demo243

A few people recommend going with the 12" spring- my guess is to get enough drop- the 14" spring probably doesnt allow you to go low enough. I am hoping I don't run into loose springs at droop, but if I do Ill probably do the same thing I am planning for my front coilovers and run a helper spring. Ordered the QA1s this morning so I should hopefully have them installed in the next week or so.

Eplastics.com 24x48 abs sheets were $17 each... but about $10 each to ship... i found a place that had cheaper shipping but their order processing wasn’t working and I didn’t feel like calling...

Still amassing parts for the suspension and steering rebuild. Idler arm and cross link should show up tomorrow, waiting on one LCA bushing. Koni front inserts should ship this week hopefully, and will probably order the QA1s for the rear tomorrow. In the meantime I got started on another project. The front door cards have always had speaker holes in them and overall they all just weren’t in great shape. T3s are nice, but expensive... decided to try my hand at some myself. picked up some 1/8” abs plastic sheet Traces the outline Scored it with a razor about half way through and then bent it to snap it off Cut/drilled some holes and mounted it up still need some more screws to secure it. My door pull/armrests were in rough shape, but there are threads spaced perfectly for the rear pulls up front too (the two silver screws up top) so going to just run those to clean it up and keep it simple. Never used the arm rest any way... need a new door handle for the drive side too since the plastic is breaking off. Almost finished the rear driver as well - just needs mounting screws Should have a few big scrap panels too so I think I’ll cut some kick panels too.

Redline MT90 is yellow metal safe.

Nothing to exciting... just added some energy suspension ultra low profile bump stops to gain a bit of travel. Might go back in and drop it another 1/4-1/2 inch... well see

Finally got the time today to tear about the driver side rear end and do some measuring - I assume this would apply to most any 510 running a stock rear cross member and trailing arms. Ultimately it seems like I was just over thinking everything... and the general consensus for the DS602 would be correct. Measurement from the underside of the shock mount to the center of the lower mount at full compression - trailing arm against the body is 13.5" - so no reason to go with a ds502 as I would just be leaving more travel unused. As it is the DS602 will have 6" of travel, but only 5 are usable as it is 1" shorter at full compression (12.5"). A DS502 would leave 2" of unusable travel, meaning you would only have about 3.5" of usable travel. Also for anyone who is curious a 15x7 +25 w/ a 205/50 tire is a near perfect fit for the rear of a 4 door. I was able to almost fully compress the rear end ~5mm left with out any rubbing, at full compression with the trailing arm against the body there was just a slight rub somewhere, but not enough to stop the tire. Good to know. Any way some photos for reference. Untitled by D M, on Flickr Untitled by D M, on Flickr Untitled by D M, on Flickr Sounds like the DS602 with a 12" spring is the way to go. Planning on sticking with the 350s front and rear moving forward so it looks like I'll have to pony up for the Koni Race Inserts - which should fit pretty nicely in my spare struts with a small spacer, they are cleanly shortened and measure 13.5" inside from the bottom to the bottom of the threads. Untitled by D M, on Flickr Untitled by D M, on Flickr Also got most of my parts for the front end rebuild - just waiting on the tie rods and center link + idler arm from Troy Ermish (actually need to reach out to him as I haven't gotten a shipping confirmation yet... Untitled by D M, on Flickr Also order some black plastic sheets to hopefully make some fresh door cards out of - more to come on those - now I just need to find some nice armrest/pulls or order up some simple webbing ones. Just a photo of the two dattos to leave it off... Untitled by D M, on Flickr

Gotta check these measureents on the 510 --- Could be one of the reasons I have so much noise on decel...

New rubber for the truck today! Went back and forth on 205 vs 195.... ultimately decided to go 195... probably should have gone 205... these are a little smaller then I hoped... but should help with the rubbing on right hand turns... oh well... Looks like maybe I can drop the front another 1/4-1/2 inch... although then I might be literally riding on the bumps... Gotta hit the wheel weights, and spots from the old weights with a quick hit of black to hide them Wanted something with a M/S rating to keep the sidewall a bit more aggressive - don't need an AT by any means, but do like to see a bit of tread on a truck Handling and everything already feels better so I guess the smaller tire isnt terrible... Feel much better now that I dont have old cracked ones on the front.

