510BendOr Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 Hey everyone I go by 510BendOr on here, Facebook and soon to be on instagram, my name is Aaron but I go by double A and reside in Beautiful Bend Oregon... I am learning to use the forums better so I figured I would start a build thread here for one of my two Dimes I am working on... Back in August of 2014 I bought a 1971 Datsun 510 with a custom Plate that read 5NDIME and I fell in love! She was supposed to be a runner that just sat for many years and while it was a good platform it wasn't like just fix the tags and go... When I got there the guy was frantically trying to get some leaks fixed and the block was good and warm, it was apparent he was making an effort to get it driveable for the test drive and wasn't quite ready for me... Regardless after close inspection and the back story that came to follow and the plate I was determined to bring this car upto Daily status...so next up I will try and get you caught up on the whole story.... For know here are some pictures(if this works?) https://www.facebook.com/510BendOr/photos/pb.684482701631635.-2207520000.1423334790./728346127245292/?type=3&theater https://www.facebook.com/510BendOr/photos/pb.684482701631635.-2207520000.1423334883./695614803851758/?type=3&theater 1 Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 Welcome to Ratsun Aaron and thanks for posting in the correct forum, you'll do just fine here. Unfortunately your pictures show up as links to f/b. This means I or anyone else must click on them to view (I never do f/b) This makes discussing a picture rather difficult even with a link. If you have them on a picture hosting site like Photobucket then copy and pasts them here. Quote Link to comment
denmarkboy Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 Nice post man , here is a pic from last night ! thanks for sharing with everyone , the datsun scene in Bend is going to grow , cant wait to see you guys again .. Canby for sure . 1 Quote Link to comment
dr.feltersnatch Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 welcome! here are your pics 2 Quote Link to comment
bonvo Posted February 8, 2015 Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 Glad to see you on the forums man welcome home bro Quote Link to comment
510BendOr Posted February 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 welcome! here are your pics So I was trying to get the pic thing to work?...how can I do that? Quote Link to comment
denmarkboy Posted February 8, 2015 Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 So I was trying to get the pic thing to work?...how can I do that? try this , http://community.ratsun.net/topic/54932-photobucket-ratsun/ Quote Link to comment
510BendOr Posted February 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 will instagram work? let's see? http://instagram.com/p/y0NflRCEkd/?modal=true Quote Link to comment
510BendOr Posted February 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 I think I got it!...So here was the car the day I went to look at it.... Let's back up a little bit here...Back when i was a kid in Gresham Oregon my Dad would take me around with hi to local car shows and PIR where he ended up getting into Road Racing out at PIR. I remeber as a kid going to both the Blue Lake Datsun show out in Troutdale and the Datsun show at Canby I think was a Dime Quarterly event back in the 90's...anway my Dad ended up with a 1969 Datsun 510 4 door with an "organic weight reduction" package lol...Over the years as a teenager I helped him buy,sell and fix datsuns of all kinds to feed his race car build keeping the good stuff and putting the rest back into flipping other Datsuns that needed help...At one point we had 13-510's 4-6 620's, 610's 710's a couple of Z cars and one of my favorites was the 78? 810 wagon with the L28 EFI aka "the fog machine" cause you could roast the tires into a fog... So as you might have guessed my first car was a Datsun... a Red 1972 510 Wagon with a fresh L16 new clutch and hydraulic systems, new chrome mods with fresh rubber I was set the only thing I wanted was a custom plate that read 5NDIME but it was registered to another 510 in Oregon a year prior to me getting my car... Nineteen years later I found my nemesis 5NDIME for sale in Bend Oregon...BUT I had just purchased a a 72 4 door project that was more or less barely a rolling chassis and the money I had left was to fix up the one in the garage??? (there will be a whole other post for BendOr the 4 door) The guy was asking $3600 and claimed it to be a "driver" but when I got there he was obviously scrambling to get it ready for me. The block was good and warm fixing coolant leaks...asked me to help him bleed the brakes so we could go for a spin...It drove technically I'll give him that...there was something not right about the clutch or lack there of the brakes were the spongeyest ever but it did drive under it's own power. We got back and for the most part everything checked out, yes it needed work and tuned and wasn't what I was expecting at $3600? But the more I look over the car and check for the typical rust I really didn't find anything, so I keep looking closer and the condition of the body just kept getting better, he proceeded to tell a story about how a guy bought it back when from a guy who ended up racing it autocross, that when I really started to drool...Weber, header, sway bars, camber plates, U67 matching block and head, 5 speed, electric fan... So I was able to talk him down but not much and 5NDIME was mine as of August 2014 and that pretty much where this thread starts...Next post, "The Drive Home"...Cheers Aa 1 Quote Link to comment
