Evlevo's 72 510 Sedan

[evlevo]

These first few posts are copied from another forum i started a build thread on, transferring to a forum of more interest.

After selling my last project for many unfortunate reasons, i've finally settled on a new project. Its a 72 Datsun 510 Sedan. I Missed my Nissan days and had a craving for a classic. I figured my search would be long and hard, but i found this car literally 5km from my work. Shes rough, but I can weld. I also have time and money now. I have No idea what the future holds for the car, but my main concern is getting it able to roll first. The cars been sitting since 91, the tires dont even consider holding air. It was so hard to push i had to swap spare tires from my old Nissans onto it ON the trailer to roll it off into my garage, luckly i still had some kicking around. A build thread may be in order. Suprusingly fgrom what i can see, the floor and frame rails are quite solid. It has its rough areas tho. The floor appears to have let go from the rocker along the drivers side, but doesnt seem to be in any further than that. An inspection this weekend removing the carpet will tell.

Where it sat for 20 odd years.

On The way Home

[evlevo]

So i finally got around to cleaning the 510 out. pressure washed the Bird **** off it and gave the interior a quick clean. I also went to the junk yard and grabbed some spare wheels to roll the car on. Doughnut spares are 5 bucks a wheel so i figured those were a safe temp bet.

I don't recall if i mentioned in a previous post, but in the unloading process the tires were so flat and dried it wouldn't roll under its own weight even when we jacked the trailer up. I had to dig out the spares i had lying around but only had 2. needed 2 more. Rolls A LOT nicer now.

During the cleaning i found a few odds and ends, and a bit more about the history of the car. Found a Warranty Manual with a previous owners information in it. The car was sold in Swan River, Manitoba in 10,10,1973 but also sports a "House of Datsun Brandon, MB" Sticker, which is now known as House of Nissan, So im not sure if it was sold in 73 then traded in somewhere else or what? I also came across a door sill sticker where it had im guessing its last oil change at a local shop in Brandon that is no more. (See pictures below)

There was also a Pop can of some brand ive never heard of, a pamphlet for a Bible Camp, some old sand paper, and a wonderful flower cooking pot.

Ill be heading back out in a bit to remove the seats and carpet, but the sum of the damage i can now see is: L+R Dog legs, LH Quarter panel, Trunk to rear pans seam is rusted, Drivers floor, Rear of RH Rocker, Rear of LH Rocker.

Later on i hope to test the remaining electronics. The hood isnt connected and i accidently put the hood hinge through the top of the fuse box and smashed all the glass fuses. I bought a couple packs of various sizes to fix it and hopefully see whats still good or not.

Now im sure this may start some debate or arguments even, but i test fitted some wings i had laying around. ( Rep Points for correct guesses on what they are from ) Both fit in width, but will require modification to sit on a proper angle. I personally like the red wing, but i bet people will like the white one better for certan reasons.

33XXX Miles!


House Of Datsun


Original Owner?


Diet Cola










White Wing


Red Wing

[evlevo]

Since my last post i Googled Joes Auto Clinic, Sure enough it still exists! Its in a sort of hidden part of town but its still there!

[evlevo]

I tried to test the electronics with little result. Picked up a battery and the best i can do is get a relay to click. I replaced all the fuses i put the hood hinge through, and still nothing. Theres a couple unplugged wires that may be the culprit. I back probed a few lights and got them to work, so theres something betwen the battery and fuse box not allowing power to flow.

[two_68_510s]

I can't see any photos

[evlevo]

Strange, what are they doing exactly? There loading on my screen. Is anyone else having trouble?

Edit: Some of my settings on imgur were private. Do they work now?

[jason]

Cragmont pop, the old safeway house brand I believe, they moved on from those in the early 2000's I think. Is there a fusible link there?

[two_68_510s]

Yeah, now they work.

[evlevo]

Cragmont pop, the old safeway house brand I believe, they moved on from those in the early 2000's I think. Is there a fusible link there?

There could be. Im still fairly new to the Datsun setup. I figure this weekend ill try hot wiring the fuse box and if that doesn't work ill build a new wire harness for the car. The work i have kinda planned will require custom wiring anyway.

As for the pop i googled it briefly and that's what i found. Guessing it wasn't hugely popular otherwise it would still be around. Anyone remember if it was any good? haha I grew up on the east coast and we didnt have Safeway stores there. I think ill hold onto that can.

[jason]

Cragmont pop was kinda like the refreshe stuff they sell now, it's OK, the black cherry is all that I really buy from there though, I haven't found anyone else selling that flavour locally.

Before you go fiddling with that, try soaking the fuse box in white vinegar overnight, rinse with fresh water and blow dry with compressed air. See if that cleans enough out to get things going.

