# Datsun HL 510 questions...please Help a newbie



## freeb00ter (Sep 17, 2007)

Hey
I 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 :lame: . 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: 
eBay Motors: UNIVERSAL N1 BURNT TIP TITANIUM EXHAUST MUFFLER 4 INCH (item 150159016403 end time Sep-11-07 17:07:15 PDT)

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...


----------



## Mig2 (Jul 20, 2005)

That muffler is junk and will sound terrible and possibly make your car run worse. You can find a 5 speed but it will have to be from another HL510 or S110 (200SX) with that same type of engine. The Z20 has a tilt that is different from any of the L series four cylinders. Lots of things have to be done to change over to a stick from an automatic although it's easier than the other way around. Just a tip. I wouldn't spend a lot of money on that car. You'll never get it back. They're just not that collectable/interesting/sought after, etc.


----------



## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

You say, "carbs"....there should only be one: a single, two-barrel Hitachi. You could get a reman. carb at most auto parts stores. Autozone.com shows one for $252+$25(core)...Item #DAT518. It has a 1 year warranty. I usually just rebuild them. You can get a kit for about $20 (G.P. Sorenson P/N: 96-565 ). Make sure the fuel pressure is within specs. before replacing the carbs; no carb will perform well with a bad fuel pump! Carburator shouldn't need re-jetting unless you are changing the camshaft or some other performance mod.

Converting to a stick is a pain in the tail. A good trans shop that knows what they're doing can performance "tweak" the AT to make it shift firmer and quicker.

If you're changing the muffler, make sure the rest of the exhaust is in good shape. It doesn't make sense to put a new muffler on rusted pipes.

I have to agree with Mig2 about not dumping a lot of money into it, but of course, it's your car to spend money as you wish. The 510 coupes and sedans of the late 60's & early 70's are a lot more saught after than those of the late 70's and 80's. Rust is a big problem and make sure you thoroughly look over the floor pans, rockers and lower front shock towers for rot through. If the chassis isn't sound, the car's not worth fixing.


----------



## freeb00ter (Sep 17, 2007)

*thanks for the replies*

Hey
I would like to thank both of you for replying. I have some questions to follow up on this. I have to totally agree with you not put loads of money into this car. I am not trying to get this money back. I just want to make this car nicer for myself. Also right now it is butt-ugly, you could call it my "project". I am repainting it, but I am painting it with self-leveling Rustoleum rust enamel. My friend did this to his car, and it looks great, cost about 60$ total (after paint, rollers, brushes, etc). It took him 6 days (1-2 hours masking, 2 hours rolling on enamel, 3 hours wet-sanding). You have to mask first, then paint, let dry overnight, then wet sand. Repeat this and stretch it over days. So he spent no more than 4 hours a day, and no less than 2 hours a day. I want to tint my windows, but I will use cheap tint film from Wal-Mart (5$ worth is good enough for 2-4 windows. About that AT tweak. What is the point of that  ? I am not going to be constantly shifting gears on an AT. Pretty much just from park to drive and back. Sometimes into neutral. Even more rarely into the low gears. 

Some questions: 

1) Are there any manuals that I can find my my 1981 Datsun HL510? Service Manuals? Owners Manual? Factory Repair Manual? Supplement manuals?

2) 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 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). Also, why do you say that it could make my '81 HL510 run worse: It is supposed to _increase_ horsepower and performance if anything.

3) About that exhaust modifications. The muffler is in the middle of the car for some reason. I would have to saw off the original muffler. Then I would have to get some stainless steel pipe from a Midas shop or somewhere and weld it on. Then I would have to weld the muffler on the end. My current air filter needs replacing so I would replace it with a K&N high-flow air filter. With all these listed changes, would I need to re-jet or modify anything?

4) Is rebuilding the carburettor quick and easy? Are there easy-to-follow instructions that come with the kit?

5) Would it be easy and cheap to put power steering on it? Personally I don't mind it enough to pay much money for it. If its really expensive I won't bother.

Thanks in advance...


----------



## veesix (Jul 18, 2004)

"About that AT tweak. What is the point of that ? I am not going to be constantly shifting gears on an AT. Pretty much just from park to drive and back. Sometimes into neutral. Even more rarely into the low gears. "

The AT will shift through the forward gears by itself, after you put it in drive. If you think that it's working fine, all the more time and money to spend on the carb.

Have you had this car out for a drive?


----------



## freeb00ter (Sep 17, 2007)

*my datsun*

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 everyone
The 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


----------



## Mig2 (Jul 20, 2005)

About service manuals there's always a few on ebay like this one if you're quick.
eBay Motors: 1981 Datsun 510 Service Manual (item 170149113611 end time Sep-20-07 10:01:38 PDT)
If you don't get this one there are others. The factory manual is the only way to go with Datsuns. The Haynes, Chiltons, etc. just don't cover the car as well as it does.


----------



## freeb00ter (Sep 17, 2007)

*tranny questions*

Anyhow, I have just bought a service manual on ebay, total cost was 4.75$ USD shipped. Thats a great deal. I'm looking at and owners manual and will probably pick it up between 3-4$ USD.

As for swapping the tranny....

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

Heres the link
eBay ... enameZWD1V

What is involved in switching the tranny from a automatic to a stick? What has to be changed and moved?

thanks everyone

-freeb00ter


----------



## freeb00ter (Sep 17, 2007)

*sorry about that*

The link was incomplete

I have corrected the link...

The corrected link is

eBay Motors: 80-81 DATSUN 510 5SPD MANUAL TRANSMISSION (item 120079186292 end time Oct-21-07 13:56:08 PDT)

Thanks
-freeb00ter


----------



## Mig2 (Jul 20, 2005)

I'll just quote the answer I gave when you asked this question on the NICO site:


Mig2 said:


> 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!


----------

