Ed’s 510 build

[Teddyeddy]

So me and my dad recently bought a 70’ 510 and I’m gonna be honest i don’t know that much about cars, I’m not completely clueless either like I’ve done some research online and stuff but it’s not like real experience so I’m new to this basically. Anyway the car needs a lot of work. Like it has a good amount of rust, the engine doesn’t  run, the trans is leaking and the suspension doesn’t look good either. Anyway I’m just here to ask you guys for help with where to find parts and what parts to use and i wanted to make a separate forum for all my questions and stuff. Thanks in advanced. Btw I’m 21 in college with barely any money to sustain myself so the cheaper the better guys

[Teddyeddy]

If you guys have any pointers I’m all ears 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Are you going to restore it? Or modify it? Restoration parts can be found, but good NOS parts are getting very scarce. There are plenty of performance parts out there from shops like https://technotoytuning.com/

 

Does the car run and drive?

[Teddyeddy]

Im going to try to restore it as much as possible so the more original parts the better but we will use some performance parts in it as well so it’s a little more fun to drive. Nothing to crazy though like I’m not putting a turbo in it anytime soon but i would like to have dual carbs and depending if we have to rebuild this engine or not we might just go for an l20 instead. But the car does not run at the moment.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

There's nothing fun about a stock 510. They need to be lowered even if just a bit. They need camber adjustment front and rear, stiffer front sway bar and springs and some front caster adjustment too. These parts are all bolt on and won't hurt the inherent value of the car. Actually, they'd improve the value. 280ZX struts and front brakes bolt on, and combined with a 280ZX master cylinder and finned aluminum 240Z drums in back make the car stop nicely and are "period correct".  I think you can even get re-pop finned drums now, and they're not that expensive.

 

Motor and trans - a stock L20B with a cam, Weber DGV and good exhaust system will waken it up. Re-curve the distributor too. A motor like that will give you an easy 125hp or more, depending on some variables and tuning.

 

That car I described above is so much fun to drive.

 

Restoration parts...Ebay, Troy Ermish, and others, but as I said, some parts are hard to come by. Window seals, felts and rubbers are all easy to find and will give the car a new feel, just by taking out some of the rattles and wind noise.

[Teddyeddy]

4 hours ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

There's nothing fun about a stock 510. They need to be lowered even if just a bit. They need camber adjustment front and rear, stiffer front sway bar and springs and some front caster adjustment too. These parts are all bolt on and won't hurt the inherent value of the car. Actually, they'd improve the value. 280ZX struts and front brakes bolt on, and combined with a 280ZX master cylinder and finned aluminum 240Z drums in back make the car stop nicely and are "period correct".  I think you can even get re-pop finned drums now, and they're not that expensive.

 

Motor and trans - a stock L20B with a cam, Weber DGV and good exhaust system will waken it up. Re-curve the distributor too. A motor like that will give you an easy 125hp or more, depending on some variables and tuning.

 

That car I described above is so much fun to drive.

 

Restoration parts...Ebay, Troy Ermish, and others, but as I said, some parts are hard to come by. Window seals, felts and rubbers are all easy to find and will give the car a new feel, just by taking out some of the rattles and wind noise.

Yea i wasn’t planning on keeping everything stock i wanted to have at least a little bit of performance so it isn’t just a show car. I did want to make it kind of a retro modern build so  i was thinking like an L series engine with some performance upgrades obviously and maybe a trans from a Z and then like aftermarket coil overs. I was also thinking of maybe converting the engine from carb to an efi system because I heard it’s more efficient and more hp but I’m not sure what i would need for that and how to do it. 

[banzai510(hainz)]

sell it, your broke ,its rusted rust never sleeps.  then saying fuel injection????  what you mention already your in the 4-5  K $ terrritory

If just outside body rust were metal still solid then thats ok.  If Ohio,Midwest American rust sell it.

 

If this is a daily driver then your off to a bad start. Get a reliable car for school.

 

best to have this as 2nd car in garage and work it on the side otherwise when it breaks as a daily your goin to be fucked.  Im saving you from torment, These are 50 yr old cars and things always go bad. I had 3 at one time and 2 would go down. 3 rd was a open top 510 and no driving in rain or winter so really all 3 was down and save by a Jeep Cherokee I had.

[Teddyeddy]

12 minutes ago, banzai510(hainz) said:

sell it, your broke ,its rusted rust never sleeps.  then saying fuel injection????  what you mention already your in the 4-5  K $ terrritory

If just outside body rust were metal still solid then thats ok.  If Ohio,Midwest American rust sell it.

 

If this is a daily driver then your off to a bad start. Get a reliable car for school.

 

best to have this as 2nd car in garage and work it on the side otherwise when it breaks as a daily your goin to be fucked.  Im saving you from torment, These are 50 yr old cars and things always go bad. I had 3 at one time and 2 would go down. 3 rd was a open top 510 and no driving in rain or winter so really all 3 was down and save by a Jeep Cherokee I had.

It’s not my daily driver i already have a reliable car. It’s just a side project for me and my dad. And it’s not completely rusted just a little on the quarter panels and on the rear doors. I’ve ordered new quarter panels and we’ve already started cutting and welding sheet metal for the doors. We’re in California so not Midwest. The fuel injection was just a question for down the line to see if it was worth it or not for now we’re keeping the carb set up but i just wanted to have a plan of stuff I’m able to do to it 

[banzai510(hainz)]

If not a daily driver then yeah work on it slowly and youll be fine then.

 

I dont drive over 60miles per hour anymore so I dont know how much you really need

 

I say electronic ignition is the best upgrade and new 3core radiator

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Right, forgot the three row radiator. Good call.

