Trophy24

Your fuel rail may have a pulsation damper on it. Do they each have a vacuum line attached?

Hose was left long out of paranoia considering the previous Koyo problem. Didn’t want to ruin the stock one I got from my good buddy. You can always make it shorter ha ha

Over due build thread update Carburetor woes One of the things I dislike about carburetors is how much you have to mess around with them. I have rebuilt many of them in my professional and personal life. Yes it is old school and the gasoline smell is part of owning an old car, but I just don’t like it. Having said that, the carb on the L13 was still giving me problems after a thorough cleaning and parts replacement with what I could find for it. Inconsistent idle speed and fuel mixture along with intermittent flooding due to a float needle valve problem led me to an uncomfortable question for myself. How much am I willing to spend on this L13 trying to save it? Long term goal for this car is not yet determined. I was trying to run it as is until my 2 door is on the road. Then see out what the future holds for this car. I could find a used Weber 32/36 somewhere, but I would probably find myself having to rebuild that one too. I decided to take a gamble on the L13 and buy a new Weber for it. That would allow me to tune it and leave it alone for a while. That sounded good anyway. After searching around for the correct Weber kit, I resorted to pictures of the kits to determine which to order. I knew I wanted an electric choke 32/36, but I needed the correct throttle linkage. I seemed to be running into kits over and over with cable throttles for some reason. I know the US 510’s used mechanical linkages so this was a bit confusing. I ended up ordering the K660 kit based on the Weber web site for application, and a picture of the kit with the correct linkage. Yeah not good enough. It came with a throttle cable set up. After looking at my options, I realized I could use the linkage from the Hitachi carb on the Weber. Good thing. The wrong linkage included with the carb After mounting it on the car and sorting it out, I decided I didn’t like the chrome air filter the carb came with. It didn’t seem to fit the theme of the car with the L13 in it (stock looking). Time to cut up the original air filter housing and make something to fit the Weber. After some quality time in the garage and lots of cutting and grinding, I came up with a steel plate adapter that would allow the stock air filter and housing to work. I am not the first person to do this, but still feel pretty good about how it came out.

Looking forward to seeing this car at Canby again (hint hint)

I recall getting “feedback” about Datsun smells at home too. It helps that my garage is now detached from the house

I can see the latest pictures ok. An an exciting stage for your build Sam! Looks like things are coming together. I am looking forward to how you solve your hot side flange fabrication.

Great to see the new ride documented. You coukd use that spoiler to jump garbage cans with your mountain bike. : )

Love the pics in the first post! A great way to see how far it has come later.

Double post somehow. Will edit later

Back to electrical stuff I had to borrow a dwell meter to set the ignition points on this car. I used to have a cheap one in my tool box for use on customers' cars. It had been such a long time since I used it, it got tossed out during one of those garage cleaning purges you have to do from time to time. While setting the points, I was reminded what a great step forward electronic ignition was. Since I was still fighting a misfire on the car I decided to upgrade to a Pertronix system with a matching coil. What a difference that made. Starts right up and idles smooth. Yeah! Out with the old In with the new One thing I like about the Pertronix system is how it can hide under the stock distributor cap. Not so with the "blaster" coil. Had to face the label away from view to make it better. I guess I could have peeled it off too.

Some of these posts are out of order. I had a gap in time between updates and am trying to piece it together here. Cooling system problems. I noted a radiator leak early on in this process of getting the car on the road. I really like the Koyo option for this car. So much so I went ahead and got one. Shiny goodness right there. One of those upgrades that make you feel good every time you see it. Fitment was ok, but required some spacers away from the core support that brought it close to the engine fan. It still worked, but made me nervous. Fast forward to the first test drive in the neighborhood. The car stalled about 2 blocks from home and would not start again. I had to do the walk of shame. When I came back with my truck and a tow strap, I noticed coolant leaking from the car. After towing the car home I traced the leak to the new Koyo radiator core leaking at the bottom tank. Not what I expected for sure. Cursing in the garage stays in the garage. The place I ordered it from was no help as it had been too long since purchase. I was looking into getting some help from Koyo when I realized the motor mounts on the car were shot. I could tell because the upper radiator hose was yanking the radiator and core support when I revved the engine! Too short of a hose for the amount of movement led to a cracked radiator. Can't warranty that for sure. Special thanks to my good friend Carter for hooking me up with a stock radiator that really helped out. You are the best! Bad motor mount! Go sit in the corner! I had the replacement mounts stashed away in a box. Should have installed them sooner I guess. Live and learn.

