1970 Datsun 510 - Jay Leno’s Garage

this is what I will discard to do right yeah you us feel like you're in Tokyo Drift or something when you drive well another episode of Jay Leno's Garage the car featuring today a 1970 Datsun 510 you know I was you're from my generation the cool hot rod when you're in high school we've been like a 32 Ford or something like that but if you're a millennial it's probably one of these these are just the coolest thing they're light they're fast they're ultimately rebuildable I mean they're really cool and for the longest time you can get them first practically next to nothing I've become quite valuable now so I always like when I go to a car show and I'll see something like this and I saw the owner and I approached him and I just liked it because it's not one of those money is no object builds it's one of those this is how much money I got this is what I'm gonna build and I think it's really cool he did a nice job Jonathan lesner Jonathan come on in here good to see you hey Jay thank you for having me yeah yeah this really stood out we went to a car show at the Petersen museum and I walked over and that's what's fun about having a show like this say hey I'd like to feature this in my show you want to do it no okay so you come over and so tell us how long have you had the car so I acquired the car in December of 2015 okay so it's been a little over three years it was basically a barnyard fine if I showed you a picture of how the car was when I actually purchased it you would probably be a little bit shocked oh so it was but it wasn't a hot rod I was just an old it wasn't it wasn't a hot rod I found it on a gentleman's property it went to paint and body to have the paint and body done when I noticed it it only had the engine bay done so the engine bay was shaved painted and the motor was in there for some reason to be honest with you I honestly never thought I would like a khaki colored car but I actually love how it turned out especially with the black accents with the flares and everything I talk about my generation secondhand cars were 57 Chevys or if you're really cool a 32 Ford although those were getting expensive by the time I was old enough to drive for you was this the car or you just happened to see this one and that was it growing up as a kid I always wanted a Datsun five okay and when I started looking I couldn't afford it because I was a young kid so I basically started saving money I actually have a decent job now so save money and in the three and a half plus years my good friend Joe mikus and I built the car it actually just came down the night before I met you at the Petersen Carolla podcast right right now did you get your garage his garage or where so the paint was done in somebody else's garage I know that but we basically put everything together and on it in either his garage or my garage but mostly his well that's what's fun because we get a lot of cars here that are Lamborghinis and bug on ease and all these you know money no object buildings and this is fun to see something fair to say done on a budget or a reasonable budget well III went way over what you gotta go way over it it happens it's it's you know this is my passion yeah I come honestly I come from the Honda world right so I had a Japanese front-end Integra 2001 years ago that's why you'll see kind of different more like Honda things associated with this car and I kind of tried to do the JDM style right on the vehicle so well no it's it's very cool thank you three shot let's tell us about the engine in stock it's a swap it's a ka24e so it's the single cam ka 24 out of the 89 to 91 240sx okay so it's fuel-injected I have it basically runs on a computer which is under the passenger seat and what kind of horsepower you make it's stock so I would say maybe you know they rate them at like 145 150 at the crank so but you know a fair amount more than the stock l16 right okay okay and it's probably lighter than the vehicle came out of it I still want to weigh it I haven't weighed it yet but I'm guessing I'm guessing it sub 2,000 pounds as a kiss-up 2,000 pound I you I would guess because there's not much to it there's literally just the carpet the roll bar and two seats you want to take your next doorway it yeah all right let's see and what do you say well the seat gets close to what do you say the way it is 1984 1984 so anything over that and you lose I bust and you keep the cars I know yeah let that work sir I'm sorry no such thing as a free lunch okay we're guessing 1984 yeah I'm guessing 2195 2195 okay and we'll see who is closest and gets to keep the car well let's open the hood let's take a look at the motor sure or the engine you know every time I say motor better or motors and look to you an idiot but it's just force a habit okay well nice installation look at that I always like these braces I always get a kick out of those yeah it really this cars pretty rigid I honestly never built it for show right I built it for myself yeah exactly and I built it to drive the you know what out of it right so it's the stock ka24e as of right now eventually I will you know I would like to do a motor swap with either an SR or a ka24de with turbo and you got the aluminum or aftermarket radio that aftermarket radiator I was told by the guy that sold me the car it's from a Miata so that was modified to fit in here and it's not too thick well yeah see make mistake put a radiator in that's too thick in the air Camp move through fast enough they wonder why is my car overheating I got this giant radiator well it's cause the yard can't get through it quick enough you don't have much room between the radiator and the motor on this ka swap so what we had to do is use a puller fan right so I had SP al kind of work with me to figure out which one would put the most CFM in in order to keep the motor cool enough to run damn which brake and clutch masta similar setup is so the clutch is out of a 240 and the brake master cylinder is will would because I have all four Wilwood disc brakes yeah well we like them we always do yeah yeah you know we always call these Monte Carlo bars because the first time I ever saw one was on a Ford Falcon and norcold of the Monte Carlo because they raised the mightycall around right so then in the comment section people always get serious I just do that and my favorite