69 4door 510 in Maine

[housew]

stupid gnome. I thought it was a 70 when i signed up for Ratsun. PO said it was, and so did the title. But it was built in 69 with all 69 parts. I'll update it.

[housew]

got a coupla minutes to work on this pig last night.

 

got the ride height set on both sides, and got the remaining front LCA most of the way out. One of the control arm / ball joint / TC rod thru bolts had a stripped nut so ill have to cut that off and replace the bolt. Not too shabby.

[housew]

Control arm out, cut, and adjustable insert is welded in. I need to clean it up, get some paint on it, and get it on the car. Its been off the road too long, but im getting REALLY close :)

 

Got some progress on some other projects too, so hopefully i can stop juggeling and focus on the datto soon

[housew]

second control arm is done!

 

i destroyed one of the bolts that holds the tc rod / control arm / ball joint together taking it out (stripped, then ground off) so i have the good one with me so i can match it up at the hardware store on my way home.

 

bout time, super amped to get it all buttoned up, back together, and cruising.

 

also need to add car seat loops in the back seat in case i dare to take the little one in this monster. Shouldn't be hard at all. I was thinking square u-bolts and fender washers (very similar to factory hardware in my truck / wifes whip). I definitely don't want to skimp in the safety of my baby department.

[StinkyTurbo]

Change the fronts to ZX brakes/suspension. The fronts are 200SX suspension purchased from Krecs.

[housew]

thanks ed.

 

i remedied it with adjustable control arms and camber plates. Wheels fit NICE now. Only thing the zx stuff has better is the vented rotors. I'm planning 300zx vented rotors with toyota 4-pots (already have the calipers) eventually if i feel like i need more brake, but its a light car.

 

looking forward to bombing this around soon. Starting to get a little more free time :)

[housew]

all back together, battery charged up, and i'd be good to whip it tonight but im getting a wisdom tooth pulled so i'll probably be to high haha.

 

still lots of little side projects on it, need to finish up the gauge cluster, but nothing that should stop me from driving it. Need to get it in the air so i can give it some semblance of an alignment and get my new adjustable goodies adjusted where i want them. But right now its sitting on its own coilovers, ride height is about there i want it (might need moar lowar) it has a decent amount of camber, and the wheels tuck. So everything is ballpark correct.

[housew]

drove it around the driveway last night with a throbbing face. DAMN it is fast, kinda forgot how freaking awesome it is.

 

my driver side is about as flush as it will get and the tire tucks perfectly. Ended up with 4 degrees of camber. In an ideal world  I would have aimed for 3, but im giving ~0 fucks about tire wear on this car, and its still a good deal less than the rear. I could shorten the arm a little and push the camber plate out a little to get it to 3 and still flush, but I don't want to do that until i see what can be done with the passenger side.

 

passenger side has a little poke, More at the bottom than the top, and has ~6 degrees of camber. I had this crooked car problem before and got the LCAs to fix it. Since the top hat has to be in the right place (or at least same place as the other side) i'm going to try to take the 2 degrees of camber out with the LCA. I got under there with a wrench to adjust the arm and couldn't do it. The threads turn HARD in the control arm. I must have gotten some slag in there when i welded them.

 

I took the arm off, cleaned up the threads the best i could and adjusted it to be 1/2 shorter. Hoping to reinstall tonight after work.

[Dime Dave]

House,

Pick-up a cheap 3/4-16 RH tap and chase the threads. The welding on the sleeve can create slag from the residual thread cutting oil left behind in the sleeve. That and there is likely some amount of heat distortion from the welding.

 

On FutoFab's earlier steel LCA's we would do this so we had a smoother operating adjuster.

 

Adding never-seize to any thread will help too, both on initial use and in the future when you are making an adjustment after some time in service.

[housew]

Thanks dave.

 

I had it apart this AM looking at it, and was pleased to see that the rod ends were LH thread and the sleve was RH. I was thinking the same thing and the pitch didn't match up with any of my metric feelers so I was guessing it was standard. Calling you was on my list but now i don't have to :)

 

I might even have that tap at home, now that i know the thread for certain i'll chase them.

 

Really shouldn't be adjusting track width or even camber via the LCAs often, and i can adjust them with considerable force so its kinda a set it and forget it kinda thing, but i'd rather it be right.

[Nuclear Water Boy]

When I was installing my Futofab LCA's they were already butter smooth but I went ahead and added some Nuclear grade antiseize. I recently ck'd my alignment with a string setup I made from a YouTube video and it's still dead on.

 

House why would you want 3 degs of camber? I mean 3 degrees? I'm running -1 1/2d and it's awesome but unlike yourself I care 10 fk's about tire wear 8>) Also if I were you I would grab some of the rubber protectors Futofab has that slip over the rod-end just to protect them, I have a set and they seal excellent.

 

Lou

[housew]

good call on the protectors lou.

 

3 degrees as a starting point, I'm not opposed to dialing some of it out if its not working out for me.

