Autocross/Street Handling '72 510 Wagon

[Son_of_a_Datsun_Guy]

I'm having wagon withdrawal symptoms.

 

Haven't driven it in almost a week now because of some electrical issues, something is draining the battery even when the car is off. It's not actually losing voltage, just amps, so the car won't start but radio, headlights, etc still work. Pretty sure we've figured out the problem isn't the alternator, since we replaced that already (went from a questionable VG alt to a 280 alt). The two worry spots are a relay that we've had disconnected for some time because we thought that it was largely not needed, and the tach. Since this all really started when the tach was put in, and there were some initial problems putting it in that it one of the first things I'm going to check.

 

If both of those fail to produce results, I'm going to start pulling fuses to narrow down where in the car the problem is coming from.

[gypsy punk]

and the tach. Since this all really started when the tach was put in, and there were some initial problems putting it in that it one of the first things I'm going to check.

 

If both of those fail to produce results, I'm going to start pulling fuses to narrow down where in the car the problem is coming from.

what did you take power from for your tach. is it off something that is constant hot? becasue that would do it. i had that problem when i put my tach in.

[Son_of_a_Datsun_Guy]

It's spliced into the ignition coil, so unless we messed up something else (it's a whole new cluster not just the tach) it should be on switched power.

[troyt]

Nice rosette welds, but get some primer on that tunnel before it rains ;-)

The electrical problem is due to the lack of track time, time to feed the beast...

[ol' 320]

Luke did an awesome job on that tunnel. Get him to build you an Atom style knock-off to autocross in;)

 

Have you considered putting a new wiring harness in and starting from scratch with a modern fuse setup, more circuits, etc?

 

What kind of fab work does this Luke do when he isn't working on your car?

[ol' 320]

I had dual SUs on my Volvo 122s that had been completely rebuilt, with shaft bearings, all leaks fixed, basically all the old age issues eliminated. Those carbs were great! Set once, and forget. They made great power and I got great gas mileage. But there was a big, big difference in how they performed after the PO sent them off to ZTherapy for the full treatment.

 

When you do your L20B over, with that ZX trans and (I don't know what rear gears you have) whatever internal mods you are going to make, will this run pump gas or will it need high octane? What kind of economy will something like the L20 you have planned make? Any idea?

[Son_of_a_Datsun_Guy]

The plan is for the L20 to be a mildly built motor. Shooting like 9 or 10:1 compression with flat tops

 

It'll still run pump gas. Hoping for it to still get decent fuel economy with the SUs, shooting like 120-130 hp, but I'm more interested in that kind of torque.

 

Mikunis may come into play down the road, but that's more $$

 

 

On the electrical side, I'm fairly sure there is something wonky with the radio, that fuse box is like brand new. I'll investigate on saturday and do autocross on sunday :thumbup:

[Son_of_a_Datsun_Guy]

Woohoo, fixed the problem. Somehow when we firs hooked up the radio we hooked up to live power instead of switched. Oops. Well then it got worse when we replaced the alternator a second time, assuming that a rebuilt 280zx alt would work better than an oem VG alternator. Well turns out the rebuild was crap, so we put the vg alt back in. Fixed all our problems.

 

Car is up on the trailer for the night ready to go autocross tomorrow morning.

[Son_of_a_Datsun_Guy]

Wagon did really well at the autocross on sunday. I still need to get more seat time, dad was able to beat all my times by about two seconds (not good for me, but he's got about thirty years of experience more than me haha). And on top of that, his best time was about a second faster than one of the new BRZs that showed up... made me smile a little.

 

 

 

Wagon needs better brake pads though, and more power. The course this time really showed the lack of power that the wagon had compared to the other cars close to in class.

