From B-Body Sedan to tiny from Japan

[Dirttrack510]

Gotta love a Datsun in its natural element.... Bein drivin

 

 

Hey! I know that guy! Oh yeahhhh it's me. Lollllzzzz :)

[Drakoe1]

Haha, yeah that old tech is pretty awesome!

 

nice dime, and i LOVE the caprice! and well.... I WANT YOUR RADIO! i love older tech. some of the best

 

Hopefully I'll be able to make it out there and watch a few more races this season charlie.Definitely be nice as that was a lot of fun, and hopefully this time not end up breaking down at the track haha

[Drakoe1]

Well since she started up so well last time decided to take her out for a shakedown cruise. Started off going over to my friends place and replacing his alternator on his 77 250. Man is this thing a sweet truck. It's just plain awesome to drive, has finger tip powersteering & torque for days, what a good ole farm truck should be haha.

 

 

From there made an un-expected trip to Paducah. Was out just cruising and saw a hitchhiker about my age and said what the hell lol. Asked him where he was heading and off we went. He was trying to make Nashville but wanted to stop in Metropolis to see Superman so I said why not. Dude was really cool, had been on the road for about a week n half on his trek from Cali on his way to North Carolina. This was his little last hurrah before jumping into the world of the working stiffs. Parted ways at the Hardee's in Metropolis and proceeded over the boarder to Paducah, Ah Harbor Freight haha. While checking out this guy comes in and starts talking to the girl behind the register about my 510. Start to talking to them and find out they're both really into Datsuns. He's got a 240 and that she first learned to drive in a 510 wagon. Really cool folks for sure.. Was defintely a sweet Holiday weekend.

[Drakoe1]

Rockauto came through again. Got my slave cylinder and new hose in today. So now ready to go and switch the clutch and get her back and going on the road. Now just to find the time to do it... I finally got down to one job just in time to start having to work sundays every week till july sometime lol. Think replacing a clutch can be done in an evening after work?

[Drakoe1]

Wow... Time really does fly...

 

To keep things short I was relocated to Japan for work so hence the drop off lol. Not that my pace was all that great before...

 

Back to the garage... Where everything was surprisingly where I left it... Just where I actually left everything still remains to be seen though

 

[MicroMachinery]

Hi.

[Drakoe1]

Hello hello!

[Drakoe1]

So after a year of not being able to drive or turn a wrench except on my bicycle, it left me plenty of time to day dream and sketch out ideas for the datsuns that were silently waiting for me back on the other side of the world. Needlessly to say I got right back to work when I got back. With the L16 needing to get pulled due to the rear freeze plug leaking and later what I would find to be a snapped Ring.

 

Got to work pulling the engine, thankfully even after being a year of not working on anything it all came back to me. Got everything dissconnected and out of the way in a good nights work and had the old L16 out and on a stand the next morning. Didn't even test the cherry pickers strength with any forgotten hoses or wires.

 

 

And finally after wrestling with the flywheel bolts got here on a stand... Sad engineless 510 in the back ( :sleep:)

 

 

The leak

 

[Drakoe1]

With the old engine out and up on one stand, got to work on getting the L20B ready. First pulled her apart to see what all was going on inside. Originally had bought this for the Grey 521, but we all know how plans go... The guy I bought it from had had it for about 10 yrs just sitting in his garage with oil in the cylinders and would turn it over every now and then to keep it free. Before I picked it up and tagged it for grey it was origninally destined for a MG but being the taller deck couldn't fit under the hood and so she sat.

 

Got the emissions head off and working on getting all the other crap off of her

 

 

Checking out the bottom end.

 

 

Pistons & Bearings all looked fairly good and seemed to match the history the PO was able to give me. So new bearings, Rings and back in she goes.

 

 

Started washing it up... so there is paint under that crud afterall

 

 

Back in the garage after some more time with the power washer

 

[Drakoe1]

Honed the cylinders and began the fun process of filing rings.... Soooo much fun

 

 

With that out of the way buttoned up the bottom end and started swapping accessories off of the L16 and onto the L20B.

 

 

Didn't get many pictures of all that as I was trying to get her up and running for when my buddy that went on the road trip to Texas to get her got into town. Ended up getting the engine all buttoned up and back in place minus one slight hicup with forgetting to put the dust shield on before the flywheel... And having some issues with getting the L16 mount for line up, ended up using one from a 620 on the pass side.

