Another 510 IS RISEN

[KlassicMotion]

Well needless to say, I forgot about this thread!.... :blush:

I never posted pics of what it looked like when I got it, so lets rewind and then pick back up where I left off:

Day one after sitting 12 or so years:

 

 

 

 

My son was instantly attached to it.  He was 1.5 years old at the time:

[KlassicMotion]

Here, is where I'm going to "make a long story long":

I will go back and give a run down of what I've done to the car:
 
The first thing I did was give it a good sponge bath.  Then I hooked a battery to it to see if it would spin over.  The eBay auction said they had Triple A out and the guy gave it some fuel tried to jump it, but it wouldn't start....  Well with a fresh battery, it just clicked.  I put 2' breaker bar on the crank and I couldn't get the engine to budge for anything.  That's when I went looking for an engine.  I was visiting my Grandmother 2 hours away when I just happened to drive by and see a lowered 720 next to a 620 in a driveway.  I stopped, knocked on the door and met a pretty nice guy.  He told me he knew a guy in Wichita with an L20B.  He called the guy, and let me use his phone to talk to him.  He said it was his daily driver, but it had been sitting for year, and he wanted $250 for it.  I drove down and picked up the kid who took me to a field next to a body shop where a stripped down '80 720 sat.  The 720 was a shell with an engine.  But the engine looked like his story was valid.  So we unbolted it, and three of us lifted it out of the 720 and dropped it in the back of my truck.... It wasn't that easy, but you get the idea.  The kid worked at Autozone and the engine had a lot of new parts on it.  I took it home, stripped the accessories off, and scrubbed the block with a wire tooth brush.  I then painted it, put everything back on and dropped it in the car. (I used the stock 510 alternator, because at the time, I didn't realize that the alternator on the engine should be an internally regulated alternator.  My next visit to my parents, I will pull it out of storage and convert it over to the 510. I'd really like to get rid of that voltage regulator on the strut tower and hide the wiring harness.)  I wasn't going to bother with the Hitachi, so I picked up a new Weber 38DGES. 
My install:  http://community.ratsun.net/topic/56764-i-love-my-weber-38-dges-heres-my-38-dges-install/  

The throttle seems heavy even with a light tension spring on it.  It feels like it's almost binding.  I think the reason is the angle at which the throttle rods are at from the modification I had to do because of the taller L20B and the Weber.  I just purchased the Lokar Throttle cable kit and I hope to get that installed soon.
The Weber has electric choke so I removed the choke cable and stashed it on the shelf.  I couldn't think of anything cool to hook it up to make use of it....

Also, the first fuel pressure regulator I had on it was junk so I replaced it with the Weber regulator and it's wonderful.

 

I wanted a 225mm wheel, I wanted it on a budget (so no aluminum flywheel) but I wanted it a bit lighter than stock. First I tried a 225mm flywheel from a 240sx, but quickly found that it did not fit snuggly on to the L20B crankshaft actually, it was quite loose.  So I picked up a new 610 flywheel from one of those generic car parts websites.  It was something like $75 shipped.  It weighed in around 24 lbs.  I took it to my trusted machine shop and asked them to lighten it as much as possible, but to make sure it would be safe and reliable.  When he was finished, it came out to 17lbs 14.5oz

 

 

 

 
It needed a battery.  I really don't like where the battery is located, so I did some research on batteries.  Looking for light weight, small size, and decent cranking amps, I settled on the yellow top Optima.  It's not as light or as small as I expected, so that may change in the future.  I'd also like to move the battery tray... We will see where that leads to down the road.
 
I picked up the alternator adjuster/bracket from FutoFab.  Simple design, but I love it!  I also bought all new hoses for the engine.  That little "L" shaped hose from the water inlet to the steel line that goes to the intake was pretty difficult to find, but my Nissan parts guy gave me a print out of all Nissan dealers that still showed some in stock.  I called a handful of them and found two that actually had them in stock. 

