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The Greengoon Build Thread 2.0 // Refresh


greengoon

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Haven't done a lot to the goon lately. Just driving it and having fun. I have been working on my Hilux to get it ready for the trip to JCCS this year. We did have a little Japanese Nostalgic Car meet here in town with a lot better turn out than we expected. UtahNissans.com voted me Nissan of the Month for July which got me a cool little photo shoot and a spot in next year's calendar. I still have to go though the pics and crop and touch up but here are a few from yesterday's shoot.

 

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As if the cool building backdrop wasn't enough we spotted this neat weathered rising sun painting that had a covered wagon in it in one of the windows. I may have to go back and get some more shots of this that I can manipulate.

 

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  • 1 month later...

As I was hanging out at Lawrence's house for JCCS this year, (I brought the Hilux down this time) I was looking at his large collection of magazines. I came across this one with JCCS 10 coverage and a few pics of my car and even Datrod's. Now I just need to find a copy of this for myself. Anybody have an extra?

 

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Also, I am now the proud owner of the dogleg 5 speed that was in his red 620. The greengoon will be getting a 5 speed this winter and maybe freeways will be a little more pleasant come next spring.

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  • 1 month later...

Now that my Hilux is road worthy, I thought I would turn my attention back to the goon. I first wanted to put my T3 bump steer spacers back in as the tie rod ends did not quite clear my old Infinity wheels. I was hoping they would clear my Rota RBs (15x7+20) but I was disappointed to see how close they are to the rim. Has anyone had this issue? I want to keep the bump steer spacers because I have quite the LCA angle due to my ride height. If anything I may use some thin spacers on the front wheels to clear the tie rods a little more. I will do some more experimenting. Maybe the slight noise that I hear could be the zerk fitting.

 

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While I had the car up I pulled one of the struts to look at the top hats that I had made many years ago. Took some pictures as I had forgotten exactly what they looked like. I would like to add some camber to the front and my first thought was to just make new offset top hats with the camber built in. After more thought I realized that adding some 3 degrees of camber would cause my bearing to bind. Right now its just the stock bearing and works fine straight up and down.

 

I am familiar with the camber plates out there from eBay all the way up to T3 and Ground Control. I am cheap but I am willing to spend the money if necessary. Anybody have any recommendations? Do camber plates work by themselves or do they need the additional bearing top hat? In other words, can I just put some camber plates in and use my existing top spring plate? I have searched around and will eventually figure it out but thanks in advance to any ideas.

 

Here is my strut and pics of the top hat. I built those several year ago before camber plates were so popular.

 

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Thanks! Those lights are way cool. They'd make good back up lights but they're almost brighter than my headlights :D

 

 

I never saw this reply..if you want a pair, let me know. I put some on my avalanche and they work well....

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am familiar with the camber plates out there from eBay all the way up to T3 and Ground Control. I am cheap but I am willing to spend the money if necessary. Anybody have any recommendations?

 

I have used T3, Cusco, and Ground Control. I love the GC's on my 1200, but they are spendy and require a bit of cutting. The T3 is the best bang for the buck, IMO.

 

Do camber plates work by themselves or do they need the additional bearing top hat?

 

You'll need an additional spring top hat to go with it. T3 sells these also. ;)

 

If you're using standard 2.5" springs, these two pieces should be all you need.

 

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I have used T3, Cusco, and Ground Control. I love the GC's on my 1200, but they are spendy and require a bit of cutting. The T3 is the best bang for the buck, IMO.

 

 

 

You'll need an additional spring top hat to go with it. T3 sells these also. ;)

 

If you're using standard 2.5" springs, these two pieces should be all you need.

 

 

 

when i used the t3 camber plate on my dime i switched the Allen heads to button top heads and didn't have to cut any thing

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Thanks for the info guys. And Shagy, those are cool back up lights. You could drive down the freeway backwards. :D I don't hink I'd want something that bright on my goon so I will stick with my single back up light settup.

 

The tie rods are far enough from the wheel that I've had no issue driving around. They stay at a constant distance. I did remove a small wheel weight on one wheel that was in the way and that made it all better. The RCAs actually gave me a small bit of camber (at least tilted out at the bottom) and looks a little better since the camber was almost positive. 510s look better with camber. I still may do the camber plates too. The bump steer spacers help though.

 

I have a set of classic Moog camber plates that came with the car. I think I will search for info on those. I know I've seen it on here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and a couple oics from a video shoot of my car this last October up in the local Wasatch mountains. More to come :D

 

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^^That is why this is still one of my favorite 510s ever.^^

 

Thank you! ;)

 

 

FYI, those will raise the car about an inch.

 

By the looks of them it looked like they would.

 

 

2eDeYe' date='03 December 2011 - 11:08 AM' timestamp='1322935685' post='587195']

Just caught back up, love the weathered wagon rising sun. I also like what you did there. :cool:

 

:) Artistic interpretation with your sticker.

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  • 3 months later...

Its been a while since I have had any updates. I'm starting to turn my attention back to the goon after some winter garage time modifications to my Hilux (and remodeling my basement... gotta keep the wife happy.) :) I have some changes planned for it in the near future but in the meantime, me and a couple good friends finally finished the dogleg 5 speed swap. I am honored to have the 5 speed from Lawrence's red 620 live on in my goon. After working through all the little unexpected hurdles that comes with this "easy, direct bolt swap" I am very pleased with it. Got it out on the freeway yeaterday and it is an amazing difference from the 4 speed. Can't wait to try it out on a road trip which will happen this Friday when I cruise down to Vegas with a few other Dattos for the BRE open house.

 

I didn't take any pictures of the swap as it has been done coutless times before but I was reminded of how nice the floorboards are.

 

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While I was down there I did take a few pictures of the underside of the tunnel. After I had welded it back together, I had put seam sealer on the undersides of the welds and painted everything. Looks like it has all held up very well over the years.

 

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The hole in the tunnel near the rear end is for a bracket I made to hang the driveshaft when I towed the car a few years ago down to Cali for JCCS. The car will make it down on its own power this time.

 

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Steve (sedition88) and I took our Dattos on an 850+ mile round trip to the BRE open house in Vegas this last weekend. Other than hitting snow in the first 60 miles of the trip it all went well. Both of us had relatively minor heater hose issues and his 620 barely made it home with a toasted alternator but other than that it was a great trip. We managed 70-75mph most of the way and the cars did great. The L series engine is amazing and I should probably look for one to drop into my Toyota Hilux. :D

 

Here are some pictures from the trip and more can be found on the BRE open house thread. http://community.rat...e-headquarters/

 

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have i mentioned i love your car.....real inspiration...hope mine turns out half as nice...

 

Well thank you but I've been watching your goon and it is coming along nicely. Mine has its share of issues and my list just got lots bigger after my road trip. Little stuff like window seals, bad door hinges, rattles in my exhaust. Its far from perfect.

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  • 3 weeks later...

My friend Ryan, (5dimer) let me try his Rewinds on the wagon yesterday. Looks like 280zx struts and some rear fender work is in my future. 15x7+0 with 165/50/15 tires. We have a winner :thumbup:

 

The fronts even fit pretty well on 510 struts but the zx struts will make it that much better. Time to go wheel shopping again.

 

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