81 510 wagon

[littlewagon]

Hello everyone! My name is Paul and I am in Oklahoma. I'm 41 and have been into cars since I could walk! I've always been into big American muscle and have never had a Datsun. I came across an 81 Datsun 510 wagon the other day and couldn't pass it up. I'm very mechanically inclined, but I know 0 about Datsun's! So I'm very eager to learn all I can about them, from anyone willing to share their knowledge with me.

I tried to add a picture but was unsuccessful

[ostaylor]

The file size for adding pictures needs to be pretty small (500kb or something...). There are online tools or you can just use Microsoft Photos to resize the images before you upload.

[littlewagon]

Thank you

[datzenmike]

An A10. Four or five speed? I bet it's an automatic they tend to be survivors.

[littlewagon]

It's a 4 speed. Also I've noticed you're the guy with knowledge on Datsun/Nissan, can you fill me in on 720S engine fuel pump, how is it actuated. I'm very mechanically inclined, but I have absolutely 0 knowledge on these. Please and thank you.

[littlewagon]

A little bit of the history. I got it from a guy at work (we are industrial mechanics) whose cousin bought it brand new and then sold it to his grandfather in 1988 with 88k miles. I bought it a little over a week ago and it has 108k miles now. So 20k miles in 35 years. It has a stack of maintenance paperwork and obviously was highly maintained. It sat for 3-4 years in a building (being started and moved on occasion) and then went under a carport for 3 years and was only started once. But he emptied the tank (almost completely) and put 91 pure gas and stabil in it. It's also had a new clutch and flywheel put in it. So I got it and am going to put it back on the road.
Also, Happy Thanksgiving

[datzenmike]

The Z20 fuel pump is the same design as all L series mechanical pumps and should interchange. Note that the L series pump points the outlet to the left across the front of the engine while a Z20 pump points the outlet to the rear because the carburetor is on the right side. It bolts to the right front of the head with an actuating arm that extends inside and rides on an eccentric bolted to the front of the cam sprocket. Again identical to the L series. If you remove the valve cover you can see how this works.

[littlewagon]

Awesome, I initially thought that it should be an actuated lever. Thank you for that information. I have another question that I've looked into very little and found I may have to do a conversion. I got engine ready to run by filling carb bowl through vent tubes, unhooked feed line from fuel pump to carb (which I backfilled with 2 cycle gas to maybe prime/soak pump/diaphragm), plugged battery in, and she fired right up. I presoaked cylinders with ATF 24 hours prior, turned it over 2 revolutions by hand, and ran it on the 2 cycle gas (for upper cylinder lube). The question at hand is my brights were on and would not dim or shut off, but the blinkers did work. Is it a chance my steering column switch is bad, or my light relay? Would you think a conversion may be in order?

[iceman510]

Before you change anything on the headlights, find the root cause. My first thought is to check the relay. Verify if you have voltage to the trigger side at all times, then maybe the switch. Then see if it has continuity on the switched side even when unplugged which would be a stuck relay.

[littlewagon]

What I'm glad is the systems on this car are simple. I'm not very good on the wiring side of things, but I can work that out with a meter. Thank you for the walk through on how to check it. I really want to get this car lined out to be able to reliably drive it.

[datzenmike]

The default position of the relay is low beams is there is no power to activate the headlamp relay so stuck on high beams is as mentioned either the relay is stuck or the turn signal is signaling high beams by grounding the Black/Red stripe wire on the relay.

The headlight relay has 5? wires to it ...
Red/White
Red/Black
Black (ground)
Green/Blue
Black/Red... This is the trigger for the relay. Grounded the high beams are on Neutral or no ground the relay reverts to low beams.

Find the Black/Red wire on the relay (which I think is located on the rad support, someone will know) and disconnect it only. If the high beams remain ON then the relay is at fault. If the high beams turn off then the problem is towards the turn signal switch that grounds the Black/Red wire to energize the relay to turn on the high beams. Could even be the Black/Red wire is pinched and grounded somewhere.

Try turning the dimmer switch on off on off multiple times. Perhaps just sticky from lack of use? Does it make any clicking sounds?

[littlewagon]

That's awesome, I really appreciate the detailed information! I will have free time tomorrow (28th) to put battery back in and have another go at the lights. I work nights and have odd days off, so I have to balance my time (boo).
I will follow through on the information you gave me and I will let you know what I find out.
I also have another question, how do I I'd the transmission? It's a 4 speed manual and all the information I find doesn't line up with the year.

Again, I want to express my thanks for all the information everyone has shared with me.

[datzenmike]

'81 A10 would be the Z20 engine. Stock 4 speed is the F4W63 a descendant of the original PL510 from the '60s. It's 26" long, has a removable bolt on pan with a drain bung and the case has a waffle pattern.

[littlewagon]

Well, I got delayed due to work and junk. I want to thank you again Datzenmike for your treasure trove of knowledge.
So I took out the headlight relay and cleaned it up a little bit, before I looked at the switch lever in the column. Where the lever attaches to the hand switch is broken. So now the hunt for a switch is due. But sadly all the ones I've found on websites are all not available. The other thing is if they were, the cheapest one I've found are $400+. So I reckon I'll replace the relay anyways (because it looks rough) and see if I can find an interchangeable switch, which I'm clueless on what other ones would work.
So if it comes to it, I may just put a toggle switch setup up for my lights until I can fix it the right way, which I absolutely want to do.

[littlewagon]

Does anyone know if there's any interchangeable light switches for the 81 Datsun 510? I was wondering if one from a 720 pickup would work? I'm unable to find any online or in my area.