Little Miss Sunshine

[strang3majik]

Hey everyone...

 

Well, I've had the car about a week now, but, haven't wanted to start a thread until I got some work done...which today, I finally did.

 

Anyway...got this car from Qwik510, and he had it dubbed little miss sunshine in his album of pics of it...I felt it fit...lol

 

Its a 72 510 sedan. She's a little rusty, but, adds character for now. It'll be restored down the road, for now, my plan is to just get it up and running. I'm on a tight, college kid budget, so, we're gonna go for the low, patina'd, and L20B slow, look for now. Basically, I want it to look rough on the outside as it does, but, the engine bay will be prettied up, the interior will be nice, and the underneath I want to look spotless. The body....err...we'll get to that later.

 

But, here she is all loaded up, ready to head home.

 

 

Then...once home, all tucked away in the garage with her new roommate :) (My 85 Omni GLH)

 

 

 

Ewww...pure ugliness. To be fixed in a few :)

 

 

I decided the engine bay would be the first to attack, so...out with the harness...

 

 

In with the wire wheel and brake clean...also, some ospho and Rustoleum rust inhibitor primer over the few rust areas. Its dead and can't get worse, but, it'll be fixed at a later date.

 

 

 

 

Somehow I missed some pictures of it right before it was ready for primer...but...here it is, much better all ready :D Some red oxide primer...

 

and...no...thats not duct tape :unsure: ...............its all I had ok!

 

 

 

 

Then.....got some cans of sunshine yellow acrylic enamel mixed up at the local paint supply...two cans was the perfect amount, though I got three for touch ups and and extra, for the hell of it coat :)

 

 

 

Then...pulled all the tape and painted all the black stuff...I'm really happy with how it came out. In all honesty, I can't believe a spray can painted that well. It has a little orange peel, but, one, its an engine bay, and two, I'm sure the factory paint had some too...haha Really, though, its a nice, even, thick coat that looks beautiful.

 

 

And, thats about it for now. Though I feel I've accomplished a good bit, mostly in the past two days. I also got the engine cleaned up and painted...

 

Please don't hate me for the color choice. I figured it'd go well with the yellow...plus, I have to bring some of my Mopar flare over to the Datsun :P Hemi orange it is!

 

Before:

 

 

 

After: :D And...it needs a freeze plug :/

 

 

Rattle cans FTW!

 

There will be many more pictures to come and I plan to update almost daily. Looking forward to getting her going and am glad to be here! :cool:

[Alex Datsun]

Was the engine bay spray painted or iust the block?

[fisch]

Way to jump in there! Looks good. Be fun to follow this one, especially if you post as much as you are hoping to.

[qwik510]

Great Progress Tyler!

 

Looking good. I will be eagerly watching for updates and progress.

[strang3majik]

Thanks guys! And, Alex, the engine bay is also spray painted. I had the local paint supplier mix up the actual paint code in acrylic enamel in a can. Covered beautifully and actually looks like it came out of a gun...haha. $19.50 a can, but, well worth it IMO.

 

And, I'm hoping to update it regularly. Today's project is brake lines. I got all new metal lines I'll be putting on it, and I'm awaiting the rubber hoses. :) Hopefully the master is ok as it seems impossible to find as are the calipers. Anyone have any thoughts on getting a set?

[MicroMachinery]

Way to get right after it. Looking forward to seeing the progress. Go get it!

[mike]

Little miss sunshine? Have you seen that movie? :lol: I like your car a hell of a lot better than a little fat chick in kneepads :lol:

 

Seriously though, before you go sticking that engine in the bay you should throw a gasket kit at it and replace the valve seals. Toss a new rear seal in the tranny as well. Hainz has a video on here that is better than a Chiltons and I think Skib has a how to on the valve seals. The gasket kit might cost you $100 at Oreillys and a Leak free L series is a thing of friggin beauty. Also, if you take a wire wheel on a drill to your head it will come out looking damn near polished :cool:

[banzai510(hainz)]

Glade you stuck with the same color

[strang3majik]

Typed a reply earlier but had a windows fail :/

 

Anyway...I love the color...really gives the car that classic feel as opposed to the aftermarket or high impact colors you usually see. Plus, the 510 just wheres it well :P

 

As far as the gaskets and all...eh...it wasn't leaking that bad before. What was, was really only the valve cover, but, this engine will probably only stay in there til summer time, then, it'll probably get the boot...hahah.

