Hank's 510

[hankthetank]

Hi Ratsun Crowd,

 

My name is Henry, and I am psyched to be making my intro. I have been scouring Ratsun and the rest of the internets reading and researching about 510's and have finally found the right opportunity to make my first car purchase, and my first Datsun purchase. I think of myself as a pretty handy person, but have not had much experience with cars beyond the ordinary tune-up type work. However, I am pretty good at research (already got the "How to Modify" and a couple other books) and following directions so I am feeling up to the challenge. I will do my best to ask questions only when necessary but the occasional noob question is bound to slip through every now and then... my apologies in advance. I am taking this opportunity to not only share what I am doing and get some feedback, but document the process for myself.

 

So here she is!

 

 

She is a '69, 510 with an L18 and U67 head, dual SU carburetors (still trying to determine which ones, but there don't seem to be any markings on it). Here is a pic of the pretty clean engine bay.

 

 

I would like to use this car as a daily driver to and from work across town (about 5 miles) and some auto-x and track days here and there. I understand this will require a few trade-offs, but I think an all around fun ride for all purposes is achievable. My game-plan to whip this car into shape is to first get a good idea of exactly what has been done to it so far, get it in good working order for now and then do some body work. All the while I would like to make some modifications to have a higher performance power plant, so I will probably purchase an A87 closed chambered head and re-build it on a budget (I think I might be getting ahead of myself, one step at a time ;)).

 

The car as I purchased it, included an L18 with U67 head, Dual SU's, D6K81 01 matchbox distributor (Z or Maxima I think), 5 Speed transmission (unknown origin), front disk brakes, front adjustable coil overs (not identified yet), rear suspension from another model Datsun (not identified yet). Inside it had been gutted for the most part, has racing seats, bolt in 4 point cage, still has the back seat and solid dashboard and working instruments/switches (except temp gauge).

 

The shape of the car when I picked it up two weeks ago seemed pretty good mechanically (from my very modest level of experience). The engine seemed to pull pretty good, although acceleration was not as smooth as I would like. Rear suspension was not as smooth as the front. Idle was a little rough. The car starts up pretty consistently but takes about 5-10 mins to warm up. If I don't let it warm up, I get some sputtering (backfire I think?) when the engine is at low rpm and the pedal is down. Occasionally it takes a few trys to get it to start, this even happened once while the engine was warm.

 

In regards to the body, it needs a little work hopefully not too much. As you can see from the pics, the front left fender has some rot in the front and needs to be replaced. I plan to replace it and the right with some fiberglass fenders with similar flares. The previous owner(s) did some interesting stuff to it that I don't quite understand but seems to work OK. The floorboards were cut out and patched with fiberglass. I have never heard of this but it seems to have worked fine, just looks a little sloppy (picture to follow). The rear fender flares look like they were custom made by cutting out the lip of the wheel well putting fiberglass in to flare it out and then re-attaching the lip to the outside edge of the fiberglass. They look like they have been banged up a little bit so I dont know how I am going to go about fixing these up. The left rear looks like it was hit lightly so I suspect some filler lurking in that area. Otherwise I think it has minor surface rust spots. Not too shabby in my opinion, I still think I got a great deal on this baby.

 

So now that I have put out pretty much all I know about the car, here is my game-plan. Over the weekend I am giving it a tune-up. I have replaced the spark plugs with some NGK R plugs, gapped to .041 (I read that with the matchbox dizzy, this is factory recommended gap). I couldn't find new plug cables, but they will go on when I get my NGK NE64 cables ordered. The new plugs were an improvement, the car seemed to accelerate more smoothly than before. I don't know if this is my brain tricking me to find some improvement, but I think it definitely running better.

 

I changed the oil with Mobil 1 15w-50 (upon the recommendation of my father, a Mobil oil technical guru) and got a new K&N oil filter.

