Retro Wave

 I just acquired a 1971 Datsun 510 wagon project/basket case and the vehicle has i believe a ford 8 inch rear. i mostly play/tinker with stock or near stock vehicles so when something like this (basket case/Frankenstein) comes my way i tend to be overwhelmed with questions in my head. 

My 2 main questions would be

+what driveshaft can i use for a L16 engine with a four speed trans and a 8 inch ford rear posi-gear? 

+do i need to change or find additional parts to make this conversion complete?

I want the car to drive at her own power but at the moment i am searching for a few main parts.

if there is any information that i missed out to type here to help with my search let me know. I can always try to provide it here.

I did open a classified ad in the wanted section but got no hits as of yet

PS. If anyone has a stock driveshaft for the 71 Datsun wagon let me know as i am interested in purchasing. I am located in the NYC area.

@Dguy210 as much as i love that look as well, i have it on the 2 door both the grille and back panel. lots of people compliment the little car with its performance look. i think it makes it look slightly menacing like those RX2/3/4

i wanted something "1970s funky" on the 4 door because not alot of normal people like 4 doors but i don't mind cause the body is still cute looking (sorry for my embarrassing description of my datsy but i couldn't describe it any other way :) )

those sunny gl taillights look like rockets from an old school anime or a mecha robot like Gundam, zambot 3, combattler V or Mazinger Z  (yes im an old geek)

I acquire the taillights last night and waiting for them to be shipped out to me but i am missing one of the inner housing - the right hand side. i need to post on here later if anyone has one available or if they know where can i shop for one. 

@Dguy210oh ok that sounds like great news to hear about no addition body lines hidden behind the panel. now my concern is the taillight holes and finding a suitable set of Sunny GL taillights with their housings. 

@datzenmike I deff. love the hatchback but sadly they are super hard to find in the east coast. i also love the rocket bunny look more cause it makes i look like a funky 1970s Japanese spaceship but the standard looks cool too. I have the 4 dr b210 and a 2 dr b210 and a Datsun 510 which i would like to "spice" them up a bit in the looks department (not that they aren't cool enough already) with options that weren't available here in the states.  similar to the MoPar crowd with all those options for the slant six; which i also have 1 mopar as well 

hello again, I am trying to find info on how can i change my Datsun b210 into something unique/special. I searched online and seen a picture of a Datsun b210 BUT the taillights are from a sunny excellent. I thought that looked so cool that i was thinking how hard would it be to convert a U.S. '76 Datsun b210 into a sunny excellent. Any advice or tips i would greatly appreciate it.

If you have a picture of a datsun b210 without the JDM taillights on the car so that i can study the entrances of each taillight hole because the U.S. Datsun b210 have the smaller taillight holes

someone mentioned that you need a whole new rear body panel to actual fit these lights but he wasnt too clear in how is it different than a b210 stock rear body panel beside bigger taillight holes which looks that way as well but my concern is if the panel has additional body lines that i dont know/ cant see behind the panel center cover

any pictures or advice  will be very helpful 

 not mine picture but it looks very cool dont you think? i would like to view/see behind the center cover and the taillights holes just to compare to a USA made datsun

hi, i was wonder what is the name of this part? Im try googling it and view tons of pictures but i didn't find it anywhere and wanted to see if they sell it online. its where the vin plate sits on the dash; its almost like a cover with the vin visible. My cover is missing and wanted to replace it.  Any help i would appreciate it.

here is an example of someones vin, i yellowed the part that i need - its like a cap or a cover

ok so if i had to switch oils, what type of oil grade should i get? 10w30 or should i  increase it to 15w40. 

it was running fine before i did all the updates but it was most noticeable when i changed the oil to fresh 10w30 synth in my pre-project days. my pops and i retook off the valve cover and rechecked two of the valve stem seals (the #4 cylinder). We both didn't see too much everything look normal. as for the washers where the spring sit - im guessing holds the outer spring and the silver basic washer holds the inner spring. These are original to the car and i haven't bought them new yet, all valve stems are changed though.

i recheck the spark plugs after i cleaned them - #4 & #3 mostly since they were ones turning black.  #4 & #3 are black now

As for when it smokes well it only smokes when you hit the gas pedal and then you see a cloud of smoke.  unless its burning whatever oil it has in the exhaust pipe/muffer then maybe it may need to stay on for a while ... i dont know. 

