A Couple of '81 210 Questions

[Colbino]

A buddy of mine just purchased an '81 210 hatchback dlx the other day. The car has the A15 motor but needs the head gasket replaced.

I'm familiar with L motors but haven't had the chance to work on an A yet.

 

• Is it possible to replace the head gasket without removing the timing chain cover (the wooden block trick that people use for L motors) or am I going to have to pull the timing cover?

 

• Also, does any one know where to get lowering springs and blocks for this model car?

 

Thanks guys!

 

-C

[Pumpkn210]

Its a push rod engine so the cam is in the block. Super easy to do, just gotta make sure to do cold then hot valve adjustments after reassembly.

 

I used 510 rears(cut) and stock fronts(cut) then put rubber snubbers in the spring coils to stiffen it up. It will bottom out the shocks in front so take them in to a machine shop and have them cut off about 4in and rethread the shaft. You can also cut off the shock towers and raise them up. Would not recomend this cause all the measuring that you gotta do to make it right. I have a car that was done this way and it is pretty Hack. Drives weird and everything.

[ggzilla]

Yes, it's like 100 times easier than the L-series engine.

 

Just make sure

1. Get the block and head faces super clean

2. Get the threads clean and chased. Do not oil

3. Use a torque wrench, bolt in three stages in the Datsun pattern

 

Easy swap. You don't need to mill the head unless it's more than 4 thousands out of flat.

 

 

To lower one inch, just cut 1/4 coil front and rear, no blocks needed.

[Colbino]

Thanks for the info., guys.

 

I was looking through the Haynes manual and it looks like the rocker shaft needs to be removed from the cylinder head, then the push rods slide out and then the head bolts get removed. Does that sound correct? And I don't need to worry about TDC right?

 

Thanks again!

 

-C

[ggzilla]

Yes, you can trust Haynes to get it right.

 

Being a non-OHC four-cylinder, you don't need to disturb the distributor.

However, after you are done, you will have to adjust the valves, which means you turn it to TDC.

[JustinB]

I just pulled my head straight off. Didn't need to remove rockers at all. the rods just slid right out with the head. Havn't put it all back together yet though... hope everything's alright. :)

[ggzilla]

You risk bending the pushrods if you do not loosen them first.

But in any case, you'll have to loosen them to reinstall, and certainly to adjust them afterwards, so why not do it to start with.

[Colbino]

One more quick question guys...

 

Do you know what size and pitch bottom tap I will need to clear out the head bolt holes in the block?

 

Thank you for all all the help fellas!

 

-C

[ggzilla]

You can blow out the bolt holes and get them quite clean.

 

If they are crusty, what i did was take a spare head bolt and filed a grove down the side. Presto, a home-made tap.

[Colbino]

Thanks for the tip ggzilla, but do you happen to know the size and pitch?

 

-C

[ggzilla]

No, I generally do not recall small details like that, and have never written it down. You can measure the thread diameter, probably 12mm and the thread pitch probably 1.25/mm