SLOWPOKE - 1971 1400DX Bluebird 4dr (510)

[carterb]

While waiting for the rebuild kit to show up, I struck a deal with a 510 friend to trade a set of bumperettes for a RWD SR20 Distributor - since we stole Corey's for the Swamp Thing...

 

Usually these things are pretty misshapen but on Slowpoke they are primo!  The rubber has seen better days but the metal is perfect.  And would you believe they came off without any liquid wrench?  After the nuts were loose, I was able to thread them off by hand.  When have you ever experienced that?! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does anyone make replacement rubber pads?

 

Trade done!

 

 

[carterb]

Finally got the rebuild kit so I could take the original carb apart and clean it all out.

 

 

Note the cute little heat shield and linkage over the middle exhaust manifold runners.  Does this actuate the choke?

 

 

Back side of the carb was sprayed with lacquer.  What the heck?  Does that seal leaks or something? It's kind of thick and sticky.  Not a good lubricant anyway but it's all over the linkage.

 

 

Carb off.

 

 

We love cleaning carbs don't we?

 

 

I took it all apart, removed and cleaned out all the jets, and reassembled.

 

Float bowl didn't hold fuel.  : (

 

 

Hey, guess what?  More gas trying to escape this car!

 

How did it leak with a fresh gasket you ask?  "You DID use a fresh gasket?" you challenge?  Well, unfortunately, it looks like the JDM L14 carb must be different than the USDM L16 carb.

 

I just need this and the square section O-ring

 

 

But the ones in the kit are too large.

 

 

Here you can see the bolt pattern is different too

 

 

So, permatext to the rescue!

 

 

I let the sealant dry for 24 hours before filling the float bowl.

 

Guess what!  More leaking fuel!

 

 

But not from the carb, from the soft line connected to it.

 

When I pulled the soft line off, this time, one end actually broke off!

 

 

Okay, this is getting ridiculous.

 

Replacement soft line cut, installed, and clamped - and we are back in business.

 

 

 

A little gray sealant trace isn't the prettiest but at this point, I'm just happy to be running again - without any more fuel leaks!

 

 

 

[carterb]

I found an excellent product for removing the tar/gas stains. 

 

 

It's called Citrol

 

 

I didn't really have to do much but spray it on and wipe it off.  Amazing stuff!

 

 

I experimented on the aluminum first.  Then went to the rockers.

 

 

Note that some of the paint was removed when I wiped away the cleaner.  I think that may have actually been due to the gas/tar coating that has sat there for the last month or so.  The maker of the cleaner cautions against leaving it on your paint very long but I didn't let it soak very long at all and the paint just wiped away so I think the damage was already done.

 

 

All back together!

 

 

Looks so much better!

 

There was also a ton of speckles on the exterior.  Remember it was raining when this happened so the rain drops splashed the gas/tar mixture onto the side of the car from fender to fender!  That stuff wiped right off and did nothing negative to the paint.  Kind of fun watching the tar melt away on contact.  No - I don't want to repeat it so I can watch it again.  Not THAT much fun.

 

 

 

[carterb]

Clean!

 

 

And back to work...

 

 

Things are starting to look up! 

 

 

[carterb]

Well, the next bit of, ehem, excitement, was self inflicted...

 

I thought I'd have a go at shining up the clearcoat with some TR3.  It ended badly.

 

 

That ^^^ is AFTER I wiped it off.

 

Somehow, even though the paint is *clear* there is so much garbage in it that I turn a rag black rubbing about 1 square foot of surface area.

 

 

So, that's what I did...

 

I went over the car two more times, about 1 square foot at a time, moving to a clean part of the rag each time, until I got the car *almost* looking presentable. 

 

 

 

P.S.  my arms fell off...

[carterb]

The reward for all my efforts?  The temp gauge started reading higher than normal on the way home from work about a week later.

 

Subsequent investigation revealed that yet again, this car refuses to keep fluids where they belong...

 

 

This time, it was the little coolant hose leading to the intake manifold.

 

 

My guess is that the fuel leaking from the carburetor a couple weeks ago did it in.  Or maybe it was just 49 years of service.  Who knows.  Point is, it's dead and needs to be replaced and I should have done it while the carb was off earlier when I looked at that old hose and thought to myself (That's going to need to be replaced soon).  *sigh*

 

The reason I think it might be fuel related is because touching it in the process of removing it turned my fingers black!

 

 

Now then, let's be smart about this.  Perhaps this is a good time to replace something BEFORE it fails...  The other end of the line looks to be in similar condition so I will replace it as well.

 

 

 

Ah...  Now that looks better!

