0R4NGE

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

I am firmly in the Datsun motor camp. Engine swaps are fine, if you choose the right motor, but to me, the Honda motor looks like it came from minecraft. Just a big ugly chunk.

 

Yes, you'll spend a bit on the L motor, but it will be so cool.

 

If you want EFI and a bit more power, go KA24E or DE.

[shlammed]

with the skunk2 low profile valve cover they look nice

 

but yeah, lots of bracing and webbing on the block and there arent any classic lines.  thats one of the things I was thinking of when i decided to stay L....

 

 

but I also want it to scoot and 200hp will help that.  ka24 would take some work to get to 200hp and they are getting pretty old too...

 

 

I unfortunately had a ka24de long block that sat at my cottage for years and we had just took it to the free metal drop off a few months before I inherited this car.  It would have been ideal.

a budget CRV engine with a vtec cam would sound the part and make 50% more power than the L20...

 

[shlammed]

Cleaning up parts at my house (car is at the cottage).  Pretty much solidified on grabbing myself a K engine.  Just have to get the time to go pull one.

Decided last night when cleaning subframe to start the subframe mods.  Going to slot it, poly the bushes and finish this new hole

 

 

3" x 4" for oval exhaust clearance.  (~3.5" x 2.2")

Edited July 28, 2023 by shlammed

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

I would weld a tube back into the crossmember. It will help with flex and cracking.

[shlammed]

yep.  i still have to finish the hole. I will segment a 3" pipe and make it fit

[shlammed]

is it possible to do extended wheel studs in the rear without pulling the hub and messing up the preload/nut?

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

There's no preload on that bearing. It's tight, period, so removal is as simple as hitting it with a big rattle gun. Installation is simply applying the proper torque.

 

Can you get to those studs without stub axle removal? I think yes, but man, it's been a long time. If you find a longer stud with the same knurl dimater, it could be as simple as knocking the old ones out and pulling the new ones on with a lug nut and washer. Retorque the wheels a couple times after driving to make sure the stud seats all the way.

[thisismatt]

You should be able to holesaw the backing plate to give access to remove & replace studs. If you remove the spindles the bearing housing will have a spacer between the bearings. Make sure you cut away the peened sections of the axle nut before trying to rattle it off. Replace with the later style 280zx nuts

[shlammed]

yeah using a small hole saw to get the new ones in would be ideal.

 

you can zip disc the existing ones and knock the knurl back to make it happen easier.  I would rather not go down the road of dealing with spacers and nuts.  The studs on the rear are pretty short and wouldnt accept a slip spacer if I need one when I get to wheels.

 

 

Last night I slotted the subframe and made an oval insert to weld in.  The slots are done but the oval needs to be ground down and welded in.   I do still have to get the poly subframe bushings and mustache bar bushings before it goes back in.

 

Lots of work ahead but Im working ON things and it feels like im making headway even if its little by little.  Not really all that much that I need/want to disassemble now.

 

 

 

To keep me on the straight and narrow this is my current workplan.  I have two parallel workplans being that my chassis is at my cottage and bits of it are at my house.

 

Chassis:

1. finish building tip-over jig (and tip it)

2. prepare underside and seal it

3. spray it with bedliner coating

4. run new fuel lines

5. tip it back over and get the suspension back on it with JBC front subframe/spindles.

 

At my house:

1. Finish subframe mods and paint.

2.Clean up the rear control arms, drum bits. 

3.Gas tank restoration.

4. ENGINE!   Get going with the engine stuff.  Im intending to go to the auto wreckers this weekend to get some things, fingers crossed.  This will either be a Honda engine or a mit full of random bits and bobs to get EFI going.  The direction after this will be pretty straight forward but still means lots of things.

 

 

At this point I should have an engine ready to fit and a rolling chassis.  Im hoping this happens at or before spring of next year and I will bring the whole package to my house to get it all together.

 

 

 

 

 

[Z23T]

I would use a OEM stlye rubber bushing in the rear control arms if you slotted the crossmember. The poly bushings are too stiff and will bind and wear out in a slotted crossmember. When you slot the crossmember it fixes the camber and toe caused by lowering the car, but now the factory brackets will be at angle to the control arm and the flanges on the poly bushings in the control arm will not sit flush against the crossmember brackets causing them to bind up when you tighten them. The OEM style rubber bushings have enough flex and won't bind to much when tightened down. You will also want to tighten the control arm bolts close to the ride height to reduce bind in the bushing as well. 

[shlammed]

Great information. Thanks for sharing. 
 

My thoughts would be to poly mount the subframes. Rear control arms the stock bushings are in good shape and will remain. 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Is it the 280zx stud that people use in the rear? I believe it is.

[shlammed]

I will look into it, thanks.

 

I had ARP's on my last car and it was really enjoyable bolting wheels on.  Kind of pricey for studs.  My front/rear knurl will be different sizes with sentra hubs front but they seem to be at least a fraction larger than the 510 studs.

[Icehouse]

12 hours ago, Z23T said:

I would use a OEM stlye rubber bushing in the rear control arms if you slotted the crossmember. The poly bushings are too stiff and will bind and wear out in a slotted crossmember. When you slot the crossmember it fixes the camber and toe caused by lowering the car, but now the factory brackets will be at angle to the control arm and the flanges on the poly bushings in the control arm will not sit flush against the crossmember brackets causing them to bind up when you tighten them. The OEM style rubber bushings have enough flex and won't bind to much when tightened down. You will also want to tighten the control arm bolts close to the ride height to reduce bind in the bushing as well. 

