IAmTheWalrus

I do like the thought all Datsuns don't have to be shiny. Funny enough ive had two cars with perfect paint, and it made me feel empty haha. I'm use to primer and mismatched paint myself. Not alot of other people really get that. I actually had before this a 93 miata, someone had done rust repair with bondo, I cut that crap out fixed it and primered it. People gave me so much crap for "destroying that pretty red paint job" my response always was "its my car not yours so don't worry about it". Its actually quite surprising this car never saw a repaint. Its actually in pretty good shape. Yesterday I was actually able to straighten out the rear tail light panel quite well! Not perfect but quite good. You really have to look to tell its not perfect. I'm still yet to pull that "tow bar" off. I'm afraid to look at that valance! But the more and more I look at and mess with this car the more I love it. Anyhow, ill keep you guys updated.

Thanks for the link man! That car is a beauty! Looked good before too! It was the factory paint I wanna try and match, just over certain spots of primer, I couldn't let the rise just continue to get worse so I wanted to do a little bit of a preventitive measure. The primer just throws it off, but self etching primer may be what I need, its close to the same color. Unfortunatley I cant do a full resto, so I don't wanna half ass it so I guess ill find the parts i need as is and leave it as is. Patch the rust and let it be until I have more time and money for it. I do enjoy Patina!

Thanks man, impretty fond of the Patina as well, I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the hood though, I need to match it up or do something to make it match the car a little more. As for the primer spots, I took any rust down to bare metal and covered it up. I think some od green over it for the time being will help restore a little more of the natural look. Not sure yet. I'm really banking that it is the carb at this point, or I hope it is at least. Thank you also for the info on the distributor, does Troy have a site or would I have to look up up the number?

Yeah unfortunatley I am having to do alot of the work there at the complex, but sometime this week my grandfather and I are going to trailer it to his garage. The gas tank is horribly rusty as well but as soon as I get the cash to take it to the local radiator shop I'm going to, as of now its bypassed. Thanks for the info on the petronix, will I have to buy some sort of electronic distributor and new coil? Ill swap that battery around as well, thanks for the tip there. As soon as we get it in the garage ill keep my thread updated.

Shes kind of a musty old girl, but I had to have it. I think it will be worth the time and effort. These things are like unicorns around here. I'm going to need a few parts maybe you guys can help me find. Front valance, windshield, grille, etc. I'm gonna patch all the rust up but in the end I still want it semi ratty. I also have an original 510 wagon roof rack i may trade for something?

Today I adjusted the points to proper specs, learned a bit about them and got a really good idle for a short time, but again in gear it would die down. So I'm thinking at this point it is in fact the carburetor. So I plan to tear it down and clean the jets, etc. Ill keep you guys updated. Also thank you for the link to the petronix ignitor. I just could not find that! As for the choke situation, Its a bit confusing but I did have it open come to find out. Again I cant thank you guys enough. I'm very glad to have found ratsun.net. This is is definitely a crash course for me.

Thank you guys for the swift and informal response guys, its very discouraging at times messing with this 510 so far but its great to finally have a car on my dream car list. It has a manual choke, and it will usually only run with it wide open. As for the fuel tank it is quite bad, but for the time being I'm feeding it gas from a bottle. I do intend to get it cleaned as soon as possible. At this point I am thinking it may be timing or points but as I said this is my first car with points, or well first car with points ive had to tinker with. So its all new. Ive done alot of searching so far but Its really all so confusing. I wasn't sure if looking at videos on points could apply for my 510. I am a better learner visually so that would help. Ive searched for the conversion kit for electronic ignition but cant figure anything out, you guys know of any nite for the l16? will any other kit work? For a L18 or L20? Anyways I'm thinking I may tear down the carb and try cleaning the jets again. I'm just kind of at a stand still so any and all advice and info help so much. Thanks again guys!

I apologize if this is not in the right section I am new to ratsun.net so forgive me. I like an idiot traded a perfectly running car for this 1971 Datsun 510 four door. I believe its the original l16 under the hood. I went about 90 miles out from where I live to trade. I did fine for about 60 miles and it started struggling and just choked out. Had to pay to get it hauled home. Anyway I get it home and assume its the fuel tank which it turns out is rusty as can be. So I replace the fuel filter, still no avail. I then hook it up to a bottle full of gas to feed it. It idles for a good one to two minutes starts running ragged and dies. When its idling if I put it in gear it'll maybe jump a few feet and it dies. I then proceed to replace the plugs, then mechanical fuel pump. Idles better but still the same. The old plugs were very carbon fouled. I assume the new plugs are now too. The car has a brand new Weber. We took it apart and cleaned it still no luck. I'm none to familiar with points myself so could it be them? Carb adjustments? This car cost me a job opprotunity and now I'm having to sell my super beetle project to maybe fix it. Anyone have any ideas. Thank you much.