Lil' Red 1970 510

[heretic]

GREAT job.!!! 

[its_karl]

The problem it sounds like with the shop that did the restoration was that they did not treat it as they would have other cars there. It's as if they didn't value the car and therefore didn't take it seriously. That would explain their dismissive attitude towards you. They were obviously used to "higher end" business (their point of view).

 

The poor customer service could have been an unconventional quality indicator, they know they're that good that they don't bother wasting time with customer service (they let the work speak for itself)... The only contradiction to that theory is the radiator support fix, it sounds like pure laziness. Maybe he was trying to bullshit his way out of what you noticed.

 

Would have loved to see that stock color, or even the skyline red you described.

 

It does look great though, despite those folks lack of respect for your car.

[Bradinnes]

I never thought of it that way. I wish I could've got it painted the Skyline red....I believe the Nissan paint code for it was 664, Spanish Red. The PPG # is apparently 71812. I supplied the shop manager with this information but it seemed to be lost on him. Here's some pics after a good washing.

 

 

 

   After washing the car I discovered that the hood had dirt in the paint and left a whole lot of little imperfections. It wasn't apparent until you get close and look. The shiny quality of the paint hides them some what but once you start to really look close you can catch all sorts of them. The rest of the car seems okay. I've noticed a few specks here and there but nothing like the hood. I've already contacted the shop and they're willing to make it right. I just have to arrange it to be fixed.

[its_karl]

inspect the whole thing and make them fix all of it at once... very sharp car

 

You don't like red very much do you... Only have a red garage door, red front door on your red brick house... =)

[Bradinnes]

Red's okay...hahaha. (Busted) ........................ Any way, finally got around to cleaning up an extra fuse box I bought off another Ratsun member a while ago. It's in much better shape than my old one. Looks like the one in the car suffered a major short and melted the area around one of the fuse connections. Some one may have tried to by pass it. On top of that the cover has no knob to hold it on. Here's the spare one clean. I should've took some before pictures but never thought of it.

 

 

 

 

   I just used some Varsol at the start to get some of the real dirty areas cleaned up. Then I soaked it in some industrial strength vinegar for something like 10 hours. Then finished off the nooks and crannies with a blue shop towel and some Fantastik cleaner. Turned out better than expected. I'll be installing it later on. I need to get some Chassis Black POR paint. Right now the engine bay is just regular POR 15 and will eventually yellow if exposed to the sun for long periods. I would rather have a black coat of paint over it that won't fade and yellow. The progress will be slow and steady from here on in. Got to watch my pennies.

[Bradinnes]

So the other day I pulled the horn pad and ring assembly off the car in preparation for a steering wheel change. I cleaned some of the grime and over spray that had gotten on the horn pad as well as a little over spray on the horn ring.

 

 

 

 

The above pictures were before, below are the after. Not much change from what you can see in the pictures but in person there's quit the difference.

 

 

 

 

Now to pull the steering wheel and swap it with a decent one. Sounds simple enough!

[Bradinnes]

 Just tonight I got around to pulling the steering wheel off. I went to swap some of the hard ware from the old beaten up steering wheel to the newish one. To my stunned amazement they aren't the same. The whole hub is different. The orientation of the bolt holes, the size and position of the horn trigger button and pretty much everything else. So here's my ratty, busted steering wheel...............

 

 

And then after I removed it...................

 

 

Here's the newish steering wheel.......any one have any idea what this might be off of because it sure doesn't seem like it's a match for my 1970 510.

 

 

 

Now here's my old steering wheel. The center piece is not at all similar!

 

 

 

so comparing the center set-up, it's clear they're not interchangeable if I still want a horn. It may fit the spline on the steering column but the point was to swap my horn pad and all over to the newer, cleaner steering wheel. Well, I guess I'll just clean up the steering column and all, then put back the old steering wheel for now.