 

Due to the slammedness of my car i have ~4.5 degrees in the rear and there isn't much i can do about it besides slot the rear crossmember  brackets and run a lot less tire OR raise the ride height.. Eventually i'd like to slot it, notch the control arms so i can keep fat tires, and get and r180 CLCD with CV shafts back there, but thats a long ways off. Due to the rear being so cambered, the car looks a lot less goody with a little camber in the front as well.

 

other reasons:

1) http://community.ratsun.net/topic/47668-looking-for-input-on-alignment-for-an-autox-setup-510/

 a) 3 degrees doesn't seem like a rediculous starting point on a slammed car after reading that.

 b) I will probably autocross it and chalk my tires which will give me a good feel for whats going on. i'd like to get a pyrometer too

2) small tires for 15" rims are cheap (205/50r15 rear and 195/50/r15 front, i paid ~$350 for all 4), and i get my mounting / balancing for free so i can flip them on the rims when the inside starts wearing.

3) its one of many cars / modes of transportation for me, i doubt it will see more than 4k a year, im at ~200 miles this year. (wish i drove it more)

 

so yea, its not ideal, but i refuse to raise the ride height, i think it looks awesome, and i can deal will increased tire wear. I will however adjust within my means to make my parts / car the happiest it can be, I just thought 3 degrees was a good starting point. Won't be hard to bring it back in to 2 (or less) by bringing in the LCAs and/or bringing out the top/hats.

[housew]

Redneck alignment complete. 2.4 degrees front camber, 1/8" toe in. I'll get it shop aligned if I like the settings.

 

Won't have time to drive it till Friday though. Have an appointment for another car tomorrow :/

[housew]

test drive went like shit :(

1) i got about 50' from my house, a tractor trailer went by and the wind blew the hood open. Pretty slow speed, surprisingly little damage, but the hood hinges got a little compacted so i'll need to remove them and hopefully just straighten them in the vice. There are a few adjustments that look like they got moved so between straightening and adjusting I shouldn't have to cut, stretch and weld, but I will if i have to. Its only time and money right


.
2) drivers side rear tire rubs. NOT hard but its touching something. Doesn't even rub hard enough to wear through OR peel tape off the sidewall, but i'd prefer it doesn't touch anything. I'll need to "message" that fender a little bit more.

 

3) car is pretty darty. Stable in a straight line, but its pulls pretty hard irregular road surfaces. My tape said i was toed in 1/8" but i'm guessing im toed out significantly so i'm going to have to re-check that. I shortened the passenger side control arm a lot more than i shortened the passenger side tie rod so that would induce toe out too. I'll recheck.

 

4) bump steer spacers / roll center adjusters. I understand what they do. Makes good sense to me. I realize if i install them i will need to do all these steps again (brings control arm down at more angle which changes track width, which may change toe depending on steering geometry) I understand the steering geometry and control arm geometry were designed to work in a range that im not in any more (car lowered too much) and the bump steer spacers should fix that. Where can i get these / who is a trusted source? Also are there different sizes for the "boss" that goes into the bottom of the strut tube / steering knuckle? I know at one point i thought i had s12 struts and i thought those were bigger than the 510/280zx struts. I have s110 struts so i just want to verify that the boss is the right size before ordering up. also, anyone know the stock control arm angle at ride height so i can try to get the right length? I'm just about parallel with the ground right meow.
 

[housew]

got some hinges on the way (thanks again dave)

 

also got some pretty horendous drive line vibe, not new, im just bumping it up the list. I want me some CVs, is the general consensus to just buy a kit for $900 vs dubbing around with vw shafts and adaptors, or 280zx turbo parts and machining?

 

eventually i'd like to get to an clsd r180 and CVs, CVs are a much larger priority, r180 is secondary (no issues with r160 yet, then lsd cause i don't think i want to buy an lsd for the r160. I'd rather collect parts and put it together when i can than drop the money all at once. BUT if im going to spend a LOT more to do it in stages i could be persuaded to do it all at once.

[Dime Dave]

House,

PM me with your shipping address for the hood hinges.

 

Your PayPal was received, but they don't automatically include your address.

[Nuclear Water Boy]

Hey Housew on a personal note I'd get Dave's rear camber/toe adjusters instead of slotting the rear. I once ran the slotted rears and as it does work but they slipped and I'd have to keep adjusting. The difference for me is the brackets don't slip and are easy to adjust plus their nice and stout. Granted their a bit of work to install but it's the type of work we all enjoy plus while you have the rear assembly removed you can go ahead and clean it up and rust proof everything, clearance the swing arms for bigger tires like you mentioned and replace those rear stub bearings and install new swing arm bushings. A winter time project and your beers won't get warm. Also I'd raise the 510 just a bit to keep you out of trouble it won't hurt and it'll save you're tires and probably stop darting.

 

 

Lou

[housew]

yea, i rechecked my alignment and its towed out quite a bit. Hopefully fixing that fixes the darting. It didn't do it before my project and i didn't change anything in the rear so i'm quite hopefull

 

The rear camber brackets are on the list. I'd really like to not take the car down again though. Would be nice to score another rear setup. That way i could sand blast everything, get it all clean, get the brackets on, maybe figure a diff swap and do CVs and put it back in, all without having to stop driving it. I've been on the lookout.