 

 

 
The Top End performance header was a piece of junk when I got it, so I took the die grinder to their welds inside the ports and opened them up.  I also needed to do this to help match it to the round port W58 head.  Some of the welds didn't even have penetration, so I also had to do some welding on it.  Oh, yeah, the worst part was the idiot that built the header took a hand grinder to the welds and gouged the flange on the surface area where the header meets the head.  It was a Friday morning after I got the welds finished and I was hoping to get the header on the car and running that weekend, so I went to two local machine shops to see if they could surface the header real quick... One machine was opened, but they were playing cards in the corner of the shop and said they couldn't get to it until Monday!  The next shop gave me the run around, and showed me a junk belt sander that he thought would work, but he couldn't guarantee to get to it that day.  So I called my trusted machine shop 1.5 hours away and he told me to bring it down.  I showed up, he put it on the surfacer, and charged me $10.  I was in and out in 15 minutes with a 3 hour round trip drive.

 

Here is the only pic I have of it.  I took it after doing my mods, and put the gasket up to it for comparison.  Not the best situation, but I've got great power... And I don't think it's really that bad when you consider the exhaust linings are a bit smaller than the gasket diameter:

 

 

 

 

 
Skip ahead, I took the car to Midas for exhaust.  I told them what I wanted and when I came back, they did just that.  2" pipe from the header back into a muffler that "wasn't loud when cruising, but had a nice tone to it", in the stock location under the trunk.  What I didn't notice at the time, was that the Pitman arm hit the header.... I had to take a torch, a long rod and a hammer to get clearance for the Pitman arm.  I will be changing that and cutting up the exhaust soon for a better solution.
 
I got a new Champion radiator from a fellow member on here that had changed his mind on what radiator he wanted to run.  I think I saved $25 or so buying it from him. Here's my install:  http://community.ratsun.net/topic/56540-champion-aluminum-radiator-meets-510-install/
 
I had bought an early finned valve cover to put on the engine, but when I tired it out, it hit the hood when I closed it.  I think the reason is from the taller deck height of the L20B in combination with the new Nissan engine mounts...  At least that's all I can come up with. So I'm running the stock '71 cover for now.
 
I had issues figuring out what all the relays and switches went to in the engine bay.  I was hoping to get rid of some with the Matchbox dizzy swap and the automatic to 5spd conversion:  http://community.ratsun.net/topic/56021-510-relays-and-switches/ 
 
I also found my high beams weren't working, so I removed and cleaned all my relays:  http://community.ratsun.net/topic/58498-how-to-repair-your-relays/

 

About that time, I also replaced my brake/tail/turn signal bulbs with LED units:  http://community.ratsun.net/topic/58513-side-marker-light-conversion/

And more recently I converted the side marker lights to flash with the turn signals:  http://community.ratsun.net/topic/58513-side-marker-light-conversion/
 
I mentioned in my first post that I swapped an FS4W71B front case on to a 240sx FS5W71C 5spd ( http://community.ratsun.net/topic/49396-fs5w71c-240sx-5spd-behind-the-l-series-l16-l18-l20b/?p=799382 ).  When I put the trans up under the car, bolted it to the engine and lifted it up, that's when I realized I would need to widen the trans tunnel to fit the tail shaft of the 71C.  I was in a hurry and didn't want to address this at the time, so I just stuck the FS5W71B from the 280zx in there.  I had a column shift automatic, so I had to start with a clean trans tunnel when making a hole for the shifter.  I had the driveshaft shortened for $110 and a four day wait.  I already had the trans crossmember from Experimental Engineering, and a new Nissan rubber mount.
 

Before I left Kansas, I put a new windshield in with a new seal.  I didn't urethane it down, because I have a new headliner to put in. I'm waiting to do the headliner until I figure out if/when I'm going to paint the car.

I cleaned out the trunk, and found the original tools, and the original trunk mat in good shape.  The rubber fuel filler hose has a slight leak, so I purchased a new one off eBay.  The rear "510" script was broken, so I cut the remaining nub off and drilled them/ counter sunk them and inserted flat head machine bolts through it.

