New to the forum

[Rustbuster78]

Hello, My name is Elijah, I am new to the forum and a relatively new Datsun owner. I'm from Wisconsin, born and raised and have had an interest in old cars my entire life, also an interest in antiques in general.

 

  I bought a 1978 Datsun 510 wagon last month, it runs pretty decent other than burning some oil and running a bit rich. I'm not sure if it's just bad valve stem seals causing the oil burning or something more, I don't think it's rings but I could be wrong. It has a weber carburetor, not sure which model at the moment as I haven't really looked at it that closely but I will have to have a closer look at it one of these days and make adjustments to get it running perfectly. So far all I've done is replace the rear wheel cylinders, brake shoes steering idler arm bushings, and fuel pump. It came with an electric fuel pump under the hood but it was giving me issues so I bought a new electric pump and installed it by the fuel tank like it should be.

 

  I'm happy to be a member of the Ratsun forums and can't wait to get the insight of those that are more knowledgeable than me.

 

 

[datzenmike]

I like the looks of the A10, always have. It's a 510 in name only and can be confusing to others because there was an earlier PL510 in the late '60, early '72, a totally famous and different car. At least call it an HL510 and as it's a wagon call it a 'goon for wagoon.

 

Valve seals are only a couple of bucks each so change them. If no change then the rings are the cause and no harm done and the seals are new. You can replace the seals anywhere without compressor or electricity, even on the side of the road by using the rope trick. Get a 3 feet of 1/4" or 3/8" nylon rope. Tie a large knot on one end so it can't possibly fall in the cylinder. Turn the engine so it is on the compression stroke (both valves closed) push the rope in the plug hole and turn the engine by hand to compress the rope tight against the valves to hold them in place. Compress the valve springs, remove the keepers, remove the springs and the old seals. Install the new seal and put back together. Turn the engine backwards by hand to release the compressed rope and move to the next cylinder.

 

Carburetor is likely a 32/36 and will say so somewhere on it if a genuine Weber.

 

Welcome to Ratsun and nice first post, but you forgot pictures of your goon.

 

 

[Rustbuster78]

Thanks for the welcome and the info.

Here's some pictures.

https://imgur.com/B2Jjbbz

https://imgur.com/nyES7WE

The fuel can in the engine compartment was my temporary fix to get home from work when my fuel pump was giving me issues.

[datzenmike]

 

 

 

No judgement here.

[angliagt]

Welcome!

[]2eDeYe]

Welcome aboard. 

[iceman510]

Welcome.  I think I saw your posts on the 510 Realm as well.  I'm in your neck of the woods today, in Plymouth WI.   Did you find that car here in WI?  Not too many old Datsuns around, but I may be moving here with mine in a few years.

[Rustbuster78]

15 hours ago, iceman510 said:

Welcome.  I think I saw your posts on the 510 Realm as well.  I'm in your neck of the woods today, in Plymouth WI.   Did you find that car here in WI?  Not too many old Datsuns around, but I may be moving here with mine in a few years.

Yeah, that was me. I did find it in Wisconsin, Cedar Grove to be exact, which is less than 30 minutes from Plymouth.

[yenpit]

On 3/31/2024 at 8:15 PM, Rustbuster78 said:

Hello, My name is Elijah, I am new to the forum and a relatively new Datsun owner. I'm from Wisconsin, born and raised and have had an interest in old cars my entire life, also an interest in antiques in general.

 

  I bought a 1978 Datsun 510 wagon last month, it runs pretty decent other than burning some oil and running a bit rich. I'm not sure if it's just bad valve stem seals causing the oil burning or something more, I don't think it's rings but I could be wrong. It has a weber carburetor, not sure which model at the moment as I haven't really looked at it that closely but I will have to have a closer look at it one of these days and make adjustments to get it running perfectly. So far all I've done is replace the rear wheel cylinders, brake shoes steering idler arm bushings, and fuel pump. It came with an electric fuel pump under the hood but it was giving me issues so I bought a new electric pump and installed it by the fuel tank like it should be.

 

  I'm happy to be a member of the Ratsun forums and can't wait to get the insight of those that are more knowledgeable than me.

 

 

 

Welcome!  Did you buy it from Paul?

 

I think I answered a question of yours on one of the Facebook pages, regarding rubber seals??

 

We might be vintage racing, as usual, at Road America in July, maybe September.  If you have not been to one of the vintage race events, they are spectacular!!  LOTS of earlier 510's & Z cars!! 

