carterb

Z31 at the IMSA 6 Hours of the Glen back in June

 

The very next day we pulled the cars into the Hino garage and started the swap!

 

 

Someone remind me to put these hood spacers back in

 

 

Engines out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

What have we done?!

 

 

 

Finally we got the K24 running out of limp mode and we were confident enough to commit to the swap.

 

Before hand - Jeff wanted to dyno the SR20DE and then the K24 on the same day - on the same dyno - so we'd have a solid comparison - and hopefully a reward for our effort.

 

So Jeff and I took the morning off work on the 16th of July and towed each car down to Drive Autosports in Everett.

 

 

The SR20 was first:

 

https://datsun510.com/uploads/monthly_2024_07/07162024swampthing(6).mp4.f8880cfd9eca40c34956314de056f6b9.mp4#t=1

 

Swamp Thing is still putting down a healthy 125hp at the wheels at 6,000rpm and 112 lbft peak torque at 5614rpm.  Torque is around 90 lbft across most of the rev range.

 

 

Next was the Gobstopper with the K24

 

 

What a lovely noise!  Those revs just keep climbing and climbing!!!

 

https://datsun510.com/uploads/monthly_2024_07/07162024swampthing(7).mp4.def6285bd76cd0fa6796e9944136275c.mp4

 

We were not very excited to see 136hp on the big screen when we arrived to pick up the car.

 

 

We expressed our disappointment to the guy behind the counter and he realized he didn't report something correctly and proceeded to "click click clack" away on his keyboard...

 

Then he produced a corrected dyno chart:

 

 

174hp @ 7190rpm & 150 lbft torque at 3,488rpm with almost the whole range about 120!

 

40% more power and 30% more torque! 

 

Game on!

 

I'm just hoping those are actual numbers and not some imaginary results due to the keyboard clicking.  We were expecting around 180hp from what we had read about the motor though so there should be no reason to worry.

 

Swamp Thing's last day with an SR20!

 

More work on the Dilly!  I think I mentioned earlier that we mounted real trailer tires/wheels. 

 

 

The larger rolling diameter means we need different fenders so we took at session to make fender mounts.  We welded them directly to the hubs so they stay on the ground instead of tilting up with the deck.

 

 

Back to the past - May 30th we had it running enough to take it for it's first drive up and down Jeff's street.

 

 

I have some video but my my iphone thinks its cool to record video in a format that you can't play back now unless you have a VLC player.  : (

I think Paul has video.  Maybe he'll post it.

 

Engine is still in limp mode at this point.  It's running but we have a ways to go.  Hopefully Jeff and Paul will tell a story about how many ECU's and resistors we went through...

1971 Datsun 510 2dr

 

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

 

On 7/26/2024 at 2:56 PM, carterb said:

1970 Datsun 510 2dr on BAT

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1970-datsun-510-2-door-sedan-2/

 

 

Sold for $49,510 on 8/2/24

The intake piping was another challenge!

 

Thank goodness for Solidworks and 3D printers!

 

 

 

There is not enough room to with the radiator installed to install or remove the intake so I designed a split collar attachment to the throttle body so the intake can be extracted from the side.  It worked awesome and the two piece construction allowed us to swivel the lower portion with the cone intake just right!

 

Snug as a bug in a rug!

Well Jeff dropped the bomb.

The K24 looks like a winner and we have started the swap into Swamp Thing.

 

We need to do a little back fill.

 

Every part of this swap has been a puzzle.  Turns out no one has done this - at least like we are.

 

It was a job just getting radiator hoses for instance.  We used three hoses plus a piece of exhaust pipe to change diameters to match up to our monster Griffin radiator.

 

 

 

 

In the end the factory couldn't have done much better.  Thanks for letting us back behind the counter NAPA! 

1970 Datsun 510 2dr on BAT

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1970-datsun-510-2-door-sedan-2/

 

On 7/19/2024 at 6:18 PM, carterb said:

1972 Datsun 510 2dr on BAT

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-datsun-510-2-door-sedan-3/

 

 

Bid to $16,750 on 7/26/24

1972 Datsun 510 2dr on BAT

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-datsun-510-2-door-sedan-3/

 

"all original" 

 

oh it's original all right...

 

On 7/3/2024 at 11:36 AM, carterb said:

1968 Datsun 510 2dr Race Car

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1968-datsun-510-sedan/

 

 

Sold for $36,510 on 7/10/24

On 6/28/2024 at 12:09 PM, carterb said:

1973 Datsun 510 2dr

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1973-datsun-510-14/

 

 

Sold for $31,000 on 7/3/24

1968 Datsun 510 2dr Race Car

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1968-datsun-510-sedan/

 

1973 Datsun 510 2dr

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1973-datsun-510-14/

 

On 6/17/2024 at 11:30 AM, carterb said:

1969 Datsun 510 2dr

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1969-datsun-510-2-door-sedan/

 

 

Bid to $26,250 on 6/24/24

1969 Datsun 510 2dr

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1969-datsun-510-2-door-sedan/

 

1978 Datsun 620

 

https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/d/medina-1978-datsun-620-pickup/7755499237.html

 

Overnight rain left the track pretty wet in the morning but the skies made it look like this was a temporary issue.

 

 

 

Paul started us out. 

 

 

The spray at the beginning of the race was not inconsiderable

 

 

 

Paul and I made it through our stints with the only problem being that the battery in our (rented) transponder had died overnight so we were not being scored.

 

Didn't really matter though because midway through Jeff's first stint he announced over the radio that someone had hit him and sent him off track.