 

I also tried some of those new arm rests off eBay from Mexico:  http://community.ratsun.net/topic/56424-armrest-replacement/

 
I've spent countless dollars on finding all the little stuff and details.  I wanted the dash to be as optioned as possible, so at the time I gave up on trying to find a tach, and bought a factory clock.  Later on, Deans510 sold me a factory tach with 3 wire up grade.  I pulled the factory cigarette lighter and factory am/fm radio from my '72 510 before I sold it, and put those in my dash.  That's when I noticed the map light wasn't functional, so I tracked down the light and switch to get that functioning.  Unless I'm mistaken, I'm just missing the switch and proper rear glass for the rear defrost. 
 
I used some fabric dye on the ragged center carpet and spruced that up.  I might put in full carpet later, but the original rubber mats are in excellent shape. The entire interior got a good scrub down and a wiping of interior cleaner/protectant.  There were some little tears in the rear seat, so I used some vinyl repair on those. Everytime I take a hard corner, I slide across the driver's seat and hit the door.  It really needs some bolstering.  I passed on some Corbeau GTSII seats before I left Kansas, but now I wish I had them. I will either find a set of those, or maybe modify the bolstering in the stock seats and make some new seat covers, or I did just buy a set of Recaros from a local guy who happens to have a 240Z and an Early Bronco!  I don't like the upholstery on these, but again, that's not a big deal, I can just sew up some new seat covers:

 

[KlassicMotion]

When I got here to Alaska, I swapped the struts and front brakes over to the 280zx setup.  I swapped the master cylinder out with a rebuilt 13/16" since I'm still running the rear drums and the 13/16" has the valving for front disc, rear drums.  Here is what I did:

 

The 13/16" master was originally mated to a power brake booster, so it used a different push rod setup. Here is what I did to use the stock push rod: 

I found a washer that had a small inner opening, but the outer diameter was large enough to fit in the master bore.  I did have to grind a little off the washer diameter.  The problem with the 3/4" retaining washer is that the outside diameter is obviously 3/4", so it won't work with the larger master.  I also beveled the inside hole a little to match the bevel on the rod.  I thought about putting the 3/4" washer behind the 13/16" washer, but there just wasn't enough meat on the 3/4" washer that made me feel confident that it would not slip and bind in the opening of the 13/16" washer.  Looking at it now, I could have just welded the smaller washer to the back side of the 13/16" washer.... 

I used the new push rod that came with the new 3/4" master cylinder, that I got from O'Reilly's.  I adjusted it to the specs in the FSM, and all was good.

 

Here is a view of the 3/4", 13/16", and a 15/16" in that order:

 

 

 

Here is the stock 3/4" rod, with stock 3/4" retaining washer on the left.  The 13/16" washer in the middle, with my new washer on the right:

 

 

 

Assembled:

 

[KlassicMotion]

The 280zx struts:

I cut off the lower spring perches:

 

 

 

I planned to use the 2" ID slip collars, so what I did was; I marked every quarter inch down the strut housing using a punch and painted the marks silver, so I could match the location up from side to side:

 

 

 

I then used a new set of Tokico Blues HZ3038.  In the picture is also a KYB AGX, more on that later:

 

 

 

Next I used the 280zx top hats and cut the outside diameter down to the same size as the 510 top hats:

 

 

 

I then used a pair of new ST front lowering springs:

 

 

 

I assembled the setup and adjusted the slip collars so there was 1" of preload on the coil spring.  And what I got was a 1.5" drop.

 

Before:

 

 

 

After:

 

 

 

Needless to say, it wasn't what I was hoping for.  More on struts later.....

 

**I should also mention, that even after tightening those slip collars down, they still slipped the first out, so I had to remove everything again, re-set them up, and then I tack welded them 4 times.  They didn't move after that....

 

I also put on new rubber brake lines.  The brakes from the 280zx didn't have much wear, so I re-used everything there.  The bearings looked good, so cleaned out the old grease and re-packed them.  I fixed the dents on the dust caps and painted them.