[Drakoe1]

Finished the rest of the work after a fun day of hiking, good food & drinking with even better friends. All the hoses, wiring & bolts all tightened up she roared back to life and pulled out of the garage under her own power. And by roar I mean... Roar... There's a wicked exhaust leak somewhere that I'm going to have to take care of here soon but for now the L20B is up and going so I'm excited.

 

[Drakoe1]

Its such an amazing feeling pushing or driving a car into a garage and then driving it out. And well then continuing to be able to drive it daily with no major hiccups minus Chokeless SU's not liking the cold and the Tach going wonky after long drives sometimes (Starts reading 3k when at idle and such)

[Drakoe1]

A few weeks ago finally worked to getting at the exhaust leak the other day. Pulled her into the old shed for one last project before I move to a new unit.

 

 

Intake and Carbs out of the way, from here was trying to get things done before dark so no photos. But pulled the exhaust 2 times putting on a new exhaust manifold with old bolts, then replaced with studs but couldn't get the leak to calm down.

 

 

Next morning with light it was alot easier to see where my problem was. With the L20b being just a tad higher my exhaust that was fine on the L16 was now binding on the trans, preventing the manifold from seating flush on the head.

 

 

With a little massaging via hammer, got it to clear.

 

 

With that the leak up at the head was finally gone. While its great not to choke at stoplights I kinda miss my cammed V8 sounding idles/take offs from stoplights haha. But now that I can hear finally def have a few other problems to now address.

 

1. Wow, were these windows always this rattly & Whisteling?

2. Tell-tale tick/clunking of a half shaft at de-cell

3. Insane rattling of the exhaust against the rear pass through since it's pinned against the trans crossmember

[Drakoe1]

Took care of the deafening rattling & whisteling of the windows the other weekend. After searching the forums and then the vast interwebs ended up buying some flocking from this site MMI It's the same AS1198 part number I had seen on several different posts. And at 8$ a piece not bad. After a few days got the package.

 

 

 

With a nice fall afternoon I tackled replacing the old flattened channels. Old stuff came out allright except for the Driver rear. Still need to finish that one. One strip is enough for a window, and only have a little bit of extra. So far ride is much much more comfortable. Some expressed concerns for the all rubber channel, but window effort on this isn't bad. Only on the rear one where I notched my top strip a little too narrow does the effort seem to have increased.

[Drakoe1]

My Process for installing the new channels:

 

1. Free the clips for the Door Handle/Window Crank

2. Remove door pull screws/handle if you have em

3. Pull of the door panels & moisture barrier if you have it.

4. Roll the window to about halfway down.

5. Feel on the backside of the front pivot on the regulator (You should feel what seems like a cotter pin, push it off)

6. Remove that and a washer

7. Now window is free to move about

8. Pull the old felts out of the channel. (Might need to use a screwdriver or something to get at it, cover metal with cardboard before prying)

9. Using the old felts as a template can notch the 90* corners (Cut the vertical sides at 45* but don't cut the bottom)

10. Fit the felt into the channel

11. slide window back straight

12. Attach pin to window bottom & clip in place (Don't forget washer if you did remove it)

13. Roll up the window (Might be tight first time as felt fully seats into channel. If need be fully seat with screwdriver or similar)

 

Will try and take/upload photos of the process later when I finish the driver rear window

 

 

Clip that holds the regulator to the window

 

[Drakoe1]

With the windows sealed thought it was a fine time to wash the car and put a quick coat of wax on to prepare her for the oncomming winter.

 

 

It's amazing, everytime I wax it, how much different the car looks.

 

 

Front door waxed (Regular old Turtlewax), rear bare... Crazy

 

 

After I got her all done took her out for a nice drive through the beautiful Shawnee. Gotta love winding southern roads, especially in the fall with the changing leaves.

[fisch]

Great thread man!

[Drakoe1]

There's something about Kroger's Gas station and hydraulic mis-haps. First was my slave cylinder taking a crap, then my rear pass brake line and now my rear driver side brake line this evening... Ugh. Though finding out its toast there is a lot better than elsewhere.

 

 

 

And Thanks Fisch

[Drakoe1]

Wow.... Sooo weird. For the first time in the 6 years that I've owned her, the steering wheel finally points in the correct direction lol.

 

Pictures to come later, but finally replaced the crusty old steering components and man is this thing a dream. Sooooo much less hunting on the road, and I imagine if I reduce the lash on the gear box this weekend the tiny bit of play that is left will disappear (^_^)