Ibasaka's Bay Area 72' 510 Wagon

[Entrymax]

     Hello, I am the new owner of a 1972 510 Wagon; Poppy as the previous owner liked to call it.

This is the first car I purchased with my own money and I plan on learning everything I can with it.  I'm a junior in high school right now, and I plan on getting it road worthy and reliable before I graduate.

Currently, I work as a bicycle mechanic, but flip bikes on the side which will fund this project.  

Picked it up for $600 a block behind my house owned by an older woman. 

I look forward to learning as much as I can from you guys, the internet, and all the manuals I can find since I do not have a father with me to teach me these things. 

I really appreciate any input and look forward to this project!

 

Well, here she is.

 

Rockers have, from what I see, only superficial rust.

 

Floorboards and under floorboards. 

 

 

Inside rear quarter panel, behind rear wheel well.

 

Roof

 

Interior is ok.

 

 

Door cards are in ok condition, the trim is rusted though. 

 

Unfortunately, its an automatic. Well I don't know if there's any benefit to that. I've heard from some that the transmission tunnel is larger than that of a manual. (Would someone confirm?)

Right now my first priority is getting all the old fluids out. It hasn't been run in about 7 years. The previous owner last turned the motor over 4 years ago. She told me that coolant was getting mixed with fuel, but her mechanic/s said it wasn't a head issue, but it was simply the plate below the carb. By that time she was getting older and decided to put the car aside and drive a newer one. 

 

The L16 in it isn't the original one. It has around 30k on it which I was quite happy to learn about.

[izzo]

My favorite color on a 510.  Jealous. Nice rig man.  You got a good deal at 600 bucks.

[Entrymax]

 

Once I get the car running,

I plan on

 

-Stripping the interior and sealing the floors to prevent future rust. 

• Should I keep the drain holes or have them sealed? 

-Also where can I go about acquiring new weather strips?

• I've looked around to see others talking about how the NOS stuff isn't as good as newer reproductions (From Mexico?).

-Then dropping it a few inches. 

• T3 Camber Plates & RCAs
• Replacing Bushings in the process
• The usual 2" blocks and shortened struts? I like the setup that Greengoon is running using Monroe air shocks.
• Also channeling the tunnel area to prevent rubbage.

-Find a 4/5 speed to drop in.

-Braided brake lines, perhaps 4 wheel disk brakes.

-Converting from points to electronic

-Finding a nice set of Starsharks or Watanabes.

[red76datsun]

Nice! Best 600 dollar wagon I've ever seen! I'm a sophomore in high school and scored a 1976 620 as my first ride with lots of yard work to pay haha I'm in the same boat! Lots f pictures and good luck!

[racerx]

good buy, like the steering wheel.  Yep go through through whole car, change the fluids (oil, coolant, rear end, tranny), check belt, tune it up. don't go crazy and start buying parts..think seriously what you want this to be like.  If DD, then try to keep it stock.  Do buy several manuals...good buy and tons of people on this site that knows ton s of stuff.  Good luck and welcome to Ratsun.

[jalen]

Reminds me of myself. Also a junior and own a '72 wagon the same color lol

[Kirden]

Great find. 510s are harder to come by in my area and people think they are worth their weight in gold (DAMN YOU LENO!!!)

 

Follow whar racerx said. I made the mistake of spending nearly twice what my 620 cost me within a month of buying it on parts. Half of which have not made it onto the truck and may not go on the truck now (ZX 5-speed and now I'm thinking of doing a KA swap...).

 

Make sure you go through the brake system completely before ever trying to drive the car. Check all of the seals and cylinders and make sure your brakes are bled and adjusted. There are how to's for most of the things yo will need.

 

You already did better than sme people, including myself, by doing some research on what you will need before asking questions. Search is your friend and keep adding pictures or the pitch forks come out!

 

Good luck.

[Bandit]

Awesome buy!
Sometimes I wish I had a wagon haha

[DREWSDIME]

My first car was a wagon also, wish I had some pics of that car. Good luck with your build

[ruckycharms]

Unbelievable deal! good luck bro and welcome to Ratsun

[Guest rickylee65]

That is identical to my first car, less the rust! Only paid $200 for mine, but that was over 30 years ago! You stole this one! Sweet choice for a first car!

[jalen]

Here's mine

[Son_of_a_Datsun_Guy]

Wow that's a nice find for $600.