thing and I love these more than anything I love these Japanese mirrors mounted up front my Lamborghini Miura when I first got it had a set of these and it went to a paint shop and the painter lost them okay anyway so I never found me but I always liked them up here because it gives you a much better field of vision they're nice but it takes a minute to get used to yeah I'm still trying to find my way a little bit yeah especially backing up and yeah it's hard to get out after Justin go back sit down again I think about you exactly oh yeah sure what wheels are these well those not on it when I saw it so they had I hate to say it but they had fake Watanabe on their weapon of it no one likes fake wheels my good friend Chuck at showstoppers USA in Burbank hooked me up with his friend Alan who basically had these sitting around oh okay they were just sitting in the back of his garage I went after work and headed to Valencia so you told him everything he broke I broke into the shop on a Sunday in stolen yeah I actually just put these on yesterday oh and test fitted them I'm actually surprised it's a 225 45 15 mm hmm but it actually clears the front yeah so before with the fake wheels they were 195 50s which I'm not a super fan of that stretch look I'm more about putting more wheel or more tire on to the ground now do you have to cut the fender away or just put these so the metal work from the fender was cut away a little bit and folded up and then the the bodywork guy and the paint guy did that okay and this is like a matte finish isn't it's a matte finish yeah it's a matte finish I was told basically there's there's unfortunately no clear coat on it yeah so I need to be very careful with that I wasn't super excited when I found out there wasn't a clear coat on it and you've got obviously a nice roll cage in there very smart and that's probably 100 pounds probably this just says as standard auto power roll bar but I got what's called the optional bar that goes from this side top down to there so it's just it's just an extra part of rigidity further okay rear seat is out all that sound everybody oh and rear seats out I have the deck lid and the back part which is made by techno toy tuning they make these really nice aluminum pieces and there and a wrinkled black they powder coat of same with all the other panels I'm glad you didn't body painted bumpers I like the chrome bumpers I like that period look I like the chrome bumpers too and I honestly wanted to use OEM bumpers but the cost of chrome is absolutely insane it is crazy so I went with the fudo fab ones and I think they look great what these in that chrome what is it this it's chrome bellies it's a repop of yeah we look and look inside the trunk absolutely absolutely I like to stock tail lights I like them to look like what it's supposed to look like yeah you're not gonna like it then cuz I actually have LED yeah that's a big you got a big battery in there I did the Optima battery it's just a basically a battery holder that I found on eBay actually and then I had a powder-coated black to just kind of go with the theme and then I have the again a techno toy tuning block off for my gas tank now can't you just use one of your phony wheels this man I can't why friends don't let friends rock fake wheels yeah but friends don't like the hook to go get their friends when they're stuck by the side of the road with no spare tire that's very true and in that case you just call triple-a alright but then you still then you got a flatbed then you're still stuck I know you you have to unfortunately I do I would throw the fake wheel in there and then cover it with that our cover our cover I don't even know what's back there that's true let's get the weight I can win when I get my 2195 there you go what did these weigh brand-new do you know I think it was a little over 2,200 as a guest okay twenty-two twenty-three hundred all right yes so it's all it's all set up all wired that is actually a piece that came from a gentleman in Australia he actually custom hand makes those center consoles for the gauge pod right and then my good friend Joe Mikus who helped me build the car put the switches in on the bottom you know it's so funny now from my hair he always went with a shorter gearshift lever because you did shift quicker why do you like the longer one I like it being closer to the steering wheel especially for like you know I will Auto cross and track this eventually right so it has a B mm short shifter and then an extender on it and then it has the toe my shift knobs so it's a little bit closer but the BM is super nice if you haven't felt a BM in a in a Datsun 510 they're really tight well in a few minutes you will you absolutely will and this is a 5-speed correct this is a 5 speed with the ka24e and then the Recaros are old-school Recaros they're called Harriers and they're the Recaro gradation I actually found these by chance in Thailand and had them imported over here how do you find them in Thailand you're walking around Thailand I have friends that use social media a lot hold and not cool so I don't use it my friend found it and I said please contact him and tell him to take my money ok so we have this stock steering rack stock steering because I'm steering wheel customs it's a Momo Monte Carlo steering wheel and stock gauge pack first tank and yes yeah a new gauge abilities everyone's here correct correct now do you have heaters to hook up where's all that taken out the heater it actually works so ok we actually just rebuilt it so it actually looks really nice and actually spits really hot air out I'm just trying to find out some of the heavier stuff still in there see if I can win this oh absolutely yeah absolutely all right well very cool let's uh bring it next door see what it weighs and find out if I'm driving my own brand new 5/10 alright let's lower it down on these wheel weights moment of truth okay Willie keep the car will I be the owner of a brand new 510 let's see what we got here total twenty two hundred and thirty pounds I'm very sorry yeah you wonder how I got all these cars knowledge how it's no no that's how it's done okay I'm like I hope you enjoy I like to eat but Jimmy there's just so many things that had wait you don't even think but because when they way with it's a factory there's no oil there's no gas you have a full tank in