 

EFI on an L motor is not something people do. Can it be done? Sure, but I've been in the business for decades and I've only ever seen EFI on an L motor twice.

 

For retro build, best to keep it simple. The coil overs sound good, but you don't need them in the rear. Unless you want to be able to make ride height changes.

 

Another great mod is a slotted rear crossmember. Slotting the rear trailing arm bolt tabs in the crossmember allows for camber and toe adjustments, which will be needed if you're going to lower the car more than an inch. I believe T3 sells the coilover parts, but I think you better go to Troy Ermish for the slotted crossmember. He makes one with completely new adjustable tabs, instead of drilling and slotting the existing tabs.

 

CV rear axle shafts are also great on a lowered car. They reduce the vibrations caused by the clunky u-joint stock rear shafts.

 

Bump steer spacers under the front struts is another nice mod. Shortened T/C rods too. Delring bushings all around, steering box brace, there are tons of little things you can do to a 510 that add up to a great handling car.

 

Get the couple of Datsun books out there to help you. Both are antiquated, but if building a retro car, they are perfect. The Honsowetz book and the other one. What's it called guys? I forget.

[r0p0doe]

On 10/11/2021 at 10:28 PM, Teddyeddy said:

If you guys have any pointers I’m all ears 

We like pics, I don't see any....

[datzenmike]

On the cheap? Cheap or limited funds is all relative. Cheap to you might mean you only have $10K to spend on it.

 

Cheap to me...

It will cost the same to rebuild an L16 as it will to rebuild an L20b and instant 20hp increase. Transmission leak is probably the $5 rear seal and a couple of hours to change. Z car transmission? like a 5 speed?? The 620 and the 810/Maxima use the same one and likely cheaper if not from an actual Z car. Five speeds are only good for highway driving, if mostly in town don't bother. A five speed does not make a stock car faster. 

 

If really set on EFI get a KA24E or KA24DE with transmission. Lot of work and $$$.  But tons of power and reliable starting and running without the constant 'tuning/maintenance' of the stock points and carburetor.

 

Suspension

New shocks on the back right off... The fronts you can remove the struts and disassemble and pour out the thin watery hydraulic oil and replace with thicker  20W motorcycle fork oil to stiffen it up. That's about $15 and that's for the expensive stuff. While apart you can cut the bottom spring perch off and with a little math calculate and cut a coil or so off the coil spring to increase the spring rate. Now assemble and use a pair of $20 2" split collar clamp to support the spring perch. The ride height is now adjustable and the dampers (shocks) renewed and firmer. All for under $50.... talk about cheap.  Naturally this does not improve the brakes. For that the '79-'83 280zx struts (turbo struts are the same) are a well documented up grade with massive calipers and larger vented rotors. You may need to switch to 14" rims* for clearance. These will drop the front slightly as is, but there is always the above modifications and you will have to cut the zx spring perches off anyway. Also the stock 3/4" master cylinder may be overwhelmed by the 280zx calipers and give a mushy brake pedal. If no brake booster try a 13/16 or 7/8" master.

 

* Know in advance what off set you need to keep the tires inside the fenders before you fall in love and impulse buy a set. After all, the car will be lower and there are bumps in the road.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[yenpit]

Welcome!  Lots of good USED parts out there!

 

Check out www.kfvintagejdm.com for patch panels!

[420n620]

5 hours ago, r0p0doe said:

We like pics, I don't see any....

Got a Camera ?  ^^^^^^^^^^^^ This comment is approved cause were pic whores, besides that, pic's are worth a thousand words. 

 

Edited October 13, 2021 by 420n620

[Teddyeddy]

25 minutes ago, 420n620 said:

Got a Camera ?  ^^^^^^^^^^^^ This comment is approved cause were pic whores, besides that, pic's are a thousand words. 

 

how do i upload pictures

[420n620]

1 minute ago, Teddyeddy said:

how do i upload pictures

Tap on the Quote and a window will drop down so you can comment and/or tap on  Drag files here to attach, or choose files... to open your file to your pictures.

I'm on a PC, should be different on a smart or android phone. I don't know how to do that. Someone will come along and explain, I hope. 

 

 

 

[Teddyeddy]

7 minutes ago, 420n620 said:

Tap on the Quote and a window will drop down so you can comment and/or tap on  Drag files here to attach, or choose files... to open your file to your pictures.

I'm on a PC, should be different on a smart or android phone. I don't know how to do that. Someone will come along and explain, I hope. 

 

 

 

yea Im on pc but its not giving me that option

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

16 hours ago, Teddyeddy said:

yea Im on pc but its not giving me that option

I just hit the choose files button on the bottom of the page and clicked on an old race car pic of mine. Let's see if it comes through. I normally use Photobucket, but unless you need third party hosting for business, don't go that route.

[iceman510]

On 10/13/2021 at 6:56 PM, Teddyeddy said:

yea Im on pc but its not giving me that option

What browser are you using?  Maybe try a different one if you are not seeing it.  It is plain as day normally at the bottom of the reply window.

[Teddyeddy]

9 hours ago, iceman510 said:

What browser are you using?  Maybe try a different one if you are not seeing it.  It is plain as day normally at the bottom of the reply window.

I tried using edge then chrome and then on my phone i used safari, it didn’t give me the option to upload files but the pictures i put on my profile are of my car it’s not much but it’s better than no pictures 

[edekalil]

Welcome to the forum and can't wait to see your car, you'll get that pick thing figured out. Good luck with your car.

[yenpit]

At bottom of this thread, use "reply to this topic", window pops up, look in lower left corner, see paperclip & should say "Drag files here to attach, or choose files".  Files need to be smaller, so might need to resize 😁

[mrbigtanker]

Open up a flicker account.