qwik510 Posted February 9, 2013 Report Share Posted February 9, 2013 I am using the VW VR6 radiator in my VG car. Leaves lots of room but this is a V6 so there is lots more room anyway. Quote Link to comment
darc510 Posted April 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 Okay, so time for some updates…it has been a while, wish I could report that more has been done. So, in one of trips to the yards a few weeks ago I found a 85 Fiero tucked away in the domestic section…so I acquired a pretty decent radiator for about $30, it will work for now. Just needed to straighten a few fins (more like a lot). I went through the DQ article that discusses how to mount this over and over, just wasn’t making sense compared to how it was actually fitting. Decided to go a different route. First , mount the wires of the edge: Remember that heinous motor mount from page one? Well here you go. Shaved some of the rubber off (stunk like hell doing this), measured to the center of the radiator support, marked, and mounted for my bushing. Here is how I mounted the top, doesn’t look like the best thing out there, but it holds real nice. Now with electric push fan installed: NEXT, Made provisions for my Speedhut water temp gauge… the previous one I had (from PO) stuck at 200. JB weld the next sensor to the existing nut in order to fit, the bits that came with the gauge did not fit. Routed the line with the spark plug lines, blends in nicely as it is zip tied under the blue. Side note… I have an A87 sqaure port head…so why would someone in their infinite wisdom install circle port gaskets? Let alone three of them Quote Link to comment
darc510 Posted April 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 Moving on to some interior work. I’m not made of money (as if anyone on this site is), but I stumbled on Skib’s dash repair posting a while back= Challenge accepted. Used glass filler for starts after a good cleaning…I’ll let the pics talk on this one. Cleaned and volcanoes cut down: Filling and sanding: Next is body filler to smooth it all out, so it’s nice a flush from one side to the other…oics to come Quote Link to comment
Eagle_Adam Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 damn, that dash came out good Quote Link to comment
darc510 Posted April 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 Currently tackling the dash vent upgrade…I must be missing something. In know in DQ they outline using the 05+ mustang vents or the Z33 ones…so mine may be a little off the beaten path, but perhaps with this post some one could give me advice before I make a cut that is irreversible and screw up my chances on having a clean upgrade. I found an RX8 in the yard that has vents that are practically the identical make up of the Z33’s, but not quite. Here is me test fitting how the bezel ring should sit: Now, me looking like I’m trying to shove the square block in the circle hole: I have only started on the driver’s side, just in case. But I have clipped off the 360º retainer thing off the back…from this: to this: :confused: :confused: :confused: My question is, did anyone need to mod (cut/trim) any/all of this angled backing in order for their vent to install? I’m afraid that by cutting this I will loose the means for the new vent to be retained, as in fall out. Suggestions/thoughts… or am I really nuking (think too hard) this? Ross Quote Link to comment
darc510 Posted April 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 damn, that dash came out good Thanks Adam. :thumbup: not done yet. i have some vinyl in the garage that i plan on covering this with... so it will be real smooth and consistent! Quote Link to comment
darc510 Posted April 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2013 Update, I realized after picking up a pair of Eclipse air vents from the JY that the Mazda 6/RX8 vents i was trying to work with are too boku. So, here goes my take on the vent mod with these (sort of a how-to). I picked up a pair of these Eclipse air vents for just under $7! Be sure that when you grab these that you get both pieces. As in, the vent control and the retaining housing. I recommend acquiring these from the center of the dash as it is more giving in pulling these out. Just open the vent, reaching in like you are find the g-spot and give a firm tug ;) You have the vent, now for the housing (the reason why you go for the center part of the dash). There are three tabs that hold the housing in place, using your G.I. Joe Kung Fu grip and a flathead, push these in and work the housing out. Once they are out, snap them pack together, especially if you are still at the yard. Don’t want to pay more than you need to. Okay what I did here was I slid the OEM housing on the new one and eyeballed how far beyond the actual OEM dash vent housing I wanted my new vent to sit. I made some small markings with a razor blade. I have a bunch of electrical tape so I wrapped up the eclipse housing to give it a little more girth to hold it in place. This may sound a bit confusing, so here are some oics. Almost done!! Last step, whip out your hot glue gun and go to town sealing the gap and attaching the two housings together. Cleaned and done, ready to install!!! 1 Quote Link to comment
