twistedimages Posted July 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2013 (edited) The car came home today! Miles is getting back to work on his truck, so we traded garages for the time being. This will give me a chance to bolt everything back onto the car and see what pieces I am missing, as well as to lay out a design for the rear airbag mounts and trunk bracing. Here we are, loaded on the trailer- we used 2x6s from the rear trailing arms up to the roll cage to hold the rear up, and welded some box tubing in the front suspension... http://www.twistedimages.us/510/151.jpg Miles did the towing with his new Dodge- he's always itching to drag something around with it, so less wear on my Buick is fine with me! http://www.twistedimages.us/510/152.jpg Rolled it up my driveway and into the garage- rolls WAY easier on four wheels versus the furniture dolly! Got it situated where I can walk around it, then pulled all of our braces out- can't get caught slippin' with a 4x4 ride height in the garage! http://www.twistedimages.us/510/153.jpg I should have some time tomorrow or Friday to mount some trim and headlights- make it look a little more like a complete car for now! Edited October 27, 2022 by twistedimages oics 1 Quote Link to comment
jaredperry Posted July 18, 2013 Report Share Posted July 18, 2013 Holy crap this thing is awesome! Keep up the good work! Quote Link to comment
jrock4224 Posted July 18, 2013 Report Share Posted July 18, 2013 this is exactly the way i would do it if i was gonna body drop a 510.....although i suggested 620 front clip to keep the datto theme...cars awesome those wheels on there are terrible,.....niche bahns..... i had a 91 corolla dumped on a set of 17"silver ones and dtm style exhaust .....one of my favorite cars of all time..ut onthe 510 there terrible..if it were me i would run a deep three piece wheel the track width inthe front looks like it would accept pretty neat ofset wheel ... Quote Link to comment
twistedimages Posted July 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2013 Even worse- they're not even REAL Niches! Trust me- if I had anything else here that would fit I'd be all over it. But they're round and hold air for the time being... The front tucks hard, but pushes out several inches as it lifts. I may go with drop spindles to help with the angle, but I'll have to get farther along to see what needs to be done. The rear is my limiting factor. Because the IRS is mounted so much higher than stock, it doesn't camber until the wheels are already tucked. These wheels are +33 or 36 and hit the edge of the quarter panels on the way down. When the BBS rims show up I'll have the bags installed, and at that point I can dial in the fitment. Until then you're stuck looking at these abominations and reminiscing about your sweet '91 'Rolla! 1 Quote Link to comment
jrock4224 Posted July 18, 2013 Report Share Posted July 18, 2013 i like using dropped spindles on my bagged trucks ... u can get positive camber when u need extreme lift but i like minimal camber at full dump....i ended up shortening the lca on my mazda when the spindles didnt pan out....works good......yeah i thought they looked like the fakes ones the niche bahns had exposed lugs...yurs have caps.....i was just ball bustin... i know i wish i had pics of that car......it was a pile but man .....it was a beast .......rolled deep in it for a few years ....beer runs.....sack runs.....flatland free style bike hauler and road tripper....snowboarding road tripper... i think we hot boxed that thing like two hundered times.....it saw more blunts then a cypress hill tour bus...we'd get to the mountain and get out and it litterally would plume smoke out like we were contacting sacajawea on the other side of the parking lot.....worse part ...i barely snowboarded and usually hung out more then sliced up the hill....i remember when i got the car from my buddy the dope slanger.... he bought a civic i just pimped out from me and i took the car in trade ... middle of winter the car had a missing door seal and the floor had two inches of ice on the whole floor...including the trunk .... i burned a whole tank of gas at work one day ...heat on high...idling in front of the building......and yes this was at the height of my canibus intake .....seemed legit ........it was clearly a idea hatched after a serious wake and bake session....i coulda pulled the car in the back room and just defrosted it with a heater .... im much smarter now serious no lies....lol...i no longer wake and bake......i wait till lunch story 2 ...hauling the freestyle bikes after a session at a parking garage......got back to the pushers appt....drove straight into the ccarport and ripped the rack and bikes off the car ......this is when he still owned it.....early before we got back we had to stop on the highway when one of the bikes fell off the rack at 65.....yikes tmi 1 Quote Link to comment