 

But, anyway, got most of the brake lines bent and in place minus the rear and the passengers front (was a little longer than I expected). So, I'll get some more tomorrow and finish it up.

 

On to what today's real project was...and quite a depressing one. A wiring nightmare. Its from what I believe was the wiring to the dealer installed a/c unit it once had, but...it heated up and burned nearly the entire harness...

 

But, theres good and bad news...to start with the bad, from right at the fuse box to the ignition swithc, wires are burned. But, the good news, after unwrapping the harness, it seems the damage stayed pretty much to the one set of wires. Also, more good news is, these things have the easiest dash to remove I've ever seen. I probabaly had the thing down to the skeleton in maybe 10 minutes...and I've never done it before in one of these...hahaha.

 

Anyway, here's the scary pictures. If anyone has any advice or input, I'd highly appreciate it. If these wires are just to the a/c system that will never be back in it...i'll just rip them out and not even bother replacing them.

 

But...here you go...starting in the engine bay...

 

 

Now, inside...

 

 

 

 

Appears the radio was jsut sitting there...not hooked up.

 

 

And...after the unwrapping...

 

What I believe are the culprits (by the steering column) No idea what they're to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ugh. I hate electrical crap.

[Laecaon]

Time for a new harness.

 

Put up a wanted add.

 

I wish I had some extra money... I am strongly thinking of remaking some harnesses with the stock colors. I found a site that offers wire in varying gauges and colors with stripes, and not horribly priced. Just need to figure out all the connectors...

 

Lookin good so far though!

[nad015]

Time for a new harness.

 

Put up a wanted add.

 

I wish I had some extra money... I am strongly thinking of remaking some harnesses with the stock colors. I found a site that offers wire in varying gauges and colors with stripes, and not horribly priced. Just need to figure out all the connectors...

 

Lookin good so far though!

http://www.vintageconnections.com/

 

all the connectors here.

i almost wet my pants when i stumbled accross this site.

 

also this is the single connector of the fuse box(australian 510s anyway not sure bout north america)

http://easternbeaver.com/Main/Elec__Products/Connectors/312_Connectors/312_connectors.html

 

and these are the closest look to stock for bullet connector insulators just need to buy brass bullet connectors instead of there tin plated ones

http://easternbeaver.com/Main/Elec__Products/Connectors/Bullet_Connectors/bullet_connectors.html

 

 

 

[qwik510]

Tyler,

 

Wow, that dash harness looks pretty scorched. I have a good one here for you. You can have it. Take a look at the rest of the wiring and let me know all you need.

 

There are 3 sections to the wiring,

 

Engine harness (all the underhood wiring including lights, etc.

 

Dash harness

 

Rear Section harness

 

I don't think I have an extra engine harness but I know have the others.

 

Hit me up. I can stick it in a box and ship it up there.

[yellowdatsun]

I have a few usable wiring harnesses too. PM me if you need one. I know Qwik510 has lots of 510 stuff, but if you come across something that you need and he doesn't have, I might have it.

[jinx3]

Looking good Tyler, you are off to a good start! You should have it running in no time.

[WAGON JON]

Looks good. Make sure you fix all the wires melted, the entire length. This will avoid any problems in the future. Ground everything separately too.

[strang3majik]

Thank you David and yellowdat. Hopefully I can get something together to get her fixed up. I'm going to pull the engine harness completely out of the car and strip the tape, and redo any wires that are toast, then wrap it back up. I should be able to figure out the other wires destinations once the engine is in place.

 

It appears the white wire with the red stripe is the one thats toasted from the fuse box all the way to the other end inside and may be the culprit. Whats that to? The red with a yellow stripe (headlights?) has a decent burn in it to, but, I think it was just touching the white one. How about the others that I have in the one pic above in my hand? They were all by the steering column and had wire nuts, etc, on them. I'm assuming they were for the dealer installed a/c thats no longer in the car, but, I'm not entirely sure.