Im also trying to find two oil leaks under exhaust headers but its seems like its sealing itself up?  my father and i  both have been carefully  rev-ing and keeping an eye on how much smoke comes out of the exhaust pipe and if there are any leaks when rev-ing the engine

hello again, I have a 1972 Datsun 510 with a L20 engine / 5 Speed transmission. We been restoring her since last year and we were almost finished except something came up with the car. For some reason the cars exhaust pipe has oil in it. When the car is running and i press the gas pedal i get a large smoke cloud, im guessing its the oil in the exhaust pipe. What i want to know is where is the oil coming from??? everything from the Spark plug section is clean. The intake side on the top looks very clean but under the exhaust i see two streaks of oil, one is coming under the two center exhaust ports and 2nd one is located under the last exhaust port . i haven't taken the intake/exhaust out yet but i am curious where that leak is coming from?

 I also changed the valve stem seals but it looks like that little to no effect. is there something else i was suppose to change under there? Spark plugs #4 & #3 are black but that could be me trying to adjust the dcoes.

another question, is the rubber valve stem seal suppose to have a gape between base? Or is it suppose to sit flat on the rotating base?

ok so it sounds like that i dont really need the solenoid at all and i could remove it? i dont have a problem removing it and keeping it simple

i need to find those post, maybe i misinterpret wrong

20 hours ago, banzai510(hainz) said:

I think its for for safety when the car gets smashed and battery shorts out in back to keep from burning up. Thats what I think its for

 i must have read the info somewhere - maybe here or the 510 forum. The reason i installed a solenoid was because some 510 owners said that "if you dont have the solenoid then the battery cable will be in constant power (HOT) to it and drain the battery over time". I think they also said "you wouldn't want power traveling that long distance constantly - you only want power when the key is turned. im guessing thats the reason why i added one even though its getting power to BOTH side and is defeating the purpose of it being installed on the car in the first place.  😞

 is the solenoid a bad thing? is what i am saying correct / incorrect?

unless i misread their post (510realm).

I have 3 more questions involving wires/relays that *popped* up in my head

1) I still dont know what that relay is?  So i took the mystery wiring and relay off the car but left the yellow wire connected. the other two wires i took them out of their connector. i would still love to know what  that relay is? 

2) i was wondering is the ford solenoid suppose to be "ON" all the time? i thought one side of the ford solenoid suppose to have power (short 2gauge battery cable going to battery) and the long battery cable going from the other solenoid terminal to starter is suppose to be OFF/no power but its live/active/power ON? was curious and stuck a test light to see if it was OFF on one side BUT both sides are ON 

3) when i turn on and start the car i turn on the lights to see if they were working and once i did that my engine idle dropped and engine starts to shake/studder because of lower idle. is this suppose to happen or did i miss a connection, ground or something? Im still trying to find that sweet spot for my dual webers dcoe 40mm. i think i have it but once i turn the lights ON it screws up the whole carb adjustment process

ok so as of now we have connected everything and started the car for the 1st time and she has started. I checked voltage with a millimeter and battery read 13.9 to 14.0 with the car on and running.  all lights seem to work, i have tail lights, headlights, high beams, side marker lights, signal lights and hazard lights all working. radio works, dash lights works (very dimmed but works). car moves on its own power. i still have to go through everything once more to make sure everything is tight, not leaking,  & connected 

I might have to buy a Carburetor Synchronizer to get the webers to an exact number or to get the air fuel ratio right. My dad and i have the webers set up to where we both are satisfied but i think webers could be better

here are the diagrams that i been following . Im also following the original factory wiring from my car (whatever is left of it) to a "T" because the car did started and ran with the existing wires.

https://www.z-car.com/blog/cars/datsun-510-wiring-diagram

Ok as for the battery cable and the ford solenoid connections i also followed this diagram as ICEMAN510 mention/provided.