darc510 Posted April 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2013 Here are the new vents installed. Cleaned up nice with some of those Armor All wipes :thumbup: Was initially cleaning (sanding) the connections of my temp/gas gauges to stop them from bouncing around on me, which was successful until I test them out. Found out why my temp gauge didn’t work! You can barely see where there is a break from top and bottom of the inside of the needle. Look like very clean breaks too. Anyways, the PO installed an ‘aftermarket’ gauge that was mounted in the radio hole, but yanked that our for provisions of my speedhut gauges. more to come... Quote Link to comment
darc510 Posted April 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2013 Threw a nice layer of body filler across the dashpad to clean it up...will hopefully get to sanding this within the week to make it baby bottom smooth. With any luck I'll have it newly wrapped this weekend and ready to go back in. Quote Link to comment
darc510 Posted April 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2013 If and when i ever get the money to do this, i think this is what i'll shoot for as my paint scheme. just love the dark green fade BRE stripes on the kelly green. I'll have a deep blue pin striping fade on the borders of the BRE stripes (need to tie in my interior). Quote Link to comment
Eagle_Adam Posted April 17, 2013 Report Share Posted April 17, 2013 love that green! i had my titans powder coated close to that Quote Link to comment
darc510 Posted April 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2013 yeah, reminds me of Kawi green, such a sexy color!!! definitely didn't want to go blue like so many other 510s. trying to be different where i can. Quote Link to comment
darc510 Posted April 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2013 So here is the body filler all sanded down on the dash pad. Started with a 100grit to get it close then on to the 220 grit. It’s really smooth at this point, but may go the extra step and hit it up with something a little higher. Still can’t decide on whether to wrap it or texture paint it. Pics of progress. [/url] Also, had a chance to install the carbs back on with older header, I have replacement header that I plan on taking to the muffler shop once I get the car actually running. I've been setting aside a little here and there to have a mandrel bend exhaust made up. headers down to a Flowmaster 40 series muffler, should sound sexy!!! and this little guy is telling me that I need to go back and double check my wiring… Quote Link to comment
darc510 Posted August 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2013 So, here is a long overdue update... First off the did some extra reading and found out that a diode needed to be places in line with some of the connections off the old volt regulator to 'turn off' the CHG light. Once that was done, fired right up. then Fiero Radiator I installed fail a pressure test, basically once I had everything put back together, I cranked the engine up to make sure everything was working and the Radiator started to leak on the drivers side. Since my stock one was still good, just pulled the Fiero Rad and went back to original setup. I'll tackle that further down the road. Moving on. Dropped the car off the stands and was preparing for my first ride in over a year and a half....short lived it was, made about a 1/4 mile (barely made it out of my steep driveway). For some reason the car acted like there was no power in gear. Going back through my thread I overlooked some of the many warnings about throwout sleeve size...but trying to justify the need to change this didn't make sense... As far as the clutch went, I didn't change anything other than the stage of the clutch, I'm still running the same 5-speed dogleg with a 225mm fly and everything...which is why the size of the sleeve didn't make sense to me. (the new flywheel is lighten and balanced) So that brought me to the point of my slave cylinder, which i did change... the one previously installed was (i believe) a 1/4, i ordered the proper size from Rockauto, selecting the 200sx one, which turns out to be a 11/16. but before I started swapping stuff back around, i wanted to be sure of my existing problem and check the depth of engagement on the slave. put the car back on stands, made a small video while i push the clutch in and out, looks good from where i stand (could be wrong). wanted to take her for another spin just to re-diagnose the clutch issue...get the car fired up, smooth idle...then smoke is coming out from under the hood... pop the hood, start tracing the smoke 'path' and find that my GND wire from the back of the alternator is fried to all hell... Quote Link to comment
