I have had this car for about 15 or so years. It is a slow going project.
I have most of the fab work done. As far as the body goes, I need to box in the firewall. All the mounts are done, intercooler and cooling lines(pipes) are done. I need a more recent pic.
The modified crossmember. The engine was set back about 4" and down 2".
The exhaust is a little close to the firewall. As you can see, I have some work to do on the firewall.
God invented winter for man to work on his project car!
Nice well thought out project that should increase the value of the car, now thats waht I call coooooooooool.
Finish, finish, finish, put a chalk board on the garage wall and when you leave at night, write down what you planned to do tomorow and don't get distracted with bullshit details.
Never mind the mule is blind, just keep loading the cart!
You bastard! I saw your car on CarDomain over a year ago in that condition. I was hoping I'd get mine done before you. What sucks more is my 510 is the same color, only I've got a 4 door. If you've got any good 510 sites for doing mods, let me know. I'm on the 510 Realm, but I'm looking for some more "build up" stuff like we have here and on VFAQ and stuff.
Finally got your Billhousing huh? I've had mine for months now and still haven't gotten around to mounting the engine and tranny together in the car. I found that the brake master cylinder interferes with my JMF intake manifold and haven't gotten much further than that. You might run into similar issues since you set the engine further back. If you were patient enough, you would have found the 4G63 mounts to the stock 510 rubber mounts using the Mighty Max engine mounts and you only need to reverse the crossmember to make it all fit. Maybe I'll beat you to getting my car together first, but funds are low so my guess is you'll finish before me.
What kind of suspension are you running? I was planning to run GC coilovers up front (250lb springs?) and Suspension Engineering rear springs in the back. I've got a set of 200SX struts and Toyota 4x4 calipers up front with Maxima rear disks. I'm still trying to fit my Z31 R200 and CV axles and figure out what I'm doing for fuel and brake lines since all of mine were junk. I'm also running a Z31 in tank fuel pump. Now if I just had an extra $3000 laying around, the car would be running in no time.
The only clearance issues I have is the master cylinder. All I did was cut the bleeder screws off flush. I wanted the engine back as far as it is to help balance the car. Maybe its all in my head, but I figured it couldn't hurt.
As far as suspension goes, I have GC coil-overs in front with stock junk in back. I am toying with the idea of a 3-link solid axle setup. ?!?!? Call me crazy, I remember years ago I had a pumped up L20b that would squat like no tomorrow. I figure more power would only make it worse.
My new goal is to have it on the road by the time schools out. I've been working on it a couple of hours each night.
Guess this means I need to get my Colt out of the garage and the 510 back in there. Look into Suspension Engineering in Canada. They have a great rear suspension setup that I'm going with. It works so well (so they say) that you don't need a rear anti-roll bar. I'll likely get the same GC coilovers that everyone has. What spring rate are you running up front?
What intake manifold are you running to still have clearance with the motor back? Still have that modified 1G intake on there? I'll likely cut the bleeder screws off, but was also thinking of trying to move the master cylinder over a little. There's plenty of room with the hole in the firewall. It's really just moving two studs from the stock location and moving the bracket that's on the brake pedal assembly. Maybe I'm over simplifying, but it sounds like it will work. We'll see.
Now I need to start making brake brackets, a tranny mount, massage the tranny tunnel, order thousands of dollars in parts and I'm done right?
I have to double check to be 100% but I believe they are 175#. I am still going to use the modded stock manifold. Check the pic for an idea of how tight it is. I think it will work though.
Money grows on trees right?
Alright... It's been a while but I am back with a vengance. I WILL be driving my car be late spring early summer. I have been working on it every night.
The R154 is BIG. I hangs a little lower than I would like. But I will try it. Maybe a skid plate? The rear mount serves 3 functions, trans mount, driveshaft loop and exhaust cutout. The exhaust is going to be tight.
Cool! Love the photos. I realize I've seen your car on the 'net before. I'm trying to remember if you had to crease your firewall after all. I want to avoid that if possible. I got a '71 510 wagon that is still rtunning for $500 Right now, it's my daily driver/parts runner while the GSX is going back together. However, a couple of times I have very seriously thought about dropping its 4g64T into the 510, and that's what led me back here.
For better or worse, I want to swap out the straight axle for the sedan IRS. I have an R-200 already, but need to get the right moustache bar,etc. installed. I COULD run another straight axle, I suppose, but would rather have the cornering ability.
I also had the R-154 in mind. Glad to see it's not the lousy fit I thought it would be. That's VERY encouring.
4G63/4everything, Don't be fooled, I feel it is a lousy fit. If the engine mounts and crossmember were not finished, I would have made a new trasmission tunnel. To move the transmission up.
Have you ever driven an IRS 510? They squat like no tomorrow. Just my 2Cents.
Years back I had a healthy L20b that would make it squat so bad the diff would hit the ground. I am toying with the Idea of a solid rear axle with some sort of 3 link setup.
Yeah, I'd considered the "squat factor". I wanted more handllnig. When I bought it, it was THE ONLY 510 I'd sen in years. AFTER I bought it, all the 510 freaks in town came out. I now have access to no less than THREE 510 projects. It's still the ony RUNNING one in my area. After the economy ent down, I get stopped every two or three days by someone wanting to buy it. I didn't know the difference between wagons & sedans t the timeI paid for it (Other than te axle, everything else but the cargo area is EXACTLY te same). When I dd learn, I thought "How hard could it be to just bolt the IRS underneath?"....ha ha ha. Yeah, 'm having second thoughts due to dthe owntime it will take along wth the motor. I've already bought an R-200 dif froma yard. I'm considering using a Ford rear end. Someone told me there's a Ford IRS that's simpler. I saw some Ford Ranger 4x4s up on a trailer a coule months ago & wondered if that could beused
Too bad on the R-154. I wanted a 6spd. Was considering using the JDM Nissan 6spd that comes with the later SR20DETs, but that would defeat my purpose of being here n thisforum: tring to avoid the whole JDM trip. I seriously want to 4g it and put a bootleg valve cover on it that says Nissan, and get it into one of the mags, then after it's in there go, "Oh yeah, it's a Mitsu! PSYCH! You been HAD, mofo!"
Looking back, what trans would you use? Seems like Toyota is the way to go with our "Billhousings By Fincher" support. Maybe a previous gen Supra 5 spd? I may STILL use the 154, but it loos like you have to be a glutton for punishment after all.
Jelliot went a different route than I did with engine fit. My 4G63 uses the stock 510 crossmember mounts and just reverses the center of the crossmember. SR20 guys do the same thing with the crossmember since the 4G63 and the SR20 are both front sump motors.
My car was originally an auto tranny car and it required no cutting of the trans tunnel. I also use the stock rear trans mount holes in the body with my R154. I could almost use the stock 510 mount, but it's off just enough to not work.
I do like what you did with your trans crossmember though Jelliot. Please keep posting progress so I can get motivated to get back on my project. It's so close to being mobile, yet there are so many things that need to get done.
Good luck to both of you. And may the best man win. (this is a race right?)
Do it in a Datsun!
1972 Datsun 510
7-bolt 4G63T, EVO 9 pistons and rods, Garrett GT3076R, "flipped" stock intake, Toyota R154, Z31 R200 w/ CVs
Yeah, the reverse crossmember is a tried & true Datsun swap trick. I want to see if I can use an SR 20 swap kit from someone like McKinney Motorsports or Datsport and mod that for the 4G63 so it looks nice and neat. Supposedly Datsport's balances the weight for handling.
I need to post pics, but I am done with my exhaust and fuel line. My car will be coming home with me, then its time to finish up the wiring and fuel serge tank. Pics coming soon.
Here are the pics. I am one brake line away from my brake lines being done. Tomorrow I will finish the brake lines. This weekeng is for the rear of the fuel system.
OH Yea... I love having a 4 post rack to work on the under side of my car. I owe my friend Shayne a big one. Maybe I will let him drive it. For the record those are 3/8" fuel feed and return lines, and a full 3" exhaust. That is by far the most difficult exhaust I have ever built. The intercooler piping was much easier. I will post pics of them soon. They are nice and semi gloss black...
. They love 510s but with Nissan power 
