2dr CA18det build

[cosmo1stgen]

Just wanted to post about my 2door ca18det build. After 3 years the project is nearing completion. I did not take the standard engine conversion route with this as there were a few things I wanted a little different.

About the car its a 1972 2door. When I got the car it was almost completely stripped. I had to purchase most little stuff separate. All the dash pieces interior trim seats ect were custom made or purchased here or ebay. Car had no grill, headlight surrounds, tail lights or corner markers. Body was in rough shape and spent 8 months in a body shop with some one that mainly does body work on old hot rods and muscle cars. The rear quarters were rotted out and someone had taken news paper and shoved it in the cavities and spread bondo over them. The passenger door was destroyed found one on craigs list. Where the front and rear glass resides was rotted and the bottom of the front fenders were rotted also. Floor boards were decent and what was rusty was cut out and replaced.

Engine is an s13 ca18det. Engine has stock bottom end, ca16de intake cam, secondary butterflies removed, s15 sr20 ball bearing t28 turbo, 720cc injectors. Running megasquirt 2 injection is full sequential not batch fire and using 1stgen DSM 4G63 ignition coils.

Front suspension consist of a complete 86 200sx front end. Front crossmember was modified and control arms shortened. Struts have been shortened and have MR2 AGX shocks and ground control coil overs. Adjustable torsion rods and ground control camber plates. Power steering has been retained.

Rear suspension is a penultimate crossmember. Stock bushings, 280zx brakes with working parking break, subaru sti R180 LSD and custom CV axles, Ground control coil overs.

There are a lot of other mods done to the car but im tired of typing. Here is a link to a few older pics.

http://datsun510.com/photopost/showgall ... osmo1stgen

Sorry for the quality they were taken with my cell phone and i dont know how to link them to here properly. Ill try to post better quality more recent pics later.

[two_68_510s]

clean

[defdes]

Beautiful build, is the e-brake from the 280ZX mod?

[cosmo1stgen]

Thanks for the compliments.

defdes,
The ebrake handle it self is from an 85 300zx. I did not like how the 280zx one mounted and how the cable was sealed to the trans tunnel. The 300zx has a better seal and mounts to the side of the tunnel which is much cleaner (IMO) when the seats are in. The cable end connects to the rest of the ebrake cable assy the same as it would on the 280zx though I shortened it a bit and brazed on a new end. The rest of the ebrake setup is all the same as the 280zx brakes mod that was done in dime quarterly.

[kevwal]

Very clean project.

[q-tip]

nice work, dont see the ca18 very often

[kevwal]

It's a good match for a 510. Decent little motor but becoming rare.

[cosmo1stgen]

Here are some pics from when the body work was being done.

[cosmo1stgen]

More

[cosmo1stgen]

Building brake lines

[cosmo1stgen]

Here are some pictures of the modified s12 200sx crossmember. The crossmember was squared up in the chassis rails. Mounting points were cut off and modified to line up in the 510 chassis and bolt to the factory mounting points. Doubler plates were made up that sandwich the new crossmember in like the originall. The stock motor mount perches were cut off and moved forward to move the engine away from the firewall.

[cosmo1stgen]

Test fitting.

[cosmo1stgen]

engine installed

[kayakdude07]

Here are some pictures of the modified s12 200sx crossmember. ...

Car looks great and that power steering must be sweet!

Couple questions for ya...
-What is the distance center to center of the s12 lower control arm pivot points on the crossmember?
-How does the shortened S12 LCA length compare to the stock 510 LCA length?

I'm curious because I've got an s12 rack sitting in the shop that I haven't done anything with yet.

Thanks

[cosmo1stgen]

kayakdude07

I had all these dimensions written down when i narrowed the control arms. Ill try and find them if I cannot ill remeasure it. From what I remember though the s12 control arms are almost 3/4 inches per side further out on the crossmember than the 510. I dont know how well the s12 power rack would work on the 510 crossmember being that far off I would think it would suffer from some pretty bad bump steer. I do know after I measured everything that the s12 control arms were shortened exactly 2 inches per side. Ive only driven it around the block a few times as the car is not completely finished but yes the power steering is awesome!