So driving to a work thing this morning, the engine started sputtering... it was fine with no gas going down the street, but as soon as you started giving it some gas it would get all crazy idle on me. I couldnt get the car above 50mph and I was on the freeway (60mph limit). I got on surface streets and babied it the rest of the way. I had an appointment I couldnt miss so I had to go the distance; I didnt have time to call a cab and no one was close enough to give me a ride. I had these same exact symptoms a couple weekends ago which is what made me miss the last Graffiti Garage meet. I thought it was bad gas that weekend because I had just filled it up at a place I dont normally. Needless to say, it fixed itself.

So back to today, I get out of my appointment and as Im going home I get the same symptoms and now I cant break 35mph. Cars are lined up behind me as Im going super slow and sputtering down the street. I pull off safely and start to do some investigating. I figure its a fuel issue and look at the carb sight glass- barely any gas. I check the fuel filter- barely any gas. I open my trunk and I almost pass out from the fumes. Ive been watching my gas gauge a lot lately because it seems that empty shows 1/4 on the gauge. Ive been doing a lot of math to see what my mpg is and I feel like I should be getting a lot more. The car has smelled like gas for awhile now, but assumed that it was because of my missing door seals and that Im running a little rich. Well it wasnt.

Turns out my breather hose connected to the filler hose into my tank has come loose. I didnt think it was that important, but apparently it is. I connected it up, drove for about 4 blocks and had the same symptoms again. I checked the hose again and it was apart. I tightened it back up, and down the road I went. So... Im not sure if its supposed to be that important, but Im about 97% sure thats what my issue is.

So looks like I have to find a new longer hose to make sure it stays together.

_________________
--Tristin
1969 Datsun 510 4dr.

So I started working at a local tuner shop ran by a friend of mine. The benefits are that I now have access to high quality tools, a lift, and space to take the car apart if needed for the project (I live in an apartment).

Last night was a late night in the shop waiting on a local parts store to send over a rear main seal for a customers car. Anyway, after that ordeal we threw my car up on the lift and took care of installing some of the parts I had been hoarding for the last month or two. We installed a set of Troy Ermish front coilovers on 280zx struts and brakes, stainless brake lines, and Aero 13x7 +0 rims with the slightly stretched 155/80s on them. I wish the rubbers were 155/55 or 65s, but I already owned them so it will have to do until they wear out. Then I can buy something with a little better sidewall profile. I had some issues with the drivers side 280 caliper as the stainless line wouldnt thread into it. It seems like the first two threads were stripped slightly so after a little manipulation we got it sorted out and fitted right.

Everything else went pretty smoothly. Adjusted the coilovers to a height I liked and took the car off the lift. Turns out it wasnt low enough... so it needed moar loar. Dropped it down another couple inches to a better height. Now the car has a bit of a rake to it. Unfortunately with the rears being so soft and the extra inch of rim I added, the tires rub if theres even a moderate amount of weight in the back. Theres no way I could even carry a single person in the rear with the way it sits right now. Even 70lbs make the rears rub. So now Im on the hunt for a good setup to fix the rear. Any ideas?

Anyway, here are some pictures:

New rims on stock suspension and height


Side poke on stock suspension and height


Stock suspension


280zx suspension


Side poke on 280zx suspension and lowered height


New rims with lowered height


Profile view to include all new parts installed and front lowered


When I ordered the rims, I ordered a set that were completely black without the yellow stripe and for whatever reason those were the ones that showed up. Unfortunately, I didnt open the box until I went to mount and balance the tires so I didnt notice. The Aero logos on the rims are stickers so Im just going to Goo Gone them ro remove them, but Im not 100% sure what I want to do about the thin yellow line. I still have to completely refinish the stock bullseye hubcaps before I mount them to see how they look. So far I really like just these (with the exception of the yellow). I want to thank Paul for all the suspension components I picked up. They were in great condition and worked out phenomenally.

If anyone local to the Seattle/Tacoma area would like a set of stock 510 hubs and brakes I have them available. They are stock components so its really not worth it to ship... but if youre local and need them let me know as you can just have them.

_________________
--Tristin
1969 Datsun 510 4dr.

Have you rolled the rear fender lips yet? If not, that's step #1.

Not yet. The only guy we knew of that had a fender roller had given back to the person he borrowed it from so we were SOL for the evening. I do plan on rolling both the front and rears, especially with the other set of rims I want to run. I rub slightly in the rear with 7 inch wide rims and I will be fitting 8 inch wide rims later.

_________________
--Tristin
1969 Datsun 510 4dr.

A good roll is going to do away with the rubbing rear.

Honestly, with stock rear fenders almost anything but the stock wheels/tires will rub.

To go with either 13" or 14" wheels that are 8" wide in back you're going to either need pretty skinny tires (185s or less), or fairly stiff springs. Or both.

I fit a 15x8 +0 with a 195/50-15 on my last 4dr. Cleared the fender lip, but rubbed a bit on the inner door frame. Stiffer springs would have solved it.





Those lips are rolled, and pulled about 1/4".



And something else I've been preaching for years that not enough people listen to...

