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"Zeke"- '72 510 2Dr


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15 hours ago, Tedman said:

 

Guess I'll have to try the dealer, then. Kind of a PITA since it's two trips- one to order, another to pickup. 

I call my orders in. I just make myself known. Set up name and number and tell them you’ll pay when it comes in. I have had other people who work there that didn’t know me and they tried to tell me to come in and pay first. Then I tell them Um no! You guys always order for me. Then they do it. 😂

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Fired up Zeke this morning at 0630 for the run out to California Speedway for the SVRA SoCal Historic Sports Car Festival. Datsun/Nissan was the featured marque, and a couple of the local Z car clubs were hosting a Datsun/Nissan car show/corral.  Roll in for the car show was supposed to be 0700-0800. Got there about 0745 and there was a lone Z car in the lot and no other Datsuns/Nissans to be seen.  WTF?  Snagged a pole position parking spot close to the gate and headed into the paddock to check out the race cars.

 

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Not a whole lot of Datsun racers to be found in the paddock, which was a surprise given that they were the featured marque. Still, plenty of cool stuff to see, though. Also racing this weekend was the SCCA Trans Am and vintage NASCAR, so plenty of V8 thunder. Here's a few snaps of the Datsun's I found.

 

Hector Cademartori's Carrera Panamericana 240Z. Hector is not only a racer but an artist and he did the artwork for the event poster.

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Ron Carter's Datsun 2000 Roadster gridded up:

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Datsun 210 set up to run GT Light:

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California Speedway is HUGE!

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Yellow Roadster never made it to the track today:

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The Rock Vest 2000 Roadster. I think Rock (what a name!) was part of Bob Sharp's crew before he started racing this Roadster. 

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Some of the cool paintwork on the Vest Roadster:

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I headed back to my car and lo and behold a modest Datsun/Nissan car show had materialized!

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Around noon-ish everyone was gathered up by the organizers and the Z club presented some "awards", which consisted of swag bags from one of Hector's sponsors- Lucas Oil. Some of the awards were  "Keeping it in the Family" (awarded to father/son 510 owners Jessie Hernandez and his son),  "Young Spirit", "Datsun Lifer" and "Grand Marshal's Choice".  Here's the "Young Spirit" winner with his swag bag presented by, from L to R,  Hector C. and Grand Marshal Casey Smollett.  Casey was one of the most successful independent Z racers in '70s and '80s SCCA and IMSA competition.

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Much to my surprise I was selected as the "Datsun Lifer"! Finally, this 40 year obsession pays off! Haha!  Swag bag was well stocked:

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After the swag giveaways, it was time for the track tours! All the Datsun/Nissan owners and accomplices piled into their cars to run a few pace car laps around the California Speedway "roval".  I've never been on this track before so I was really looking forward to this. Pretty sure I got it all on my GoPro.  Might have to open YouTube account.  I'll try and post some screen shots here at least. No one crashed...

 

After conquering the track, it was all post-coital glow in Datsun-ville. Most packed it in and hit the road at that point.Me, I slugged some coffee and headed back to the grandstands to watch some racing. Made it through the 1st 1/2 of the 1 hour TransAm race. CA Speedway is not very spectator friendly. Watching sports cars run the front half of the NASCAR oval, and then disappear between Jersey barriers save for their skimming roofs, kind of gets old quick. That, and the fact that I had accidentally left my wallet at home this morning (!). So with no driver's license and no money for lunch, an early departure was pretty much a given. Just don't get pulled over!

 

Made it home without incident. Had one of the best tuna sandwiches I've ever made. Zeke ran great. The new PCV system seems to be working. Not a whiff of the usual hot oil fumes.  With the 4.44 rear gear, I gotta get used to cruising at 4000 RPM on the freeway again. The little 2-liter doesn't seem to mind... 

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Happy 510 Day!  

Figured today it would only be appropriate to take Zeke for a drive, so I decided to finally make the pilgrimage to hallowed ground, the old BRE and Interpart shops! If it wasn’t for what went down there back in the late ‘60s- early ‘70s, I’m not sure anyone would give a shit about 510s in 2019.