My question would be : do i have to run an 8  gauge wire from the alternator all the way to the solenoid?  i have the alternator already wired with its own 8 gauge RED wire going to the fusebox and jumping into the other red wires mention in the diagram.

Pictures of my new starter and its new connections = 

1) +Battery cable crimped and welded

2) New Black with white line wire = starter wire / Ignition

3)new blue fusable line 

4)Yellow with black line = oil light sender

My -Battery Cable connected to the engine block and black ground cable connected to other black cables like in the diagram.

I manage to loosen the ignition wire (black and yellow line on the column of the steering wheel), cut the tip, added the yellow and black line cable, recrimped with new female spade, stalled back to column, run yellow cable under carpet and next to the solenoid....so far so good

Im going to assume that it HAS to be a 8 gauge and nothing less, Correct?

also assuming that the 8 gauge wire from the alternator to the solenoid HAS to be connected even if you have it already connected the alternator like i have - Tried to follow factory wires and the diagram.

Ok so as of now i eliminated the signex control box from inside the the car (located on the passager side kickpanel) and wrap the wires with black tape. I also eliminated the 4 plug relay that is located next to the radiator. I looking around and everything is so far so good. I have a few more questions about mysterious relays and wires. The pictures i shot are from a relay i have no idea what it is? I thought that it was a horn relay because of the color wires being all green BUT i have the horn relay connected already and followed the diagram above on the previous post.

??? What is this relay above?  is it Headlights?

Not sure where these wires go 

- light blue with yellow line with  spade connector at the end

- middle section is empty

-Green and yellow line wire

-green with yellow line going to second connector in pervious photo above

-Middle section of connector was a new yellow wire

- light blue with black line going to a female bullet connector

This connector fits perfectly with the relay i mentioned / picture above,

On 11/30/2020 at 7:53 PM, yenpit said:

 

 

Was this car an automatic with a recent manual swap, or has it run before WITH working reverse lamps?  If it WAS an auto, there are two quick wiring tricks needed to run the car & hook up reverse lamps.

hi everyone, sorry i havent replyed back so soon. i had personal family issues and covid to add to it and couldnt mess with the car nor get back to people about certain electronic boxes / wires.

Hey yenpit, yes this use to be an auto back in its time with the 1st owner till he switched  it to manual. i been trying to clean up the engine bay and eliminated a few boxes, emission and wiring that is no longer  needed. i also upgraded mostly all the wiring from the engine bay to 14 gauge, 12 gauge and the black power cable 8 gauge.  i haven't tested the reverse lights or even looked back there as im still messing with the engine bay. i'll update this thread + post pictures of progress when i get back to working with the car - which is pretty soon.... 

yenpit can you tell me those two wiring tricks for the hook up on the reverse lamps? 

5 minutes ago, datzenmike said:

5 minutes ago, datzenmike said:

You removed the carburetor switch then the neutral switch and the relay for the distributor aren't needed. I assumed the dual point distributor relay was mounted near the coil. This thing...

 

... looks plugged in so I'm saying that you don't need it.

 

The neutral switch has to stay in the transmission to keep the oil in but those wires are no use any more also. All you need are the back up lights.

 

 

 

 

 

OK so from what you are saying.

1) I don't need the relay with the 4 wires (shown in picture) for the distributor. I can eliminate it completely including the wires that connect to coil & distributor and still have the car start without it? As you said its mostly for emissions which controls the 2nd set of points when everything is connected from factory (Speed indicator, throttle switch, neutral safety switch, 4 plug relay ,ect)   - i didnt know that, i learned something new :)

2) I don't need to connect any wires to the neutral safety switch on the manual transmission but must remain cause as you said oil will spill out

3) Clutch switch isnt needed because of #2 (above) so that solves that problem

4) Im guessing i dont need that "SIGNEX Control" or the speed indicator as well and could disconnect it from the kick panel, correct? seeing that it also runs with the emissions items mention above.