 

 

I bought a sweet turbo 510 when I was a young guy.  The PO autoxed it.  It was dialed in really good.  2 years into daily driving it the car starting getting wheel hope the worst I've ever felt.   Even to this day.  I finally got around to investigating.  The polly bushings on the inner or out can't remember now it's been so long, but they were gone!  Like not much of anything left. 

 

So I second that.  Gotta have OE or some sort of spherical bearing conversion if it wasn't a street car.  

[shlammed]

Worst wheel hop ive ever felt was 2008 or so when i bought a brand new vw GTI and i tried to launch it one day.  my god im sure the torque mount was metal on metal a few times.

 

Thanks guys... no poly where it needs to move or hold something that moves on this car.  just where its sitting still.

[shlammed]

k24a1 crv engine

 

Budget option for Kswap.  Few key advantages to this version though...

 

Has k20 style head.  flows a ton.  just doesnt have LMA to have real vtec like k20a.

Side exit coolant.  No special rear spacer/reroute required.  Just going to weld a fitting on the side of the stock exit.

50 degree vtc out of the box.

 

I will be doing VTEC killer and running VTC.

 

 

 

This version is fairly clean too... mileage unknown but its an '05...

 

 

 

I also just finished making the roll-over jigs.  Just need to bolt them to the chassis brackets which I have made now too.

[shlammed]

Nice way to round off the long weekend.

 

Finished making the tip-over jig and brackets.  Just need to bolt the bracket to the wood jig.

 

Managed to score a few AE86 PS racks for my JBC subframe from a nice guy off marketplace.  Hopefully they are in good shape and will work but it feels good to have them.

Edited August 8, 2023 by shlammed

[shlammed]

Just ordered some bits to get the car rolling again (though i still have to do underbody finishing).

 

Excited to get going on the engine bits, I am debating if 15lb (oem) spec flywheel or lightweight (10lb chromoly) flywheel is the move.  I have had lightweight in most of my cars but this is really just a street car.  Price difference is about 50% more, both new.

[shlammed]

Is there any general way accepted to install A/C in a 510?  I dont want to hack a bunch of stuff up to make it happen.

 

The new engine I picked up with an A/C compressor.  Would be nice to have on some of the hotter days but really not required.

Edited August 28, 2023 by shlammed

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

I think 99% of the guys with AC are using the dealer installed AC parts.

 

If it were me, I'd use the dealer under the dash stuff, but go with a modern compressor, like Sanden. Obviooulsy you'll have to make your own bracket. I send my stuff to an AC shop for hoses and charging.

[Crashtd420]

If I had to do it again on my 521 I would have deleted the factory heater box and added an after market heater/ac combo box.....

 

As soon as I got done adding ac and charging it my heater core started to leak.... 

I know 521 heater cores are non existent.... are 510 heater cores readily available?

[shlammed]

Not sure. havent looked yet.

 

I would be totally on board with aftermarket heater/ac combo but I would want to retain the stock 510 control facia if I could.  All of the aftermarket controls i see like vintage air would look good in a 50's american car but not in the datsun. Stock hvac control look is just as important as not sweating lol.

[Crashtd420]

Something like this would work....

Remote knobs and potential to plumb into the stock air ducts....

 

If your lucky the 510 knobs would fit and you can put them in a stock location....

 

 

[shlammed]

Thanks, I will look into options if I get the under dash part figured I suppose.

 

For sound Im planning to use the stock head unit modified with one of those bluetooth adapters like you would see on a jetski or boat or something that is basically a single knob  Hope to use the stock knob and it will all look factory.   Its crazy how small this thing is and it will accept bluetooth sound, provides control on the dash and preouts for an amp.

 

 

Will need to figure out speaker stuff later too so it looks stealthy and not put a speaker where there is a vent lol.  I put guages in my miata vent and it sucked for when you wanted to use that vent.  Long way to go before I really need to consider any of this lol.

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by shlammed

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

21 hours ago, shlammed said:

Not sure. havent looked yet.

 

I would be totally on board with aftermarket heater/ac combo but I would want to retain the stock 510 control facia if I could.  All of the aftermarket controls i see like vintage air would look good in a 50's american car but not in the datsun. Stock hvac control look is just as important as not sweating lol.

I'm with you on that. I really hate the look of the controls. The issue is that the Vintage Air units do not use cables to control any of the valves or whatever. All of their devices are controlled electronically, so while you could certainly reverse engineer your on/off switch to be used with the VA unit, your stuck using their rheostat and blend swithces.

 

That said, I am doing a Vintage Air install on a full custom Jeepster build, and I am refinishing the supplied knobs and fascia to match the rest of the dash controls. You could absolutely figure out how to install different knobs on their switches, and then color the fascia whatever color you want. Low gloss black would match the rest of the Datsun dash.

 

There is another company called https://restomodair.com/ that makes some really nice units, but they cost twice as much as the Vintage Air units.

 

If you want to browse the Vintage Air units to see what fits, there is a PDF on each of their product pages that has a dimension diagram with measurements and port layouts. Print those out and bring them to the garage and bust out a tape measure to see what may fit. Remember, you will be deleting the factory heater box, so take that into account for space measurememtns.