twistedimages Posted July 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2013 I'm running Bell Tech spindles on my Toyota and have almost no camber when it's laid out. The arms aren't nearly as angled either, which would be the main plus for me here. I definitely don't mind some camber, but if I could be closer to full width when it's dropped then I can run a proper offset up or down. Thanks for the stories- most of mine revolve around cars, too- they become members of the family! Quote Link to comment
jrock4224 Posted July 18, 2013 Report Share Posted July 18, 2013 yeah me too .....thats why i have a hard time parting withthem ....all the fun shit i remember and the people involved cause me to get all mushy towards the cars Quote Link to comment
Work280 Posted July 18, 2013 Report Share Posted July 18, 2013 If you still want to get rid of the rear end got a friend in stockton looking for Something like that so he can run deep dish on his z Quote Link to comment
twistedimages Posted July 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2013 I'll measure hub to hub on it this afternoon and let you know. It's missing some hardware, one of the lateral arms, and the axles- the hardware and arms are easy, but you'll need to source shortened axles or do them yourself! But the price will be right if he can use it... B) Quote Link to comment
twistedimages Posted July 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2013 (edited) Got out in the garage this evening for a little while. Bolted some Bosch H3s into the headlight buckets and got them mounted up, along with the headlight bezels. They have HID bulbs in them, but I won't bother with the ballasts for now. Three out of four mounting bolts for the passenger side bracket were broken off inside the core support, so a couple of self-tappers will hold it solid for now. Also mounted the turn signals, license plate lights, side markers, and the passenger side wing window. I can't find any more bolts for the driver side window, so I'll add that to the shopping list... Threw the cowl panel and hood on there, so now the car looks almost complete from the outside! Now I suppose there's no excuse to not get started on some structure inside... http://www.twistedimages.us/510/154.jpg More soon, I hope! Edited October 27, 2022 by twistedimages oics Quote Link to comment
the510keeper Posted July 19, 2013 Report Share Posted July 19, 2013 Car looks great, hoping to see this car being worked on at some point. I was going to paint this car back to stock factory look (Trans Am package) in 1997. The previous owner Chris Moore and I were working out details. It never happened. Looks great the way it is. Then 2005 or so, a guy came up to my shop and bought a rear subframe for the same car. He was a teacher at WhyoTec or UTI Looks great layin rocker Keep up the good work Quote Link to comment
twistedimages Posted July 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2013 I think it's well beyond repainting at this point! Glad to hear from you, James- I was thinking of contacting you about my shopping list soon! This IRS is one I've had sitting for my truck project- wish he had kept tabs on the one he got from you... Quote Link to comment
WagDatto Posted July 21, 2013 Report Share Posted July 21, 2013 Tagged and subbed for future hoodrattery, hooliganism and general tomfoolering. Quote Link to comment
kelowg Posted July 21, 2013 Report Share Posted July 21, 2013 hadnt seen this thread yet, but glad to see u back in the datsun seen. love the new project. hope to see this on the road soon. 1 Quote Link to comment
jrock4224 Posted July 21, 2013 Report Share Posted July 21, 2013 mini truckers representing on ratsun .... woot woot .....still look at this thread daily even when nothing has been posted...ftw...... i got a pic of my niches to post but pb is hoarding my bandwidth for three more days.,.. Quote Link to comment
its_karl Posted July 22, 2013 Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 New Ruby? no comparison, too much progress... Love it! Thanks for the pictures!!! 1 Quote Link to comment
twistedimages Posted July 30, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 (edited) Well, after much debate and checking my couch cushions for spare change, I think I've decided to go with a KA24DE for now. My brother Wagdatto gave me his old engine and transmission when he installed the new ones in his wagon a few years ago, and it was sitting to the side for my 521 build, so it makes the most sense to keep this project moving forward. However, he had pulled this one out of his wagon because it had made some horrible noise... and we never really got around to inspecting it. He had a new engine on the stand at the time, so it was easier to just swap it in. Pulling the valve cover on this one last year revealed a sheared dowel pin on the exhaust cam, so we thought maybe that had caused timing to jump and possibly bent some valves. So, yesterday he and I got to the shop a little early to pull