Draker Posted February 9, 2015 Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 What kind of seats are those? Pics of how they are mounted? Quote Link to comment
510BendOr Posted February 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 What kind of seats are those? Pics of how they are mounted? Not 100% sure... I want to say 200sx or 240sx? Kinda remind me of my old Pulsar seats but those are thinner all around? here are some pics though... Quote Link to comment
Draker Posted February 9, 2015 Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 I want to say they are recaro's. Not sure what they are out of.. but they look very similar to the Recaro LS. Maybe recaro LSC's The mounting brackets sure look like mine also. Although, the way yours are mounted are better than what I fabbed up. 1 Quote Link to comment
Draker Posted February 9, 2015 Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 I made these brackets with mounts for the seat belt. That way I didn't have to drill into the body of the car. The problem is.. if you want to remove the seat, it's a kind of a bitch.. Yours are very clean. Quote Link to comment
Druid Posted February 10, 2015 Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 this is pretty sweet and i think ive seen your car around town lol. looking at all these cool projects makes me amped to start with my new 520. 1 Quote Link to comment
MicroMachinery Posted February 10, 2015 Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 Great looking car! Looks super straight with a nice patina. 1 Quote Link to comment
Draker Posted February 10, 2015 Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 this is pretty sweet and i think ive seen your car around town lol. looking at all these cool projects makes me amped to start with my new 520. Did you go to the meet last Saturday? Quote Link to comment
510BendOr Posted February 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 It was on Friday but yes I was there. .. 1 Quote Link to comment
denmarkboy Posted February 10, 2015 Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 Not 100% sure... I want to say 200sx or 240sx? Kinda remind me of my old Pulsar seats but those are thinner all around? here are some pics though... I have have a pair of FloFit seats that i put in my 720 "road dog" . when i first got mine it was in the early 90's and i paid 350 a piece . 1 Quote Link to comment
510BendOr Posted February 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 OK cool so after some googling it turns out Flo-Fit seats were the Recaro's of their day, some forums claim they were a factory upgrade in the Mustangs in the 80's and may have been made by Recaro! And this is what I love! Learning new stuff about my car everyday and even better when it helps justify the pretty penny I paid for her! Later today I will tell the story about the drive home... Quote Link to comment
Draker Posted February 10, 2015 Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 It was on Friday but yes I was there. .. You can tell I wasn't there. Quote Link to comment
510BendOr Posted February 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 "The Drive Home" So as I was saying I went to look at this 2 door under the assumption she was a runner...While technically yes it ran I would have called it a driving runner... He was working on it when I got there so I am assuming he was having trouble cause he said it ran and drove? Apparently there were some coolant leaks and the brakes were "soft" lol...yeah try non-existent... So he jumped under the car and said "hey go push on the brake" OK I guess we are bleeding the brakes then...LOL...once we got the leaks fixed and a bit of pressure in the pedal it was time for a test drive... He hopped in the driver seat first? (I guess he wanted to make sure everything worked first) and I went ahead and climbed in as well and proceeded to go for a test drive from hell... He was all over the road at first trying to figure something out and then he got on this poor car like he stole it with little to no brakes and he seemed to be double clutching to shift... Finally he pulls over and let's me behind the wheel and holy hell I have no idea how he even got us this far? There was an obvious problem with the gas pedal where you had to kinda pump it up to get it to gain enough rpm's to go...the clutch was about a half inch deep of pretty much nothing and