This next build has been a favourite of mine since I first laid eyes on it, I’ve read it countless times and it always makes me want to run out to the garage and start working on my own car. Jun is one of those people who gets it, his modification technique is very detailed yet not too mechanically intense, anyone with a vision and some elbow grease can emulate it, he even inspired me to ‘do work’ on my own engine bay instead of continually delaying it. This 510 wagon gets a serious dose of Japanese style, helped along by it’s owners visits to the motherland, bringing home swag on the return-flights home.

There’s no need to feel disappointed when you get to the end of this build, as you’ll see that Jun has recently picked up a Datsun 620 4WD, and he’s working his token magic on that ride, too.

CLICK HERE for the full build thread.

.

I was standing in the garage today, looking at my car with a bunch of the engine bay torn apart, planning in my head how I was going to document the activities in my next post. Then it struck me, I still hadn’t posted about the last thing I did; retrofitting an RB20DET gearbox to the FJ20. The FJ20 uses a 5-speed gearbox which has one niggling problem, they have a tendency to crunch when changing gears in higher rpm. Apart from that, there was nothing wrong with it, no whining noises, never hard to find a gear, never popped out of gear, but that didn’t stop me from upgrading when I learnt that the RB20 gearbox bolts up with minimal mods…

Even though I’ve described the modifications as minimal, it’s still far beyond what I’m capable of doing at home, so I enlisted the help of my mechanics. Excuse the camera phone images, I didn’t have my camera with me for this.

Up on the hoist, draining the oil from the standard box. My mechanics allowed me to spend a Saturday removing everything using their tools and facilities. Sadly I couldn’t be there to assist with the modifications and re-fitting, as it was done during the week while I was at work.

Gearbox, tailshaft, and exhaust removed.

A very important part of the swap is making sure that the two locating dowels on the engine correspond to the gearbox, as they keep both items aligned with each other. This is the lower one and it lines up without modification. As you can see, the clutch and flywheel have also been removed, the reason will be explained soon.

This is the upper dowel and it does not line up.

This is why we removed the clutch and flywheel, so we could get to the engine plate.

When researching the swap, I learnt that the top two bolt holes do not line up, and neither does the upper dowel. By bolting the engine plate to the RB20 gearbox using all of the lower bolt holes (which do line up) it acts as a stencil and shows us to see exactly how much to modify these 3 holes.

Mid-way during modification. The two bolt holes can be slotted, but seeing as the dowel hole is so important to get aligned correctly it was TIG’d up and re-drilled in the exact required location.

RB on the left, and FJ on the right. Naturally an RB25 gearbox would have been stronger, but they are also larger which equals tunnel massaging. An RB20 box is more than enough for my application and driving style, I have a lot of mechanical sympathy and don’t thrash my cars. Notice how nice and clean the RB box is? If you’ve already ‘liked’ the Build Threads Facebook page you would have seen me post a picture when I degreased it (that isn’t exactly a glowing advertisement, I promise I post more interesting stuff than clean gearboxes haha).

Pile-o-parts

Sucks to roll hard? It certainly does. That right there is the calling card of many speedhumps around Victoria.

Almost everything bolted back up. The crossmember had to be modified a bit more than I anticipated. I had read numerous times that the gearbox-to-crossmember mounting points were only 25mm away from the original, however it proved to be a bit more than that. The crossmember bolted to the floor using the existing holes.

The tailshaft originally had a dust cover, since the FJ box didn’t have one. But as the RB box has it’s own cover, one of them had to go, so we trimmed the cover off the tailshaft.

Now that I had a more modern gearbox, I had my pick from a large range of gearknobs. I settled on this white no-nonsense nylon item, but had to use a cheap generic one for a couple of weeks while I waited for it to be delivered. Once fitted, the difference was night and day, definitely the icing on the cake.

I’m very happy with the swap, I can make full use of the gears now and change smoothly at higher revs, the car is much more fun and easier to drive. The new gearbox makes a fair bit more noise than my original one which is a bit disappointing, but that’s the risk you take when buying something with moving parts that you can’t test first. Next on my list is to buy new bushes for the shifter and maybe replace the rubber in the mount.

So to conclude, here is a wrap-up of what was and wasn’t required to complete the swap.

