My '72 510 SR swap in progress!

[spoolinitup33]

My name's Patrick, I live in North Carolina. 510's are few and far between around here, but I managed to find a '72 510 about a year ago. It looked like complete shit when I got it. Whoever had it before the guy I bought it from TRIED to make a race car out of it. But around here we have a lot of back-woods mechanics, and they had gotten ahold of this car. The rear fender lips were gone, they had filled the hole between the rear fender and the inner fender well with expanding foam, they cut the spare tire part out of the trunk, for no reason at all, there was no stock interior at all, and the roll bar in it is a joke. It looked like they used a pair of tin snips to cut the fender lips off. They got the engine too, they had rigged up a fuel rail and a intake manifold. They had four motorcycle carb's feeding the engine. After I drove it about a week I found out it had a blown headgasket. Fastfoward to about a year later. I've got the stock dash pieces for the car, some sparco seats, a sr20det redtop, rear fender flares put on, and it's starting to look like a car now. All of the body work is pretty much done, it just needs to be painted, but that will come later on down the road. Right now I'm just wanting to get the engine running. I have about everything I need minus a wastegate, IC piping, radiator, and some lines for the turbo and wiring. I'm hoping to maybe get the car running by the first of the summer. I know it's probably not the best looking car right now, but I'm 21 and I spend about everything I make on this car! I really don't like the way fender flares look, but I don't have much of a choice. I've been thinking real hard about getting it fixed back to stock after I get the car running and get some money again. I hope you like it, I know it's not the prettiest thing, but I'm trying!

 

This is what it looked like the day I bought it:

 

After I got those fugly box flares off:

 

 

 

After I got the flares put on:

 

 

This is what the motor looked like that came in the car:

 

The engine bay after I jerked the motor out:

 

After I cleaned the engine bay up a little and painted it with rustoleum:

 

Here's how it looks today, but I do have the fiberglass front fenders with flares on them, just not in this pic:

 

This is what they did to the trunk, I've fixed it since this pic, just welded in some sheet metal:

 

Here's a shot of the booger welds on the "roll bar". Whoever did it must have been blindfolded lol:

 

I bet this would do a lot of good this is gonna do you if you were to flip :confused::

 

Sparco's mounted in the car:

 

It was like Christmas in the middle of summer!

 

Just a test fitting

 

And this is how the engine sits today. Went with a top mount exhaust mani and I'm using a t3/t4 with a big ass compressor housing that I used to have on a 300zx turbo:

 

Let me know what you think! I'd like to know what people think about the flares. The only reason I'm considering keeping the flares is because of this car: It's a guy's car on the 510realm that's doin a 13B swap. I really like the way it looks. But then again, I really really like the way the body looks stock. I actually bought the fiberglass front fenders that's on that car in the picture, because he said that they didn't work with the wheel's he's using. They are 16x8 Rota Rb-r's. But I think they would work if my car wasn't that low, cause that car is real real low!

[Pacific coast Datsun]

The car has come a long way. Glad you got it out of the "backwoods" guys :lol: Question..what makes the rear rims stick out like they do? I know theyre 14x6 but wow :D

[spoolinitup33]

The car has come a long way. Glad you got it out of the "backwoods" guys :lol: Question..what makes the rear rims stick out like they do? I know theyre 14x6 but wow :D

 

Thanks! Well, the back wheels stick out because the idiots put 1" spacers on the back. Tell me if this makes sense. They cut the rear lips off, put those huge box flares on, and then used those little wheels and tires with the 1" spacers to make them fill out the fenders... Genius!!

[endubguy]

welcom and good first post!

 

nice project im glad u saved it!

 

well keep on shreeding into that project!

[Edz280zx]

Thank God someone got ahold of it that knows what they're doing now..keep up the good work!

[spoolinitup33]

Thanks for the kind words. I'm just tryin my best to bring this thing back to life!!

[bonvo]

like the project man glad someone is saving this poor dime few questions

 

1) what was it it using for carbs ive never seen anythign like those

 

2) do you still have the old valve cover? does it say datsun or nissan?

[johnbureezu]

Ill give you $50 for the flatslides. They'll be good for a cb750 project.;)

[Pacific coast Datsun]

1 inch spacers!! Wow..

[LeDevil]

Welcome aboard and car doesn't look to bad, Nice progress. I too got my car from people who half ass-ed things :(

 

Bonvo:looks like some kind of Bike Crabs

[bonvo]

 

Bonvo:looks like some kind of Bike Carbs

 

thats what i was thinking but 4 throttle cables :confused: and they look almos like there nothing more then thottle bodies some of the stranges carbs ive ever seen

[spoolinitup33]

Bonvo, the carbs were from a 80's model motorcycle I think, at least that's what someone told me. I found them online, they were made by a brand called Fast by Gast. Here's a link to some newer ones, they look about the same as the ones that were on the car. I should have kept them, they might of been worth somethin. http://www.fastbygast.com/Catagories/Products/description/manifoldkit.asp

And no I don't have the valve cover anymore, I should have kept some of the stuff off of that motor, but I was tired of it taking up space lol. The valvecover said Datsun OHC. Here's another picture of the valve cover/carbs/rigged up intake.

