Maritime 510 - SR20/RHD swap

[datzenmike]

 

I'm still looking for a RHD steering box incase anyone knows of any parts cars or anything that has one that I can buy. Any help would be appreciated!

 

 

I'm still looking for a RHD steering box though....

 

....Does it have to be a datsun 1600, or would another datsun steering box work easily?

 

 

 

He's looking for something to work in a RHD set up. B-210/210 are all LHD.

[datsunfreak]

He's looking for something to work in a RHD set up. B-210/210 are all LHD.

 

I know. I meant RHD B210/B310. Read below.  ;)

 

I'm still looking for a RHD steering box though, and having quite a bit of difficulty. 

Does it have to be a datsun 1600, or would another datsun steering box work easily?

[datzenmike]

Now.... it makes more sense.

[Sycklash]

Well I have some good news.
I finally found a steering box! I received it in the mail today and I couldn't be happier to finally have one(I recommend strongly, just posting on ozdat if you're looking for a box. I've had about 3 people since I bought mine saying they have some for sale). Now to see if I can use the stock center-link or not(haven't had any time in garage due to death in the gf's family)
If it doesn't work, I'll just have to order one for an RHD sr20 one from maddat, since I already have to buy an idler arm from overseas anyway.

I also received a new dual gauge-pod that I'll be moulding into the dash pad, my throttlecable/gas pedal kit from datsport, and some el-cheapo fender mirrors that I'll be using until I can comfortably afford the stainless ones. I haven't had much time to do anything since getting the parts other than just be excited receiving them haha.

However, some work I have done is starting to cut out some room for the intercooler, so I can place it in, and weld some tabs up for it. I'm placing it semi-low, and just behind the bumper. I've cut a small piece of the rad support out, and 70% of the lower valance panel up to make room for it. Then it'll be time for the routing for the piping!

One quarter panel is fixed completely and now has a coat of high-build primer on it. Also went crazy with spot putty and got the trunk done with a coat of high-build primer as well!
Just need the other quarter to receive some love, and the fenders now. Bodies coming along so well I love it.
Need to get some paint on this thing so I can start putting it back together!

I'm really looking forward to getting some free time this week and just shutting myself in the garage and getting some progress done. Thats one good thing about winter here in Canada hahaha

Don't currently have any pictures, but I'll grab some this week while I'm working.

[Sycklash]

Well, I've gotten some progress done in the past little bit!

Both quarter panels are fixed, and sprayed with some high-build, rocker panels have been filled with metal for where the trim would go, and the antenna has been shaved.

The motor + tranny have been removed, and are going to be cleaned up while the engine bay is undergoing it's final stages of work before I can finally spray some color on it!!

Sent the heater to one of my father's friends to have the core pressure checked and have the piping re-routed.

Going to be cleaning up the front crossmember + control arms and giving them a nice coat of paint to protect them as well.

The firewall got a little banged up from putting the motor in the first time(which we learned from), so under the hood is taking a little more work then I wanted, but it's coming along quite well!

Got brackets mounted on for the intercooler, and holes cut out for the piping(still need to be reemed a bit though, as the biggest holesaw we had was as big as the actual piping).

Drilled out a hole for the engine harness to go through, the three holes for the throttle cable + gas pedal, and where the heater's second hose will be so at least the car is getting some progress!

 

some goodies I got the other day

 

 

I know this doesn't look that good, but I've since cut down the height of the gauge-pod into the dashpad by half(just don't have a pic)

 

 

The engine bay still needs A LOT of work, but it should be a decent turnout by the time I'm done. It's currently what I'm trying to finish as quickly as possible, just so we can spray it, the bottom of the trunk, and jams with colour.

 

Incase anyone's interested,

the colour I picked out for the car was Atomic Orange(2008ish corvette copper), with silver mini-flake.

However, that seems to be a little more pricey then what I wanted, so I may go with a cheaper copper with silver mini-flake ;)

The copper I had on my nova was sunburst orange, but I don't reaaally want to copy that haha.

It all depends on how much my other half thinks she should have spent on her to see what i have leftover for money for the paint supplies haha

[Sycklash]

I have a few things to say.

 

I picked up my color! 2008 Corvette 'Atomic Orange'.  It looks SO much better in person.

(just a bit of it to paint jambs + engine bay though)

The only thing left to do now is pick up some silver mini-flake so I can add that extra bit of zing when we actually spray some color in the next few weeks.

Getting mini flake has been proven to be a bit of a hardship here in Canada however, but I'm still hoping to be able to get some.