ROLL THE LIPS BEFORE YOU PAINT THE CAR.

Thanks for the info. I figured stiffer springs and some fender work would do the job. And yes... I will be pulling and rolling before I paint. I wouldnt want to mess it up after spending all the time and money to paint it. Im going to be going with a 15x8 +10 with 175/55/15 I think. That wont be a ridiculous amount of stretch so I should be ok on that.

Im trying to decide if I should just go with a stiffer cut spring for the rear or actually shell out the $500 for a coilover setup.

_________________
--Tristin
1969 Datsun 510 4dr.

Good on ya. That is exactly what you need to make it work.



IMO, Coilovers are ideal for those who want to change the ride height often, or for those who need to corner weight the car for track duty. For everyone else, static drop is where it's at. Dodge D50 truck front springs are great for the rear of a 510, firm but not punishing, cheap to buy, and already a known quantity.

You can cut those to a good height and get a 700-750 spring rate, which translates to a 185-200 wheel rate. You can also get regular 5" circle track springs in almost any rate you want for a few bucks more.

General rule of thumb for a 510 is to take the spring rate and divide by 3.8 to get the wheel rate. So an 800 pound spring in a 510 has a 210 pound wheel rate.

Yeah Ive been leaning more towards cut springs. The only reason I have been thinking of coilovers (as I dont ever plan on tracking this car) is because of the shift from every day rims to winter rims and vice versa. Ill be going from a 13 to a 15 so the size difference might affect the ride height.


Edit: with the size of the sidewalls the entire size of the wheel will be about the same... just not as wide.

_________________
--Tristin
1969 Datsun 510 4dr.

Come spring time, those coil-over rings are going to be really hard to budge.

It would be cool, though.

You could just as easily make some spring spacers as well? A 1/4" spacer under the spring will raise the car almost an inch.

Thats a good idea, Ive never thought of that. Id rep this post if it was Ratsun lol. Springs it is! Theres a PnP litterally right next to my work... Ill see if theres any D50s there. That might be next weeks project.

_________________
--Tristin
1969 Datsun 510 4dr.

FWIW, they are only about $40-50 a pair new.

From http://www.rockauto.com





Circle track springs are usually at most around $80-90 a pair.

Summit has some for $47.88 each. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/AFC-20750

Rear lowering springs, near rear shocks to replace the blown ones, and a bit of a roll. We didnt think the drop would be as significant so we didnt expenct to have to roll the fenders today... well it was required otherwise the car wouldnt drive. Whipped out the bat for a small roll until the Fender Roller we odered shows up and smoother out the lip a little. It still needs a bit of work to be perfect, but we will use the actuall roller for that. Im going to drop the front down another inch since it is now higher than the rear.

_________________
--Tristin
1969 Datsun 510 4dr.

Fantastic project . These cars are super rare in the UK, probably about 10 of these and you never see them at shows. The car would look great if it was a darker colour . Hey, how about an SR20 engine in this

_________________
KGC10 in the future!

Thanks for the compliments mate! An SR is an option for the future, but right now I'm just going to go with a beefier upgraded 1.8L instead of the 1.6L. Keeping it mostly original/period correct is my goal. I'm sure eventually I will want power above that so the SR will come into play.

_________________
--Tristin
1969 Datsun 510 4dr.

Did a little to the car before heading down to Elma for WildRose's birthday BBQ. It was gorgeous outside today so Im hoping it stays that way for tomorrow... Anyway, this arrived yesterday:



Which turned into this:



Which turned into this:



And this:

_________________
--Tristin
1969 Datsun 510 4dr.

On the way to the shop with the new tires:



What my front tires looked like before:



What my front tires look like now:



2sec iPhone photo. Nothing fancy, just the side profile:



2sec. iPhone photo. Nothing fancy, just a 3/4 shot.



Overall Im super happy with the rims, but Im going to need to switch the tires around; the front on the rear and the rears on the front. As you can see, the rears are a bit smaller than the fronts so Im going to need to fix that. This was my only option getting tires so quickly because of the blowout. Ill probably swap them around this weekend maybe.

_________________
--Tristin
1969 Datsun 510 4dr.

A few more pictures:





Theres a mini car show tomorrow at my boss' technical college so were going to roll over to that during the day. Ill be driving the 510 over and hes going to take out 2JZ swapped drift 240sx. Im going to be showing up to the shop early and will be doing a mini polish on SSR lips. Im cleaning up the hardware right now as we speak. Luckily the rims are a welded 3-piece so I think its safe to run without hardware for a day.

_________________
--Tristin
1969 Datsun 510 4dr.

Thursday was a pretty good day. Went to a local car show with work and everyone loved the car. Had many people coming up asking me about it or telling me about how they used to have them. For awhile I was getting more attention than the 2JZ swapped 240 we brought. There was an RB swapped 260z there as well.

_________________
--Tristin
1969 Datsun 510 4dr.

Got my tires switched around Thursday after the show:



I plan on lowering the front a bit more to close up some of the gap. I would have done it today, but I was too busy working on the shop Supra and didnt get around to it. Ill probably do it tomorrow.

_________________
--Tristin
1969 Datsun 510 4dr.