'69 4 door dime - DD project

[Plusnone]

Also, if anyone wasn't aware that it is possible... I had new keys cut from the 4 digits stamped on the face of the ignition cylinder! Cheaper than getting keys cut to the lock, or rekeying the whole car!!!

 

I know some cars have the key code on the inside of the glove box, mine was right on the ignition!

[Draker]

There is no question that your newly arrived 510 is a 1969 model.

 

Back in the day, Datsun would stamp the data plates at the port of arrival, and models left over would get moved to the next model year. In the early 70s Nissan actually ended up getting in trouble for this and had to end the practice. I had heard (and seen examples) of this many times in the roadster world, but let me provide you a real-world example with 510s.

 

About 10 years ago, I was at a U-Pull-It yard in Eugene, Oregon.  They had two, 1969 green four-doors identical to the one you just purchased.  As I was curious about how close they were in serial numbers, I compared the VIN numbers and found something strange.  The one with the lower VIN number had a later "production date" (also a different style stamp on the plate as well).  I actually pulled the data plates off of both cars to show this example:

 

PL510-096254   Production date of 9/69

 

 

PL510-099628    Production date of 7/69

 

 

Different stamps, different ports--

 

Congrats on the new car-- looks like it will be worth the effort to bring back to life!

 

Michael

 

 

And you now reside in what part of Oregon?

[Plusnone]

So no real update (or work done) on the car yet. I was not going to proceed until the title was taken care of. But I got the last piece of paperwork in the mail yesterday and will be dropping into the dmv first thing in the am. I'll update with the news tomorrow night and maybe a few oics over the next few days after I start cleaning the thing out and digging into the motor to check its status. But in the mean time... my boys (5 and 8 yr.s) are in the cubscouts and we just did the pinewood derby today. Since I didn't want to take over their projects... I thought I needed my own. Here's what I've been up to instead of working on my actual 510. It's soooo low that no one believed it was to spec. But it was, and It raced placing second... not bad for a first timer - sleeper. During check in I had a little extra weight to add to reach the 5 oz max and what d'ya think put me on the money (pun intended)?

 

 

 

[banzai510(hainz)]

you will regret getting a Red Top Altama battery.

 

everything looks intack on the car.

 

I would just clean it up and drive it.  Theres alot of rust on the car and I dont think worth to get to perfect but a Ratsun its GREAT.

Update as things wear out.

1st thing ids a elelctronic type ignition as to make it more reliable if your dont know how points works

 

 

olddatsuns.com the tech section

[Plusnone]

you will regret getting a Red Top Altama battery.

 

everything looks intack on the car.

 

I would just clean it up and drive it.  Theres alot of rust on the car and I dont think worth to get to perfect but a Ratsun its GREAT.

Update as things wear out.

1st thing ids a elelctronic type ignition as to make it more reliable if your dont know how points works

 

 

olddatsuns.com the tech section

 

Well, I wanted to go sealed AGM (trunk mount eventually) and I had some credit at O'reilys so I went with the redtop. I've heard mixed reviews, only time will tell and for my sake I hope you're wrong. Have you had bad luck with them?

 

The car is pretty intact, just neglected. Full trim, minimally molested wiring, valance, taillight panels, front quarters, hood, doors all straight and rust free. One of the reasons I had to jump on it!!! Cleaning it up, getting it running and driving it is exactly what I am planning to do. This will be a daily driver for my short commute on surface streets as soon as possible. Then repairs and modifications as weekend projects. I've had (in the past) a datsun (260z) in a garage for a few years sitting on stands, no intention of going there again. I'll need to stop the rust and do some patches / repairs in a few spots but no other body work or paint. 

 

It already has the elec. ignition dist. but thanks for looking out and posting that link. All must-do mods for reliability are greatly appreciated!!!

 

Update, DMV was ridiculous today. Over 40 people waiting 15 minutes before they even opened the doors. I had to go to work, so... I'm going back Wed. maybe I'll camp out black-friday style hahaha. 

[thisismatt]

The Superstart AGM from Oreilly's is arguably a better battery.  Optimas aren't what they used to be...

 

Get an appointment for the DMV.  In & out in under 45 minutes.

[banzai510(hainz)]

left lights On twice and the battery wast good after that.  Common failure on redtops. Somebody said you need a special charger. I said fuck it and went back to tjust a strudy lead battery

[Plusnone]

The Superstart AGM from Oreilly's is arguably a better battery.  Optimas aren't what they used to be...

 

Get an appointment for the DMV.  In & out in under 45 minutes.

Believe it or not apt.s around the bay were anywhere from 3 - 5 weeks out. I could only really go first thing in the morning and apt.s for those time slots where around 5 weeks out....

But I got to a slower DMV (Vallejo) early Friday and was the 8th or so person, done in 45 minutes still!!!!

 

If this optima craps out I'll give the Superstart a whirl. Thanks for the info, all of my points of reference for Optimas are from buddies that were building hotrod chevys around 10-12 years ago, so probably when Optima was still in their prime. Oh well.