 

TJ

Denver CO

[yenpit]

18 hours ago, iceman510 said:

Welcome.  I think I saw your posts on the 510 Realm as well.  I'm in your neck of the woods today, in Plymouth WI.   Did you find that car here in WI?  Not too many old Datsuns around, but I may be moving here with mine in a few years.

 

Hey!!  What ya doing in Plymouth??  There isn't a race, is there????? 🤣😆  Hope all is well!! 😎

[iceman510]

8 minutes ago, yenpit said:

 

Hey!!  What ya doing in Plymouth??  There isn't a race, is there????? 🤣😆  Hope all is well!! 😎

 

No race yet.  Ice and snow though.  Hanging out at my daughter's for family visit from Easter weekend.  

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Welcome. Not too many Datsun guys in Wisconsin. I was born in Duluth MN and never saw a Datsun until we moved to CA.

[Rustbuster78]

1 hour ago, yenpit said:

 

Welcome!  Did you buy it from Paul?

 

I think I answered a question of yours on one of the Facebook pages, regarding rubber seals??

 

We might be vintage racing, as usual, at Road America in July, maybe September.  If you have not been to one of the vintage race events, they are spectacular!!  LOTS of earlier 510's & Z cars!! 

 

TJ

Denver CO

I did buy it from Paul! I believe I asked about a windshield, Which is going to be very difficult to find around my neck of the woods. I will likely have to look out of state. Shipping a windshield makes me nervous though.

[yenpit]

1 hour ago, Rustbuster78 said:

I did buy it from Paul! I believe I asked about a windshield, Which is going to be very difficult to find around my neck of the woods. I will likely have to look out of state. Shipping a windshield makes me nervous though.

 

I met Paul a couple years ago at Road America!  Having glass shipped SHOULD make you nervous!! 😂 Pray you locate a NEW one, from an experienced shipper................I flat out will NOT ship a front or rear glass, cuz of the labor/cost to package it & THEN the responsibility of it getting to you not broken is my responsibility, as the shipper!!  I'm a classic car guy & the British shop where I worked years ago, would order a TRUCK FREIGHT package of windshields & eaily 25% of the time, they were broken!!  Most carriers will NOT cover if broken.

 

Here's something that I HAVE done in years past!  Let's say YOU locate a new windshield here in Denver.  You buy it, they can drop off at my shop & we can carefully load it up in our race trailer & BRING IT to Road America in July.  I have "delivered" many Datsun parts to the race track, in our trailer.  2 years ago, I sold a pair of NOS Mustang II (yuck!!) front fenders to a guy near Road America.  Although we were NOT going to the September race event, I asked around Denver & found another racer going.  He loaded them up in his trailer & brought them to Road America, the buyer picked them up at the track, was happy & the racer got compensated for his actions!!  Worked out perfectly!!  There are lots of racers, going to Road America, multiple times a year, that are good guys & willing to help..................

Edited April 3 by yenpit

[KELMO]

Another windshield option is www.vintageglass.com.

 

I used them for a windshield for my 71 521 recently and was able to pick up within 50 miles of my house. It cost me around $380.00 tax included.

I have not installed the glass yet but have high hopes for tomorrow.

[yenpit]

4 hours ago, KELMO said:

Another windshield option is www.vintageglass.com.

 

I used them for a windshield for my 71 521 recently and was able to pick up within 50 miles of my house. It cost me around $380.00 tax included.

I have not installed the glass yet but have high hopes for tomorrow.

 

Nice!  I was hoping to find a 521 windshield, in case I need one!  So far, sitting outside, the glass on my 521 has not cracked...........knock on wood!!

[banzai510(hainz)]

Im confused on the fuel pump. I see the stock one by the head.

You installed a pump in rear.

Why not just use a stock pump. ebay might have NOS ones

If a electric fuel make sure its under 4pounds

 

yeah those midwest east coast cars get killed by the salt in winter

Edited April 4 by banzai510(hainz)

[EDM620]

On 4/4/2024 at 6:58 AM, KELMO said:

Another windshield option is www.vintageglass.com

I just got a NEW windshield for my 620 from KOOL KATZ

KOOL KATZ AUTO GLASS – Kool Katz Auto Glass

[Rustbuster78]

On 4/4/2024 at 7:58 AM, KELMO said:

Another windshield option is www.vintageglass.com.

 

I used them for a windshield for my 71 521 recently and was able to pick up within 50 miles of my house. It cost me around $380.00 tax included.

