Covert to Awd

Does anyone know how to convert my Datsun 510 with the Ka 2.4 engine to an all wheel drive car, I've heard of people doing this before and i want to know what parts to use. I also want to be able to shift out of it for Drifting. :smile:




Only 2 more years until i can drive my Dat :grinno: :evillol:

Umm....first go and buy an Evo or STi (whichever you like more), then keep the 510 RWD, and use it for drifting, and use the Evo/STi for whatever the hell you need an AWD car for (what rallying, driving in ice, or 4 wheel burnouts, I can't say). If you really must convert the 510 to AWD for whatever reason (say, don't have 30 grand to drop on a new car, etc.) then I haven't the slightest ides of how to do that, but it may involve parts from some sort of scubie and a tube frame chassis under your 510 body, as well as a center diff that can lock to just the rear tires, I've heard about a diff like that made for the WRX, don't know if its true.
I have also heard of people doing AWD 510s, but I've never seen pics, and I have no idea how you'd do it without totally destroying the front end of your car.

yea . . . . ummmm. . . . .no.

i'm sure it could be done, but why?

the only reason i could see for doing an AWD conversion on a 510 is so that you can say "i've got an AWD datsun 510."

i see no benifit in tearing up your dime to put AWD in it.

i don't want to chase you off, we need more 510 guys in this forum, but i can't help you with this one

If you want it all-Nissan take an '85-'88 Stanza AWD wagon and fit the drivetrain under the 510. The Stanza comes with a CA20E (SOHC) bu you can drp a DET (DOHC / Turbo) head on it with some work.

I've never heard of this being but but it sounds good in theory..

The Nissan Pulsar would be a really good donor for this. It's awd with an sr20det. The only potential problem I can think of is that the motor mounts in the engine bay transversely.

If you want it all-Nissan take an '85-'88 Stanza AWD wagon and fit the drivetrain under the 510. The Stanza comes with a CA20E (SOHC) bu you can drp a DET (DOHC / Turbo) head on it with some work.

I've never heard of this being but but it sounds good in theory..

i am working on one of these (the stanza) at work right now. we are doing an engine swap for a customer. it is a pretty neat little car.

after seeing the stanza and tearing it apart to remove the engine/trans, i can definitly see that this swap is possible. the engine/trans could fit in the 510 engine compartment. the width of the car even seemed simmilar. i'll look tomarrow to see if the rear suspension looks 510-friendly. i was too busy removing the engine/trans to really take a good look at the rear.

the stock engine's head-
transverse mounted ca20e with dual spark plug crossflow head (really small ports, not enough matierial to remove to enlarge ports:disappoin ) maybe the turbo head would be worth it, my car allready makes more power than this stock head could ever do. (i'm still running L-series)

if you got the DOHC turbo head on the other hand . . . . that would be worth doing the swap for. all day my friend at work has been saying "you should swap this into your 510". i don't have the huge ammounts of time and money it would take to complete a project of this size, but i did think it would be pretty cool.

i like my 510 rear drive.
i like my engine mounted the right way.
i think that AWD stanza is pretty cool as a rally beater. if i could pick one up for under $1000, i'd buy it just to drive around in the dirt and mud. it would be awesome!
these are my opinions though, its still YOUR car.

basically to sum up,
swap looks possible, but difficult. (changing from a longitud. mount to transverse mount engine)
if you are going to do it, the DOHC turbo head is the only way to go.
you would be dissappionted in the power of the n/a engine. (boost is better anyways)

i'll post back tomarrow after getting a better look at the stanza's suspension.

back home from work after taking a really good look at the 86 stanza AWD.

the rear suspension is NOT something i would call worth swapping, but there is good news! the drive shaft (to the rear) is straight down the middle of the car and the differential is a R160, so in theory you could just keep your stock 510 rear suspension and diff/axles. you would just have to match the gear ratio of the front diff/transaxle with the rear and you would be good to go. (you would probably want to make it LSD)

the front would be where all of your work (and problems) would be.

you would have to butcher your front end, frame rails, basically everything forward of the firewall to make all of the transverse engine front drive shit fit. if you were going to have to cut all that out, then might as well go tube-frame for the front end.

yes, the swap is possible, but very difficult and very expensive.

tomarrow we get to put a motor back in this little warrior (the stanza). should be an adventure.