The location:

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Fortunately when I arrived the driveway was clear so I pulled right in. Here's what it looks like today:

 

 

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Zeke is parked right where this iconic Champion spark plugs ad was photographed. Not much has changed with the building after all these years. Now I wish I had backed in, but oh well:

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Another period photo taken in front of the shop at 137 Oregon Street:

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As you can see, it’s a collision repair center now. I chatted briefly with the  manager when he came out to ask me to kindly move my car from the driveway. He says they still occasionally receive mail addressed to BRE! Here's Zeke parked in front of the shop:

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After I moved my car to the street, I noticed the license plate of the SUV parked ahead of me. What a coincidence!

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For a time, Interpart, BRE's parts business, was located next door to the main BRE shop, at 141 Oregon Street, then later at 100 Oregon Street (just down the block,  to the left of the oil tank in the above pic). So here’s what 141 Oregon looks like today. The address on the building says 143 Oregon, but since there’s two opposing entrances, I believe 141 would have been the door on the left (adjacent to 137 to the left) and 143 the door on the right:

 

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After I got my car running again (yup, I broke down right in front of the BRE shop on 510 Day!), I was off to my next stop.  The problem was a broken spade connector on the ignition wire that connects to the starter solenoid. Fortunately I had some wiring supplies with me and was able to crimp a temporary connnector and get back on the road. 

 

My next stop was the site of the original Nissan Motor Corp U.S.A. headquarters at 137 E. Alondra Blvd in Gardena CA. This is where Mr. K set up shop for Nissan's USA HQ before they moved into the iconic glass high rise on Figueroa near the 405/110 interchange. I think this photo is from 1963:

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Here's  what it looks like today. I think the corner of the building in the background of the photo above is to the left of Zeke behind the tree:

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Another shot of the main entrance to the building as it stands today:

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Who knows how long it’s been since a Datsun was parked in front?  Also, what a coincidence that BRE’s shop address number 137 was the same as Nissan’s original HQ.  

 

Heading back south on Main Street in Carson, I passed by the Goodyear Blimp port. Fortunately the Blimp is in town, so I hooked a U-turn for my final photo op:

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Since TSR is just down the street from the Blimp port, I stopped in and chatted with Super Mario for a while. The skies were growing threatening so I booked it home and made it high and dry. What a 510 Day!

Edited by Tedman
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Zeke hits the beach with the Targa California. We ran over 1000 miles this last weekend over some awesome roads with some awesome cars. Pismo Beach, Day 2:

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Just now, thisismatt said:

When was that?  I was just up there yesterday

Pismo pics were from Friday morning 6/7/2019. You just missed us by a day!  

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While on the Targa California run we killed A LOT of bugs on the windshield. Early in the run I tried using the wiper washer which I had revived back on page 3 of this thread, but nothing happened. Hmmm. Note to self- troubleshoot the washer pump when I get home.

 

Fast forward a couple of weeks, and I had traced the problem to an inop pump motor. Took it apart and it was full of water and corrosion. Crap. Looks like the O-rings and seal I thought were in OK shape, were not. Wiper fluid had leaked into the motor and made a mess, so I disassembled the pump. This is how the parts looked after I cleaned everything up.  You can see the small o-ring, which was rock hard and came out in pieces, to the right of the rotor. The seal, to the left of the impeller was also toast and needed to be replaced.

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I was able to find a potential replacement for the small o-ring, but that seal was going to be difficult, if not impossible to find. I soon gave up and started working on plan B- replace the whole pump. NLA from Nissan, but maybe I could find one from another car that would work? 

 

While searching for a suitable pump, I decided to check Motorsport Auto (The Z Store), and whaddya know? They sell a new OEM pump that looks exactly like the 510 pump. $45+tax+shipping and two days later I had a brand new exact replacement for the 510 pump, right down to the wire colors and connectors!

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Here it is installed under the washer bottle. I installed the assembly back in the car and it works great! 

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FWIW, if you really want a new OEM bottle (240Z application is same as 510), they also sell the complete assembly (bottle and pump) for ~$250.  

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Last weekend I took Zeke on the 4th annual Randy York Memorial Cruise.  It was a trip back to the ‘70s as Randy was not only a 510er but a Vanner during the heydays of ‘70s cruising on Van Nuys Boulevard. His van club, California Street Vans, organized the event, and a group of SoCal 510ers make the run as well. That’s Randy’s yellow Chevy van on the event dash plaque, along with his orange 510 Wagon. 

