"The Goon" Build (KA Datsun)

[mrflip69]

hehe, the pic of the red/white 2-tone reminds me of ghostbusters.

great job bringing life back to these old cars!

[BigVinnie]

Originally Posted by WagDatto

I'm running flares at all four corners, so fitting a 15x10 won't be hard. I agree with the steering, though. It's gonna be a pain in the ass regardless, but I'm a fairly large guy... I'll muscle it around! The faster I go, too, the less I'll feel the steering! I'll just have to camber the shit out of the front so I can turn the wheel easier, right?

I'm not going to bother with the hassle of upgrading the stock steering box. It's not a very heavy car and even with 15x10's I really don't see it being too much of an issue.

Well just in case your interested I'm pretty sure you can modify the S12/200sx power steering system to work on the 510. Some years back when I worked on the coupes there was a guy that showed us how to modify the s12 power steering for use on the 510.
But yeah that would definitely help you out from trying to muscle 15X10's when you try to leave a parking lot.

[ericcastro]

came across a couple pics of 2-1/3 of my 5 or 6 dimes i owned


this one was a rust bucket I piced up for 500. droped it, rims and tires, headers and exhaust

this one was better conditon by far. was in the middle of a engine swap when i sold it. I had the engine all running, just open headers when i sold it. the one in back was my coupe. 2.2 liter, custom headers, weber, springs, sway bars, slotted mags. All the old school 510 stuff

[WagDatto]

Originally Posted by BigVinnie

Well just in case your interested I'm pretty sure you can modify the S12/200sx power steering system to work on the 510. Some years back when I worked on the coupes there was a guy that showed us how to modify the s12 power steering for use on the 510.
But yeah that would definitely help you out from trying to muscle 15X10's when you try to leave a parking lot.

PM'd

Originally Posted by ericcastro

came across a couple pics of 2-1/3 of my 5 or 6 dimes i owned
this one was a rust bucket I piced up for 500. droped it, rims and tires, headers and exhaust
this one was better conditon by far. was in the middle of a engine swap when i sold it. I had the engine all running, just open headers when i sold it. the one in back was my coupe. 2.2 liter, custom headers, weber, springs, sway bars, slotted mags. All the old school 510 stuff
PICTURES REMOVED FOR QUOTE!

Sick little dimes, man! Both are a little rough around the edges, kinda beat up and ugly... but all in the true spirit of 510-iology!

Thanks as always for the comments, fellas!

[WagDatto]

Small Update:

So the weather up here has been pretty shitty lately, and school and my new job have kind of eaten away my spare time, so progress has been slow. However, small steps have been taken to further me along.

I'll snap new pictures next time I'm over there, but yesterday my brother and I used the plasma cutter and opened up the firewall for the wiring harness, and snugged the giant grommet into place (looks clean!). Later this week, I'm going up to Penn Valley to grab a drive shaft and possibly a hood and dash pad as well, so we'll see how that goes. Marty has all the measurements and plans drawn up for my fuel cell, so that should be getting laser cut this week and welding will commence, so I'm hoping that it will be done by the weekend after next. Also, I have a VW Rabbit's Radiator on it's way to the shop tomorrow, so fab work will begin on proper brackets and mounts. Also, I need to snag my headers this week in preparation for the first time I get to fire this beast up! The intake should be going on next week as well, I just need a short elbow, air filter cone and a few rubber couplings to finish that off.

Soon, too, I'm going to have to force Phil to help me with my wiring! We keep putting it off cuz it's going to be boring and lame, but it's only 5 wires, so it shouldn't take too long. As far as chassis wiring goes, I'm thinking we're just gonna keep it simple... Headlights, marker lights, turn signals, brakes, and reverse.

Last, but certainly not least, I just found out yesterday that The Goon is officially "Baller Status," and entirely OG. Not only is Snoop pictured next to a 510 Wagon, but Modified Mag has a 2-door with a KA swap in it (that I personally think is only so-so and they should have picked a better 510 to represent). Maxim had a small article a few months back saying that the 510 is the perfect choice for an old school ride, and I've heard rumors kicking around on a few forums that The Fastester and the Furioustester is going to have a 510 as one of the main cars in the new movie... I'm not SURE of it, but that's just what I've heard.

Suffice it to say, though, the prices of 510's are on the rise again...

