DHale_510

Lash pads need to be sized to the valve seated height. "Stock" lash pads are usually too thin after a "rebuild". Also "rebuilding" a Datsun head with a pair of stones like a Chevy will make them all different and wrong. The cam needs to run on center of the rocker wear pad. The adjustment screws are long for rocker removal, about twice the range for centering the wear zone. Again, not a Chevy. Worst case the Stellite wear pad is off the edge and is turning into a little lathe tool and cutting into the cam. I suppose that would seem noisy... A good Datsun rebuild of a cylinder head is done with a cutting tool [Neway branded] on a mill table all set up true and parallel and equal depth. It takes tooling and time and costs more. Dennis

The little plate was for reinforcing the flex plate on automatic transmission cars. It also is good to use with an aluminum flywheel to keep the bolts from digging into the aluminum. It goes between the bolts and the flex plate or flywheel, not under. The raised part indexes into the flexplate but would not fit under a flywheel well. It seems to have been jammed into the seal here, likely a big part of the leak and goop fix... Dennis

It's usually a loose half shaft u-joint first. The diffs seldom knock, but they are all old parts now. You can usually just wiggle a loose half shaft joint to check. It ought not wiggle. Dennis

The little white Koni knob in the picture is the adjuster. Easy to use up front, not so much in the back. I found that some early Z struts were skinnier than later ones and maybe that's a problem with ZX struts, I dunno. Since ZX struts are about the same length as early 510 struts maybe you could back convert and just play with hydraulic oil viscosities as we used to do before we could get fancy Konis and such. Dennis

Just as important as the nylok nut is the d hole washer on the pivot side. Dennis

Also remember that every change in rear ride height you will change both toe and camber. Both will make major handling changes without and visual change. Most of those changes are pretty dangerous or tricky. Lots of 510s with smashed rear ends from this. Once mastered though that trailing throttle oversteer is great fun. That's largely why 510s are great autocrossers. The look is the least thing you are chasing. When we first put coilovers on the back of the Pink car the lower mount bolt would loosen every day. We were hillclimbing, maybe 15 minutes a day hard use. This was with spherical bushings too. I ended up reengineering the whole system to use grade 8 through bolts in double shear. They never loosened again, but beware and pay careful attention, there's a lot more stress there than you imagine...... Dennis

If you seal off the drains then the water will come in through the heater. Not better. Dennis

As far as a choke, there really isn't one. The mechanism drops the jet and makes a richer mixture. The SU slides are always a choke. On my ITS spec 240Z I just use a piece of copper electrical. #14 solid, and pull it up, hook it onto the heat shield until warm, then release it and go hammer the old girl for an hour or so. The wire has lasted about 20 years now.... Dennis

Well, sure but.... I have spent many hours on dynos to try and reengineer distributors and ignitions, "Tune them" as Matt calls it. The CB piece looks great, I had Brian Rebello do this sort of thing with a Microsquirt controller some time back on a sweet L20b with Fuel injection and electronic ignition, but it is a costly process. It cost as much as the built engine did. I talked to Electromotive at SEMA a few years ago about my fancy 2 liter Cosworth Ford and they started at about $10K to "tune" it. It is a museum piece now I guess. Peggy calls them rabbit holes. I just get a little enthusiastic when I do things I guess, but without the "tuning" equipment it is kind of a disappointment. Like Matt says, if simple works, do it. Those round holes on the front of the carbs are the things that actually allows the slides to rise and function more or less like throttle plates so you need them open for sure. Dennis