 

mmmm tasty oil smoke, need that L20 asap haha

 

 

One of the guys, Dion Johnson has a really nice, prepped 510, ran a second faster than the GTR that showed up there (I love it when that happens, and you can tell me the driver matters, and godzilla doesn't do well no autocross, blah blah blah, I don't care. The 510s were ripping it up and beating out the shubarus and mistubishis)

 

[Uber Deaf One]

Your wagon looked badass out there... now for better brakes and more powa! :D

[troyt]

See, promise the wagon more track time and the elec probs go away :thumbup:

Great to see the dimes kicking butt out there. And old Datsuns can give Godzilla a run on a few different types of tracks, here's my old Z...

 

[TheShagginWagon]

Great thread! Saw you and your pops at J-Tin on Saturday, Im the other Matt with a goon ,only mine is ratty and white :D . I think our dads must have talked for at least an hour about his SR car and my dads grey SR car. I have to say your goon looks even better in person, i am so envious of your cut tunnel :frantics: . Many of my wagon suspension questions have been answered here, keep up the good work!

[Son_of_a_Datsun_Guy]

Thanks Matt! 

 

I actually really like your wagon, it's always really cool to look at cars that have a lot of potential. Hopefully you can get it where you want it without making all of my mistakes haha. 

 

It's been a long, long time since I updated you guys on what's been going on with the wagon. Unfortunately not much has really happened. Managed to fix the wiring problem that was draining the battery (which had a dead cell, probably didn't help at all). I also painted the tranny tunnel and got all of the carpets back in and buttoned down for everything except the cargo area which still needs so pretty major interior work before I'm any where near happy with it. 

 

My dash pad also cracked, right down the middle. So mad, that thing was cherry when I got the car. Oh well, I'm going to think up a strategy for preventing that in the future before I put the spare one in. 

 

I will have more pictures soon of all of that. Really the only pictures I have that are of any use are from priming and painting the rear quarter panel that starting to look all nasty. 

 

It was a rattle can job. I'm just going to start with that. Started pretty good.

 

 

Something I would like to mention, I am partially colorblind, red-blue to be precise. Not all reds and blues, and yes I can still tell what red and blue are, but I can't really tell them apart sometimes. And if you asked me to identify a shade of blue I'd be at a loss. Despite this I attempted to color match to the best of my and my dad's abilities. You can probably already tell how this is going to end. 

I don't have the best pictures of the quarter panel with me right now, but the blues don't really match

at all.... but I guess it's better than it was. 

My favorite picture of the car I've seen yet. Photo credits to Gojira (who also did some editing on it for me. Thanks dude!) 

 

 

You can see some of the color difference there. 

Also went to a BBQ/car gathering of a friends. 

 

 

I'd just like to say. The Dino/Ferrari parked next to me. I didn't park next to him. Just sayin'

[Stupid_fast]

I was going to comment on your goon, then I OMG Ferrari 308 GT4 ...  :blink:

 

 

Your goon is looking good !  I want to race you.  I need a challenger to push me to refine my setup. 

 

Man that drive tunnel looks fantastic, I really do need to get that done! 

[jrock4224]

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: goon is looking good

[Son_of_a_Datsun_Guy]

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: goon is looking good

 Thanks!

 

Not much to update, been messing with some little stuff here and there, pulled a Z22 out of the junkyard to use for parts for the L20 that's going in, shooting for 140 hp and similar torque with SUs once the engine is built. Maybe it'll make 150-160 later down the line when it gets Mikunis, you know, once I stop caring about gas mileage. 

 

Until that time I will continue to beat on the L16, it's really smoking on high rev gear changes now, it won't last much longer I think. 

[Son_of_a_Datsun_Guy]

Dropped off the engines yesterday, will probably have it back end of July or beginning of August! 

 

Plans changed a little bit, it's going to be a LZ hybrid (not a built L20) for price reasons. Also not going to have major porting done to the head (like $500 saved for now) since it's going to start life with SUs. New power estimate is 130hp/tq with the SUs... about 260% of what I have now haha. 

 

With Mikuni's and porting later it could get close to 150hp/tq.... but that's far far away. 

