HeyI have a Datsun HL 510, or at least I think that it is an HL 510. It says Datsun 510 on the back and it is a 1981 station wagon. It has a straight axle (or live axle) rear suspension in the back.

It is my project and I am looking to fix it up. It has all kinds of rust-holes in the hood, sides, etc. I am going to give it a new paint job next Thanksgiving holiday when I have the time for it. Fix up all the holes, dents, etc. Black-out the windows. Touch up the rusty rims, major cleaning everywhere, fix up tires (maybe even get new ones), clean the engine (paint the engine in some place :] )

The carburettors are messed up. I need some new carbs. However, the Nissan dealers want 600$ for some carbs . Thats more than the car is worth. Does anyone know a cheap alternative to thise carbs. Maybe some Nissan carbs that I can find on eBay will fit?

Also, I would like to change the transmission from an automatic to a manual transmission. Is this easy to do? Can I find a cheap manual transmission that will fit? Is that automatic transmission that I have worth much? I am looking for a manual for it too, can I find that anywhere?

I am looking to changing the muffler on it to this muffler: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...h=005

I am not sure, but do the carburettors need re-jetting, or is there anything else involved with changing the muffler, besides sawing off the old one and welding on this one?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance...

you should have a Z20 in the car...you can probably get by with a rebuild on the carb for the time being...does it run?

also, let's see some pictures of the rust damage...get under the car and check out the frame rails, inside the engine bay and look about the wheel wheels....if rust is too bad, I'd save trouble and get rid of the car.

and for the love of god don't put that muffler on, it'll sound horrible....just changing the muffler won't offer much of any gain...especially when it's a cheap ebay one. You'd be better off to take it to an exhaust shop and have them fab up a slightly bigger exhaust system with a magnaflow on it (it's my personal preference, as they flow good, sound great, and aren't horribly expensive)

but seriously, get as many pics of the car up as you possible.

Why do you say that muffler is junk? My friend has one of those on his Civic, it has a nice racing sound. It is pretty quiet with the silencer, and without the silencer is has a reasonably loud nice racing sound. His dad has the APEXi N1 Universal on his Mustang, and it looks and sounds very similar (The APEXi looks and sounds a little better, but it cost 180$, while the other one costs 26$ shipped). I'm getting it for the sound, not the 8-10 horsepower.

I will definitely take some pictures of the car. I will jack it up and take pictures.

How much will getting that whole exhaust system cost. Remember that the car isn't even worth the 600$ for new carbs.

What is a Z20?

Thank you very much-freeb00ter

Okay, I looked it up. I have a Z20S.

Please help me with my other questions.

Thanks

Oh yes, the car runs great. Starts beautifully. I put Mobil 1 SYNTHETIC motor oil it in a while. And guess what, there are NO OIL LEAKS. Synthetic is so thin that pretty much with any major or minor problem, it would come leaking out. The transmission is great too. I just think that since I have no power steering, I might as well get the benefits of a stick (manual transmission). You know, the improved mileage, better control, lose some weight from that heavy transmission, clear up a lot of room where the transmission is (Automatic transmission are big and heavy), a manual is simpler to repair and maintain than an automatic. My neighbor gave me this car for free.

With that carb. The car still runs great (as I said above). Here is how I know that there is a problem with the carburettor. When I start it up after sitting a little, you have to rev it a little to keep it from shutting off. First, the RPMs are about twice as low in "Drive" or "Reverse" or in any other gear, than they are in "Neutral" or "Park". I went to a mechanic to see about this. They said the needle is worn out, or some kind of balls are worn and loose, some bullsh*t to try to get me to buy a new carburettor. They said unless I paid them 600$ the car would break down anytime on me . It runs fine, I just think I should fix up the carburettor. Rebuild kit is about 20$, right?

It has a few minor problems though. Here is a list:

1) No Air Conditioning or Heating, something broke there, I'm gonna look into it, but my guess is that it is not worth fixing. Winter is coming anyways.

