the engine to work right, I pulled it for the KA. I welded the rear diff to let it break a little easier, and I actually got the little ole wagon to spin some donuts off before we yanked the old L18.

Before I really drift this thing, I need to have the rear springs debowed and stiffened and reinforce the leaf spring mounts to ensure that nothing bad happens.

Plans for wheels? I'm going to stick with the 15x7 Snowflakes. When I get it all flared and I'm shopping for new shoes, I'll probably go for some 15x9 +0 all around. I'm not quite sure yet, but the bigger the lip the better to fit under the fenders!

[Jtuned_andy]

Pretty soon there isn't gonna be any stock 510s around, everyone feels the need to swap them and turn them into drifters :(

Nice wagon...I guess. Rare to see them around.

[CrimsonRockett]

Nice!

My next summer project is going to be an '82 Datsun 200sx.

It was my dad's first car.

Ever since he got rid of it(blown engine) about 12-14 years ago, he's wanted another one.

So, I plan on getting him one, restoring it, fresh paint, wheels, suspension, etc. and giving it to him for his 50th birthday.

:D

[WagDatto]

Pretty soon there isn't gonna be any stock 510s around, everyone feels the need to swap them and turn them into drifters :(

Nice wagon...I guess. Rare to see them around.

That day will make me happy and sad. So long as 510's stick around, I'll call it a good world. I refuse to make the wagon a track car, she'll be daily driven when I get her going. I'll get myself an S13 beater to track, but I chose the KA swap for practicality and reliability. It's becoming harder and more expensive to source parts for Dimes. Plus, the stocker 4 speed wouldnt handle too many highway experiences. The KA I got from my buddy for 400 bux made it the right choice.

[ManoNegra]

I live en el barrio and see 510s every once in the while. Family members and friends often wonder why I stare glassy eyed at old pos cars all the time...

[kcndizzle]

Fun looking project man, hope to see it running around here sometime soon!

p.s. You wouldn't have happened to buy an s14 ecu/maf/harness off of me a while back would you?

[WagDatto]

Met in the Target parking lot down near 80?

If that was you, I don't remember your name, I have you in my phone as "240 ECU." Gooood times... Ever get the right colored front end and sell the car?

Edit: Was your name Kurt or something?
Edit 2: I think it was Kirk.

[kcndizzle]

Hey! It was you, and yes the name is Kurt! Yeah, got that car all put together, and sold it off. And bought another white s14 shell lol, but this one is currently getting built with more sinister plans. Good to see the dime project coming along nicely.

[posdriftin]

man i love to see people doing 510's and z's .... gl let me know if you need anything ...ive done a few 510's and s30 z cars....

[gprb25]

Nice ride Man!

I like the originality of the whole build. +1 to you sir.

I know you kinda touched on it... but for the flares...

Are you going to cut them and make them work with the rear door?
Or mold the door and make a 2 door wagon?

[WagDatto]

Neither. Somebody already did a "2-Door Wagon" and it's a lot of work, cutting and molding in the glass from other Datsuns to make it look correct and original. It was sick, but way beyond what I want to do. And I hate the look of flares that were cut, like a lot of 4-Door Datsuns do. What I'm doing is cutting the door, near the body line, and reshaping where the door actually opens, so it clears the flare. From there, I'm cutting the wheelwell pretty much out, and retubbing the rear so it flows as if it were stock-ish. It will shrink the size of the door's opening to the back seats, but any room I might have for rear passengers is kind of comprimised by using 240sx seats up front.

At least, thats my idea for it so far, I haven't really measured and calculated how much space that cut would take, and how tiny the back doors would become, so plans may change when I get to that point.

[gprb25]

I see...that would be really cool!

And I agree with the cutting of the flare.

Good Luck, I will def. be checking back in.

[j00ni3]

argg.. waiting to see what it will become...

ps where'd you get that battery mount? ... hehe

[JRas]

I like it

It'll be cool to have a unique build like this to look at

keep it up

[WagDatto]

argg.. waiting to see what it will become...

ps where'd you get that battery mount? ... hehe

I'm actually the shipping manager for Fender Bender Intl, www.fbirides.com (http://www.fbirides.com)

We make them in-house and polish them ourselves before they ship out. This is my last week working there, though. I put in my two weeks so I can go back to school (Yikes!). I'm totally gonna miss working there. I think we still have a few left in stock, and I'll cut you a deal on shipping if you let me know you're ordering in advance.

HERE (http://www.fbirides.com/product.asp?idno=266014)is the link for the optima battery trays.

Like I said, PM me and I'll see what I can do to hook you guys up on shipping while I still work there!

[j00ni3]

VERY nice... thanks for the info... way cheaper than the one that i found that weren't so GREAT looking...

will doo... i will be ordering very soon .... keep up the update~

[tknbkthrsdy4anfg]

Awesome project keep it up!

[mr.lonelys12]

nice project!

hope i see you running around sac with the other 510's, what part of sac are you in?

[WagDatto]

nice project!

hope i see you running around sac with the other 510's, what part of sac are you in?

I live in fair oaks, school will be in rocklin and I work in rancho cordova. I'll be all over!

[LB.Motoring]

My buddys dad had an awesome 510,

wagons are hot,

keep up the good work!

[WagDatto]

So, I'm almost done at work, just another few hours. I've got my camera, and I'm headed straight for my brother's house to work on the Goooon. I'll get some bigger pictures of body, suspension (struts, bump steer spacers, etc), and some other nonsense. Plan for today is to mount the alternator and start finishing mounting the wiring harness. If I'm lucky, we might fire her up really quick this weekend!

For those of you who were interested, we have SIX MORE of the billet optima battery trays left on our shelf before we've got to make more. If you order on FBI's website, you'll pay full price, HOWEVER, if you order from our ebay retail, you'll pay about 60 bucks (member price) and 10 in shipping to the lower 48, PLUS I will personally ship your tray out within 24 hrs. Ebay links are allowed, just not in the For Sale section, right? HERE (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Custom-Billet-Optima-Battery-Tray-Bottom-Clamp_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33575QQihZ019QQit emZ290196994896QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW) is our auction for the battery trays. Either ebay it, or call us up and ask for an ebay price match to get the lower price. We also get hooked up on optima batteries and collision parts (bumpers, fenders, hoods, etc), so we MIGHT be able to get replacement body parts for you for cheap. I DO NOT KNOW, you'd have to call up and find out, I just know we can't get any Datsun 510 pieces :-/ .

Note: I don't personally get any money out of any of that, I'm just trying to help you guys out if you were in need of a part while I still work here. And again, PM me if you're going to order with us, I'll toss some freebies your way when I process your order!

[DOOK]

Plus I think they're sick. You rarely see a 510, but to see a badass 510 wagon is unheard of!

same reason I chose a Legacy Wagon for my car... bad ass wagons are just that... bad ass...

[WagDatto]

same reason I chose a Legacy Wagon for my car... bad ass wagons are just that... bad ass...

Shoop da woop! My brother used to have a 5 speed converted, turbo legacy wagon! Fancy stuff... Good times power sliding that thing!

[rhs13]

so my question is...
Why the wagon?
Not that theres anything wrong with it. just wondering.

BECAUSE ITS FUCKEN BADASS.

[Quail]

Excellent use for a KA! Refreshing to see these engines starting to appear in swaps. Nice work :)

[WagDatto]

******UPDATE******

Alright, so I just got home from my brother's house and ate, so I decided to hop on and show y'all the latest!

So today, I mounted the alternator bracket and snugged up the belt a touch, so hopefully I can stop taking off the goddamn water pump pulley! Here's a quick snap of the sheet of paper I get to call a core support:

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_0953.jpg

I started tucking the wire harness into the intake manifold to clean up the bay a tad. I had to open up the wire wrap to lengthen the leads to the injectors, but it turned out alright, I think!

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_0954.jpg

So the lights started to dim and my brother and his wife had to jet out to grab some food, so I called it a day, and snapped off a few shots.

Big long side view:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_0943.jpg

Nice view of suspension and braided brake line:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_0941.jpg

Powdercoated 280zx struts, control arms, modified TC rod (heimed and adjustable), red annodized bump-steer spacers:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_0939.jpg

Before the engine was in, this was the cut, reversed, rewelded and powdercoated crossmember:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_0931.jpg

Camber adjusting plates, and clutch/brake cylinders:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_0949.jpg

Welded diff and beefy sway bar:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_0948.jpg

This void needs to be filled with a fuel cell ASAP!
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_0947.jpg

Transmission tunnel with a shifter sticking through and my yet-to-be-thought-out hydraulic hand brake (uses rear brakes, rather than an e-brake cable):
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_0944.jpg

Using the wagon for what it was meant; putting a bunch of shit in the back!
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_0946.jpg

That's all for tonight, I'll try to dig up some pictures my brother took while we were still assembling. I'll also snap a shot or two of the TC rods next time I'm over there.

[ROUGE180]

So sweet man... I might have to fly to cali when you're done just to see it in person and get a ride in it lol.. Keep it going

[WagDatto]

So sweet man... I might have to fly to cali when you're done just to see it in person and get a ride in it lol.. Keep it going

By all means! I'll take you for a spin, haha. Yeah, I'm really stoked. Like I said, I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel! I'm doing more math tomorrow on the fuel cell, and hopefully getting that all squared away to get by the end of next week. Headers will be in my hands this weekend, if all goes as planned, and I just need to call up about shortening the drive shaft and debowing the leaf springs. After that, it's all wiring and plumbing BS until it's ready for a quick trip to my buddies at Marco Muffler to get some 2.5" exhaust run back for me, and she'll be driving!!

[WagDatto]

Morning Update

So I'm hung over on a workday, that sucks. But it's my last day tomorrow, so fuck it, right? Anyway, I broght in my fuel pump and sending unit in so I can do some more measuring for the fuel cell. Rather than doing 23x17x11, I'm thinking of cutting and shortening the stock 240sx sending unit so I can shrink the tank down to somewhere around 23x18x8 or so. That will hide it behind the rear bumper a lot better and bring me down to around 13-14 gallons instead of 18.5.

I need to dig in my pockets for some cash so I can get some more parts to work with! I really need some headers so when I do finish wiring, I can give it a good wake up fire!

Bringing up an older question, anybody have any ideas for wheels? I'm starting to think about poking my head in a few doors (don't be dirty!) and starting to look for the right wheels for the wider 'wells. I was thinking of an old-school look, 15" or 16" by probably 9" would tuck in there nicely. Like I said before, big lips are gooood, so anything from a -10 to a +0 offset would give me what I'm looking for. I saw some old Works (i think they were) with like a -9 or -10 offset in the for sale... Got me thinking, is all.

Give me your opinions!

[idriveattz32]

cool project and progress, keep up the good work...my only thought would be a wood panel trunk floor, but if you plan on roughing it around a bit I guess some nice carpet or rhino-liner would be nice too.

[WagDatto]

cool project and progress, keep up the good work...my only thought would be a wood panel trunk floor, but if you plan on roughing it around a bit I guess some nice carpet or rhino-liner would be nice too.

Haha, a wood panel cargo area would be hard to pull off in a wagon. I'm just going to strip out the sound deadening, spray on some lighter weight stuff or Dynamat it and cover everything with a new carpet kit and headliner.

[kcndizzle]

Looks like you found those camber plates you were looking for. Anything bigger than 16" would look a little odd. Some Work equips maybe? Something old-schooly with a fat dish would be sweet.

[HyperTek]

hey sweet!!

but it looks like your hydrolic brake lever is the wrong direction? never mind i guess its not mounted yet

[DOOK]

yeah, old school work equip01s would look sexy
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p203/1killerb/work-equip01t.jpg

[fbiphil]

Cool project- I can't wait to see it on the road...
AND OUT OF MY FRICKIN' GARAGE!!!

And what's the deal with being hung over at work? I don't care if it's your last day tomorrow- as long as I'm your boss today, I expect 100% out of you! ;)

Nice thread you've got started, little brother! I'll have to give you some of the back story on this little car on here.

-Phil
The Goon's Big Brother

[BustedS13]

yeah, old school work equip01s would look sexy
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p203/1killerb/work-equip01t.jpg

anything old would look cool on there... and you could definitely get away with 14's if you wanted. hoshinos or wats or whatever. so many options...

[WagDatto]

Hung over? I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about! :wiggle:

Alright, a little "end of winter break" get together and I wasn't driving, I'm a responsible adult-ish figure! And 100% is my middle name. It'll be out of the garage soon, I promise. Then it's time to make it Mom and Dad's problem!

[WagDatto]

Double post, I'll fill this with pictures.

[fbiphil]

Pretty soon there isn't gonna be any stock 510s around, everyone feels the need to swap them and turn them into drifters :(

Nice wagon...I guess. Rare to see them around.

They're a "dime" a dozen around here- three or four beaters on Sac Craigslist at any time, all for under $1000 or so... I guess we've got it good here in NorCal!

And honestly, having owned a few VERY stock 510 wagons, they stink when they're stock! Squishy suspensions, gutless motors... what's the point? If Sean wants to drive a boring car, he has his Galant!

I told Sean I'd give him as much of a back story as I could, so here goes:

I picked this wagon up a few years ago from a guy named Toby in Rancho Cordova, who had owned it for only a few months. He has a really clean 240z, and wanted another piece of Datsun history. Long story short, he ended up in over his head and bailed out on the project.
Prior to him owning it, the car was owned by a guy named Victor, who had picked it up from some tweeker in the sticks. This tweek was the one responsible for cutting the hole in the hood (for a 300zx hood scoop that supposedly flew off at 140+ MPH- yeah right!), as well as blowing up what was likely the original engine.
The car was originally an automatic, and when I bought it from Toby it had already been relieved of the engine and transmission. A buddy of mine came out to trailer it to my house on a Wednesday night, and while we were loading it he bet me I couldn't drive it to work the following Monday.
Being the bettin' man I am, I accepted his wager (lunch at my choice of any of the fine fast food eateries near our shop!) and got to work.
I've read what it takes to convert a 240 from auto to stick, and I assure you that everything is easier in a 510! Basically, swap the pedal assembly, mount a clutch master cylinder, plumb it to the slave, and drill some new holes for the trans. crossmember, and you're golden!
I pirated the L18 and 4 speed trans. from my '71 Datsun pickup, and I drove that poor car to work on Monday! Granted, it had no lights, bumpers, hood, or exhaust, but it made it!
Anyway, the motor was tired when it was in the truck, but two more years of (ab)use and it was finally time to retire it. I hear it's in a 2 door 510 now, so best of luck to the new owner!

I'll leave it up to Sean to write the next chapter in this car's book, but now he (and you, loyal readers) know the history. Sorry for the novel, but if I don't put it down somewhere I'll forget it eventually!

-Phil

[WagDatto]

Shhh, we're on the Nissan forums now, don't talk about my Rally Spec Galant!!

Leave it to my older brother to one-up me. My only concern now is that
my sweet 280zx hood scoop will not clear the motor. Fortunately, that would give me an excuse to show off the engine bay I spent so much time on.

Also, after talking with Phil more about the fuel cell, I've come to the conclusion that shortening the stock sending unit is the best choice to bring the size and weight of it down. Settling on a cell with the dimensions of 23"Lx17"Wx8.5"H puts me with a "full" capacity of 14.4 gallons of petrol. The shorter tank will also tuck up a little better behind the rear bumper, so I won't have a shiny box for all the world to see.

