1971 4 door 510 v8 conversion project pics added

[62 bugzilla]

This is the start of a long journey to finish my V8 conversion in my 510 that was put on the back burner for 13 years do to another project car, kids and many other life challenges. If you want more of the story look at my introduction page on the 510 realm site.

 

viewtopic.php?f=33&t=24693

 

My goal is to build a great performing car in most aspects . I want it to be fast which is what it was lacking before. Keep the handling ability it had before and towards the end of this I also want to upgrade the brakes more than they are already. This is not going to be a perfect show peice since I'm going to drive the hell out of it and don't want to worry about rock chips and polishing parts on my off time. (i've had show peices and there fun but not for this car not meaning 510's but my car)

I'm not saying I don't want it nice, painted or have a clean look I'm saying I'm not striping the car down to nothing and starting over I'm building a driver/racer. The interior will be pretty race car with a small stereo for longer drives but will be pretty plain as far as glitz. The outside was painted 17 years ago and is holding up ok and would do it different today but going to leave it for now. This thread will be about phase 1 of getting it back on the road and I'm sure it will have many other threads after.

 

Well my car now is a roller with lots already done to it from back in the 90's and the V8 conversion was started just before I got sidetracked.I put in a complete 1 5/8 tig welded chromoly cage front to rear. I also did most of the firewall set back including the trans. tunnel. (need to finish the upper section of the fire wall by wiper area which is the hardest to seal off right and it's on my list) Installed a simple aluminum dash and steering shaft along with kirkey race seats. Was able to keep the back seats which are harder to get into with the cage but still usable mainly for my 2 kids. Also changed the wheels to 17/7 front and 17/8 rear with 215 and 235 tires.

 

I work on the car right now on tuesdays and thursdays in the evening and it's been hard latelyto make it both days so it takes a while to get stuff done but it's picking up speed.

 

Last week I got my fuel tank which is off ebay made by no joke big dick racing BD for short and is 30" long 17" wide and 7" deep. and is 17 gallons and has a sender in it and made of aluminum. I looked for a while to find the right size and was going to get a steel can circle track 22 gallon and put a sender in it but didn't like that they are 11" deep and would stick out bottom of car pretty far unless I raised it up in car and at 34" wide made it tight for dual exhaust mufflers in the rear to fit next to it. This tank should fit well in place.

It has no mounting brackets on so intead of making a steel tube frame under it to hold it I'm going to weld a flange around the hole outside to suspend it from. It will sit up about 1/2" above floor to clear carpet. I cut out the spare tire area which it pretty big and will be building the metal frame for take mount out of 1" square stock and sheeting the top of that with flat steel. Will make the run to steel yard this week and thats about up to date.

 

This is the first time doing a thread for a project and will have to learn along the way but have always enjoyed other people posts that I thought I would give it a shot.

I'm also doing a thread on 510 realm. http://the510realm.c...php?f=3&t=24697

 

I will be going to shop tomorrow and will take pics of the new parts and currant car pics with a good camera since I took some with my phone just to post the car and they don't come out well.

I had a freind weld a flange around the sides of the fuel tank to mount it and got a holley fule pump and some 8 an stainless line fittings and my 1/2 aluminum line for center portion of fuel line. Will post soon.

 

[datzenmike]

 

........ My goal is to build a great performing car in most aspects . I want it to be fast which is what it was lacking before. Keep the handling ability it had before.....

 

To keep the handling it had you can't add weight. All things equal the lighter car will handle better, accelerate better and stop better. The trick is to add power and keep or reduce weight. The LS1 is perhaps too powerful as well.

[62 bugzilla]

corvettes are allittle over 3000 lbs and new mustangs are closer to 4000 lbs and they both seem to do ok? %10 will be way less than both of them.

[Dat Lurka]

Boring and Mainstream.

 

Might as well pick up the body and set it on a Corvette frame.

 

The LS1 510 per week ratio is too high right now. Someone do something interesting.

[Trophy24]

Mmm ok, the work involved in converting to a V8 is pretty interesting if we could see some pics!

[I'm BLUE]

YES !!! :D

Subscribed and bookmarked.