 

 

Got my shoulders as sore as ever hurrying up with bodywork on the 510 

 

just so my buddy could spray some super fancy high-build with his fancy primer gun tonight.

Ended up putting 3 coats on, and then spraying a light black guide coat overtop to help with the blocking.

 

Plan is to let it harden for the next two days, so that means I can do things not body-related such as install gas pedal + cut holes for cable, cut up parts car for strut tower tops, reem out a couple holes, fix a botched repairjob by the PO I just found, and ther small things.

 

I found a 280zx I'm hopefully going to be able to buy the struts + rear brake set-up off of as well! Just hoping the owner doesn't flake out as he really wants to sell the whole parts car.

 

Took the front crossmember + control arms to get blasted the other day and got them back and painted! what a difference that + a nice coat of paint made.

[Sycklash]

Engine bay + jambs are almost done, meaning they're just about ready for paint.

I only need to drill holes for the throttlecable now, and smear some spot putty on a couple places and resand the engine bay after a new coat of highbuild.

Got one of the biggest things left to do to it, started + finished today.

 

before:

 

after:

 

Finally fixed the strut towers from where the original owner cut it up to have adjustable camber. Mind you, it left my parts car like this:

 

Now it's slammed on the ground hahaha.

 

 

I also finished my dashpad + got it painted(looks factoryish now too!).

I was going to paint up my centerpiece with the gaugepod, but my dog ended up hurting herself so i ran out of time to work today.

 

Due to the holidays I probably won't get a coat of paint on the enginebay + jambs until just before new years(here's hoping), but I'll be spraying some high-build primer on the engine bay tomorrow night regardless.

 

The car is 95% blocksanded as well, and needs only a few more spots touched up with spot putty, before another coat of highbuild is applied to the entire car and it should be straight.

Fender's still need to be fixed so I'm taking them to someone I trust more than myself to get finished up.

I'm hopefully selling my 260z to my buddy, which'll free up money for a new clutch + sr20/rhd centerlink and idler arm which will be ordered asap haha.

 

 

Also, on a side note.

I knew where there were a few cars sitting in the woods about five minutes from my second garage today with my father, and found six b110s, and one 521. There's plenty of parts to salvage off them, but i didn't bring any tools as this was a last minute decision on the way back home.

However, I did rob a couple of these which I thought was neat as I've never seen or heard of them before.

 

 

[carterb]

You've been putting some serious time into this build.  Good for you!

Make sure your cowl drain on the face of the firewall is clean, free of rust, and in good working condition before you finish up that engine bay.  Here in WA, they fill up with pine needles and moss, then rot out from the inside.

--carter

[datsunfreak]

Are you reeeeeally not gonna fill that divot left behind by the battery tray?   ^_^

 

 

[datsunfreak]

I knew where there were a few cars sitting in the woods about five minutes from my second garage today with my father, and found six b110s

 

That makes me very sad...   :crying:

 

 

However, I did rob a couple of these which I thought was neat as I've never seen or heard of them before.

 

 

Used to be a common sight on 1200s. The electric pump is inside the bag, so if the pump goes out the bag is junk. That's why most of them got tossed along the way...

[Sycklash]

Are you reeeeeally not gonna fill that divot left behind by the battery tray?   ^_^

 

I was thinking about filling it in, but I think I might end up bolting something there and making it useful. Too late in the game to change my mind now :P

 

You've been putting some serious time into this build.  Good for you!

Make sure your cowl drain on the face of the firewall is clean, free of rust, and in good working condition before you finish up that engine bay.  Here in WA, they fill up with pine needles and moss, then rot out from the inside.

--carter

 

Thank you!

I have checked it when I first started tearing the car apart. First time I took the blow-gun to it, the amount of crud/pine needles/leaves and random dirt flying out was astounding haha.

...but no rust ;)!

That makes me very sad...   :crying:

 

 

That's the only photo I snagged.

At least if someone needs parts I'll be able to help them out haha.

As much as I hate to say it, I wish they were 510's so I could rob parts off them I need!

and as for those bags, at least I have something to hang up on the garage wall then, along with a mint 110 grill :P

 

 

 

 

 

On another note, I ended up drilling the holes for gas pedal + throttlecable tonight!

...and at the last minute, remembered I'll be needing a hole for a speedo cable as well so I drilled that.

Then I got to spray some glorious, high-build on the engine bay!

I even had just enough leftover that I could do a couple coats on my doors!

