carrcrazy Posted March 10, 2015 Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 (edited) *EDIT*This thread was formally known "A Kid and His First Datsun" Hey people my name is mason I'm 16 and just bought my first car this past weekend. Over the past year I've fell in love with Datsun and other classic Japanese. I've spent the last 12 months studying and researching vintage Japanese cars and Japanese culture from the seventies and eighties. I've also spent the last year earning and saving my money so that I could complete two goals of mine 1) buy a first car with my own money and not my parents 2) buy an classic/vintage car for my first car. so about a month ago a guy replied my wanted ad and said he had a 1978 Datsun 510 with 56,xxx miles, from then on I was hooked on this car. I went to check the car the day after we got around six inches of snow. even tho is was freezing outside the carbureted car started right. a week later I went and bought the car and drove it home, it was the first time the car had been driven in years and who knows how long its been since its been on the high way. photo 5 by muddogduffey, on Flickr photo 1 by muddogduffey, on Flickr photo 2 by muddogduffey, on Flickr photo 1 by muddogduffey, on Flickr L20B with a weber carb and headers photo 5 by muddogduffey, on Flickr photo 4 by muddogduffey, on Flickr photo 3 by muddogduffey, on Flickr and now its time to start wrenching and build a sweet kyusha/shakotan inspired car. Edited February 4, 2020 by carrcrazy 7 Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted March 10, 2015 Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 Wow! Congrats in finding a nice Datsun. The coupe is the best looking of the A10 models. Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted March 10, 2015 Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 Welcome aboard! Nice score, looks like it just needs some elbow grease and some tlc. :) 1 Quote Link to comment
Spoona_Jay21 Posted March 10, 2015 Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 Welcome! great too see more young guys interested in the Oddball models! i am keepin up on this one! :thumbup: 1 Quote Link to comment
carrcrazy Posted March 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 showed the car to some friends. got some jokes about buying a rusty old car (thats what they see) but overall most of them loved the car. photo 3 by muddogduffey, on Flickr going to make shift nob out of this old grenade i had photo 2 by muddogduffey, on Flickr i love the hot rod style blue jewel tail lights photo 4 by muddogduffey, on Flickr also through one my illest stickers on the window photo 4 by muddogduffey, on Flickr 2 Quote Link to comment
Draker Posted March 11, 2015 Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 Cool car man! And great story! Can't wait to see what you do with it! Quote Link to comment
carrcrazy Posted May 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2015 long overdue for an update photo 5 by muddogduffey, on Flickr painted the cam cover photo 1 by muddogduffey, on Flickr came home from school to find my car like this, "perks" of owning an import with an american muscle car and truck family photo 1 by muddogduffey, on Flickr i was driving down the highway the other day and looked over my shoulder and realized my rear quarter window was about to fly off..... so quick fix for now lol photo 2 by muddogduffey, on Flickr got these in the mail last week. t3 weld on coilover sleeves with 200lb spring rate photo 3 by muddogduffey, on Flickr last sunday was when the kyusha/shakotan transformation began photo 4 by muddogduffey, on Flickr maxed out the coils and didn't weld them, used the original spring perch. the ride is a lil bumpy but i'm a dumb teenager who could care less about back pains and headaches lol. there is zero suspension travel and around a millimeter or two between the tire and fender. i still need to lower the rear (hopefully this weekend). photo 4 by muddogduffey, on Flickr before an after i will try to update this more often as the build should start progressing a little faster now. 2 Quote Link to comment
carrcrazy Posted June 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2015 long overdue for another update lol first off the car has been lowered in the rear by cutting the springs. also ive installed aftermarket steering wheel and fourpoint harness. i somewhat stripped the back of the interior. FullSizeRender by mason duffey, on Flickr IMG_0254 by mason duffey, on Flickr IMG_0358 by mason duffey, on Flickr IMG_0465 by mason duffey, on Flickr IMG_0466 by mason duffey, on Flickr IMG_0672 by mason duffey, on Flickr NEW WHEELS!! IMG_0673 by mason duffey, on Flickr IMG_0680 by mason duffey, on Flickr IMG_1605 by mason duffey, on Flickr my exhaust shoots sparks going down the road from it being so low, might as well straight pipe it lol still have some new stuff to put on here that i dont have pictures of will try to update more as more is going to happen with the car as I prep for import alliance in july 4 Quote Link to comment
carrcrazy Posted August 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 time for a HUGE update IMG_1700 by mason duffey, on Flickr my Tsurikawa came in and i love it!! IMG_2442 by mason duffey, on Flickr got the car up on a lift at exhaust shop, had to jack up each corner to get the lift under the car IMG_2442 by mason duffey, on Flickr this is what it looks like to drag your exhuast on the road for a month, around 2 days after i took this pic the exhuast got ripped off while i was driving. luckily it came off on a back road not the highway. finally got the car straight piped. IMG_2453 by mason duffey, on Flickr at a drifting event i went to ran into a 1200 coupe, going to be buying a fourspeed trani off him to put into the a10. IMG_2623 by mason duffey, on Flickr on 4th of July i decided to fix the primer fender on the car and with IA right around the corner i deecided to go all out japanese. IMG_2624 