 

I wanted to tune the carburetors however no auto parts stores in the San Francisco peninsula seem to carry an air flow gauge. So I used some tube and tried to do it the old fashion way of sound. Not so sure it is set up right, so today I am going to give it another go following the information I find in my "How to tune SU" book and internet research. Here is what I did. I listened to the air flow into the carburetors and tried to match them and bring idle to around 800 RPM by adjusting the throttle adjusting screws on the front and back to match. Once I got flow as close as I could, I started lifting the piston with a flat head screw driver to see if the RPM stumbles (too lean) or rises (too rich) or rises a little bit and falls back to idle (ideal). At the time I did it, it seemed to rise and fall back to idle, so I thought the mixture was already set close enough. Now that I think about it some more, it was taking maybe 5-10 seconds to do this so I think it is still too rich and needs further adjusting. I am going to try this again today to see if I can get it to respond better. (Again, if you see me going astray, please let me know).

 

Once this was all done I put my air filters, which I cleaned and oiled liberally, back on and was ready to go. Problem, it didn't start!!! I ran it after I changed the plugs and drove it around just fine, so I knew it was something with the carb tuning or I suspected the heavily oiled air filters were restricting air flow too much. I took off the filters and it ran fine, so I put them back on and after a little coaxing she started, but was stumbling. I think it was starving for air, I ran it a while and the problem seemed to have fixed itself, however I tried to start-up later on in the evening and same problem, just not as dramatic. I am going to see what happens when I start it today, and maybe I will ditch the oiled filters for a fresh set and see what happens. On the bright side, while I was not idling the engine was running nicely, responsive and accelerating smoothly on my way home. :D

 

So moving forward, I have a long list of to-dos (not in order of importance)

Identify: transmission, front/rear suspension set up, brake set-up, rear diff

 

Exhaust system: Previous owner used some corrugated tubing which cant be good for flow and put a glasspack that just amplifies the noise. It drones like crazy and I feel like a teenager driving a honda civic that just sounds fast!! I think I will be mating my stock manifold with a 2" tubing and a Dynomax thrush turbo 17702 muffler. They guy I bought the car also gave me an un-used shorty header. I have heard mixed reviews of this thing and I think I am going to stick with my stock exhaust manifold, sell it, and save for a competition long primary header down the road.

 

Suspension: Identify my suspension set up, and balance out the back with some matching coil-overs. Determine if I need to replace bushings throughout the suspension and motor (the motor is wobbling so I am inclined to replace the rubber mounts with polyurethane).

 

Brakes: the pedal is stiff, but are a little lacking in stopping power.

 

Electrical: the temp gauge is not working, also, I noticed that the rear running lights run all the time when one of the fuses is not disconnected, something fishy going on there.

 

So thats it for now... more to follow. If you have any thoughts or comments I would love to hear them.

[Rustina 510]

Great job getting started. Keep at it and you will have a really nice ride

[datzenmike]

 

My name is Henry,

 

She is a '69, 510 with an L18 and U67 head, dual SU carburetors (still trying to determine which ones, but there don't seem to be any markings on it). Here is a pic of the pretty clean engine bay.

 

 

Hello Henry and welcome to ratsun...

If there are two bolts holding the SU to the manifold they should be 38mm carbs from SSS L16 or SSS L18 motors imported from Japan. From the looks of them they are known as round tops.

 

The engine seemed to pull pretty good, although acceleration was not as smooth as I would like. Rear suspension was not as smooth as the front. Idle was a little rough. The car starts up pretty consistently but takes about 5-10 mins to warm up. If I don't let it warm up, I get some sputtering (backfire I think?) when the engine is at low rpm and the pedal is down. Occasionally it takes a few trys to get it to start, this even happened once while the engine was warm.

 

I don't see any choke cables on those SUs. Without a choke the motor will not run smooth when cold and will lean backfire if pushed too hard too soon.

 

BTW the D6K8 dizzy is consistent with those used on 280z and early zx and Maxima 6 cylinder engines but internal parts have been swapped to be able to use on a 4 cylinder motor.

 

While the plugs were off I also checked the cylinder compression and got the following readings: Cyl 1: 58 psi Cyl 2: 60 psi Cyl 3: 57 psi Cyl 4: 60 psi. I thought I would have higher compression, but they are consistent. Whether this means consistently bad or consistently acceptable, I don't know yet. This requires further research.