 

Johnbureezu, I don't have the carb's anymore, I scrapped em'. Sorry!!

[spoolinitup33]

Just a little update, nothing much. I got the steel braided lines ran for my water and oil to my turbo. I also cleaned up the engine a little and painted the valve cover. I would have liked to have the valve cover powdercoated, but I am trying to save money! Next I'm gonna get a wastegate. Does anyone know where you get the smaller piping to run for the wastegate?

 

 

[bonvo]

looking good man what color did you use on the valve cover? it looks almost like the color on my grandmas eclipse

[spoolinitup33]

It's just a metallic spray paint I bought at advanced auto. It looks pretty good though.

[spoolinitup33]

Just thought I'd give a little update. Got a Tial 38mm wastegate and got a dump pipe made for it. And I got part of my downpipe made along with the v-band part of it. I've got a intercooler on the way and I just need to get a few more things for the motor and get my turbo rebuilt and it should be ready to put in the car to stay.

 

 

[Llittle_Llama]

looks clean man! keep up the good work and good job on all the pics ;)

[slodat]

You are not dumping the wastegate into the exhaust??

[spoolinitup33]

You are not dumping the wastegate into the exhaust??

 

Heck no. And it will be alright. I made sure that it was out of the engine bay. And plus it sounds really good:)

[spoolinitup33]

Haven't updated here in a while so I thought I would. I took about everything out of the engine bay, sanded the rustoleum off and went back with BMW pepper white. I think it turned out pretty good, it's the first time I've ever painted anything on a car. The motor is pretty much all together and it will be going in to stay hopefully this weekend. I'm in the middle of swapping in some 280zx front struts/rotors too. I got the radiator mounted up today along with the intercooler, I'll get pictures of that tomorrow. The main things left to do are:

 

-wiring

-in tank pump from a 300zx turbo

-take my intercooler, get the inlet and outlet cut off and get 90's welded in

-get the outlet water neck cut and re directed so it will work with my radiator

-intercooler piping

-get the drive shaft shortened

-re do the wastegate dump pipe, I'm going to route it into the exhaust

 

So it's getting pretty close. Hopefully in the next month or so I'll get it fired up. Here's some pictures of the engine bay...

 

 

 

[nick_m]

looks good mate. I reckon you did a good job on the rear flares. I think they look good

[lynchfourtwenty]

updates?

[spoolinitup33]

Dang I haven't updated in a long time! I guess since the last time I updated on here, I've put 280zx brakes on the front, got the intercooler piping done, radiators hooked up, put a 300zx turbo in tank fuel pump in, and wired up the engine. I fired the SR up for the first time back around the first of August. I got married in October so I didn't start messing with the car anymore until about two weeks ago. I got the clutch bled out, clamped all the intercooler piping down, got the 02 sensor put on, and got the driveshaft shortened. I've been having some problems with the cooling system. I believe that I had a big air pocket in my engine and I COULDN'T get rid of it. I ended up drilling a few 1/8" holes into the thermostat, that's the only way I could get it to work. I drove the car for the first time last week. Now I don't have the front fenders on my car, no hood, no headlights, and no brake lights lol. But I drove it anyway. I live out in the country and there's not too many people that live around me so I wasn't too worried about it. I only drove the car about 1/4 mile down to a church below my house and I had one of my friends with me. I pulled out of the driveway and just took it easy down to the church, checking the brakes on the way down there. Once we got down there, I got out and made sure there weren't any leaks or anything. I pulled out of the church, eased on it in 1st gear, then put it in 2nd and laid into. 3,000 rpm's, 3,500, 4,000, then around 4,500 rpm's the turbo decided to spool up to around 8psi and the look on my face was something like this: :eek: That damn car took off like a scalded cheetah hahaha. We pulled back into the driveway and I looked over at my friend Ryan and said ohhh my lord, he was just laughing, he drag races a built Kawasaki ZX14 so I don't think it scared him like it did me. The turbo is pretty laggy, but I think if I would have let it build boost in 1st gear, then put it in 2nd it would have spooled up a lot quicker. But I like laggy turbo's anyway for some reason so I don't mind :D I hope to get the fenders put back on and the hood, and get the brake lights wired up in the next week. I'm picking up a set of ellipsoid headlights tomorrow to put on it. I don't have many new pictures, but I'll get some of the engine all put together tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 23, 2009 by spoolinitup33