Slot top two bolt holes, fill and re-drill top dowel hole.
Modify crossmember where it bolts to the gearbox.
Remove/cut dust cover from tailshaft.
Tailshaft did not have to be shortened or lengthened.
Speedometer drive did not have to be modified.
Existing clutch and flywheel were able to be re-used.
Very light trimming of shifter hole in floor.
No body/tunnel modifications.

Spriso Motorsports are truly living the Datsun life, now being in the game for over 10 years churning out nostalgic drop-top rides with modern Nissan running gear. Leigh, the man behind the Spriso website, emailed me to let me know that the team have documented 7 of their Datsun Roadster builds online. I love companies who take the time to do this sort of thing, it’s one thing for an individual to do it on a forum, but when a company does it, you know they go straight into our good-books. Check the links below to see more…

.

1. 1964 Datsun 1500

CLICK HERE to see more.

.

2. 1966 Datsun 1600

CLICK HERE to see more.

.

3. 1967 Datsun 1600

CLICK HERE to see more.

.

4. 1968 Datsun 2000

CLICK HERE to see more.

.

5. 1969 Datsun 2000

CLICK HERE to see more.

.

6. 1969 Datsun 2000 + 510

CLICK HERE to see more.

.

7. 1970 Datsun 1600

CLICK HERE to see more.

.

Here is my second and final guest-post for Speedhunters in 2011. You can read the actual story by clicking here. As usual, I like to post it on my own blog as well for archiving.

There are some teaser shots of new upcoming builds to be featured in 2011, so make sure you stay tuned for those, regular programming will commence soon. I apologise for the lack of content but the guest-posts take a decent amount of time to put together.

While discussing possible ideas for my 2011 contributions to Build Month, Charles proposed that I could piece together a post highlighting the ‘Best Builds of 2010′, so I’ve been digging through my archives and statistics to find which builds drew the most attention in the year just past. I’ve also included a few teasers of some upcoming content for 2011 as a little treat that you’ll find after the jump. On with the show…

First up we have the hybrid creation known as the Volksrod (or Lexibug) , which earns it’s moniker from the combination of a hot-rodded Volkswagen Beetle receiving it’s driving force from a Lexus V8 powerplant.

The project started out with a regular Beetle shell in a very bare state, but condition wasn’t an important factor since some serious cutting was soon to be in order to give it that hot rod look.

A custom RHS chassis was built from scratch for the shell to sit on, with raised sections at the each end to get the body sitting nice and low, just the way we like it.

Back to the shell, it was time for the modifications to begin, with the main focal points being the severely chopped roof and lack of any metalwork forward of the A-pillars. Notice all the metal rods tacked inside the shell, this provides bracing and ensures the body doesn’t tweak when the roof is temporarily removed.

With the body sitting atop the chassis and some fat wheels bolted on, the vision of the project starts to take shape. The icing on the cake is the rare oval rear window section that was grafted on.

If you prefer fabrication to body mods, then check out these elaborate mounts that were conjured up to mount the body to the chassis. There are many more trick mods like this in the full build thread, so click here to read up on it.

Another popular build from 2010 was also a mix-&-match project, Bob’s MX520, a Datsun 520 pickup with an NA MX5 engine/gearbox/suspension package swapped in. Starting with a stock 520, the driveline was removed to make room for the Mazda replacements.

Instead of simply making some custom engine mounts to hold the new engine in place, the whole front crossmember was modified to fit under the Datsun, including the struts, suspension arms and hubs. Parts of the Mazda firewall and floorpan were even welded in.

It’s a similar story for the back end, where more custom work was undertaken to house the complete rear crossmember from the donor Miata.

After a lot of measuring, cutting, and welding, you end up with a Datsun 520 with an MX5 engine, gearbox, diff, steering and suspension.

With everything bolted in and wired up, the MX520 was ready to hit the track and surprise many unsuspecting people.

Once the car proved itself mechanically, it was taken back off the road to receive a fresh lick of paint, giving the outside a finish to match the awesomeness of what’s hiding underneath. To read the complete story of how this pickup was built (and see some burnout videos!), click here.

This next build earned it’s spot on the radar due to it’s peculiar engine swap. The last few years have seen a massive surge in Chevrolet V8s being swapped into many different platforms, one of those being Mazda RX7s, so to see someone doing the exact opposite caught a lot of peoples attention.