 

 

I'll start the blocksanding probably boxing day as I have to do all my christmas shopping tomorrow....

Still no word on metalflake, so I may have to go ahead and just spray the color without the flake (which'll make life easier, but just not as pretty).

[Sycklash]

After a few days of prepping, me and my good buddy had a long night tonight.

Finally got a coat of paint of engine bay + jambs!!! 

In person, I cannot get over how beautiful the paint is.

 

 

 

 

 

and my personal favorite,

 

 

Looking at the engine bay, I've noticed quite a few things I could of spent more time on, but overall i think it turned out nice.

 

The plan now is to let it dry for the next day with the stove going nonstop, and then put the doors and trunk back on.

I'm going to start assembling all the small things I can now, in preperation of putting the motor/tranny back in.

The motor and tranny are going to take a little extra time to go in as I ordered a clutch for a KA24 by accident, because I'm retarded and have to order one for an SR20 right away so I can put it together before the motor and tranny go in for the last time.

Fenders are currently off getting fixed as they were trash, and then body will be finished and transported to Halifax where I will get a coat of paint put on it in the next little while! Can't wait!

[Ranman72]

looking great and that is a beautiful color 

[Sycklash]

Some more work done tonight!

Put the fire on, and got the trunk put on + aligned, door's painted black on the inside, one inner-fender taped off + repainted with rockguard, struts cleaned up + repainted(since I'll be using them until I can afford coilovers haha), gas pedal + throttle cable reinstalled, brake + clutch master cylinders put on, cleaned up the dash somewhat so I can tear it apart again tomorrow, cleaned up + painted bunch of bolts and small pieces like the door pieces to make everything go better when it comes time to install whatever.

The biggest job I accomplished tonight was finally organizing half of the parts I have in the garage haha. Ended up filling two boxes full of stuff that I can take out to the camp because I won't be needing it anymore for the car. I just need to fit the doors back on, and put the motor/tranny in, and I'll have most of the room I need in the garage again haha! can't wait.

Once I get the doors put on, I just need to wait for the fenders to come back, so we can do one final coat of primer, sand it down and we're shipping the car off to get painted at my buddies.

Until then, theres a ton of things to do, such as prepare the motor to go in for the last time, install the heater, clean up the rear windshield, bring home all the seals/rubbers + purchase the ones i need so those can get installed asap, etc etc.

I'm trying to get as much done as I can, because there's a chance I might be going away for a while for work, just far enough I can't come home and work on the old datsun every weekend, so it's putting a little pressure on me to work whenever I can.

 

anywho, here's a couple pictures.

 

[datsunfreak]

Dumb question: Based on how good the jambs came out, why not paint it yourself? Or did I miss something and you didn't spray the jambs? 

[Sycklash]

Dumb question: Based on how good the jambs came out, why not paint it yourself? Or did I miss something and you didn't spray the jambs? 

 

My garage isn't a good paint booth. Everytime me and my father paint cars in there, no matter how much we clean everything, there will still be dirt getting in everywhere(which just means more work).

We bought new fans to use for intake and exhausts for when we did jambs + the engine bay but still got dirt in the paint/clear. I actually care about how it turns out on this so I figured I'd take the extra bit of effort and get it painted at my buddies work. Since it's his work, he's painting it haha.

[datsunfreak]

I actually care about how it turns out on this so I figured I'd take the extra bit of effort and get it painted at my buddies work. Since it's his work, he's painting it haha.

 

Cool!  :thumbup:

 

 

Same problem here. Found a local independent paint shop that said they'd rent me their booth for a day, so I may try that next time...

[Sycklash]

It's been super cold, and I got thrown on the first part of my leadership course so I've been super busy... HOWEVER, I managed to get some work done tonight!

 

I managed to get the doors on(and fitment was mostly good right away. quite surprising lol), flywheel cleaned and ready to go on(just need right socket so I can torque everything properly) because my clutch came in today!

I also started cleaning up my heater pieces + painted a few bits so that can go in before the motor + tranny. Sad part is though, that the faceplate for the heater controls broke as soon as I picked it up... amazing it was that brittle because I was gentle.

I ordered new door + windshield rubbers! I think my old rear is good enough to reuse so that's a plus. Also waiting on the proper transmission mount for the transmission crossmember.

My plan is for the next time I'm able to go over is to actually put the heater in, and then reinstall my wiring harness so I can get ready for the SR harness.

I also tore the dash apart tonight, cleaned it up, and then put it inside the house so it doesn't get filthy like it was before.

