A 510 goon named Cactus Peel

[Anonymous Waffle]

Hey guys, got another project again. This ones been on the burner for about 7-8 months, as I bought this not too long after Powerland. Bought this from Jbirds510, a 69 510 wagon in a cactus green color. 

 

My hope is to make this a nice cruiser set up for long drives and camping. Perfect for events like powerland and my local club runs. And of course it'll still be low, I'm young and dumb. Okay, picture time.

 

*Updated the photos to reduce their sizes*

 

 

How it currently looks

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interior needs alot of help. The wiring is a disaster. Dash wiring isn't too bad, but I will have to make a whole new harness for the engine side.

 

Bought a reproduction wagon door set online, and I'm looking for carpet options. I'm also on the lookout for a pair of stock seats. 

 

Need to find a couple of body panels. The rear valence piece is mismatched and quite holy. The rear hatch is a lime green instead of the cactus green. My hood and cowl is also two different colors under the black paint. Either I'll try and find some color matched replacements, or maybe I'll paint them if I can find a matching paint. But painting them won't be very patina-like lol.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2022 by Anonymous Waffle

[Anonymous Waffle]

More photo dumps. 

 

Here is the crappy engine harness. If anyone happens to have a 69 wiring harness for sale, I'd love to buy it!

 

 

 

 

Where it was stored for half a year 

 

 

The driver rear quarter has a thick dosing of bondo on it, from what I can only assume is a previous accident that lead to the "spray" job. A large section is missing and has some pretty bad rust underneath. So I'll scrape all the bondo off, and grind the rust down. Then I'll probably find that red primer and spray it to stop it from rusting later.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2022 by Anonymous Waffle

[Anonymous Waffle]

I spent an hour washing the car and doing some test spots on removing the black walmart spray job. So far all of the paint is very thin, and a few spots have a very thin layer of filler primer. FYI I am currently using 0000 steel wool and lacquer thinner.

 

 

You can see the textured parts is the primer I believe. 

 

Lots of good patina 😈

 

 

The rear quarter has been repainted with a green color and is very thin too, but since all the bondo will be removed, it won't matter.

 

 

Also featuring the neighborhood cat who likes to hangout when i work on my cars.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2022 by Anonymous Waffle

[iceman510]

Big project.  Enjoy!

[Anonymous Waffle]

Update on some work. With work being so busy, I get about an hour a day before work, and a day out of a weekend to work on it, but progress is progress. I'm trying to get it just ready enough for powerland, that's the big goal afterall.

 

Lots of paint removal. Found a couple panels that have been replaced. 

 

 

 

Had some help too!

 

 

 

 

Removed the rear quarter bondo. Found some thick bondo, about a 1/8" in some areas. Rear driver door was replaced with a white door. 

 

I used a small propane torch and a scraper to soften and scrape the bondo off in chunks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This section was pulled. Going to weld up these holes.

 

 

 

I need to clean off the leftover bondo, then either I'll paint it with some paint I order from automotivetouchup, who had this color for order, but if I like the look, I might just clear over the ground metal 😈

 

Lots of bondo! This was heavy

 

Edited September 29, 2022 by Anonymous Waffle
Fixing images.

[thisismatt]

Y'ouch

[KELMO]

My grey 1200 had some bondo on it like that also.

 

It looked like some let Captain Bondo loose on it. Looks like the same guy was let loose on that goon.

[the510keeper]

That's a job 0000 steel wool and Lacquer thinner. 

Did i see this for sale recently 

 

Enjoy, looks like a fun project 

[Anonymous Waffle]

7 hours ago, the510keeper said:

That's a job 0000 steel wool and Lacquer thinner. 

Did i see this for sale recently 

 

Enjoy, looks like a fun project 

This is one of Jbirds510's he didn't really mess around with too much. I got it shortly after powerland 2021. 

 

For paint removal that's exactly what I've been using. Works good, fast on the black paint, slow on the second layer of green on top of the og green. 

[Anonymous Waffle]

Fixed the images! I was posting the images incorrectly on imgur. I cant get the correct share links if I publicly share the photos into imgur. DOH!

[Anonymous Waffle]

Update, more work. 

 

Started the disassembly of my 910 maxima struts to use the T3 diy coilover kit. 

 

 

 

I bought a pair of KYB Shocks & Struts 765015, and I'm going to shorten and weld the strut body. 