 

Hopefully your tester or method was wrong as they all should be about 100 pounds higher.

 

So moving forward, I have a long list of to-dos (not in order of importance)

Identify: transmission, front/rear suspension set up, brake set-up, rear diff

 

Best thing is to post good clear photos of you tranny and suspension/brakes.

 

Exhaust system: Previous owner used some corrugated tubing which cant be good for flow and put a glasspack that just amplifies the noise. It drones like crazy and I feel like a teenager driving a honda civic that just sounds fast!! I think I will be mating my stock manifold with a 2" tubing and a Dynomax thrush turbo 17702 muffler. They guy I bought the car also gave me an un-used shorty header. I have heard mixed reviews of this thing and I think I am going to stick with my stock exhaust manifold, sell it, and save for a competition long primary header down the road.

 

Stock manifold is less trouble in the long run and quieter. It's still going to make some noise with the Dynomax thrush turbo 17702 muffler but if only driving 5 miles to work that's fine. If you plan driving regular daily trips to town or the drone wears thin real quick.

 

 

Suspension: Identify my suspension set up, and balance out the back with some matching coil-overs. Determine if I need to replace bushings throughout the suspension and motor (the motor is wobbling so I am inclined to replace the rubber mounts with polyurethane).

 

The wobble is absorbing annoying vibration. Switching to the extremely stiff poly will transmit vibration and sound to the rest of the body rattling the dash, license plate, rear mirror etc.

 

Brakes: the pedal is stiff, but are a little lacking in stopping power.

 

Again post pictures of your calipers so they can be ID'd

 

Electrical: the temp gauge is not working, also, I noticed that the rear running lights run all the time when one of the fuses is not disconnected, something fishy going on there.

 

The temp gauge sender is on the front of the thermostat housing and should have a yellow or yellow/white wire. If the wire hasn't fallen off or isn't corroded, ground this, and the gauge should read full hot. If still not reading then it's not the sender. (could be the wiring or the gauge.

[INDY510]

.

Whoah there Okayfine. ......... . :lol: ........... . . that "breather" hose on the valve cover looks like it doesn't "breathe".. . .. does it??

 

.......... a simple foam air filter, or small K&N filter would be better

[banzai510(hainz)]

read olddatsuns.com

 

Is it the running Lights? or the brake lights ??????On all the time.

My 521 the swithc stopper poped out but I would have to look if its the same on a 510

 

Hqave you ck the switch under the pedal?The brake one. On my 521 they stayed on all the time killed the battary

[datzenmike]

.

Whoah there Okayfine. ......... . :lol:

 

hahahaha (where is he?)

 

 

 

........... . . that "breather" hose on the valve cover looks like it doesn't "breathe".. . .. does it??

 

.......... a simple foam air filter, or small K&N filter would be better

 

I've seen ones like that on non Datsun.... Dodge maybe, GM?

[hankthetank]

Thank you for the feedback and tips. Much appreciated.

 

Hello Henry and welcome to ratsun...

If there are two bolts holding the SU to the manifold they should be 38mm carbs from SSS L16 or SSS L18 motors imported from Japan. From the looks of them they are known as round tops.

 

Two bolts, so 38 mm SU's

 

I don't see any choke cables on those SUs. Without a choke the motor will not run smooth when cold and will lean backfire if pushed too hard too soon.

 

Got-it, the choke is now high on my to-do list.

 

Hopefully your tester or method was wrong as they all should be about 100 pounds higher.

 

I removed all the plugs, screwed in the flexible tube for the brand new gauge and turned the car over 10 times in a row. I will try to re-test this evening.

 

Stock manifold is less trouble in the long run and quieter. It's still going to make some noise with the Dynomax thrush turbo 17702 muffler but if only driving 5 miles to work that's fine. If you plan driving regular daily trips to town or the drone wears thin real quick.

 

I am going to stick with stock manifold and am re-thinking that muffler then. I want to be able to drive it for a while and not deal with excessive drone.

 

The temp gauge sender is on the front of the thermostat housing and should have a yellow or yellow/white wire. If the wire hasn't fallen off or isn't corroded, ground this, and the gauge should read full hot. If still not reading then it's not the sender. (could be the wiring or the gauge.