 

Kirden is right, once it's running, checking the brakes is the first thing. Stopping is more important than starting in my opinion. 

 

The holes in the floor pan you can try filling with a rubber grommet type thing, I know that the holes in my wagon have some kind of factory cap in them. Having them sealed by welding is more time and dollars than it might be worth. 

 

You're going to get mixed reviews on the weather stripping. There are a number of people remaking rubber for 510s, personally I got all of my stuff from DatsunlandSocal. People are going to tell you all about that business I'm sure, but I'll jump in first. I have his door seals on my car and they work and fit great. I had his hatch seals on, and they really pretty poor and didn't last very long. I have a pair of his cargo window seals but haven't had a chance to try them out yet. 

I can't attest to anything else that he's made. 

 

If you want channel felt for the windows I think you can still get actual factory felt from Nissan, I've done all but one of my windows with it, and it's worked perfectly. 

 

Mmmm suspension. I like your priorities, suspension > power. camber plates are cool, if you have coilovers. You can do either a stock strut shortened with a strut collar on it, or you can go find ZX struts (bigger brakes is the main improvement). Do you mean LCAs? Wagon's don't have rear control arms. 

 

Blocks are a good place to start in the rear, cheap and easy. 2" is a not a huge drop, so I don't think you'll need to do any modification on the tunnel at that point. My wagon didn't have problems until I dropped it nearly 3 1/2 inches. You won't get much of the dreaded diff slap with an L16 unless you're driving the snot out of it. 

 

Four way discs are cool, but probably unnecessary on a street car. Personally, I'd just rebuild the rear shoe (drum) if you are worried about it and put ZX brakes up front. Most of your stopping power is going to happen in the front of the car anyways, when you are going into a corner hard the momentum pushes the weight on the front wheels, meaning you need more force there to stop the car. More brakes in the back is really just for show.  

[izzo]

Keep the drain holes, guessing they are there for a reason... You get rain there?

 

Route66 has good seals.  also maybe try datsunlandsocal

[Guest 510kamikazifreak]

You scored big time..

The steering wheel on a good day can be worth half, or more of what you paid for the car(as long as the outer isnt chewed up)

 

Props on a good buy,well done

[jrock4224]

like sodg said nice find .... check his thread out his goon is sweet....jalen just wanted to post some more pics of his goon.... lol   its a nice goon too .... i like the orange ...sodg outlined a nice little suggestions too...

[Kirden]

I'm ecstatic, someone agreed with me and I have proof! Take that Mom!

 

Anyway, just wanted to check in on the thread. I think I'm in love with your car. Makes me wish I had saved my money for a 510 instead of buying the B210, but oh well.

 

Kirden is right,

[KELMO]

Wow, this was a steal....good job.  I have been looking for a goon for the past  months, hope I can find a deal like this one.

[Entrymax]

Hola, cars doing well. 

Paint cleaned up nicely. 

 

So recently, with what free time I had, I replaced the battery, new plugs, drained and replaced fuel and filter, new oil and filter.

Today I turned the motor over and tried to build up oil pressure, the engine was cranking just fine, just waiting for fuel to get to the carb. Dashboard lights

turned on fine and it was cranking. A few cranks later, stupid me turns off the motor and takes a look at the motor. For some stupid reason I notice that theres only one

wire connected to the resistor over the coil.

Like so:

 

So stupid me looks for a wire nearby just hanging and I find one and try connecting it to the other prong. (A small spark occurs)

 

THIS WIRE Like so:

 

Then I go back into the car and turn the ignition. Nothing. Nothing happens, dash doesn't turn on, no starter noise. Nothing.

So I turn off the motor and disconnect the wire I attached and  nothing happens. 

 

The only reason I know the battery isn't dead is because Its brand new as of today, it cranked the motor a few minutes before, and the coil gets warm for some reason. 

 

Any ideas?

 

As it is right now.

[Dguy210]

Check the fusible link.

[danfiveten]

Yep fusible link has blown. It should be off the starter, connection at each end so easy to pull off. 

[danfiveten]

Also keep a eye on that gas cap, getting so rare i would be afraid of someone trying to rip it off. 

[seamonkeydats]

i think i have seen this goon close to my school :huh:

[Yakuza]

very nice...

[Ranman72]

Nice score that is a pretty nice goon 

definitely sounds like fusible link is blown 

I think the red wire is for an under hood light 

look at the distributor and see if a wire is hanging and not connected to the coil or resistor