[Bubbles]

They're a "dime" a dozen around here- three or four beaters on Sac Craigslist at any time, all for under $1000 or so... I guess we've got it good here in NorCal!




California in general.

In the midwest if you can find a 240 that's not rusted to hell you can consider yourself lucky.

You can forget rare cars altogether.

[Jtuned_andy]

I know my uncle has been looking for a mint stock 510 wagon (lives in LA area) because he is a classic car restorer and hasn't found anything, he is always bitching at me that every one he sees is modified and is pretty miffed about it hah :-/

[WagDatto]

Well alright! Got home a few minutes ago from working on the Datto. Even though I was going to take measurements for the fuel cell, Phil suggested that we use my fresh, new 'spot weld drill bit' and remove the stock valance so we could put on the new one with the "Spook" front spoiler that matches the BRE flared front fenders you guys have been seeing in the photos so far.

Once I drilled out all the spot welds on the valance, I decided to primer and paint the front of the core support black to clean it up a bit. We hung the valance using a bolt and some zip ties, and laid the fenders on there for good measure (and good photos!), and even screwed on the restored turn signals and grille. I have to take the grille and the headlight finishers and have them stripped down to stainless steel. It'll be cheaper than rechroming, and if I don't like the way it looks bare, I can paint them from there.

I know I promised no more cell phone pictures, but I didn't have my camera on me, I swear!!

BEFORE:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/08-19-07_1647.jpg

NOW:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/01-13-08_1559.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/01-13-08_1600.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/01-13-08_1601.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/01-13-08_1602.jpg

Now that I no longer work at FBI, I'll have some free time in the next few weeks to get some more pictures and work done, and hopefully this week, I'll be able to take all the measurements for the fuel cell and get it ordered up!

I still need to order a radiator, have my driveshaft modified, and get the leafsprings debowed. After I have those parts in, wiring and plumbing need to be finished. Then I can drive her like she was meant to be driven!!

[Aeroscraper326]

Awesome Awesome stuff man. I can't wait to see her finished!

[jdm styles]

stoked to see the end results too

[DOOK]

man, I swear to god I'm in love... I'd drive a retro daily any day if I could find a good chassis here in the east and could swap in a low mile KA

[WagDatto]

man, I swear to god I'm in love... I'd drive a retro daily any day if I could find a good chassis here in the east and could swap in a low mile KA

Worry about finding a good chassis! Swapping in a KA is easy as reversing the crossmember and wiring. The only time I've put a motor in anything is when my brother and I did his KA 2-door, and when we tried hiding a motor inside of a International Travelall, but then never mounting, wiring or finishing the thing... (BTW if anybody wants a BA Travelall, let me know, my brother wants it gone FO' CHEEP!!).

But yeah, it's fun and easy, good luck if you're gonna do it! Take pictures!

[WagDatto]

Alright, I got some measurements taken for the 'cell, and I'll be stoked when that thing is done! I have to drop off the schematics with the metal hook-up, and see what he thinks as far as a price goes, so I've got my fingers crossed that he's a GOOD hook-up!

My younger brother and I (yes, younger!) did some work today! We cleaned up and repainted the headlight brackets and remounted them on the core support. Turned out nice, if I do say so myself. I also squeezed the wiring harness through to the interior, so I'll be able to bribe Phil into helping me wire it up this weekend, maybe! A trip to Pick-N-Pull is DEFINITELY coming soon, too. I need a throttle cable, possibly some Mercedes fog lights, and a few other things, plus we have to see if there are any new wrecked 240's out there. :down:

I leave you with a few small pictures:

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/01-14-08_1650.jpg

EVIL!
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/01-14-08_1647.jpg

[ZX88]

are you going to keep the paint scheme like the scheme on the front panels?

[BustedS13]

looking good.

[acheron]

thumbs up, awesome looking project... cant wait to see it done and see the jaws hit the curb :)

[WagDatto]

are you going to keep the paint scheme on the thats on the front panels?


No, the paint scheme on the fenders is styled after the Brock Racing Enterprise (BRE) like this 510:

http://tanakatire.web.infoseek.co.jp/505_8/DATSUN_BRE_510.jpg

Unfortunately, there was never a BRE wagon, only 2-doors from the 510s, so I'm not gonna be a TOTAL 'goon' and copy the BRE style. I do like the red/white two-tone, though, and I got carried away last night in MS Paint... I was just going to lay out a two-tone, but then I decided to cover every pixel in the original picture... I fell asleep doing the wheels, at midnight last night, so they're kinda sloppy, but you get the idea. What do you think?

[ROUGE180]

lolz.. ride so hot the wheels melted haha.. keep it goin!!

[jyon9689]

nice haha, I can see the two-tone lookin real fly..

[fbiphil]

WOW- mad skills on the Paint, bro!
Here's another quickie for you:
http://www.twistedimages-sacramento.com/SeanDatsun/seandatsun.jpg

[WagDatto]

Your photoshop skills > mine. Way to show me up. I dig it, though! Can't wait to work on the limo this weekend, PEACE!

[firelizard]

Know what would be ridiculously hot? (in my humble opinion)
White flaked out roof, hood, and hatch, and red sides from the windows down.
Like the BRE but inverted and spiced up.

[HyperTek]

dam man that looks sweet keep it up!!

Hopefully you wont need tons of wiring in the engine bay, it looks sweet without alot of wiring.

[WagDatto]

dam man that looks sweet keep it up!!

Hopefully you wont need tons of wiring in the engine bay, it looks sweet without alot of wiring.

actually there's hardly any wiring visible! I'll take a pic next time I see it.

As for paint, I'm not a huge fan of flake and I think keeping it a simple two tone will do. There's a body line under the windows a few inches that wraps the whole car, so that's the most logical split. Paint is still a ways off!!

[axiomatik]

American Racing Silverstones. You can get them in 15x8 and 15x10 with custom backspacing (3.5-7.25 on the 15x10s).

http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/are-401_w.jpg

[allntrlundrgrnd]

wow dude that really is badass, cant wait to see the rest come together:bigok:

[ericcastro]

This is a dope build. never been a huge fan of the wagons for more than DD. But its looking pretty good with that spook on there right now.

Mercedes fog light? I always liked the yellow BMW lights for it too. (?)

I am most interested to see how you handle the rear flares. Us 510 guys know thats always been the problem with the wagons and 4 doors. It would be great if you figured out a way around it.

i think the old school rims will look way better. all these SR20 510's pushing 17 &18 are rediculous. Libre's?? And if you slam it, 15's are plenty big for a dime. but your brother probably knows that.

How long till you turbo?? I just want to see how you cram it all in there? I sold my last 2 door dime years ago, but know in the future i will be purchasing another. And the SR takes alot more fabrication than the KA does. But a Turbo KA would be nice.

Are you going to have those struts sleeved so you can run coil overs?? Cause you might slam the pumpkin on the ground taking off with that much power if that rear ends not stiff!!! lol

excellent build!!!!!

and you can go with the BRE design. I think it looks good! dont worry about the 510 crouds opinion. there a bunch of angry and judgmental old men.
my homies project. I helped drop the engine in, do the suspention and some other stuff. Its getting its rollcage right now. Its for Time Attack.
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s242/castro_castro/datsun.jpg

[WagDatto]

American Racing Silverstones. You can get them in 15x8 and 15x10 with custom backspacing (3.5-7.25 on the 15x10s).

http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/are-401_w.jpg

Those are TITS!! I really like them, I'll take a closer look at them as soon as I'm done on Zilvia! I think 15's are going to be where I stick, at this point. I'm not looking to completely slam it, I want some maneuverability and suspension travel, so I think it's the most realistic road to travel...

[WagDatto]

This is a dope build. never been a huge fan of the wagons for more than DD. But its looking pretty good with that spook on there right now.

Mercedes fog light? I always liked the yellow BMW lights for it too. (?)

I am most interested to see how you handle the rear flares. Us 510 guys know thats always been the problem with the wagons and 4 doors. It would be great if you figured out a way around it.

i think the old school rims will look way better. all these SR20 510's pushing 17 &18 are rediculous. Libre's?? And if you slam it, 15's are plenty big for a dime. but your brother probably knows that.

How long till you turbo?? I just want to see how you cram it all in there? I sold my last 2 door dime years ago, but know in the future i will be purchasing another. And the SR takes alot more fabrication than the KA does. But a Turbo KA would be nice.

Are you going to have those struts sleeved so you can run coil overs?? Cause you might slam the pumpkin on the ground taking off with that much power if that rear ends not stiff!!! lol

excellent build!!!!!

and you can go with the BRE design. I think it looks good! dont worry about the 510 crouds opinion. there a bunch of angry and judgmental old men.
my homies project. I helped drop the engine in, do the suspention and some other stuff. Its getting its rollcage right now. Its for Time Attack.
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s242/castro_castro/datsun.jpg




Thanks for the props!! That Datto's ill, man! Yeah, 15's are probably what I'm settling on, but I dunno about Libres... They're rad, but I dunno how much I really want them. As for the 280zx struts, when I cut the spring hats off to make them work for the 510, I left a lip on them. Right now I've got some Ground Control sleeves nestled on the struts for adjustability. Stiffening the rear is what's going to have to happen as soon as I get the car rolling. I'll send out the leafsprings to be debowed and stiffened so I'll be lower and stronger (2 girls, 1 cu--I mean 2 birds 1 stone!).

I'm actually kind of excited to start flaring the rear. It's gonna take a LOT of work, which is a little scary, but I'm way stoked.. As for the lights, I dunno which one I'll go with. Hoping to hit up Pick-N-Pull this weekend and grab some shtuff, so I'll see what's available. The other alternative is to go HID crazy on it!

KA-T will be a ways off. I just started school, and don't have a job, so I'm gonna start saving and piecing everything together. Honestly, though, with a small FMIC, top-mount manifold, and some finagling, it should all fit in there just perfectly!

Now I need a new driveshaft so I can shorten it:-/

[ROUGE180]

I come on here everyday just to see if you've done anything new lol. This is sooooo tight. When she's done you better get a video camera. I know I'm not the only one who will want to see it either. Keep it going!!!

[WagDatto]

I come on here everyday just to see if you've done anything new lol. This is sooooo tight. When she's done you better get a video camera. I know I'm not the only one who will want to see it either. Keep it going!!!

I'll make sure to do so! No promises on quality, I'm sure you'll hardly be able to see the car through the smoke, haha! I'm super excited... I'm starting to see a light at the end of this tunnel!

[GooseXRS]

Im going to be restoring a 1979 AMC AMX for my dad in the near future. Its his first new car he bought and he still has it. Its just chillin in the garage. Just needs a little tlc and and rb or vq. But as far as Project Breadbox. I think Its awesome+1. But I was thinking with the rear flares why not cut the flares instead of the door. Like go go daijiro.lol
Just a thought.
Good Luck
Take Care

[WagDatto]

Im going to be restoring a 1979 AMC AMX for my dad in the near future. Its his first new car he bought and he still has it. Its just chillin in the garage. Just needs a little tlc and and rb or vq. But as far as Project Breadbox. I think Its awesome+1. But I was thinking with the rear flares why not cut the flares instead of the door. Like go go daijiro.lol
Just a thought.
Good Luck
Take Care

thanks for the props and gl with your project, but about the rear flares... I hate the look of cut flares! If i can find an easy way to mount them whilst still looking good, ill do it. I might pick up sum cheapo rivet on flares to experiment with. Well see

[fbiphil]

Cutting the flare is probably a lot easier than what we're going to try. Shaving the rear doors would be an easier way, too. But those have both been done, and I've never seen anyone go at it this way...
I don't think it will be impossible, since we have a lot of metalworking tools (and the tools that use them!) at our disposal.
The point of running the flares out back will be to clear wide wheels, which would be somewhat negated by "cheating" on the flare job- granted, with the smaller sizes Sean's looking at it probably isn't a big deal, but any job that's worth doing is worth doing RIGHT!

I want to thank everyone for the kind words- I know this isn't the highest-budget build, but we're really proud of how clean this thing's turning out! Your support has both of us motivated to get it rolling that much more.

-Phil

[ericcastro]

No prob Phil. This build is rad!!!!
I am really most interested in the flare dilema too. Cause I hate shaved doors. And cut flares is pretty lame too. it will be interesting to see how you attack it.

If your planning on cutting the doors higher, I think you might have to make some adjustments on the rear windows roll down hieght. its gonna end up being a child safety window for sure.
But as long as you dont cut the door wells at all, I wouldn't see any structure/rigitity effected by it. In some ways, it almost seems like a simple thing.
But I will wait to see how you do before saying that :) lol

good luck guys, keep updating as it happens!!

[SexPanda]

oh my fukking god that is so awesome! A datsun 510... WAGON!!! AHHH! THATS CRAZY! Like a Lambourghini SUV... almost as crazy that is.

+1, but i'd gladly give you +100 if i could.

[WagDatto]

oh my fukking god that is so awesome! A datsun 510... WAGON!!! AHHH! THATS CRAZY! Like a Lambourghini SUV... almost as crazy that is.

+1, but i'd gladly give you +100 if i could.

I can't believe I just got my car compared to a "Lambo SUV!" I don't know if that's a compliment or a diss, but I'm smiling anyway. Window height might be an issue, but they aren't very tall, and we wouldn't be cutting the door too much higher; probably not high enough to affect window clearance, anyway. In fact, I don't think where we'd be cutting would even close in on the window channels, but I'd have to look at it in person to make sure.

Tomorrow is Pick-N-Pull day, and my shopping list includes a 240sx throttle cable, a 280z gas pedal for ease of cable installation, maybe a center console?, and maybe a radiator. Plus there's always more goodies to be had, we'll see what we can dig up!

[fbiphil]

The rear doors have a quarter window on the backside, so I don't think we'll run into any window regulator issues in cutting the door a bit.
If we do, we'll just end up with "safety" windows, where they don't roll down all the way- we'll just tout it as an extra modern safety upgrade!!

Not to burst your bubble, Sean, but your Wagon isn't nearly as cool as an LM002- those things are HARDCORE!!

[DJButton]

Very nice project, like so many others I wish I could find a clean Dime to work on! :cool:

[MPD47]

Just read through your whole thread. Great looking project. I used to share a 510 with an L24 AutoX'ing every now and then. Building my S30 240z with a KA-T right now :) Love your wheels that are currently on it, what are they? Very old school, hot!

http://www.mturck.com/240z/DSCF3185.jpg

I may be out in your area this summer with it. If so we should meet up.

[WagDatto]

The rear doors have a quarter window on the backside, so I don't think we'll run into any window regulator issues in cutting the door a bit.
If we do, we'll just end up with "safety" windows, where they don't roll down all the way- we'll just tout it as an extra modern safety upgrade!!

Not to burst your bubble, Sean, but your Wagon isn't nearly as cool as an LM002- those things are HARDCORE!!

Hah... Haha, okay. The LM002 is nice, sure, it's a Lamborghini-powered, offroad monster. But what's the sense in roasting tires you'll never be able to replace?

Anyway, child-safe windows ftw! Remember, kids: always keep your arms and limbs inside the car at all times!

