"The Goon" Build (KA Datsun)

[fbiphil]

Originally Posted by Jtuned_andy

Pretty soon there isn't gonna be any stock 510s around, everyone feels the need to swap them and turn them into drifters

Nice wagon...I guess. Rare to see them around.

They're a "dime" a dozen around here- three or four beaters on Sac Craigslist at any time, all for under $1000 or so... I guess we've got it good here in NorCal!

And honestly, having owned a few VERY stock 510 wagons, they stink when they're stock! Squishy suspensions, gutless motors... what's the point? If Sean wants to drive a boring car, he has his Galant!

I told Sean I'd give him as much of a back story as I could, so here goes:

I picked this wagon up a few years ago from a guy named Toby in Rancho Cordova, who had owned it for only a few months. He has a really clean 240z, and wanted another piece of Datsun history. Long story short, he ended up in over his head and bailed out on the project.
Prior to him owning it, the car was owned by a guy named Victor, who had picked it up from some tweeker in the sticks. This tweek was the one responsible for cutting the hole in the hood (for a 300zx hood scoop that supposedly flew off at 140+ MPH- yeah right!), as well as blowing up what was likely the original engine.
The car was originally an automatic, and when I bought it from Toby it had already been relieved of the engine and transmission. A buddy of mine came out to trailer it to my house on a Wednesday night, and while we were loading it he bet me I couldn't drive it to work the following Monday.
Being the bettin' man I am, I accepted his wager (lunch at my choice of any of the fine fast food eateries near our shop!) and got to work.
I've read what it takes to convert a 240 from auto to stick, and I assure you that everything is easier in a 510! Basically, swap the pedal assembly, mount a clutch master cylinder, plumb it to the slave, and drill some new holes for the trans. crossmember, and you're golden!
I pirated the L18 and 4 speed trans. from my '71 Datsun pickup, and I drove that poor car to work on Monday! Granted, it had no lights, bumpers, hood, or exhaust, but it made it!
Anyway, the motor was tired when it was in the truck, but two more years of (ab)use and it was finally time to retire it. I hear it's in a 2 door 510 now, so best of luck to the new owner!

I'll leave it up to Sean to write the next chapter in this car's book, but now he (and you, loyal readers) know the history. Sorry for the novel, but if I don't put it down somewhere I'll forget it eventually!

-Phil

[WagDatto]

Shhh, we're on the Nissan forums now, don't talk about my Rally Spec Galant!!

Leave it to my older brother to one-up me. My only concern now is that
my sweet 280zx hood scoop will not clear the motor. Fortunately, that would give me an excuse to show off the engine bay I spent so much time on.

Also, after talking with Phil more about the fuel cell, I've come to the conclusion that shortening the stock sending unit is the best choice to bring the size and weight of it down. Settling on a cell with the dimensions of 23"Lx17"Wx8.5"H puts me with a "full" capacity of 14.4 gallons of petrol. The shorter tank will also tuck up a little better behind the rear bumper, so I won't have a shiny box for all the world to see.

[Bubbles]

Originally Posted by fbiphil

They're a "dime" a dozen around here- three or four beaters on Sac Craigslist at any time, all for under $1000 or so... I guess we've got it good here in NorCal!

California in general.

In the midwest if you can find a 240 that's not rusted to hell you can consider yourself lucky.

You can forget rare cars altogether.

[Bushido]

lookin good man, lets see some overall shots of the car.

what are your plans for wheels?

[CrimsonRockett]

Nice!

My next summer project is going to be an '82 Datsun 200sx.

It was my dad's first car.

Ever since he got rid of it(blown engine) about 12-14 years ago, he's wanted another one.

So, I plan on getting him one, restoring it, fresh paint, wheels, suspension, etc. and giving it to him for his 50th birthday.

[ManoNegra]

I live en el barrio and see 510s every once in the while. Family members and friends often wonder why I stare glassy eyed at old pos cars all the time...

[kcndizzle]

Fun looking project man, hope to see it running around here sometime soon!

p.s. You wouldn't have happened to buy an s14 ecu/maf/harness off of me a while back would you?

