'69 510 rally restoration

[TeamHightower]

Hi all,

 

I guess I will chronicle the work I do restoring my 510 back to a running and racing rally car. But first let me give a little history on the car.

 

The car is a 1969 510 (licensed as ’70) that was bought here in Seattle. The owner was a member of several TSD rally clubs and played with the car for a couple years. Around 1972 the owner was convinced that he should prep the car for ProRally and drive out to Michigan to run the Press-On-Regardless Rally. So he ordered the East African Safari suspension out of the Datsun catalog and had a roll bar installed. Bolted up a couple fog lights to the bumper and ran down to Boeing Surplus to grab an old piece of aluminum aircraft body panel as a skid pan (yes, it has the little rivet holes all along the edges!).

 

 

So in 1973 they ran off to Michigan to compete with all the big boys in the POR. The POR is notorious for how punishing the roads are and thus the name. The teams are expected to press on for three days, regardless of how much damage the car may take or how much damage the drivers and navigators may endure. Unfortunately, our hero’s efforts were dashed late on the first day when they slid off the road and over a small tree stump effectively removing the rear suspension. The car was trailered home.

 

 

After repairs the car went back to running local events until around 1978 when my friend Kelly purchased it to race. Kelly upgraded the roll bar to a full Safety Devices cage as per the regulations of the day and continued to run the car until well into the late ‘80’s.

 

I meet Kelly and the car sometime around 1982 and helped him on and off. I let him know back then that I wanted to be first in line for the car should he ever contemplate selling it. He just smiled. Kelly stopped racing in the early ‘90’s about the time I was racing a different car. After a couple years of seeing the car just sitting in his garage I again offered to buy it. He just smiled. 10 years ago I again approach him with an offer to get the car back racing again. This time he frowned, but his love for the car and the memories in it was still too strong.

 

So finally in 2010 I get an email from Kelly asking if I know anybody interested in buying an old rally car. Needless to say I jumped right in and finally got my hands on the car. Unfortunately, it had really began to show the ravages of time and it was clear this was now a project car. But what better car to restore then one with a long racing history and a personal relationship over some 25 years.

 

 

So it has begun and I’ll post here occasionally with updates. I’ve a webpage with more pictures and running chronicle of the job. I will be leaning on the knowledge here on the boards on many, many occasions as the project progresses. Thanks in advance to all those that chip in with advice and parts as I try to get back to the vintage rally scene with this car and I will endeavor to keep the original 1973 POR spirit in the car where I can.

 

TeamHightower

510 restoration page

[Spedie]

Wow! Thats quite a history! I look forward to seeing the finished product.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

I've always kept my eye out for one of the originals, but never been able to find one.

 

Keep us posted.

[KC30]

Wow! Lots of history with that ride! Glad to hear it's stayed with people who shared the same goal with it and will continue to do so.

[Lüdvig]

Super rad history behind the car, glad you finally got it!

[TeamHightower]

Thanks everybody!

 

The first post was pretty long, so I'll add this one to catch up with current work:

 

First the clean out. What a mess, but old cars kinda get this way. Vinyl was not made to last forever and paint eventually wears away. Plus rally cars tend to remain in the state of the end of the previous rally until right before the next rally ;-)

 

The obvious place where you get into a lot of work on an old car are the floors. Water had gotten into the car over the years. Hey, it’s a rally car after all. On the bottom side, all that gravel for all those years had pretty well scoured the bottom of the car to bare metal and the elements.

 

After de-tarring the floors the news was pretty good. Only a few places with rust so bad it had eaten through. Please note: this is not your normal restoration. Race cars either get restored for the show room or the race track. In the case of a rally car, the race track is a rock strewn gravel road with boulders and trees lining the road. It really doesn’t pay to do too complete of a job as it would be mostly money wasted. But happily these floors were in really good shape.

 

Then I pulled the dash out. I love the metal dashes – so much easier to freshen up then the plastic ones. Removed the rust and painted and looks really good. I’ll replace the sweeping speedo, which is of little use in a rally car, with a panel of useful gauges.

 

Finished painting the interior and the engine bay.

 

Next I’ll be rewiring the car…

 

TeamHightower

[Tomakze]

Oh, wow!!! What an awesome project. I am definitely going to look forward to seeing this car progress and eventually race!!!

[Dirttrack510]

Awesome build thread, I love race cars. Everyone thought I was nuts when I started racing my goon, but that's what I built it for. "Race-store" this car and get it back on the track. :thumbup:

[troyt]

Great to see a rally race build, hope it makes it back to the gravel soon.

[Rob W.]

Cool project. Just curious was it still running? What motor set-up is in there?

[the510keeper]

This is a very cool project. Will be interesting to see how it all ends up

[WAGON JON]

What ever happened to the rest of the pictures and the rewiring of the car?

 

Digging up the past...

[TeamHightower]

Hi Wagon Jon!  Like so many car projects, they find themselves lower on the list than other life events.  In my case, work, kids and family have keep this project sitting under a cover.  I recently move to a new home in the country and a new shop building is planned.  That will get me back on track for finishing the project.  I promise to get back here when I do.

 

Think KA24DE...