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/CrazySwede2.jpg

[WagDatto]

Just read through your whole thread. Great looking project. I used to share a 510 with an L24 AutoX'ing every now and then. Building my S30 240z with a KA-T right now :) Love your wheels that are currently on it, what are they? Very old school, hot!

I may be out in your area this summer with it. If so we should meet up.


Meet up? Stalker... Haha, I kid. My wheels are 280zx "Special Edition" or "Anniversary Edition" wheels, also dubbed "Snowflakes." They're awesome, I love them. Keep your eyes open, mine may be for sale soon!

[WagDatto]

So I really didn't get much done this weekend (Sorry, viewers!), but I set myself up for some progress, I guess. Yesterday, I went to the local junk yard with my shopping-list-of-fun. Thankfully, Phil knows some people who, in turn, know me and my ex-place of business, and I got in for free (Goooo me!).

Phil needed a new trunk lid for the next S13 in his line-up, so I snagged a perfect lid from a 240 that had just come in. Once the deed was done, I cruised through the Nissans to find a throttle cable from yet ANOTHER 240sx, and a gas pedal from a Datsun 300zx. I wanted to sneak out with a set of yellow Mercedes driving lights, but to no avail. A trip to the register got me out the door for only $6.06 (I love being brothers with people who know people!).

The rest of my weekend was devoted to working on a Limo. The Towncar had a blown headgasket on one side, and super-low compression on the other, so the motor had to be replaced before people could go out in VIP style.

Lucky for me, though, tomorrow's a school holiday, so I'm gonna actually get some stuff done! I might recruit my younger brother to lend a hand again. The main thing I'm going to do is measure for the correct size wheel to use (Oh happy day!). My brother heard tell that his buddy not only has some Enkei's that would be sick, but can also import some 15x10 Volk TE37's, which would be effin' gangster, IMO.

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/workte3714s.jpg

I'll keep you guys posted on what's new and any progress or ideas going on.

[eds13]

looks like a cool project man, i didnt even know they made a 510 wagon. lol

[s14unimog]

I love the KA powered wagon. Props to you sir! Can't wait to see a finished product!!!

[DJButton]

15X10 TE37's would be fantastic!

[BustedS13]

15X10 TE37's would be fantastic!

new school wheels + old school car = MY EYES THE GOGGLES DO NOTHING

[BigVinnie]

My brother heard tell that his buddy not only has some Enkei's that would be sick, but can also import some 15x10 Work TE37's, which would be effin' gangster, IMO.

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/workte3714s.jpg


TE37 would be pretty gangster in 15x10....
If you can't get those I know there are sport max 002's being sold by one of the vendors here. Definitely not as gangster or close to it but there cheap, reliable and come in 15X8 and 16X7 and 16X8 all have a 0mm offset. Seen them on some of the s13's and they look nice.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c166/BigVinnie/SportMAX.jpghttp://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c166/BigVinnie/16inchssportmax.jpg

[fbiphil]

We talked about SportMaxs and Konigs, but I think Sean's willing to spend a bit more to "keep it real" when it comes to the wheels!
I have some Hayashi 15x8s, but I don't think they'll fill the flares enough without some big spacers. I think he's set on 9s or 10s, if we can find something...
I've got some calls in to special friends, so we'll see what we can come up with.

[WagDatto]

A little extra Bank for a little extra Bling.

0.I did some measuring today, and came up with several conclusions: With the flares that I have, I'd be able to run a 15x10 with a -25 offset front and rear. After changing my underwear, I talked with Phil and he suggested I go with +0 to not only open up my choices a bit, but to help with steering response up front. I may go staggered (maybe 15x9 +0 up front and 10's in back), and just space the front a touch, but I'm not entirely sure yet. I still have a bit of time to find out exactly what I'm going to go with, and I definitely don't have the money quite yet.

On another note, I gave my measurements over to the guy who's going to make my fuel cell, so I'll have to find out when he thinks he can have it done by, and how much it's gonna be. I also mounted my throttle cable and new gas pedal, but I'm probably going to either have to rethink how I mounted the pedal, or find a new one. It works, but doesn't fit in there quite right. I'll figure it out in this coming week and take some pictures.

I also measured the transmission tunnel front and back, and where the shifter sticks out, and took a quick run back to Pick-N-Pull to try to find a center console/armrest/cupholders. On an impulse, the first car I checked was a '96 Kia Sephia. Wouldn't you know that a 1996 Kia Sephia 5 speed center console measures out to EXACTLY what would fit over a 1972 Datsun 510's transmission tunnel? If I didn't think I'd get hooked up at the register, I probably would have skimped out of buying it, but luckily for me, I knew the guy behind the counter. Typing in a 17" center console prompts the register to want $29, at which my buddy replied "That console looks like a bag of screws and bolts, what was I thinking?" and charges me $3.25. I giggled all the way out to my car...

That's it for tonight, I'll take pictures of my fancy shmancy new armrest and post them later!

[ericcastro]

nice score on the console. dont tell the hardcore 510 guys its out of a KIA though, lol

If you run staggered, that might effect your handling a bit. especially with a LSD. the car will want to understeer a little from the KA weight. So I wouldn't run staggered, or it might push.
But then again, my biggest swap was a L2.2 into a couple with 15x8 slotted mags all around :)
And if it really is a Daily Driver, it probably wont matter.

[WagDatto]

nice score on the console. dont tell the hardcore 510 guys its out of a KIA though, lol

If you run staggered, that might effect your handling a bit. especially with a LSD. the car will want to understeer a little from the KA weight. So I wouldn't run staggered, or it might push.
But then again, my biggest swap was a L2.2 into a couple with 15x8 slotted mags all around :)
And if it really is a Daily Driver, it probably wont matter.

It's not so much a "LSD" as it is a "SD," haha. We welded the diff. If the KA is too powerful and I break the rear end, I'll invest in either an AE86 rear end or a shortened Ford 8" or 9".

Plus, to help with understeer from running a small stagger, I'll just go KA-T and oversteer the shit out of it! But seriously, to avoid worrying about different sizes or offsets, I'll probably just stick with 15x10 and a +0 all around and space accordingly.

Haha, as far as the console goes, I was looking through the Mitsubishi/Kia aisles only because one of the members over at the510realm used a Mitsubishi Evo console and it worked. It could be from a Geo Metro or a Festiva for all I care, so long as it fits!

[lost_generation]

um, those wheels are work meisters in the picture, volk te37's look totally different, and DO NOT come in 15x10, 15x8 is the widest with a +25ish offset... they would be sick on that car, but so would work equips

[WagDatto]

um, those wheels are work meisters in the picture, volk te37's look totally different, and DO NOT come in 15x10, 15x8 is the widest with a +25ish offset... they would be sick on that car, but so would work equips

I know they aren't the Volk's, I was trying to use the Meisters as kind of a basis that a small wheel with a low offset looks like. As for the 15x10, Phil talked to his buddy that said he could have 15x10 TE37s imported, so I don't know if it was a miscommunication or if you really can get them. But yeah, I did the math and figured that a 10" wide wheel could go as low as -25 offset and still fit under the flares. But again, I'll run +0 offset and space accordingly, just to open up my options.

I really am stumped whether Equip 01's or TE37's would be better, but I have some time to think, cuz I'm a broke mutha.

[BigVinnie]

But yeah, I did the math and figured that a 10" wide wheel could go as low as -25 offset and still fit under the flares. But again, I'll run +0 offset and space accordingly, just to open up my options.



The wheel well depth is worse than the s13 240's. On my sport max 926 "no stagger" all in 17X9 I need to use a 10mm spacer for the front, the sport MAX come stock in -45mm offset reducing the front to -35mm offset.
Now my friend and I that have gone through some of the 510 coupes we had a hard enough time trying to mount 15X8 with a 15mm offset in the front, and the more you drop the suspension on the 510, the easier it is for it to rub the wells .
If you do try to install the 15X10 you may run into over steer problems and it may need to be set at 0mm offset. Do you plan on upgrading to a hydraulic power steering unit or are you going to use the original unit? It will be a serious pain in the ass, to steer 15X10's if you can fit them, with out using a power steering pinion and rack system.

[DOOK]

I really am stumped whether Equip 01's or TE37's would be better, but I have some time to think, cuz I'm a broke mutha.

on the 510 i gotta go with the Equips... If you have a buddy that can import stuff, why don't you see what you can get in the cherry blossom realm? Now THAT would be pimp.

[axiomatik]

I'm telling you man, American Racing Silverstones, 15x10.

what model wheels are these, the owners says they are american racing 15x10, zero offset but doesn't mention model or anything else. this was oringinally posted of club4ag.net, back in april '07http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r45/mdavid10267/mx5.jpg
i've been going through many of the pages on that site to try and find if he responds but the outcome looks bleek

thanks in advance

[WagDatto]

The wheel well depth is worse than the s13 240's. On my sport max 926 "no stagger" all in 17X9 I need to use a 10mm spacer for the front, the sport MAX come stock in -45mm offset reducing the front to -35mm offset.
Now my friend and I that have gone through some of the 510 coupes we had a hard enough time trying to mount 15X8 with a 15mm offset in the front, and the more you drop the suspension on the 510, the easier it is for it to rub the wells .
If you do try to install the 15X10 you may run into over steer problems and it may need to be set at 0mm offset. Do you plan on upgrading to a hydraulic power steering unit or are you going to use the original unit? It will be a serious pain in the ass, to steer 15X10's if you can fit them, with out using a power steering pinion and rack system.

I'm running flares at all four corners, so fitting a 15x10 won't be hard. I agree with the steering, though. It's gonna be a pain in the ass regardless, but I'm a fairly large guy... I'll muscle it around! The faster I go, too, the less I'll feel the steering! I'll just have to camber the shit out of the front so I can turn the wheel easier, right? :rolleyes:

I'm not going to bother with the hassle of upgrading the stock steering box. It's not a very heavy car and even with 15x10's I really don't see it being too much of an issue.

on the 510 i gotta go with the Equips... If you have a buddy that can import stuff, why don't you see what you can get in the cherry blossom realm? Now THAT would be pimp.

http://www.retro-rides.com/gallery//Shows%20And%20Events/2007/Shizuoka%20Nostalgic%20Car%20Festival/images/IMG_0691.JPG

Cherry Blossoms, eh? The Hayashi Sakura's are super sick, but SUPER pricey! Thinking about it, too, Work Meister's would be pretty snazzy. They come in a 15x10 with offsets from +100 to -28. Don't tell me you dont like this:

http://www.shift-lock.net/upload/bad861.jpg

Anyway, like I said, plenty of time to figure it all out. Funny update: I was working a little in the garage today, and some guy stopped in the middle of the road and asked if it was for sale. I had to laugh and tell him no... I haven't driven it since I took the motor out. Poor guy looked crushed. Ah well, made me happy that the Goon is getting some love!

[mrflip69]

hehe, the pic of the red/white 2-tone reminds me of ghostbusters.

great job bringing life back to these old cars!

[BigVinnie]

I'm running flares at all four corners, so fitting a 15x10 won't be hard. I agree with the steering, though. It's gonna be a pain in the ass regardless, but I'm a fairly large guy... I'll muscle it around! The faster I go, too, the less I'll feel the steering! I'll just have to camber the shit out of the front so I can turn the wheel easier, right? :rolleyes:

I'm not going to bother with the hassle of upgrading the stock steering box. It's not a very heavy car and even with 15x10's I really don't see it being too much of an issue.



Well just in case your interested I'm pretty sure you can modify the S12/200sx power steering system to work on the 510. Some years back when I worked on the coupes there was a guy that showed us how to modify the s12 power steering for use on the 510.
But yeah that would definitely help you out from trying to muscle 15X10's when you try to leave a parking lot.

[ericcastro]

came across a couple pics of 2-1/3 of my 5 or 6 dimes i owned

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s242/castro_castro/IMG_0002_r1.jpg
this one was a rust bucket I piced up for 500. droped it, rims and tires, headers and exhaust
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s242/castro_castro/IMG_0001_r1.jpg
this one was better conditon by far. was in the middle of a engine swap when i sold it. I had the engine all running, just open headers when i sold it. the one in back was my coupe. 2.2 liter, custom headers, weber, springs, sway bars, slotted mags. All the old school 510 stuff :)

[WagDatto]

Well just in case your interested I'm pretty sure you can modify the S12/200sx power steering system to work on the 510. Some years back when I worked on the coupes there was a guy that showed us how to modify the s12 power steering for use on the 510.
But yeah that would definitely help you out from trying to muscle 15X10's when you try to leave a parking lot.

PM'd

came across a couple pics of 2-1/3 of my 5 or 6 dimes i owned
this one was a rust bucket I piced up for 500. droped it, rims and tires, headers and exhaust
this one was better conditon by far. was in the middle of a engine swap when i sold it. I had the engine all running, just open headers when i sold it. the one in back was my coupe. 2.2 liter, custom headers, weber, springs, sway bars, slotted mags. All the old school 510 stuff :)
PICTURES REMOVED FOR QUOTE!


Sick little dimes, man! Both are a little rough around the edges, kinda beat up and ugly... but all in the true spirit of 510-iology!:rawk:

Thanks as always for the comments, fellas!

[WagDatto]

Small Update:

So the weather up here has been pretty shitty lately, and school and my new job have kind of eaten away my spare time, so progress has been slow. However, small steps have been taken to further me along.

I'll snap new pictures next time I'm over there, but yesterday my brother and I used the plasma cutter and opened up the firewall for the wiring harness, and snugged the giant grommet into place (looks clean!). Later this week, I'm going up to Penn Valley to grab a drive shaft and possibly a hood and dash pad as well, so we'll see how that goes. Marty has all the measurements and plans drawn up for my fuel cell, so that should be getting laser cut this week and welding will commence, so I'm hoping that it will be done by the weekend after next. Also, I have a VW Rabbit's Radiator on it's way to the shop tomorrow, so fab work will begin on proper brackets and mounts. Also, I need to snag my headers this week in preparation for the first time I get to fire this beast up! The intake should be going on next week as well, I just need a short elbow, air filter cone and a few rubber couplings to finish that off.

Soon, too, I'm going to have to force Phil to help me with my wiring! We keep putting it off cuz it's going to be boring and lame, but it's only 5 wires, so it shouldn't take too long. As far as chassis wiring goes, I'm thinking we're just gonna keep it simple... Headlights, marker lights, turn signals, brakes, and reverse.

Last, but certainly not least, I just found out yesterday that The Goon is officially "Baller Status," and entirely OG. Not only is Snoop pictured next to a 510 Wagon, but Modified Mag has a 2-door with a KA swap in it (that I personally think is only so-so and they should have picked a better 510 to represent). Maxim had a small article a few months back saying that the 510 is the perfect choice for an old school ride, and I've heard rumors kicking around on a few forums that The Fastester and the Furioustester is going to have a 510 as one of the main cars in the new movie... I'm not SURE of it, but that's just what I've heard.

Suffice it to say, though, the prices of 510's are on the rise again...

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/snoopbg2.jpg

[SW20Racer]

i forsee a massive uprise of 510 donks in about 2.5 weeks. (good thing i have a lifetime subscription to donk:box&bubbler!) then its only a matter of time before all sorts of old school rwd imports are sportin 26's with fridge sized sub-boxes crammed inside, rattling to shit-fuck and back.

