Datsun 510 Front Air Suspension

We have had a bunch of people asking about installing air suspension on their Datsun 510s. Since everything looks better sitting as low as possible, we've come up with a kit to directly fit the 510 front and rear suspension!

 Here we'll be taking a look at the front strut assembly, and outlining the process to install our air struts onto the 510's knuckles.

 Start out with a pair of bare strut housings. You can use either factory 510 struts, or any of the stock upgrades out there. In this case we're using 280zx struts that our customer supplied:

We removed the strut cartridges, hubs, and brake backing plates, then taped over the bearing surfaces to protect them from damage.

Mark the strut tube 2" up from where it meets the cast knuckle.  This is where you'll be cutting the old strut off.

Cut the tube as straight as possible at that 2" mark.  Use a file or grinder to remove any burrs from the outside of the cut, and then remove all of the dirt and paint from the tube and the base of the knuckle.

Your knuckles should look like this- bare metal, ready to start their new life in your low Datsun.

The threaded strut tubes included in our kit have some plating on the bottom portion.  Grind that coating off in preparation for welding.  We also like to add a hole for a rosette weld just for added strength.

We tig welded this set, but a mig welder is fine as well- it just doesn't make things look as pretty.

With both sides welded up and cooled, grease the threads inside the strut tube and carefully thread the air struts inside of them.  If anything gets tight before the strut is fully bottomed out inside the housing, STOP and back the struts out to prevent damage to the threads!

Your completed strut assemblies should look like this- ready to bolt directly into your 510's front suspension.  We recommend the addition of bump-steer spacers and tension rods with a spherical end to allow for bind-free movement throughout the suspension's range.

If you adjust your camber, check for air bag clearance inside the spring pocket- modification may be required to the sheetmetal of the strut tower if you add excessive negative camber!

You can find these struts on our store: http://www.twistedimages.com/68-72-Datsun-510-Front-Air-Strut-Kit_p_1297.html

'59 Impala Freshly Bagged

One of our local customers brought his '59 Impala to us this week for a simple air suspension installation.  We used Air Lift's 3P system, with a polished aluminum 5 gallon tank and dual Viair 444C compressors.  The car is going to the upholstery shop from here for a new interior and a trunk build-out, so we kept everything simple with a carpeted panel under the package tray to mount all of the components.

The suspension was set up with our bolt-on mounting brackets and Air Lift Dominator air bags at all four corners.  The owner is installing a set of 13" wire wheels with smaller whitewalls, so it should lay flat on the ground when those are swapped over.

It's always a treat working on a clean classic car, and this Impala was in fantastic original condition- not a single bolt was frozen or broken, and there was almost no rust to be found anywhere.  I can't wait to see it again after the next round of modifications!