by mason duffey, on Flickr any guesses? IMG_2628 by mason duffey, on Flickr oh yea! IMG_2641 by mason duffey, on Flickr everywhere i go i people give me wierd looks or smiles haha IMG_2721 by mason duffey, on Flickr the most boso style thing i have done to the car, every where i go when i have them on, i break necks. (the pipes are removable) IMG_2726 by mason duffey, on Flickr the pipes are 7.5 feet long and around 8.5 feet tall when on the car. IMG_2726 by mason duffey, on Flickr and to think it was stock five months ago IMG_2854 by mason duffey, on Flickr it was finally here the day i had been waiting for since i got the car. Import Alliance was finally happening, me and some friends drove down for saturday. i drove a couple hours with the boso pipes on, i was constantly getting pictures and looks. IMG_3104 by mason duffey, on Flickr while in line to get in a guy slapped a sticker on my winshield and said "nice datsun dude". little did i know what that sticker was for.... i was taken out of the normal line and sent into a different area than my friends, i assumed they were going to normal parking becuase they were in a chryser. they decided to put me in as a showcase car, which meant tons to me because it showed that even tho my car is only at the beginning of the build it was already getting noticed. throughout the day the car had a constant crowd around it, i was always getting questions and commpliments. i loved the fact that people actually liked the Bosozoku inspiration my car has. mycar also got noticed a bunch on social media, here are a few: IMG_3108 by mason duffey, on Flickr IMG_3111 by mason duffey, on Flickr IMG_3219 by mason duffey, on Flickr IMG_3225 by mason duffey, on Flickr picked up a brand new unused corbeau seat i believe this seat is from the seventies or eighties, correct me if im wrong. sadly about 5 minutes after this picture was taken my friend was backing out of his driveway and half ran over it, the seat is currently being recovered and will then be put in the datsun. IMG_3296 by mason duffey, on Flickr also my car got posted on @ricedoutjunk which for those of you who dont know is the biggest ricer posting page on instagram. after they posted this pictures so many people unfollowed them and comment hate to them about how boso isnt rice haha. tommorow i will post plans and thoughts for how the car will be built this winter as it will be in hibernation from October till March 7 Quote Link to comment
q-tip Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Love the boso look you're going for! Quote Link to comment
sebpv Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Of all the Rising Suns, that is the most irreprochable I can find. It is perfect to my eyes. Good job! 1 Quote Link to comment
fritzdixxon Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Nice, you are off to a good start, are you going to shark nose it? Quote Link to comment
510farmer Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Of all the Rising Suns, that is the most irreprochable I can find. It is perfect to my eyes. Good job!I agree looks good Are you going to flare it? Also hope you have some supports on the exhaust, you have a lot of leverage with 7ft of pipe Keep up the work Start fighting the worm Farmer Quote Link to comment
carrcrazy Posted November 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2015 So it’s been months since I’ve even looked at ratsun mainly because my Datsun died. I was driving home from work one day and the car was starting to get hot and I got in the slow lane and the temp just kept rising. I got off at the closest exit and pulled into a car wash parked it and turned it off I opened the hood and saw something every car enthusiast never wants to see, coolant running down the block. The head gasket was toast. I figured me and a couple friends could change the gasket in a weekend, I ordered the gasket and waited. It was a nice sunny day and we started tearing it apart it all went by great everything came apart perfectly. We got the gasket on and went to put it all back together; we set the head on it and went to put the chain around the cam sprocket. That’s when we noticed something wasn’t right; it looked like the chain was missing a link or two we couldn’t figure it out. I quickly went to ratsun and searched "l20b head gasket change" and then I read about the chain tensioner..... IMG_3950 by mason duffey, on Flickr The car was then pronounced dead until further notice IMG_3954 by mason duffey, on Flickr IMG_4163 by mason duffey, on Flickr The car has sit in my garage ever since. I know what needs to be done to reset the chain tensioner. But the problem is I can’t get the crank pulley off? I NEED YOUR HELP!! I’m a body work kind of person, it’s what I’m in school for and quite frankly i hate motor work but i refuse to take it to a shop I want to fix it myself or with friends so that i can gain the knowledge. IMG_4669 by mason duffey, on Flickr This is now how low it is. I completely took the springs out of the rear, now I have to lower the front another inch or so to level it out. and yea yea i know a bunch of people here are gonna say that’s unsafe and dumb but im one of those kids who likes stanced cars and tilted wheels;) IMG_4098 by mason duffey, on Flickr List of what im doing to the car some of these have already been ordered and shipped. Big things coming once I get it runnning Quote Link to comment
Lockleaf Posted November 20, 2015 Report Share Posted November 20, 2015 I would suggest just pulling the engine at this point. The time lost in pulling it will be made up for in the ease of doing the job. But either way, there are a couple of things you can do. Get some pb blaster and hose the crank where the pulley fits over it. Then get a rubber/plastic mallet and bang your way around the pulley then try wiggling it free. Rinse and repeat. Or get a pulley puller, 3 jaw style, and use that to pull it off. They rent them at parts stores. 2 Quote Link to comment
