Datsun 510
 

Anyone know where you would get one of these in Canada (let alone Ontario)? Or easier to go down to the states?

:drool: Good luck finding one in Canada...I've been looking for years.

However you can get them Puerto Rico, Cuba and most of the Caribbean nations all day long. I recently had someone tell me that they are a dime a dozen down there (he vacations often and comes from that region) and I nearly fainted...Of course shipping won't be cheap...

Funny, there was a nice one for sale yesterday at a meet I went to!

I'll try find the info for you!

haha. going down to Cuba to get a 40 year old car...that would be an adventure.

i'm just trying to see what sort of availability/pricing on these things are...guess not very good, heh.

oh, and believe they were called the Datsun 1600 here in Canada?

Can't find the one I saw yesterday but there are a bunch for sale here:

http://www.the510realm.com/PNphpBB2-viewforum-f-10.html

Cool, that site has quite a few for sale. seems to be a lot of 510s in BC, interesting.

Still can't find the one for sale I saw yesterday - but I'll do some digging.

ok, thanks Nick.
seems like there are more modified 510s for sale than stock ones, so pricing is all over the place. still no clue what an average price for a stock one is, haha.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/71-DT...QQcmdZViewItem

Road Trip Biatch!!!

You want a stock one huh?
There are a whack of ones done to the tits around here (even turbo rotary ones). That said, looking through the buy and sell etc there are quite a few stock ones for sale in different states of disrepair! Join that 510 forum and post some WTB threads - you'll get plenty of responses!

i haven't said i want anything, haha.
just wanted info...see what the situation to find and get one would be like. i knew someone on here might have some info. :)

that ebay one WankelingBeer posted almost fits the bill. even comes with the proper engine, heh.

I saw a yellow one (not for sale though) in Weston. It was very well maintained--you had to wear sunglasses to look at it ;)

A friend down the street from me has one in pretty decent condition here in ottawa.

Orange i believe it's a 73? I could be wrong. Took it for a short drive, with some cheap sleeve overs it handles very well. Always trying to convince him to stick a 13B in it.

they're cheap in the southern US, reasonably clean drivers can be had for under $2k.

get that one on ebay, its only $500 right now and ALLREADY HAS A 13B!

zomg.

Damn, I guess it pays to know where to look. No idea that there were so many around here. Now, if only I had the space...A 510 with a peripheral ported 12A/13B would be an ideal daily driver...

Uh, nope. They were called 510's here too--- built from model years 1968 through '73 inclusive.

The Datsun 1600 was a two-seat sportscar (roadster) along the same lines as an MGB but more reliable. There was a Datsun 1200 sold here in the early '70s that was a 2-door shitbox, but unlike the independant-suspensioned and 1600-cc OHC-powered 510 it had a conventional live-axle arrangement and a gutless-wonder 1200-cc pushrod engine.

Still, if you can find a Datsun 1200 in decent shape it would put up some impressive numbers with a rotary shoe-horned into the engine bay...

I had a 68 Datsun 510. It was a fun car, but it rusted fast.
I bought it for $400 in 1972...sold it for $400 in 1975.
I replaced it with, of all things, a purple Gremlin. Stupid teenager

Lemme guess: the Gremlin had white stripes, beauty rings on the rims, an 8-track and black vinyl seats that burned your legs on hot summer days and slid you completely off them if you took a turn too fast.

I figure this much because I once had a '74 Gremlin (green with white stripes) that had a very thirsty 258 CID in-line six and a 3-speed std transmission--- on the floor rather than the tree. Car was a two-month stand-in until my student loan came in--- which I promptly spent most of on a '74 Celica.

Yup. We had the exact same car. POS. I wrapped it around a tree drag racing a Dodge Truck.

ah, ok. thanks for the info :)

LOL memories.

My buddy had an AMC Spirit. Had the same inline six and shitty interior. That thing was a severe POS, but man was it a hoot. That 3 speed ended up giving up the ghost on the highway and we were down to 1st gear only. He donated it to the local fire department for practice extracations. But before it was cut up we had to ensure that the car was realistically damaged, so an accident simulation would be authentic.

It's amazing what one of those will do to a dumpster and Pontiac 6000 at full speed in 1st gear! LOL The hockey helmets we were wearing at the time did little to protect us, but sure made us look like a pair of escaped mental patients! Christ - I have to dig up those pics. Good times... good times.

[QUOTE=Nick86]LOL memories.

My buddy had an AMC Spirit. Had the same inline six and shitty interior. That thing was a severe POS, but man was it a hoot.

AMC has been guilty of building some of the ugliest cars ever thrust onto an unsuspecting public. One author came to the conclusion that the designers of these cars (Concord, Gremlin, Matador and especially the Pacer) came up with their ideas after about six rum and cokes, and that they should have been tranquilized, tagged and released somewhere north of the arctic circle. :)

That 3 speed ended up giving up the ghost on the highway and we were down to 1st gear only.


I guess I got lucky--- I still had the use of both 1st and 2nd gears before I dropped the car off at the wreckers for $50. Those guys got ripped off IMHO.

He donated it to the local fire department for practice extracations. But before it was cut up we had to ensure that the car was realistically damaged, so an accident simulation would be authentic.

It's amazing what one of those will do to a dumpster and Pontiac 6000 at full speed in 1st gear! LOL The hockey helmets we were wearing at the time did little to protect us, but sure made us look like a pair of escaped mental patients! Christ - I have to dig up those pics. Good times... good times.

