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Just sitting on pit row, the car looks ready to go. There's no question, all JP wants to do is take it onto the track! Pic by Jeff Beech.
Can't ask for anything more than your car flying through corners! Pic by Dave Thomas.The clutch is an Exedy Hyper Single kit paired with their lightweight flywheel. The shifter is a custom piece that was assembled from a suspension part from another Datsun, this time a classic roadster. JP’s dad has a collection of Datsun 1600 and 2000 roadsters and, if you are thinking what I am, it is that this sounds like material for another photo shoot! I will see about making that happen. You can guess that John Paul had some discussions with his Dad, a Datsun purist, about this Honda drivetrain swap.
This two door Datsun 510 is simply a cool car.Moving to the front of the engine bay, the car is cooled by a Griffin radiator that was built for a small block Chevy. It fits the 510 perfectly. There is an SPAL front mounted fan which is connected to the thermostat but also set up with a manual override switch. Eventually cooling will be enhanced by the addition of an oil cooler, but right now it is not in place nor is it needed during cool fall track days.
The engine bay is very clean and functional. The Griffin radiator, originally for a Chevrolet, fits the spot perfectly and provides great cooling for this track and street car.The exhaust header is original equipment that has been significantly modified in order to fit the Datsun’s engine bay. JP made the collector and built a 2.5” exhaust with mandrel bends. It has a Magnaflow resonator and a Magnaflow race series muffler to keep the decibels down to a reasonable level. When I asked JP about a sound system, his response was “S2000”. The only thing he wants to listen to while driving this car is the sound of the engine – and after a dozen years of waiting, planning, and a few years of hard work, what else could beat that sound?
As the car went down the private driveway I was astounded by the sound. Video doesn't do it justice, you've got to hear it in person. When it was wound up to 9 grand on a stretch of pavement, it was simply to die for!Looking in the engine bay you can see an intriguing intake setup. The filter behind the passenger side headlight is normal, the custom heat shield – while not found in every engine bay – is an awesome addition to ensure that cooler air is finding its way into the intake. I am sure that many are looking at the picture and wondering why household dryer tubing is being used and you are already taking bets on when it will fail. But look closer – as that is not dryer venting but Scat tubing that came out of a Daytona Prototype race car. You will also find it used all of the time in aviation. Adam Kube, one of JPs friends and a Datsun fanatic, helped create this setup. When JP first picked up this Datsun on his sixteenth birthday, rounding out the crew was his dad, Adam and Adam’s dad, Jeff.
I'm envious of the space and room around the engine in this bay. Maybe a V8 could have fit in!