this a little over half little over half so figure what's guess six pounds of gallons pounds of cow okay so I mean you might it might be it's probably 200 to 2,000 but yeah okay all right well let's take a ride and we're both can't a little extra weight anyway so it's not a little bit more weight a little bomb or weights not gonna do it alright let's take a first event let's do it you know real-world cars you build yourself a lot of times more fun than just having some super car right because there's a pride in it you know every nut and bolt on it and with these like with the older motors it's so easy because it's not you know with like the newer motors and everything they put all that plastic around it right so you have to get you know you have to take off 20 bolts before you even get like to the part of the motor that you leg want to work on right which it's nice like it dresses up like your engine bay and everything but it doesn't you know I don't know it's it's an extra 20 volts or whatever that you need 2 years old yeah yeah this is what I build this car to do what cars are iconic the each generation right my generation was the 32 Ford and more recently the 57 Chevy yeah I don't think any young kids today really care about a 57 right they don't really have any connection right you don't have many miles on this build at all [Music] [Applause] he built the park he's got more miles on it the 90 yeah tell me why you chose those Japanese Mehra's I liked them because I just remember them from back in the day I'm really big into like the Japanese kind of JDM culture I eventually would love to go visit Japan it's on my bucket list but they're just very japanese-style and it was looks over function yeah in a way but now they're actually really growing on me and then I actually drove this car last weekend and then I put it back in my garage you know like what you were saying go around the corner twice put it back in the garage and I hopped in my Tacoma I have a like two-inch lifted to coma it was really weird actually yeah yeah but if you really once you start driving them they really you really start understanding them and then you see you know the progression of the cars next to you and you get a hang of like how the mirrors are working and everything like what to look for and this is the vehicle it's always going to be in progress and it's always going to have a finish I doubt it but I highly highly highly doubt it like what's the most desirable motor you want for this I really think like an sr20det but there's already a lot of those out there and I kind of like being different kind of leaning towards the ka24de so the dual overhead cam and then turbo back right and then get the extra point for half the leader almost and then you know put it back so so a guy named Mike Tony did the instant exhaust yeah it was actually the head contact parks were the the 90s and s Exodus so he did the exhaust and it's it's absolutely like look under de natal you know man man all stainless he did a really really nice job on it would you ever use any non-japanese pieces stairwell I don't mind like not used like just like you know the Wilwood brakes I'm a thing trying to get some really nice beetles like in my opinion he's the Carrows an agent I know because I'm in like this buttock crunching yeah interaction quite nice yeah these are from the 90s vendor the standard for carro SRP that they've been making tried to treat that safety laughing take up to 90 because to me the nineties the last Thursday yeah yeah I feel like it was just not that long ago that we were so when you want it Daisy to take this car oh I really doubt the yeah I don't think they would enjoy they'd be like that is this contraption once I part a little bit more I'll start doing likes autocross yeah the tractor - you always feel like you're in Tokyo Drift to supplement I haven't done it yet but my friend Joe has told me that it's pretty easy to slide the rear end now yeah yeah let's find out how many miles on this water when you put it in I don't know yeah because the person I bought the car off of basically took this motor out of the wagon that he went bought and then put it in this car and basically had the the engine bay completely done and just the motor in it I see why you like to get it up here it does fall readily to hand it's it's nice because if you're if you're holding the steering wheel and then it's it's not too far of a move for your hand to downshift really quickly encased will you know never do an automatic along as a manual shift manual manual you know I got a great book it was published in the 70s and 80s leave it to 90s about what it's a swappable among American cars uh-huh you know a Chevy transmission this will fit a Plymouth will fit of it and it was all ass I think it who makes it it's an it's an interchangeable parts you know would it be fun to have one for Japanese stuff yeah and European stuff as well break boost it would be a bad idea yeah yeah yeah it takes some pressure to stop them yes bring sing a minute to get used to it if you got a corn on your foot cowards with the entire thing yeah thanks it definitely takes a minute to get well Jonathan I want to thank you and Joe for bringing this by absolutely I like that never-ending project yes I like just kind of things that just continue to evolve and evolve and who knows maybe might see in four or five years you might have a whole different motor absolutely so it's but it's it's a lot of fun and it's a great car I mean this is the 57 Chevy of the colonial generation I mean it's really cool to watch it move that 20 years ahead to each car you know right cars or thought of much what they would do they're just nice palm computer cars and then they become like the cool hot rods though [Music]

Channel: Jay Leno's Garage

Views: 476,461

Rating: 4.9224377 out of 5

Keywords: Jay, Lenos, Garage, Datsun, Nissan, 510, 2400 engine, Dolby, restomod, japanese cars, fender flares, track car, Jay Leno, Jay Leno's Garage, car reviews, compares cars, classic cars, vintage cars, sports cars, super cars, cars, car gear, McLaren P1, Porsche 918 Spyder, Camaro Z28, jay leno garage, jay lenos garage, car collection, cnbc, episode, motorcycle, ford, corvette, tour, dodge, lexus

Id: iVwLxKSa1W4

Length: 22min 20sec (1340 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 07 2019