darc510 Posted August 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2013 So now I really feel i'm at that point where I can redo this bit of wiring or just 100% scrap that and start from a universal kit. I've seen quite a few guys out there that have had great success with them and the turn out really clean. I know this car is a LONG way from looking and being great, just not sure how i can keep plugging away at this with diminishing returns of enjoyment. for a car that I have had for almost 2 years and i can count on my hands the amount of times i have driven it, gets kind of hard to stay excited and justifying why the car is still there in my driveway. I don't ever plan on selling/getting rid of it, but i'm sure there are many that can relate to the struggles of having a car this old/problematic and trying to keep going at it. just tired of not driving it...if know what i mean. Quote Link to comment
darc510 Posted September 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2013 Well, when trying to test fit new seat mounts found this... Of course this is the product of me poking at it, more and more... but now i need to do some much needed patch work. Quote Link to comment
qwik510 Posted September 11, 2013 Report Share Posted September 11, 2013 Well, it doesn't look that bad. Nice Z car C pillar emblem in there too. Good luck with the patching. Quote Link to comment
tr8er Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 what happened here? 1 Quote Link to comment
darc510 Posted August 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2014 Guess I should brush the dust off this thread...wow, last update almost a year ago. Time to get cracking. To make a long story short...we (wife and I) had some family issues. At one point we had three of our parents in the hospital at one time. On top of that , the wife's mother fell ill and eventually passed on. It was and still is difficult to put wrenches to the car as we have been driving back and forth from Baltimore and Virginia Beach, almost every weekend. We are still working through her mom's house as there is a lot of drama and lack of a Will, basically things have been real complicated lately. We were however to take a moment and get out to Summit Point for SPEC510 back in May. So, In the mean time I have mainly just done research on what I would like this car to truly be and make efforts to properly plan this build. Sounds much like putting the cart before the horse, but I'm looking to fix that. Ultimately deciding that I will not be doing a motor swap, keeping with the L-Series in this car. I would like to pick up a goon in the future, which will be the motor swap candidate...time will tell. Anyways, right before things went sour with the family, I picked up a pair of DCOE 45 Sidedraft Webers that I would like to mate up with this. The deal was too good and they will do just fine on the shelf until I get the kinks worked out with the current setup and issues I must tackle… Re-planning the Build: Electrical: Starting from the last informative post, I did scrap that wiring. There was just too much botched patch work done all over the place to make my IR Alt worth installing. Hence, why it fried up when I tried to do the Saturn IR upgrade. I picked up a clean 71 harness and I'm starting from there as far as wiring goes. Since nothing is cut, I'm opting for the external regulated alt setup, for the time being, to keep it OG. I'll explore better options later. Body: I want to fix many of the rust issues that I have, the driver's rear quarter panel I'll have done, but I'll be patching the floor boards, making my seat mounts, and front passengers wheel well. I only have a gasless MIG, so this may take a little extra cleanup steps. I also have a dent on the roof the car, from when a branch landed on top of it during a storm, but that should tap out just fine and is not a real issue right now. Interior: Reserved for continued editing and updating...as items become available. Suspension/Brakes: 280ZX swap up front with new vented/slotted rotors. I'm looking into a rear disc brake setup...which after some research I am leaning more towards the Wilwood kit from silverminemotors.com with a proportion valve. Still haven't decided to either change out the master cylinder size or slapping on a brake booster. Also, since I do not have an ebrake, might as well mount it to the trans tunnel :) Engine/Fuel delivery For the immediate, get the current setup running solid. Not much to it other than that...lol. Eventually, install the 45 sidedrafts, mild cam, hone, full gasket replacement, basic cleaning and painting. Nothing to serious. Perhaps rework the fuel delivery to electric from mechanical, when the duals are installed...but want to research this more. That’s what I have for a not so update. Life happens and sometimes the projects we enjoy take a back burner. Quote Link to comment
darc510 Posted August 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2014 I figured this would be the best place as any for this. I took these pictures back in 2010 at JCCS, I'm wondering if anyone has information/ a build tread for me to drool over on this 510. Never thought I would own one when i took t hess photos, but i'm glad I did...this is just sexy!!!! Quote Link to comment
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