Fisch's 1959 Datsun 1000 project! Peeking in the oilpan!

[denveratsun]

Hey...a note on the brake fluid....

 

It might be worth finding some Castrol GT LMA. My Simca (while it's a totally different beast) is a 1958 and for what it's worth, the brake parts back then were just simply NOT made to work with new chemical formulations. "LMA" stands for Low Moisture Activity...meaning that the overall hygroscopic (attracting of water) activity is lower in LMA than in other conventional brake fluids.

 

LMA has been the standard in many British production cars for years and is used widely in Vintage class/Euro class race cars. You will find that it just may represent a very good option for the older (potentially British:))rubber parts...even if you plan to re-do the entire system, as I did with my Simca.

 

 

Oh...and just cause I think it would make you smile Fisch....here is a pic of my little French car... :cool:

 

[smelt240]

Wow,I just read every page on this. That car has got to be one of the coolest finds Ive seen in a LONG time. Some nice weekend coming right up,we are planning on running down Rt 1 to the NH border in the 411,Id love to extend the trip to check out your car,and grab a couple prints for my soon-to-be shop.

[fisch]

Smelt, that sounds swell man. Always up for hanging with another new England Datsun Brother. I see you have two 510's, are you fixing both up? Honestly I really want to try to make the big Japanese car show that happens out toward Boston every year. I've never been.

 

Update time! First a cute but pitiful little pic of the this guys face. We have one headlight in. The left bucket has to come out for some repairs from the spares Purple sent me. The awesome Mklotz is shooting me some 320 headlight gaskets which will really come handy!

 

Kinda funny, the bent grill almost looks like a mouth whistling or something. Heh I might have to leave it that way for a while!

 

Next we have the gastank which is in amazing shape. It had about an inch of 40 yr old shellaced gas in it! I could not drain it it was so thick. I took it to be professionally cleaned out and this is how she came back. (The guy couldn't believe how much gunk was in there. Oddly a 5" long spring was stuck in the bottom of the tank, but I have no idea how it might have got there!

 

The sender unit needs some help. The brass(?) float is cracked and came apart in half. Do any Datsun senders look similar to y'all? And the arm is frozen with white corrosion. I have not started taking it apart yet, but I bet I can fix it! I love how everything on this car is meant to come apart!

 

I tell you what though, it looks alot like one from a British MG! (Not surprising!) But the MG has 6 mounting holes.

 

Also I got my brake hoses from Argentina in like one week! Pretty amazing! They look good and the threads are totally correct, so for like $30 shipped for all of the brake ones, big thumbs up from me!!! (Bought the clutch hose separate.)

We will see how the hold up once installed!

 

Next, we take a peek in the bottom end of the engine!

[fisch]

And Denver I LOVE the Simca brother!!

 

OK when I first drained the oil, there was some sludge that was oozing out of the drain hole, and I knew I had to pull the pan and clean it out before I ran it hard, so I took the pan off. So while this puppy is open I figure I should remove the pickup screen and clean it, right?

 

Sure enough there was about 1/2 of gunk in the bottom! I also found some metal bits preserved in the sludge. I know some metal makes its way into the pan, which is why folks have magnetic plugs, but how much is acceptable? Is this a lot? The penny is for scale and wasn't in the pan. As the video showed, the one time I ran it, it ran fine! And if you recall the compression was great. Do I need to be worried? Strange how it all looks like wire with a few washer bits.

 

And here we get a peek at the crank! Some of it looks really clean!

 

This pic is showing a MGB gasket resting on the pan. I am not a gasket expert but it looks really close. A few of the bolt holes don't line up perfectly but are CLOSE. I am hoping it will work!

 

So that is it for now dudes! Once I hone the cylinders and start putting the hydraulics back together, I think it will be time for a yard drive! 420n620 is hooking me up with the hood latch from a 520, what a guy!! Oh yeah I still need some front shocks (mine are MIA) before I hit any potholes!

 

ROCK!

[thisismatt]

What was the diameter of the spring? Close to the inside diameter of the filler hose?

[motavated]

That really looks similar to a 620 sending unit with out the box thing on top. 5 holes as well... Well I think?! I have this new gas tank and it looks similar...

[purple]

Love it! Your extra suprises in my box rock! The kids love the books, keep asking us to read them every night. I forget now but I think the front shocks were the same size as the back. I found one of the shocks that were on my car but not sure which corner it came off. But measure the resting distance from the top mounts to the botom mounts on both ends and if that's the same then the shocks should be the same.