 

I still need to sell my 260z so I can have some cash to order extra parts... I'm also debating on selling my factory 510 tach and a few other rare pieces I have to fund this more :P.

Datsun parts are rare/expensive enough as it is, but adding in the RHD factor just adds so much hassle + extra expenses to get it from overseas haha.

I still need to get an idler arm + center-link. Haven't heard anything from maddat so I'm thinking I may have to look elsewhere. I need to finish up my steering so it'll be easy to move the car when we go to take it for paint.

 

Anywho

 

It feels good to have some of the panels on because I was getting tired of seeing it completely bare haha.

Can't wait to get the fenders back so I can drill holes and mount the fender mirrors!

 

I'd also like your opinions. Should I repaint the hood flat black, or paint it body color?

I was leaning towards flat black but I honestly don't even know anymore.

[kayakdude07]

Looks good! I'd lay the paint now while it's in the shop and can get a proper match. It's a real quick and cheap job to change the color to flat black with vinyl wrap or plastidip but the converse is not true. 

[hobospyder]

Body match. Plastidip flat black later on if you want to change it up

[The Taterhead]

What they said^^^^

[Sycklash]

I guess that'd be the smartest route haha.

anyways, I'm off to live in tents for the next few days for work, so I won't get any progress done, but i managed to pull this off.

 

and I've already screwed around with the wiring a bit to route out where it's going and such(for the most part.)

Glad to have the motor and tranny as I can really start putting some crucial pieces back together! such as the steering and heater, and wiring harness.

[Sycklash]

big snowstorm hitting tomorrow, so I won't be able to head to the garage to work,

but I got my fenders back, and test fitted on (fit perfectly)!

My motor is sitting at a weird angle(to me), but it may be normal because the hood clears and everything. I'm using T3 crossmember with a Z mount and mckinney motor mounts. It looks like the front is a little bit high.

I marked where the hole for the fender mirrors is going but I never got the time to actually drill it yet. 

Another weird thing was I tore my struts apart to find out they swapped on Z strut tops with custom plates so they could have adjustable camber(car used to be a race car from georgia back in the 80s/90s). It was such a weird setup. Anyways, I stole some spare tops I had from my 510 parts car and threw on so I could get the car back on the ground. 

Just ordered idler arm assembly for it too and that should be the last piece I need before I can steer again because it looks like my center link will clear!

 

I was talking to my friend and I really need to finish up the body so we can ship it out for paint. Now that we have the fenders back I can finally do some finishing touchs + sanding, then reprime the car and just wait until I can send it over to the booth. The more I think about it, the more horny I get to want to see it painted asap.

here's a quick pic!

 

[Atomic]

Beautiful work! \o/

[Sycklash]

Well, I've been slacking a little bit since my last update due to a getaway trip in Cuba + starting a new job.

The car has it's last coat of primer, and has been soaking in for the past almost month. This friday coming, I'm going to be spending the night with my friend finishing the body off with 400 + 500, so we can shove it in an enclosed trailer at 8am the next day and drive it to my new place of employment to use their paint booth.

Last night we painted the lips on the fenders, and underside of the hood, so we could put the hood back on. Some other work I've done lately is repaint the interior because of all the overspray primer, measured the driveshaft + took it out to a machine shop to get shortened, + other small things that I can't really remember I did.

I figured since this is getting painted, I misawell put an order in so I can start piecing this together quicker once it comes back painted, so I ended up ordering all my gauges(might even be getting a free wideband from my buddy :P), catch can, air intake w/ filter, radiator w/ fans, wink mirror(I just had to. only $20 hahah), top mount turbo lines, thermostat housing and little odds + ends like adapters and fittings. I'm going to be talking to my friend about fuel cells too, so I can get one as soon as possible, along with a fuel pump so I can run all my lines. The plan is to put brake + clutch lines on as soon as possible too.

I'm having a hard time trying to find wheels for the car (want something rota grid/te37 style), so I think I'm going to just end up rolling in these minilights on stock suspension for a few months until I can afford coilovers + wheels.. Going to polish up the lip + paint the centers BBS gold however.

Also on the hunt for seats as I'm hoping to get this going in 7 weeks.

 

 

 

The obviously resprayed parts on the fender was JUST resprayed before the picture due to unnoticed blemishs. 

 

 

 

 

 

Another reason I'm excited for the car to go get painted is the fact that the garage'll be carless for a little bit, so we can quickly clean it haha.