[Plusnone]

left lights On twice and the battery wast good after that.  Common failure on redtops. Somebody said you need a special charger. I said fuck it and went back to tjust a strudy lead battery

Well shit, maybe I need a battery cutoff. Hahaha

[Plusnone]

Update. Phones dead so no pictures tonight... I'll upload tomorrow.

 

Got the car registered in my name!!!!

Got some of the registration fees dropped (as I had one bill of sale with a $700 sales price and another around the purchase price and was able to use the $700 one for transfer fees) the DMV wouldn't budge on the back fees however (not registered since 2004) but I deducted that from the balance of what I owed the PO (we agreed on this arrangement prior). Put the sticker on my old blue plate yesterday. As for the MY (model year) 69 vs. reg'd as a 70... the car's reg even says MY 69 so if I want to go with personalized / historic plates my own reg. has the MY 69 on it!

 

I started digging in the other night and the rear seats and carpet were still soaking wet. Its been in a dry carport for a month. The seats were nasty and from the looks of them, had been for years... so out they went. The carpet and matting is wet as well so I am ripping that out to get to the floor boards. Theres some pretty bad rust down there but nothing structural and only a silver dollar sized hole where its rusted through. I'll probably find some bad spots as I go and re-evaluate my thinking, but the plan is to get everything exposed and wire brushed off then encapsulated / primed, the hole patched and move on. I want to get this thing on the road. The seats (front and back) appeared to be out of a 90's honda and the fronts will stay for now. I'd like to get matching fronts and rears so I'll be keeping my eyes open for easy swaps.

 

Tonight I started on the engine a bit. Plugs looked dirty but not dangerously so. Oh, I have an elephant cap which was a nice little surprise considering the other surprises I was finding the night before... little details... Sprayed some oil down into the cylinders and poked around a bit more then gave the engine a couple spins (with my hands on the belt and waterpump pulley which I was surprised worked) no noises, binding, etc... a little more resistance at top dead center for each piston during the rotation. Watched the pistons move so at least everything in the bottom end is connected and rotating freely.

 

I have a GM aluminum core / plastic tank radiator but the catch can and the inside were all dried up and gunky. A bit of rusty sludge... didn't seem to be any oil so hopefully not a blown headgasket... but desperately in need of a deep flush. 

 

My distributor is also NOT an OEM Electric as previously suspected but instead a pertronix ignitor swap still with the old points coil using a ballast resistor???? I'll need to look into this a bit more, I seem to remember using a pertronix ignitor in my '67 ragtop bug and not needing the ballast... I'll update when I trace the wiring / get the part numbers / etc... and find out what's going on.

 

Oh, and the brake and clutch masters are bone dry and there's sludge in the reservoirs. The brake MC seems to have screens so should be easy to pop off, clean out and replace. The clutch MC might need to get pulled and cleaned. Then I'll need to flush the lines and bleed. Anybody here have luck with the pressure bleeding setup, I'd rather do that then pump the pedals. I dont want to bench bleed the MC if possible.

 

I'll post oics tomorrow, if I'm slacking call me out.

G'night

[Draker]

Yeah, you're slacking.

 

:poke:

[Plusnone]

Yeah, you're slacking.

 

:poke:

yeah yeah yeah, I know.

[thisismatt]

Believe it or not apt.s around the bay were anywhere from 3 - 5 weeks out. I could only really go first thing in the morning and apt.s for those time slots where around 5 weeks out....

But I got to a slower DMV (Vallejo) early Friday and was the 8th or so person, done in 45 minutes still!!!!

 

If this optima craps out I'll give the Superstart a whirl. Thanks for the info, all of my points of reference for Optimas are from buddies that were building hotrod chevys around 10-12 years ago, so probably when Optima was still in their prime. Oh well.

Yep, that's about right.  I have an optima still running after installing around 2002.  It's getting tired, though.  Some time after that the quality tanked...

[banzai510(hainz)]

Pertronix will use the ballast as its a stock coil. I run this myself and find them reliable. just dont be pulling the ring out  ,just clean with a rag. Maybe one day the tape might rip off then the weights go flying. but otherwise dont fuck with it.  I have had them over 16years. Most times the dist will wear out(the bushing)

 

 

 

I see a red wire going to and from the ballast. Thats not stock so soemthing is wrong but if it works dont remove it till you understand whats going on.

 

STOCK datsun the black white wire will feed the ballast resisitor then other side of ballast goes to the + side coil an the other wire is the HOT start which bypasses to give coil 12volt during start,

[Plusnone]

Pertronix will use the ballast as its a stock coil. I run this myself and find them reliable. just dont be pulling the ring out  ,just clean with a rag. Maybe one day the tape might rip off then the weights go flying. but otherwise dont fuck with it.  I have had them over 16years. Most times the dist will wear out(the bushing)

 

 

 

I see a red wire going to and from the ballast. Thats not stock so soemthing is wrong but if it works dont remove it till you understand whats going on.

