DATSANITI - 1980 Datsun 210 Wagon VQ35 Swap - $2018 Challenge

I have finally unpacked and re-organized enough to where I think I can work on an actual car! The new garage is smaller, darker, and lower-powered than my old one. It's an old 2-car garage with an inconvenient wall between the two spaces. But it's a rental, so the most I can do is tap into the 220V wires for a welder outlet and hang some LED lights. 

By the way here's some moving progress. My trusty first car (truck? cruck?) towed Datsaniti 500 miles in the southern summer heat. The trip was probably harder on the driver than the Camino.

MaschinenBride was in the chase-minivan. After 7 miles of 45 MPH up the Monteagle pass on I-64, we stopped for "all downhill from here" tacos.

And here's my new work space. We now live in a big city, just a few miles from downtown, so space is tight. Due to this new urban environment, my cat is now an "indoor cat" and my Datsun is now an "outdoor car". I miss my old shop really bad right now. But this was the right move for us, I guess. 

Before the move, I had to scrap anything I absolutely did not need for these three cars. That meant I threw away a lot of potential re-coup parts. But it also means I have enough space to start working on cars again. It's been what...3 weeks?? I'm going crazy from withdrawal. 

So now I have to plan worknights around the rain, which is does a lot in Atlanta. I built these two work benches last weekend. One for general purpose, one for metal work with all the outlets on it. 220V source is on the El Camino side of the garage, so I bought a welding extension cord. I could also use some large portable work lights since the rental driveway is pretty dim at night. But overall I think I can get to the Challenge in two months. Honestly there's not much left if going for the bare minimum "runs drives stops". Off the top of my head:

• Fuel tank and fuel lines
• Brake lines
• Wiring
• Battery mount
• Finish the bodywork
• Rattle can or wrap with something
• Put the interior back in (or some of it)

Sorry for the intermission, but sometimes you need to make compromises in life. Losing my beloved car barn is hard, but hey at least I'm 8 hours closer to the Challenge.

goddamn man, in two pix you managed to get fireworks + waffle house + el camino doing truck stuff + box flares + hottie who appears to be down with the struggle + gasoline 60c/gal cheaper than what i pay + 68-72 C10.  you berkeleying win all internets today.

Good on you getting back up to speed as much as you can(220/lighting). Are these digs somewhat temporary in the bigger picture? 

AngryCorvair said:

goddamn man, in two pix you managed to get fireworks + waffle house + el camino doing truck stuff + box flares + hottie who appears to be down with the struggle + gasoline 60c/gal cheaper than what i pay + 68-72 C10.  you berkeleying win all internets today.

I didn’t realize anything was in that picture except an El Camino.  I don’t know what your priorities are, but they are not mine

Patrick said:

AngryCorvair said:

goddamn man, in two pix you managed to get fireworks + waffle house + el camino doing truck stuff + box flares + hottie who appears to be down with the struggle + gasoline 60c/gal cheaper than what i pay + 68-72 C10.  you berkeleying win all internets today.

I didn’t realize anything was in that picture except an El Camino.  I don’t know what your priorities are, but they are not mine

if i had to list those observations in order of priority to me, most important first, it would go:

1. waffle house
2. hottie
3. el camino
4. gasoline
5. C10
6. box flares
7. fireworks

I'll be honest, mainly because she doesn't read this forum, but I didn't know my wife was in that photo until after I uploaded it on to my computer. It's just such a good shot of my El Camino and I'm still not done staring at that car after 14 years.

maschinenbau said:

 I'll be on my death bed someday and still not done staring at that car

the elky love is strong here

Dude! You’re alive! 

You sounded awfully blasé about moving everything you own several states away in an extremely quick turnaround time! 

I’m blown away how you managed all of it, you should be too! 

What others don’t realize is the amount of stuff you had in your shop, not just for a mechanic but your wife’s pottery business, massive kilns etc - amazing.

Your new garage looks lovely too, don’t be down about the “downgrade” as you put it, most gearheads would lust after a space that size. 

I’m excited for you and your new adventure. Keep up your good work mate!

In reply to maschinenbau :

I am totally with you. 