 

I'll let him give you the play by play but while watching for him to come into the pits, we found he was preceded by this Mustang (note the VIP cone of shame on his hood)

 

 

Here is Jeff.  Looks okay from this side:

 

 

Unfortunately, the opposite quarter panel revealed the damage:

 

 

Turns out he actually got hit hard enough that we needed to re-adjust the left rear toe.  I was able to bang the 1/4 panel back into shape with some good whacks from my palm and after making sure nothing was cracked/broken/etc, we were able to continue racing - scarred but not hamstrung.

 

Then the rain came back!

 

I think Paul finished his 2nd stint in the wet and handed the car to me.  It was actually miserable.  I think our LSD was set way too tight for a wet track.  I spent more effort trying to keep the car on the track than I did racing people.  Every lap involved multiple saves as the slightest throttle application while turning led to the rear stepping out, and not in a fun way...

 

Could have been worse - during Paul's stint someone found a wall and hit it so hard they had to red flag the race and bring in equipment to re-set the barriers.  That led to the quote of the weekend:

 

 

Jeff got the last stint and we took another checkered flag.  AWESOME!

 

 

 

No idea what "place" we were in.  Doesn't really matter.  With almost 3 hours not scored and with Jeff's damage repair pit stop we were just happy to finish.

 

Any race where you can drive the car onto the trailer at the end is a win!

 

 

Goodnight Swamp Thing!

 

Thanks for another awesome weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday morning we gathered back at the track for one last fluid & torque check and windshield cleaning before the driver's meeting.  These are always entertaining with Kathy Fuss the series owner doing most of the presenting.  I even won some SWAG (another Lucky Dog hat).

 

Driver's line up for the day:

 

 

It looks like it is going to be amazing!

 

 

We were pitted next to a Toyota Corolla wagon.  The team bought it from a junk yard, added the requisite safety equipment, and came racing.  They were a great crew and cheered for their car every lap (no exaggeration) and went on to finish the whole weekend!  It was fun to see their excitement.  The BMW wagon in the foreground is Mad Greek racing.  The 46 number is an homage to the BRE cars.  They have a really nice early Z car you have seen here in previous race reports but apparently even though it is faster - it just requires too much maintenance when compared to the modern beemer.

 

 

Another BMW neighbor...

 

 

They did NOT have a trouble free weekend.

 

We did our best through the day to keep track of fuel levels and how much we added during the pit stops but unfortunately it was a little less than scientific.

 

 

It's hard to gage as there are so many yellows, black and even red flags.  This weekend in particular seemed to have a lot of interruptions.

 

I was worried that Garmina (we named our Garmin) was going to be distracting during the race but it turned out to be just the opposite.  It turned out to be GREAT FUN chasing lap times.  It was amazing how many times I'd come through turn 3 and find that I was half to a full second up on my fastest lap.  Sometimes even when I went through 1 and 2 with traffic.  I ended up making a lot of adjustments to my lines through the weekend and my lap times fell as a result.  Jeff had the same experience.  Paul seemed a little less convinced.  : )

 

It did make catching traffic or a yellow flag absolutely crushing sometimes!  On my very last lap of my first stint I came out of turn 5 a full second up on my fastest lap.  I was stoked!  Only to find a yellow flag waiting at the turn 6 flag station.  D'oh! 

 

I *think* we ran trouble free all day.  Do I have that right boys?  Jeff was black flagged at some point for contact that didn't happen - otherwise we just ran and ran. My highlight was taking the checkered flag after passing the orange RX7 for position in a drag race from turn 16 to the flag stand.  I think we ended up in 11th in C.  Our short stints are great for giving us all equal time in the car but they don't leave us very competitive since we take more pit stops than the cars in podium contention.

 

Fine by us.  We are having a blast!

 

I'll share photos from the race later.

 

Friday we met at Jeff's at I don't even remember what time.

 

But we got the car loaded up and everything in the back of Paul's new rig.

 

 

It was strange leaving my 620 behind.  It has been such a regular part of our race weekends. 

 

Paul and I towed the car and Jeff shared the freeway with us in his VW Bus.  He was excited to be able to sleep on a bed instead of on the gravel in a tent this time.

 

Let's go!

 

 

Made it to The Ridge Raceway before the track went green and left us enough time to say hello to our neighbors, unload the car, and get ready to get out on the track.

 

 

I would say that probably 3 out of every 4 cars racing the weekend participate in the Friday track day.  And the weather was beautiful!

 

 

Thumbs up from Paul!

 

 

Jeff's turn.

 

 

Paul taking his order for Cheeseburger, Fries and a Coke!

 

 

The car ran flawlessly all day!  *almost*

 

We had to stop once for a vacuum leak.  A rubber plug at the back of the intake manifold had disintegrated.  We replaced with tape and sent the car back out.

 

The radiator actually kept the car a little too cool.  Enough that we believe it was running a bit rich - something we experienced for the rest of the weekend.  If we run another race with this setup we will need to reinstall the thermostat.

 

Paul came in from a session with a flat tire.  The inside shoulder was missing about 1/4 of the way around.  What-tha?!  Further inspection revealed a drill bit (3/8" diameter perhaps) poking through the tread.  That would have flattened the tire in an instant and the resultant damage was just from the drive back to the pits.

 

The Garmin "driving coach" was AWESOME.  We did not use the audible coaching feature seeing our lap times real time and even sector times as they happen really enhanced the driving experience.

 

At the end of the day everyone takes the cars through tech.

 

 

The car required very little additional fiddling and after some more visiting and final race prep, we packed it up for the night. 

 

Looking good so far!

 

(tell me what I left out Paul and Jeff)

 

 

Howdy folks!

It's been a month since our race and I have not taken the time to share any news.

 

We did have a lot more last minute prep work than I think we anticipated but we got it done. 

 

Here is the car on Thursday night with the new radiator in place.

 

 

 

We would be rewarded for our efforts!

 

Time to get to bed.  It's going to be an early morning!