Gotta get some history out of the way...
My first 510 exposure was retro-fitting a VG30DE into Dave & Sara Lum's Dime (1999-ish). Went for a ride in Gary Savage's VG30ET car (aka Strutless Wonder). Later, Dave convinced me to add a pair of turbo's to his 510, netting a tick under 400hp @ 2500lbs. Somewhere in the mix, took a spin in Kelvin Dietz breathtakingly clean VG30E powered car... A/C, power windows, et all.
It would be an understatement to suggest I had no clue what a stock 510 was like. I decided to find out.
I latched on to this '72 two door at the Canby Datsun meet in May, 2005 with 119K original miles. No test drive, just a verbal agreement...
Purchased from Jason & Katie Waalkes, who purchased it from Chris Vonderchek (sp?). Originally an automatic car, converted to a dogleg 5-speed, Electronic ignition, dual carbs and a mild cam. This L16 positioned itself squarely on my list of slowest cars ever driven. I was expecting anemic when I picked it up. I was still shocked (or spoiled)
I drove it almost daily, as shown, for probably 60K miles, occasionally trading with my wife. It didn't take long to decided the stock springs were horrid. A set of ST springs were swapped in within a few months. Eventually, Bart began needing 'stuff'. So, about a year ago, I freshened up the suspension with new ball joints/bushings/shocks, along with 280zx front struts and vented brakes. MUCH improvement. Still bloody tired though.
Well, thats enough for one night. I'll sign off with a couple pics of Lum's TT Dime...
"Bart" & "Red"...