Boaty's KA24DE 2DR

[Boaty]

Well, I'm self employed. I just haven't had any work, and of course Home Depot never called me back lol. It's moving along slowly, weather permitting.

 

Today got the exhaust downpipe installed - barely clears the floorboard, but the engine doesn't move hardly at all with the new mounts installed. Even with a prybar, the tranny barely moves (was trying to massage some sheet metal around the shifter hole, etc). Also removed the fuel hard line, so I can start building the new 5/16" line. Finished bolting the bellhousing on the block, made sure everything was adjusted and tight, etc. Installed the slave cylinder... nice to get in and hit the clutch again.. driving the Chevy is killing me.

 

ASSUMING I had all the parts, I could be driving by next weekend but I'm not counting on it. For parts, requires money. For money, requires work. And that I don't have much of at the moment. Blah.

[Boaty]

Well, the radiator is plumbed now. Just have to go buy some hose clamps..

I think with how it's set up presently, I can still run the short ram intake for the time being, but I want to eventually have one made up to relocate the MAF to the driver's side... changing an air filter as it is now would require a removal of the entire intake, as well as the upper radiator hose.

 

Damn you 510, Y U SO SMALL?!

 

Anyways, I ordered my battery mount for the Optima (D34/78) for the trunk relocate project.

 

I'll be using military terminals with boots, and use 2ga welding cable to hook it up with.

 

I was looking up these fancy little power bushings from VTE to hook the cables up at the firewall without using grommets. Much cleaner install, unfortunately the best price I've found so far is $30 EACH. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!?

http://www.vteworld....BPowerStuds.php

 

It started raining on me, so if I have a break in the weather tomorrow, I'll get some oics of the plumbing and document the part numbers I used. The way I had to install it would make perfect use of an in-line temp sensor for either gauge or electric fan set up. More on that later!

[Jennifer]

a battery mount?? sucha baller steve!! :lol: :lol: very nice tho :thumbup:

[Boaty]

Yeah I was undecided how to mount the battery. Needed something safe and strong, the last thing I want is a battery to go flying around in the trunk if I get in a wreck and blow up a gas tank.

 

This mount is a heavy duty version of what else is out there, some use two screws on the mounting plates, mine uses three. It's also NHRA legal if you use 3/8" bolts to secure it to the floor. I'll be making a bottom plate that mounts under the car for support, depending on where the bolts end up going. There's a subframe suppport in my way, so I may end up using that support as part of a stronger mounting solution. We'll see when it gets here!

 

I wanted to run side poste originally, but that would leave the two top posts exposed and that's no good either. So for now it's just going to be top posts with boots. The miiitary terminals make it lower profile and more secure, and looks cleaner too. I've been running HD Marine terminals for years, but while wing nuts are handy - how often do I really have to screw with it?

 

Just waiting for the stuff to get here now.

[Boaty]

So, scratch the expensive power bushing option.

That was a third party, and missed that the original place I was going to buy them from has a low-quantity portal for those that aren't buying 50+ at a time.

 

They are considerably cheaper.

https://www.vtewarehouse.com/index.php

 

Have at it fella's. Lots of great products there, we'll see how good they are when they arrive though. It's going to make things much much cleaner and easier for me in the end.

[Boaty]

Hurr an update hurrrr.

 

I installed the battery in the trunk, purchased my battery cables, etc yesterday. Today I installed all the cables, along with the fuel pump.

 

Cables... man what a pain in the ass to route. 1ga doesn't like to "stay" bent but it's nice and flexible. Sheathed in all the appropriate places. I would have sheathed everything but I couldn't find any more convuluted tubing anywhere, so I just installed it where it would be required.

 

Ran under the carpet to the front passenger seat rail, where Datsun conveniently put a hole perfectly sized for my cables. Used a bit of 1/4" fuel hose I had laying around, split it, and used that around the hole to protect from wear on the cables. Very nice.

 

Anyways, here's a pic... my phone decided to go batshit crazy on me, so I managed to only get one. After that it just kept taking screenshots, finally locked up, and I was too lazy to go out and take any more. FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU!

I'm too lazy to make this smaller, you'll get over it :fu:

[Boaty]

OKay fine. Here's some more.

[Boaty]

Oh hard lines how I hate thee.

[the510keeper]

you love anything hard,

 

looks great steve keep it up yo

[Boaty]

Well the hard lines are done. Finished the cabling from the trunk to the front, all that's left in that department is to punch holes out through the firewall and install my power bushings, and this week I should be getting my heater core re-re-done (was done, but didn't fit - go figure), I'm going to rock a Marine fuse box since it's the only thing I could find that was a 10-circuit, and it has ground ports all in one.

 

I want this to be done damnit! And once it's all done I get to put my ratty ass seats in. *sigh*

 

What are your thoughts on Corbeaus, James? Thinking about the A4's (wide) but I need to go measure first... I hear some people say they sit way higher than stock, some people say they are just right.

Unfortunately I don't have one to test-fit. :/

[bonvo]

this thing gonna be at canby?