So I think its time to upgrade to coilovers in the rear--- QA1 seems like the way to go--- but thinking about going it a bit different... Posted a thread on therealm since they seem to be pretty technical over there- http://the510realm.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=32839 To paraphase--- General consensus is to use the current DS602 Proma Star body - 18.75" extended 12.5" compressed with a 14" coil spring and the upper mounting adapters. But Ive read and had a couple conversations about a few people wishing they had gone shorter... This pulls in the QA1 DS502 - which moves to a 17" extended length and 11.625" compressed. I am wondering if this might be a better option for a low car, despite having less travel in the shock. Basiclly trying to avoid just wasting shock travel on droop--- and actually limit the amount of droop the rear set up has. I currently run 350s up front, and plan to run those in the rear. The rear Bilsteins currently on the car measured ~ 21 extended, 13.5" Compressed which leaves about 7.5" of travel. While the car was up I took a measurement from the lower edge of the wheel lip up to the lower edge of the fender right at the seam. At Full Droop the gap was 8". Once down at ride height the gap was 3". So of the ~7" of travel I used 3 of it just getting/compressing the springs to ride height. This would leave ~ 2 of shock travel--- actual travel to bumpstops I believe is about 1" roughly... those are trimmed but not miniscule. With those measurements in mind--- the DS502 might actually suit the car better. No matter what shock with a~350 spring at my ride height there is only going to be ~ 2" of compression left so the 5.375" would be enough and the much shorter length would eliminate unneeded droop from the system. --- Also thinking about replacing the front inserts while I have the front struts apart to swap to a shorter spring and add a helper spring - For the fronts I have two sets of shortened 510 struts. One set on the car and one set off. The set on the car measures ~16.5" from the bottom of the complete assembly to the top of the threads. The set off the car comes in at 15.25". The tube itself on the set off the car measures 13" exactly which rough math puts the set on the car ~ 13.75". Looks like Koni's are probably the best bet --- so It looks like there is a set of Koni Race inserts I can use--- or I can do some digging and find some sports. That would fit--- Ultimately I guess the question is with the strut shorted to 16.5" (13.75 tube length) is there any chance of bottoming the strut out before I bottom the suspension out? Might have to start another thread or post in one of the suspension threads on this all.... ----------- Some rough measurements for reference

There is a for sale thread over in the510realm too

Well whatever I did worked--- went out side and started the truck this morning for the first time after leaving the battery connected all night. Looks like there was still a bit of drop in voltage... but there was plenty to fire it off. Ill check again this afternoon. Makes no sense to me... because essentially it is wired up the same as I had it before... the only difference is instead of having on one wire coming out of the plug there are now two, but the second wire is a dead end to nothing...

So wrong thread since these photos are of the 510... but they play into the truck. Got my multimeter working so played around a bit more. with the plug as shown - red wire tied back into the main + and the white and red to nothing there is 0 draw. Tap the white and red to the + and there is 3.8... use the plugs with just the red wire (white and red completely removed) and there is 3.8... white and red grounded out through a test light and it shows 0 as well. Touch it back to the + after the test light and the bulb lights up and draws 4. doesnt seem right but I guess if I just tape off the white/red I should be ok still sits at 12v until it’s reved then it bumps up to 14. Gonna try it like this and see...

Tried looping the one (red) wire from the plug back to the alt and grounding the other (white/red) through a bulb but no change. Still sat at 12 until rev’ed and then sat at 14... idk....

Pulled this from Zilvia- Sounds like I need a bulb or resistor on the white/red wire _________ "The small yellow wire is used to regulate the alternator output. It receives battery operating voltage through a 7.5 amp fuse in the engine bay fusebox. In laymans terms, it sends a battery voltage signal to the alternator so it can vary output and produce a nice, steady current regardless of speed or load.The small white/red wire runs to the charge indicator bulb in the gauge cluster. This wire and it's operation is VERY important because it carries the power necessary to bring the alternator to life.In a fully functional system, when you turn the key on, the fusebox in the left kick panel comes to life. A 7.5amp fuse in there sends 12v straight to the charge indicator bulb. The other side of the bulb is that small white/red wire running to the alternator. The alternator field circuit grounds that wire and, of course, the bulb lights up. Once the alternator is spinning fast enough, it'll produce your car's operating voltage. The voltage will now be equal on both sides (or 'legs') of the charge indicator bulb. Current cannot flow with equal voltage. The charge light will extinguish. You'll know the system is working correctly.If your charge indicator light doesn't illuminate when you turn the key on, you've already narrowed down the problem. That 7.5amp fuse is blown, the charge indicator bulb is blown out, the gauge cluster is disconnected, the alternator field circuit is faulty and isn't grounding the bulb, or you have a broken wire in the charge indicator circuit." _________

