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71 510 Wagon project


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I wouldnt mind giving up a little bit of dish (or having a little poke) to get Z32 brakes, but Ive already set my mind on a specific set of 14in rims. You can always work with offset differences, but if the wheels dont physically fit over the calipers, theres nothing you can do. That and that alone is the reason why Im giving this project up. I can live with all the other advantages/disadvantages with the project.

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A friend in Oklahoma had been making noises about wanting a wagon around the same time this guy decided he'd had enough. So I mediated between them and delivered it to the friend in Oklahoma for him to finish it.

 

After a lengthy discussion at his house, and making him some lists of what was done and what needed to be done, he pushed it into his garage and said he'd start on it right away. 

 

Safe in the knowledge I had helped two Datsun friends that day, I went back home with a smile on my face...   :thumbup:

 

So fast forward a bit. The friend in Oklahoma and I spoke on the phone a few times here and there and every time I asked how the car was doing the subject was quickly changed. That's weird...

 

So after roughly 6 years, I get a call from him and he says "Do you know anyone who would want this wagon?". Turns out he pushed it into his garage, put the car cover on it, and then for the next 6 years never even touched it...  :blush:

 

A friend on this forum had asked me a few weeks earlier if I knew of any wagons for sale. Seeing a chance once again to help out two Datsun friends at once, Tim and I hooked up the trailer and headed to Oklahoma...

 

[img=http://datsun510.com/photopost/data/3830/medium/crap_0025.JPG]

 

Rolled it out of my friend's garage and yes, it looked identical to the day I dropped it off...

 

Man, that's just a little over an hour from here. I wanna say "I wish I had known it was there" when I was desperate for a goon, but I doubt I could have afforded it.

 

Good on ya man! And congrats on such a beautiful machine!

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Man, that's just a little over an hour from here. I wanna say "I wish I had known it was there" when I was desperate for a goon, but I doubt I could have afforded it.

 

It was never technically for sale, so...  ^_^

 

It was more a case of as soon as he even thought about selling it, we hooked up the trailer and headed that way.   :wub:

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So we made it home in one piece, although a bit sleep deprived (left at 5am Saturday morning, got back home at 3am Sunday morning).

 

I left my friend to it, for the time being. He's not as into mechanic and fab work as I am, but he's phenomenal at cleaning, painting, etc.

 

After a week, he had it looking pretty good. He added some 13x6 wheels with 205/60-13 BFGs I had kicking around, and went to town polishing up the old tired paint and scrubbing the vinyl top.

 

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After I helped him swap in a 32/36, he drove it like that for about 6 months.

 

But he got tired of the worn stock paint pretty quickly. And we took it all apart. Removed everything we could, engine/trans, interior, doors etc.

 

Rather than deal with the kooky stock wagon gas cap, we did what I think is the coolest part of this build so far. We went to the junkyard with a template of the body side, a battery powered sawzall, and found a car that matched the contour of the 510 quarter and had a remote release set-up.

 

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In the paint shop it went...

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Once the vinyl top was off, we found some issues. Like the top half of the hatch was almost all gone.  :huh:

 

I had a spare hatch, so that got donated to the cause.

 

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After bringing it home from the paint shop...

 

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He brought it down to the shop so Tim and I could help him do an engine swap on it. He bought a complete running '81 200SX and we got to work pulling the engine, transmission, and rear axle from the 200SX for this car.

 

Got the engine rebuilt, some bits repainted/powdercoated, and installed in the car. Yes, the body shop got some overspray on some stuff (will be fixed soon).

 

crap_019.JPG

 

It was at this time that he decided he didn't want this car any longer... :hmm:

The goon looks awesome!

 

But no love for the vinyl top?

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Got the new front rotors installed, along with some 2.5" long ARP studs.  :thumbup:

 

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Also painted the strut housings to make them a tad prettier...

 

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Tried to put it all together only to realize one of the hubs was missing it's rear bearing and seal...   :rofl:

 

Going to use this as the impetus to buy some new bearings and seals.  :thumbup:  

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Tim was kind enough to let me use his masterpiece, since he's never going to...   :rofl:

 

intake_005.jpg

 

 

This badass bundle of snakes is going to look waaaay sexier than the basic Pacesetter header on the car now. And since the Pacesetter is actually for a KA24E (and this was built for a Z20E), the ports will line up and flow better too.  :thumbup:

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That header looks sweet... man everyone is changing their profile pictures. I guess I better jump on the bandwagon. 

Its getting confusing. I have had mine for the last 6000 posts or so, I think I would seriously mess some people up to change it.

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