hey guys. I just picket up a 71 510 from the junk yard. It had been sitting abandoned for over ten years out on some military property.

fortunately all the chrome trim and windows are intact and complete. the headliner is nice still (go figure) but the rest of the interior is shot, no rear seat, front seats totaled, carpet is no good.

some of the window seals look decent, still usable, some of the seals for the door windows are 50/50.

needs side mirrors.
needs a radiator.
needs a revamped suspension (low and stiff).
needs rust repaired and a complete respray.

it's got a 1979 5 speed transplanted in it already, but no motor.

moderate surface rust and a few minor rust holes.

needs wheels.

I built a car-dolly so I can move the car around in the garage and get to work on it. and have most needed tools already.


that's all i can think of off the top of my head. I'm looking for sources for information and parts. where can i find wiring diagrams online? who has door seals? where to get new brake lines? where should I look for even a basic FAQ regarding these cars.

I'm not new to older japanese cars, but i am new to datsuns. thanks in advance, and i appreciate any help.

A good starting point would be to sign up for the Bluebirds Email list. Lots of info there, and collective brains to pick for knowledge.

http://www.datsun510.com/bbmail/adds/faq.html#subscribe

Another fantastic resource is the Dime Quarterly Newsletter. Tons of technical info, and upgrade info.

http://dimequarterly.tierranet.com/

Lots of the parts you need will be at places like www.datsunrestore.com and on ebay.

Also might want to peruse the Vendor List at the DQ website:

http://dimequarterly.tierranet.com/vendors.shtml

And the DQ Classifieds:

http://dimequarterly.tierranet.com/classifieds.shtml

Pictures speak a thousand words.

Post some, I'd really like to see this thing.

_________________
- Travis
Yes I CURRENTLY own all of these.
AE86
AE100
JZX32
MX63
JZX73
MX83
JZZ30
RN65
VZN130
VZN185

thanks for the info thus far.

oh here;s the only pic i have, it's from my cell phone =(

Looks like a solid place to start.

looks good . i would make a choice now on how you want the car ,standard , or modified ? because after market seat, side mirrors and pretty much most parts are pretty cheap on line and can be found fast .
but if you want it original than it gonna be forums ,swap meats and word of mouth to find them parts and it takes ages to get the stuff i spent 3 years building a mazda rx4 (never again) lol .

car looks very solid and i have seen a lot worse make it back on the road in just a few months..

good luck cant wait to see the pics of the work

well, i'm going to try to get this thing road worthy in a few months time. exterior will be stock, i think datsun blue will be the final color choice.

the car is getting a motor out of my friends scca 510 IT car, as well as a host of his suspension parts.

interior will retain the headliner and panels and dash, but I will most likely put in a set of aftermarket or other-model seats.

this isn't a full restoration. the car has some areas that are pretty bad, so i've given up on the idea of building a show piece.

the final goal is a fun daily driver

sound like a good plan . cars are ment to be fun in my opinion .

This can be another good source for parts.

http://community.ratsun.net/

Mark

ok. thanks the more resources the better. I still gotta figure out what other cars can donate parts.

here's the dolly i built, and the car getting it's under-bits pressure washed and stripping parts off to get ready to take car of the rust.

That's a looooong list, brother.

If you can give me a specific part, I can tell you what else to get it from. There's no universal master list really. It's just exists in the brains of nerds like me.

oh good! my other car is a starion, and those have no other compatible cars.

so, let me start and ask what cars can donate brakes, shocks/springs, and suspension like A-arms, subframes.

Starion has plenty of compatibles. Problem is the Starion is the last of it's "type", so interchanges would be from older cars such as the Saporro/Challenger and even the Lancer type Colts. For your dime, a common brake upgrade is the 280zx. There are also upgrade kits out there, such as the stuff Ermish racing sells, among others. There are still specific aftermarket spring/shocks available for the 510 and there are a few people making coilover conversions. The 510 does not have a subframe. They are unibody. Are you talking crossmember?

Mark

Front brake upgrades usually consist of swapping the entire strut. As such:

Mild front brake upgrade = 80-83 200SX (10" solid rotors, stock 510 is 9" solid) These will allow you to run the 240Z 2-piston caliper or Toyota 4Runner 4-piston caliper, though

Better upgrade = 79-83 280ZX (10" vented rotors)

Crazier upgrade = 84-85 300ZX (11" vented rotors)

And brackets are available to use the 300ZX 11" rotor, on the 280ZX strut, with a Wilwood 4-piston caliper. Big $$$ but sexy.


Rear brake upgrades usually consist of custom brackets (available from a few different sources) and then using rotors/calipers from the 79-83 280ZX, 80-83 200SX, and 80-84 Maxima sedan



Shocks is the usual. Up front you need inserts for a 79-83 280ZX, either in standard KYBs, adjustable KYB AGX's, Tokico Blues, adjustable Tokico Illuminas, or whatever your wallet can handle. Same for the rear except you need shocks to suit either an 84-87 RWD Corolla or 82-91 Camaro.

These applications gets you shocks that are 1-3" shorter than stock, ideal if you're planning to lower it.



As he said, there's really no such thing on a 510. The stock lower control arms and crossmember works just fine. Unless it's missing, there are no "upgrades" to be had.

There are modified lower control arms out there, if you need more adjustability or want to do away with the rubber bushings and go to bearings.

ok i meant crossmember i guess. i called it a subframe because i thought the control arms and motor were bolted to it.

I just wanted to get a newer one because mine looks rusted to high hell. although i just ordered a bunch of stuff from eastwood to treat the rust, so the crossmember can be a good test mule.

thanks for the info on the brake upgrades. that's very helpful indeed.

They are bolted to it, it's just that "crossmember" is the common term in Datsun circles. Neither is really right or wrong.



That is really odd. Never seen one rust badly. Even on hell of rusty cars. They aren't usually hard to find if it doesn't come back.

None of the other models are a "direct fit", so any others would need to be modified to fit. But as I said, a 510 crossmember isn't super tough to come by so...

ok and ok!

I think it's just substantial surface rust so it's probably salvageable