Brydon's Baller On A Budget Build....

[Brydon]

So first off I started this build on another forum but since I've got so much information from you guys I thought I would share my pain with you as well. I also stole the Baller on a Budget title from someone else, sorry Christian.

 

WEEK 1

 

My Dime I picked up as a project. A little rough around the edges but a good start of a 71 Datsun 510... Wish I had some good pictures of it as I bought it but I got to excited and started working. I only have time to work on this about one day a week so progress will be slow. Also this is my second 510. The first was outside during a wind storm and a tree fell on the A-pillar. Ended up selling it for parts.

 

 

 

After a lot of work I redesigning the subframe from a 87 Turbo RX7 to fit into the front of the datsun. All of the swing arm steering and crappy suspension was scrapped. Now I've got the only datsun I've seen with aluminum A-arms, 4 piston aluminum front brakes, and rack and pinion steering. I will also be going through all the bushings and replacing them as well.

 

I rounded out the suspension with tokico Illumina adjustable struts and eibach springs also stolen from the FC3S. I still need to adjust the shock towers to bring the camber in but it is a good start. The crossmember alone took 3 inches out of the height of the car without actually lowering it. With me standing in the engine bay the wheels are fairly flush to the fenders. With adjustable coils I can really get it low.

 

 

 

All pictures are with no engine so it is sitting up a little high. The plan is for a ka24de engine rebuilt with a gt30r. Along with a few other surprises along the way.

 

i also started shaving the engine bay with the help of my buddy zach. Once it is sand blasted it might actually look impressive.

 

 

 

 

Also snapped a quick picture as I started to set up the steering.

 

 

Also picked up a car-rotisserie today. So I can mount the car and spin it upside down. Very handy when you are doing a lot of modding to a vehicles frame.

 

Anyway the plan so far:

 

RX7 turbo subframes front and rear. Channeled to make them fit the datsun. KA24DE turbo motor with transmission

Custom wiring harness from front to rear

Shaved engine bay with wiring tuck

Painted Black Java Pearl with Black BBS LM rims. Hopefully 9" in rear and 275 tires.

Eliminate bumbers

EVO X seats

And I'm not sure about the rest. Just a well rounded daily driver to replace the my 2001 impreza RS with WRX swap.

 

WEEK 2

 

Pulled off the bumpers.

 

 

The other car is my other project. It is a 93 impreza. With a whole bunch of work done to it. If anyone likes subarus I can post more pictures. It is waiting for some nice weather so I can finish body work and get it in primer so I can run her down to the alignment shop and dyno for some initial tuning.

 

 

Stock rear end is out. Oh the 70s were so shitty.

 

 

All this work for disc brakes and a R200. :) Mazda diff..

 

 

R160 out of a RS next to the R200... Bigger is better.

 

 

Shortening the Mazda sub frame to lose 6 inches total out of the width of the car. 2 and 3/4" were trimmed and then I welded the ends back together.

 

 

Mazda-dime :)

 

 

Struts are actually connected but I have to massage the inner fender area to make room for springs up through a place that was not made for springs.

 

The mount to the frame also needs to be grafted from the mazda stuff. Should get on that this week. Then I need to make a mount for the R200.

 

I also measured between the strut and the inner outer fender area. 13.5" That means 275s series tires are very doable. Which should look pretty crazy on a dime.

 

WEEK 3

 

I got the actual subframe all bolted up in there today. And it turned out better than expected thus far. I've had the worst time getting the axles out of the rear hubs. I put them in my beefy ass press and I managed to get one out. It was literally rusted in there. Still cant get the other one out.

 

So anyway bolted the rear subframe up and attached the aluminum outer hub up. It straight blows my mind how advanced (chassis speaking) this 87 rx7 turbo is compaired to my RS or almost all other cars I've owned (there has been over 20 including mr2 turbos, corolla gts, skyline, starion, GTI, S13, etc). So my channeling turned out perfect.

 

 

 

 

 

So these are subaru rims with the typical mid 40mm offset and 7.5" rim. The plan is 9.5" rim and sub 20 offset so I should be good. I might even be able to hit a zero offset. Should look pretty killer.

 

Next I have to figure out how to get this bad boy up in there. :)

 

 

I've also decided to move the gas tank to under the car in the spare tire space and run an intank pump. This way I can carpet the whole back and it should be able to fit some stuff back there.

 

I also need to change all the shock towers over the mazda design and get the camber angles right. That should be next week.

 

The plan so far for next week is:

Change strut towers

Replace rear floor pans

Cut out spare tire well and replace it with fuel tank from mazda.

Pull datsun steering column to adapt it to mazda rack.