Truck has the same set up - Test light in place of the negative battery cable. Alt. Grounded and main battery cable to alt stud --- no light Add in either or both of the two wires coming off the plug and now the light comes on. Put the battery cable back on and fired it up without the 2 wire plug attached. Starts fine, runs fine, Volt gauge sits at 12-12.5 until you give it a rev, then it jumps up to 14 and sits there.

so update i did what you said and undid the negative cable and on touching it against the the terminal I could hear a relay click. traced it back to my headlight relays and moved them to a different fuse. Which solved that. But upon installing the test light there is still a draw. went and did the same thing on the 510 which also has a drain issue... no click so not the relays on the 510. Since I rewired both alternators the same way yesterday I figured I’d play around on the 510 a bit since there is easier access to the alt with out the stock KA intake. On the 510 when I undo the alt completely the test lights goes out. When I put either or both of the two wires coming from the plug on the positive lead at the alt the test right comes back on. gonna go try it on the truck and see if it’s the same.

We do! I was using a test light in the negative bat. cable. Battery is behind the seat so I should be able to do that myself. Ill give it try this morning.

Well that’s a negative ghost rider... still have a battery drain.... went through on the truck a little while back and pulled all the fuses and none of them changed the test light on the negative battery cable ... back to the drawing board only thing left is to try and put a resistor on the dummy light wire and see if that helps... since there is no dummy light

Happy 620 day!!! Was hot out... but still took her for a nice 30 mile backroad cruise. hopefully fixed my battery drain issue as well... was stupidly missing a ground for the alternator and rewired the two wires out of the plug. Dropped the charge volts down a little bit which is a good thing. Letting it sit now to see.

I read about that- I’m pretty sure it’s the stock arm on the car, so it wouldn’t be a problem... decided to just get the full pre-installed version from Troy Ermish. I’ll keep the one that currently on the car in my parts stash, just in case I should ever need it...

Nothing to exciting to update yet... but decided to finally pull the trigger and give the 510 a bit more love. Ordered all the moog parts to refresh the steering linkage - New tie rods, ball joints, TC bushings and LCA bushings, delrin idler arm. Also order some shorter 6" springs with a helper spring to raise the front coilover perches back up above the tire to allow for a little more front drop. Might pull the trigger on some QA1 rear coilovers soon too.. Oh yea also ordered some 1/8" black ABS plastic sheets to make some door cards out of. Expect some more updates soon!

Don’t over think it. Built my KA at 28? Didn’t know about any of this shit... downloaded a factory service manual and got lucky found a build thread that still had pictures to walk through it. overall it’s actually pretty simple stuff. Just turning wrenches essentially... just gotta do it all in the right order and to the right torque

Plasti Gauge is really simple to use- just as DatzenMike said - adds a step of assembly and reassembly, but doesnt take long. If all checks out then lube it up and torque it all properly. I was nervous about building my KA24DE, but the whole process is pretty simple. Just take your time, double check yourself and use a torque wrench. I picked up some bar style torque wrenches as they are supposed to be more accurate then the clickers... Idk... I did like that I could see the torque progressing instead of blindly waiting for a click, especially on the low torque alloy threads.

Digging those wheels! Thats brake kits looks pretty clean too. I like that they use a 1 piece rotor. Any chance there was a brand or part number on those rotors?

I swear I remember someone talking about swapping in an Audi/VW engine... I think it might have been heywier427 but I could be mistaken... looks like he hasn't been on in a while either. Im all for doing things to be different --- like carbs on a twin cam KA --- but also fully on board with keeping it "in the family" and not creating unneeded complications and work... KAs, SRs, CAs, FJs, are all documented swaps that are pretty straight forward and tried and true. Your definitely not going to find a swap "kit" for an Audi engine into a Datsun... there just isnt the market for it....