carterb Posted February 28, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2021 We have just this month started to meet in person again. Other churches were open earlier. For us - it was a difficult balance between respecting/obeying the letter of the law (they want the speakers and vocalists and band members wearing masks) and trying to reach the needs of the individuals desiring to worship and attend church again. In two weeks we re-start our children's/kids ministry - which I am a part of. And we plan to host a COVID friendly Easter egg hunt this year which will be interesting. We still have more on-line than in person, and it may be that way for a long time... Check out https://silvercreekfamily.org if interested. 1 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted February 28, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2021 Going back to work after the snow didn't quite go as planned. Battery was dead! I took my wife's car to work and then put the battery on the charger that night when I got home from volleyball. Car started right up the next morning but the next day started running rough. I've been there before. Wednesday when I got home - it died in my driveway. Further investigation revealed the battery was dead again due to a failed alternator - you know, the rebuilt one I installed a month ago! So I charged the battery twice more to make it to the end of the week and then yesterday I swapped the alternator out for the one that used to be in Granny. Just like that - back to a working charging system. O-Reillys verified the rebuilt alternator was bad and is honoring their lifetime warranty. So I'll keep using Granny's and have one sitting on the shelf ready for next time. I'm thinking it might be a good idea to install a voltage gauge - just to keep an eye on things. Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted March 3, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 Next step... Fix the sticky choke. Basically it doesn't want to come on - the linkage is not frozen but it moves so slowly that even if I hold the pedal down for 30 seconds or so in the morning, it is not enough to close the butterfly so it starts hard and runs like crap until it warms up. I think I showed a photo earlier with all the varnish on the back side of the carb. Like it was sprayed with undercoating or stop-leak or something... Anyway, I set out to fix it last weekend. I started by spraying it down with carb cleaner. The linkage was INSTANTLY free and the butterfly could snap opened and closed just like that. Okay, that was too easy. I buttoned it back up and put the air cleaner on. Monday It started up so easy in the morning and I didn't need to warm it up for 2-3 minutes before driving. Everything was awesome! New alternator that was actually charging my battery. Choke that works. It's like a new car! But then when I got close to work I noticed it was idling kind of high (1,500 rpm) so it looks like now the choke is sticking ON instead of OFF. Tonight when I got home from work I removed the air cleaner and verified the choke is stuck almost fully closed. I removed the air cleaner assembly and sprayed carb cleaner on the linkage again and with a tap, the linkage was intantly free again and the choke opened right up. But after dinner it was sticky again. It seems the cleaner melts the varnish but then when the cleaner evaporates, the varnish re-solidifies and gums up the linkage. I hosed it down with cleaner one more time followed immediately by a WD40 wash. First test was successfully. Cold engine - throttle sets choke. Starts right up. A few minutes later the butterfly starts to open from the heat just like it is supposed to. We'll see how it goes tomorrow. I may have to disassemble all that linkage and clean/wipe it down really good to get rid of the varnish. Why is it there in the first place? *NOTE* If you happen to be leaning over a hot engine while spraying carb cleaner. DO NOT INHALE!!! I feel like I took about 3 years off my lungs. : ( Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted March 3, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 Success!!!! Frost on the windshield this morning. I raised the hood, removed the air cleaner cover, and rotated the throttle linkage. The choke snapped closed. Replaced air cleaner cover, latched the hood. Car started right up and ran perfectly smooth. When I got to work I was idling at a reasonable RPM before I turned off the motor. Just to be sure I raised the hood and removed the air cleaner cover again and sure enough, choke butterfly wide open. Excellent! Likely the best all this has worked since I got the car. 1 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted July 15, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2021 What can I say about this car. It runs like a top! It has performed exceptional daily driver duty month after month. Here are some pics from this spring (chasing cherry blossoms) 3 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted July 15, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2021 In case you were wondering, yes, you can fit a brand new toilet in the back of a 510 2 1 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted July 15, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2021 Parking in the grass means car show right? 5 Quote Link to comment
