hl510-cant find any history,i have a 1981 510 with a sunroof

[datzenmike]

Looks like the '80-'81 200sx too.

[13sDatsun510]

if i recall its also known as the datsun stanza i belive in great britain called the datsun violet in australia and was renamed the nissan stanza/200sx in japan an called the 510 here in north america.

[13sDatsun510]

thought id post this here aswell:

The 510 was reintroduced for the 1978 model year to replace the 710 as Datsun's mid-size car. The second-generation 510 was initially availible in 4 body styles: 2 door Sedan, 4 door Sedan, 2-door Hatchback (Coupe) and 4-Door Station wagon. The 2nd generation 510 lacked the independant read suspension of its predecessor, owning to the fact it was not intended for racing. It was powered by the L20B engine, a de-tuned version of Datsun's L20B racing engine. The L20B was essentially the same engine as the L16, but displaced 2.0L. The L20B engine was rated at 97 HP in 1978 (without the restrictive emissions equipment; the L20B was capable of over 150 HP when tuned properly) and 92 HP in 1979. 3 Transmission types were availible: A 4-Speed manual, a 5-Speed manual, and a 3-speed automatic. The 5 speed was not availible on the 78-79 Station wagon, nor was the 4-speed availible on the Hatchback.

The 510 was given a slight "facelift" in 1980, in which the 2-door Hatchback was replaced by a 5-door HB, the grille was redesigned, the round headlamps were replaced with square ones, and the dashboard was rearranged. Under the hood, the venerable L20B was replaced with the Z20S, which had the same HP rating as the '79 L20B but featured 2 spark plugs per cylinder and a cross-flow head. The 1981 510 had the option of having the Z20E engine, which featured electronic fuel injection and 100 HP. 4-speed, 5-speed, and Automatic transmissions were availible on all models.

Second generation 510's were built by Nissan Motors, Inc in both Tokyo and Yokohama Japan, and were availible only in North America. The 510 was part of the Datsun A10 series which also included the 140J, 160J, and 160J Violet. The J series cars had the same body as the 510, but had small differences. The grille had completely round headlight frames, the bumpers were lighter and non-shock absorbent, and the car was availible in a Righthand-drive configuration. The 160J was powered by the L16 engine (the same engine that powered the 1st generation 510) and the 140J was powered by the OHV 1.4 litre A14 engine used in the B210. The Datsun A10 series was discontinued at the end of the 1981 model year, and was replaced by the Nissan/Datsun Stanza.

[icebones]

hey i just found this on craigslist and am seriously looking at buying it,

http://austin.craigslist.org/cto/940018203.html

I've also found out it's an automatic, "dark baby blue" is that possible?, and maybe a hatchback, as the lady doesn't seem to know and "thinks" it's a wagon, which makes me think it might be a hatchback. supposedly in really good shape


any ideas, how much i should offer?

[13sDatsun510]

i belive they came as a light "baby" blue with an auto(mine was converted to a 5spd from probibly a 200sx) anyways if its a "hatch/liftback" then yes itd be the wagon as for a price id start low at around 500 an see what she says, you can always just go higher till she says yes.

[icebones]

well, i finally went by to look at the 510 today. for it's age it truly is in remarkable shape. very clean, almost no rust and the paint still looks good. engine sounds very good, no knocks or pings that i can hear, but idles a little high also seams to have high oil pressure. Assuming I get this, I'm going to have to replace at least the passenger side front strut and of course get it aligned, it will need new front tires as they've worn on one side, since the guy that has it replaced the tie rod ends, but hasn't gotten it aligned, so their worn on one side. The A/C doesn't work and i know I'll want that fixed come summer here in austin. (big $$ unless it just needs a recharge, and it would still need to be converted to 134 most likely.) My main concern is the cost of getting the front strut replaced as I know that can be expensive, and of course that's one of the few things i never did on my old 510. Since I had to go there after dark to take a look at it, I'm going to go back during the day to test drive it, hopefully it will ride good enough to hold off on th new strut for a while. Also, One weird thing, this z20 motor only has 4 plugs, I thought all 510's from these years had the 8 plug config, I'm wondering if that's going to affect the performance any. For the good news, it only has 126k miles. has a new alternator, new coil/s, new fuel pump, new tie rods, headlights and battery, and no oil leaks,according to the owner ( have to check that out during the day time). All the gauges appear to be working too. for some reason it's missing the lower dash cover that goes over the heater coil, underneath the glove box, can't imagine, why that would be gone :S maybe i can find one in a junk yard. anyway, does anyone have any ideas, how much I would need to get the strut and A/c fixed? The A/C can wait a little , but I would like to be pre-paired and will be taking that into account if/when I make an offer.

[datzenmike]

For the first ('80) year of the Z20E or S, only California had the 8 plug head, the other 49 followed soon after by the next year. All Canadian HLs were 4 plug I believe, and the 200sx only got the 8 plug in '82 with the 'new' Z22E motor.

[icebones]

nice, I learned something new today Thanks for the info mike. At least now i don't have to wonder about it. Any ideas on the other stuff?

[gregg90]

Have you been able to find a reliable source for HL510 parts? If you have let me know please.

[okayfine]

Have you been able to find a reliable source for HL510 parts? If you have let me know please.

What parts? You've been to http://www.rockauto.com?

[gregg90]

I haven't used that site but it looks good. I am trying to find some body parts.... Not having very good luck.

[jason]

With the HLA510's you might be in worse shape than the PL510 for body parts. Most of the stuff for the PL510's are now NLA .....

[okayfine]

I haven't used that site but it looks good. I am trying to find some body parts.... Not having very good luck.

Oh.

Yeah.

Like Jason said, you're probably outta luck. Dealer, or a wrecking yard. There's http://www.car-parts.com, an online collection of autojumbles. For the dealer angle, you'd have to find part numbers, which means finding a fisch or a really friendly dealer parts monkey. But I wouldn't hold my breath. Easier to buy another HL510, and likely much, much cheaper.

[gregg90]

I think you are right, it would be easier and cheaper to buy another one. Now the quest to find one!! I am going to be using mine how it is as a daily driver for now. So cosmetics aren't a big deal for now.

[okayfine]

I think you are right, it would be easier and cheaper to buy another one. Now the quest to find one!! I am going to be using mine how it is as a daily driver for now. So cosmetics aren't a big deal for now.

If you're going to stay with the HL510 and you have the room for a parts car, this would most definitely be the way to go. If it were running and solid when you bought it, it would pay for itself many times over. When dealing with old cars, there's an apt adage along the lines of, "How many cars do you need to keep one going?"