[Bradinnes]

The other day I took the plastic covers off the ignition switch and around the upper steering column. Then I removed the indicator, horn and high beam switch from around the steering column. With the plastics I sanded them down. First 125 for any bad areas, then 400,800,1000 and 2000 grit sand paper, working wet mostly. Then finished of with a plastic polish from Meguiar's. In between sanding plastic I was busy with the switch. I cleaned it with Varsol, then went over it contact cleaner. Scrubbed some tough areas. Then I disconnected the horn relay and dipped it in some heavy duty vinegar. I found a nick in the plastic insulator for the horn relay and have to cover that with electrical tape for now. Would be nice to use the shrink tubes but that would mean re-soldering the connectors and I'm not set up for that right now. Have a look.............

 

 

 

 

Next thing to do is get the switch and everything back in the car.

[Bradinnes]

Today I got busy and gathered some supplies I needed to finish assembling everything on the steering column. I had to go and source some small machine screws for the plastics. I was missing one and the tiny screws that held the plastics to the switch assembly. Got that out of the way at a place called Bolts Plus. Now I know where I'll be going for all my bolts and odd ends. So I got the whole thing back together. One small hicup. I thought the retaining spring clip just below the spline where the steering wheel sits was to hold the bearing in......Turns out it isn't that at all. I removed it and the whole steering shaft pulled down. It's spring loaded for some reason. I should've looked over the steering diagram closely before touching it. I managed to get it back on. it was a PITA but no harm no foul. I had to clean and re pack the bearing with out removing it. It worked out as you can see..........

 

 

 

Unfortunately, had to put the old beat up steering wheel back on. The other steering wheel is either for 68-69 model year or the 620. Eventually I'm swapping it out for a Momo wheel I've had  stored since last year. First the whole dash will be refinished. That won't be until next year if I'm lucky.

 

 

Next thing I started on was sanding a set of turn signal lenses I bought used. My original ones are all cracked and pitted. These should work nicely for now.

 

 

Before on the bottom and after on top.......Not bad!

 

Here's another before oic.....................

 

 

Then after. Obviously it's not the same signal lens. Just illustrating the dramatic difference a little elbow grease can make.

 

 

I also ended up pulling off the air breather to give it a good cleaning. Next up I want to inspect, clean and gap the spark plugs. Maybe replace them if they're too old or bad. More to come.

[heretic]

FYI- That doesn't look like any 620 steering wheel I've seen

 

The lens look great.!!

[Bradinnes]

Thanks heretic....it was something some one suggested on a video I was watching. They weren't sure it was a 620 but it sat on the splines like one so they made the leap in logic and now it's confirmed, it is not . Must be a 68-69 steering wheel for a 510. Any one know please chime in. Also if any one would know where to get the horn set-up for the steering wheel I would rather run it, if possible.

[heretic]

I'm sure someone will know what it is AND I could be completely wrong  :blush:

 

the splines for 510, Z's & 620 are all the same size. Not sure about the 521

[Bradinnes]

 I checked the oil when I drove the car home from the shop but because I was having issues with the engine and it was pouring rain out, I did a quick check to make sure there was oil in it. I didn't really look close to make sure it was filled properly. I didn't expect it to be over filled. What made me take notice was some oil on my drive way the other day when I moved the car to clean out my garage. It never leaked before. I had changed the fuel filter a few days ago and ran it good to make sure the fuel was getting to the carbs. Now there's a few small puddles of oil. I immediately looked under the car to where it would be. There was some drops of oil coming off the transmission where it meets the engine. I cleaned the oil up to see if it would return and it hasn't, which got me thinking. That's when I had a weird feeling and checked the oil level. It's over the "H" as you can see in the pictures! It shouldn't go beyond the cross hatched section. Anyone know what damage might have been done to my engine? Do I need to change the seals now? This weekend I'm gonna do a proper oil change and check the plugs. Here's the pics...............................