 

Once I get the engine harness fixed up, I'll probably go ahead and drop the engine in. :) I already replaced all the hard brake lines and clutch line (rubber brake lines are on their way). I even gasket matched the exhaust manifold, which probably did absolutely nothing, but, it makes me feel cool. Haha.

 

And, is it ok to douse the caliper pistons in some PB blaster to maybe get them to move again? If I absolutley have to, I have a feeling I can source up a rebuild kit quicker than a complete new set of calipers.

 

But, thanks guys for the insight and the interest! I can't wait to get her going! :cool:

 

I keep hoping for it to pull a Christine and fix itself...but, my pep talks and constant use of the word "shitter" hasn't worked yet <_<

 

 

Also...I forgot I had a late 80s early 90s BMW 3 series spoiler (black rubber lip), that looks about as weathered as the car. Not sure if I should use it or not...lol Thoughts?

[Dirttrack510]

nice work so far, keep it up. I bet you'll be surprised by the L20B, with the right carb set-up it should be fairly zippy... But what do I know? I drive an L16 with a 32/36 weber... A true "slug mobile", but it's reliable :D

[strang3majik]

I do have an eating supercharger that'd prolly make it kinda fun :P

 

It's an m90...so a little large, but, it could be underdriven and not even get hot stuffing air in a 2.0l. Hahaha.

 

But, you're right, won't know til I drive it. Lol.

[cjzeppy]

 

THAT'S MY THUMBS UP! HAHA!

[jinx3]

Looking good, just cleaning up and painting the engine bay makes a huge difference!

[strang3majik]

Chad! You don't even own a Datsun. Get back to your Subaru forums! LOl

 

And, very true...lol Made it feel a lot nicer just by doing that. I'm doing the engine harness today and putting the motor back together...hell, might even drop it in. :)

 

We'll see what gets done tonight...hahahha

[strang3majik]

Well...didn't get nearly as much done tonight that I planned, but, I feel acomplished.

 

Finished the brake and clutch line install with the new clutch master and slave...and pulled the calipers off and got them freed up. They actually moved quite nicely after the initial movement. Shot brake fluid out about 3 feet...lol No leaking around the seal either :)

 

So...don't need calipers. Going to clean up the rest of the system up tomorrow and do the harness/engine like I planned today.

 

She's coming together nicely, though. All this rusty stuff is amazingly coming apart without much hassle. I'm thinking the car just wants to get going again :P

 

Also ordered a new alternator, rubber brake hoses, and rear wheel cylinders.

 

More pics tomorrow.

[strang3majik]

Another little update...

 

Once again, didn't get as much done today as planned. Had to help a friend with a school project...lol

 

But, anyway...got the interior all pulled out and chipped away a bunch of undercoating underneath...

 

So, theres some rust in the floor, but, I knew that. No biggie. Now that I got everything out of the car (its basically an empty roller right now), I can really see what I have to work with. Am probably going to patch up the floors in the next couple days, then, install the new harnesses :)

 

I'd really like to weld new floors in, but, being my welder is currently on a job abroad......I may have to settle for a little more ghetto way for now. But, once again...all this is temporary to get the car going. Once its going, it'll be a forever long, one piece at a time restoration :cool:

 

Pics of todays progress tomorrow...I was in the garage too late, just figured I'd update.

[qwik510]

Tyler,

 

I sent you a complete harness from a 71-72 sedan. I sent all 3 sections.

It left here yesterday via USPS Priority. You might get it today. It should take care of the wiring issues.

 

You might want to soak the fuse box in a vinegar bath overnight so it is ready to go when you get back to the wiring. Pull all the fuses and submerge it in vinegar. Let it soak overnight, then rinse it and dry it will a blowdryer. Get all new fuses for it.

[localcolbster]

Looks like a fun project. You are already kicking my butt when it comes to repainting the engine bay. I'm doing about the same to my 520 at the moment.