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Cool story of Randy and his Chevy van here. Gotta love that flexdam, American Racing 200S wheels (5 spoke Libres) and those quad pipes out back!

http://californiastreetvans.wixsite.com/californiastreetvans/single-post/2017/04/24/The-legacy-of-Randy-York-the-continuing-adventures-of-the-Unicorn-

 

Along with Randy's yellow van, there were also two of his ex- 510s in attendance: Dave link’s orange ’72 2-door (KA24E) and my red ’72 2-door. Randy’s wife and two adult kids cruised up Angeles Crest Highway with the group in their Odyssey van. I’m sure they appreciated the nice turn out. Here's Dave's orange 2 door:

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A few more shots from the pull out on Angeles Crest, along with a 510 group photo (thanks, Sebastian!) at the Newcomb's Ranch lunch stop.

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I've posted all of my photos from the run here:

https://socaltt510.shutterfly.com/1805

 

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They say a 510 is never really "done". Well, Zeke is about as done as any 510 I've ever owned, but it's true, there's always something more to do. In this case, addressing the drip rail trim, or lack thereof. Zeke did not come to me with the stainless drip rail trim, but actually looks decent with the bare rails painted body color, so finding and installing the trim has been a low priority. Fortunately, one of my good 510 buddies recently turned me on to a nice set of drip rail trim (thanks Seth!).  I debated whether to install it, fearing I might completely fuck it up in the process since I've never installed gutter trim before, and knowing that attempted installation was certain to scratch the paint on the drip rails, so no going back once I start.  Well, today I decided to go for it, and I'm happy to report that it worked out well.

 

Advice was to do it all by hand, or use a soft rubber mallet. I soon realized installing it purely by hand was not going to be possible, so I started in with the mallet, working from the ends toward the B-pillar. I was correct in that the paint on the rails was chipping off, so I was committed once I started. Judicious tapping with the mallet did the trick and I was able to snap on the LR section.

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Had to remove the mirror to do the LF section, but I was starting to get the hang of it.  One side  down, one to go.tXprC3v.jpg

 

Had to remove the antenna to finish the right side, but got 'er done. Stoked!  

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A couple of other minor updates: 

 

Decided to go back to all amber front turn signal lenses vs. the amber/clear JDM/Euro lenses. I think the amber ones just fit better with the old school BRE theme of the car. But not sure why the pair of amber lamp assemblies from my stash only have 1 wire, though. Coulda sworn I pulled these from my other '72 when I swapped in Euro assemblies a LONG time ago. I thought all USDM '70-73 510s had 2-wire front turn signals. Here's what the 1-wire jobs look like:

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I ended up just swapping the lenses. Maybe one of these days I'll repaint the grille.

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Finally, I've heard from more than one concerned citizen about why don't I have a license plate frame on Zeke?  The main reason was that the bullet LED bolts didn't fit through the mounting holes in any of the frames I had. Finally got around to fixing that.

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Edited by Tedman
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Great WORK!!!!  One thing I can't stand about my green 510 is that it is missing the gutter trim......I have 3 sets of decent trim and I think it will complete my car.  I have always been too scared to install it.  Looks like I just need to go for it....

Edited by five1oh
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7 hours ago, five1oh said:

Great WORK!!!!  One thing I can't stand about my green 510 is that it is missing the gutter trim......I have 3 sets of decent trim and I think it will complete my car.  I have always been too scared to install it.  Looks like I just need to go for it....


I agree I think it looks sick, but if you want I can photoshop that shit for you before hand.

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My SR car has been in hibernation pretty much ever since I brought Zeke home. I try to take it out for a drive every few months to keep things from getting too crusty. I decided that with such infrequent use, it should really have fresh coolant and oil if it's going to be mostly sitting around in the corner of my garage. Today I changed the oil and coolant, and then went for a short drive. One thing really struck me. The smell. This car has never been rebuilt, refurbished or restored. Aside from the front seats, it still has its original interior, and it still smells like an old Datsun.  

 

While I had the car out, I took the opportunity to test fit its Watanabe wheels on Zeke. Unfortunately (though not unexpectedly), the Quickor rear sway bar rubbed on the inner tire near the rim. These wheels are 15x7" +21mm offset with 205/50 tires. As on my SR car, I will have to heat and bend the sway bar arms inward ~1/2" if I ever want to run this wheel/tire setup on Zeke. Here's a shot of the LR as installed on Zeke, and you can see where the sway bar rubs on the tire.

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