the head and see what we were looking at. I plan to throw some boost at this thing down the road, so I want to make sure the internals are up to the task! Head came off, and the valves and pistons look great- a little carbon buildup, but nothing to write home about. Certainly nothing to explain the horrific noises the engine made before he pulled it. So, let's pull the pan and see what we've got: http://www.twistedimages.us/510/156.JPG Uhhh... that doesn't look good! Slivers of smashed metal and lots of fine powdered Nissan engine. Well, we know something's up, so let's turn the block upside-down and start looking at bearings. Main bearings look good- girdle came off nicely, and all bearing surfaces show little wear. This engine had about 130K on it when it was pulled, and you'd hardly guess from the mains. Went to start checking the connecting rods, though, and: http://www.twistedimages.us/510/159.JPG Uh-oh! #2 cylinder had about 2mm or more of play in the connecting rod! Bearing is completely nonexistent- well, actually, we found it in the oil pan, so I guess it's not gone... http://www.twistedimages.us/510/157.JPG Healthy #3 for comparison So, this leaves me at a bit of a crossroads. I could take this mess to a machine shop and see about saving the crank, and price out a bottom end rebuild, or I can just start perusing Craigslist for a complete running engine. They tend to run around $500-600 for more than I'd need, but of course we could be back down this road in a month depending on the condition of the new motor... I'd like to feel confident in throwing a mild turbo setup on this car, so I'm thinking the rebuild is a better choice. Your input is appreciated, and any Sacramento peeps that want to chime in with recommendations for shops to take this thing to are welcome as well! No real progress on the car- we went camping up near the Oregon border on the coast the weekend before last, and last weekend was filled with house cleaning. I'm hoping to get some garage time this week to design the rear airbag brackets and framework for the trunk area. I'll keep you posted! Edited October 27, 2022 by twistedimages oics Quote Link to comment
jalen Posted July 30, 2013 Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 I Would say rebuild it. You don't want to be driving this for awhile and then you blow the motor. I would rather be safe than sorry. Especially on a cool project like this! Quote Link to comment
twistedimages Posted July 30, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 I think I convinced myself of that route as I was typing that update. I'm gonna start calling around to see who knows what they're talking about. Quote Link to comment
WagDatto Posted August 1, 2013 Report Share Posted August 1, 2013 Yeah, that motor made some bad noises when it failed the 'goon, and probably would have made it home if the shavings hadn't gotten into the oil pickup. I remember the engine shaking and bucking and the oil pressure gauge reading zero. A rebuild would be a good idea so you don't end up dealing with this again: Quote Link to comment
jalen Posted August 1, 2013 Report Share Posted August 1, 2013 Is your goon for sale? Quote Link to comment
heretic Posted August 1, 2013 Report Share Posted August 1, 2013 front wheel drive 510 THAT would be a first :poke: 1 Quote Link to comment
twistedimages Posted August 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2013 Is your goon for sale? I'm pretty sure his wagon is still for sale down in Texas. But it looked pretty rough in the pics I saw... Quote Link to comment
twistedimages Posted August 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2013 After making some calls to local machine shops, it looks like I can get the crank fixed, new bearings and rings, and a new (used) rod for about $400. Re-use my pistons, have the block hot tanked while it's apart to clean everything out, and put it back together myself... thoughts? I know I could just buy a running, complete KA24DE for not much more, but then I'm dealing with unknown mileage and abuse. I WILL still need to source a wire harness, MAF, ECU, and lower intake manifold to complete this motor, so I'm probably going to be closer to 7-800 before I'm complete... still not bad for a fresh bottom end, I think. Quote Link to comment
NaudiS4 Posted August 1, 2013 Report Share Posted August 1, 2013 I pretty much just went through the same issue with mine. Ended up getting a machined crank from NAPA for $175 with rod and main bearings. I would suggest a new oil pickup, and possibly new oil pump plus the obvious cleaning and what not. I definetly suggest rebuild, you never know what you are going to get with a used. Start fresh. I have a lower intake, MAF and stock rods with ARP's in them that I would sell to you for shipping...I also have a harness but i may need it. Let me know if you want them. I am in Washington. Nice project so far too. Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.