On My Dime

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WxMan
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Joined: 22 Feb 2013 08:38
Location: Victoria, BC

Re: On My Dime

Post by WxMan »

Holy smokes, it's been over a year since my last update. How the time flies. I haven't made nearly as much progress over the past year as I had hoped... isn't that always how it goes... The time available to me to work on my Datsun has always been directly proportional to my son's napping time. In the past year he has stopped napping, however he now attends preschool for a few hours in the morning. This should have allowed me a similar amount of time to myself but it hasn't worked out that way. I also had a setback this spring when after spending many, many hours sanding, polishing, priming, and painting my wheels I decided to put a clear coat on. Fortunately I only did one at first. To my horror the "clear" actually tinted the wheels a creamy yellow colour. I tried using stripper to remove the paint but that didn't work at all. The thoughts of starting the whole process with this wheel over again made me cringe and I lost a ton of motivation.

Eventually I forced myself back on that horse and started to slowly make progress again. This fall I finally took all my hardware out to get plated which was a real turning point. It meant that I was ready to finally start putting things back together after four years. In the past week or so was able to get the rear crossmember and suspension all back in.

The before and after:

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Before I

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Before II

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After I

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After II

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After III

Happy holidays everyone!
The company motto seems to be "We're not happy 'till you're not happy."
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Fred_L-P
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Joined: 03 Apr 2017 06:10
Location: Montreal, Can

Re: On My Dime

Post by Fred_L-P »

Very clean! I'm doing the exact same thing this winter.

Good job, keep it up!
WxMan
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Re: On My Dime

Post by WxMan »

The front suspension and steering parts are slowly going in as I find the time here and there.

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Steering box with Datsport Steering box brace.

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Front Strut and brake installed.

For now I'm just going with the stock suspension with the cut springs that came with the car when I bought it. I plan to make significant improvements to the suspension soon after getting the car back on the road but I want to get a feel for the improvements as I make them rather than just replace things first with no known baseline. I've only driven the car twice since I bought it four and a half years ago and have no history of 510 ownership so I don't really even know what it is like to drive.

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The current state of things.
The company motto seems to be "We're not happy 'till you're not happy."
WxMan
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Location: Victoria, BC

Re: On My Dime

Post by WxMan »

Good grief. It's been two years since I updated my build thread last. Sadly I haven't accomplished much in that time. I finally got some decent tires and finished fixing up my wheels. My L20B is back together and back in the car, which felt like a real triumph. That was a few months ago. Oh how the world has changed since then.

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I had high hopes for getting the 510 running by summer, but the current state of the world has crushed that dream. It's crazy that some folks are out of work and others are swamped. Financially speaking I'm happy to be in the latter category. My wife works for a medical device company and I am considered essential services in my work for the federal government. Between that and our six year old being out of school indefinitely we barely have time to think.

I believe I have most of the major stuff finished but there are a lot of things left to do. Even if I did come across any free time the home projects are piling up... At this point I would consider paying to get this project finished. It's been decorating my garage long enough. I've only driven this car twice since I bought it six and a half years ago. If there are any skilled Datsun folks on the island in need of some work, maybe we can work something out.
The company motto seems to be "We're not happy 'till you're not happy."
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KiKiIchiBan
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Re: On My Dime

Post by KiKiIchiBan »

Looks good. Must be a nice feeling to have progress.
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WxMan
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Re: On My Dime

Post by WxMan »

Yesterday was my son's seventh birthday. That means that I took possession of my 510 seven years and one month ago...

Now that my son is finally back in school I have managed to find a little time to work on the car. I spent a considerable amount of time recently installing an air/fuel ration gauge and a set of Defi oil pressure, oil temperature, and water temperature gauges. I'm mostly pleased with how everything turned out. It would be nice to be able to fire them up and test everything, but that will have to wait until I do a little more wiring work under the hood and get a battery.

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New Air/Fuel Ratio Gauge.

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The needles will be orange when illuminated.


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The current state of the engine bay.

I also installed a proper relay and hidden fuel pump cut-off switch. The previous owner had no relay for the pump and wired a switch directly to the ignition power. That all had to go and I redid it properly.

I'm glad to have that wiring out of the way. It isn't something that I hate doing, but I certainly don't look forward to it.

Next up will be to reinstall the exhaust and intake, and then finish up the fuel delivery stuff.
The company motto seems to be "We're not happy 'till you're not happy."
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Byron510
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Re: On My Dime

Post by Byron510 »

The gauges look really good, I like the simple gauge face layout.
I use Stewart Warner gauges for the same reason - simple and clean face design.
Are you gauges mechanical or electric? I have to admit I’m still a mechanical gauge guy...

The under hood shot really shows the colour of your car - I like it. It’s also a clean layout.

Good to see some forward progress.

Byron
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because the opposite never works.
WxMan
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Re: On My Dime

Post by WxMan »

Thanks Byron. The gauges are electric. I have had a similar set (badged as STi Genome) in my WRX wagon for the past 12+ years and they have never let me down. The ones in my 510 were first released about six years ago and the design was inspired by gauges in older Japanese cars. Initially Defi said they would only produce these for one year. I wanted them badly and scraped up the considerable cash to treat myself and ordered them from Japan. I didn't want to miss out on them. It was a good decision because the Canadian dollar was worth considerably more back then, however due to the popularity of this gauge style Defi decided to keep producing them and make them a part of their regular line up so I needn't have worried about missing out.