[WagDatto]

Met in the Target parking lot down near 80?

If that was you, I don't remember your name, I have you in my phone as "240 ECU." Gooood times... Ever get the right colored front end and sell the car?

Edit: Was your name Kurt or something?
Edit 2: I think it was Kirk.

[kcndizzle]

Hey! It was you, and yes the name is Kurt! Yeah, got that car all put together, and sold it off. And bought another white s14 shell lol, but this one is currently getting built with more sinister plans. Good to see the dime project coming along nicely.

[posdriftin]

man i love to see people doing 510's and z's .... gl let me know if you need anything ...ive done a few 510's and s30 z cars....

[j00ni3]

argg.. waiting to see what it will become...

ps where'd you get that battery mount? ... hehe

[WagDatto]

Originally Posted by j00ni3

argg.. waiting to see what it will become...

ps where'd you get that battery mount? ... hehe

I'm actually the shipping manager for Fender Bender Intl, www.fbirides.com

We make them in-house and polish them ourselves before they ship out. This is my last week working there, though. I put in my two weeks so I can go back to school (Yikes!). I'm totally gonna miss working there. I think we still have a few left in stock, and I'll cut you a deal on shipping if you let me know you're ordering in advance.

HERE is the link for the optima battery trays.

Like I said, PM me and I'll see what I can do to hook you guys up on shipping while I still work there!

[JRas]

I like it

It'll be cool to have a unique build like this to look at

keep it up

[j00ni3]

VERY nice... thanks for the info... way cheaper than the one that i found that weren't so GREAT looking...

will doo... i will be ordering very soon .... keep up the update~

[tknbkthrsdy4anfg]

Awesome project keep it up!

[mr.lonelys12]

nice project!

hope i see you running around sac with the other 510's, what part of sac are you in?

[WagDatto]

Originally Posted by mr.lonelys12

nice project!

hope i see you running around sac with the other 510's, what part of sac are you in?

I live in fair oaks, school will be in rocklin and I work in rancho cordova. I'll be all over!

[LB.Motoring]

My buddys dad had an awesome 510,

wagons are hot,

keep up the good work!

[WagDatto]

So, I'm almost done at work, just another few hours. I've got my camera, and I'm headed straight for my brother's house to work on the Goooon. I'll get some bigger pictures of body, suspension (struts, bump steer spacers, etc), and some other nonsense. Plan for today is to mount the alternator and start finishing mounting the wiring harness. If I'm lucky, we might fire her up really quick this weekend!

For those of you who were interested, we have SIX MORE of the billet optima battery trays left on our shelf before we've got to make more. If you order on FBI's website, you'll pay full price, HOWEVER, if you order from our ebay retail, you'll pay about 60 bucks (member price) and 10 in shipping to the lower 48, PLUS I will personally ship your tray out within 24 hrs. Ebay links are allowed, just not in the For Sale section, right? HERE is our auction for the battery trays. Either ebay it, or call us up and ask for an ebay price match to get the lower price. We also get hooked up on optima batteries and collision parts (bumpers, fenders, hoods, etc), so we MIGHT be able to get replacement body parts for you for cheap. I DO NOT KNOW, you'd have to call up and find out, I just know we can't get any Datsun 510 pieces .

Note: I don't personally get any money out of any of that, I'm just trying to help you guys out if you were in need of a part while I still work here. And again, PM me if you're going to order with us, I'll toss some freebies your way when I process your order!

[DOOK]

Originally Posted by WagDatto

Plus I think they're sick. You rarely see a 510, but to see a badass 510 wagon is unheard of!

same reason I chose a Legacy Wagon for my car... bad ass wagons are just that... bad ass...

[WagDatto]

Originally Posted by DOOK

same reason I chose a Legacy Wagon for my car... bad ass wagons are just that... bad ass...

Shoop da woop! My brother used to have a 5 speed converted, turbo legacy wagon! Fancy stuff... Good times power sliding that thing!

[Quail]

Excellent use for a KA! Refreshing to see these engines starting to appear in swaps. Nice work

[WagDatto]

******UPDATE******

Alright, so I just got home from my brother's house and ate, so I decided to hop on and show y'all the latest!