[WagDatto]

i forsee a massive uprise of 510 donks in about 2.5 weeks. (good thing i have a lifetime subscription to donk:box&bubbler!) then its only a matter of time before all sorts of old school rwd imports are sportin 26's with fridge sized sub-boxes crammed inside, rattling to shit-fuck and back.

Acutally, the one he posed next to in that picture has some very tasteful 15" konig rewind style wheels on it, and besides being lowered a little bit, is very very stock-ish looking.

I've got my fingers crossed that it becomes "the norm" to keep these cars fairly subtle.. They don't make body kits, it requires a lot of work to put anything bigger than a 17" rim on them (but 17s make them look like crap, so maybe that in itself is a deterrent), and the stock motors are usually pretty decent if you put a new carb and some headers on them.

Just praying that The Fastesterest and Furiestorer doesn't get their dirty fingers all over them!

[SW20Racer]

heres hoping...:x:

[Bushido]

heres some inspiration for you.

http://pcman.dion.jp/link/image_13/25/p510_bluebird_1600sss/060820_2203%7E01.jpg
http://pcman.dion.jp/link/image_13/25/p510_bluebird_1600sss/060820_2213%7E01.jpg
http://pcman.dion.jp/link/image_13/25/p510_bluebird_1600sss/SA330007.jpg
http://pcman.dion.jp/link/image_13/25/p510_bluebird_1600sss/SA330032.jpg

[WagDatto]

Oh... My god....

I wish I could add camber to my straight axle! Haha that thing is REDONKULOUS! I just got an idea for my rear GT Spoiler!!

[WagDatto]

By the way, before I take off I figured I'd post this...

Does anybody know anything about "Axis" brand wheels? I know that up until now, they've only made 4x100 bolt pattern wheels, but they came out with a 4x4.5. Any good reviews? Bad reviews? Let me know, they're cheap and they aren't sportmax's!

http://wheelsnext.com/images/wheels/large/axis_banzai_gbk_2_W.jpg

[Gumballf355]

Somebody say 15x10s??
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/isnsi/Picture242.jpg
Hows about 15x10.5s?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/isnsi/Picture256.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/isnsi/Picture259.jpg
Get some Epsilons... oldschool cars don't look right with newschool rims.
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/149/20070126/164605.jpg

[ericcastro]

Just praying that The Fastesterest and Furiestorer doesn't get their dirty fingers all over them!

I think it might be good for the 510 community at large. Theres not that many young guys doing it. Its mainly a bunch of old guys that built there car over years, and havent changed it at all. they need to be stirred up.


And they do make body kits for 510's. they got front and back box fenders for the coops. and look through the austrailian websites for 510 stuff. there style isnt to my taste, but they got alot down there.

nother one off my flickr

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/55/147440808_019f470b70.jpg

[WagDatto]

Meh, a front valace spoiler and flares aren't really a body kit, IMO but I guess box flares count. Not my style at all, though. Those 15x10.5s are sick! I think 15x9s will do me right for my every days for a bit, and I'll go wider when I go KA-T. Seems like the right thing to do. Just got a PM saying I can get some Equip 01s or SSR MK-I-III for right around 1500 so I'm saving my money!

[axiomatik]

Axis is pretty much equivalent to Rota.

[WagDatto]

Since I'm starting to get PM's about progress, I'll assume it's time for another update, yeah?

So I'm trying to stock up on parts to get some real work done, I swear! My VW Rabbit radiator came in on Monday, so brackets are going to be fabbed up this weekend (if I'm not too busy at the Autorama!!). Unfortunately for us 510 guys, we don't have a lot of room up front for a radiator! You guys have it easy, but it was going to cost about 300 smackaroo's for a Griffin aluminum radiator and proper brackets, plus shipping! I opted to take the well-beaten path, and buy a brand spankin' new Rabbit thang.

The other day, I drove to Smartville, CA (30 minutes outside of Grass Valley) to meet a guy known by the name of James. After drooling on his RHD 510 Bluebird Coupe with an SR20DE, and his vast collection of almost 20 510's and many more parts than cars to put them in, I made a few purchases to get me further along the way to getting my car going. Phil robbed me of my old dash pad (not that it was in that great of shape, mind you), so I had to replace that and I decided to snag a 2-door 510 drive shaft. It's been said that a KA or SR swap into a Wagon requires a driveshaft with a length equivalent to that of a 2-door...

With new parts in hand, I cruised over to my brother's house, opening the garage with the key that only a full stomach can buy you, and set to work:

To start things off slowly, I decided to start putting the dash together. However, I soon realized that I didn't have the screws anymore, since they were so rudely STOLEN from me to install MY old dash into SOMEBODY'S old car... Haha, just kidding, Phil! (I love you!). So I put my fresh, reupholstered dash pad in and did what I could to the rest of the dash, pretty snazzy, eh?

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-07-08_1642.jpg

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-07-08_1641.jpg

Next, I decided to take an easy job and bolt on the rear bumper. Phil and I decided that having the mounting points showing just looked boring and kind of stupid, so I tossed on the filler plate and the bumper and I think it looks 10x better from the ass-end:

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-07-08_1638.jpg

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-07-08_1639.jpg

So here's where things got very tiring and VERY frustrating... I lifted one side up and crawled down there with my short shaft in hand. I line up the hole with my shaft (is this dirty?), and start gently pushing the tip of it in (if it wasn't dirty before, it is now...). I readjusted it just slightly to make sure it went in nice and smoothly, and started to push. And that's when I met some resistance...

By the way, I'm not going too far out of my way to make this post go sexual, but there's just no other way to explain this!

It fit in there just fine, I could feel it when they started to go where it was supposed to, but I could NOT push it in any farther. I even started POUNDING the shaft into that tranny, but I couldn't get past just the tip! I knew I was close, I was sweating so bad and my muscles were screaming, but I still couldn't get the 3 inches that I needed for it to be all the way in.

I took the whole shaft back out and removed the sleeve that was covering the majority of the tip, and I tossed some lube on there, hoping it would help my situation. I crawled back underneath the tranny and lined up my shaft again, felt it push in a little bit, and then again... I met the same resistance as before, and could NOT for the life of me get my 3" into that god damned tranny!!

Frustrated, tired and unsatisfied, I crawled from beneath this heavy love obsession, checked to make sure my wallet was still there, grabbed my jacket and left.

But not before I snapped a few shots of the 521 pickup that I got a PM about! It's a Datsun 521 pickup truck that my brother has had, and sold, and had and traded and had, time and again over the past who-knows-how-many years. It's sitting on a stock frame for the time being, with a stock, unmolested bed, for the time being, with no motor... for the time being. When the Goon is out of there, the plan is to KA it, or pull a budget SR swap if the funds and parts are available at the time. Then we can body drop it, 'bag it, and drag the shit out of it again... But I guess Phil will have to start his own build thread for that project, won't you?

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-07-08_1645.jpg

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-07-08_1644.jpg

Thanks for tuning in, guys, hopefully I'll have lots of good news to report by this weekend. And maybe some quality photos instead of these cellphone pieces of shit I keep feeding you!

[drifter808]

^^^^that was a pretty good story. Looking good on the build to.

[kcndizzle]

This is going to sound stupid, but did you look inside of the driveshaft yolk? The part that slides in and splines up, make sure the splines werent' damaged, or something in there blockin it?

[WagDatto]

Yeah, I checked. It's old and kinda dirty, but all the channels are cumpletely clear, "Disease Free," if you will...

Okay, I promise I'll stop!!

I checked both the transmission, and the drive shaft just to make sure, and both are clear from what I can see, and still locked up. Next time I head over there, I'll test fit the stock Wagon drive shaft, just to see if it's the drive shaft.

[89singlecamnoob]

Acutally, the one he posed next to in that picture has some very tasteful 15" konig rewind style wheels on it, and besides being lowered a little bit, is very very stock-ish looking.

I've got my fingers crossed that it becomes "the norm" to keep these cars fairly subtle.. They don't make body kits, it requires a lot of work to put anything bigger than a 17" rim on them (but 17s make them look like crap, so maybe that in itself is a deterrent), and the stock motors are usually pretty decent if you put a new carb and some headers on them.

Just praying that The Fastesterest and Furiestorer doesn't get their dirty fingers all over them!

yeah, the fact that 17's look bad on a 510 is likely not going to be a deterrent to the people that throw 30's on Caprices...which saddens me :/

[SC_S13]

heres some inspiration for you.

http://pcman.dion.jp/link/image_13/25/p510_bluebird_1600sss/060820_2203%7E01.jpg
http://pcman.dion.jp/link/image_13/25/p510_bluebird_1600sss/060820_2213%7E01.jpg
http://pcman.dion.jp/link/image_13/25/p510_bluebird_1600sss/SA330007.jpg
http://pcman.dion.jp/link/image_13/25/p510_bluebird_1600sss/SA330032.jpg

too baller for a LIFESIZE 510, so the playa went MINI. and made his own mini garage to house it aWWWW

[WagDatto]

too baller for a LIFESIZE 510, so the playa went MINI. and made his own mini garage to house it aWWWW

He did not, however, take into account that the hatch would likely never stay open without HUGE support, and the hood is now impossible to open EVER.

[fbiphil]

WOW- I'm still sweating from reading that post! That was just about the dirtiest thing I've ever read about a car!
Thanks for throwing those pictures of the 521 up there- now everyone can see how sad it looks now! I promise it'll be better than it ever was, but here's an old picture from when it was 'bagged on the old frame:
http://www.twistedimages-sacramento.com/Phil/Philpage2/Oldprojects/521/summermadness.jpg
http://www.twistedimages-sacramento.com/Phil/Philpage2/Oldprojects/521/summermadness2.jpg

After horse trading it back and forth for a few years, I finally got her back for good about 2 years ago. The frame had been dragged so hard that the bottom was paper-thin, the bed had buckled because the frame had cracked, and the front suspension was bent beyond repair. So, I kept the cab and front clip, scrapped the rest, and at some point I'll finally get around to working on it again... like when I have some SPACE IN MY GARAGE!!
So get back under that tranny, lube up your shaft, and get to pushing!

[axiomatik]

eewww, you're sticking your shaft into a tranny?

[WagDatto]

eewww, you're sticking your shaft into a tranny?

And don't you forget it! :barf:

Phil, I'm working on it, sheesh! I only work from 10-4 today, so I'll climb back under there and muscle my shaft back into that tranny... Hopefully with better results today, though!

[ericcastro]

does the 510 drive shaft fit into the Ka tranny?? just wondering if there are more teeth on one end of it??


Oh yeah, and those box fender pics. just 2 I found online real fast.

And like I said before. not big on the austrailin style. Just showing the box fenders
http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/featurecars/usadat/Heinz6.JPG
http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/featurecars/usadat/Heinz1.JPG

[ROUGE180]

does the 510 drive shaft fit into the Ka tranny?? just wondering if there are more teeth on one end of it??


Oh yeah, and those box fender pics. just 2 I found online real fast.

And like I said before. not big on the austrailin style. Just showing the box fenders

http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/featurecars/usadat/Heinz1.JPG


not feeling that yellow one. Not my style but the red white and blue is tyte. Fenders look good too

[WagDatto]

Those cars are both VERY ugly. The box fenders on the red/white/blue car are staggered and it looks terrible, and the yellow car... enough said.

There's no way to do a 4-door or a wagon with box flares without cutting flare or welding the doors shut, so I'll be fine with my low-key bubble flares.

Anyways, I got the drive shaft in! There turned out to be more gunk in the drive shaft splines than I originally thought, so OOPS on my part! A big shout-out goes out to my main man Phil for helping me out with that one tonight, even though it was kind of an owed favor for helping get rid of his International Travelall! Yeah, it ended up pretty much just slipping in there once it was cleaned out a bit better, so it's all bolted up and sitting pretty.

I probably won't get any work done tomorrow. We need to pick up a 510 2 Door and tow it back to our buddies place, and then we're going to hit up the Autorama. Anybody else heading out? The weather this week has been perfect so far, so I'm pretty stoked about it!

That's it for now!

PS. I slammed my shaft home inside that tranny!

PPS. I feel 10x lighter now that my shaft is buried safe and snug inside the tranny.

K, now that's all.

[WagDatto]

UPDATE AGAIN!!

So I didn't think I'd get much, if any, work done today. Reason being that my brother, our buddy Nate and I had to drive to Rio Linda. Phil purchased a 510 2 Door a few months back that was a "Special Edition" Datsun of sorts. To my understanding, the story goes as such:

To celebrate the 510's wins in the Trans Am racing series over the past seasons, in 1973 a distributor in Southern California produced a limited number of Datsun 510 2 Doors with "Trans Am" badging along the sides and trunk of the car. This happens to be one of those cars (I'll post pictures some other time, or maybe Nate will post his own thread).

In any case, we got down there and dilly-dallied around quite a bit, looking at the classic 1970 something Skyline and some VERY sweet 510's in general. We towed the car back up to Nate's house, and had to make yet another run to Rio Linda to drop the trailer back off.

When we got back to Phil's house, he started in on cleaning some things (including a Miata, is anybody interested in buying? $2k even, drive her away!!). I started putting more pieces of the dash together, and it's starting to look pretty snazzy. To finish off the day, we swapped wheels. He's selling his blacktop, RHD, S13 Silvia, but we're keeping his old wheels, so we put the gold 280zx wheels you've been seeing on my car, onto his. In return, we put his Hayashi Racing wheels on mine and found out that they're a 15x8 -12! :eek3: I snapped some photos because the wheels looked pretty nice up front, and when I go to flare the rear, a small spacer would even things out quite a bit.

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-09-08_1723.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-09-08_1725.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-09-08_1726.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-09-08_1739.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-09-08_1740.jpg

Long story short, I needs to save some money for some 15x9 +0 wheels! SSR MK-II here I come!

[chibo]

not feeling that yellow one. Not my style but the red white and blue is tyte. Fenders look good tooWhat about this yellow 510?
http://www.bryanf.com/510/

I've had a boner for 510's ever since I saw that site in late 2001. I lack the place for a project car now but I've always wondered (but never looked in to) how much aftermarket support there is for the little bastards. I've found out the hard way that I'm not the kind of person who can just have a nice looking car to drive around, everything gets turned in to a purpose built shit mobile. Hell, I had my Land Cruiser for no more than a month before I decided to destroy the fuck out of resale value. Fuck. :(

[WagDatto]

What about this yellow 510?
http://www.bryanf.com/510/

I've had a boner for 510's ever since I saw that site in late 2001. I lack the place for a project car now but I've always wondered (but never looked in to) how much aftermarket support there is for the little bastards.

Haha, you're the 3rd person to link me to Bryan's site. Yes I've seen it, and it's cool I guess. There's no reason for the rear setup he used. Definitely not my thing, but it was done VERY well and props to him for spending years and years to complete a car that he then turned and sold right away and now says he won't go back to 510's.

As for aftermarket, it depends on what you want. If you want NEW parts, you're going either NOS from 30+ years ago, fiberglass, or carbon fiber. Either way you choose, you're going to spend HUNDREDS UPON HUNDREDS of dollars on stuff. James wasn't willing to part with his NOS dash pad for anything less than 300 bucks. He had a NOS hood and a few fenders too, but the hood would cost you about 800 bucks, and the fenders around 400 each.

