A 510 30 years in planing.

[RonM]

My first car was a black 68 four door 510. I payed $300 for it in 1980 and drove it all through high school. My second car was a 71 2 door 510 that I turned into the ultimate sleeper; I swapped in an L20b with high compression pistons, did some head work, cam, duel side drafts, and a header. It was the funnest thing on four wheels. When I moved to NY I had to sell it, and I've regretted it ever sense. I had put $6,000 of 1980"s money into it and had to let it go for $900. I have been building a third car in my imagination for 30 years.

About a month ago I got a bare bones rolling chases of a 72, 2 door with some work done on it. Fortunately the work that was done is exactly what I would have done, and it was done right. It has Spherical rod-end control arms, tension/control rods, and steering links front -coil-over suspension with camber plates - rear coil-over suspension (all rebuildable) - stainless steel brake lines on all four corners - Wilwood big brake kit, front and rear - new brake/clutch master cylinder - slotted rear-end and enlarged 3" cross-member exhaust tunnel - custom 6-point roll cage with door and dash bar - refinished pedal and steering assembly - fiberglass hood and front valence.

I am very exited to build another 510 after all these years, and to have such a great starting point. In the early stages of planning this build we (my brother and I) were considering a H1 V8 Hayabusa from Hartley Enterprises. http://www.h1v8.com/page/page/1562068.htm . This small company is milling an aluminum block that receives two 1300cc 4 cylinder motorcycle engines. This package weighs in under 200 lbs, redlines at 11,000 rpm, and produces 400 plus hp (naturally aspirated). Just the thought of it screaming away under the hood made me light headed. The sharp point of a $20.000 price tag popped that bubble and we came back to earth. I know it's a lot less glamorous, but the smart money is on an S14 SR20DET. I've come to realize there is a very good reason SR20's have been used over and over in 510s, because it's reliable, cheep hp.

My end goal is to build a clean, reliable street / track car, leaning toward performance over comfort. Essentially if it doesn't make the car go fast, or make it safe, it doesn't go in the car. I hope to produce in the neighborhood of 350 plus HP.

This is what I plan on putting into it:

Stock S14 SR20DET from Japan

HD engine and trany mounts
Set back front sway bar
Intercooler and piping
Large Radiator
Turbo on top manifold
Stainless steel turbo oil/water lines
Water neck
Turbo 2” 3bolt outlet
Turbo adapter for down pipe
Down pipe
http://www.mckinneymotorsports.com/prod ... SWAP+PARTS

T37 Turbo Disco potato
http://www.intensepower.com/noname28.html
http://www.jgy.cc/serg20/turbos.htm

External High capacity fuel pump

Fuel pressure gage and regulator

Injectors (not sure what I need?

CV and half shaft axles kit
http://www.wolfcreekracing.com/index.ph ... &Itemid=61

R180 LS Differential

Wiring conversion kit:
I've been in contact with Yury Lyalko at Wiring Specialties regarding the development of a S14 harness that will swap into a 510. It sounds like he is almost ready to take it to market, and I'm waiting to be the first to give it a try. I'll let you know how it goes. http://www.wiringspecialties.com/

ECU (not sure what I need?

If you see anything missing, or a better choice please let me hear what you have to say.

Unfortunately, other than the lights, a stock LP wiring harness, and some other tid bits I will need to track down everything else, from glass to a trunk latch. All the little stuff is really eating up the budget and available time. The challenge is to put as much as I can into the performance upgrades without sacrificing the sound usability of the car.

Right now the car is sitting in a body shop where I am doing the prep body work. I decided to fill the side blinker, and license plat light holes. I'm considering pounding out the rear fender wells and trimming 3/8" off the seam, so we can get as much rubber under there as possible. If anyone has advice I'd love to head it. I found the glass, got the rubber kit, and a few other little doodads. Next week I'll be buying the motor and peripherals. I am open for any advice.

Thank you fellow Dimers.

[two_68_510s]

Sounds great, do you have any photos?

Posting was almost pornographic! (I know it is adultery to have lust in your heart,... GUILTY)

[RonM]

two_68_510s,

Judging by your user name I'd say you and I have something in common. I too was once the proud owner of an Alfa Omega 68. I do have pictures of my 72, but I haven't figured out how to post them yet. I am user group illiterate. Can you give me a hand with this?

THanks,

Ron M

[RonM]

The Body color will be a slightly deeper shade of Screaming Yellow, (D6 in the Ford stock paint catalog). Everything else on the car will be black, such as rims, bumpers, tail light housings, etc. I used PhotoShop to create a mask of a 510 I can drop any color into. You can see the image posted below. This is the projected finish look for this project. There is also a logo I'm playing around with that may go on the rear fender panel.

[two_68_510s]

Looks like you figured it out!