 

 

The before above.................aaaaaaaaaaaaaaanndd

 

 

 

The after! Notice the oil past the "H" letter. That's not on an angle either. The dip stick is level with the ground, pretty much. I was taking the picture with my free hand and it makes the pics seem angled. So would any one know the possible damage that may have been inflicted on my engine? In the " How To Keep Your Datsun Alive" book it states several times in italics not to over fill the oil.

[Eagle_Adam]

your probably ok in regards to the motor damage 

[heretic]

THAT SUCKS.... I probably missed something but WTF are they doing messing with the oil anyhow.?

 

I second what Adam said.

 

I wouldn't make a habit of it but other than your crank "dipping its nuts" in a pool of oil & potentially slowing the rotating mass, I think you're good. 

[Bradinnes]

The engine and transmission were removed to paint the engine bay with POR 15 plus undercoat the bottom of the car. I can only assume the old oil was replaced and a new filter was added to the motor once it was re-installed. Luckily I didn't drive it much that way. I guess it should be fine. I'll just keep an eye on things.

[Bradinnes]

I finally got around to pulling the spark plugs and having a look. They're relatively new spark plugs so no problems with the plugs themselves. The first plug was wet around the threads with what looked to be oil but the electrode looked dry. The second plug( I'm going from the front of the engine to the back) was dry and had some carbon build-up. The third and fourth plugs had oil around the threads and were burnt looking around the electrodes. Looks like I'll have to do a compression test to see if there's a problem with the rings. Could be that there's been too much oil put in the engine and it's being forced up through the rings. I'll see once I get the engine sorted out a bit.

 

 

 

I cleaned them up and gapped them to 0.40" because the car has been fitted with an electronic dizzy ( a D4K). I'll see if that has any change on how it runs. I then turned my attention to the electronic dizzy. Mostly the vacuum advance. The PO chose not to hook the vacuum advance up to the SU carbs. I did a quick vacuum check on the unit and it seems to have checked out fine. The tube that came with my vacuum gun was a bit big so I had to hold it down to keep the air from rushing back in. I'll check it again later to make sure. It was rusted up so I removed it from the distributor to clean it up and coat it with cold galvanizing spray paint. Once I've finished with it and re-install I plan on cleaning the carbs out. Of course I need to get a new hose to run from the vacuum advance to the carburetor and that should solve the lose of power while "cruising" at a constant speed. We'll see.

 

 

 

 

 

And here's a shot of the SU carbs with the air breather pulled off. I've been trying to clean them up a bit as well.

 

[collision and customs]

I hate to be negetive but being a high end bodyman/painter i saw things I did'nt like. And I can see things in the final pics. Sorry I'm just super Chip Fooseie and It feels like you wer'nt 100% satisfied  

[Bradinnes]

Yep,I'm in communication with the shop to have things addressed.

[Bradinnes]

Just curious 'collision and customs', what did you notice that you didn't like? What stood out in the final pics? Thanks.

[collision and customs]

Alignment of both doors and i can see waves in the quarter panel body lines especially on right side. And there welding looked amature. And I would have painted the car completely disassembled so there would be no tape lines in the jambs

[collision and customs]

And pne more thing I would have done is prime with urethane red color primer so if and when it chips it will be red underneath instead of grey

[Bradinnes]

All good points! Thank you for your insight. I figured the door seals had been pushing the doors out of alignment because they were new. Another thing that bothers me and you don't see in the pictures is the trunk's leading edge. If you pop the trunk and look at the edge of it as you lift it up it is pitted with gaps where it wasn't filled or smoothed out. Plus, there is a spot of rust on there! I just found it the other day when I was wiping up the water in the trunk after washing it. Definitely the hood and trunk should be pulled off and repainted in my opinion. I will have to discuss this with the shop.

[collision and customs]

The last car I built for myself is in other Datsuns and Nissan's page. My SuperStreet featured S13

[mattyhacks71]

Hey man I think I just saw this car on Restoration Garage!