- are you sure that's a horn relay? reason i ask is because i have the horn relay connected already and assume there is only one. 

-since im disconnecting the Speed indicator do i need to loop the other wires that were connected to the signex? I dont have pictures and it kinda hard to explain  but i will get pictures tomorrow of what i am trying to describe. 

Yes i do have a dual point distributor install in my fathers engine

1 hour ago, datzenmike said:

 The carburetor switch, neutral and top gear switch wiring and the clutch switch wiring you can disconnect and remove. These are all to do with turning the extra set of points on or off under certain conditions. This allows the distributor to run retarded by about 4 degrees to reduce emissions in certain gears and throttle positions. If you have a dual point distributor on the L20B just disconnect the relay and it will run proper advance like engines were intended to run. There will likely be a small relay near the coil for switching the points on an off. This can go also. It will have Black, Blue/Yellow (stripe), Brown/Red and Brown/Yellow wires to it.This thing...

 

 

 

OK im alittle confused but im thinking about it as i am writing and viewing diagram. I disconnected the Carb switch completely. I don't know what third switch means and how it looks like but im not too concern because i dont have the blue/yellow wire connected to the relay circled in pink.

"If you have a dual point distributor on the L20B just disconnect the relay and it will run proper advance like engines were intended to run." 

- do you mean the relay thats attached to the radiator / the four wires pictured? I thought you needed that for the point distributor?

" There will likely be a small relay near the coil for switching the points on an off. This can go also"

- this is a picture i took before i started to dismantle the engine bay apart to clean sand and grind all the rust and red paint out of the car and  my father prime & paint the bay. i dont remember seeing a relay near the coil

The neutral switch do i need it?  how do i make the connection?  If i am informing anything wrong please correct me. im not too familiar with datsuns but i do want everything to be working as it should ... or at least close to it.

I did re-connect the back-up light switch wiring that was missing and replaced both switches circled which were both broken and non-functional.

54 minutes ago, datzenmike said:

 

This is the horn relay

 

 

 

That square relay circled is another horn relay?  I look at the datsun wiring diagram and i only shows one. I thought it was a starter relay from reading multiple forums but the percentage that it is a starter relay- it very low. 

 

  

Horn relay from my 1972 datsun 510

54 minutes ago, datzenmike said:

 

 

 

 

 

58 minutes ago, rosso said:

Relay on right looks like electric choke relay for '72-'73 510 US only

 

 

 

yes i eliminated that one as my father has side drafts webers and the original carb was in pretty poor shape. 

 Ok so i been messing with the wiring of my father car which is a Datsun 510 with an L20 engine and a 5 speed transmission from a what  i believe came out of a 1978 610/710 truck (i forgot at the moment).  I been doing a wire tuck to give the engine bay a cleaner look PLUS less stuff hanging around. I think i am almost done but hit a few bumps along the way. At the moment im trying to figure out what is this relay called? what does it do? and is it necessary to have?  

 im not next to the car at the moment but i will try my best to describe. It has three green wire; if i remember correctly two green wires have yellow lines and the other green wire i think it was solid. I forgot where the wire go at the moment but i think one of the green / yellow line wires connects into the interior of the car under the dash - while the other green / yellow line wire connects to something call a signex speed indicator. The solid green cable I forgot where its connected to but as of now its a wire by itself which if  i remember correctly it was jumped onto another green cable but am unsure because im not next to the car at the moment.

*** I also notice that one of the green yellow wires connects to another connector which is related to the brake light signal from the brake proportion valve  / Yellow with green line wire? 

 I dont think i need the signex speed indicator because the car is a manual now but i dont think i can just disconnect it and call it a day because there are other wire associated with and/or around the indicator that probably needs to be connected to function.

Also the carb/throttle switch I disconnected because i dont have automatic transmission, i have a manual but in the wiring diagram its said that it sends a signal/ connected to/for neutral safety switch. I think its 1 wire that sends a signal and the other is of no use, how do i connect my neutral safety switch as well? I have a 63a#1 transmission and both neutral safety switch & back-up light switch are located on the passager side of the transmission. I did connect the back-up light switch but the neutral i have not yet

So in short my questions would be...