Parts for these cars aren't cheap. I priced out some window seals and hatch/hood seals because my weather stripping is either not there, or is in such bad shape that air comes in through the door jams. It's going to run me around 500 dollars for all new (aftermarket, not NOS) weather stripping and seals. It will cost me about 200 bucks for a carpet kit (again, aftermarket), and probably another 100 for a headliner. Any of the chrome trim is pricey, too.

If you're looking to do a full restoration, good luck... I'm willing to cut some corners in the name of saving money!

[chibo]

Haha, you're the 3rd person to link me to Bryan's site. Yes I've seen it, and it's cool I guess. There's no reason for the rear setup he used. Definitely not my thing, but it was done VERY well and props to him for spending years and years to complete a car that he then turned and sold right away and now says he won't go back to 510's.I also think the rear is a little insane, but hey it's his car and I won't be one to knock it. I never knew he sold the thing, where did you hear about it?
As for aftermarket, it depends on what you want. If you want NEW parts, you're going either NOS from 30+ years ago, fiberglass, or carbon fiber. Either way you choose, you're going to spend HUNDREDS UPON HUNDREDS of dollars on stuff. James wasn't willing to part with his NOS dash pad for anything less than 300 bucks. He had a NOS hood and a few fenders too, but the hood would cost you about 800 bucks, and the fenders around 400 each.So basically, done half way right this is not a cheap car to have around, am I close?
Parts for these cars aren't cheap. I priced out some window seals and hatch/hood seals because my weather stripping is either not there, or is in such bad shape that air comes in through the door jams. It's going to run me around 500 dollars for all new (aftermarket, not NOS) weather stripping and seals. It will cost me about 200 bucks for a carpet kit (again, aftermarket), and probably another 100 for a headliner. Any of the chrome trim is pricey, too.Weather stripping is expensive on every car, it boggles my mind why. It's fairly simple shit.
If you're looking to do a full restoration, good luck... I'm willing to cut some corners in the name of saving money!I'm with you there. :)

[WagDatto]

I'm a forum whore not only on Zilvia, but also on the510realm. He used to post quite a bit on there, since he's owned a dozen 510's in the past. When his "Uber awesome yellow turbo rotary tubbed and caged 510" was up on Ebay, the510realm was first to respond with the why's what's and when's. I think it ended up going for somewhere around 25k.

And yeah. With my 'Goon, I've been doing things right, but I've been doing a lot of them myself. Adjustable TC Rods? My brother and I cut them, and modified them with heim joints with parts that we had at FBI (http://www.fbirides.com). Powdercoating? One of our coworkers was working at a place that was doing hundreds of powder coating pieces every day, and we got it done for free. We had a sandblaster at work, and so far, I've only really outsourced for a few key parts, like fuel cell, radiator and a few other things. I think, so far, I've put maybe 2000 into it, but if I were to have bought all the parts that I've made, I'd be in it around 6000 so far. I was thinking about prices when my car is all finished, and (including car and motor) I'll be at around $3000 when it's driving, $4000 when it's KA-T, and probably end at about $5500 when paint and body work is all done and I have all my seals/interior how I want them for now.

There's a build on the510realm where the guy went SR20DET, had everything rechromed and polished and powdercoated and the paint was pretty, but he ended up spending just under $30k and wants to sell it for 25k. I don't have that kind of money, and if I did, I'd probably have a very nice, very completed car already, haha.

[kingkilburn]

Man Bryan's 510 is crazy. It is very well done while also having no soul.

If it looks like a duck, sounds like an angry wasps' nest, and feels like go kart, is it still a duck?

[thejapino]

Parts for these cars aren't cheap. I priced out some window seals and hatch/hood seals because my weather stripping is either not there, or is in such bad shape that air comes in through the door jams. It's going to run me around 500 dollars for all new (aftermarket, not NOS) weather stripping and seals...

Haha, driving around in my old 510 was so noisy. If you wanna save some $ on weatherstripping, my buddy got door and trunk weather stripping and outside window seal rubber (the molding that seals/wipes the outside of windows when you roll them down) for pretty cheap at the San Jose flea market. The deal is, they use universal stuff but they have so many different sizes. You bring in a sample of what you want, they'll match them up and cut you what you need! After he resealed his doors, they felt alot better! You actually had to kinda slam the door to shut it completely b/c the weatherstripping was so new. I was planning to do the same with my old 2-door dime until I sold it. G/L with the build

btw: rear ZG flares FTW

[WagDatto]

They say its the little things in like that count, right? Well, good, because this is a little update.

So between classes today, i sped to my brother's house in hopes that his wife was there to open the garage for me. Alas, nobody was home but the dogs... So I broke in through the sliding glass door (SORRY, PHIL!!). No harm was done, I opened the garage, and made a hasty retreat, making sure that I did a better job of locking that door than was originally done, and locking the front door before I sneaked outside to get some work done.

The other day, I took home a Datsun radio filler plate that wasn't really intended for the 510, but was SUPER close to fitting. I had to sand down the sides of it to squeeze it in properly, and I first made sure that it fit. I ended up having to sand down some tabs on the back before it fit in how I liked it. I cleaned it as best I could, sanded where I wanted the silver paint to REALLY stick, and started primering. A few coats later, I sanded it down again and got out the "chrome paint." I laid down three coats and decided it was just enough. Later, I'll go back in with either some brushes, or go crazy with masking and paint everything but the Datsun and borders black.

BEFORE: (Note the way it didn't sit right, or all the way back)
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_0984.jpg

AFTER:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-11-08_1409.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-11-08_1408.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-11-08_1407.jpg

Again, not quite done, they still need some black, and MAYBE some red and blue to match the "True" Datsun look.

I also decided to slap the hood 'lifter, spring thingy' back on, but not before that damned Pea Green color was stripped and replaced with black and clear:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-11-08_1410.jpg

I ran out of time before my next class, so I locked up and called it a day. Sorry again for breaking and entering, Phil! I promise I gave Henry some lovin' before I left, but completely ignored Zuzu (his dogs, sorry for not being specific).

I'll leave you with some photos I took the past few days:

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_0989.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_0986.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_0980.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_0981.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_0982.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_0983.jpg

Thanks guys, I'll update more as it comes through!

[ericcastro]

LMAO, wow.

Its been a long time since I looked at a 510 cluster! I remember it though :)

Cars coming along great !! and your staying motivated on it too. I knew so many 510 guys that would do a little and then leave it for months.
Lovin those rims too. I would like them for my s13. I run 15x8 in the negative offset now. how much were they??

And remember, that 510 carpet kit for 150ish is almost all you need. plus a head liner and replacement seats. all and all, pretty cheap to have brand new interior that you will never have to redoo.

And yeah, its replacing all the rubber that kills ya. And skip the crome, save money.

I remember buying a new hood that was mint for 75 bucks in 2002! oh how times change. And that red RHD bluebird I posted thats getting the S15 SR. That car has cost over 85,000.00 so far, lol. no joke.

[fbiphil]

Nice work, Sean.
Now, can you please be a little more specific as to how you broke into my house? Maybe you could give everyone my address, too, and save them the time of looking around by just listing an inventory of my valuable belongings?

Thanks in advance, jerk!
-Phil

PS- Vicki says it's time to just give you your own key...

[WagDatto]

LMAO, wow.

Its been a long time since I looked at a 510 cluster! I remember it though :)

Cars coming along great !! and your staying motivated on it too. I knew so many 510 guys that would do a little and then leave it for months.
Lovin those rims too. I would like them for my s13. I run 15x8 in the negative offset now. how much were they??

And remember, that 510 carpet kit for 150ish is almost all you need. plus a head liner and replacement seats. all and all, pretty cheap to have brand new interior that you will never have to redoo.

And yeah, its replacing all the rubber that kills ya. And skip the crome, save money.

I remember buying a new hood that was mint for 75 bucks in 2002! oh how times change. And that red RHD bluebird I posted thats getting the S15 SR. That car has cost over 85,000.00 so far, lol. no joke.

Yeah, my main focus is on getting it running and driving so that it isn't "mysteriously" left in the street one of these days! As for a price on the Hayashi's, it all depends on how much Phil ends up paying for them, if at all. A buddy of ours used to work at the local Pick-N-Pull, and they came in on an old Datsun Z, and he nabbed them for next to nothing. Problem is, he doesn't have anything to put them on right now, so Phil nabbed them from him and is thinking about just giving him some cash and calling it a deal. We'll see, though. They're only mine for a little bit!

Nice work, Sean.
Now, can you please be a little more specific as to how you broke into my house? Maybe you could give everyone my address, too, and save them the time of looking around by just listing an inventory of my valuable belongings?

Thanks in advance, jerk!
-Phil

PS- Vicki says it's time to just give you your own key...

Sheesh, way to overreact! It's the internet, Phil! Everybody on the internet is completely trustworthy and honest! By the way, PM me for Phil's SSN, credit card info, and driver's license number! Haha, I love you, big brother. My car would have a tired L18 and 4 speed in it, and would still be Pea Green and have stock struts if it weren't for you... and you know it. I thank you for all the help you've given me over these past few months. I'd be a total 510 newb if it weren't for you, too!

[WagDatto]

Another Daily Update!!

Wow, I've been busy with the little things this week (I know that's gonna come full circle with a gay joke)! Between classes, I decided to finish off my radio panel filler plate. Last I had posted, I sanded it down to get it to fit, prepped and painted it silver:

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-11-08_1407.jpg

The goal was to keep the border and "Datsun" silver, and paint the rest black, then clear the whole thing to protect it from grubby little fingers.

I started off by sneaking over to NAPA, and getting some new cans of paint, and some decent masking tape, and then set to work taping it all off. The downside is that I got green tape ALL OVER my black shorts. Can you say 'fashion statement?' Pics:

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-12-08_1117.jpg

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-12-08_1118.jpg

I started off light, I ended up putting eight SUPER light coats of gloss black spray paint on it. The silver/chrome paint was thick, and even started to block out the textured parts of the plastic plate, so I took my time and did it nice and slow:

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-12-08_1127.jpg

Finally, I was done letting it dry enough to peel off the masking tape, and what do you know! It turned out okay... I didn't do a perfect job of masking, so I didn't get perfect results, but I'm pretty happy with it. It turned out like I wanted it to, at least. Nothing on my car is OMGOVERTHETOP, so why should a filler plate be, you know? The other downside to peeling the masking tape back off is, I got even more tape (this time green with black paint all over it) on my shorts. Pics:

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-12-08_1220.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-12-08_1221.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-12-08_1230.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-12-08_1231.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-12-08_1223.jpg

Anywho, I ran out of time to do anything too exciting before I had to go back to class... But while I waited for the plate to dry, I did finish sanding down my hood hinges. I took the Pea Green paint off, and finished them up with some 220 grit paper, and hit them with a few thick coats of semi-flat black. I'll probably hit them with some clear, just because, but I'm not too worried about them turning out perfect, they're hinges for gawdsake.

Also, since my old hood won't fit cuz of the stupid hole and ZX hood scoop, I got some red and white paint... When I get bored at Phil's this week, I'll paint something fantastic for you guys! Teaser:

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/bansaihood3.jpg

[alindeman1989]

The hood looks sweet.

[WagDatto]

The hood looks sweet.

Well we'll see how mine comes out, but that's the jist of what I want to do... Like I said, it's pretty much a scrapper hood, so if I eff it, eh.. Eff it!

[kcndizzle]

Well we'll see how mine comes out, but that's the jist of what I want to do... Like I said, it's pretty much a scrapper hood, so if I eff it, eh.. Eff it!

Really? I remember talking about the pricing on body parts for these and I distinctly remember a complaint about finding parts for reasonable prices.
Or is that just for good body panels?:keke:

[WagDatto]

Whoa now, Mr. Hostile Words! The hood that I currently have is equipped with a hood scoop that will not clear my valve cover, and without the scoop it has a big, gaping hole in the middle! Chris in Rio Linda is going to be hookin' a brother up for "somewhere between 100 and 150" for a hood in decent shape, but we'll just have to see what he has in his barn. Not cheap for a 30something year old piece of metal.

By "scapper" I mean that it won't be going on this particular 510, and perhaps at a later date, it can be used for something, but rather than the black/green squiggly-camo thing it has going right now, a rising sun pattern would cheer it all up a touch!

[kcndizzle]

Lolz, no hostile intentions, just didn't understand the usage of the word "scapper". Nor had I ever heard the term "scapper". Huh...Scapper... Could I get a definition and the country of origin please?

[WagDatto]

A Scrapper... you know, the El Camino's rolling around on 63" rims with 14 subwoofers and blacxican people driving them? A Scrapper!

[kcndizzle]

Wait... You've seen me driving my El-camino with the dubz? That's how I be mini-truckin...

[fbiphil]

You'd be less likely to have gay jokes coming your way if you'd stop showing people your sexy legs... fwiw.

[kcndizzle]

Just got back from actually seeing the "Goon" in person, and I must say, the car is teh hotness. Definitely going to be cool having it roll around Sac. soon. And with the confidence that Mr. Wagdatto has about having it up and running. Soon may just be an understatement :naughty:.

[WagDatto]

Alright, people! Time for another one of those update things! Yes, Kcndizzle came by and checked out the progress. He came, he saw, he liked what he saw. In any case, I haven't done TOO much in the past few days... Just, you know, painting. I've been painting the old, holey hood red, in anticipation of the rising sun pattern that'll be going on, as well as getting a new, uncracked 280zx scoop. I also modified the new scoop so that it MIGHT clear the valve cover.

At the very least, I'll have a spare hood that'll be red and white, so I can play dress up if I'm going out on a friday night, or something...

But the hood will no longer be needed (as a perma-hood, at least)!! I drove to Rio Linda earlier today, to meet up with Chris. We spoke last time about getting a look at a few hoods he had laying around, and today was the day. We only pulled out two, but that's all I needed to see. The first one was good, better than what James (in Grass Valley, see earlier post) had, but had some dents and a bend... The second hood, though... Wow. Besides being a dusty, faded orange color, it was practically flawless! No bends, no dents, no rust, no MAJOR scratches or scars, it was pretty. At $125, I couldn't say no! I also got a new glove box (mine is broken) and a few switches for the dash to make it look more complete, and then shot the shit with Chris for a few and headed back home. Today was the second time he told me that he wouldn't sell his '79 Skyline... :-/

I grabbed some more paint at Napa, and decided to get a can of paint stripper for the orange/yellow paint (was originally yellow, repainted red and then orange at some point in it's life). I didn't have very high hopes, but $5 is cheap enough I'd give it a shot! I used almost the whole can spraying the hood, but in 5-10 minutes, it was bubbling, and I scraped the whole thing pretty close to bare! I was surprised and happy that it worked as well as it did!

A few pics after I rinsed the crap off and sanded the SHIT out of it:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-16-08_1532.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-16-08_1533.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-16-08_1534.jpg

That's right, this is the first part in a while that I've taken the time to do right the first time, kind of. 220 grit to finish smoothing it all out, and 320 grit to really get it fine. Our younger brother's and my hands and arms are sore, but it turned out really really fancy!

I layed down a can and a half of flat black primer, before bolting it on. The fiberglass fenders are a bit thicker than the stock metal ones, so there are some clearance issues to worry about before it's "done," and I'll probably sand the whole hood down pretty good before I'm happy with it (for the time being, that is), but so far it's looking really good!