 

So I'm wishy washy on rim ideas. Please throw some my way. Generally they will be 17x8 front with low 40s offset and 17x9.5 rear with as low as zero offset. I'm open to anything that will look good in those offsets and also look good in black. I'm basically 100% on black on black for the car.

 

Oh, also I've given up on the mazda brakes. I'm looking into brembos. I measured everything out today and it looks like the fronts are a direct swap to EVO calipers and rotors. The rear might also be able to go brembos but I will have to do something special with the ebrake. The plan is to stop on a DIME. Pun intended. :rolleyes:

[HudsonMC]

Very nicely done. You make it sound so easy. Is that really all it took, was cutting, shortening, and rewelding the subframes?

 

Why not swap in a turbo rotary after all that work getting the RX-7 subframe to fit? A dime with double wishbones, brembos, and a 10,000 rpm redline would be fricking hot.:cool: Would be lighter too.

[Brydon]

Very nicely done. You make it sound so easy. Is that really all it took, was cutting, shortening, and rewelding the subframes?

 

Why not swap in a turbo rotary after all that work getting the RX-7 subframe to fit? A dime with double wishbones, brembos, and a 10,000 rpm redline would be fricking hot.:cool: Would be lighter too.

 

I have the turbo motor because I'm using the whole car but after dealing with rotaries I frankly hate them. Coolant seals went out on it and this is the second rebuild. I'm also more comfortable with pistons. Also the 13b engines are actually quite heavy. There is a lot of iron in there so the difference between it and a KA is probably not much. I also have the complete KA and tranny and wiring laying around so the cost of rebuild the KA compared to a rotary is much cheaper.

 

The front subframe actually took a lot of work and I'm not done. The rear that I thought would be the hardest ended up being easier. Shortened the subfram and then changed the ends to work with the datsun bushings. That way it bolts up to the frame. Had to move the inner swing arm mount in and shorten the lateral link but that is about it.

 

I also have STI brembos and rotors to play with until my EVO brembos show up. Can't wait to see it. Oh, and to add... The front end has to be 50lbs lighter if not a lot more. The datsun stuff was heavy and bulky. Then when you upgrade to a rack it takes out more weight.

[Yakuza]

nice im liking this...cant wait to see progress pics..

[INDY510]

The crossmember alone took 3 inches out of the height of the car without actually lowering it. With me standing in the engine bay the wheels are fairly flush to the fenders. With adjustable coils I can really get it low.

Why would you ever want to go lower than a stock 510?.... :lol:

 

 

 

I can't wait to see more updates..... ... .. . I know Icehouse was talking about using RX7 front suspension..... but I dont know what year he was thinking about...

 

 

Where do you plan to put the oil pan? ..... .. . Are you going to mount the KA further back with a rear sump pan?

[Brydon]

Why would you ever want to go lower than a stock 510?.... :lol:

 

 

 

I can't wait to see more updates..... ... .. . I know Icehouse was talking about using RX7 front suspension..... but I dont know what year he was thinking about...

 

 

Where do you plan to put the oil pan? ..... .. . Are you going to mount the KA further back with a rear sump pan?

 

The KA will be mounted like it is in most of the cars. I already lowered it in to check and it clears the front of the rack. It should actually have more room for exhaust around the steering also.

[Creepy Cruiser]

Cool build.

[Brydon]

So I've been busy with house activities so I haven't updated this in a few weeks. I go the chance to work on the datsun a little this last week and I'm very excited. My EVO brembos came in the mail. $350 shipped for front and rear. I love being out of subarus because the same thing would cost me over a grand. Anyway the fronts hubs of the mazda have the brakes bolt to the hub and the evo has the brakes bolted to the brake calipers. If that makes any sense. So I had to drill out the threads in the mazda hub and bam the brakes bolt up to the front like they were made for the car. That was way to easy. The rears however will require some brackets. I will probably just run the stock vented mazda rears for a bit. Basically that is the least of my concern.

 

On to the rear diff. I decided I'm going to cut the rear pan out of the mazda and put it in the trunk of the datsun. This way I will have no spare tire well but I can mount a fuel tank there. I also figured out how to mount the diff. Unfortunately when I was cutting off the rear strut towers out of the mazda I broke a my sawzall blade. I then realized it was my last so I finished up for the week. But basically the rear pan is started and the rear diff is almost set. After the rear strut towers it will be ready to roll again.

 

So the story is Brembos + more trunk space + R200 = A satisfied Brydon.

 

Sorry there is no pictures. My camera battery died. I just wanted to throw up a quick update. This week I'm going on vacation for the 4th so hopefully next week I will get some more pictures up.