[Siqx20]

better be its my ride up since the 620 wont be ready :D

[Boaty]

Yeah it'll be done before Canby. Unfortunately my goal of having it painted isn't going to happen any time soon, thanks Allstate! BUT, I guess I'll just work with what I've got until the day comes I can finish her. I get super anal over things and then I get OCD when I don't do it the way I had planned. Such is life though.

 

I'm still trying to concoct some awesome way of doing the wiring, but I can't for the life of me figure out a clean way to hide it, without having a shop and tools and more money lol. But it'll be done clean either way.

 

Brandon. GTFO to the garage and start puttin' shit to gether on your truck. I ca think of shit tons of things you COULD be doing, lol. Go clean up and prep your dash or somethin' while you wait for dippydoo. Once my shit's done and driving I'll come over and help ya. Feel free to grab Thomas who has a vehicle from time to time, and come over and kick it.

[bonvo]

how is the wiring run now? does it run?

[Boaty]

Negative Will Robinson. I didn't get that far, I ended up making a few bucks yesterday by fixing the neighbor's lawnmower... so I didn't have time to do anything on the car. And, it's raining now so I'll just wait til the sun peaks through again. Refusal to lay in a mud puddle = shit doesn't get done lol.

[Siqx20]

haha i will work on it soon. I have to get the subi running so i have a DD again. once that is out of the garage i will be right back to the datsun. I have the material to finish the last of my cross members then i can put the vab back on and continue stuff on that that i can do alone. soon young boat... soon

[Boaty]

Well get on it!

 

Oh and go down when you can and buy a couple bottles of super clean. I want the good shit, not purple power. Way too caked on for generics here.

I have nightmares every time I see your subi. She needs more than a bath. She needs a day with the young Boat, you might say.

[Boaty]

Fuel system is all hooked up and ready to go!

I used a GM fuel filter (WIX #33481; ACDELCO #GF652F; FRAM #G3727) since it is readily available and cheap. It was slightly smaller than the 240sx fuel filter holder, but it was enough that it could be sinched down on the GM filter and secured with a Zip-Tie (my holder was missing the clip). NOTE THIS ENDED UP LEAKING!! Chevy uses O-rings on the fuel line side and won't work with these brass fittings, unfortunately. I was unaware of this when I set everything up, but believe me I found out the hard way once I started cycling the fuel pump. So the rest of this post = for umm.. scientific experimentation.

 

To hook it up, I used some 3/8" threaded 5/16" brass transmission cooler fittings. Works great with 5/16" fuel hose. I found that fuel hose fittings are actually smaller I.D. than the cooler lines, but in order to use them on a hard line it requires a union since the cooler line fittings are male, and the fuel hose fittings are female. Teflon tape for the threads on the lines and the filter of course. The ONLY down side of installing the filter where I did, is that when replacing, fuel is going to get all over the gas tank area so I'll just have to remind myself to slap some paper towels under it before I unhook everything. That, and it's the highest point of the fuel system so it could develop an air bubble. BUT, beings as it's the highest point, it also won't cause the entire fuel line to drain back during replacement. Win/Loss, but whatever.

 

WIX #33481 | ACDELCO #GF652F | FRAM #G3727

EDIT - THIS SETUP LEAKS!!!

I was unaware that Chevy uses O-rings on the fuel lines when I tried this, and thus it will not work. Even with teflon tape, this leaks horribly.

GM & other models from 1983-2005. Available anywhere.

 

Also made up new kick panels since the ones I had were made from MDF, and soaked up water like a sponge. Which, did nothing but hold water all along the edge of the floor pans which caused some surface rust. Fixed that with some rustoleum spray paint, but in the future I'm taking everything down to bare metal on the interior and hitting it with ZeroRust or POR15, or some of that fancy enamel stuff that James uses on his builds. Couldn't find any locally, so Rustoleum will do for now. PS - anybody that is using Dynamat, etc... you will hate yourself if you EVER have to remove it in the future. What a supreme mother-bitch that is. One thing they don't lie about - it sticks to EVERYTHING and it sticks GOOD.

 

Anyways the new panels are made from 3/8" plywood, which a 4x8' sheet I think was $12. They are covered with marine grade black carpet with rubber backing, the same stuff they use on boat trailers and boat interiors. Super UV resistant, water resistant, and really dense. I love the stuff. Think it was $1.20 a square foot, I purchased enough to do both kick panels, the speaker deck under the rear window, and my rear seat delete (which I may re-do with the leftover plywood). Some people informed me I should make it from ABS, some said ADO, some said... you get the point. Plywood works. It's light, it's easy to work with, and it doesn't really suck up water. At least nothing compared to fibreboard, which is literally a wooden sponge. Never using it again. For anything. Ever.

 

 

3/8" Plywood/Marine Carpet Kick panels.

Fuse box is Sierra FS40740 10-circuit ganged w/ Ground Buss.