 

 

 

(don't give me a hard time for re-using a hose here, it was the only one I could find this size, and it was nice and supple - good for another 49 years?)

 

A test drive revealed that the leak was gone but so was the temp gauge.  Huh?

 

I thought maybe in the process of replacing the tubing and moving the hard line at the front of the motor I had dislodged the temp sending unit lead.  Nope, it was attached.  But when I pulled it off to check the connection, I found the terminal to be terribly corroded.

 

 

A little sand paper on the sending unit and the connector, a little squeeze with some pliers for more pre-load, and I had a temperature reading again. 

 

Okay, can we just enjoy some trouble free driving for a while now?

 

[carterb]

Now that Slowpoke seems to be running and closer to reliable, time for a few upgrades...

 

First step, mount SSS steering while I bought from Yahoo Japan while the car was in transit.

 

 

ooooohhhh, aaaahhhh....

 

 

Well, stock wheel, um....  It's not you, it's me.

 

 

Nice!

 

 

Granny donated a pair of SSS fender mirrors.  The left one has a dent.  But I think it will be a nice reminder of where they came from.

 

 

Also test fitted a set of 14" Focus Esprit wheels and tires -

 

 

 

 

 

Surprisingly, the car does roll, but the tires rub.  The wheels are 14x6.5 +10, the tires are R888 185/60R14.   I really like 185/55R14 tires on a 510, these look a little too tall, but they are perfect for this car at the moment because they are nearly identical in rolling diameter to the stock 13" tires and with the L14 and 4spd, one thing I do NOT need right now is higher RPMs on the freeway.

 

 

 

Some fender rolling will be in order so for now - I went back to the stock steelies...  But only for now!

 

[carterb]

Before the fender rolling begins, I have a set of Work Equip 03 in 14x6+5 with 195 and 205 section tires I wanted to mount, just to see where they end up - you know, for research-sake.  : )

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, that's not going to work - but I already knew that...

 

Commence Fender Rolling!!!!

 

 

Heat gun very important!

 

 

Jelly Beans very important!

 

 

We have clearance Clarence!

 

 

I'm liking this!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[banzai510(hainz)]

I like the hubcaps better

[carterb]

3 minutes ago, banzai510(hainz) said:

I like the hubcaps better

 

In many ways - me too.  : )

But it's fun to switch it up.

Edited September 5, 2020 by carterb

[carterb]

In addition to rolling the temporary left fender I'm running - I wanted to roll the replacement fender.

 

 

And in addition, tackle some fitment issues I am finding with the aftermarket fender - the two biggest of which is the way the bottom rear of the fender curls under the car at an angle, forcing it to sit too far forward in the rocker relief - and also, the fender to door gap is good at the top but too wide at the bottom, even if the aforementioned issue is fixed.

 

 

Also, and this was a little eye opening - I have the crash damage to deal with. 

I didn't realize it but the end of the core support and the lower valance are pushed back about 1" - this becomes painfully obvious when the fender is sitting there.

 

 

Look at the gap between the fender and its mounting holes!

 

 

Kind of glad actually - that will force me to fix this sooner rather than later. 

 

So I stripped the whole front end and here you can see the left side...

 

 

Compared to the right.

 

 

Just in case the fender issues were specific to the particular fender that shipped with the car, I grabbed the one I bought from Futofab.

 

 

It measured and fit exactly the same.  Makes sense because I believe they are from the same company.

 

Now I removed the right fender so I could take measurements for some pushing and pulling.

 

 

 

Oh yeah, then Jeff came over for some 280zx brake pads for Hey  (Thanks Trouble for the donation)

 

 

He showed up in a pretty dirty coupe

 

 

So I washed it for his birthday!  : )

 

 

 

 

 

 

[carterb]

Speaking of visitors, @danielc came by earlier in the day to pick up some 620 parts

 

 

and speaking of parts, I forgot to mention that a few days earlier I left one at Wesco.  Specifically, my gas door - for a paint match.

 

 

How do you spell *gulp* in dollar signs? 

[carterb]

I borrowed some hydraulic port-a-power type equipment from work so I could attempt to *gently* push the metal back where it needs to be.  Unfortunately I didn't realize it 'till I got home that I had only grabbed a pull-type cylinder.  : (

 

I really didn't want the whole weekend to go by without making progress on the car so I figured I'd take some base measurements and see what happens with a little block and hammer work.

 

With the tape placed at the back of the core support

 

 

I get about 37" to the back edge of the fender line on the A pillar.