[WAGON JON]

You have a nice start! :D

[Brydon]

You have a nice start! :D

 

Thanks, and I have a really long way to go. I also started on my cage for my impreza. Two projects at one time is never a good idea.

[blueridgespeed]

cool! I'm very intrigued and impressed with the 2nd gen rx7 susp swap. Hows it coming? We want updates. We want updates! -with pics, please....

[Brydon]

cool! I'm very intrigued and impressed with the 2nd gen rx7 susp swap. Hows it coming? We want updates. We want updates! -with pics, please....

 

Unfortunately, it has not been coming along. I did something stupid and told a friend I would help him with his 300zx twin turbo. He has been having wiring issues and faults in the ignition and injection system. He bought a brand new wiring harness years ago and it has been sitting. So I pulled the motor (Worst engine to take out ever!), Replaced the wiring harness, cleaned the entire engine bay with the motor out, replaced all seals, gaskets, pcv tubes with new ones, eliminated a few things like EGR, and wrinkle coated the valve covers and intake manifold. Then started putting it all back together. Seriously I have no idea what nissan was thinking when they designed this car and engine. It is packed into a space that doesn't seem to be made for it.

 

For anyone that has ever thought about putting one of these in a 510, please don't do it. I just can't believe how little thought went into the design of this engine.

 

Here is a little of what I've been dealing with.

 

 

 

Green is bad :rolleyes:

 

 

Before:

 

 

After:

 

As for the datsun, I'm still looking for rims of coarse. And hopefully hopefully hopefully I will have some play time for myself this week.

 

In other news, the guy that was helping with my cage on my impreza ended up having some heart issues so that is a little on the back burner for a bit. I also get married in a little over a month so that takes up time too.

 

Sorry most of this post was worthless. :D

[bonvo]

i wouldnt sat worst engine design ever but simply stuffed in a small hole ive seen the na version in a 510 and it looked like it belonged there

 

anywho lookin forward to updates

[Brydon]

i wouldnt sat worst engine design ever but simply stuffed in a small hole ive seen the na version in a 510 and it looked like it belonged there

 

anywho lookin forward to updates

 

Totally agree. When you strip the motor down the long block is not a bad engine. But when you add the turbo manifold and intake manifold it is crap. The ports themselves look like they were designed via ExeSketch by me (I'm not good). But yes it was all in the name of stuffing the engine in. My question to Nissan is do they design the chassis and then go make this engine work in this chassis we made. Seem like the groups weren't talking to one another.

[bonvo]

Totally agree. When you strip the motor down the long block is not a bad engine. But when you add the turbo manifold and intake manifold it is crap. The ports themselves look like they were designed via ExeSketch by me (I'm not good). But yes it was all in the name of stuffing the engine in. My question to Nissan is do they design the chassis and then go make this engine work in this chassis we made. Seem like the groups weren't talking to one another.

 

yeah i hear ya i wish i could find the pic of it in the 510

[bonvo]

Totally agree. When you strip the motor down the long block is not a bad engine. But when you add the turbo manifold and intake manifold it is crap. The ports themselves look like they were designed via ExeSketch by me (I'm not good). But yes it was all in the name of stuffing the engine in. My question to Nissan is do they design the chassis and then go make this engine work in this chassis we made. Seem like the groups weren't talking to one another.

 

yeah i hear ya i wish i could find the pic of it in the 510

[Zombro]

Yeah VG's are shaped stupid.

 

I've always wanted a dime. I'm going to have to keep an eye on this project. The rear suspension looks like its coming together good.

[Brydon]

Worked a little more on the front and rear shock towers. Decided I might as well build them all myself. Or at least mostly myself. I tried to just graft them over but they started looking a little awkward so I'm just using mounting portions and wrapping them with 16 gauge steel. Got a little bit done on both the front and the rear but really nothing much to report. The trunk is looking a little naked with no spare tire well and no shock towers.

[Jester]

Nice build. Looking forward to more.

Congats on your upcoming wedding.

[Brydon]

After almost 3 months of non stop work I finally got back to play. For christmas I got a tig welder and a nice metal lathe, so I put the lathe to work turning down the aluminum hubs on the mazda suspension. This way I can fit stock EVO brembo rotors on the mazda hubs. After a quick drill press to widen the bolt holes for the caliper mounts, the calipers and rotors fit perfect. Square and perfectly spaced. The 510 now has Brembos on the front. I also started working on the rear a little but haven't finished measuring everything to figure away to attack that.

 

Hopefully this week I can finish up the front strut towers and start working on engine mounts. Would be nice to see a motor in the engine bay again.

[dennis]

David Lum stuffed a VG30DETT into his dime.