 

 

At the same time as this, I put on the new 1" ST front anti-sway bar with poly bushings. 

 

1" RCA's were used.  It took me 2 weeks to get the correct grade 10.9 bolts for the new RCA's. 

 

[KlassicMotion]

Time for bed tonight, but I will try to keep getting this thread caught up on where I'm at currently. 

 

Next will be polishing the paint, head gasket, and front struts again....

 

Then I will try to keep it up-to-date with where I'm going with it:   I'd like to get the rear lowered, the exhaust changed, rebuild/upgrade the head/cam.... and more....

[freetheoranges]

And a gas flap perchance?

[KlassicMotion]

Yeah, I've got the original.  The hinge is broken off at the welds and and it's frozen solid.  I've had it soaking in penetrating fluid for 6 months an nothing.  I don't want to take heat to it because the paint matches the car.  One of these days I'm going to break down and buy an ultra sonic cleaner.  That should free it up, then I can weld the hinge back on to the door.  I have a spare door I could put on for now, but it's white and I haven't found a spray paint that matches the green very well.

[KlassicMotion]

So next I got out the polisher and Meguire's compounds.

Before:

 

[KlassicMotion]

 

I only had to use the Medium cut in some areas. The glaze I put on by hand.


And After:

[skyblue]

Looks great! I been wanting to take the buffing wheel to mine too. Clean engine too.

[KlassicMotion]

Thanks.  Yeah buffing it is one of the easiest transformations that can be done.  I was hesitant at first, because I kind of liked the drab look before, but I'm happier with what shine it has.

[skyblue]

And do my eyes deceive me or do I see the fabled radio light switch on your climate control panel?

[KlassicMotion]

Yeah, I paid up to get that.

[skyblue]

Nice! There was one on eBay that ended yesterday for $225. If I didn't have school loans to pay off I would have been all over it. Thumbs up!!

[KlassicMotion]

I paid $100 for the light and switch from someone on here.....  It could probably be made from common parts and just use an extra fan speed knob for a lot less.

[KlassicMotion]

Head Gasket:

 

Here is where I have to admit a mistake.  When I originally cleaned the engine and painted it, I ignored a build up of grime on the the rear of the head.  After driving it a few miles, it developed a coolant leak down the back of the engine.  Being the end of a short summer up here, I was in a hurry to pop a new head gasket on.  I knew I should take the time to gauge the surface of the deck, or even just take the head to a machine shop and have it totally gone through.  But worse than a rookie, because I knew better, I just cleaned it up, and dropped a new gasket on.  I torqued everything down to spec and at first, it was great.  But after a couple runs, it started leaking worse, and in a different spot.  There is only two things I can think of:  One, I did not chase the head bolt threads in the block, and/or two, when I unbolted the head, maybe the metal relaxed causing it not to sit flush with the block anymore.  It's not too big of a deal, just the cost of a head gasket and a few hours.  But on my list of things to do next, I will remove the head and either find a local machine shop or send the head off to a machine shop to have it rebuilt..  I'm not sure if I will send it to my trusted shop, or to a place like Rebello...?  Two extra things I'm considering:  One is possibly a cam with more lift and a similar duration, and maybe bigger valves.  The engine has surprising power, so I do want to keep it street friendly and reliable.  Two, I have an A87 peanut head.  Nothing wrong there, but it would have to be ported out, so that adds more cost.

 

Here is a pic of the before and after shots of cleaning the head deck surface:

 

 

 

And the new leak: 

When I was driving it, the leak wasn't very noticeable because everything burned off when the engine was hot.  But now that the car has been sitting for a few months for winter, it looks bad.  Also, the leak is white instead of green because I've got coolant flush in the system.  I had intended to run the engine a few times after the gasket swap, and then put coolant in, but then I parked it with the intent to drain the system and do the head right, but I've been distracted lately with the 620.  Here is a pic as it sits now: