LifelikeStatue

Thanks for the tips. It's on the road but far from perfect so I have lot's to do this off season. Plus, who doesn't love a car with some character?

I have posted some of this elsewhere but I'm consolidating into a project thread as I've heard they're good for motivation. After I wrote off my Jetta Turbo I was looking for something fun and RWD. There was a nice first gen Celica, but it was out of my price range, Then I saw this bad boy on Craigslist and pulled the trigger. This is how it looked the night I drove it home two and a half years ago. Loose driver's seat, bad lighting, barely charging not to mention the trip on the freeway with 13" rims and a 4 spd. The next morning I got a better look in the daylight and Wow that's one ugly trunk lid! Who the hell thought that spoiler was a good idea?! Since I live in an apartment, I had nowhere to park except the street so I had to leave it at the in-laws until a spot opened in the underground. Then I could work on it. Details: 1972 Datsun 510 4 door. L16, I was told it had a 'street cam' installed. Weber 32/36, headers, big Magnaflow can. 4 spd stick with some serious monkey motion in the shifter. After some tuning it pulls pretty hard and corners like it's on rails. I've never driven anything that turns half as well. It hasn't got much in a straight line but through the corners and accellerating out it keeps up with just about anything on the road. Tons of fun! First thing's first. Lose the trunk lid. Not only is it ugly and too heavy for the springs to hold it up, but it collects water and floods the trunk if you open it too fast. Craigslist to the rescue again. Found a fiberglass replacement for cheap. Re-tapped the mounts and swapped the latch over. Much better. Next was the interior. Lots of wiring. Mounted a cheap tach and replaced old gauges. Mounted the seats, I was inspired by 710Hippy here on Ratsun for my shift knob as it didn't come with one. Found a broken skateboard on the side of the road and it works really well. Next up was the charging system. I work for a battery company and our neighbour does starters and alternators. He was able to build a self exciting, internally regulated, 88 amp alternator from a late 80's chevy. It bolted right in with a few washers to space everything properly. I made a cable from a piece of 2ga and ran it to the starter post. I just taped up the other wires to the old alt and haven't had any issues. The new volt gauge shows 14.2v at idle and no problems when loading it up. I found it had issues below 600rpm but I adjusted the idle to 800rpm and the whole car runs smoother. Most recently I got a set of 3 point retractable seatbelts from www.gotbelts.com with the old school lift style latch and an 8" shoulder drop. They bolted right into the factory points and work beautifully. At the same time i removed the rear seat and belts as there isn't enough leg room to sit there anymore. As far as rubber goes, it had some old and fairly bald tires and three of them wouldn't hold air long term. Flat in a week. My buddy was scrapping a car for his mother in law and gave me a set of winter tires. I got them mounted and drove for a bit but then was able to trade them for a set of used summer tires from another work neighbour. 175/60R13 all around. I ran it through Aircare last summer and failed in spectacular fashion. NOx and CO2 was good but I blew hydrocarbons off the scale. Either it just happened to blow a 999 or that's where the machine stops. I prefer to believe the latter. Because Aircare ended Jan 1, I was abe to get insurance and now I can drive it to work almost everyday. I did just have a clutch issue. Fluid got too low and I had to bleed the system but it's running like a champ. It still has issues, exhaust leak and rattle, suspension and steering needs attention, body is primered, afformentioned blower fan, a bit of a fuel smell after sitting, and none of the door locks work but i do have a set of solex knock-offs to go in. Already did the trunk so there is some secure storage. I'll update as I work through. It's coming off the road at the end of September into the garage at my new house so I'll get some real work done over the winter. That's the plan anyway.

I think this is the factory green The rest of the car is primer grey so I'm not sure

My car doesn't have the interior, one of the POs ditched it, so I don't have any brackets and IIRC there is an upper mounting point right about where carterb mounted his. I know mine has a bolt at that spot on both sides.

https://www.gotbelts.com/retractable-lap-shoulder-belts/m.products/81/view/23 I found these after surfing a bit. I have no experience with them but am planning on ordering a set when money is available. They have an extension for the shoulder point that looks like it would work well.

It does charge at idle just not at first startup. Once you rev it to 1800 once, it charges just fine.

It is indeed.

The stock Hitachi 33amp was not doing it. At idle, the signals, blower or wipers would not work. Come to a stop and the wipers stop. Rev it up a bit and they start up. Clearly I had to upgrade. I work at a battery store next to a starters and alternator shop and the owner said he could help. I brought the stock one in and found that the alternator from 92 Pontiac LeMans is almost a perfect fit. 90 amp, larger diameter but the mounts are near perfect, I had to use 3 washers on the front mount to line up the belt, and I was able to use the stock adjustment bracket. Here's where it's a bit fuzzy. He won't tell me exactly what he did, but he made it self-exciting. He said to unplug the external regulator and run one wire from the alt to the battery. I ran a piece of 2ga from the alt to the starter pole where the battery positive goes. No field wire needed. When I first start it shows battery voltage, 12.5, but once I rev it to 1800 the first time it jumps to 14.5 and works like a charm. I am running a voltage gauge to keep an eye on things but so far, perfect. I don't have pics from the process but aside from pulling and cleaning the bracket and using all new hardware it was just old one out, new one in. I'm sure you've all changed an alternator before.

So after having it sit at my inlaws for a few months, I got an underground parking spot at my apartment and was able to finally do some work. Nothing huge, just some minor improvements. Cheap tach New shiftknob from a derelict skateboard. Credit to 710Hippy for the idea I had to get rid of the trunk lid. I came off the fence on the side of ugly, heavy and in need of replacement. I found a fiberglass lid that weighs about a quarter of the bondo'd monstrosity. I retapped the hardware and it bolted right in. Before After. So much better. That's it for now. Just got the supplies for the PCV system and I've got to get some new gauges to replace the old and busted one's that came with the car. They're just pellet guns, we are in Canada.

Installed a tach and a rearview mirror. Got the parts to reinstall the PCV system. Car's at my inlaws so progress is slow.

Front fenders and air dam are one fiberglass piece and will be gone when I can get some new fenders. Hood will be replaced, maybe cowl induction. Rear spoiler I'm on the fence about but the wife likes it. Engine will remain for now but I want to find a 5 speed for the highway. I'll probably go to coilovers and be replacing all the suspension bushings to tighten everything up. For the interior I plan on using Durabak bedliner. I'll upgrade the brakes eventually and lose the 13"s. I would really like to replace the whole wiring harness as there's splices and breaks and who knows what all through it. After that, maybe some paint.

Hello all, I've been lurking for a while and since I just bought my first 510 I thought I should join and introduce myself. My name's Eric, I'm from Surrey BC in Canada eh. I've built an off-road Jeep, rallied a couple of Toyotas and just sold my Jetta (that I crashed) and am now entering the exciting world of the 510. I found a solid 72 4 door in Chilliwack for a good price and brought it home a few days ago. So far nothing major to post just a little wiring repair, fixed the seat mount and a few other small things to make it roadworthy. It's had some work done by the previous owners but there is no rot, a miracle for the wet coast of BC, and it's a driver so I'm happy with the way things have turned out so far. It has the L Series 1600 with a weber and the 4 speed stick. Body work, while needed will be done after it's driving the way I want it to. I'm more of a "looks like crap, goes like stink" kind of guy and I like the rat rod look, which this 510 has.