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-16-08_1733.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-16-08_1734.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-16-08_1735.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-16-08_1736.jpg

Anyways, other than the hoods, nothing's really new. I've been staying at my brother's house the past few days, and I'm starting to either lose brain cells from the tagging, or the dogs are driving me insane, but this lil' guy makes me laugh so hard sometimes that my stomach hurts and I'm crying! I'll leave you with a picture of the Henry monster:

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-15-08_0903.jpg

[ericcastro]

lookin good. What are you doing for the grill?? what kind/year/emblem/color ??

And are you going stock bumper of the front??

[WagDatto]

lookin good. What are you doing for the grill?? what kind/year/emblem/color ??

And are you going stock bumper of the front??

The grille and headlight finishers are going to be soda blasted, or have the paint stripped from them in some fashion. Grille, headlight finishers, eyebrow trim, upper-valance trim and hood trim will all just be plain old stainless steel, rather than the chipped black paint that's on them now. It's not a fancy grille, not a 68 or 73 or anything, and no emblems. Somebody already started shaving all the emblems off, so I won't even bother drilling holes for new ones (I'll save my $200 for something else!)

[WagDatto]

Holy damn, another update!

Just "finished" my old hood today. All in all, it took me four days to finish painting to where I'm at now. I sanded the whole thing down, primered it and sanded that down, then started in on the red. A can and a half later, I let it sit for a full day before starting to mask.

I layed out a block of green tape where I wanted the sun to be, and traced a revolving fan cover to get the shape and size I liked. From there, I started measuring and laying down guide-lines for the rays, as well as making sure that the reds and whites didn't overlap at all:

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-17-08_1459.jpg

From there, I took the lines out to the edges:

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-17-08_1458.jpg

And masked in where I wanted the reds to stay:

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-17-08_1514.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-17-08_1515.jpg

From there, I hit it with some sandpaper to smooth it out, and wiped it clean. I cracked open my can o' white, and set to work:
1 coat
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-17-08_1523.jpg
3 coats
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-17-08_1554.jpg

A total of 9 coats of white, and I peeled away the tape and called it done for the day. It's not perfect, as the paint peeled back where I originally cut out the sun, so in a day or two, it'll need to be masked and touched up before I take some clear to it, but I'm super happy with how it turned out! I also used some gloss black on the new scoop, and layed it in there really quick for you guys to see how it'll look, and MAYBE give a teaser of the hood that MIGHT be on Phil's POSSIBLE 2 door!

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-17-08_1702.jpg
Peeled paint:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-17-08_1703.jpg
With scoop:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-17-08_1704.jpg

We'll see what happens in the 2 door department here, in the next week or two. You guys might have to live with another one of our project threads!

[fbiphil]

I might be getting a 2 door, IF Sean can keep from destroying the car I'm selling to get it within the next 5 days! Looks good, bro- thanks for holding down the fort while I was gone!

BTW- I made it from Anaheim to Sacramento in just over 6 hours today! FLYIN' in the MINIVAN!!

[WagDatto]

I might be getting a 2 door, IF Sean can keep from destroying the car I'm selling to get it within the next 5 days! Looks good, bro- thanks for holding down the fort while I was gone!

BTW- I made it from Anaheim to Sacramento in just over 6 hours today! FLYIN' in the MINIVAN!!

The Fast and the Furious: Minivan Drag

In theaters this Fall!

[kcndizzle]

Hood is Awesome-sauce!

[Leetheslacker]

hood turned out much better then my previous attempt.

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee107/andyaok/Drift%20Event%208-26-07/Sportsdrome24.jpg


i dig it.

[WagDatto]

hood turned out much better then my previous attempt.

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee107/andyaok/Drift%20Event%208-26-07/Sportsdrome24.jpg


i dig it.

The key was to measure even "slices of the pie" from the center of the sun outward. Yours seemed like they started out super thin and got super big and uneven as they went. A good try, at least yours started out red, where mine was a black/green squiggle-fest! The painting only took a little while to spend a can of white on the hood, but measuring and taking my time to mask took me at least an hour and a half or two hours to do it right.

[Leetheslacker]

yeah. it was more of a hanging out in the garage with a few buddies, a few leftover cans of spray paint, a spare hood and some time to kill, more than a planned out thing.

[WagDatto]

Can anybody say "Progress?"

Okay, not REAL progress, but good news, nonetheless! I ran over to FBI today to get a part made for my dad, and decided to check out the piece of metal that came in on Friday. But not just ANY piece of metal... it's the piece of metal that's been laser cut for my fuel cell!

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-18-08_1223.jpg

Nifty, eh? The next order of business (tonight or tomorrow) is Marty bending the sides inward and starting to weld! It has the exact bolt pattern laser cut out for the sending unit to line up with, so we've got to get some nuts and bolts and weld them inside to screw it all down to. Then it's a matter of capping the bottom off, and finding the correct tube for the filler neck, welding in some baffles, and SHA-POW!! Fuel cell done!

Marty at the metal break, in his primal state of Rednecked Fury:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-18-08_1253.jpg

[WagDatto]

Small, pictureless update.

Didn't do much this week. Took a trip to SMA to get the headers they said they had, but when I got there, they only had single cam headers. So instead, I ordered them and have to drive out there AGAIN on Monday to get the headers. Today, though, Phil and I put in the clutch slave cylinder, and bled the system. Since the master cylinder is from a Datsun truck, I had to use braided line instead of hard, but... when it comes down to it, it looks pretty badass, so I'm not crying about it! We also started hooking up heater hoses, and plugged in the water temperature sensors and such. Tomorrow, I'm probably going to mount the radiator and work on getting the hoses all hooked up on there, so that will be out of the way.

Monday, I get headers.
Tuesday, fuel cell goes into final stages and welding gets finished.

Next weekend, we'll (hopefully!) have the fuel cell done and ready to put in, so it's time to finish plumbing, and start up the wiring! Nearly the last thing I need now is the intake to be finished, so I need to pick up a few couplers and clamps, and cut the tube we have to length, and that'll be ready to toss in. If all goes as planned, we SHOULD have the thing fired up next weekend!! I'm way happy to say that the car won't be done in "a month or two" anymore, but rather that in the next week we'll have it fired up for the first time in 6 months or so! It'll still have a ways to go before it's "done," mind you, but once it runs, it's time to run exhaust and toss on a shift knob, cuz it'll drive, baby!

I'll snap some shots tomorrow and post them up for you guys.

[WagDatto]

Right, picture time. Today, Phil and I drilled some holes into my radiator support and mounted the radiator all up in there! We also grabbed some 240sx radiator hoses, both of which had to be trimmed quite a bit to fit on there. The next step is to get the pressurized overflow tank from a VW, get a 10" electric fan and mount it to the radiator, and toss some hose clamps on the hoses and radiator is all done.

Also, we threw hose clamps on the heater hoses, so that's ready to go. Tomorrow, I'll go back to SMA and get my headers (hopefully the right ones this time!), and Marty is going to get the rest of the metal for my fuel cell. He told me that by the end of the week, it'll be ready, so keep your fingers crossed! Next on the list is wiring, and re-running a few fuel lines and we should be ready to try and start the motor... I hope...

Radiator fillin' up the space:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-24-08_1536.jpg
Mounted:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-24-08_1537.jpg
Hoses:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-24-08_1538.jpg
Pokin' through:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-24-08_1548.jpg
Grille:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-24-08_1549.jpg

I'll keep you guys posted this week, but there won't be much progress until next weekend.

[firelizard]

I love this thread sooo much.

[WagDatto]

Shoop da whoop! I'll like it when I get to show some action shots. I get giddy thinking about driving it, I can't wait to start planning how I'll do exhaust and rear flares, but until then, I just wanna hear it start!

[kcndizzle]

Super hawt! You've even got me antsy for the start-up :ughd:

[fbiphil]

Here are a couple shots I got today with a real camera:

Stock fenders back on for now- wheels still clear with camber
http://www.twistedimages-sacramento.com/SeanDatsun/510/1.jpg

Braided stainless clutch hose- clutch hydraulics are all bled and ready to go
http://www.twistedimages-sacramento.com/SeanDatsun/510/2.jpg

Good shot of wiring harness coming through firewall
http://www.twistedimages-sacramento.com/SeanDatsun/510/3.jpg

Wiring harness split for pass. side intake, radiator mounted and looking clean
http://www.twistedimages-sacramento.com/SeanDatsun/510/4.jpg

Sean putting the turn signals back on. If we can get some good weather next weekend, maybe it'll make it out into the sun for the first time in a while!
http://www.twistedimages-sacramento.com/SeanDatsun/510/5.jpg

-Phil

[fbiphil]

Well, Sean didn't call me all day, so school and work must have gotten the best of him!
I figured I'd go out there and see what I could do, so I made the "Goon" even goonier by making it a "4-eyed freak"!

http://www.twistedimages-sacramento.com/SeanDatsun/510/06.jpg

http://www.twistedimages-sacramento.com/SeanDatsun/510/08.jpg

http://www.twistedimages-sacramento.com/SeanDatsun/510/09.jpg

http://www.twistedimages-sacramento.com/SeanDatsun/510/10.jpg

http://www.twistedimages-sacramento.com/SeanDatsun/510/07.jpg

These aren't the high-dollar Cibies or Hellas, but I've had good luck with them in the past. The HIDs are 6000K, and should look pretty clean when they're all wired, since we're not plugging them into existing wiring. I'll get them hooked up (and the ballasts mounted) sometime this week and show them off lit...
Sean will hopefully be by tomorrow with the new header, so we can finish all of the underhood plumbing and start final wiring.
Marty the metal machine got the fuel cell all bent up today, so now it just needs an SAE assload of welding to finish off... I'll let Sean take it from here!
-Phil

[WagDatto]

Holy hell, Phil! You text me and say "New update" for my post, I figured you bolted the fenders on or something!! HID's all around for the Big Bad 'Goon! I approve of this endeavor... This makes me feel a'pretty-pretty-goood!

Yeah, SMA didn't get the headers in until about 3 today, and I worked at 4, so a trip downtown didn't fit into my schedule at all. Tomorrow, I'm running there right after class to get them, and then I'll swing by and bolt the headers on, trim up the last bit of radiator hose, and maybe toss a few bolts in the fenders and valance to make the front end look a bit better. I'll probably toss a larger spacer on the hood to kick it up a bit in the rear and maybe make it pop a little smoother (I can only hope!). I might even start in on some paint stripper and get the grille and headlight housings shining again, if I can! So if all goes as I plan, you guys will have some pictures of a complete front end, and shiny new headers tomorrow afternoon!

Thanks, big brother! I wuv you bundles!

[s13 drifta]

Very nice 510 build, that engine bay looks really fresh. Keep up the good work.

[WagDatto]

Big, Humongous, Giant, Shiny Update!!

I have plenty of pictures this time, taken by an actual camera, not my phone, to keep you guys entertained, cuz nobody likes reading anyway!

Today, I finally picked up my headers, and ran to FBI to show them off to my brother. It's amazing what $113 will get you, so long as it's made in China!

Stainless steel headers:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_0997.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_0996.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_0995.jpg

While I was at FBI, I checked in on my fuel cell, and it actually was finished today after I left, so tomorrow I get to take it home and set it on the dinner table as a centerpiece! I have baffles welded inside, as well as a laser cut hole for the sending unit and nuts welded inside to thread through for the sending unit (pictured a few posts back when it was flat):
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_0990.jpg
Filler:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_0991.jpg

I ran to NAPA, and grabbed more paint stripper, like I used on the new hood, as well as some new rags (I flew through the last 25 pack of shop rags) and steel wool to clean up my stainless trim bits and grille.

Sprayed a few layers of stripper on the headlight covers, which were covered in black (see first post for before shots):
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_0992.jpg
Stripped:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1000.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1001.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1002.jpg

Then I hit the grille:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1009.jpg
And bottom trim and hood trim and "eyebrows" (fender trim):
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1007.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1006.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1005.jpg

Cool, then it was time to drop in my nice, new headers and see how they fit! Oh, wait... They were made for a 240sx? Well, damn! As with my brother's 2-door, the flange curves up too much, and hits the floor pan BARELY too soon to bolt it on, so I'll have to take it off and cut the flange off to mount it permanently, and let the exhaust shop deal with it! I was also having a bitch of a time trying to fit the exhaust between the tranny and steering box, it's a tight fit and I couldn't remember how we did the 2-door. I ended up having to crank the wheels ALL the way to the right to get it here:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1003.jpg
And then ALL the way to the left to get it to drop down where I needed it so I could get the flange onto the block:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1012.jpg

But like I said, it hits the floor pan underneath, so I can't thread it on there completely, but it'll be done this weekend before we fire her up.

A few misc. shots I took:

Clearance on steering box (will probably get a lil tighter when I mount it completely):
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1016.jpg
Shiny pipes:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1015.jpg
Raising the suspension to ride height/car on jacks:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1011.jpg
New O2 sensor, and plenty of wire to use it:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1014.jpg

So as far as a plan goes, I need VERY little to get this thing driving! Wiring shouldn't take long, Phil just needs to find the old diagram we used, and tie in a master cutoff switch. Mounting and plumbing the fuel tank should only take a bit, and then it's just a matter of tossing some nuts on the fenders, bleeding the brakes and turning the key! Unless something severe comes up, this car WILL be running this weekend.

Enjoy the pictures, more to come.

[ROUGE180]

Sweetness. VIDEO OF IT STARTING UP FOR THE 1ST TIME!!!.. keep it going. I love this thread

[WagDatto]

Sweetness. VIDEO OF IT STARTING UP FOR THE 1ST TIME!!!.. keep it going. I love this thread

Haha, I'll TRY to remember to take a shitty video of it starting. Chances are it'll be a video shot on my digital camera, so quality = fail.

This thread will be alive for a while. Even once it starts driving, I have LOTS of work to do! I need to reinforce the steering box, leaf spring mounts, have the leaf springs lowered and stiffened, at some point replace the rear axle with AE86 or Ford 8" and have it shortened to my need. Wheels, tires, flares, body work, paint, roll cage, carpet, headliner, interior. Track day damage:keke:. Weather stripping, etc, etc,etc.

TURBO!

I'm way far away from being "done," but that list will last me another year or two, for sure. I just don't see myself powering through to get it all done right away. But we'll see....

[IIIXziuR]

Kick ass build up man. I love the older Datsuns like this.
Looks like a fun build too. Good Work!

[alindeman1989]

Man the car is really coming along nicely. Keep up the great work.

[WagDatto]

If you look a page or two back, with the pictures of my dash, you'll see a Grant steering wheel/hub that have seen better days. Well... It's a Grant wheel, and the cheapest one available, at that, so maybe it hasn't seen better days...

In any case, I just ordered up a Momo hub, NRG Thin quick release and a Nardi Deep Dish Corn wheel. There are a few 510 guys that are running this setup, or close to it, and it works for them. The Grant wheel was kind of a stretch for me, and this should bring the wheel a little closer. I'll take pictures when they get here and on my car!