Check for oil in the tops. They use the oil up and will run rich when low. Add oil each oil change. Try to leave the balance alone. More often than not imbalance is from valves needing adjustment. Vacuum advance plates in the distributor will wear quickly. Manifold vacuum is much less than venturi vacuum and will not work well, but then again it may be the same as no vacuum at all. Unfortunately as the advance plates wear, the advance may stick somewhere and totally mess up the advance curve function. I find a carefully set and fresh vacuum advance is only worth about 10% fuel economy and not much worth the effort. Idle advance is much less important than the advance at torque peak and full advance. Ping setting is trouble, first ping happens at torque peak and that will not be audible. Cam changes alter all of this. Larger displacement does too. There is a big difference with 2200ccs instead of 1600cc. Big bores burn slower, high compressions burn faster, big cams fill the chambers slower, and so on. Like Matt says, recurve the distributor for the newly reengineered package. Free advice on the internet isn't of value here. Maybe mine too. "Lumpy" cams are trouble with SU carbs. They are CV designs that work with manifold vacuum more than throttle position. Reduce the manifold vacuum and they will not open as soon, just the opposite of what the cam is trying to get. Leaving the oil out is a poor work around on street cars. It works OK on an IT spec racer but all you want is WFO there. Where angels fear to tread...... 1000rpm idle speed with "lumpy" cams are about right. Stock is about 800rpm. Datsun Roadster choke cables were the original part, they may still be available. Pretty close to MGB parts. 240Z parts can be used if you want the lever by the shift lever. These motors like to run warm, 170 is usually too cool. 38mm carbs on a cammed 2200 seems small, but I have not been happy with 42mm Z carbs there either.... Dennis

I have had a few carefully built engines tested. I really like to have them broken in and tested on a dyno when available. The Oregon experts [MOFO Meadows discussions for the old timers] never agree with the results, but never really show alternatives. My Potter built L20 with Mikuni 44s and a carefully stock U20 cam ran 150 hp and 150torque over 1500rpm and has over 200k miles. Its the car we taught with at the Thunderhill schools for about 10 years. It was named the Datserati by a friend many years ago. One of my demon tweaks was to make Monel valve seats. It has never needed a valve adjustment. Monel is nickel/copper alloy. My last Rebello built L20b with microsquirt fuel injection and a stock cast manifold and Miata sourced AC tested at 164hp and 175tq crankshaft, from 3200 to 6000 rpm. Both motors have cast pistons and 5500 rpm limits. Both were "too expensive" builds, maybe twice the cost of the day. I have built a couple hundred motors, largely beetle ones, and I respect those who can out do me. Maybe you get what you pay for. I had Rebello build a big Z car motor for a hillclimb car to chase Kipperman with his LS powered 240Z. We made a 3200 displacement and all the tricks I shouldn't have bought and got 350hp and 270tq at 6700rpm. It ran over 300hp from 5500 to 7800rpm. The car has never been completed... Then there is the motorhome 510ci motor with 500torque and 480hp. It did about 120 on the dyno. It uses factory TBI. It tows well..... Dennis

I was always the president of norcal UFO. I dreamed, Peggy made it work. We were also the ones who started NASA with the Capri Club and low buck track days. I dreamed, Ali and Jerry helped, now Jerry claims he did it all. Sure. Lots of experience with 150 to 250hp 510s.... The 300hp V8 car never could run an autocross with the pink car and was too weird, silly and fragile to actually drive it on a big track or at a hillclimb. And I was younger then. Dennis

Since you have wild motor ideas, be very careful with removing metal from a 510. There is no extra. The firewall and tunnel when removed will require lots of heavy caging to replace. The V8 car is a ship in a bottle car. It twisted the roof as well as the engine box. Several cars twisted when subwoofer installs removed the brace behind the rear seat. A 2000# 510 with 200hp and trailing throttle oversteer rear suspension will be plenty methinks.... Dennis

The V8 car is in the garage majal collection. We called it The Bluebird and Fat Bottom Girl. I ran it about 5 minutes after the last build from Rebello, maybe you did the build.

I live nearby and know a little about 510s. I have a few rusty stock heaters in a box and about 20 L16 and 4speed cores laying about, but no wrong motor options... Remember these are light, nimble cars, 2000# and 100hp. 200hp in a 3000# car is no longer either of these things. Actually I do have a few spare Buick aluminum 215s laying around, and they are the original wrong motor swap... Dennis