I hope to keep things under the hood as clean as is reasonable without going too crazy. I'm not planning a full wire tuck, or anything like that though. Maybe someday...

Russ.
The company motto seems to be "We're not happy 'till you're not happy."
WxMan
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Location: Victoria, BC

Re: On My Dime

Post by WxMan »

I've managed to make some more decent progress lately. Finished installing new fuel pressure regulator, fuel lines, and fuel pressure gauge. Installed header, exhaust, muffler, and intake with carbs. Also spent a bunch of time tidying up the wires in the engine bay.

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New fuel pressure gauge.

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Exhaust, intake, and carbs installed.

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Radiator and distributor added. New dual throttle return spring too.

At this point I was feeling pretty good about things until I noticed a very slow leak of coolant from the thermostat housing. I tightened the fitting for my new coolant temperature gauge a hair and then the leak got worse. At this point I knew the housing must be cracked... and it is. Off to the internet I went to see if I could get a new one. There seem to be lots that fit the L series head, but most have at best two threaded holes in them. I need both of those for the stock temperature sensor and the coolant bypass connection. Eventually I found one that should work for me, but now I'm back to trying to find the right adapter to fit my 1/8 bspt probe in there. The one that cracked my housing was from a local machine shop and I don't trust that they put the right one in there. It was a few years ago that I had them do it, so it's a bit late to go back and demand satisfaction.

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This is what I found. Does anyone know what the thread size and types are in this housing? Also, if anyone has a good online source for fittings and adapters please point me in the right direction. Obviously I would prefer to avoid brass ones, but honestly at this point I will take what I can get.
The company motto seems to be "We're not happy 'till you're not happy."
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bertvorgon
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Location: White Rock, B.C. Canada

Re: On My Dime

Post by bertvorgon »

That's really nice, well done!
"Racing makes heroin addiction look like a vague wish for something salty" - Peter Egan

Keith Law
1973 2 Door Slalom/hill climb/road race / canyon carver /Giant Killer 510
1971 Vintage 13' BOLER trailer
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Byron510
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Re: On My Dime

Post by Byron510 »

Brass is fine as a bushing, it’s the T’s and Angles that are to be avoided.
The aftermarket gauge is likely NPT, and the threaded holes in the housing are metric or BSP, which are in most cases ‘just’ a bit different in pitch.
So, you either find adapters or you tap the housing to suit. I’ve generally done the latter
My honest opinion is that tapered threads to create a seal is a lose-lose situation, but it seams it’s nearly standard. In my perfect world, we’d be using O-Ring Boss or O-ring Face seal connections. However it’s just not feasible as the aftermarket isn’t there.

Byron
Love people and use things,
because the opposite never works.
WxMan
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Re: On My Dime

Post by WxMan »

Thanks for the comments Byron. It's good to know about the brass bushing vs T's and angles.

Defi lists their fittings as PT and a search of the internet has confirmed that this is the same as BSPT.
The company motto seems to be "We're not happy 'till you're not happy."
WxMan
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Joined: 22 Feb 2013 08:38
Location: Victoria, BC

Re: On My Dime

Post by WxMan »

Nothing major to update. I've just added some jewelry to the interior.

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Passenger side BRE floormat.

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New wooden 4 speed shift knob.

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OMP pedals.

I've received my new Datsun horn button too, but before that goes in I have to figure out if my horns work or not and if not, do something about it.
The company motto seems to be "We're not happy 'till you're not happy."
slowerthantime
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Location: Summerland B.C.

Re: On My Dime

Post by slowerthantime »

Nice work! Blue 510's are obviously the best.
WxMan
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Re: On My Dime

Post by WxMan »

Much time has passed since the last update. In that time a little work got done.

I figured that I had better check the condition of my fuel tank given that the car is now over 50 years old and has sat for so long. I had syphoned off all the fuel that I could when I put the car up on jack stands many years ago but was concerned that whatever fuel was left in there would probably have turned to gunk. Upon removal of the fuel tank and close inspection I was pleased to see how good its condition was given its age. There was significant gunk in the outlet fitting, but that was pretty much it. The inside of the tank showed no signs of rust. I gave it all a thorough cleaning and reinstalled it with all new fuel hose.

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Looks like I only took one photo while the tank was out. This was before it was cleaned up.

Next I finally broke down and ordered some coilovers. There are many ways to skin this cat, but in the end I decided on the Ermish stage 2 setup. Is it overkill for my needs? Yes, probably, but I want the ability to make changes should my needs change.

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The Ermish coilovers require cutting the bottom of the stock strut and welding the new threaded collars on. Here are some photos of the strut bases and collars prepped for welding. I painted them after but forgot to take photos.

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Also picked up some spacers for under the struts.

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The fully assembled unit.

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Front

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Rear

With the suspension back together I installed the wheels and tires and lowered the car on to all fours for the first time in years. After climbing in and out of it and working on and around it way up on jack stands for the past seven years it feels comically low to the ground now. I know it isn't, but I'll have to get used to it.

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Now I really need to attempt to get this thing running...
Last edited by WxMan on 10 Jun 2022 16:07, edited 1 time in total.
The company motto seems to be "We're not happy 'till you're not happy."
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