PoorPersonWithADatsun

I put new spark plugs in my car about a year ago, today when driving I noticed my car was running a little rough, I figured it may have been because I haven't driven it in a while, but it got worse over time. Cylinder #3 was not contributing, and after confirming compression and spark, I threw in a spare spark plug I had as the old one seemed wet. There was no buildup of any kind on the old one, just wet with what I'm assuming was fuel. Amazingly, that one spark plug was all it took, and we're running smooth again, however it seems odd that a spark plug would foul after only a year, especially foul with what I'm thinking was fuel. I'm assuming that my air fuel ratio is a little richer than stock as I have a 32/36 carb, but is that enough to foul plugs or could something else be causing this? Would running a different type of spark plug help? (I'm running standard NGK copper plugs). If not, would I need to change out the jets in my carburetor to reduce the air fuel ratio? My ignition coil is also the original, although it still seems to function fine and the spark is strong. I live at around 6000ft so there is less air up here as well. Thank you!

Hello! I live in quite a dry climate, and my car has always lived outside any sort of garage or overhang, so the rubber for the doors and windows is shot. I will be amazed if anyone can find rubber for my exact model, so the easier question is does anyone know of any good "universal" rubber I could buy for my car? While I'm in the body / interior section too, my whole dashboard is shot, so crazy question, has anyone ever swapped the complete dashboard out of a 720 into a 510 (or really any late 70s / 80s datsun), those dash's seem easy(er) to find. Thank you!

Well I'm in a bit of a tricky situation now. It seems like this install will be quite a bit more expensive and complicated than before. I already have a nice set of R1 carbs with a manifold for the engine. Would you think it's a better idea to either sell this ka engine (I didn't pay anything for it anyways) and do a rebuild and install the R1 carbs on my current Z20, or just endure the pain and convert this KA to rwd? Unfortunately I'm on quite the budget. Also the stanza ka seems to have this external water pump that I cannot in any way find one for sale, the housing side not the pump side. Also, I can't find anything on a oil pump for the engine either, I'm thinking it'll be more worth while to rebuild the old engine, this is my only car so I don't really want to put a slapped together fwd to rwd conversion in it.

I think I have it mostly figured out, i believe this is the fwd version of the engine for the early 90s stanza, looks like the distributor goes in the back of the head. So I suppose my new question would be how difficult would it be to swap this into my datsun? Apart from the distributor ending up in my dashboard would the engine mounts line up etc? Thanks!

Yes it says KA24 467613s

Hello, bit of backstory, I got ahold of an engine labeled "KA24" my friend had for a few years. He bought it remanufactured for his d21, but was never able to put it in. Now I have it and am looking to swap it into my 1980 510, and the engine is just a block and head, so I bought timing cover, oil pans, all that etc, and nothing quite fits, even though I bought them for a ka24e. I tried searching serial numbers I found but couldn't find anything, is this a version of the ka I didn't know about? Thanks, pictures are included, you can see the timing cover I bought is just barely off sadly.

Figured I'd give an update, finally had a few free days to work on it, turns out the rattling issue I mentioned was a loose bolt on the caliper, maybe all the oil coming out of the shock loosened it? Or it just wasn't tightened, either way it's all tight now, the 280 strut fit in with about 2 1/2 inches worth of washers, and the passenger side feels great now, I'm going to be doing the drivers side tomorrow, so to the few who have A10's, 1980 KYB 280zx strut inserts off of rock auto seem to work fine.

Hello again, sorry I'm a bit slow with the replies, carterb thanks for the suggestion, unfortunately when I did my first rebuild I ordered those same struts, and they actually don't fit, and it's not anything that washers can fix either, they where too tall to be bolted into the strut tube. Also yenpit, I agree my lack or experience could have caused some issues on my first rebuild, but the gland nut on the front right had some damage and it leaked oil even before I did my rebuild, I just didn't realize until I put it all back together. I followed your suggestions and ordered a pair of '80 280ZX strut inserts, and they just came in today, and it look like they'll fit in with a few washers, they're a few inches shorter than the struts I got last time. It may be a bit until I'm able to do the replacement as I'm doing electrical work on my place right now, but I'll keep you updated.

Yes there is quite a bit of oil on the outside, and I think I am missing the bearing in the top hat, I don't remember seeing one on my first rebuild. do you have any recommendations for a shock that fits the A10? I've been looking around but can't find much info on them. Also, for the front bearing I found this website (https://www.nzdatsunparts.co.nz/sec-61-front-suspension-strut-shock-absorber) this is more or less the only place I can find parts for my suspension, does it seem like a good supplier? Thanks for the help!

Hello, I rebuilt my front struts under a year ago and filled them with new oil, but starting yesterday I'm getting an extreme rattle on bumpy roads, and at this point I think all the oil I put in has left the strut, so now the front end is extremely bouncy and rattle-y. I think my strut is missing pieces, when I rebuilt it I don't remember seeing pieces that I saw online, such as any bearings. The front right has been especially bad the whole time I've owned the car and I've never been able to fix it, and I cannot find any used or new struts anywhere, the only strut inserts I bought did not fit the car. is there any place that sells new struts? Can I send them in for a rebuild anywhere? the only struts I can find are racing ones for almost 2000 dollars and I cannot afford that, any help would be awesome, thanks.

I live near Silver City, the two relays where under a black plastic cover right next to the battery. The numbers are pretty far gone and trying to clean them may make them worse, I already accidentally destroyed a few other numbers while cleaning. I'll try getting a new alternator, my car's my daily so hopefully that's all it'll take to get it back on the road.

My battery was dying, and I was pretty sure it was the cheapo battery I bought but I figured I may as well have the alternator replaced anyways, I called back the store but I guess the old one has already been sent back to be recycled. Are you sure my car doesn't have a regulator? I looked up "1980 datsun 510 voltage regulator" and found some for sale that looked a lot like what I posted earlier, and some say they are for the '80 model year too.

That's odd, any idea why the battery won't charge? I picked up a new alternator, battery, and belt. Old alternator kept the battery at 14 volts no issues, this new one seems to only keep it at 11 or so, and after a few days of driving my battery is just about dead now.

I bought a new alternator for my car with an internal regulator and it isn't making enough volts so I need to take out the cars regulator. I've found a few guides for earlier 510s but not the A10, and just wanted to make sure I was doing it right. I'm also not sure which one is the regulator. There's a smaller rounder one and a larger more rectangular one, the smaller one has blue, black, and green. The bigger one has yellow, black, green, white, blue, and white/black. Which one is the regulator and how do I bypass it? Thanks!

Hello! I've had my '80 Datsun 510 for a good year as my daily driver, and it only really has one issue, that being the insanely soft suspension. I rebuilt my front struts and installed new shocks in the rear, but that didn't help as much as I'd like. More importantly, the front suspension has an unknown issue. I'm not sure if it's missing a bearing or if something's loose up there, but while turning the wheel I'll hear a meaty "thud" from the front right strut, and the spring on that side doesn't really like staying in place either. I've tried rebuilding that side multiple times following guides I've found on here, and it all goes to plan, but the end result is the same. I saw a post from a while back of a guy asking if he could swap 180sx lower control arms onto his A10, but that got me thinking, could I just bolt on a 180 knuckle to my lower ball joint? That way I could just use the standard bolt on front struts rather than the ones I have, which combine the knuckle and strut into one expensive and hard to fix part. I guess the spindles would be different and by the end I may have to swap out the front brakes entirely, and who knows maybe then my stock wheels won't fit so I'll have to get new ones. Is there an late 70s / early 80s knuckle that would have the same spindle and allow me to use the bolt on style front struts? Thank you!