 

Great suggestion, I grounded the wire and the gauge in the car works which indicates the sender is faulty. I will look into a replacement.

 

As for the identification, I believe the rear diff is a Subaru R160 LSD.

 

http://s98.photobucket.com/albums/l245/henrygabs/?action=view&current=RearDiff.jpg

 

Thanks again.

 

-H

[hankthetank]

.

Whoah there Okayfine. ......... . :lol: ........... . . that "breather" hose on the valve cover looks like it doesn't "breathe".. . .. does it??

 

.......... a simple foam air filter, or small K&N filter would be better

 

The breather air filter does breathe. I can blow air through it with little effort. How critical is this?

[hankthetank]

read olddatsuns.com

 

Is it the running Lights? or the brake lights ??????On all the time.

My 521 the swithc stopper poped out but I would have to look if its the same on a 510

 

Hqave you ck the switch under the pedal?The brake one. On my 521 they stayed on all the time killed the battary

 

I have determined that it is actually the reverse lights that are on when the fuse is in place. Running lights work just fine, as do the turn signals and brake lights.

[hankthetank]

So it has been a while since my last post.

 

I finally got my exhaust done. I couldn't take the unnecessary noise that my original exhaust set-up made, it wore on me real quick. I originally wanted mandrel bent pipes and to do more research on what exhaust system I wanted but I was at my wits end and said f-it I am am just going to go get it done at a shop in SF... Crush bent 2 1/4" piping and relied on the guys recommendation of a resonator a Magnaflow can on the back. I was a little nervous that I wouldn't like the results but I am pleased. SO much better than before.

 

While the car was up on the lift I took the opportunity to snap some photos to try to get an identification of my front brake and suspension set up.

 

 

Pretty sure they are ground control coil overs (Springs numbered 0800.250.0175 (8 inch high, 2.5 in inner diameter, 175 lb spring rate)

 

 

Uncertain whether the brakes are stock disks or some sort of swap. Any thoughts?

 

New issues to address now. I need new front brake rotors and pads and brake lines because they are worn and cracked. I ordered front disk rotors and pads (for a stock 510), but not sure I will be getting the right parts, since I was not smart enough to identify the set up prior to ordering.

 

Also, the alternator bearing is shot and I have a new 35A alternator on order. I read a bunch of stuff about swapping in a 50A alternator, but I figured I would just go with what is already in there, since it is working fine.

[NOTES...]

Nice datto.. good Oics...

[thisismatt]

Brakes look stock and yeah, coilovers look like ground control. Don't be surprised by the slanted pads on the stock brakes :P Frankly, you should just swap to 280zx struts and move the coilovers to them rather than buying stock 510 parts.

[skyblue]

dude sweet ride. Do you work in the dogpatch? I've seen your car parked there. Tennessee and 22nd?

[hankthetank]

dude sweet ride. Do you work in the dogpatch? I've seen your car parked there. Tennessee and 22nd?

 

Thanks! Yeah, I work in Dogpatch, at DODOcase on Illinois and 22nd. Is that your 521 parked on third street? I saw it this morning on my way to the coffee shop.

 

-H

[skyblue]

oops, I meant Illinois. Cool. i work at Oberon right there on Illinois and 22th too. Yea that was me:thumbup:. I don't usually drive it to work.(take the ferry instead). do you drive to work everyday? I'd love to check it out your dime up close and personal.

[NOTES...]

oops, I meant Illinois. Cool. i work at Oberon right there on Illinois and 22th too. Yea that was me:thumbup:. I don't usually drive it to work.(take the ferry instead). do you drive to work everyday? I'd love to check it out your dime up close and personal.

 

 

Awwww.. I smell a Date coming on... :lol:

 

 

 

jk guys...

[skyblue]

Straight bromance

[Z chopper]

Straight bromance

 

 

carmance might be a better terminology

[Shagy]

sweet find for your 1st 510.