[Son_of_a_Datsun_Guy]

Okay, there is a strange clicking noise coming from my car when it's rolling. 

The sound is definitely rotational (gets more rapid as the car is rolling faster). When I jacked the car up and spun the wheels I couldn't reproduce the noise, but it's getting more and more noticeable while I'm driving. 

I've re tightened all the lug nuts, to no avail so I don't think that was the problem. I'm also not really convinced that it would be the wheel bearings because I replaced them less than 4k miles ago. 

 

Thoughts before I tear the bearings out and replace them?

 

Also, if anyone has an SU choke set up they are looking to get rid of, roadster, Z, or 510, any of them will work, I'm in the hunt for one for my SU rebuild. 

[TheShagginWagon]

Shoooot, Saw Plenty of SU set ups for sale at canby. I probably cound have gotten you one!

[TheShagginWagon]

A choke set up that is

[Son_of_a_Datsun_Guy]

Would be cool to find out who was there selling, I'll put out a WTB on the classifieds see if I can get anyone to bite, thanks for the info!

 

Messed with the lug nuts, finally got the clicking to stop. Engine is away and being worked on, and I have a set of ZX struts getting set up for coilovers, and a set of wilwoods to go on them for some extra braking power. 

Now I need some stylistic input. I've been looking into a roof rack so that I have a way to lug around my bikes, especially when I go to and from San Luis Obispo next year. 

 

I can use the A1 pillar style (connect to the rain gutter, just like yours ShagginWagon) or I attach a track to the top of my wagon, like this one. 

 

http://www.yakima.com/shop/racksystems/permanent-installation/tracks54-w-plusnuts

 

Those will do two things, they provide a tighter, lower profile look, and they help me cover up and reuse the current holes in the roof from the factory rack. 

 

Cons of the track system is that they are a little bit more expensive and they look a little more modern (not exactly the best style fit with for the wagon, but I think I can live with it because it isn't as intrusive). Dollar wise they will also at least delay body work money to fill in those holes. 

[Abe Froman]

You should checkout the cool rack setup that Duke put together for his car.

 

   It is a simple but well thought out piece, like most of the stuff on his car.

[Laecaon]

I install those Tracks on truck canopies at work. My biggest gripe with them, then ends are a different height than the track, so when you tighten the tracks down, the end pop up.

[Son_of_a_Datsun_Guy]

You should checkout the cool rack setup that Duke put together for his car.

 

   It is a simple but well thought out piece, like most of the stuff on his car.

 

I do like his rack a lot, especially how low profile it is, unfortunately I don't think that the cost/reward ratio makes enough of a difference to go that route since I have no means of fabricating them myself 

 

 

I install those Tracks on truck canopies at work. My biggest gripe with them, then ends are a different height than the track, so when you tighten the tracks down, the end pop up.

 

The more I've thought about the tracks the less I like the idea, and they may require addition holes in the roof, which I'm not down for. In addition the roof of the wagon is slightly curved, meaning the towers would on line up on the horizontal axis, so I'd need to find a way to modify them and make them level. 

 

I found a set of the A1 towers (rain gutter) for $30 bucks on ebay... they run $130 or something new. The only thing is they don't have a key, however, I should be able to get a key from Yakima, and if that's not possible I think I can still get a locksmith to help me out for less than $30. 

 

Also scored 3 of the Yakima bike rails (fork mount) for $145 including shipping (this specific one runs for $155 each new) and they've only been lightly used. Scoping out bars right now, trying to stay under $50 for those. 

 

Got tired of cleaning car things so I started working on the bike I'm taking down to college. 

 

Started to tear it down, it's been sitting for too long needs all the moving parts cleaned and regreesed... and I mean everything. 

Also going to strip the frame and repaint it (clear out the surface rust) After about half an hour:

 

 

 

Going to pick up my struts and brackets for the wilwood conversion tomorrow too. So there will be more wagon oics I promise. 

[INDY510]