I had every guy’s dream shop. Now, I’ve got 2 storage containers I can’t get into. 

The big picture is the purge will be good for me, but right now it hurts. 

I gave up a 2 1/2 car garage too move into one that barely holds my car and tools so I feel your pain. Might be the first time in my adult life I've seen an el Camino being used too tow!

Atl, home of the massive Caffeine and Octane monthly car show.  I keep meaning to make it up there for that, but never do 

Thanks guys, I'm just having a hard time with the move and job change, emotionally and otherwise. I know Atlanta (my home) will be good in the long run, but that's pretty hard to see right now. 

Moving and Changing Jobs are two of the biggest stressors people go through.  Take some time to settle in, your sanity needs it.

(THEN get back on this awesome ride!)

SkinnyG said:

  Take some time to settle in, your sanity needs it.

But my Datsaniti needs my time! Some of which I finally had free today. So I built a radiator bracket. The bumper will also mount to this piece.

From this angle you can see how angled the radiator is, allowing some generic 12" electric fans to fit between it and the pulleys. The sway bar and engine cross-member are the lowest points by about 1 inch.

Bumper brackets!

Those threaded clips are original to the bumper. They're really handy for attaching things.

Bonus: Rice Rod in the background!

Clip nuts are the best! Well...almost as good as rivnuts. I'm surprised they're factory in this case.

Bumper brackets finished, along with the upper radiator brackets. 

Due to the radiator tilt angle, the original hose is not long enough. Might need some aluminum tube to extend it.

Then I started my CAD model of the gas tank. Haven't decided on steel or aluminum yet, but it should hold 10.7 gallons and use the G35's pump and sender module.

Uh oh, limited-slip diff acquired! This one is out of a manual trans 350Z, which means a higher gear ratio (3.5 vs my 3.3). Someone on craigslist was parting it out in their driveway and I took it home for $125, which is half what I was expecting to pay.

The clutches are so tight I thought it was spooled at first, but I was able to get some relative motion between axles using a pry bar. 

Score!!!!

Eleven-zees!!!

You actually used the step drill on your cardboard brackets????........berkin' awesome!!!! 

Hey, how soon before vroom vroom noises ......the wagon not you? 

I'm still a custom gas tank away...but the wiring should be pretty straight forward since I have the entire G35 harness. So just wires and fuel. 

maschinenbau said:

I'm still a custom gas tank away...but the wiring should be pretty straight forward since I have the entire G35 harness. So just wires and fuel. 

what have ye material wise on hand for said endeavor.......whatever's cheapest eh?

Tank will be 20 gauge steel. Since moving, I no longer have a good source for aluminum sheet. But I brought a 4'x4' piece of 20g steel with me, so that's what I'll use. 

I finished mounting the brake master cylinder. I cut and ground the head off a 3/8-24 bolt and used a threaded clevis for the pedal push rod. I had to drill the Datsun pedal clevis hole a little larger to accommodate this generic clevis pin.

I extended the lower radiator hose using a short piece of aluminum tube from Amazon and a random piece of hose from the parts bin. I'll have to get a FMV on that later.

Radiator fans are also mounted. Just some cheap generic Amazon 12" fans.

I started playing with wires, and it looks a lot easier now that I laid it all out. I salvaged the entire Infiniti G35 engine and body harnesses. The idea is to plug in everything I have, like cluster, ECM, ignition switch, e-pedal, etc and hopefully everything else is just unnecessary stuff. I even still have an OBDII port, which will be useful once it's running. But I will have to re-locate the battery, because the engine bay is full!

All the relays and fuses should fit in this corner, just like on the G35.

That computer hanging off this fender is the ABS module. I may need help deciding whether to keep ABS or not. It will only cost me about 15 to 20 lbs. I have also read online that the speedometer will not work without it, because the cluster gets speed single from wheel speed sensors through the ABS module.

Easy to get distracted with this beauty in the driveway after a wash

Ahhh the pause that refreshes......

IMO if the ABS doesn't go into ice mode during auto-x/track driving I'd rather have 15lbs of weight vs flat spotted tires every time I run out of talent.