2) Radio was torn out by some stupid punks. Looked like they just broke it, and pulled it out, fu*king up the whole dashboard, and probably fu*king up the radio in the process. No doubt a bunch of drunk or high idiots (we get quite a bit of those here)

3) The parking brake light never turns off. I don't even care. I can tell when the parking brake is engaged or disengaged. Last thing I'm going to do is go to the Nissan dealer, and get quoted "300$" for a sensor and "150$" for labor.

4) The "Neutral" and "Parking" minor problem mentioned above.

5) Cracked off lens on one of the fog-lights (both still turn on though).

6) The exhaust pipe looks horrible sticking out the back. It has like a 1 inch diameter and looks pretty gay. Thats why I want to put the eBay muffler that I left the link to on. I looks cool with the 4 inch diameter outlet and the orange/blue burnt tip. I am curious why everyone says that it will sound horrible. Why do you say it'll sound bad?

7) At 70mph its at 4000 RPMs. Now thats not what I really like. Most cars can go 70mph at 2.5- K RPMs. It has a special tick at 55mph, so I guess that 55 is the optimal speed.

I think I'll make another LED body kit for myself. By the way, I want to raise up my Datsun for more clearance. Is there some way to do this, like extending the suspension or something?

Thanks everyoneThe rust underneath the car is not that bad. I'll probably post some pictures this weekend. Just so everybody knows, in case this is relevance. I am located in the Southern United States, in Georgia. I am about 60-100 miles ENE (east northeast) of Atlanta.

Once again any help is GREATLY APPRECIATED

Thank you

The 'parking brake' light as you call it is actually a brake warning light. It not only will indicate when the parking brake is on but also that the fluid is low or a that there is a problem with the sensors in the master cylinder caps that monitor the fluid level.

Okay thanksIll take a look when I get the manuals. Can anybody please help me with my above questions?

Thanksfreeb00ter

you engine speed at 70 should be right...I'm wanting to say the car only has a 3 speed auto...that's about as good as it gets.

it's gonna rev lower when in gear because the engine is put under a load.

as far as raising the car...that's *** backwards from a performance aspect...

aesthetic parts...like the foglight and such, you'll have to find them in a junkyard more than likely..or get some after market fog lights.

as for that muffler, my opinion, it's ugly, too big for the car(the 4 inch grapefruit shooter pipe) and probably won't flow any better than the stock.

As for swapping the tranny....

Would this be the right one to put in? I believe it is...but you never know

Heres the linkhttp://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/80-81-DA ... enameZWD1V

What would be involved with the tranny swap? What has to be changed?

thanks everyone

-freeb00ter

that page isn't working....

freeb00ter wrote:As for swapping the tranny....

Would this be the right one to put in? I believe it is...but you never know

Heres the linkhttp://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/80-81-DA ... enameZWD1V

What would be involved with the tranny swap? What has to be changed?

thanks everyone

-freeb00ter

Sorry about that not working page, here is the working page

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...ZWD1V

thanks -freeb00ter

That would be the right trans but I wouldn't pay 400 bucks for a used one. Hit the junkyards. I've never paid more than $125 for a used tranny at the junkyard. Even after replacing a couple of seals and bearings in them the total cost is still half of that one on eBay. You'll also need a flywheel, clutch disc, pressure plate, throwout bearing and sleeve, clutch fork, pilot bushing, slave and master cylinders and the piping, clutch and brake pedal assembly from a manual trans 80-81 510, and maybe the driveshaft since I'm not really sure if the stick and automatic use the same one. And you'll have to jump or eliminate the inhibitor circuitry that prevents the car from starting in anything but park and neutral. I've done a handful of automatic to stick conversions and even a stick to automatic conversion. Not on my list of favorite jobs to do on cars!
Modified by Mig at 4:11 AM 10/7/2007

Whoa..thanks man

Does anyone know how I can cheaply and correctly lower this 1981 Datsun 510 (Athens, Ga, USA)/Stanza wagon (Australia)? Are there any coilovers or something that are compatible with this Datsun?...searched all over google, these cars seem to be dead..

you'd be correct in that assumption.

if I get some extra time, I'll help look into finding a solution...it's possible there might be parts from another vehicle you can modify to work without getting too crazy.