Relays are Pico #5591PT (Kit includes Includes Pico #5590 & #5653)

 

Ripped into the stock engine bay harness a bit to clean somet things up, since I had redundant +12V leads going to the alternator/starter or wherever. I see no reason to have two, so I ripped the harness open to see what I was working with. (Sorry, I don't take pictures of Datsun Gore unless it's not complicated.) Now, some Japanese fucker decided it was in his best judgement to fold up about 3 feet of white 20ga wire, and put that in the harness. Was OEM, not somebodies handywork. For the main 12V+ in the harness (White 10ga --> White/Red 12ga + 20ga White), the white wire was all sorts of mangled and tied in a KNOT, and the small white wire going to the voltage regulator was about 3 feet long and folded up, lol. Too lazy to trim when they made the harness? Anyways, I'm removing most of what originally went to the voltage regulator since it's no longer there, obviously. No need for all the extra wire. Without the VR, everything was redundant, so I am going to just bridge the wires together at the harness and eliminate much of what is there since it's unused. Unfortunately I didn't think this through when I had the harness out. So it's being done in the car (I'm not screwing with those damned connectors under the dash again.. my fat ass doesn't fit in that area of a 510 anymore!). I'm going to run a nice fatty chunk of 12ga as a replacement for everything here and eliminate the original White/Red wire that goes to the alternator charge post. It's no longer for charging, it's just another +12V (also redundant) for the harness. Main charge wire is now 6ga going directly to the battery with a 175A Mega-Fuse in the trunk.

 

So tomorrow, weather permitting, I should get the majority if not all of the wiring finished for the car. I really hope to start her up before Monday! Or at least get everything cranking. I'm running out of money quick! I still need to trailer the car to the exhaust shop and have the exhaust done, and since I don't have the rear crossmember modifed for a larger exhaust pipe, I'm stuck with 2" which I believe should be fine. Guess the backpressure will give me a tad more torque on the bottom which will likely come in handy with that 11lb. flywheel?

 

If everybody gets lucky, you'll get to see a first-start video tomorrow!!

[68Datsun510]

The joys of deciphering factory wiring. Like the 521, explain why there are not one, but THREE solid blue wires coming out of the harness... OEM...

 

Lookin sharp Mr Abootman.

[Boaty]

Well no start up video, had a late start on the day and lost a couple hours driving back and forth for hole saws, and dealing with dead battery syndrome.

Cody, you jinxed everything! 4 batteries. All "fully charged"... all "dead as a door nail"

 

Power bushings are installed, cabling is installed. All that's left now is fuse box wiring.

 

Trimmed out a good amount of crap from the stock harness, and now all power leads are by the fuse box.

Tomorrow, weather permitting (which doesn't look like it's in my favor...) I'll get the fuse box finished up and will be able to power on everything... til then, good night.

[68Datsun510]

My bad...

[dennis]

Wiring is my favorite. I cant wait to get to that portion of my build.

 

Looks good, keep it going.

[Boaty]

Wiring is my favorite as well. If and when I ever have my own shop, I'm going to make an entire rack of nothing but wiring stuff and everything needed. When I crack open somebodies dash and see nothing but crappy wiring my heart starts to race and I get all agitated. Best way is to rip it all out and start over.

 

It would be spendy, but it would really come in handy having all the specific wiring colors and such. I can buy it all online, but in like 100+ foot rolls, which is more than I need. And then there's different sizes... seriously I could fill an entire rack haha.

 

But anyways I'm going to try and make this a super clean wiring install but not complicated. I can make it look nice in my head, but the way I keep thinking is similar to networking cable management where everything is bundled together and sheathed. But in a car that's kind of hard to pull off, if something goes bad you have to rip *everything* apart to fix it and that just makes it a hassle. I am used to being made fun of because I have this habit of heat-shrinking everything. Well, my connections are still good after 7 years since the last time I had to go through this. The ones I didn't pay attention to and protect nice, well, they are all haggard. So I know being anal about it pays off!

 

Anyways, guess I'm going to start the wiring thing tomorrow. A little wet today and I have other stuff to do. So I get a break from the Datto.

 

I'm so close! All I have to do now is mount the ECU, make a bracket for mounting the Relays nicely, and of course hook everything up to the fuse box. Oh and starter bolts >.<. But, at that point I should be able to power on the system and hope for the best. Everything checks out good, then she should start. My only fear is a bad ECU and that's a minimal chance, so luck may be in my favor tomorrow.

 

Can't wait to get the exhaust done and drive her home!

[68Datsun510]

Hell yes!

[Boaty]

ALLOFMYRAGE.MOV

 

Tore down both of my starters that I have since both seemed to be seized. Cleaned everything, re-greased, checked clearance etc etc.

 

At the last moment while tightening the last bolt on the OEM Nissan starter, I heard a snap. Broke the damned brush assembly. BAH. So, maybe I can get another one of those at the alt/starter shop tomorrow. I'd like to use teh OEM one.. it's cleaner. And nicer looking. Probably get new brushes and a new "whateveritisthatbroke" and call it good. Everything else was mint, barely even needed cleaned, but the end bearing was seized.

 

Tomorrow!