I have not installed the glass yet but have high hopes for tomorrow.

Nice! I've thought about getting the original windshield resin repaired but the crack is on the drivers side and goes from the bottom up to about 2 inches from the top so I'd rather have new glass. Thanks for the link!

[Rustbuster78]

On 4/4/2024 at 1:14 PM, banzai510(hainz) said:

Im confused on the fuel pump. I see the stock one by the head.

You installed a pump in rear.

Why not just use a stock pump. ebay might have NOS ones

If a electric fuel make sure its under 4pounds

 

yeah those midwest east coast cars get killed by the salt in winter

The original pump is still their but not connected, whoever installed the electric pump under the hood never took off the old pump and put on a block off plate. This is the new fuel pump I installed https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productdetails.asp?RecID=9616. Rated at 1.5-4 psi.

[banzai510(hainz)]

that should work

[KELMO]

FWIW,

The windshield did get installed this week and it went very smoothly. I have installed around 10 pieces of glass using the rope pull method and this one was by far the easiest. Once the weatherstrip (vintagerubbers.com) was on the glass it only took us about 10 minutes to install. Others have taken up to an hour and required a fair amount of futzing with both the glass and the weatherstrip.

[Rustbuster78]

On 4/12/2024 at 9:26 AM, KELMO said:

FWIW,

The windshield did get installed this week and it went very smoothly. I have installed around 10 pieces of glass using the rope pull method and this one was by far the easiest. Once the weatherstrip (vintagerubbers.com) was on the glass it only took us about 10 minutes to install. Others have taken up to an hour and required a fair amount of futzing with both the glass and the weatherstrip.

Great to hear! I'm definitely thinking about going that route! I Once tried installing a windshield in an old Chevy k20 without success. I was told that installing windshields in those trucks is fairly easy so i went into with a bit too much enthusiasm I think. I ended up breaking the windshield which I luckily only paid $10 for. I ended up paying to have it done by a mobile auto-glass installer. Come to find out the roof was slightly caved in which is why I had issues. The installer guys were awesome though, they asked for my car jack and a piece of 2x4 and used it to get the window opening back to where it needed to be.

[Rustbuster78]

On 4/3/2024 at 1:02 PM, yenpit said:

 

I met Paul a couple years ago at Road America!  Having glass shipped SHOULD make you nervous!! 😂 Pray you locate a NEW one, from an experienced shipper................I flat out will NOT ship a front or rear glass, cuz of the labor/cost to package it & THEN the responsibility of it getting to you not broken is my responsibility, as the shipper!!  I'm a classic car guy & the British shop where I worked years ago, would order a TRUCK FREIGHT package of windshields & eaily 25% of the time, they were broken!!  Most carriers will NOT cover if broken.

 

Here's something that I HAVE done in years past!  Let's say YOU locate a new windshield here in Denver.  You buy it, they can drop off at my shop & we can carefully load it up in our race trailer & BRING IT to Road America in July.  I have "delivered" many Datsun parts to the race track, in our trailer.  2 years ago, I sold a pair of NOS Mustang II (yuck!!) front fenders to a guy near Road America.  Although we were NOT going to the September race event, I asked around Denver & found another racer going.  He loaded them up in his trailer & brought them to Road America, the buyer picked them up at the track, was happy & the racer got compensated for his actions!!  Worked out perfectly!!  There are lots of racers, going to Road America, multiple times a year, that are good guys & willing to help..................

Would you know of any salvage yards in your area that might have any old Datsuns that I could contact? So far I haven't had any luck locating a windshield other than a $1500 NOS windshield from overseas and a $750 used one with scratches or a brand new custom made one for $3000.

[bananahamuck]

On 4/12/2024 at 7:26 AM, KELMO said:

FWIW,

The windshield did get installed this week and it went very smoothly. I have installed around 10 pieces of glass using the rope pull method and this one was by far the easiest. Once the weatherstrip (vintagerubbers.com) was on the glass it only took us about 10 minutes to install. Others have taken up to an hour and required a fair amount of futzing with both the glass and the weatherstrip.

A10 windshields are a glue in like modern cars ..

    and that’s probably why it’s so hard to find a used one. 

 

I bought one out of Oregon as a replacement for a wagon I bought a few years ago .. was 2 hour drive one way to get ,, took a few hours to carefully remove ,, was propped up against some tires in backyard. 

 

Wife hit it with walk behind weed-wacker  and destroyed it.