[SW20Racer]

i forsee a massive uprise of 510 donks in about 2.5 weeks. (good thing i have a lifetime subscription to donk:box&bubbler!) then its only a matter of time before all sorts of old school rwd imports are sportin 26's with fridge sized sub-boxes crammed inside, rattling to shit-fuck and back.

[WagDatto]

Originally Posted by SW20Racer

i forsee a massive uprise of 510 donks in about 2.5 weeks. (good thing i have a lifetime subscription to donk:box&bubbler!) then its only a matter of time before all sorts of old school rwd imports are sportin 26's with fridge sized sub-boxes crammed inside, rattling to shit-fuck and back.

Acutally, the one he posed next to in that picture has some very tasteful 15" konig rewind style wheels on it, and besides being lowered a little bit, is very very stock-ish looking.

I've got my fingers crossed that it becomes "the norm" to keep these cars fairly subtle.. They don't make body kits, it requires a lot of work to put anything bigger than a 17" rim on them (but 17s make them look like crap, so maybe that in itself is a deterrent), and the stock motors are usually pretty decent if you put a new carb and some headers on them.

Just praying that The Fastesterest and Furiestorer doesn't get their dirty fingers all over them!

[SW20Racer]

heres hoping...

[Bushido]

heres some inspiration for you.

[WagDatto]

Oh... My god....

I wish I could add camber to my straight axle! Haha that thing is REDONKULOUS! I just got an idea for my rear GT Spoiler!!

[WagDatto]

By the way, before I take off I figured I'd post this...

Does anybody know anything about "Axis" brand wheels? I know that up until now, they've only made 4x100 bolt pattern wheels, but they came out with a 4x4.5. Any good reviews? Bad reviews? Let me know, they're cheap and they aren't sportmax's!

[Gumballf355]

Somebody say 15x10s??

Hows about 15x10.5s?


Get some Epsilons... oldschool cars don't look right with newschool rims.

[ericcastro]

Originally Posted by WagDatto

Just praying that The Fastesterest and Furiestorer doesn't get their dirty fingers all over them!

I think it might be good for the 510 community at large. Theres not that many young guys doing it. Its mainly a bunch of old guys that built there car over years, and havent changed it at all. they need to be stirred up.


And they do make body kits for 510's. they got front and back box fenders for the coops. and look through the austrailian websites for 510 stuff. there style isnt to my taste, but they got alot down there.

nother one off my flickr

[WagDatto]

Meh, a front valace spoiler and flares aren't really a body kit, IMO but I guess box flares count. Not my style at all, though. Those 15x10.5s are sick! I think 15x9s will do me right for my every days for a bit, and I'll go wider when I go KA-T. Seems like the right thing to do. Just got a PM saying I can get some Equip 01s or SSR MK-I-III for right around 1500 so I'm saving my money!

[axiomatik]

Axis is pretty much equivalent to Rota.

[WagDatto]

Since I'm starting to get PM's about progress, I'll assume it's time for another update, yeah?

So I'm trying to stock up on parts to get some real work done, I swear! My VW Rabbit radiator came in on Monday, so brackets are going to be fabbed up this weekend (if I'm not too busy at the Autorama!!). Unfortunately for us 510 guys, we don't have a lot of room up front for a radiator! You guys have it easy, but it was going to cost about 300 smackaroo's for a Griffin aluminum radiator and proper brackets, plus shipping! I opted to take the well-beaten path, and buy a brand spankin' new Rabbit thang.

The other day, I drove to Smartville, CA (30 minutes outside of Grass Valley) to meet a guy known by the name of James. After drooling on his RHD 510 Bluebird Coupe with an SR20DE, and his vast collection of almost 20 510's and many more parts than cars to put them in, I made a few purchases to get me further along the way to getting my car going. Phil robbed me of my old dash pad (not that it was in that great of shape, mind you), so I had to replace that and I decided to snag a 2-door 510 drive shaft. It's been said that a KA or SR swap into a Wagon requires a driveshaft with a length equivalent to that of a 2-door...

With new parts in hand, I cruised over to my brother's house, opening the garage with the key that only a full stomach can buy you, and set to work:

To start things off slowly, I decided to start putting the dash together. However, I soon realized that I didn't have the screws anymore, since they were so rudely STOLEN from me to install MY old dash into SOMEBODY'S old car... Haha, just kidding, Phil! (I love you!). So I put my fresh, reupholstered dash pad in and did what I could to the rest of the dash, pretty snazzy, eh?