I swung by the junk yard today, and got a shift knob (I didn't have one!!) from a Nissan Somethingorother. Nothing fancy, just a knob. I also got Phil the defrost vent for his Silvia, since he never had one since he got the car. Those are a bitch to get out, by the way! I broke two of the clips because they were brittle as hell, and I was sweating and sore by the time I finally got them off (haha that's what SHE said!). I was way surprised to see more than the usual 1-2 240's at the wrecker that weren't too molested. One even had the DOHC motor still in it, and two others had SOHC's and one was bare! Those usually get snagged before anything else on the car is touched! One of the hatches actually had leather seats front and back that didn't look half bad! A little dirty, maybe a bit worn (didn't pay too close attention) but all seats were there:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-27-08_1058.jpg

Also, the brackets for my fuel cell are being welded on tonight, so the cell is finally done! Didn't bring my camera, but I got a few phone shots:

Filler neck:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-27-08_1116.jpg
Laser cut sending unit:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-27-08_1117.jpg
Simple baffle:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-27-08_1122.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-27-08_1118.jpg
Stainless welds!!
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-27-08_1119.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-27-08_1120.jpg
The cell was made to be exactly a half an inch taller than the sending unit to give the fuel pump room to work. Perfect!
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-27-08_1123.jpg

Thanks, Marty! You crazy, metal bendin' sonuvabitch!

[DJButton]

Man I love this buid-up so much great freakin job!

[WagDatto]

Another update, that's like... Two in one day!

So here's the premise: I'm just closing up shop over at Fleet Feet and Phil texts me to come over to his house. Surprise, surprise! I speed over there and check out what he's done in my absence.
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1020.jpg
BAM! When I got there, he was just putting on the stainless elbow for the intake. Then, he hits me with two options; I can go with the cheap cone filter or go with something nice. What am I supposed to say?
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1022.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1021.jpg
BAM-BAM!! Fortunately, I went with Door #2, because space is SUPER limited in that corner of the engine bay. Unfortunately, the elbow that's in the pictures is too long... I'll need to get another one that bends tighter, because the filter won't clear.

Ah well... Next item on my shopping list is a 10" electric fan, and maybe a Rabbit fan switch, and a super secret cutoff switch... We'll see!

[fbiphil]

OOO! What's your idea for a secret cutoff switch? I'm thinking of doing one of these on my ride, so let me know EXACTLY what you're doing and where you're putting it!! LOL
I looked around the shop this morning for a tighter bend in our aluminum piping, but I struck out. I think I'm just going to pie-cut that one and weld it back together at a tighter angle... we may lose a little bit of flow, but it'll still be way better than the stock 240 pipe. Plus, it's either this or run the filter out the hood!

[WagDatto]

I dunno, a snorkel might make my car more practical, don't you think? Thanks for checking, Phil. And shhhhh, it's a secret, we won't tell. But I'll give you guys a hint.... It's a secret.

[DJButton]

I dunno, a snorkel might make my car more practical, don't you think? Thanks for checking, Phil. And shhhhh, it's a secret, we won't tell. But I'll give you guys a hint.... It's a secret.

That's a freakin good hint! lol

[WagDatto]

Short and sweet, I was at Phil's, working on my car (and running to get parts) from around 11 this morning until 8 this evening. Needless to say, progress has been made.

I claimed that we would need a new elbow for the intake, but was wrong. I gave it some finesse, and it popped in there. Albeit, there's not a whole lot of room, but as far as intake goes, there's plenty! I'll probably give each of those clamps a few more cranks to ensure it all stays in place, but there's even room for the HID ballasts!
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-28-08_1050.jpg

When I went to NAPA, I was going to pick up a new cigarette lighter housing, since I had a big hole in part of my dash with nothing to fill it, and found this little gem. "Universal" backlit cigarette lighter. I had to attack the center dash piece with some 80 grit sandpaper to open up the hole a bit, but it slid in there. Now I just needs to connects me some wires, and I'll have a (probably, not really sure what color) green light saying that "this is the OEM cigarette lighter, here."
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-28-08_1206.jpg

On my trip to Ace Hardware to grab all the mounting hardware for the fuel cell, I saw this guy. It says Volkswagen above the hood, so I'll go with that...
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-28-08_1343.jpg

After a few more hours of wrenching and connecting and wrapping and what have you, Phil got home from work and brought the fuel cell with him. Marty was kind enough to weld up some brackets, so I took some measurements. I'm related to my brother, so I measured once and drilled twice... but the holes are now drilled through the floor of the cargo area, ready to hold up the cell. Tomorrow, I need to get a new drill bit to open up the brackets a little more, so we can hang it and see where the filler neck needs to be cut. Last but not least, I just need to toss some new fuel lines onto the existing sending and return hardlines to hook up to the 240sx sending unit, and we'll be golden!
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-28-08_1746.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-28-08_1747.jpg
I also made a gasket and tossed the Walbro 255 on the sending unit, we just need to desolder the stock wires and solder on the new ones for the fuel pump.
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-28-08_2030.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-28-08_2031.jpg

Phil started attacking the wiring nightmare underneath my dash, and he's a sad panda... When he rewired this car, however many years ago, it appears that he only had green and white wires, and I guess it sounded like a good idea at the time to have them running EVERYWHERE. On a high note, though, he's a Wiring Guru and he'll figure it all out in the next day or two. I'm going to snag a new fuse box and print out an ECU diagram (8 wires from 240sx ECU to 510 wiring harness is all I need, yay!) to make everything a little easier.

Last but not least, I still need to figure out what to do about the coolant reservoir tank. Someone help me out, my brain is fried.

Here's the deal: VW Rabbit radiator doesn't have a filler cap ON the radiator, which is fine because the radiator sits lower than the KA bleeder valve. Instead, it has a 1/4" (or so) tap coming off the top passenger side, which goes to a reservoir tank. The tanks I've been seeing have a 1/4" (or so) inlet at the top, and what looks to be a 3/4" (or so) outlet coming from the bottom. Where does the outlet feed into? Could it be the drain plug on the driver's side bottom? I guess it'd make sense, but I'm not sure and haven't found anything on the internet yet.

Anyway, more info/pictures to come tomorrow.

[1five10]

Keep up the good work Sean.

[WagDatto]

Thanks, Ray! No worries, you'll get a huge, sweaty Bump to the face when I get the stuff (hopefully tomorrow!) you sent, as well as plenty of pictures of the shiny new swag!

[1five10]

KA Power all the way [IMG]http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r224/1five10/JCCS2006033.jpg[IMG]

[WagDatto]

Do you have an album or a build thread on your 510? I'd love to see more pictures.

[1five10]

I've been planning on putting one together, but haven't yet. One of these days. Believe it or not, I actually put this car together in about 3 months. I bought from the original owner about 4 years ago.
You should come down to SoCal this weekend for that Datsun swap meet...you'll see some crazy 510's.

[WagDatto]

Taking the car to Maarco Muffler's on Saturday to get 2.5" pipes put all the way back. Taking care of wiring mess. Mounting and plumbing fuel cell. Mounting new fuse box, and wiring all lights, and filling the motor and tranny with fluid, and taking her for a spin! Wish I could show for the meet, sounds like a blast.

[WagDatto]

I'm exhausted, worked on the car from around 5:30 till 11:15.

Good news is that Phil made some serious headway on the wiring, and I made headway on the fuel cell and a few other tidbits. The fuel pump and sending units are mounted for the last time until something goes bad, or I'm upgrading fuel pumps. The last thing I have to do before I hang it from the floor is cut a bit out of the floor to clear the sending unit, mount a breather tube on the tank, and cut the filler neck to the right length. Other than that, it's ready to mount and wire.

Bad news, while trying to bleed the brakes today, for whatever reason, we aren't getting a whole lot of flow to the front brakes. We're thinking that the stock 510 master cylinder isn't up to the job of clamping 280zx brakes, so an upgrade is in order, I guess. Hopefully we can snag one tomorrow from NAPA or something.

Once we drop it off for exhaust tomorrow morning, I've got to make one last (knock on wood) trip the Pick-N-Pull to get the coolant reservoir and mount that, and a 300zx speed sensor to tie into the 510 dash. Once i get that, I'll pretty much be ready to get the car back, mount the tank and put the front end back together. Phil will hopefully run into few-to-no snags on the wiring and we can get that master cylinder, and this bitch will run! We'll see, but I've got high hopes.

One last thing, a big shout-out goes to Ray. I ordered a NRG steering wheel and quick release, as well as a Momo hub two days ago, and he got it in the mail and it got here today. It fits perfect, with very little wobble and the length on the new setup is perfect distance for me. I devote my only picture in this post to you, thanks again man!

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-29-08_2045.jpg

[WagDatto]

Sadly, there was no firing of the car today. However, we're mere INCHES from doing so tomorrow, so I'll make sure to take my shitty video with my shitty digital camera to give you guys a shitty view of how the thing does on the first crank!

Today, we started early by loading up the trailer, and removing the body panels that weren't bolted on/would scrape (valance!). We strapped her down and drove over to Maarco Mufflers.
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1023.jpg

When we got there, I basically told Tim that I wanted some sort of muffler at the end of some sort of 2.5" pipe. I pretty much gave him free reign over what he was going to do with it, so long as he made the headers clear the steering box. I showed up an hour before he said he'd be done to try to get a few pictures with the car on the lift, but he was done already! To my surprise, however, he hooked me up with a custom Flowmaster "round muffler." The way Tim explained it, Flowmaster DOESN'T make round mufflers like this, but his customer that wanted it made, never came in to get it put on.

Steering box clearance:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1033.jpg
View from headers to the rear:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1034.jpg
Flowmaster, sideways picture (You can make out the E and the R on the left side of the picture)
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1027.jpg

As you'll see in a minute, the muffler dumps out into a small blastpipe right under the rear bumper. Anyway, we grabbed it, towed it back to Phil's house, and set off to work again. The first order of business was FIXING THE BRAKES! Since we had a 510 BMC, it wasn't pushing enough fluid into the 280zx brakes up front. We picked up a 280zx BMC (direct bolt on), and slapped it on there. From what I understand, the 510 BMC is a 3/4", any old Z car is a 7/8" and the 280zx BMC is a 15/16". Whatever, the brakes work now, and how! Phil also made HUGE headway on the wiring. He got headlights, marker lights, turn signals, fan, fan switch, ignition and who knows what else all hooked up, did a VERY clean wire tuck behind the radiator and through the fender cowls and a nearly hidden entry through the firewall near the other wiring harness. All in all, he's done a clean and completely amazing job, and I thank you for all of your help and support so far! Here's to you!

See any nasty wiring anymore?
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1030.jpg
Tucked:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1031.jpg
Firewall:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1032.jpg

I finished (for the time being, at least) modifying the fuel cell, and it was finally ready to put in. After a bit of wiggling, and a bit of cutting (sending unit needed clearance from the floor), we slipped on a few bolts and nuts and spacers and the like, and I have a yet-to-be-proven fuel cell! It hangs high enough that I won't have to worry about grounding it (If I do, I have bigger problems than just my fuel cell!), and low enough that you can totally see it hanging out next to the muffler.

Sending unit:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1029.jpg
Peeking out atcha's!
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1028.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1026.jpg

I need to throw a different breather/vent tube on it (my hose wouldn't fit), and 2 more bolts before I'm finally done with the fuel cell, but since it's not QUITE road worthy, I think we'll be okay for the time being at least.

I snapped a quick photo or two of the steering wheel setup as well, to give Ray another shoutout. If you guys need NRG parts, let him know (he's the one with the beautiful KA-T 510 engine bay photo a few posts up!), and he'll give you the hookup! Thanks again man, if it weren't for you, my steering wheel wouldn't fit!

Heyo Kitty:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1024.jpg
Where you see the "ribbed" cover is near where the old steering wheel was:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1025.jpg


Tomorrow, we need to get a radiator filler "T", an S14 speed sensor, finish wiring, finish putting the front end back together, fill the tranny with gear oil, hook up the new breather tube, fill the car with some gas and fire this thing up! Like I said, if I'm not too tired to remember, I'll try to get a short clip of the car turning over for the first time since we got the motor, and I'll definitely try to get a good sound clip of the exhaust! Wish us luck, guys!!

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1035.jpg

[Maxstyle]

car is the hot. nuff said. Keep up the good work.

[Bubbles]

On my trip to Ace Hardware to grab all the mounting hardware for the fuel cell, I saw this guy. It says Volkswagen above the hood, so I'll go with that...
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/02-28-08_1343.jpg



I want to say that's a VW Thing. There was one in an old movie I have and it looks similar except topless.

[WagDatto]

Sweet Jesus! The Wagon is still riddled with problems, but Phil and I got it running AND driving today! While Phil tackled the rest of the wiring, I got the new 300zx (first gen) speed sensor put in, the tranny filled with gear oil, the front end put together, the fuel breather tube mounted, the new radiator filler cap (yay Moroso!) installed and a few other things. Finally, we were ready to fire it up! The fuel cell was filled with a can of gas (and held it's water, too! er.. it's gas), the battery was hooked up and the radiator filled with water, and we still had daylight! Things were looking up!

I guess I'll let the film do the talking:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUXsU-SPbhY

So after a dozen or so more takes of Phil saying "Let's see if it starts on the first shot!" We finally got it running! The timing was way off, as somebody removed the distributor, so it really set us back. After finding top dead center and adjusting the timing tooth by tooth, Phil worked his witchcraft and got it started for real. As you can see, we had no more daylight when it finally started. Also, the custom Flowmaster will have to be replaced... Sad to say it, but louder is not always better, and it does very little to quiet the noise down at all, as you'll hear in the second video. I need to take it back to Maarco's, and have a different muffler put on there to quiet it up a bit, because I don't have the money for exhaust tickets!

Starting the KA:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tInc58JdaY0
Exhaust with timing way off:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e-Q-brvNAI

We got it running, and decided that I might as well drive it to the gas station (less than a block away!), as it probably needed some fluid.
The clutch was super sensitive, and the brakes were a bit squishy, so both need to be bled. I backed it out, and got on the main street... and promptly ran out of gas at the intersection in front of the gas stations. Phil came to help and I pushed it across the street. After putting a few gallons in the tank, and turning on the fuel pump, we realized that there was a leak in one of the stock fuel lines, and it was dumping all over. Oh well, I sped back to his driveway and shut it away for the next week or so, until all the issues can be addressed. I'm happy that it's running and driving, no matter how poorly right now.

Hopefully the next week flies by, and all the issues get resolved, I can't wait to tear up the streets and get some pictures with scenery BESIDES my brother's garage! Here are some random pictures from today:

Glove box wiring:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1046.jpg
Ghetto EGR plug:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1044.jpg
Fuel lines/Radiator cap:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1043.jpg
Moroso ON Moroso:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1042.jpg

Wish me luck guys, let me know if you want any specific pictures of anything on the car, I'm sure there's a lot I haven't really documented fully, so feel free to ask! More pictures/videos coming soon!

[DJButton]

Freakin sweet man, Grats!!:bigok:

[1five10]

Cool man. Thanks for sharing the build with us. The Breadbox is just a few tinkers away from being in top form.Keep the updates going....

[phobos]

What radiator are you running? Custom?

[WagDatto]

It's a VW Rabbit radiator (we bought a new one, but you can find a used one at your local junk yard) with a Moroso in-line Filler T.. A lot of us 510 guys (I'll assume you're one of us by your signature!) run them because they're thin and they fit in there fairly well. Mine didn't have the filler on it, which was okay because it would have sat lower than the bleeder on the KA block, so we tied in the T instead, which will eventually run to an overflow canister.