the brakes was like a stack of sponges... and yet I am not saying no?... As I inspect the car he tells me about how it was setup back in the 80's from the guy he got it from for autocross and went on to list some of the parts to name a few... Weber, Header, Camber plates, sway bars and an L20B...The body while not perfect was really straight with the typical dents and dings, paint ok and lowered just how I like! After all was said and done I bought it with very little hesitation, after some of the piles I had seen and the work needed this car was alot closer to being ready to drive! Or so I thought!!! That was the most white knuckle, hold on for your life 15 minute 7 mile drive of all times! You pretty much had to put your foot to the floor to get up to speed but then you didn't really want to slow down either... The clutch was so shallow you didn't have any choice but to double clutch just to get it in and out of gear... and this was just getting out of his driveway!... I finally get up to a cruising speed and get to 5th gear and things seem to be OK That is until the stop sign comes up a little sooner than anticipated due to a miscalculation in speed (oops!) I frantically try to double clutch a down shift while trying to brake only to realize whatever we had done was no longer there after the first little rally around the block!!! E-BRAKE! At this point I am asking my self "Why ? Why did I just spend my whole build budget for this 'piece of shit' when I have a beautiful 510 that needs finished" Well because...DATSUN! So I suck it up and rally on down the road for the next 5 mile leg of my journey... After stopping at the stop sign and pull out I notice I left a small puddle of something (probably more than one thing come to think of it) Regardless I need to get her home so hammer down and fancy footing along... Fortunately there was very little traffic and I managed to avoid all ditches...Yeah go me! All said and done by the time I got home she was puffing clouds of blue smoke and ran like a lawnmower that just wouldn't die... The puddle was mostly from the front crank seal on the timing chain cover that was rendered useless and was flinging oil everywhere when it wasn't just dripping... the other smaller puddle was the remainder of the brake fluid from the rear wheel cylinders that shot out from slamming the brakes to the floor... Shortly after the stop sign what was left of the clutch too had gone on vacation... Next up at about mile 5 the clutch starts to slip...probably due to the rear crank seal that blew out as well... So much for a running and driving dime! Although having some buyers remorse I went back to the drawing board liquidated some assets and got back to work! As you can see I have come along ways since September 2014 when I first laid eyes on Tina the 2 door.... Next up: "What did I really bring home?" 1 Quote Link to comment
Draker Posted February 10, 2015 Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 Great post! I think its really how much you paid for it. All of that stuff... I would still buy it. Two door.. clean.. straight.. L20's are easy to find. I probably would have towed it though... :rofl: It's a great car.. I love it. Where the hell did you find it? CL? 1 Quote Link to comment
510BendOr Posted February 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 Great post! I think its really how much you paid for it. All of that stuff... I would still buy it. Two door.. clean.. straight.. L20's are easy to find. I probably would have towed it though... :rofl: It's a great car.. I love it. Where the hell did you find it? CL? Yes Draker I was trolling on craigslist...honestly I was just planning on going and looking at it...a couple feeler posts on the facebook and was offered more than I paid before I bought it... Once I saw her in person I fell in love! I have since replaced the broken down old L20B but I will save that for another post!... Cheers Aa Quote Link to comment
510BendOr Posted February 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Trying to figure out Photo bucket cause Fb keeps breaking the links on pics...sorry guys...it's just so time consuming when I can be working...currently the shitbox needs attention so I can make it go away... Quote Link to comment
510BendOr Posted March 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2015 So the L20B I was running was out of a truck and once i got her all tuned up and dialed in I found the top end in high rpms or high speeds she would breakup and flatten out... SO I replaced it with a new-ish SSS spec distributor and what a world of difference...I can now get her to spin to redline, she will pull out of fourth gear at 2000rpm and third gear is all legs and puts you back in your seat around 4800-5200 rpms and will spool to almost 6k now....not too bad for a stock re-tuned L20B and Weber... Oh yeah installed the K&N 11" filter and filter top... Also threw in a stereo and cig lighter for shits and giggles... Quote Link to comment
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