- what is this relay called? is it necessary? what function does it do?

-brake proportion valve = yellow/green line wire routed inside under-dash and  connected inside next to the passager side kickpanel where the "SIGNEX" is connected?

-Carb/throtle senor is disconnected but how do i connect the neutral safety switch wiring onto the 63a#1 transmission?

-Also on the diagram its said that i need to connect a clutch switch wire but when looking at my pedals i dont see a clutch switch only the brakes have a switch and the gas pedal has a switch which *clicks* when you floor it. Do i have to worry if its missing? 

-as for the points distributor, I connected three out of the four wires. do i need the 4th wire connected? i think that wire was running towards the carb/throttle switch which i eliminated. I forgot which one

Car was in poor condition and i been trying to get her as decent and fresh as possible for 2020 VS leaving it the way it was 1972 fourthly year old wiring+ pervious owners DIY fix-its / splicings

my photo of the relay in question

members stock photo

brake light wire = yellow / green line

Carb / throttle switch connector

3 hours ago, grannyknot said:

Are you talking about the original glass fuses,  Ive restored 4 early Zs and most of the fuses were original and still working perfectly.

I was wondering  do you know where can I buy replacement clip terminals for the fuse box?  

I saw these available for a 1968 mercury cougar and thought maybe there is some available for the datsuns somewhere. I have looked but haven't found them yet. I check Vintage connections but they dont have it on there website but I might give them a message to see if they have them around

8 hours ago, yenpit said:

I might have a good USED fuse box.  PM sent!

thanks  yenpit but mine is still ok, intact and functions but thanks for the offer.  i just thought that since Im tearing the wiring apart (keeping the original as a backup/diagram and installing new wires & connectors) I might as well find a new modern fusebox .  I don't mind using the original one but i really wanted to change the clip terminals, I wonder if those are available

well  demo243 i agree with you 100 percent. I played alot with the early 1970s  mopar wiring but datsun is a different beast but im not afraid.

 I did buy a ton of connectors and terminals + extras from vintage connection (great site, great prices and fast shipping) and I did say that I was doing the wiring new (which i got rolls of new wiring), I just wanted to know if i can replace the fuse box for a new one being that i going all the way with the wiring of the 510 and wanted to freshen / update her as much as i can possibly can. 

hell even if you guys can point me where i can get new terminal connectors (glass tube) for the original fuse box then i dont mind keeping the OG fusebox. I tried looking but i think they dont make those connectors

 ok so we been doing alot of things to the dime and she been needing some attention here and there.  Both my father and I are jumping left and right to fix some of the previous owners negligence. Now i have arrive at the wiring harness; its pretty bad/poor conditioned, so i bought terminal/ connectors/ crimp tool from http://vintageconnections.com/  First time buying from them and it won't be my last, thats for sure.

 Since im messing with the wiring i was wondering : does anyone know or have upgraded their original Glass tube fuse box for a modern square plastic "U" fuse fusebox

I been searching and found a few people switching them but i wanted to know if there is something along the line like this. Yes i know this is from a datsun 240/260/280z  but i wonder if THIS could be used for the 510. it looks very clean, classy and stock-ish. 

https://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/classic12h01c/50-5011

hey datzenmike, I wanted to say thank you very much for the help,  there isnt too many people out there that will take their time to explain in detail or even help. I don't know too much  because Im young / inexperience but i can always try to help others out when i have an answer. As of now all i can do is show pictures, progress and try to explain in detail so maybe others can read, see photos and compare AND maybe  it might answer their problems.

again mike thanks alot. I haven't done anything to the car beside have the engine/tranny out and cleaning the undercarriage. once i have it clean and ready I try to measure it with a protractor level like in your picture and see if its level with and without spacers. Even though i 100 percent agree that those spacers dont look right and transmission crossmember should be sitting flush/flat with the floorboard. If not then i'll have to make those adapters from dime quarterly 

I'll be back soon...