[Byron510]

You'll probably find that your electrical woh's are simple in nature. Two of the photos above show a missing alternator and voltage regulator. A charging problem is likely what took this car off the road. The connections down at the alternator are very much alive when you hook up the electron flow. A short here would certainly do some damage. Hooking up a voltage regulator (pass side strut tower 6 prong plug) would help complete a circuit or two. Any car that has sat for extended periods of time will likely have grounding issues. As Jason mentioned, a vinegar bath for the fuse box is a great start.

Keep us posted, good to have you along for the ride.

Byron

[okayfine]

Concur. You have semi-serious corrosion showing on the fuse clips, and likely the rest of the bare connections (grounds, etc.) are similarly corroded. That bodes ill for any sort of conductivity; resistance is going to be through the roof. Also, as mentioned, you're missing significant components in the system, so I'm surprised you expected many miracles just by hooking a battery (and didn't start a fire or impromptu welding ). The ground for the voltage regulator, in fact, is barely connected to a rusty spot. Datsuns LOVE grounds...well, good ones anyway.

Have you a good wiring diagram for your car?

Additional serious rust you have showing in the pictures is at the top of the front fenders, and likely very much more so underneath the fenders.

Probably not going to start any debate about the wings - I doubt anyone's going to like either.

[evlevo]

It would seem my knowledge of more modern nissans seems to be a bit of my failing point in the classic Datsuns. I can remember numerous times hooking up a battery in an engine less Silvia and being able to check auxiliary functions.body is my area, Not electrical. I wouldnt say there was much expecting miracles as there was checking to see out of curiosity what happens. If back probing to test the pieces i want to keep is what i need to do im ok with that. The worst case as i mentioned was replacing/rebuilding a custom harness, and the best being everything worked. Id feel more comfortable knowing everything worked, than to fix wiring gremlins as they popped up. I didnt really think much into checking the engine for missing bits and parts as i want to ditch it anyway, I feel kinda stupid not noticing an alternator was missing, however Ive repaired worse. Electrical wise and rust wise.

As for the wing thing, ive always been a wing/spoiler guy. Ive always been a fan of the obnoxious wings on ordinary looking cars. Evos, STIs kouk S14s etc. I got the feeling it may not appeal to the 510 owner, but maybe to the custom "one of" owner within. I Found the EvolutionI wing matched the curves of the 510 quite nice, being simpler in design, meanwhile the kouki S14 wing i had sitting around didnt fit quite as well, but may appeal to the Nissan owners. The original Forum i posted on was more mod based than car specific, so i figured it to be a bit more appropriate there than here.

[okayfine]

I wouldnt say there was much expecting miracles as there was checking to see out of curiosity what happens.

Just that connecting a battery up to an electrical system with bare wires hanging around might lead to some impromptu arc welding, which is never good.

510 electrical:
DQ Volume 1 Issue 2 - Installing an Internally-Regulated Alternator - Don’t have enough juice to power your stereo and run your lights? A simple modification will allow you to use a more powerful alternator from a late-model Nissan.

DQ Volume 5 Issue 3 - Tech How-To: Troubleshooting Electrical Systems: Part One - Automotive electrical system fault diagnosis may be the most feared work for the backyard mechanic. Many people view electrical systems as a sort of black magic, best left to professional shops. This may hold true for newer computer controlled vehicles that rely on special diagnostic tools. This is definitely not true for older cars like our 510s that don’t utilize computers.

DQ Volume 6 Issue 1 - Troubleshooting Electrical Systems: Part Two - In part one we explored some basic electrical circuit types, general components, and a simple test case. In part two we’ll dig deeper into the different electrical components along with their specific purpose.

and


There's also a color wiring diagram with pin-outs at The 510 Archives.

As for the wing thing, ive always been a wing/spoiler guy. Ive always been a fan of the obnoxious wings on ordinary looking cars.

To each his own, but aside from the '80s they're not really done up that way.

[evlevo]

Thankyou for the picture. Ill try and trace the wires around tomorrow see what i can do. I wont try and deny my unsafe testing haha. I should have covered wire ends and what not, but i gave a quick look "nothings touching ok GO!" and jammed on the terminals. I really should have done a bit more wiring research but im a quick and curious one to see what happens.

The way i can picture the wing in my head really flows with the car and color i have in mind. Maybe when theres more progress or if i even use it, maybe people will like it more.

Edit: another pro side to the wing argument im having is the feature of the 3rd brake light. Sounds pointless i know, but the drivers around here need every bit of information they can get from there surroundings, like the fact someones stopping. I could easly solve this issue by simply installing one in the back window tho.