So today, I mounted the alternator bracket and snugged up the belt a touch, so hopefully I can stop taking off the goddamn water pump pulley! Here's a quick snap of the sheet of paper I get to call a core support:



I started tucking the wire harness into the intake manifold to clean up the bay a tad. I had to open up the wire wrap to lengthen the leads to the injectors, but it turned out alright, I think!



So the lights started to dim and my brother and his wife had to jet out to grab some food, so I called it a day, and snapped off a few shots.

Big long side view:


Nice view of suspension and braided brake line:


Powdercoated 280zx struts, control arms, modified TC rod (heimed and adjustable), red annodized bump-steer spacers:


Before the engine was in, this was the cut, reversed, rewelded and powdercoated crossmember:


Camber adjusting plates, and clutch/brake cylinders:


Welded diff and beefy sway bar:


This void needs to be filled with a fuel cell ASAP!


Transmission tunnel with a shifter sticking through and my yet-to-be-thought-out hydraulic hand brake (uses rear brakes, rather than an e-brake cable):


Using the wagon for what it was meant; putting a bunch of shit in the back!


That's all for tonight, I'll try to dig up some pictures my brother took while we were still assembling. I'll also snap a shot or two of the TC rods next time I'm over there.

[ROUGE180]

So sweet man... I might have to fly to cali when you're done just to see it in person and get a ride in it lol.. Keep it going

[WagDatto]

Originally Posted by ROUGE180

So sweet man... I might have to fly to cali when you're done just to see it in person and get a ride in it lol.. Keep it going

By all means! I'll take you for a spin, haha. Yeah, I'm really stoked. Like I said, I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel! I'm doing more math tomorrow on the fuel cell, and hopefully getting that all squared away to get by the end of next week. Headers will be in my hands this weekend, if all goes as planned, and I just need to call up about shortening the drive shaft and debowing the leaf springs. After that, it's all wiring and plumbing BS until it's ready for a quick trip to my buddies at Marco Muffler to get some 2.5" exhaust run back for me, and she'll be driving!!

[WagDatto]

Morning Update

So I'm hung over on a workday, that sucks. But it's my last day tomorrow, so fuck it, right? Anyway, I broght in my fuel pump and sending unit in so I can do some more measuring for the fuel cell. Rather than doing 23x17x11, I'm thinking of cutting and shortening the stock 240sx sending unit so I can shrink the tank down to somewhere around 23x18x8 or so. That will hide it behind the rear bumper a lot better and bring me down to around 13-14 gallons instead of 18.5.

I need to dig in my pockets for some cash so I can get some more parts to work with! I really need some headers so when I do finish wiring, I can give it a good wake up fire!

Bringing up an older question, anybody have any ideas for wheels? I'm starting to think about poking my head in a few doors (don't be dirty!) and starting to look for the right wheels for the wider 'wells. I was thinking of an old-school look, 15" or 16" by probably 9" would tuck in there nicely. Like I said before, big lips are gooood, so anything from a -10 to a +0 offset would give me what I'm looking for. I saw some old Works (i think they were) with like a -9 or -10 offset in the for sale... Got me thinking, is all.

Give me your opinions!

[idriveattz32]

cool project and progress, keep up the good work...my only thought would be a wood panel trunk floor, but if you plan on roughing it around a bit I guess some nice carpet or rhino-liner would be nice too.

[WagDatto]

Originally Posted by idriveattz32

cool project and progress, keep up the good work...my only thought would be a wood panel trunk floor, but if you plan on roughing it around a bit I guess some nice carpet or rhino-liner would be nice too.

Haha, a wood panel cargo area would be hard to pull off in a wagon. I'm just going to strip out the sound deadening, spray on some lighter weight stuff or Dynamat it and cover everything with a new carpet kit and headliner.

[kcndizzle]

Looks like you found those camber plates you were looking for. Anything bigger than 16" would look a little odd. Some Work equips maybe? Something old-schooly with a fat dish would be sweet.

[HyperTek]

hey sweet!!

but it looks like your hydrolic brake lever is the wrong direction? never mind i guess its not mounted yet