I've always wanted a Datsun 510 since I was very young. Considering we already have a Datsun 521 pickup truck in Mexico, it made me want the Datsun 510 even more. In the 8th grade, my close friend had bought a Datsun 510 and that was when I decided it was time to look for one. I had began my search of the "perfect" Datsun in the beginning of Freshman year. After about a year or two of searching almost everyday on and off for a project car, I had a text from a guy in Modesto selling a 1969 Datsun 510. He showed me the following pictures.
At first I was not very interested in the car and I thought it was a piece of crap car. However, I had told the guy if I could check it out the following weekend and he agreed. At that time, I wasn't very familiar with cars, and I didn't even know how to drive manual transmission! The specs for the car at the time were the following
Engine:
L20b off of a later Datsun 510 from the 80's
Carb: A poorly tuned
Weber 32/36 that had blown up
Transmission: Stock
4 speed manual
Diff.:
Stock
Brakes:
Stock (w/ lots of air in the lines)
Suspension: Stock springs/struts
Why I wanted this car:
Since most kids at school had/have "modern" cars where you turn the key and put it into "drive" then go, I wanted something more. I wanted something that I can work on, and call it "my work". These types of cars you'd have to pray they turn on the first key turn. Most cars now have electronic fuel injection, that rely on computers to deliver the right amount of fuel/air mixture. However, old school cars like mine, use a device called a "carburetor" that mixes air and fuel at the same time, to deliver the most power. Another reason why I wanted this car was because you never see them around! I see more Porsche's, Ferrari's, and BMW M-series cars than I see these Datsuns!
History of Datsun 510:
Datsun was/is a part of the Nissan corporation that has their headquarters in Japan. As a Japanese car manufacture, Datsun began manufacturing their cars back in the early 1930's in Japan and exporting their vehicles to the US market. Moving to the Datsun 510 era, which began in 1968, and ended in 1973, the 510 was nothing but a grocery getter. When some people finally began to realize that the Datsun 510 had a fairly strong engine and rear independent suspension, people like John Morton began to race them. John Morton, in partnership with the Brock Racing Enterprises raced Datsun 510's again other vehicle manufacturers like Alfa Romeo, BMW, and Volvo. Videos of Datsun's racing success can be found
here.
ProjectDat:
This project of the Datsun 510 will consist of making the vehicle more than what it is. I will be swapping the engine/tranny, lowering the vehicle, changing the wheel/tire combo. Redoing the whole interior, re-wiring the engine bay harness, and making all instruments work. In order for me to achieve these, I will be working with my mechanic friend to help me out and teach me how everything can be fixed.
