Budget Motoring Five and Dime

From the driving a work in progress department comes this 1973 Datsun 510. Dan Carney woke up the coupe from a longish and stationary nap. Over the course of a year he’s enjoyed his lot as builder and test pilot of this poor man’s BMW. On the way to roadworthy Dan stepped up the mechanicals beyond the usual resurrection process of swapping out rotten hydraulic hoses and spongy fuel lines. The suspension underneath the green road patina employs the finest in junkyard engineering and swap meet scores to keep the car on corner line and give it the right stance. The slot mags? All that is known of the mystery brand of 14-inch aluminum magnesium alloy hoops is that they came with the 510 by way of a Datsun Z-car.
Dan’s Datsun was sold to him already equipped with the 1600cc engine that currently huffs air and fuel into the cylinders through a Weber 32/36 carburetor. Once the powerplant was making power again, Dan converted a pair of boneyard Nissan 280SX struts into adjustable coilovers, and swapped them in along with some other trick front suspension bits. Eventually Dan wants to swap in a fuel injected but still naturally aspirated twin-cam Nissan SR20 engine and five-speed transmission. More secret weapons in the battle for stylish and entertaining budget motoring include a limited-slip rear differential from a Subaru for improved rear wheel traction from the independent rear suspension. Building and driving a car at the same time isn’t the easiest way to go about the process, but it’s certainly the most fun. Just ask Dan.

Disclaimer: The Clunkbucket editorial and photography staff is easily influenced by slot mags.