WRONG ABOUT THE RADIATOR
July 30, 2007
by: jovial_cynic
by: jovial_cynic
It looks like I was wrong about the radiator... in more ways than one.
After my initial frustration at having the wrong radiator handy (although I did wonder why it was included in the list of 510 parts I own; I haven't pulled parts off of non-Datsun cars), I got onto eBay and looked around for a Pontiac Fiero radiator, and then decided to call the Pull-a-Part junkyard in Tacoma to see if they had any.
The lady on the phone at the junkyard listed off several years worth of Fieros, so I packed up the family and drove up through thick traffic, only to find that the lady completely misunderstood me. They had no Fieros, but plenty of other Pontiac cars. Frustrating. They did, however, have a gutted 72 Datsun 510 in the yard, and I pulled the slave cylinder hose off of it. The junkyard hose was longer than the one I have on my car, and my car's hose is being pulled rather tightly.
Anyhow, I went home and got back on eBay and bid $30 on a Fiero radiator on there, and then browsed around some radiator swap articles and discovered that the spare radiator I currently have is a VW Rabbit radiator, and it's actually a common swap for the 510. The only thing I need is a longer hose, since both the outlet and inlet port are on the same side (unlike the cross-flow radiators that come stock on the 510).
$30 is a fair price for the Fiero radiator, so if I win the bid, I'll just use that one; it'll be easier to install, and it has a cross-flow port. If I lose the bid, I'll use the VW radiator instead.
After my initial frustration at having the wrong radiator handy (although I did wonder why it was included in the list of 510 parts I own; I haven't pulled parts off of non-Datsun cars), I got onto eBay and looked around for a Pontiac Fiero radiator, and then decided to call the Pull-a-Part junkyard in Tacoma to see if they had any.
The lady on the phone at the junkyard listed off several years worth of Fieros, so I packed up the family and drove up through thick traffic, only to find that the lady completely misunderstood me. They had no Fieros, but plenty of other Pontiac cars. Frustrating. They did, however, have a gutted 72 Datsun 510 in the yard, and I pulled the slave cylinder hose off of it. The junkyard hose was longer than the one I have on my car, and my car's hose is being pulled rather tightly.
Anyhow, I went home and got back on eBay and bid $30 on a Fiero radiator on there, and then browsed around some radiator swap articles and discovered that the spare radiator I currently have is a VW Rabbit radiator, and it's actually a common swap for the 510. The only thing I need is a longer hose, since both the outlet and inlet port are on the same side (unlike the cross-flow radiators that come stock on the 510).
$30 is a fair price for the Fiero radiator, so if I win the bid, I'll just use that one; it'll be easier to install, and it has a cross-flow port. If I lose the bid, I'll use the VW radiator instead.