 

I managed to find a 69 wagon wiring diagram by Paolo, but I'm finding some discrepancies in the diagram. Either my wagon is weird and wants to be different, or some of the colors and routing is incorrect in the diagram.

 

 

 

Hazard switch colors are different on mine. 

 

 

 

The wagon didnt come with a hazard switch, but reading the diagram, i can bypass it for the time being, and just run the power for the brake switch and flasher unit individually, instead of through the hazard unit. Just for now.

 

Column switch was chopped, I fixed that 🙂

 

 

 

 

I'm going to use this generic Niles switch to run the headlights. 

 

 

version 1 of the fuse block relay panel.

 

 

Held in place with magnets with studs, to avoid cutting more holes than I want to. 

 

Version 2, changed up really quickly. I did drill 2 holes to mount a separate starter solenoid. 

 

 

I'm pretty sure I'm missing a dash bracket, so to mount the heater fan temporarily, I'm using zip ties lol

 

 

 

Bought a 85/86 720 short 5 speed to bell swap! I haven't read anyone try this in a 510 or 510 wagon, so I want to give it a go. I did this once before for a fellow early 620 owner that run short 4 speeds. So I figure it should work the same way.

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2022 by Anonymous Waffle

[DARIN 510]

On 5/2/2022 at 1:08 AM, Anonymous Waffle said:

Update, more work. 

 

Started the disassembly of my 910 maxima struts to use the T3 diy coilover kit. 

 

 

 

I bought a pair of KYB Shocks & Struts 765015, and I'm going to shorten and weld the strut body. 

 

I managed to find a 69 wagon wiring diagram by Paolo, but I'm finding some discrepancies in the diagram. Either my wagon is weird and wants to be different, or some of the colors and routing is incorrect in the diagram.

 

 

 

Hazard switch colors are different on mine. 

 

 

 

The wagon didnt come with a hazard switch, but reading the diagram, i can bypass it for the time being, and just run the power for the brake switch and flasher unit individually, instead of through the hazard unit. Just for now.

 

Column switch was chopped, I fixed that 🙂

 

 

 

I'm going to use this generic Niles switch to run the headlights. 

 

 

version 1 of the fuse block relay panel.

 

 

Held in place with magnets with studs, to avoid cutting more holes than I want to. 

 

Version 2, changed up really quickly. I did drill 2 holes to mount a separate starter solenoid. 

 

 

I'm pretty sure I'm missing a dash bracket, so to mount the heater fan temporarily, I'm using zip ties lol

 

 

 

Bought a 85/86 720 short 5 speed to bell swap! I haven't read anyone try this in a 510 or 510 wagon, so I want to give it a go. I did this once before for a fellow early 620 owner that run short 4 speeds. So I figure it should work the same way.

 

 

 

I think I have some extra dash brackets you are missing. 

[WAGON JON]

Woo Hoo, looks good! I see a diamond in the rough. Keep pursuing it. Make it happen. 

[slowlearner]

On 5/2/2022 at 6:08 PM, Anonymous Waffle said:

Update, more work. 

 

Started the disassembly of my 910 maxima struts to use the T3 diy coilover kit. 

 

 

 

I bought a pair of KYB Shocks & Struts 765015, and I'm going to shorten and weld the strut body. 

 

I managed to find a 69 wagon wiring diagram by Paolo, but I'm finding some discrepancies in the diagram. Either my wagon is weird and wants to be different, or some of the colors and routing is incorrect in the diagram.

 

 

 

Hazard switch colors are different on mine. 

 

 

 

The wagon didnt come with a hazard switch, but reading the diagram, i can bypass it for the time being, and just run the power for the brake switch and flasher unit individually, instead of through the hazard unit. Just for now.

 

Column switch was chopped, I fixed that 🙂

 

 

 

I'm going to use this generic Niles switch to run the headlights. 

 

 

version 1 of the fuse block relay panel.

 

 

Held in place with magnets with studs, to avoid cutting more holes than I want to. 

 

Version 2, changed up really quickly. I did drill 2 holes to mount a separate starter solenoid. 

 

 

I'm pretty sure I'm missing a dash bracket, so to mount the heater fan temporarily, I'm using zip ties lol

 

 

 

Bought a 85/86 720 short 5 speed to bell swap! I haven't read anyone try this in a 510 or 510 wagon, so I want to give it a go. I did this once before for a fellow early 620 owner that run short 4 speeds. So I figure it should work the same way.