Check out my start at a build at Project Builds

BLACK AND BLUE '68S: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=14612

I haven't posted since May, still honing my welding skills so I can get this project going.

I am doing a radical/traditional build!

Joel

[S15DET]

If the taillight frames are black, please consider black for the panel between the taillights, or even the whole back of the rear panel. Several on this forum have done this and it looks great. Many of the same period Detroit rods had black-out rear panels. To complete the look you'll want a black grill and head light surounds too. This will be a great look over yellow.






For the two fender stripes, PLEASE consider a charcoal stripe with black borders like this...




It greatly richens the look of the stripe and gives more character than a plain black stripe. Just a thought.

[RonM]

Joel,

After looking at the starting point of some other builds, I'm in awe of the ambition and skill you guys have. Like Baron Van Frankenstein you are bringing these cars back from the dead. I realize how lucky I am to have a fairly straight, rust free body. I'm not cut out for the kind of commitment requires 100s of hours right now. I have two kids 5, and 9 years old, I have a design build construction business, and I'm in school working on a Doctoral degree psychology. I have very little bandwidth for hobbies, but I need something that is for me. This project is a much needed outlet for pent up creative energy.

There is an amazing group of people here. I guess it's the quality of the car that draws talented people like these to it. I'll bet the Corolla guys aren't this cool!

[RonM]

Thanks S15Det,

The plan is to put the black stripes on top of the clear-coat, because it will be a semi-glass black. Another benefit of this is I can add to it as I wish, rather than being committed to it once the clear-coat goes over it. I will go one step at a time. Something else I'm considering is painting the hood & trunk center sections black. Kind of like a partial racing stripe. We'll see one step at a time.

[Byron510]

My car originally had this blacked out treatment between the tail lights in its former life in white. Now in 2004 Q45 Bronze, I didn't think that the blacked out treatment wouldn’t work, so i didn’t even consider it. But when Aron painted his car this way (shown above), I do like it.

I too would like to welcome you here.
I've also had a few 68 4dr's over the years myself. They are truly my favorite obtainable model without a doubt (past the 69 SSS coupe which I'm sure I will never own). That aside, I have a super rare 68; an L13, twin bench seat, 4 wheel drum brake 4dr that was actually sold right here in Vancouver. I hope to do it justice with a nice build one year soon. For now I love to drive it once in a while, what a blast after piloting my hot rod 69 2dr around some days.

Byron

[RonM]

In an attempt to get as much rubber under a stock rear fender, I am considering widening the wheel wells by heating and pounding them out, and trimming 3/8" off the inner seam. I realize, at best this will get me another 1/2 of rubber, but I'll take what I can get. I'm Hoping to stuff a 16/8 15 + offset rims up in there. I have coil over shocks that have a notch cut out of the bottom spring plate for max clearance on the inside. Now I'm looking for max clearance on the fender side. If I'm going with this idea, I need to do it soon before paint, so I can address any distortion of the fender during the process. That gives me only a few days to decide. Has this been done, and if so, what were the results?

Thanks

[Byron510]

In an attempt to get as much rubber under a stock rear fender, I am considering widening the wheel wells by heating and pounding them out, and trimming 3/8" off the inner seam. I realize, at best this will get me another 1/2 of rubber, but I'll take what I can get.

I've seen this done a couple of times. A local club racer (Sean Kearny) did this to his race car many years ago - he managed to easily get 7" zero offset rims under his "non-flared" car.

And before him in the late 80's, the other guy was Bob Harold in the Pacific NW. He did this on a bamboo 2dr - it looked great. I also think this was the first 510 I ever saw on 15" wheels.

Both guys had the same caution. Watch out for the filler tank recesss. As you push ou the panel, it wants to buckle in this area because the panel can not stretch as much. So take their advice - do the gas door side first, then make the other side match.

Take photos, keep us posted. With the advent of digital technology today, you can do a step by step, say with unmounted rims on the car for comparison and have a very cool thread to donate to the 510 world.

Keep us posted.

Byron

[RonM]

Thanks Byron,

You've given me some excellent advice here, and I will follow it. I will also do my best to contribute to the construct of collective knowledge for the Realm by producing documentation of the process.

[S15DET]

On the inside, however, the tire will touch the semi-trailing arm first, typically not the spring perch. You'll have to grind away the wide seam at the tire/wheel area and re-weld it closed to make more room. It'll be very obvious when you look at it, and many of us here have done this.

[hang_510]

There is also a logo I'm playing around with that may go on the rear fender panel.

in 30yrs of planing & 2kids,
im that you have seen the transformers series...

3rd installment coming soon to a theatre near you...
http://www.the510realm.com/viewtopic.ph ... ansformers

[RonM]

30 yaers in planning and Hollywood steels my idea before I can do it. I may be recosidering my color choice! The last thing I want is to have someone think that I a'm so un-original as to paint my car yellow & black because of a movie. I'm heart broken.