[kcndizzle]

Haha, that is loud, sounds like all kinds of hell-fire when you blipped the throttle. That's not necessarily a bad thing though...

[kingkilburn]

I want to say that's a VW Thing. There was one in an old movie I have and it looks similar except topless.

Nope not a Thing
http://jalopnik.com/assets/resources/2007/08/73_Thing_LH_Frt_Qtr.jpg

Bad ass exhaust sound by the way.

[WagDatto]

Keep in mind, the timing is still not set quite right, so the exhaust is crazy loud. When we were parked at the gas station, trying to reset the timing a little less aggressively, every 3 seconds the car would give a very loud, very annoyed backfire. Almost gave some old guy filling his Camaro a heart attack! It sounds like ass in person if it's doing ANYTHING above idle. At idle, it sounds awesome, but it just becomes rattley and nasty at 2k+. I'll toss a fart cannon or a standard Flowmaster on there, maybe a resonator to calm it down a little, it's just way too abrasive, you can't hear the motor or ANYTHING.

[WagDatto]

As for that retarded VW, it was probably a Thing with a lot of custom body on it, I doubt VW made a car that looked like it was made out of right angles and sheet metal. Whoever made it had very bad taste and should be reprimanded, but to each his own.

[silviaguy240]

might be some sort of homade dune buggy out of a beetle.

[fbiphil]

That "thing" (the noun, not the proper noun!) was built down the street from us. It started life as a Bug, but the guy built his own dune buggy body for it out of sheetmetal and angle iron!
Props for DIY, but I think it might have made more sense to just spend the $1000 on a fiberglass body!

As for BREadbox, we'll get it dialed in before the weekend. The wiring looks like crap right now because I figured the problem MUST be something related to that, but it'll all tuck in there nice and safe. But Sean's definitely right about the exhaust- I think my 2 door sounded better with NO muffler than his does with that canister under there!! We'll see if it calms down any once the timing's dialed in.

[WagDatto]

Not much happened today, I had school and I work in about 45 minutes. I did, however, get a chance to bolt in my Optima Battery Tray (compliments of Fender Bender Intl.), snap a shot of the HID's in action, AND find where the fuel leak is coming from. It's right above the tranny, behind the block. Honestly, I don't know if I can reach the line in question without dropping the transmission, so I might just run a new one back there, and tie it in at the end or onto the fuel cell. We'll see.

FUEL LEAK!!
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1013fuelleak.jpg
Billet Aluminum battery tray:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/03-03-08_1254.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/03-03-08_1252.jpg
Stock 510 AND 240sx sending unit cover:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/03-03-08_1253.jpg
HID's:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/03-03-08_1319.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/03-03-08_1320.jpg

[WagDatto]

Quick update as well:

My little brother told me yesterday that Adam Corolla says he'll be a host on the US version of Top Gear. Not sure if there are any other Top Gear fans out there, but I dig his taste in cars, at least...

Adam Corolla's Datsun 510 BRE Clone
http://blogs.edmunds.com/.eea4479/cmd.233/enclosure..eea447a

[kingkilburn]

That is the best news I've heard about top gear since they announced a US version. I remember Adam talking about 510s like ten years ago lol.

[WagDatto]

That is the best news I've heard about top gear since they announced a US version. I remember Adam talking about 510s like ten years ago lol.

I totally agree, I doubt the US version will do too good, but Adam Carolla, Tim Allen and Jay Leno would be a pretty knowledgeable group of funny guys, IMHO. Ah well, we'll see!

[Bubbles]

I never knew Carolla was into cars. I was pretty impressed to find out he knows his construction stuff and has actually done real labor as opposed to a lot of 'stars.'


Top Gear :D



BTW

In case anyone actually believes Jay and Tim Allen are on the same level of awesomeness, I present this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4hacmvSPaI

[WagDatto]

AWESOME!! We were just talking about this today!! Yeah, anyway, back on topic, I ordered a new ignition switch from NAPA today, so I'll pick it up tomorrow and maybe have that installed this week/end sometime. It'll be nice to have a true "turn-key" style ignition again, instead of the one I have now, where you can pretty much use a long finger nail or anything else, for that matter. Pictures to come.

[kingkilburn]

Adam is definitely awesome but that could be a whole new thread. lol

What style of car are you going for WagDatto? A racer type(bare essentials) or a more custom street rod style?

[idriveattz32]

glad to see this thing up and running, im glad you're going witha different exhaust, it sounds a little ciggerette-boatish right now, something quieter and deeper would be nice, I suggest looking into magnaflow as they make all kinds of round mufflers for custom applications.

Can't wait to see this all painted up man, its gonna be sweet!

[WagDatto]

glad to see this thing up and running, im glad you're going witha different exhaust, it sounds a little ciggerette-boatish right now, something quieter and deeper would be nice, I suggest looking into magnaflow as they make all kinds of round mufflers for custom applications.

Can't wait to see this all painted up man, its gonna be sweet!

We'll see how it sounds once the timing is dialed in, finally. But I have no doubt that it's still going to sound like ass-on-fire. Like I said, if it were a 50's Chevy Truck, I might be able to pull off the sound, but not on this car! I already talked to Tim (the guy that does our exhaust for us) and he said he'd never put it on a car, but figured it might be too loud. Once I get the car running and driving right, we're just going to bring it back and he'll swap in something else, maybe with a resonator or something and a different muffler. We'll see what happens! Once it's painted, it'll be the business! I'm looking into rear flares right now... Apparently one of the guys on the510realm makes some flares that don't require body work on 4 doors and Wagons, so we'll see what's up with that. *crosses fingers*

Adam is definitely awesome but that could be a whole new thread. lol

What style of car are you going for WagDatto? A racer type(bare essentials) or a more custom street rod style?

It'll be a "Daily Drifter" type of car. It'll have a heater, but no AC. It'll have a radio, but not yet. All lights and turn signals. I'm going to be stripping the sound deadening, but putting a carpet kit and maybe some lighter-weight sound deadening. It'll have a headliner in there at some point, as well as all new window seals and weather stripping. The car is 30-something years old, but the motor is newer with low-ish miles on it, so I want the thing to be reliable as can be, but I also want to bring it to the track from time to time and waste my money on new tires. At some point, too, I'll be swapping the rear axle out for either a Corolla, or Ford 8" to get an LSD (instead of spool) and disk brakes, and maybe even do a 5-lug swap. We'll see what happens, but depending on the flare situation, I want to focus more on aesthetics and comfort now that it's running. Even N/A, I should never have any problems spinning my tires in this thing. It's a little more powerful than stock, and the car is lighter than the 240 it came out of!

[kingkilburn]

The KA is a great engine for sure. I wish there was a good set of N/A cams for it. That with the BC stroker kit would be perfect, but for me the VH would be cheaper with more power.

[wannabe_drifter]

Whats the weight for that thing ???

[BustedS13]

adam corolla + top gear? sounds like a far better combination than lying limey assfuck + top gear! WOOT!

[WagDatto]

Phil and I drove the "Estate" around today! The timing needs some fine tuning, still.. The KA doesn't quite PULL in higher RPM's, so we'll tweak it a hair, and get it running just right, and then I'll make sure to light 'em up and take a video for you guys with my annoyingly-loud exhaust, before I get it changed! As Phil put it, "The payoff is a big, noisy, smoky burnout at the end of a long build." What all did I do today...

But yeah, it drove all the way to our parent's house (not too far, mind you) and back without a hitch, other than being loud and a little weak at the top end! Handling was awesome, the steering wheel felt perfect! It was at the right distance from me, and a bigger diameter felt way better to crank around. I'll probably need some new springs, as these are super short and I think we were bouncing around a bit much up front, so I might need a better springrate, I'm not sure. The clutch was a little iffy, and the brakes still need to be bled again, but once the last few issues are dealt with, it'll be a dream to cruise in! I did get a little bit of a squeal from the tires off the line at a stop sign, too! Haha, nothing dramatic quite yet, we just need to fine tune her some more, but yeah, it felt great to drive it again.

I picked up my new key cylinder from NAPA this morning, and installed that.. The Wagon now has WORKING keys, so you assholes can't use your fingernail to turn on my fuel pump anymore... The next step is a new ignition switch, so we can wire the starter right to the keys, and use my hidden pushbutton as a kill switch of sorts. I also need a steering column lock at some point, because right now it's disabled, so you can turn the wheel (if it were in the car, that is) even when the keys aren't in the ignition.

I found the fuel leak, as I already posted, but there was not way to access it without removing the transmission or motor, so I ran a whole new line from the intake manifold to the fuel cell. Easy enough, I guess! I also found and fixed the coolant leak, though another one sprung up when we ran the motor for a little bit, so I fixed that one too. We'll see if anything else springs up in the next few days! We're not sure if the temperature switch is working properly, but Phil made sure to wire in an "override" switch, so I can turn on the fan any time I want (track days, anybody?). We'll have to wait this one out and see what comes of it, but hopefully it just needed some breaking-in.

New fuel line:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1052.jpg

I remembered something today, too! I made sure to measure for the fuel cell VERY precisely, and the new filler neck was in the stock position for a reason. The Wagons came with a "guard" for the filler neck, and I wanted to be able to reuse mine when we put the fuel cell in! I cleaned it up, and painted it, and it bolted right in place around the filler neck!

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1048.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1050.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1051.jpg

Since I brought my good camera with me, I figured I'd get a better shot of my battery tray, too.
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1049.jpg

The car was fully up on jackstands for most of the day (fuel line, switching tires from side to side, coolant leak, etc), so I got some better shots of the front and rear suspension.

Boring rear axle and KYB shocks:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1053.jpg
Vented 280zx rotors, struts and powder coated/anodized stuff:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1054.jpg
Modified TC rods to be adjustable/heimed:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1056.jpg
Control arm etc:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1057.jpg

I pushed the car outside to see how bad my passenger fender is with some sandpaper, and it was bad... I'll need to get a new fender at some point, but until then, I'll rock what I got! I got some shots of the HIDs and wheel clearance at full-lock.

FUGLY FENDER and clearance:
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1058.jpg
Dem's bright!
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1062.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1061.jpg

Twisted Images logo... They disbanded a while back, but it used to be my brother's car club. I'll add some FBI stickers soon, what do you think, Phil?
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/essdeezy87/IMG_1063.jpg

Whats the weight for that thing ???

I'm not sure! I'll for sure be taking it to the scales and shelling out a few bucks to get it weighed, because I'd be interested to know, as well! As it sits, the interior is pretty gutted, and I have a motor in it. I'd ASSUME that it's around 2100-2200lbs without me in it (I need to go through a weight reduction, too!), and I'll give it a shy guess of around 130-140hp (intake, exhaust, de-smogged, and red valve cover.. stock otherwise) to the wheels, once the timing is all dialed in and it's running right.

The KA is a great engine for sure. I wish there was a good set of N/A cams for it. That with the BC stroker kit would be perfect, but for me the VH would be cheaper with more power.

I've become a huge fan of the KA engine! I respect it after riding in my brother's KA 2-door, when we built it. Great power band, and plenty of "push" to get you sitting all the way back in your seat! I will, however, be going KA-T at some point down the road... The "Waaahhhh-PSHHHhhh...." excites me, and I'm being called to it.... But that'll be after body work, paint and maybe a cage and interior work, so it's a ways away still.

[916S14]

wow very nice build. Hope to see you around sac sometime soon.

[WagDatto]

For sure, where you at? I'll get the exhaust redone this weekend, and get the timing, brakes and clutch done by then, and then I just have to go through DMV nonsense and I'll be driving it quite a bit!

[916S14]

nice man, this is a pre 75 right? No smog nonesense? Very good build and love the front end of this car with that insane lip. I live right around the corner from sac state, hope to see you around!

[pbcstylez]

we got a 510 wagon for sale if anybody is interested sorry to thread jack we're in sac as well

[WagDatto]

nice man, this is a pre 75 right? No smog nonesense? Very good build and love the front end of this car with that insane lip. I live right around the corner from sac state, hope to see you around!

It's a 1972.

[WagDatto]

So I brought the car home today. We bled the brakes and fixed the clutch master cylinder problem. The brakes still feel like they need to be bled, I don't know what to think of that issue, but I'll figure it out at some point. It's noisy as all hell, but it spins its wheels like a champ, and gets sideways when you tell it to! Exhaust needs to be done this week/end at some point, and I'm also going to bring it in to get a quote on a paint job (no harm in shopping early, yeah?).

I do owe you guys at least a picture of a big burnout, and I'll make sure to do so... but I kind of need to get the thing insured and registered before I feel too confident in blasting around the streets, ya dig?

I'll get it out on the roads soon and get some nice, scenic shots for you guys in some real daylight! I've pretty much spoiled you all with fluorescent lights from my brother's garage this whole build, so I honestly don't know if it'll be better or worse in sunlight! We'll find out soon!

[kcndizzle]

I know a guy that does insurance :naughty:, nah jk lol. But seriously tho, we need burnout pics! Better yet, maybe give some local peeps a burnout ride????

[phobos]

Dimes ftw.

I want to go ka-t on my dime as well :) I'm just scared I'm going to kill myself! And, unfortunately, I don't get that feeling in a 240 (sorry 240 lovers) lol....

[WagDatto]

240's are fast with KA's, sure... But when you shed a few hundred pounds and have a car that rattles and shakes with every blip of the throttle, it's a different story all together! Haha, I'll give you a ride as soon as it's legal-ish!

[fbiphil]

Screw the ride-along- I want to drive it again!!
This has been a really fun build- it's actually motivated me to work on my 240 again!
And my wife thanks you for taking it out of our garage yesterday- ready to start on the truck?

[WagDatto]

Oh snap! One step at a time, let's finish making the Silvia purr, THEN I'll help you with the truck!

[WagDatto]

I'm about to go FINALLY fix the coolant leak, and then take it to get the muffler replaced. Don't worry, it'll still be loud! I'll get pictures and video!

EDIT: Coolant problem fixed, car stays at a nice temperature now! Exhaust not fixed. Maarco was slammed today, so I'll get over there later this week/end. This weekend, Phil and I will (hopefully) finish wiring, and install an alarm! That way, none of y'alls can come mess with my car without me knowing! Although... if I'm within 5 miles, I'll hear you start it anyway, which is kind of an alarm in itself!

In my dad's words, "The ONE good thing about this noise is that everybody, even kids with annoying subwoofers, will hear you and make way..." Other than that, though, he dug it!

Anybody know where a good place to get an alignment in the Sacramento area would be? That, and who wants to turbo and paint my car? I'll repay with you sexual favors!

[fbiphil]

OOO! I'll paint it for you! Like we always say, "It's not gay if it's incest!!"

LOL

[WagDatto]

Phil, where near the front-driver-side of the motor would I be leaking oil from? Small splotch when I park it...

[WagDatto]

Side note:
(If it was a Zilvia member, I apologize in advance!)
When I was taking it to Maarco to get the exhaust redone, some dude and his girl in a grey-blue, old Honda gave chase, failed miserably, and then I got 'The Shocker' from the girl, and 'The Rocker' from the guy who incidentally had his tongue out and his face all mushed up. Not sure if he was jocking me cuz it was a Datsun, cuz it was loud as fuck, or cuz he couldn't keep up, but it made me giggle...

My first "Jocked Whilst Driving" (JWD) came from a dude in an 80's Honda Hatch...