That’s right, a Chevy Nova was the recipient of the Mazda 13B turbo rotary engine you see above. Even if you don’t agree with the swap, you have to love the irony and individuality.

Even though the small size of the 13B might make things seem easy in the engine bay, there’s still plenty of custom one-off work that needs doing, such as engine mounts, intake plumbing, intercooler placement, oil pan, exhaust manifold and countless other items.

The above image highlights two key elements of the car, one being the striking Lotus Exige orange hue, and the other being the extreme lengths the owner went to lighten the car, the aim being 2700lbs.

How do you like them welds?

One thing I’ve come to notice about peoples reactions to various projects is that if the build follows a well trodden path, you hear complaints about it being like every other car. Or, if it’s something out of the ordinary they might question the builders motives and say “Why didn’t they just buy X-car in the first place?”. Personally I think unorthodox projects like these are awesome, we need more people out there willing to do something completely different, regardless of the outcome, just for the sake of building something that no one else has. If you share my views then you should click here to read about this one-of-a-kind Nova in full detail.

The most popular build of 2010, by a long shot, wasn’t even a car, it was a garage, and there’s a pretty good chance you’re already familiar with it. Once the Garage Condo was featured, the hits just kept piling up, and news of the project spread like wild fire. You can understand why, since a decked out space like this is probably every car lovers dream dwelling.

Like any building, things had to start off with a plan. Keen eyes will notice the upper level blueprint to the right of the image.

From plan to reality, you can see the internal structure starting to take shape, with plenty of insulation stuffed into the walls for those cold winter months.

With some plaster on the walls, the overall look, feel and scale of the garage started to come together. The area under the mezzanine is where the tool cabinets will call home.

What kind of ultimate man cave would be complete without a gaming rig? The warm flooring on the upper level gives off a homely feel, a stark contrast to the utilitarian concrete in the working area downstairs.

The completed garage is nothing short of amazing, and with the owner building a Factory Five Cobra in there, you can take solace knowing it’s being put to good use. To get the full lowdown on the build of both the garage and the Cobra, click click here.

So now that we’re up to speed, who’s interested in what’s coming this year?…

You’ll find these projects, and many more, on Build-Threads throughout 2011. Many thanks again go out to the Speedhunters team for allowing me the privilege of guest-posting for the second year in a row.

Keep wrenching!

Anthony Crivelli
Build-Threads.com

I’m pretty sure that the majority of you who read this blog also read Speedhunters. If that’s the case, you no doubt would have seen that I recently contributed to Build Month. This is the second year in a row that I have been asked to guest post, and I am very grateful to be able to do so. I like to re-post my contributions on my own blog, mainly for archiving purposes, so here is the first one for 2011. You can read the post on Speedhunters here.

Around this time last year I was lucky enough to contribute to build month right here on Speedhunters, and I’m happy to say I’ve been asked back again for 2011. I thought it would be a nice idea to see how far along the 4 projects I featured back then have progressed in the last 12 months.

First up we have the Kaiser Drag’n Build, which was sitting patiently in the shop of Gene Winfield when we last saw it.

Since then, the long and sleek sled has had it’s body massaged…

…it’s chrome has been brought back to life…

…and finally, a striking fade paint job has been applied to it’s flowing panels by none other than Mr Winfield himself.

The cars owner, Keith, has been there every step of the way, investing much of his own blood sweat and tears into the build.

And it’s more than worth it. Honestly, when’s the last time you saw paint like this? To get up to date with the progress this amazing Kaiser, including lights, trims, and engine work, click here to head over to the full build thread.

The second feature had a bit more of an import flavour, as the car in the spotlight was being fitted with an F20C. The Sunbeam Minx isn’t a car we regularly see modified, but Mike certainly didn’t back down from the challenge.

At the time of writing last year, the car had it’s new heart sitting in a very modified engine bay, complete with inner arches sculpted in from the donor S2000. Since then, even more fabrication goodness has been bestowed upon this unassuming beast…

…from the steering rack mount…

…to the tubular front control arms…

…to some upcoming surgery to house the S2000 upper rear suspension mounts. I’d love to be the guy who takes care of Mike’s welding gas account. To see what else is in store for the Minx, click here to read the build thread.

