I pulled the wiper linkage to refurbish it. The cowling was getting some surface rust - not really anything flaking but it needed to be dealt with.
Normally I would use POR-15 but I came across the KBS rust stop system and after some research it seems to be comparable unlike some of the other systems out there which don't seem to compare to the finished product with POR-15. KBS is significantly cheaper as well. They also carry Rust Blast which is a Zinc Phosphate coating which is a great way to prevent corrosion. We have some great products for the hobbyist to work on their vehicles now. I picked up the KBS sampler pack which is a very inexpensive way to try out their products.
The cowl is a real pain to work on so I use a sponge rather than a brush and long gloves then reach up inside the back of the cowl space and in all the nooks and crannys. The finish is very tough - almost like powder coating. It's a urethane high solid content paint and needs to be thourougly stirred to get the solids back into solution. Seems to be very similar to POR-15 in the finish. Happy with the results. It was a messy pain but its done and I feel a lot better about the cowl now
Life is never dull although I wouldn't mind some dull sometime....
Water main sprung a leak somewhere. Spent the whole day with the excavator ($$$) trying to find the leak. We found leeit not far from here. Broken T. If I had of known where the leak was it was just a shovel away but that's not how it works
The dizzy in the car was the stock points one with the upgraded Pertronix module. Well the module failed so I hunted down a 1979 Datsun 510 matchbox dizzy from Rock Auto and ordered that in. Of course its not the same orientation so its drop the oil pump and clock the spindle to the right spot. My friend Gord gave me a good tip for finding TDC quickly. Pull the #1 plug and bump it with the remote starter with your thumb over the spark plug hole and when you feel the air push you are at TDC. Check the piston with the pencil and you are golden - too easy Another good pointer on this job - vice grips to hold the spindle up. For icing on the cake the 510 is super easy to pull the pump - just snap off the seized bolts for the air deflector pan and the pump is right there. On the Z car we have to drop the sway bar, etc to do the same job.
After a couple of adjustments its good to go. Set the timing to 11 deg advance and she seems happy there. Matchbox dizzy works great! Each little tweek has the car running better each go. I'm lovin this 510
Been working steady on the 510. The grey primer has been a bit of a concern with the rust popping through. Taking it down to bare metal a panel at a time and treating with the KBS Rust Blast which is a zinc phosphate coating. Once I had every body panel down everything got re-striped with 3M Scotchbright pads and zinc phosphate one last time and three coat of two part epoxy clear coat. Took the wheels and painted with Duplicolor Charcoal wheel paint and polished the raised surfaces.
Well it about time I posted again. I've been busy working on the 510 but I had a bit of an embarrassing accident and I didn't want to post anything up here until I got her back together again. She's all fixed up and better than before so let the posting commence!
So here is my sad little story…. Got up early and drove to work with the plan of going for a run before I started work. Was early but not really early enough to go for a full run so I decided to take the automatic shifter console apart because something was rattling around in there and give it a good clean while I had it apart. Went to work and came out after work hopped in the car, pulled the choke and tried to turn it over. Nothing. Not a click. I’m kinda ticked off because I’ve got this thing running great and now I can’t even start it. When I first got the car the ignition switch was bad so I replaced it with a used one. Maybe the ignition switch was bad again. Time to do some trouble shooting. I reach in the back seat and grab a screwdriver. Pop the hood and jump the starter. Car turns over. Hmm must be something between the starter and the ignition switch or the switch itself. Going over it in my mind I hit the starter again and it fires right up. Hmm… still thinking about it I’m about to go around to turn the ignition switch off as I mull over the problem at hand. At that moment the car that was in gear with the choke pulled out now has enough fluid running through the torque converter to start driving away with the hood up and a guy standing beside it with a screwdriver in his hand and a shocked look on his face. I don’t drive automatics – all my cars are standards. I never leave any of my cars in gear and if I had jumped it out with the starter it would have lurched forward the first time I hit the starter. I jumped in front of the car to stall it out but with the choke out it turns into Christine and tries to run me over. I know I should have pulled the ignition wire or some other more intelligent action but my brain was in panic mode and using my body to stop the car seemed like a good idea at the time. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I wasn’t going to win so I jumped out of the way just in time to turn around and watch the car crash into the SUV parked in the next row of cars in the parking lot. I was devastated. I’d been working constantly on my beloved 510 and now she was all smashed up. Although the unthankful wretch tried to run me over I was just as crushed as she was. After I sat in the car letting my mind settle down and try and figure out what just happened I realized the car was in gear and it wouldn’t turn over because the SAFETY switch prevents it from being started in gear. I bypassed the safety switch with my screwdrive and started the car in gear with the choke pulled all the way out giving her a decent amount of throttle. I called the Insurance company and said “you probably haven’t heard this one before”. The guy on the other end of the line laughs and says “oh I’ve heard pretty much everything”. I tell him my story and his reply is “you’re right – haven’t heard that one”. “Were the people in the other car OK?” to which I reply “there wasn’t anyone in the other car. There wasn’t anyone in my car.” We had a good (?) laugh.
Finding a body shop that wanted to work on an old car was a challenge. Fortunately my neighbour a few blocks away is a body shop and one of the owners owns a beautiful 2d 510. I brought the car by and a few weeks later they had it in the shop. They installed the FutoFab front bumper, valance and fender after they pulled the headlight bucket back out. They did a fantastic job on it and fortunately there was no damage to the inner fender. I’ve just had her in to do an alignment and the tech calls me over. That’s not usually a good sign especially with a Datsun on the hoist. “Looks like your 510 is perfectly square – it’s out by 1/10th of an inch. I don’t see new cars this good”. HA! Finally some good news!
All back together again. Jacked up like a pickup truck but that will change….
that's brutal (I hate automatics they allow uncoordinated individuals to be on my road ) had a lady at my gate get out of her truck and have her sweater grab the column shift sending her truck through the gate narrowly avoiding her husband. I ran up and tried to stall it with my hand on the brake as we collided with two parked cars. luckily I was able to turn it away from a row of campers on jacks. no one was hurt and only Chevy's were damaged so no big deal.
glad you and your datsun are safe and back on the road.......whens the 5spd swap happening?
two_68_510s wrote:I guess our donkeys are quicker then your sled dogs!
RMS wrote:that's brutal (I hate automatics they allow uncoordinated individuals to be on my road ) had a lady at my gate get out of her truck and have her sweater grab the column shift sending her truck through the gate narrowly avoiding her husband. I ran up and tried to stall it with my hand on the brake as we collided with two parked cars. luckily I was able to turn it away from a row of campers on jacks. no one was hurt and only Chevy's were damaged so no big deal.
glad you and your datsun are safe and back on the road.......whens the 5spd swap happening?
Mounts are already built for the 5sp swap which will go in when the engine is finished. Building an LZ22 for now to keep her on the road - a KA swap would turn her into a garage queen...
.... including rear sway bars on stock springs and ride height. The surface rust makes me cringe every time I look at these pics. Its only surface but....
Next up - coilovers! Running 280ZX front strut spindles and brakes on T3 coilover adjustable sleeves with bolt in camber plates. Rears are fully adjustable rear coilovers from T3 as well. Running with shaft collars on the front but not necessary.
Ready!
Go!
Prepping for camber plates.
And time for a little pinball action with the camber plates installed at Gord's Fords
Its actually the inner lip that its rubbing on. I'm also running 195/55 which were the tire that came with the car. Its possible 50 series would do the trick...