mattyhacks71 Posted November 20, 2015 Report Share Posted November 20, 2015 Cool man! I dig it. I got my 510 when I was 18, us young guys gotta stick together in this community of old farts :devil: Any pics of the seat installed? I was looking at the same one for my car. Quote Link to comment
bananahamuck Posted November 20, 2015 Report Share Posted November 20, 2015 Put a long breaker bar on crank bolt ,, open up trans inspection plate , exposing torque converter,, wedge a thick.large, heavy duty screw driver in space between converter and flex plate.. Wedge the living shit out of the screw driver ,,,,,,,,, reef on front . If you have the bolt off,, do as above mentioned,, pulley should come of with plastic/rubber mallet.. 1 Quote Link to comment
TENDRIL Posted November 20, 2015 Report Share Posted November 20, 2015 socket and breaker bar against the engine bay frame rail and jump start it and break it loose with the starter? you should pull the motor....clean and inspect the bearings 1 Quote Link to comment
carrcrazy Posted November 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2015 So I found a guy who is selling an l16 with a l18 head with header, weber carb, and msd ignition, and 4spd trani for 300 bucks. I'm thinking about buying it and swapping it in then building the l20b while running the new motor for awhile. Would that be a good idea? 2 Quote Link to comment
TENDRIL Posted November 20, 2015 Report Share Posted November 20, 2015 should be a direct swap Quote Link to comment
fritzdixxon Posted November 20, 2015 Report Share Posted November 20, 2015 Or use the head, carb, header, ignition on your l20 block 1 Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 [q and to think it was stock running car just five months ago You are moving backwards. Smashed fender, side window, exhaust, blown gasket.... I don't care what you make the car look like on the outside.. whatever. It's now unsafe to drive but the good thing is...it isn't running. 1/ these do not belong on the rear of your car. Period! They are adjustable coil overs for a front strut car. They might fit rear struts, but you don't have them. This is why they don't fit or work on your car. The thing to do is get them off and maybe you can use them on the front or sell them. You have rear coil springs, so trim a coil off and try the fit for height. Get new shock absorbers. Running without springs and welded? shock, am I reading this right? No suspension travel? This isn't stupid it's way beyond that, to dangerous. You have no bounce control or damping and are running on the bouncy air in the tires. This can lead to run away lifting of the tires from the pavement and it will happen. 2/ Fix what you have. I don't expect you to have known about the timing chain tensioner. So take note that there are some things that you don't know. This will cost you about 6 hrs. of extra work. What you have, is a known good L20B needing a $50 set of gaskets. What you don't need is an unknown used up old L18 even for free. Don't go backwards, learn from this and go forward... Loosen but don't remove the crank pulley bolt. Usually a 24mm socket? and a breaker bar wedged against the frame, coil wire off so it won't atart and gently bump the starter to loosen it. Set motor to TDC compression stroke on #1 and place in neutral so someone doesn't lean on truck and bump the motor off.Remove battery cableDrain coolant, remove rad and shroud. Don't let your dog drink that shit.Remove (2) distributor hold down bolts and lift it with the mounting pedestal from the timing cover.Remove crank pulley now.Remove water pump and fanRemove the oil pump and the drive spindle above it. It will drip oil so be readyRemove timing cover boltsLoosen the front and side oil pan bolts so pan can drop slightly and the timing cover can slide out to the front. Hopefully the pan gasket does not tear. Behind the timing cover on the crank is a thin concave metal 'washer' called the oil slinger... don't loose it.Clean all mating surfaces. Install head with cam sprocket on, you don't have to tighten it down yet.Install chain while holding tensioner deep into it's holder.Install timing gasket DRY.Install timing cover. Oil pan and head are 'loose' so should slip into place. If pan gasket is torn, cut the front off a new one and instal with a dab of RTV in each corner to seal it. Top gasket under the head only has to seal fumes and some oil spray in so seal with RTV. Install timing cover. Other than mentioned all gaskets go on dry without sealer or silicone. 3 Quote Link to comment
bananahamuck Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 He said he has cut rear springs to get that height,, if you look at pics it is lower in front before the rear came down,.. That was my take on it anyway.. I think the "no suspension travel at all" was just a figure of speech-ish ... I'm sure to my back it would be as bad as riding a skateboard but he's young and ,,,,,,,,,, well you know. Quote Link to comment
carrcrazy Posted November 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 Well first off it might help if you read my post a little more thoroughly the t3 sleeves are on the front of the car I'm not retarded it. The fender was wrecked before I bought it so you can't say that was my fault. And it was in cut springs we cut 1.5 coil out of it. Land I don't have a good l20b I have a l20b that someone didn't take care of the Pistons have more carbon build up than anything I've ever seen. I'm no expert at all but I know Pistons arent suposed to have an 1/8 inch of of black crud on top of them. The chain tensioner popped out and the crank pulley is cracked. Also I have a very bad 3spd automatic. And well quite frankly I'm doing what I want call me a river call me a stupid stance kid i don't care. The car is gonna get springs in the rear with new shocks. And it's gonna be low enough to scrape frame. Ever heard of frame bang gang? Quote Link to comment
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