Probably the most attention-grabbing guest-post I did was that of Liam’s tube framed Hyundai Excel sports sedan (link:http://speedhunters.com/archive/2010/03/18/guest-blog-anthony-crivelli-build-threads-com-hyundai-excel-sports-sedan.aspx), and it’s not hard to see why.

Just after the build was featured on Speedhunters, work continued on the mould for the fiberglass front clip.

The front and rear suspension setup was slightly tweaked, now using Penske dampers and blade adjustable swaybars.

Sitting next to a regular road-going Excel, the difference in height and width is immediately apparent.

The wheels of choice have changed from Enkei RPF-1s to new 3-piece centerlock items.

Not only have the wheels changed, but so has something else…or has it? You’ll have to read the full build thread to find out.

Lastly, we get to my final guest-post from 2010, the one about my own pride and joy. I wish I had a long list of mods that have taken place in the last 12 months to fill you guys in on, but sadly that isn’t the case. Apart from a rear bumper that has been stuck at the re-chromers for over 10 months, the only other item of significance to be amended on the car was some maintenance items including new caster rod bushes, an idler arm bush, and a steering box rebuild.

That’s not to say I haven’t been stocking up on some parts for future work. A handy little collection is starting to pile up. There’s a front mount intercooler, an electric water pump, a modified & high-temp coated intake manifold/plenum, a full set of classic Smiths gauges (thank you eBay), another pair of 7″ Ewing III’s, an RB20DET gearbox, and some 250lb front springs. So why haven’t they been fitted yet?…

…Because I’m too busy driving the damn thing.

I hope this post has brought you up to speed on some diverse projects, and for those of you who have never seen them before, you now have a heap of reading material to get through.

Anthony Crivelli
Build-Threads.com

I’m trying to get through some of my oldest submissions that I’ve been holding onto for way too long, and one of them is from Duke, a fellow 510 owner whose build you can check out here). You know I’m never going to hesitate to feature a Datsun build, so when he kindly submitted one of such a high caliber, it was definitely going up on the site.

Quick specs: ’72 Datsun 510 4-door built for race/rally duties, packing a dry-sump equipped 260hp SR20DE with individual throttle bodies. More info after the jump…

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIgnetRTmB0

CLICK HERE to visit the full build thread. The majority of the build gets done by page 1, but there are plenty more sweet mods on the next few pages.

.

A highly desirable car built to only the highest of standards, this 240Z has had no expense spared during its reincarnation. Chesse submitted this build while the car was still in it’s assembly stage, but now it’s completely finished so we can enjoy the full journey of the cars restoration.

What, pictures and text not enough for you? Well if your pockets are deep enough, the car can be yours for the sum of $125,000. Yeah, I think I’ll have to stick to the pictures too!

CLICK HERE for the build thread.

CLICK HERE for the sale thread.

.

I just saw this link get posted on Ratsun a moment ago and knew I had to tee it up for a feature. A Datsun 510/Bluebird coupe gets the full drag treatment over in Japan, with a tube frame chassis, massive slicks taking up the whole rear end, and a potent straight 6 L-series finished off with some amazing titanium headers. It’s interesting to see the engine choice after fabricating such an elaborate chassis. In western countries a big V8 or a turbocharged 4cyl/6cyl would have been a no-brainer choice, but in this case the Japanese builders have stuck with N/A straight 6 power.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0B5_Q_3F-8

CLICK HERE for a full pictorial of the build, text is in Japanese, page numbers are located at the bottom of the page.

.

Remember the Crazy Octopus FC RX7 from a few years ago? Well he’s back, and this time armed with an S30Z, providing us with a very productive build with some sharp photography to go with it.

Shout-out to **** from Jtype for submitting this one.

Blog: http://crazyoctopi.blogspot.com
Build Thread: http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=readersrides&action=display&thread=73685

.

Many aspects of the car scene are subjective, whether it be the style you choose to modify in, the brand of car you desire, or the purpose you use it for. One thing that can’t be argued about is the bond between a man and his car, and how hard it is to break. Jon drove a Datsun 610 that was the recipient of an unfortunate T-bone accident, but he didn’t give up and chose to re-shell his pride and joy in the driveway, one piece at a time.

Build Thread: http://community.ratsun.net/topic/3434-610-street-demon-resurection/

.