 

 

On the undamaged right side, this same measurement is 38"

 

 

With repeated taps on a wooden block placed on the back of the core support flange, I could see it start to rotate out, pulling the inner fender dent/fold with it.

 

 

Then I moved to the inside and punched it out with the same technique

 

 

I used a slide hammer with a "hook" as well to help pull the headlight flange too

 

 

After a little more massaging to get to the magic 38" dimension, and some work with pliers to flatten some of the wavy flanges, it was time to test fit the fender again.

 

 

 

Not bad!

 

 

[rosso]

Are you sure that at your house you don't have 48 hours in a day?  Again, wow, great progress - and I really like the new wheels.

[banzai510(hainz)]

I think my SSR mesh would look good on that car or the hubcaps

[4perrev]

Straight time capsule, wow.  The car is beautiful and you have done it justice my friend!!  Great find.

[rosso]

I forgot to agree on your previous post that citrus cleaners are great - I use it for getting almost anything sticky/gooey off anything. And most of them are non-toxic.

[carterb]

I still had some work to do on the fender fitment.

 

I took some comparison measurements between the stock and aftermarket fenders to try and find out where the difference(s) are.

Here is the measurement from the bottom of the headlight cut-out to the mounting flange on a stock fender.  ~ 1 7/16"

 

 

And at the top of the cutout ~ 2 1/4"

 

 

The aftermarket fender has about the same measurement to the bottom of the headlight cutout ~ 1 7/16"

 

 

And maybe just a little higher than stock at the top of the cut out ~ 2 5/16"

 

 

Lining them up on the floor, they look pretty close overall - in this view

 

 

Though the leading edge of the aftermarket fender at the bottom is tucked in (back) al little more than stock.

 

 

But here is one of the big issues.  Lining up the bottom rear of the fenders, with the leading edge and mounting hole lined up - look how much more material there is on the aftermarket fender!  You can see how the fold is not done quite right.

 

 

Closer view of the same

 

 

If I line up the back edge, it really highlights the difference.

 

 

Because I am awesome, at some point in moving these fenders around the new one slipped and rolled onto the side, landing on a bolt.  *sigh*  Good thing I love body work!  : )

 

 

These fenders are a little thicker gauge than stock and the lip takes quite a bit more force to roll.

 

 

I think this is actually one of Corey's fenders (I'm mounting them to slowpoke to roll them) but you get the idea.  I rolled as much as I could with the roller and then I needed to finish with a hammer and dolly.  Especially on the leading and trailing edges of the fender opening.

 

 

 

Here is a fresh, unrolled fender for comparison.

 

 

 

Before

 

 

After

 

 

[carterb]

Back to fender fitment, here is Corey's right fender on Slowpoke - so i could compare on this car compared to his shell.

Note mounting hole location compared to panel nut in core support

 

 

Fitment up top is not too shabby

 

 

But at the bottom, you can see how big the fender to door gap grows, and how it doesn't seat in the rocker relief very well.

 

 

This is because of that issue with the rear of the lower fender, see how it goes back at an angle? 

 

 

I can't pull the fender back farther or it sits on top of (under) the rocker and also the mounting hole no longer lines up.

 

The only thing to do is cut off the offending portion of the fender.

 

 

Then I'll need to weld this together.

 

 

First a test fit.  See how big the fender gap is at the bottom?

 

 

Compared to the top.

 

 

But now I can pull it back.  I'm happy with what I cut off so I welded it and ground it back down flat

 

 

 

Now I can pull it back

 

 

I slotted the mounting hole and you can see it bolts up with much better fitment now.

 

 

Honestly, I could probably go a little more but it's difficult to pull the fender back even this much.  It really doesn't want to be in this shape.

 

 

And the gap looks nearly identical now to the stock fender on the right side.

 

 

 

So now I just need Wesco to finish mixing my paint!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 23, 2021 by carterb

[carterb]

Now that the left fender area is back where it is supposed to go.  I mounted an eyebrow molding to the temporary fender and grabbed a replacement headlight door.  Mangled one on top, replacement on bottom.  Not quite a shiny but at least it's the right shape.

 

 

Damage is even more obvious on the back side

 

 

Good and bad overlaid

 

 

Even the lower grill trim fits nice now.  They sent a replacement but the one on the car was not really bent, it was just strained trying to reach back 1" with the rest of the left front corner before I brought it back forward.

 

 

Oh yeah, and I made a template for the fender mirrors and rocker trim mounting holes.

 

 

 

 

[carterb]

Sorry to any and all adversely affected by the fires right now but they sure are making incredible sunsets!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wesco is still holding my gas door hostage.

I called today to see how the paint match is coming and they asked me to come in and see for myself.