 

I know on my car when I had SU's I had a problem with them starting sometimes when they were hot. I didnt have a heat sheild. I'd have to pop the hood, hold the part that moved up and down (float?) up while I cranked it...it would fire up and sometimes backfire through the carb and take my arm hair with it....

 

do you have a heat sheild?

[Dirttrack510]

cool car, good luck with it. I'm sure with a little work you'll have it running and driving great.

[banzai510(hainz)]

the top hat part of these coils overs looks stock or soemthing?

 

if you do the 280xz uyoull need a different offset rim or a bigger spacer(maybe evn longer studs) as your rim will hit the strut tube if it went 280zx. I have 510 struts also but dont want to change. I just drive regular

[hankthetank]

oops, I meant Illinois. Cool. i work at Oberon right there on Illinois and 22th too. Yea that was me:thumbup:. I don't usually drive it to work.(take the ferry instead). do you drive to work everyday? I'd love to check it out your dime up close and personal.

 

Yeah I drive to work every day. Definately would like to meet up and show you the car. I know Oberon, do you work in the factory store? I walk by there like 5 times a day between our wood shop and our assembly facility.

[skyblue]

nice. yea that's the one i work at. i usually have lunch at 12 everyday so stop by anytime. oh come in through the 22nd st bay, big roll up door. right next to TAD.

[hankthetank]

sweet find for your 1st 510.

 

I know on my car when I had SU's I had a problem with them starting sometimes when they were hot. I didnt have a heat sheild. I'd have to pop the hood, hold the part that moved up and down (float?) up while I cranked it...it would fire up and sometimes backfire through the carb and take my arm hair with it....

 

do you have a heat sheild?

 

Thanks!

 

I dont have a heat shield, however it has been firing up just fine lately cold and hot. (knocking on wood...)

[hankthetank]

So my dad was in SF from back east this weekend and did a little work on the car together. Nice to have someone else working on the car with me and a little more practical experience certainly helped things go smoothly. About 2 weeks ago, I started hearing an inconsistent whirring sound coming from the engine compartment at higher than idle RPMs. I found out that it was a bad alternator bearing, so we first swapped that out. Turns out however that the mounting bracket also had a small crack on the underside. It has probably been that way for a while, so I am not too worried for the time being, but definitely need to get a replacement. I am pretty sure I have seen some for sale on the forums.

 

I was kicking around the idea of doing a 280zx strut swap and bigger brakes, but for now, I just replaced the stock pads. The rotors looked and felt fine so I will save the big brake upgrade for some other time, still don't know whether I will go with the 280 swap or a wilwood kit for my stock set-up. My understanding is that the strut swap allows you to run the 280zx or maxima brakes... but if I am going with a wilwood set-up, then I guess it doesn't really matter. Correct me if I am wrong.

 

One thing I want to get re-installed is the parking brake. I have the handle assembly and the back half of the system is in place (all the cables connecting to a Y joint under the car are there and working) I only need to put the handle back in the car and install the cable connecting the handle to the back half. Any ideas where I can find this or am I going to have to rig something up?

 

I also need to find and hook up a choke to my SU's. The cold SF summers are here and letting it warm up for 10 minutes every time I drive is alright, but I would rather have the choke and speed up the process and not worry so much about the backfire. I hope to find the linkage and set up as complete as possible so I don't have to rig something up. If you know where I can find this, please let me know. Otherwise I will continue scouring the internet.

 

Also on the to-do is also my rear suspension. Its saggy, and tired and not balanced with the front. I have GC coilovers in the front and want to go the same way in the back. I def want the coilovers so I can adjust the ride height. This car is sooo low right now and the SF roads are not ideal, particularly when the rear is sooo mushy and saggy. I will see what GC recommends for rear spring rate to match the 175 lbs up front.

 

Oh, I also need some new wheels. As Hainz pointed out, there is very little clearance between the rim/tire and the strut. The previous owner actually ground down the adjusting nut on the coilovers on one side to create some clearance and used a spacer, which I would like to get rid of. I am wary of using spacers, I feel like it just offsets the load from its intended point and creates unnecessary stress on the hub and the bolts. Don't know why he was so dead set on using these ugly ass wheels.