Next, I decided to take an easy job and bolt on the rear bumper. Phil and I decided that having the mounting points showing just looked boring and kind of stupid, so I tossed on the filler plate and the bumper and I think it looks 10x better from the ass-end:





So here's where things got very tiring and VERY frustrating... I lifted one side up and crawled down there with my short shaft in hand. I line up the hole with my shaft (is this dirty?), and start gently pushing the tip of it in (if it wasn't dirty before, it is now...). I readjusted it just slightly to make sure it went in nice and smoothly, and started to push. And that's when I met some resistance...

By the way, I'm not going too far out of my way to make this post go sexual, but there's just no other way to explain this!

It fit in there just fine, I could feel it when they started to go where it was supposed to, but I could NOT push it in any farther. I even started POUNDING the shaft into that tranny, but I couldn't get past just the tip! I knew I was close, I was sweating so bad and my muscles were screaming, but I still couldn't get the 3 inches that I needed for it to be all the way in.

I took the whole shaft back out and removed the sleeve that was covering the majority of the tip, and I tossed some lube on there, hoping it would help my situation. I crawled back underneath the tranny and lined up my shaft again, felt it push in a little bit, and then again... I met the same resistance as before, and could NOT for the life of me get my 3" into that god damned tranny!!

Frustrated, tired and unsatisfied, I crawled from beneath this heavy love obsession, checked to make sure my wallet was still there, grabbed my jacket and left.

But not before I snapped a few shots of the 521 pickup that I got a PM about! It's a Datsun 521 pickup truck that my brother has had, and sold, and had and traded and had, time and again over the past who-knows-how-many years. It's sitting on a stock frame for the time being, with a stock, unmolested bed, for the time being, with no motor... for the time being. When the Goon is out of there, the plan is to KA it, or pull a budget SR swap if the funds and parts are available at the time. Then we can body drop it, 'bag it, and drag the shit out of it again... But I guess Phil will have to start his own build thread for that project, won't you?





Thanks for tuning in, guys, hopefully I'll have lots of good news to report by this weekend. And maybe some quality photos instead of these cellphone pieces of shit I keep feeding you!

[drifter808]

^^^^that was a pretty good story. Looking good on the build to.

[kcndizzle]

This is going to sound stupid, but did you look inside of the driveshaft yolk? The part that slides in and splines up, make sure the splines werent' damaged, or something in there blockin it?

[WagDatto]

Yeah, I checked. It's old and kinda dirty, but all the channels are cumpletely clear, "Disease Free," if you will...

Okay, I promise I'll stop!!

I checked both the transmission, and the drive shaft just to make sure, and both are clear from what I can see, and still locked up. Next time I head over there, I'll test fit the stock Wagon drive shaft, just to see if it's the drive shaft.

[89singlecamnoob]

Originally Posted by WagDatto

Acutally, the one he posed next to in that picture has some very tasteful 15" konig rewind style wheels on it, and besides being lowered a little bit, is very very stock-ish looking.

I've got my fingers crossed that it becomes "the norm" to keep these cars fairly subtle.. They don't make body kits, it requires a lot of work to put anything bigger than a 17" rim on them (but 17s make them look like crap, so maybe that in itself is a deterrent), and the stock motors are usually pretty decent if you put a new carb and some headers on them.

Just praying that The Fastesterest and Furiestorer doesn't get their dirty fingers all over them!

yeah, the fact that 17's look bad on a 510 is likely not going to be a deterrent to the people that throw 30's on Caprices...which saddens me :/

[SC_S13]

Originally Posted by Bushido

heres some inspiration for you.

too baller for a LIFESIZE 510, so the playa went MINI. and made his own mini garage to house it aWWWW

[WagDatto]

Originally Posted by SC_S13

too baller for a LIFESIZE 510, so the playa went MINI. and made his own mini garage to house it aWWWW

He did not, however, take into account that the hatch would likely never stay open without HUGE support, and the hood is now impossible to open EVER.

[fbiphil]

WOW- I'm still sweating from reading that post! That was just about the dirtiest thing I've ever read about a car!
Thanks for throwing those pictures of the 521 up there- now everyone can see how sad it looks now! I promise it'll be better than it ever was, but here's an old picture from when it was 'bagged on the old frame:



After horse trading it back and forth for a few years, I finally got her back for good about 2 years ago. The frame had been dragged so hard that the bottom was paper-thin, the bed had buckled because the frame had cracked, and the front suspension was bent beyond repair. So, I kept the cab and front clip, scrapped the rest, and at some point I'll finally get around to working on it again... like when I have some SPACE IN MY GARAGE!!
So get back under that tranny, lube up your shaft, and get to pushing!