rosso Posted July 16, 2021 Report Share Posted July 16, 2021 Love the wheels and car in your private car show lot. Now you just need to get the rice wagon to haul those toilets. Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted July 23, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2021 Had a few spare minutes the other day so I decided it was time for a new look... Going to run the Jilba Racing wheels for a while. I do like 14" more than 15" on a 510. 1 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted July 23, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2021 For some reason, this car looks really nice in B&W, what do you think? 2 Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted July 23, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2021 (edited) excuse my laziness but is this shift boot available in the US? This is a stock 4spd car. I found one on Yahoo Japan but it said it was aftermarket and the dimensions were unclear and it would have been over $100 by the time it hit my door. Edited July 23, 2021 by carterb Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted July 23, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2021 3 hours ago, carterb said: excuse my laziness but is this shift boot available in the US? This is a stock 4spd car. I found one on Yahoo Japan but it said it was aftermarket and the dimensions were unclear and it would have been over $100 by the time it hit my door. Found one! (out of stock of course) https://zcardepot.com/products/shift-boot-seal-rubber-510# Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted April 2, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2022 Back in stock - and now in my garage! I hope it doesn't disintegrate in 12 months like the Hurst brand shift boot I once bought. Oh, and I bought a 5spd. Futofab to the rescue! Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted April 2, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2022 Slowpoke survivin' the winter Found him a Christmas present on Yahoo Japan... NOS left side SSS fender mirror with broken glass. Will replace my dented housing with this one - swapping over the mirror/glass portion. Perfect! Plus, I needed another "gasket" as the one on Cooper shattered when that girl hit me in her Jetta. This was a good score! Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted April 2, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2022 Bonus! Got the dome light working! That turned out to be temporary. I believe the door switch is faulty (for a short while I could wiggle/rotate it to turn on the light) but have not taken the time to replace yet. Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted April 2, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2022 (edited) I have the end of 2021 a little out of order. I found another goodie from Yahoo Japan at the end of last summer. A right side tail light assembly. The frame is not in the greatest shape but I needed a replacement lens and this whole set was cheaper than all of the lenses I had attempted to buy and lost. Peek-a-boo! While I was messing around, I also tried to correct this issue on the other side which was leading to water in the tail light housing. I was able to straighten out the sheet metal but it didn't fix the water issue because the plastic housing had taken a contoured set to match the dent. I need to heat it up and/or add some sealant. I was trying to avoid sealant for the benefit of the next owner... Edited April 2, 2022 by carterb Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted April 2, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2022 January sunrise - or was it a sunset? The day's were so short I guess that's kind of the same thing. Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted April 2, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2022 (edited) I have trouble opening up my wallet far enough to pay full price for things. Especially when full price is ridiculous. I've been looking for new tail light lenses for this car since I first bought it. They rarely come up for sale and when they do the price gets bid up to the stratosphere. SSS Restorers mentioned NOS lenses being available and when I contacted them they wanted $675 for the pair. That's just the lenses mind you. If you wanted the whole assembly they charge $2,500. Meanwhile, back to my reality... I found these "Genuine NOS" lenses on ebay. I have doubts about their providence - though I suppose they could actually be made by the original manufacturer - and the quality looks pretty good except that I can see the glue marks from the chrome trim. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I am willing to live with compromises to stay within my budget. I bet they will look amazing on the car! Edited April 2, 2022 by carterb Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted April 2, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2022 Now - about that 5spd I bought... It was supposed to come with a shifter but it didn't. Then it did. But the shifter didn't fit. If I put the cup all the way down into the receiver, I couldn't fit the pivot pin. It needed to go down maybe another 1/2"! First I started looking for the *right* shifter but upon further investigation I learned that the receiver in the selector shaft in the transmission had a 1/2" of broken cup and other debris pressed into the bottom. After extracting all that garbage, the shifter above fit just fine. Things are looking up! Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted April 2, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2022 An autocross buddy of Jeff's gave him a trailer full of 510/SR/L-motor parts. Fortunately for me, Jeff hates L-motors - so he passed them on to me. Part of the deal was a "built" L18 that was "running when pulled". Hmmm... If I'm going to be pulling the tranny - I may as well pull the motor too. : ) Let's get to it then! One perfectly good running L14 & 4spd - time to leave the nest. Everything went pretty smooth but the right side heater hose/heater core connection was TOUGH! (more on that later) I'm excited for the coming improvement! Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted April 2, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2022 Before I started pulling the motor I made sure I had the parts needed for the swap - in this case - an Experimental Engineering crossmember and 280Z transmission isolator: Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted April 2, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2022 Next step was to prep the engine for installation. In the process I found that the dip stick had been relocated - and when you pulled the dip stick to check the oil, the entire tube came with it. Plus it had an oil filter relocation adapter installed which can't be clocked to work on a 510, and it had multiple oil and water ports (assuming for aftermarket gages) that would have to be plugged and there were a couple other issues that started making this project increase in scope. I just wanted to do a quick swap and get right back on the road. At this point though I wasn't willing to give up on the L18 and put the L14 back in so fortunately, the L18 I had removed from Granny was sitting on a dolly 10 feet away. So I rolled that one over, installed the 5spd, checked the clutch fork actuation, removed the 5spd, swapped the through out bearing collar for a longer one, reinstalled the 5spd, and bolted the whole thing in. Now we're getting somewhere! Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted April 2, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2022 Easy end first! : ) This is a trick photo - the rubber isn't fully installed. The shifter ears on the dogleg box are pretty far forward on the stock tranny cover assembly. I removed the screws with the thought of moving it farther forward but man that thing is glued down! So for now we'll just keep it in odd gears. : ) Tranny drained and re-filled with Redline MT-90 Jeff wouldn't let me re-install the stock carb so I guess SUs it is. I found enough parts in my box to come up with a full set! Even found a re-plated center linkage assembly. The head on this L18 is just a 210. It may have been the original L14 head, not sure. The mileage was so low on Granny it always seemed odd to me that they would have replaced the bottom end. Maybe they just wanted a little more power for that 3spd tranny to work with? Anyway, I went through a stack of gaskets and found one that matched the port sizes pretty nicely. Found a fuel rail too. Need to remember to find a hose to match up to the PCV. Had to do some trimming on the heat shield for the crank case breather but in the end, everything bolted up nicely. Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted April 2, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2022 After making the electrical and fuel connections and adding a little primer. I cranked it over a few times and it fired right up! https://datsun510.com/uploads/monthly_2022_04/488654996_03072022slowpoke.MOV.ff44246bfdd0e7e5afdefd86954cdd95.MOV Now for the details - it runs but I have no accelerator linkage. As many of you know the SU linkage is about 90 degrees off of the stock linkage so the "hook" is not pointed in the right direction. I must have a dozen different linkages but they are all in the stock orientation. I have twisted one to work in the past but that is not my favorite method as it always left me concerned with the strength of the rod afterwards (not that much force is placed on that thing) so after digging through some bins, I found a steel bushing the perfect size to allow me to cut and rotate the hook. I'll use the bushing as a sleeve covering the cut I made through the shaft. I tack welded one side, then installed it in the car to mark proper clocking for the other side Then finished the welding and cleaned - primed - and painted. Yay! Working throttle. Now let's go for a drive! https://datsun510.com/uploads/monthly_2022_04/1082766152_03122022slowpoke(1).MOV.8236090af93bad2f09b1e20044f7fec6.MOV Tranny shifts perfectly in all gears and makes no noises! Carbs need some further tuning but all signs are positive at this point right? Quote Link to comment
carterb Posted April 2, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2022 Wrong. My temp started climbing on my short test drive and when I got home I found my footwell full of coolant. Remember that struggle I had with the heater hose? It must have cracked the heater valve or at least dislodged the 50 year build up of deposits that were keeping the coolant inside the system. : ( A note on the color. That is water my friend. I must have flushed the radiator for a 1/2 hour and still the tan/rusty colored stuff was coming out. This is the third car I've got from Japan that had this issue. Do they not use antifreeze in Japan? Or is this the remnants of some kind of cooling system additive they use? Jeff said his Sunny was the same! In the mean time - I'll finish the air box with the aim of correcting the above issue and driving this car to work again soon. So easy to install with no LHD master cylinders in the way! : ) 1 Quote Link to comment
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