New Zealand Datsun Club

All the best, looks like it just needs moved back the 2 1/2 inches and it is all good. Can you not use the cross-member bolt holes further back on your 210 to move the 510 cross member back?

as above - or if you have to - bolt the rear two in and redrill the front to suit saves making new mounts etc

I could quite easily just move the engine back, but if I start drilling holes and moving cross members away from factory bolt in positions I'm going to start screwing around with the lower arm mounting points, and it's not the supposed bolt in engine conversion!

I'll try the 610 engine cross member first. Here's the one I'm looking at from the car we picked up this morning.



I'm looking at the rubber isolater mount that looks like it's bolted onto the mount as far back as it can go, and the mount looks like it's welded onto the cross member further back as well. The more I search online the more info points toward the 610 cross member, so lets hope this is the answer.

And this is underneath, if you can get you head around the angle of the photo. My bad! The intention is to mount my bottom arms in this fashion, off the back of the cross member, to keep the suspension geometry right... or some shit like that!

Today I tried to fit the 610 cross member. As I suspected the mounts do seem to be a little further back. I removed the 510 cross member and took as comparison photo.



Moving the engine back requires me to change sump, and oil pickup to suit, but for now I've just pulled the sump off. The 610 cross member bolted straight into the front set of chassis rail holes, and the engine sat back down on the mounts without an issue. The engine does sit back a bit further in the engine bay, there's enough room for a radiator with a front mounted fan maybe. My initial thought was that it hadn't come back far enough but it was closer than I thought.




25mm is the gap... I just have to find 1 more inch. The engine could go back another inch without running into firewall issues so maybe I haven't found the right combo of mount and cross members yet. Bolts straight in they said! lol

Tuesday has seen progress. I had a weird dream last night about a mates 4wd offroad truck and a telescopic driveshaft... This morning I figured out where to find 25mm.




I had forgotten that the driveshaft isn't fixed both ends... Might have been a lack of sleep, or maybe the kids distracted me. End result is the driveshaft fits, and I can move on to the next bit.



I have some lower arms from a 610, ball joints from 610, steering knuckles from a 610, and struts from a B310 so I'll bolt them up to check for fitment later on tonight. From what I've read it will work. After a quick eye up I can confirm that there's no way the B210 lower arms will work with the 610 crossmember without modification so I'm just not going there. Might have a look at a gearbox mount again now that I'm happy with engine/gearbox location while I'm there.

Nice work Gaz!

Hey thanks. It's starting to all come together. Got a dead line make... a date in October is the goal!

All the 610 parts seem to work with the B310 struts I had. I'll check the 610 caster rod arms tomorrow for length. Once I have all the suspension sorted I'll order some new ball joints, bushes, etc.



I need to think about some brakes, but can't go big because I need to run 13" wheels.

Are 210 and 610 tie rods the same size shank?
Looking good, great progress. Is there anyway you can move the engine back and inch?, would the gearbox cross member fit if you did? Are there alternative engine mount brackets?
This could improve the weight distribution also??

Yep the tie rods are the same shank size. The 610 ones are a little shorter but not so much so that I can't use them.



I'll need to find some tube to act as a spacer on the 610 tie rods to get the steel backing washer in the right position, other than that, I see no issue.

classicdat wrote:Is there anyway you can move the engine back and inch?, would the gearbox cross member fit if you did? Are there alternative engine mount brackets?
This could improve the weight distribution also??

Moving the engine back that inch would probably create more problems than it'll solve. The driveshaft needs to have some movement both in and out of the gearbox so it's actually in a really good spot now. The gearbox cross member might be closer but I still haven't found one that's even an almost bolt in item, so I can't confirm that now.

As for the weight distribution? As far back as possible is certainly preferable.

Big day today. I just have a few things to sort out and the conversion part is done!

First thing this morning it was time to deal to the front suspension mounts. (the tie rods and sway bar mounting points)



I unbolted everything, and got my grinder warmed up. After a little free hand drawing with a marker i just got into it. "Hold my beer bro... I got this"



Being a perfectionist my tolerances, of course, are minimal, but if it clears, it clears aye?



Once I had the front mounts bolted back to the car I bolted the 610 tie rods in with the spacers I cut to relocate the backing washer.



Once the tie rods were bolted back in, I bolted up my B310 struts with have been shortened (around 80mm) and fitted with R31 gas struts and put the wheels back on. I haven't tried these struts before but holy shit does it sit low... so low, that it's on the guards. I'm thinking that the hubs are wider, or the 610 lower arms are longer... I dunno, but shit it's looking good!



Because the car is sitting so low I have had to unbolt the sway bar. It's hitting the engine crossmember so I'll be thinking about that.

So what's left to do to complete the L series conversion? Gearbox cross member needs finding, or adapting. Correct steering link rod end things. Hydro clutch fitment. That's it I guess.

Once that's done it's just up to me to get the motor going. I'm pulling it back out for new water pump, oil pump, frost plugs, gaskets... etc and build an exhaust to cater for my headers.