[axiomatik]

eewww, you're sticking your shaft into a tranny?

[WagDatto]

Originally Posted by axiomatik

eewww, you're sticking your shaft into a tranny?

And don't you forget it!

Phil, I'm working on it, sheesh! I only work from 10-4 today, so I'll climb back under there and muscle my shaft back into that tranny... Hopefully with better results today, though!

[ericcastro]

does the 510 drive shaft fit into the Ka tranny?? just wondering if there are more teeth on one end of it??


Oh yeah, and those box fender pics. just 2 I found online real fast.

And like I said before. not big on the austrailin style. Just showing the box fenders

[ROUGE180]

Originally Posted by ericcastro

does the 510 drive shaft fit into the Ka tranny?? just wondering if there are more teeth on one end of it??


Oh yeah, and those box fender pics. just 2 I found online real fast.

And like I said before. not big on the austrailin style. Just showing the box fenders

not feeling that yellow one. Not my style but the red white and blue is tyte. Fenders look good too

[WagDatto]

Those cars are both VERY ugly. The box fenders on the red/white/blue car are staggered and it looks terrible, and the yellow car... enough said.

There's no way to do a 4-door or a wagon with box flares without cutting flare or welding the doors shut, so I'll be fine with my low-key bubble flares.

Anyways, I got the drive shaft in! There turned out to be more gunk in the drive shaft splines than I originally thought, so OOPS on my part! A big shout-out goes out to my main man Phil for helping me out with that one tonight, even though it was kind of an owed favor for helping get rid of his International Travelall! Yeah, it ended up pretty much just slipping in there once it was cleaned out a bit better, so it's all bolted up and sitting pretty.

I probably won't get any work done tomorrow. We need to pick up a 510 2 Door and tow it back to our buddies place, and then we're going to hit up the Autorama. Anybody else heading out? The weather this week has been perfect so far, so I'm pretty stoked about it!

That's it for now!

PS. I slammed my shaft home inside that tranny!

PPS. I feel 10x lighter now that my shaft is buried safe and snug inside the tranny.

K, now that's all.

[WagDatto]

UPDATE AGAIN!!

So I didn't think I'd get much, if any, work done today. Reason being that my brother, our buddy Nate and I had to drive to Rio Linda. Phil purchased a 510 2 Door a few months back that was a "Special Edition" Datsun of sorts. To my understanding, the story goes as such:

To celebrate the 510's wins in the Trans Am racing series over the past seasons, in 1973 a distributor in Southern California produced a limited number of Datsun 510 2 Doors with "Trans Am" badging along the sides and trunk of the car. This happens to be one of those cars (I'll post pictures some other time, or maybe Nate will post his own thread).

In any case, we got down there and dilly-dallied around quite a bit, looking at the classic 1970 something Skyline and some VERY sweet 510's in general. We towed the car back up to Nate's house, and had to make yet another run to Rio Linda to drop the trailer back off.

When we got back to Phil's house, he started in on cleaning some things (including a Miata, is anybody interested in buying? $2k even, drive her away!!). I started putting more pieces of the dash together, and it's starting to look pretty snazzy. To finish off the day, we swapped wheels. He's selling his blacktop, RHD, S13 Silvia, but we're keeping his old wheels, so we put the gold 280zx wheels you've been seeing on my car, onto his. In return, we put his Hayashi Racing wheels on mine and found out that they're a 15x8 -12! I snapped some photos because the wheels looked pretty nice up front, and when I go to flare the rear, a small spacer would even things out quite a bit.







Long story short, I needs to save some money for some 15x9 +0 wheels! SSR MK-II here I come!

[chibo]

Originally Posted by ROUGE180

not feeling that yellow one. Not my style but the red white and blue is tyte. Fenders look good too

What about this yellow 510?
http://www.bryanf.com/510/

I've had a boner for 510's ever since I saw that site in late 2001. I lack the place for a project car now but I've always wondered (but never looked in to) how much aftermarket support there is for the little bastards. I've found out the hard way that I'm not the kind of person who can just have a nice looking car to drive around, everything gets turned in to a purpose built shit mobile. Hell, I had my Land Cruiser for no more than a month before I decided to destroy the fuck out of resale value. Fuck.