On 9/10/2024 at 11:54 AM, carterb said:

1972 Datsun 510 2dr

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-datsun-510-2-door-sedan-2/

 

 

Sold for $30,760 on 9/17/24

1973 Datsun 510 2dr

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1973-datsun-510-15/

 

On 9/7/2024 at 7:07 PM, carterb said:

Whitebird returns

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1969-nissan-bluebird-2/

 

 

Sold for $17,510 on 9/12/24

This one is in Georgia and is about to be stolen!

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1969-nissan-bluebird-2/

 

 

Current Bid: $10,510Ends in16:24:10

By this time we are one week away and for some reason, we seem to keep adding things to the list instead of marking them off.

 

Paul noticed that our rotors had an array of stress cracks.  (you can't see in this photo - I'll try to get a better one later)  We went to the shed to find a pair of back up rotors just in case.

 

 

Work on the car had been so frantic over the last couple of weeks I didn't keep up with photos very well.  After we got most everything mechanically installed - In the process of installing the drive line and tightening all the bolts on the rear suspension we found that the tranny was locked up.  It would only shift in to 3 of the six gears.  We ran this tranny before and couldn't find or think of anything obvious to fix it in place.  It would have to come back out.  We had the spare tranny from the Gobstopper right there for comparison and it worked fine.  No idea...

 

The cool thing was that we dropped the tranny in about 30 minutes - with the SR it took about 2 hours because we had to lower the whole crossmember and disconnect the steering etc to get the room needed to make it possible.  With the tranny on the floor and separated from the bellhousing we were unable to replicate the issue and we convinced ourselves that somehow one of the selector shafts was bound so we carefully put it back together and test - shifted the tranny on the garage floor and it seemed to work fine so back into the car it went and that allowed us to finish up the rear suspension and exhaust and everything else under the car.

 

Monday we aborted the redesigned 3-d printed radiator mounts as they were still in the printer and we needed to get this thing done.  We fabricated some Z brackets for the sides.

 

 

That allowed us to finish the radiator install and the car was running by now as well.  "only" the details remain right?!

 

 

Yesterday we pretty much finished everything on the list

 

 

The major re-wire and re-plumb left a much much cleaner looking interior!

 

 

 

JBC custom switch panel!

 

 

Relocated heater with new "fanifold"

 

 

I think Jeff's calling to make sure his AAA membership is still current.  : P

 

 

First drive!!!!

 

https://datsun510.com/uploads/monthly_2024_09/09102024swampthing(1).MOV.c902e2fd52e27777597860278c7e0e70.MOV

 

https://datsun510.com/uploads/monthly_2024_09/09102024swampthing(2).MOV.d9af8e565f912723cbaf33bf74dcedd4.MOV

 

"SO WORTH IT!!!!"

 

The drive uncovered a conflict between the exhaust and the drive line - quickly remedied by a little exhaust mount shim.

 

I had the privilege of taking the next test drive to re-check our work.

 

Man this motor revs!  And makes a lovely sound in the process. 

 

Look out Ridge - ready or not - here we come!!!!

 

If you are in Shelton this weekend, come by and say hi.  Look for #71 on the tent full of old exhausted Datsun enthusiasts.

 

 

When we're not working on the racecar, we're working on the racecar trailer. 

I brought the fenders home to advance their state in between our weekly racecar sessions.

 

weldy weldy

 

 

 

painty painty

 

 

I was down and out sick for the weekend but I had enough energy to finish these off.

 

 

The autometer adapter arrived!

 

 

And it fit!

 

 

Our only rule - no leaks!

Speaking of adapters, how are we going to finish mounting this fuel rail?

 

It is currently only supported on one side and we need to make sure all the fuel goes in the hole!!!

 

 

 

 

sketchy sketchy - measure measure

 

 

model model - printy printy

 

 

And they were ready to install the next time we go together!  Perfect fit!

 

 

In the mean time, Jeff and Paul were working on wiring and many other activities when someone realized, we had never disconnected the battery in Swamp Thing!  (disconnected was default on the Gobstopper when we were testing all of this)

 

Paul loosened the seat so we could get the top of the battery box off.  Turns out the positive battery terminal has been growing its own kind of swamp thing

 

 

I made a flywheel cover

 

 

It doesn't seem like we are knocking off many things on this list and we are only about 2 1/2 weeks away now!

 

 

Another evening of model model - printy printy - does this revision look fancy enough Jeff?

 

 

Jeff says yes!  (and that was before I added the fillets)

 

Uh oh!

Running out of time.

Let's see how fast I can get us up to speed...

 

Back in mid august I set out to redo our windshield defrost system.  Timing was good, the old fan plenum just about disintegrated upon disassembly.

 

 

I started by making a model of the fan motor and interface flange:

 

 

Then modeled this Tri-Y outlet plenum:

 

 

 

Nice to have this done in an evening but Jeff said it wasn't "fancy" enough...  Okay then!  Challenge accepted.  More on that later.

 

Couldn't hit print just yet anyway as I was unsure if I had matched the old tube interface dimensions correctly.

 

 

If you remember, one of the other things on my list was to adapt the coolant temperature gauge to the K24 intake.

 

The sending unit on the gauge is comprised of two fittings.