 

 

 

 

I love my 5 speed. Most of the time I pootle around in 5th at 35-50mph. Car uses no fuel and drives so nice... and that's with a 3.7 R&P in the diff too!

 

[Anonymous Waffle]

I tried to take the wagon to powerland and came close, but no dice. The brakes never wanted to bleed up, found it to be a faulty new master. 

 

720 5 speed bell swap. New bearing for the counter shaft and that was really it. 

 

 

 

New seals

 

 

Mated to the L series bell

 

 

 

 

Grill and lights back on

 

 

Loom progress

 

 

This is how my fuse panel and wiring ended up. Definitely not clean, but I learned alot doing it myself. Definitely know how to make it alot cleaner now, but at the very least it's functional.

 

 

Edited September 29, 2022 by Anonymous Waffle

[Anonymous Waffle]

Had to make new linkage pieces to mate the Lynx Manifold to the mechanical gas linkage. I like mechanical, so I wanted to keep it that way. I bought some ball joint ends and shorted them, and cut a 8mm steel rod to create a longer linkage bar. I extended one of the linkage arms to create a better angle at the mechanical "bell crank" on the firewall. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only flaw with this setup is that the bar can flex and deviate a degree or so because it's not supported on the firewall. Not sure how to overcome that, because the l20b + Lynx manifold has higher linkage bar mounts than a conventional weber Manifold. 

 

I also was fighting a sticky throttle at first, which I found the gas pedal to be the culprit. The pivot for the gas pedal was rusted and was binding in the plastic pivot. 

 

Half clean

 

 

Random other dumps. 

 

You can see the timing chain slapping the head and marking it.

 

 

My original 69 struts was "stiffened/raised" with a half cut spring from someone in the past Yeah, sketch. I thought the front looked rather high.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2022 by Anonymous Waffle

[Anonymous Waffle]

To try and make it to powerland, I cobbled up my maxima struts to coilovers. I was originally going to chop it to fit my mr2 struts, but took shortcuts to try and make it to powerland (which didn't work obviously lol)

 

 

 

New rotors and bearings

 

 

 

 

 

 

My snowflakes!!

 

 

Sumitomo Enhance lx2 in 185/55 

 

Mock up

 

 

New shifter bushings. I didn't have the spring In my shifter (or any bushings at all), so I cut up a spring to make one. It works 🤷‍♂️

 

 

Edited September 29, 2022 by Anonymous Waffle

[ECS620]

Looks great! These goons are super cool. I like the patina look.

[Anonymous Waffle]

Few days ago I finally put it on the ground and took it for a test drive. Sketchiest test drive ever. The sloppy timing chain sounds terrible, the brakes barely work, and the clutch barely disengages. I took it around my neighborhood for 5 minutes, and it was a blast, even if it was sketch. Feels good to be back in a 510 again. 

 

 

 

 

Suspension settled a touch

 

 

Edited September 29, 2022 by Anonymous Waffle

[KELMO]

Coming along quite nicely there sir.

[slowlearner]

Bad clutch = "powershift!" 😁

 

Liking the new look. Plenty of front camber and some nice rolling stock. 👌

[Anonymous Waffle]

I've got a weird issue I want to get some opinions on. I want to hear what others think before I take it all apart, but my maxima struts seem to have a wicked offset compared to each other. It's hard to get a good photo, but it seems to be about a 5mm difference. 

 

 

Driver side is more out, negative offset.

Edited September 29, 2022 by Anonymous Waffle

[thisismatt]

yeeaaah, can't tell anything from the pics.  Offset, or camber? LCA differences?

[Anonymous Waffle]

This show it a little bit better?

 

 

 

The camber plates are set the same, but I'd have to go to a alignment shop to see if they're the same. I'd need a day to take it all apart and compare left and right to see if somethings different.

Edited September 29, 2022 by Anonymous Waffle

[datzenmike]

Amazing, I also have '84 Maxima wagon struts? Love them.

 

Driveway across the front must be level.

 

You can't expect equal settings to look equal. For one thing the battery is on one side. Maybe sit someone in the driver's seat when setting the camber. Adjust till equal, this is why they are adjustable. I uses a torpedo level on the rotor to set vertical. Or close to it.