'71 4 Door - Mikuni'd KA24DE

[Three B's Racing]

Hey Devon so you know, the East Coast Meet at Summit Point Raceway in WV was moved to the weekend of August 8th. Never been there in Aug and imagine it'll be quite humid.....

Ive got it book marked in my calendar. Waiting to see what happens with everything going on Covid wise.... but I have a tentative vacation in NJ at a family house the week after, which would break up the return drive nicely, just dependent on getting that additional Friday off...

August gives me some time to sort a few more things out on the car--- mainly drop the trans and confirm the clutch and flywheel are tight and swap in my spare trans to see if that helps the racket I have going on on decel... Going to check the driveline angles again before I do that. Also been looking at maybe grabbing a set of those DatsunRestoMod CVs... cant hurt...

All that highway milage has me thinking about throwing my 3.9 diff in... although I was just about to steal the square driveshaft flange from it... hmmm...

But anyway- got it book marked! just cant commit yet. Would love to get down there though.

Sounds great Devon, I run a 3:90 diff and 14" wheels and like you 4k rpm at 80mph. Not terrible but is a bit buzzy but I'm typically at 70/75mph because being I travel through the night I haven't a need to speed. Like I said there's no hurry to get there. I have a set of those Restomod CVs and as compared to the other type with the aluminum adapters their great and believe me when I say their great because I had a set of the others with those adapters and experienced a hugh fail causing me a lot of damage. Way way easier to install, a lot less messy and no removing safety wire from 12 allen head bolts to remove or install.

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[demo243]

Nothing to exciting to update yet... but decided to finally pull the trigger and give the 510 a bit more love. Ordered all the moog parts to refresh the steering linkage - New tie rods, ball joints, TC bushings and LCA bushings, delrin idler arm. Also order some shorter 6" springs with a helper spring to raise the front coilover perches back up above the tire to allow for a little more front drop. Might pull the trigger on some QA1 rear coilovers soon too.. Oh yea also ordered some 1/8" black ABS plastic sheets to make some door cards out of.

Expect some more updates soon!

[demo243]

Time to update to rear coilovers I think --- but got some questions about QA1 Length and whatnot...

Since I am pulling the front struts to redo the steering linkage I am thinking about replacing the inserts in there as well.

Since I started a separate thread on this... I'll link it here and post up my final conclusions later.

QA1 Rear Coilovers- Shorter shock option? w/ Some Koni Front Insert Talk Too
http://the510realm.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=32839

Would appreciate any input here or on that thread above in regards to QA1s for the rear and Koni Inserts for the front.

[demo243]

I posted this over in my suspension post, but figured I would put it here for reference too.

Finally got the time today to tear about the driver side rear end and do some measuring - I assume this would apply to most any 510 running a stock rear cross member and trailing arms. Ultimately it seems like I was just over thinking everything... and the general consensus for the DS602 would be correct. Measurement from the underside of the shock mount to the center of the lower mount at full compression - trailing arm against the body is 13.5" - so no reason to go with a ds502 as I would just be leaving more travel unused. As it is the DS602 will have 6" of travel, but only 5 are usable as it is 1" shorter at full compression (12.5"). A DS502 would leave 2" of unusable travel, meaning you would only have about 3.5" of usable travel.

Also for anyone who is curious a 15x7 +25 w/ a 205/50 tire is a near perfect fit for the rear of a 4 door. I was able to almost fully compress the rear end ~5mm left with out any rubbing, at full compression with the trailing arm against the body there was just a slight rub somewhere, but not enough to stop the tire. Good to know.

Any way some photos for reference.

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Sounds like the DS602 with a 12" spring is the way to go.

Planning on sticking with the 350s front and rear moving forward so it looks like I'll have to pony up for the Koni Race Inserts - which should fit pretty nicely in my spare struts with a small spacer, they are cleanly shortened and measure 13.5" inside from the bottom to the bottom of the threads.

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Also got most of my parts for the front end rebuild - just waiting on the tie rods and center link + idler arm from Troy Ermish (actually need to reach out to him as I haven't gotten a shipping confirmation yet...

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Also order some black plastic sheets to hopefully make some fresh door cards out of - more to come on those - now I just need to find some nice armrest/pulls or order up some simple webbing ones.

Just a photo of the two dattos to leave it off...

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[demo243]

Still amassing parts for the suspension and steering rebuild. Idler arm and cross link should show up tomorrow, waiting on one LCA bushing. Koni front inserts should ship this week hopefully, and ordered the rear QA1s today.

In the meantime I got started on another project. The front door cards have always had speaker holes in them and overall they all just weren’t in great shape. T3s are nice, but expensive... decided to try my hand at some myself.

picked up some 1/8” abs plastic sheet

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Traced the outline

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Scored it with a razor about half way through and then bent it to snap it off

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Cut/drilled some holes and mounted it up 

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still need some more screws to secure it. My door pull/armrests were in rough shape, but there are threads spaced perfectly for the rear pulls up front too (the two silver screws up top) so going to just run those to clean it up and keep it simple. Never used the arm rest any way... need a new door handle for the drive side too since the plastic is breaking off.

Almost finished the rear driver as well - just needs mounting screws

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Should have a few big scrap panels too so I think I’ll cut some kick panels too.

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[Pista_510]

What an epic and inspiring build!

Love all you've done with the KA engine to the suspension and now interior updates....really like how you fabricated those ABS door cards from scratch, they look amazing! (....if you ever want to sell those old armrests...let me know... )

Really enjoying this build and have already taken on a lot of ideas for my own build, too.

[demo243]

What an epic and inspiring build!