 

Big Dick Racing .... :rofl: awesome.

17 gallons seems like a perfect size.

 

Those wheels ... :cool:

 

I like that your doing the majority of the work !!!

 

The frankenstein bug is just oh so cool ...

[62 bugzilla]

No Ls1 I'm putting in a sbc.

[Dat Lurka]

Oh really???

:rofl:

 

One day their will be more Chevy v8 Datsuns than their are L powered.

 

I'm just sharing my opinion.

I'll still be here for the final result though B)

[62 bugzilla]

I like L series motors aswell and dumped thousands in mine that was in here before but you only get so much hp and my right foot needs more. I'm glad your still going to check it out.

Oh really???

:rofl:

 

One day their will be more Chevy v8 Datsuns than their are L powered.

 

I'm just sharing my opinion.

I'll still be here for the final result though B)

[62 bugzilla]

YES !!! :D

Subscribed and bookmarked.

 

Big Dick Racing .... :rofl: awesome.

17 gallons seems like a perfect size.

 

Those wheels ... :cool:

 

I like that your doing the majority of the work !!!

 

The frankenstein bug is just oh so cool ...

Thanks DTP. :thumbup:

[Dat Lurka]

I find good balance in my weaksauce l20b. It has just the right amount of power that I can keep it floored most of the time and still have total control. I'm currently working out my rebuild on paper. Trying to double my current 75~ hp.

I've driven light, simple cars like 510's that aren't made to have 600 hp but did. It was scary as hell. By the time you're done with supporting mods you'll have an entire 510 minus the body ready to be reassembled and driven :rofl:

But, you know what you're doing, and I don't. I just couldn't imagine doing all that work to build something that's been done over and over.

You should put the v8 behind the seats. That's something I haven't seen in a 510.

[Skib]

Oh really???

:rofl:

 

One day their will be more Chevy v8 Datsuns than their are L powered.

 

I'm just sharing my opinion.

I'll still be here for the final result though B)

 

 

[Dat Lurka]

 

 

I'd almost bet on it, almost.

When you're old and gray, and I'm slightly less old and gray.

[Skib]

you should just stop posting in this thread now....

[spudly13]

Bookmarked!

[metalmonkey47]

This should be cool :thumbup:

 

Best part, is that you seem to be pretty dedicated, which means this will likely be finished. i think what most people on here fear, is that the car will get cut up and never put back together. SBC is a BIG mod, and most give up.

 

Good luck!

[datzenmike]

No Ls1 I'm putting in a sbc.

 

I picked the LS1 because it's aluminum and what? under or at 400 lbs? (not chebby guy, maybe I have the wrong motor) A SBC will be over 550 pounds. The stock 510 motor is 250-ish pounds. Do the math... this isn't going to handle like the stock 510. It will perform well though.

[Rollover_Red]

should be an interesting thread, but as far as handling is concerned, you should look into a LIGHTER motor. dont get me wrong, an insane amount of power is always awesome in such a small car, but for power-to-weight sakes, you should look into a SR, F22, or a 4AG. all of which are light, have high revability, and a pretty affordable aftermarket support. im all for the ls1 swap, and i wouldnt mind doing one myself, but if i DID do it, my dime would be a quarter mile queen. 510's are known for their lightness and weight distribution. if you put a motor that is heavier than stock, you will ruin the weight distribution and inevidably ruin the handling characteristics. it doesnt matter how stiff your suspension will be in the front, you will still have more stress on the front end. plus if you want to be quick on the track, you dont need power. i have driven my dad's old lotus elise at thunder hill and gotten my ass handed to me by a bunch of miatas with mild suspension mods. its all driver.

 

thats just my input, i will continue to read this forum with no negative comments. good luck!

[62 bugzilla]

I picked the LS1 because it's aluminum and what? under or at 400 lbs? (not chebby guy, maybe I have the wrong motor) A SBC will be over 550 pounds. The stock 510 motor is 250-ish pounds. Do the math... this isn't going to handle like the stock 510. It will perform well though.

 

Here's my math.