In the shade it looks perfect but in the sun it is completely off.  The lady behind the counter took it into the sun and agreed so they said they would continue working on it. 

Not sure why they stopped...  Oh well.  I will trust that they know what they are doing right?

--carter

[KELMO]

Awesome pics. As the sun set last night, in the Southwest, it had a pink color to it. We have some fires going here also but nothing compared to the West coast.

[carterb]

Back to mirror mounting - no fender paint yet so this temporary fender will have to do.  I primed the bare metal to dissuade the rust from coming in the meantime. 

 

 

 

 

Looks so much better with two mirrors now.  Plus I was really missing the visibility, especially when merging.

 

The other thing I'm missing is heat/defrost - and the nice run of summer weather was coming to an end very quickly.

All the plumbing appeared to be present and the heater temperature knob seemed to slide okay but there was no heat coming from the core.

Closer inspection revealed three things:

1)  The heater control valve was corroded and sticky.

2)  The heater control valve cable was split so even though the slider worked, the cable inside did not move the valve lever arm, instead the whole cable would just bow in and out.

3)  Working on this part of the car on a RHD Datsun sucks!!!  The pedal box is perfectly placed to block all access to this area.

 

Here is what the corrosion looks like - evidence of a leak at one point, though it is dry now.

 

 

How do you even get in there?

 

 

Removing the defrost vent tube helped - though I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get it back on after I removed it.

 

 

Another look at the valve now with more access

 

 

Using a screwdriver for leverage, I was able to pry the valve open

 

 

A subsequent test drive showed that heat/defrost functionality was restored and no leaks were evident.  Plus, I got the defrost boot back in place!  (can't say the same for some of the skin off my knuckles)

 

I need the heater for at least the next 6-7 months so it will just stay this way 'till late spring/summer when I can try to revive full functionality here.

[carterb]

Next on the list is my fuel gauge.  You have already read about the "temporary" empty warning line the PO added to the gauge cover. 

 

 

Well, I figured I could kill two birds with one stone here as I had an extra gauge cluster with a fuel gauge and factory tachometer!

 

A late model 3 wire tachometer to be exact.

 

 

 

Before tackling it though, I had to figure out wiring.  In the mean time, I became distracted by a horrible squeaking noise from the rear suspension.

 

http://datsun510.com/uploads/monthly_2020_10/10012020_slowpoke_(1).MOV.1f7f6648841c8ca85a2d542164ff99d0.MOV

 

I was nearly positive that it was coming from the top of the rear coil-overs so I raised the rear of the car and lowered the coilovers from the shock towers so I could lubricate the bushings.  I used some silicone spray.

 

 

shot it here and between the bushings on top as well

 

 

 

I think the noise was only coming from the left side but I went ahead and did both just in case.

 

 

So much better!

 

http://datsun510.com/uploads/monthly_2020_10/10012020_slowpoke_(2).MOV.74a3090a673acef9ff1df362d3718381.MOV

 

Always feels good to make a little improvement now and then.

 

God gave us another amazing sunset to enjoy as well.

 

 

[carterb]

Almost forgot, I called Wesco again to check on my paint.  She said (again) that I could come check it out if I wanted to.  I said, you are the expert, are you happy with the match?  The fact that you haven't called me makes me think you are not done and if you are not happy with it, I certainly won't be.  She agreed and asked for another couple of weeks...

 

Well the next day she called me and said it's ready for pickup.

 

I went to grab it and right now I'm just not sure what to say.

 

 

The dot on the left is the current mix (I think)

 

They had no record of my original order so we had to go through again picking the reducers, additives, clear coat etc.  I was kind of happy that the total was $350 instead of $500 but that makes me think I'm either getting less paint or less quality. 

 

Anyway, she said the only way to know for sure how good the match is is to spray it, so I guess it's on me now.

 

From my untrained eye, it seems like there is way too much metallic in the paint.

 

It looks too silver when the light is reflecting on it:

 

 

And too dark when not:

 

 

And now the weather is rain and 50's at best for the next 6 months so...  I'm a little deflated at the moment but at least I got my gas door back.  : )

 

After Wesco, I went to Foreign Engines in Lynnwood to see Bill and ask if he has any RB25's for Jeff, or anything else cool for that matter, it seems like cool JDM engines are getting more scarce and expensive by the month!  Try to find an SR20DE or DET lately?  $$$$$$$

 

Bill was out so talked to Ratsun member Jordan instead.  Hi Jordan!  : )

 

Anyway, they did have lots of scrap!

 

 

 

I would love to have just the pile of bolts they take out!  : )