 

brackets and clearanced control arms would be a better rear setup, but would probably require new rear rims since i wouldn't be able to have as much offset as current, or go WAY down in tire width.....

 

im now satisfied with the ride height from a road clearance standpoint, so im just trying to get the suspension geometry happier

 

 

this car isn't a pile, but it needs a lot of things for me to really be happy with it, and i have a lot of other toys/projects so its tough sharing time with them all and the family. Any "big project" would probably mean not driving it for a long while. (took me damn close to all summer to install control arms, camber plates, and coilovers which is a day job) Just trying to avoid taking the dime off the road when i don't need to.

[StinkyTurbo]

dude just fix the hood hinges, install all the interior parts, get in the car and enjoy it. Dont tackle a big project while we are having this perfect weather. When the sun is out, leave it parked in the garage but at night the temperature is perfect. Get in and take the misses to get ice cream as soon as the sun sets.

[housew]

exactly, that's why i just want to leave it alone for now and play with it. Doesn't really need anything for fun to be had.

 

I can tweak it all i want in the winter.

 

you ever find a Z car stinkyturbo?

[StinkyTurbo]

No I ended up buying a Porsche 930 & swapped a SBC in it. I only come on here to lurk on this thread. I have thought about buying another 510 though. I miss it everyday.

[housew]

solid, sounds like a good project.

 

I love me some porsches too. I have an 81 911 sc non-turbo. Its not fast but it one of my favorite cars to drive. A sbc would be about the same weight, more or less HP depending on build, and way easier to source parts for / more reliable. Sounds like a good choice to me. Enjoy it.

 

My eyes are always open for 510's, not so common on the east coast though as you know.

 

Re-checked front alignment last night and i was a 1/2" toed out, which is a perfectly adequite answer to why it didn't feel right. I'll get that inline and enjoy it.

[housew]

still picking away at my gauge cluster. Got it physically done, and just working on getting a few of the gauges functioning.

 

water temp, and volts work great. Indicators for turn signals, highbeams, and dimming when the lights are on also work great.

 

I have a new oil pressure sending unit im hoping to install tonight.

 

boost gauge is on the frits. There's a good chance i just went to cheap with it, I've never gotten it to change. Going to verify wiring and verify boost with manual gauge

 

speedometer isn't registering from the nissan sensor. I thought it would but its not looking good.

intellitronix sensor is a 3 wire. ground, switched +12v, and the puls (+12v or not).

s13 5 speed sensor is a 2 wire, supposed to be fed +5v and the pulse (+5v or not), I assume it gets its ground by being bolted to the transmission.

the gauge can be calibrated to accept between 2k-32k pulses per mile so i don't think that would be the downfall.

 

My electrical engineer co-worker seems to think it won't work and/or would burn out soon. I have an e-mail into intellitronix to see what they think. Leaning towards the gps unit for $100 instead of messing with getting a mechanical pinion to hook the stock intellitronix sensor too. Unless someone has a tranny pinion for a speedo cable that will bolt into an s13 5speed tranny for cheap

[housew]

oil pressure sending unit in, reading, and i have good pressure :)

 

I don't know what to do with the boost gauge. I installed a mechanical one in the engine bay and it idles circa -18psi which is probably about right. Playing with the throttle at idle and no load i can get it to chance ~5psi in either direction, but the electronic gauge doesn't move.

 

I probed it with my volt meter and its getting 12v in, and with the car off (0psig) its getting 1v out and the gauge reads 0. With the car running i get .4v out and the gauge reads -0 (-18psig real) When i rev the car the voltage output changes but the gauge does not.. I accidentally bought a bar gauge with a range of -1 to 3 bar, but still -18psi should read -1.2 bar, or at least -1 since that's the range. Either way the gauge doesn't work. I'll quadrouple check the wiring to be sure, then order another one from a different source.

 

Also beat in the inner "lip" in my drivers side rear. There is a decent amount of space between the fender well and the outer fender. My tire wasn't hitting hard, and with the minimal space i made, all should be well. Need to get my alignment close and i'll give it another test.

 

working on getting a mechanical sending unit for the speedo to use the intellitronix sensor.

 

hood hinges should be here today (THANKS DAVE!)

[housew]

oics:

 new and old oil filter pressure sending unit. Looks the same cause the "old" one was DOA and never saw use besides plugging a hole.

 

 

pic of where my drivers side rear tire was rubbing. Looks super crusty, but it isn't, its just brittle undercoating flaking off

 

and i took 0 pictures after i cleaned up the under coating an "messaged" it with my ball peen hammer. I was actually very gentle.

 

picked up plastidip to turn my wheels bronze and 2x color samples from my local auto paint supplier so i can figure out if my car was/is 563 sora blue, 567 nissan blue, or something different. They look pretty freaking close next to eachother in their bottles. more pics to come.