 

STOCK datsun the black white wire will feed the ballast resisitor then other side of ballast goes to the + side coil an the other wire is the HOT start which bypasses to give coil 12volt during start,

 

Thanks for the heads up, and maintenance tips. I was remembering that my vw used an ignitor with their coil, so yeah no ballast for that setup.

 

I'm not touching a thing with the wiring, except pulling the loose speaker wires and old amp / stereo power that was added until I fire the thing up. Then when its running I'll clean it up bit by bit.

[Plusnone]

Photo dump, forgive the quality...

 

back seat was "installed" with nylon rope as hold downs, hahaha

 

tossed the rear seats but the fronts weren't too nasty, they'lll stick around until she's a runner and I find new fronts and rears (and carpet and console and....)

 

noticed the front's a bit too low and why there's brand new tires on it... There are wheel spacers on the front for some odd reason. I'll pull those and roll the fender lip (put stock spring spacers in???) to hold me over until I can do a zx swap.

 

there's a bunch of smog junk on the mani.s I'll need to address too. I plan on keeping the exhaust manifold but might go to a different intake and carb. Open to suggestions for a daily driver, and no unicorn blood JDM setup that's worth more than the whole car. hahaha

 

Also, that plastic cover that's mounted over the throttle linkage. Anyone want to chime in and tell me what thats for (I'll dig it up in the manual soon enough anyway). I popped the cover off and noticed a switch that is only engaged or disengaged when the pedal in at rest. I couldn't trace the wires to see if its ignition related, didn't seem like it would be though, there's vacuum advance for that. 

[Plusnone]

GM radiator? We'll see if it springs a leak after I flush it. It's nasty.

 

missing a datsun emblem :(

anyone got a spare?

 

nasty

 

double nasty, I'll need to rip up all the sound deadening to clean off the rust and encapsulate / neutralize it.

 

 

thought it was weird for the tach to be chillin' at 3k, googled it up and found this "Your Auto Meter tachometer should go to Zero when powered on with the engine off. *See Shift-Lite Tach exceptions below.

Please keep in mind that the tachometer does not necessarily go to, or stay at Zero when the power is off. If it does not go to zero with power on, engine off, please verify your power and ground connections and available voltage. If the problem persists, visit the Ask A Question or Contact Us pages to communicate with a Tech Department representative.

*Some shift light equipped tachometers will only go to Zero momentarily. The pointer will then indicate the shift light RPM trigger point. Other shift light equipped models will act or perform like the non-shift light equipped models. If you are unsure which type of shift light tachometer you have, please visit the Ask A Question or Contact Us pages to inquire about your product with our Tech Department."

 

hack'd parcel tray, assuming it was done for speakers

[Plusnone]

Got some more time into it this past weekend. Got floor exposed, carpet and sound deadening scrapped. So this is what I need to hit with a wire wheel then treat, I'll give ospho a try. In the process I also snapped my gas pedal off, so that's another thing on the list.

 

 

 

 

 

[Draker]

Hey.. look at that! Your car has a clock. 

 

That was an option.. and kinda rare. They are worth some $$

[Plusnone]

Hood hinge snapped, so a quick fix until I get the proper stepped bolt.

 

Pulled the spacers off the front after checking full lock both directions for any clearance issues. ZX wheels on stock struts shouldn't need spacers at all from what I've read so best I can figure is that they were on for different wheels or to stretch the front track a bit but at this ride height that didn't make any sense to me. If anyone can think of a reason let me know.

Here's before.

Here's after.

 

here's the spacer, with the packaging's paper backing or something giving a few mm more, hahaha

 

while I had the wheel off I poked around a bit

 

I wonder if there is any demand for the metal dust cover thing for the stock caliper, anyone doing a full resto??? I plan on going zx brakes or something simliar with zx struts to pull the wheels back under the fender a bit more.

Also, noticed the clearancing on the strut tube which made me think previous wheels with less offset, hence the spacers...

 

 

look closely at the above pic... it seems that the strut tube was chopped. I need to dig around and get measurements of the stock perch height, etc.. to see. 

[Plusnone]

Hey.. look at that! Your car has a clock. 

 

That was an option.. and kinda rare. They are worth some $$

 

sweet! hope it works.

 

I'll follow your handy little write up in your build thread if need be!!!!!

Awesome how your thread has a table of contents by the way!!! Good looking out.

[Plusnone]

had these on my old Z

the short stem doesn't look quite right on the 510 as a fender mirror and on the door just doesn't do it for me either. Probably put these up for sale.

 

I had a domed plastic mirror on the passenger side to get a better view, hence the odd black ring on the left mirror.

[banzai510(hainz)]

those covers help keeping it from rattling.

[Plusnone]

those covers help keeping it from rattling.

Oh, I'll leave them on for sure then. Probably have more then my fair share of noises already...

I was just wondering aloud if when I scrap the stock brakes if they're worth holding onto as every image I've come across of stock calipers has them missing... any thoughts?

[banzai510(hainz)]

people  will always needs this stuff sooner or later.  Just if no body wants them at the time the guy is giving them away then most go to the dump