Love all you've done with the KA engine to the suspension and now interior updates....really like how you fabricated those ABS door cards from scratch, they look amazing! (....if you ever want to sell those old armrests...let me know... )

Really enjoying this build and have already taken on a lot of ideas for my own build, too.

Thanks!

Let me know if you have any questions. This board has been a big help to me, so happy to pass any knowledge I can along.

Im still in part hoarding mode--- hahaha --- but if I ever thin it out they'll be up here.

[demo243]

Got some updates done last week and over the weekend.

Finished up my door cards -

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Got my QA1s in and assembled--- then into the car.

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It is definitely really tight with the springs and the body... but I don't hear any contact or noise when rocking/shaking/driving the car so I think we are ok. Might be worth sticking with Eibach coils though as it seems like the Hypercos I ordered to match the front are a bit bigger in overall diameter. Ended up with the DS602 QA1s as mentioned before with a 12" springs. With just a touch of tension on the full assembly there is 2-3/4" of thread below the collars, so a 14" definitely wouldnt leave much room for adjustment.

Pretty happy with how it sits set up as mentioned above-

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Then took it out for a test drive - Currently running 12 clicks on the shock adjustment knob, might need a few more with the 350lb spring. Definitely more controlled rebound then before, but still feels like there is a slight bounce in the back end - might need to trim the bump stops a little bit more...

Unfortunately during that test drive I found out my updated wiring for the Alternator didnt work... odd as the 620 is wired up the same way and doing fine, but the 510 didnt want to charge... leaving me stranded in a parking lot waiting for the wife to bring the jump box... oopss... Anyway going to add a voltmeter to the mix- they make a nice small one to take the place of the "cigarette lighter" port I have on the dash so going to remove that and put the volt meter in...

Also picked up a Spectre headlight funnel --- it was just a bit to big for the stock headlight seat- so I took a dremmel to remove a bit of material to get the funnel through.

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Didn't look right with just one yellow fog, so I made a quick blanking plate from some spare plastic that was used for the door cards.

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I miss the look of the two yellow fogs, but kinda dig this look to...

Still waiting on my Koni Inserts before I update the front struts and steering linkage.

[Fred_L-P]

What kind of the top mount are you using on the QA1s for the rear ?

[demo243]

What kind of the top mount are you using on the QA1s for the rear ?

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/QA1-SS110SDM

[Fred_L-P]

Thank you sir! I can't believe I never found this before in my searches...

[demo243]

Thank you sir! I can't believe I never found this before in my searches...

No problem!

I did have to attache them to the trailing arm first and then raise the whole assembly up using a jack. The spring fitment is really tight in the body.

[demo243]

​
So not much to update on the datto front... but making some big progress on the garage!

So I have posted a few photos before... but essentially this is what I started with--- there used to be parts under the bench on the right and a bakers rack with parts behind the car too--- but those have been moved to the basement of the house for now... probably forever. Anyway, it was very functional, with a killer size work bench, but the whole place was filthy... probably 100 years or dirt... and felt really small with the 510 in there. Then I got the 620 and the poor thing was stuck outside in the snow all winter and I would rather not do that again. Plan was to tear it down and build a bigger one... but with Covid, pulling permits, demo costs, the kid on the way, and all new windows in the house; well the garage got back burnered.... So time to do what I can to make it functional for now --- anyway again here is where I started...
 
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I got to work and tore everything out---
 
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Then got to work painting the inside white to help reflect light and fell cleaner

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Painted-- had to move everything back in to close it up... You can tell there was a ton of old dust as it bleed through the paint even after shop vac'ing every wall.

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Shuffled things around and stuffed the 510 back in the corner. 

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Test fit again to fit both the 510 and the truck in there--- Its TIGHT... but doable... mostly to get the truck out of the rain and snow... but also to open up the garage... 

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The MOST IMPORTANT UPDATE! The Datsun Racing Banner!

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Then I got to work building a bench in the back left corner--- had to run some new power to move the outlet, and got some additional lights, but that was easy... Its the smallest bench I have had in a while... but not too bad... 
 
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As I left it off for the night--- 
 
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Up next is to add some more shelves--- a bunch of 6-12" shelves up high --- a big 20-24" shelf above the trunk of the 510 and maybe another above the car itself. Then planning on adding a ~20" shelf/bench on the left side above the 620 bed for the drill press and grinding wheel, usable when the truck isnt in there, but able to get the truck bed underneath it... 

More to come!

​

[demo243]

​
Garage is about 90% there --- still some clean up to do, and Ill probably add a few more shelves... but with rain in the forecast tomorrow I stuffed the truck in there!
 
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Enough room to get between them, and just enough room to access the tools and keep the bench usable. 
 
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And if I really need access to the drill press while the truck is in there... I guess I could just work from the truck bed hahaha
 
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​

[demo243]

Met a local Z guy last week and got some motivation to get working on the 510 --- probably should have left it since we are in prime driving season right now in the NE... but dove in anyway.

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Swapped my coilovers over onto my spare struts along with the Koni Race inserts. Then got to work replacing the front steering linkage,TC bushings, LCA bushings, and swapped in a delrin idler arm.

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Took a quick moment to remount my fuel pump as well. I had previously mounted it on its side in the back corner of the trunk, but never really liked the position and Carter pumps i dont believe are supposed to be mounted on their side like that... Grabbed a spare sheet of aluminum and whipped up a quick bracket. I'll shorten the fuel lines and lengthen the wires at some point to clean it up.

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Now I just need to find a local place that will do a performance alignment--- Been doing some reading and sounds like -1.5-2 degree camber, 5+ caster and just a touch of toe 1mm should be a pretty good set up. Ill probably tweak my camber plates a touch to since I dont think they are mounted evenly.