| Reader's Dimes : Brendan Parrott | |||
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My friend Mike and I found this car in early '96. While driving through a neighborhood, we saw it parked on the street. It was completely stock with the original light green paint. It was so immaculate, we knew it must be "grandma's car". Mike had been looking for a 510, so I encouraged him to knock on the door and ask if they would sell. He declined to do it then, but said he would return. My friend called me six months later: "I bought the 510!" It turned out that is WAS grandma's car and it had only 68,000 miles on it. She was living in Arizona and was too old to take care of herself, so her family brought her to Oregon. Unfortunately, Grandma gave the 510 to her sixteen year old grandson. Argh! He had it only a short while before he was rear-ended. The damage wasn't serious, but fortunately he gave up and decided to sell it. Mike found the car for sale and bought it. Mike manages West Beaverton Body & Paint in Beaverton, Oregon, so the first task was the repair of the rear panel. Since the damage was minor, he was able to repair it without body filler. He spent the next three months block sanding the body in preparation for the paint. A Dobi spoiler was installed and the side marker lights were filled. He shot it with silver polyurethane, and replaced all the rubber seals and the headliner. It was time for him to bring the car back home, but he first wanted to replace the stock wheels. I placed an ad on the 510 web page and managed to locate a brand new pair of 13"x7" American Racing Libres for it. For tires, he opted for 185-55-13 Comp T/A's. The car looked absolutely beautiful sitting in his garage, but it still needed new running gear, a suspension and a new interior. Mike does a great job of making his cars look good, but he the 510?" I had a nice 510, but it had been an Oregon car its whole life. In other words, it had rust. I had also painted it white for a reason. However, it did have new drivetrain, interior and suspension. The two 510's were parked side by side in the garage, and I began making plans to combine the best of both vehicles. The car now has a balanced and blueprinted L-18 built by Dan Hall of Dan Hall's Six Point Automotive in Portland. It has a turbo ZX oil pump, Nismo oil pump/distributor gears and an A87 closed-chamber head that's been port-matched to the SSS intake. I use a .450" lift, 252 degree duration "Rally" cam which allows me to use a stock valvetrain. A SSS exhaust manifold connects to 2.25" pipe and a Walker Dynamax muffler. A Crane/Allison electronic ignition conversion kit is installed in the single point distributor. A Rabbit radiator and two Permacool pusher fans keep it cool. The battery is relocated to the trunk with a Taylor aluminum sealed box. A Carter rotary-vane fuel pump is mounted below the rear seat, and a Holley pressure regulator keeps the SU's happy. The engine is mated to a 200SX 5-speed. The front suspension is completely rebuilt. I'm using 2nd-generation 200SX strut assemblies with ST springs and bumpsteer spacers. I should note that the ST springs are for a '71 510 with the 11.5" front struts. These are the shortest springs available. While dragging the strut assemblies out of the wrecking yard, I passed a '77 280Z with new calipers. "Hmmm." Sure enough, they bolted on AND cleared the Libres. A 280Z master cylinder is used. The 1" front swaybar and 3/4" rear bar are made by ADDCO. Although it's not shown in the picture, I am using a Froula Motorsports strut brace. The seats are from a '89 Corolla FX-16. (No, these are not "bolt-in" seats, folks!) It also has a factory tachometer, map light, Grant GT wheel and Autometer gauges. I installed new carpet and padding, but first I removed all of the factory insulation from the floors and replaced all the rubber drain plugs. This car is rust free and I'll put up with more noise in order to keep it that way. Future plans include a rollbar and a custom wiring harness. The rear suspension will be modified when I install the rear disc brakes. A bigger engine may be in the future, but for the moment I'm very happy with the L-18. Sure, I won't win drag races with the big iron, but I'm not drag racing. Besides, it sounds so good above 3500 rpm that I never turn on the stereo. On that subject, anyone want to trade a nice Jensen stereo for a factory blanking plate? :^) |
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Reader's Dime is a collection of 510's built, driven, and submitted by you, our
readers. All submissions should include background information on your dime, including modifications, and credit for the people who did the work. Send all
submissions to:
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