 

engine weight (complete engines)

 

L series 250 ish

LS1 409

LS3 415

complete iron sbc 575

+alum intake " 560

+ alum heads 511

+ alum block 430 Numbers taken from ls1 Tech / chevy performance / world products

 

So my plan is to start with the aluminum intake and add alum heads shortly after on the road and maybe before if the right set comes along. Then add in the 6" set back of the engine and moving the fuel tank further back in the chassis relocate battery to truck and that makes up for some of the weight transfer. I'm also adding 2 10" subs in mdf box so theres a few more pounds rearward. I will be putting the car on scales when it get further along but if at first it has way to much front weight bias who says you can't adjust adding some weight where you need it? The car is still going to be light in sports car terms and with a sbc it's easy to add hp to make up for the added weight. My boss has a new style gt500 mustang and it weighs over 4000 lbs and still hauls the mail and handles pretty good aswell. I'm not against having a light car and when it's done with aluminum block and all the little things I want on it it will be very close to as light as a ls1 510. This way the car can be done on a budget and in stages but planned out for it know what I want for a final finished car.

[62 bugzilla]

should be an interesting thread, but as far as handling is concerned, you should look into a LIGHTER motor. dont get me wrong, an insane amount of power is always awesome in such a small car, but for power-to-weight sakes, you should look into a SR, F22, or a 4AG. all of which are light, have high revability, and a pretty affordable aftermarket support. im all for the ls1 swap, and i wouldnt mind doing one myself, but if i DID do it, my dime would be a quarter mile queen. 510's are known for their lightness and weight distribution. if you put a motor that is heavier than stock, you will ruin the weight distribution and inevidably ruin the handling characteristics. it doesnt matter how stiff your suspension will be in the front, you will still have more stress on the front end. plus if you want to be quick on the track, you dont need power. i have driven my dad's old lotus elise at thunder hill and gotten my ass handed to me by a bunch of miatas with mild suspension mods. its all driver.

 

thats just my input, i will continue to read this forum with no negative comments. good luck!

There is a 510 sbf conversion with a 6" set back fire wall like mine with the motor mounted 9 inches back from the stock l series with alum. heads not block and it has better weight balance than stoc 510 with 51% front and 49% rear and weighs 2700 lbs complete and races autocross with 1.25g's on small tires so I think it might be possible. Peter brock's also balances with the v8 but I think his is set back allittle more.

I raced autocross and have alot of years with hp cars so I down for the challange.

 

link to sbf v8 conversion car in this thread http://www.the510realm.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8801&start=90

[I'm BLUE]

I like that 5.0 + corvette IRS conversion.

 

i have always been curious about those front distributor relocation kits for sbc.

[62 bugzilla]

Well went and worked on car tonight and here's the update with better pics of car in overall the way it sits now and some of the parts I got recently .

 

pics

 

 

 

235's on 17x8 wheels

 

engine compartment

 

inside

cage

trans tunnel/ set back firewall

rmovable side bars for race tech at some places/ removed for street

rear seat

speaker box behind rear seat

 

tokico adjustable and camber adjustments with 280zx struts and brake with adjustable ride height

rear suspension techniques springs and bars with tokicos aswell all suspension poly graphite bushings

 

rear of car

 

 

Well thats the car now for what I did tonight. I got my fuel tank, pump and filter along with some an fittings in the mail so I starts to build the frame for my tank. Made it out of .095 1" square steel . got pics taken and a few bars in and test fit with speaker box and fits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can barley see it sticking out from under the rear valance.

 

[I'm BLUE]

cage looks nice man. :cool:

firewall set back looks nice.

fuel cell fit looks snug.

I do like those wheels.

[62 bugzilla]

cage looks nice man. :cool:

fuel cell fit looks snug.

I do like those wheels.

Thanks dtp.

[DRIVEN]

I really hope this project gets done. Looking at your bug(gy) it's clear that you have the skills and background to pull it off. Hopefully life doesn't derail it. Do you have an engine already? If not, I'd suggest something oversquared and high revving. They tend to be a little more peaky which is nice on a light car where traction might be an issue. The lower torque is obviously easier on the drivetrain parts too. I'd love to see an aluminum 302 in this thing. I realize the aluminum Dart and Brodix blocks are pretty spendy but deals do pop up occasionally.