Jeezizz, you guys actually donated your own bodies as crash test dummies?? We could have all ended up reading about you on the Darwin Awards website. Do post pics! :icon16:

LOL yeah, never claimed it was the brightest thing I ever did! ;) It was a mix of Jackass and the Darwin Awards.

We just had our hockey helmets on and charged around the Fire Department test area in first gear ramming into all the other things they use for training. The firemen almost pissed themselves laughing.

lol - man, gotta find those pics.

Oh, just clarify - we did have our seatbelts on.

'Cause you know - Safety First.



Now, back to the actual thread about the 510 lol.

my parents had one brand new back in the day....

My dad had a 510 he built from dirt. I remember long ass car rides out to the boonies so he could grab an emblem. The car was built with a potent motor he put together in the basement and went like hell. One of the rare times he let my mom drive it she rear ended a camaro. The old man was pretty crushed, so he fixed it up and sold it to a work buddy who drove it for 15 years before parking it. After that he put a 5.0 in a AMC Gremlin Levi edition.
The looks on peoples faces when that rusty piece of crap took off were hilarious.

There's a 78, 510 wagon on the grassroots motorsports website for $400 bucks in Dayton Ohio it's the uglier grill but the car looks pretty good for it's age.

my uncle in BC bought one new in the 70's (cant recall what year it was) and it was one of the first cars i remember really liking... we used to go out to BC every year. he GAVE IT AWAY about 5 years ago and i almost drove out there and killed him... i must have told him 10million times if he ever wanted to sell it to give me a call... he said 'oh it was all rusty..you wouldn't want it" ahhhgghghg! it needed a new floor in the trunk and some work on the bottom of the doors and a new exhaust...that's it... but then in BC i guess that makes it a rusty heap!

it was a really fun car..

These cars have actually been sought after for over 25 years. In fact, they were at the bottom of their popularity curve during the years they were being built and sold.

What made them so desireable in the late '70s/ early '80s was the combination of affordability and features found only in much more expensive cars--- like one particular car that starts with B and ends with W. : OHC engine, full indedpendant suspension, light weight, excellent "tossable" handling, "sports sedan" design, etc.

In 1980 a decent early-'70s 510 could be had for under $1000, while comparable used BMW 2002s started at around 4k. The 320i was relatively new at the time and commanded upwards of 10k used. New ones were over 15k.

Since the 510s were so widely available and cheap to buy they were also good candidates for engine swaps--- the Ford 2600cc V6 from the Capri was a popular choice. (The rotary hadn't yet won over the masses since the RX7 was at that time new on the market and the bad rep from the first RX2s and 3s hadn't yet dissipated, at least in the minds of the general public).

But I've noticed something: While decent 510s have become more rare (and therefore more expensive), solid older BMW 320i's and 318i's can now be had for under 4k--- or even under 2k. If your looking for a relatively rust-free rolling chassis in which to drop a turbo rotary this would seem like a good place to start.

510 in Ottawa
 

Hey i know where there is a 510 in the Greely area (just south of Ottawa) its red and its the only one the guy has. he has a dealership and all he carries is datsuns. hes got 1 240z too.

i've started to get a craving for a 510 again, in case anyone has any info locally.
my brain last night wouldn't let me fall asleep thinking about this.
even just getting a shell with the interior maybe, a bit of rust is ok, is what i would be looking for.

contact dave at Mazdees, he knows someone that has a project 510 forsale, its already been caged.

not looking for a race car project, but thanks for the tip i might give that a follow up.

i have a 1972 510 wagon swapping a 13bT in it this winter.

theres one for sale in sasketchewan

cool! i would like to hear/see how that goes. you are in NS = Nova Scotia?

can you PM me a link if it's on the internet, otherwise some sort of contact for the person selling it? thanks.

my uncle owned one since new in '71 (got it the same year i was born)... he lives in BC. i loved that car...

he GAVE IT AWAY because the trunk was rusting out a few years ago... i almost flew down there and killed him!

Aaron if you want a 510 as stated above theres a car dealers ship that has a few for sale off of bank street.

I saw 4 510s there in july.

I also know were one is. But its caged. Not sure what your project is. Street? Track?

Also a 210 or that is such a model too.

yes i live in Nova Scotia and this is my wagon the 13b T is going in.
link - http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2620169

Nice project...me want. Give use some more details :)

510's Eh!!!
 

I knew a guy who worked in the baggage department at Canadian Pacific Airlines in Vancouver who had a thing for 510's back in the mid 90's. Last I heard about the guy was that he had over 20 of them in all different states located in 2 yards. One in Edmonton area and one near Abbotsford.

He just used to drive around and buy up every car he could get his hands on in the Pacific Northwest. I will check with a buddy of mine in Colorado to see what the present status of this guys 510 horde is.

Heck if he is in financial trouble, it could be 510's for everybody.

Eric

well dad and i bought the 510 for a project car its from BC was here and repainted on the out side once original color. needs another paint job, its a very solid car. now its a stock L16 3 speed auto and it is getting weaker every time i drive it. in 1972 it was rated at 92hp too the crank. so probably lucky to get 50 at the wheels now. the inside of the car is mint some old lady had it, so it was hardly ever used. for the motor and trans we bought a 88 rx7 turbo car for the swap. should wake it up. going to make a 3 inch exhaust no cat, no resonator, and a FMIC and big BOV. so it will make lots of noise. allot of people don't know what a 510 is so they will never understand a 510 with no pistons. the 510 is under 2200 pounds so it should move:lol2: i will have a thread for it when get it started.

I don't want to jack your post but if your into 510's check out what I'm doing with mine......

https://www.rx7club.com/old-school-other-rotary-63/datsun-510-13b-tii-swap-690496/