Thanks! I do too On with more electrical. New battery can't stay alive by itself. How about that charging system? 12.2V when running is not enough. I noticed some issues with the fuse box when I did a quick fuse check. 20A fuse let go as soon as I replaced it. Hmm what has been going on here? Note the paper diagram of fuse location with what used to be a clear cover. Found the cigarette lighter socket is shorted to ground. Unplug the single wire and the short is gone. Still having a voltage drop at the fuse box for the sense wire that feeds the alternator. Time to clean up connections here. Before During vinegar bath And after about 2 hours of soak time. My experimentation with this method showed me not to leave it in too long. It will eat up your stuff! Much better Time to look into the alternator. At 35A max (maybe) the original externally regulated alternator did not impress me. I am used to much more capable systems in the cars I work on every day. I decided to go with the 1995 Nissan Pathfinder unit as it would fit in place pretty easily. The addition of a washer on the adjusting bolt and the next size longer belt were all it needed to bolt into place The addition of two jumper wires into the external regulator connector had me in business at 13.8V.

Somewhat fitting that the above image is the last one I posted. That was right before Canby 2018 and I still had hopes of sorting this car out enough to make the trip. Shortly after that post the key and the Pooh key chain went missing. Like really not to be found anywhere. After hours of searching I gave it up as a lost cause. You all have spare keys right??????? I did not focus on this detail and found myself unable to make progress sorting out the car. No spare key, no Canby trip for the Bluebird. 🙁 My awesome wife told me it was a good thing as the car probably would not have made it. I am not sure that helped me or not, but she was right (again). If you ever find yourself in this predicament, Google is your friend. I found a place to have some spare keys made based on the key code number. I picked the wrong key blank for the cut, it came out way too long. A little careful time on the grinder, comparing the pictures I had of the old key and I was in business again. All the lock cylinders work great. Back to sorting out the fuel system. I had the cleaned out tank back in with the new filler hose. Lets add some fuel! Ok where is that fuel smell coming from? Fuel leaking in the trunk. Oh man! Seems to be coming from the fuel sender O ring. Several cycles of drain the tank, check the O ring, clean the area, replace the O ring etc. Still seeping and cant really tell where it is coming from. Time for a trick we use at work. Tracing powder spray. It leaves a white residue that will change colors when there is a clear fluid leak such as gasoline. See the darker spots on the tank at about 4:30 - 5:00 close to the fuel sending unit? Yeah, pin holes in the steel tank. Found some others on the bottom of the tank too. Lots of them. My POR15 attempt to reseal the tank had some de lamination of the coating that was really frustrating. from what I read online, the coating was too thick or it was not clean enough. Either way not a success. Time to search for a new tank. Special thanks to Jeff for coming through for me on that! Much better! No leaks! With the fuel supply sorted out, time to run the engine again. After running it for a few minutes, it developed a misfire that was not isolated to any 1 cylinder. It needed normal tune up parts replacement anyway so in went new plugs, wires and cap/rotor. Same issue. I decided it was time to upgrade the electrical systems to help make this car reliable. The battery tested poorly so time to replace it. I found that new batteries here in the US have different size terminals for their connections. They are much larger and make the old lead cable ends unusable. So... time to replace cables too I guess. I came up with a solution based on what I use here at work. Yes it is much more modern looking, but the terminals are now protected, It will function perfectly and it has a clean look. What do you guys think?

These steps looks familiar Carter. You are making good progress with the shell. It will be painted before you know it and on the road!

Emailed the address thanks