[Pedro]

Hey Fisch, saw these and thought I'd drop the link, no doubt you have probably come across it before but just in case you haven't -> headlight buckets

[mklotz70]

Those headlight buckets are nice, but if you look at the chrome trim, near the hole for the hold down screw, you'll see that the first 1/2" is good, then the next 1"+ is flat and has press marks. I've got a set of the rings I paid $60 for. They only look good if you have nothing else to put on. I'd take a set of stock, slightly rusted rings before putting those on. I left mine in a box for months before pulling them out.....otherwise, they would have probably been the first time returning an ebay purchase. I'm not happy with them at all.

[hacked521]

that junk out of the motor looks kinda big, is the screen made of smaller material or could the screen have been falling apart? you are right though, it does look bits of wire. keep it up man i want to see you driving this thing.

[Charlie69]

Fisch if you have good compression why hone the cylinders? Clean it up best you can put it back together and run it! If you hone the cylinders you have to pull the the pistons & rod assemplies to do it, which also means buying new rings. If I am not mistaking those are babbit type rods that do not have rod bearing inserts. I would clean what you can put some good oil and a good filter on it and get it running. After it is running you will be able to tell how the motor is by the way it runs & sounds. Save your money for your dream J18. Buy the way my buddy Jorge is taking a 2 month long trip to visit his mother in Central Mexico and he will be on the prowl for a J18 5speed for you, so start saving your Pesos. :lol:

[mklotz70]

I don't think it's the eng cyls he's going to hone, but the brakes.

[fisch]

I don't think it's the eng cyls he's going to hone, but the brakes.

 

 

Correct! I am honing the brake cyl Charlie! I am not cracking that engine open any more than the oilpan if I can help it!

 

Hacked, I need to remove the pickup screen and see what is up in there. From the front it looked fine, just dirty. I have no Idea where that wire stuff came from, but there was someone here on ratsun who just found some coins in his oil pan, so who knows!

 

At this point there are three things holding me up from putting it back together. I need to order a rebuild kit for the brake M/C (And hone them all out.) I have no shocks up front. And I need a fuel filter. (I'd like the glass bowl kind that originally came on it!)

[Pedro]

Updates?

[Tomakze]

I agree, I am hungry for an update. MOAR!!!!

[fisch]

Thanks guys! I wish there were updates! Too many deadlines keeping me out of the garage But I am turning in my latest Kids book this friday so I am hoping there will be more garage time over the next few months.

 

I did manage to pull the oil pick up screen, and it looked good, so I put the cleaned out pan back on using a gasket from a early MG. Might have even been from a bug eye sprite. It fit pretty good but I had to elongate a couple of the holes with a hole punch.

 

I also am removing the headlight buckets to replace the gaskets (supplied by the awesome Mike Klotz), and I swear every screw busted. Tiny little screws too. And I broke two easyouts trying to remove them.

 

Sadly that is all the progress I've made! But I've stood in the garage staring at it once in a while! :D

[]2eDeYe]

But I've stood in the garage staring at it once in a while! :D

 

 

I count that as R & D time. :D

[Pacific coast Datsun]

Sadly that is all the progress I've made! But I've stood in the garage staring at it once in a while! :D

 

ALL Datsun owners do this it's normal :cool: Family 1st Datsun's 2nd in my book. Keep pluggin away a her Fisch :thumbup:

[exit64]

Here's a little motivation for you, Fisch. Quit fooling around with the Dime-a-Dozen and get back on track.

http://ventura.craigslist.org/cto/2072661250.html :lol:

[fisch]

Love that! Inspiration indeed! Granted the new Dime is quiet the distraction, especially when I was about the start up on the '59 again. But the 510 is just going to be a rock n rolla, needing little but looks. So once I get it looking nasty (in a good way) I can focus on the '59 again while dailying a Datsun!

[78B210GTX]

WOW the 59 datsun 1000 is so sexy!! I love the back, reminds me of a gasser style hotrod.

[Z chopper]

keep it as stock as possible, if you could find someone to make some fender skirts for the fine '59 that would be killer. wide whites, stock rims with caps and rings

[Pedro]

Just stumbled across this Fisch

 

http://bringatrailer.com/2011/06/07/510s-pappy-clean-1959-datsun-1000/

 

Good for picture references.

[oldjunker]

any progress??? thanks for the help on the parts info... mines coming along well.

[fisch]

any progress??? thanks for the help on the parts info... mines coming along well.

 

 

 

Alas, nada on my end. I have been about the slackest Datto owner on the planet. Too busy working, trying to write a novel, and when I have spare time, I have been obsessed with rat rodding bicycles! Here is the progress of one. But I have 4 others going.