 

 

The outside fitting is 1/2npt but we need M12x1.5

 

 

I reached out to Autometer and they understood my situation and told me the part number of the adapter I needed to buy from Summit.  (Apparently this same issue affects the LS guys)  So I followed the link and purchased the adapter.  Great!

 

 

Except that it is not great.  The internal thread is not correct AND there is no taper to bottom out the temp probe body against.

 

 

It turns out that I was also supposed to buy an adapter directly from Autometer but that was left out of their response.  They kindly dropped one in the mail to me.  Fingers crossed at that point!

 

Next I turned my attention to the radiator mounting as the hardware we used in the '68 won't work on the '71 since the '68 has a flat bottom core support and the '69+ cars had a dipped core support.  (possibly for automatic tranny cooler radiators?  Does anyone know?)  These next photos won't make sense to anyone but are included here for posterity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13/16" core support "dip"

 

 

And a quick look at heater hose routing for the new defrost fan assembly

 

 

(I cut off the dangling radio mounting tabs)

 

 

 

Am I going to have room for all of these temp gauge adapters?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 9/3/2024 at 11:15 AM, carterb said:

1971 Datsun 510 station wagon

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-datsun-510-station-wagon-13/

 

 

Bid to $37,500 on 9/10/24

1972 Datsun 510 2dr

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-datsun-510-2-door-sedan-2/

 

1972 Datsun 510 2dr race car

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/156399420522

 

Whitebird returns

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1969-nissan-bluebird-2/

 

1971 Datsun 510 station wagon

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-datsun-510-station-wagon-13/

 

On 8/24/2024 at 6:00 PM, carterb said:

1972 Datsun 510 2dr

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-datsun-510-76/

 

 

Sold for $43,000

1972 Datsun 510 2dr

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-datsun-510-76/

 

Are the end links for that bar mounted correctly?

The end links are going to put a significant push/pull force on that bent sheet metal bracket which will flex back and forth and likely fatige and break over time.

White 1980 200SX hatch back

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1980-datsun-200sx-6/

 

 

My mom had a midnight blue '83.  Once I had my license in '88 - I drove it more than her - until I got my '79 210 in '89.  My mom's was an automatic.  5spd would have been so much more fun!  My 210 was a 4spd.  I would have loved a 5spd in that car but before the internet - how would I know they were available to swap?

Need any closeout parts for your 510?

 

https://www.rockauto.com/closeouts/?carcode=1209989&a=CloseoutEmail

On 4/19/2024 at 5:03 PM, hobospyder said:

Yeah I was confused by scirocco. Didn't even see nsx

 

The Scirocco barely spent any time on the track.  Most of the weekend it was up in the air getting attention from mechanics.  I'm afraid I didn't get a photo of it.

I stole this from someone else at the June race @ PIR.  It was still in the same position as I last saw at the Ridge.  Hopefully they got the issues sorted and enjoyed a weekend of racing.

 

 

I still haven't posted my photos from the April race yet but here is the NSX.

 

 

 

 

 

Last week we introduced the K24 to its new home:

 

 

Then for some reason we decided it would be a good idea to rewire the whole car!

 

 

Lots of things to ponder

 

 

Like - did Ziploc steal our paint scheme? 

 

 

And does our 510 have "Grip 'n Seal Technology"?

 

The K24 swap has so many follow-on affects...  We need a new water temp gauge because Honda uses a different thread than Nissan for the temp sending unit...

 

 

 

There *may* be an adapter but we're committed now.

 

Scratch that - getting an adapter.

 

Wednesday we got a good start on wiring.  I didn't take any pictures.  Can you believe it?!

White 1969 Bluebird Van  2,636,364 Yen

 

https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/v1143862104

 

Bluebird Van 510 Bluebird Van

The exterior is appropriate for the model year. The interior is clean! We are also posting images that could not be uploaded to Car Sensor on our website! Please take a look! URL: https://www.vrp.co.jp/

 

White 1970 Bluebird 4dr  3,780,000 Yen

 

https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/w1143660543

 

510 Bluebird 1800 modified

Certified vehicle with 1800 engine replacement. Since it is an old car, there is some rust, but it was completely blasted and painted about 20 years ago, so there is no rot in the metal plates and the body is in good condition. The air conditioner in the interior image is a dummy. The reinforced clutch, lightweight flywheel, distributor, etc. are made by Kameari. Hayashi Racing 8J9J. There are standard parts that were removed (clutch, flywheel, front seat, light, etc.). Please check the actual car. No claims or returns.

 

 

On 8/5/2024 at 11:53 AM, carterb said:

1971 Datsun 510 2dr

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-datsun-510-2-door-sedan-3/

 

 

Bid to $17,500 on 8/12/24

Had to get a new fire system.  When I sent our old bottle in for inspection ( you have to do that every 2 years ) they said there were two little dings and a bend in the handle so they couldn't recharge it. 

 

Nothing to do but bite the bullet and get a new bottle.  Of course the old one is no longer supported so I had to get a new style.  Which takes different hose and nozzles.  We sure love racing don't we boys?!

 

 

 

Jeff built 3" exhaust for the K24.  We still had the stock exhaust hole in the crossmember.  Apparently this is my specialty!  : )

 

 

 

 

 

I finished it off with BBQ paint!  😂😂😂