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'73 1200 Coupe Project, aka Timmy


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  • 3 weeks later...

Not as fast as we'd like.  We had to take the last two weekends off of moving for other reasons... not sure how public they are so I'll leave it at that.  We WILL be moving stuff this coming weekend FO SHIZZLE!

 

Sorry, I'll never say that again.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

Finally got the new engine up on an engine stand. It's an A15 from an '80 210. We will start stripping it down to a short block next week. Already have a worked head, dual Solexes, Nismo header, etc to go on it. This engine ran well, just leaked a bit of oil, so we'll install all new seals while it's apart. Fun times ahead...  :thumbup:

 

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Gotta love the cool valve cover hold downs the PO made for it...

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

do you need the ones that come together and make a "Y", so it would be 4 altogether?  I actually have to go to storage this weekend so I will take a peek and see what I have.

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do you need the ones that come together and make a "Y", so it would be 4 altogether?  I actually have to go to storage this weekend so I will take a peek and see what I have.

 

I don't actually know what they look like.  :rofl:

 

I know the '73 brackets I have are longer and mount the bumper up higher (sort of a Y shape viewed from above). I need the 71-72 brackets to mount the bumper where it "belongs".  B)

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AC compressor/bracket, exhaust manifold and downpipe, a bunch of other brackets, and the cylinder head, are all now off...   :thumbup:

 

Because of the MadDat crossmember and isolators, the stock A-series brackets aren't going to cut it. After some measurements, we figured out that maybe using two right side brackets will get it done...

 

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Had to clearance the left side a bit for the header...

 

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Got the head surface and piston crowns cleaned up...

 

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Cylinder walls still look good...

 

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Also noticed during the clean-up that all the pistons are stamped 0.50?

 

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Based on the condition of the block (ZERO wear ridge), I can believe the PO's statement that it was a rebuilt engine. But curious what the 0.50 means. Thinking it must mean the engine was over-bored half a millimeter? Normally it would say .030 or .060, not 0.50. I know a lot of oversized pistons for Japanese cars are in increments of .020" (half a millimeter), so...

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Turns out the A15 motor mounts are a complete bust.   :sneaky:

 

Removed the engine crossmember, test fit it on the A15 mounts and they were not only sitting at the wrong angle, but they were about 2" too short to reach. So...

 

Fit up the crossmember, got some 3/16" steel plate from the hardware store and got to bending...

 

20131205_130411.jpg

 

 

Those put the engine in a MUCH better spot, so we made some braces to make them stiffer (this photo makes me dizzy ^_^ )...

 

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Tim kindly welded them up for me...

 

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Finished product? Well, sort of...

 

20131205_162552.jpg

 

 

On Tim's advice we decided to see if the header cleared the mount since it didn't clear the stock mount. Turns out it didn't...   :rofl:

 

No worries, only needed to grind off about 1/4" to get the clearance I needed...

 

20131205_161723.jpg

 

 

 

Cleaned them up and threw some paint on them for the time being (may stay dull silver, may go black)...

 

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The finished product is very stout, and puts the engine right where I want it. It's exactly where the factory mounts put it front to back, but 1/2" lower in the chassis than the stock engine location. :thumbup:  

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Turns out the A15 motor mounts are a complete bust.   :sneaky:

 

Removed the engine crossmember, test fit it on the A15 mounts and they were not only sitting at the wrong angle, but they were about 2" too short to reach. So...

 

Fit up the crossmember, got some 3/16" steel plate from the hardware store and got to bending...

 

20131205_130411.jpg

 

 

Those put the engine in a MUCH better spot, so we made some braces to make them stiffer (this photo makes me dizzy ^_^ )...

 

20131205_150631.jpg

 

 

Tim kindly welded them up for me...

 

20131205_151821.jpg

 

 

Finished product? Well, sort of...

 

20131205_162552.jpg

 

 

On Tim's advice we decided to see if the header cleared the mount since it didn't clear the stock mount. Turns out it didn't...   :rofl:

 

No worries, only needed to grind off about 1/4" to get the clearance I needed...

 

20131205_161723.jpg

 

 

 

Cleaned them up and threw some paint on them for the time being (may stay dull silver, may go black)...

 

20131205_163914.jpg

 

 

The finished product is very stout, and puts the engine right where I want it. It's exactly where the factory mounts put it front to back, but 1/2" lower in the chassis than the stock engine location. :thumbup:  

Very nice. I assume I will have to do the same using the ute cross member when installing the A-14 in my sedan. Or can I use the stock cross member and fab mounts to fit?

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Very nice. I assume I will have to do the same using the ute cross member when installing the A-14 in my sedan. Or can I use the stock cross member and fab mounts to fit?

 

If you use an actual later model Ute crossmember, everything bolts right up. It's made for a 1200 with an A14.   :thumbup:

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Very nice. I assume I will have to do the same using the ute cross member when installing the A-14 in my sedan. Or can I use the stock cross member and fab mounts to fit?

If it is a stock 1200, later A-series engine will bolt in using two flat plates, each with two holes drilled 35mm apart. It doesn't look as cool as DFs mounts but are plenty strong.
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Today's progress...

 

Broke out the giant box of A-series gaskets. Yes, we have a LOT of them...  :rofl:

 

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Got some wide masking tape and covered the deck to keep it clean...

 

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After a major scrubbing with some solvents to get all the oil and grime off...

 

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As you can see the oil pump looks great, but the solvent I used seems to have made the timing cover a little on the ugly side. So I decided to pop it off to clean it up separately. Damn glad I did too, since this engine had one of the shitty aftermarket water pumps on it...   :sneaky:

 

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Luckily we have a couple of NOS pumps in the spare parts stash, so I grabbed one of those...

 

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Got the stock crank pulley off and Tim says "Hey, let's bin that and put one of these super duper lightweight Nismo race pulleys on it!". So I says "Sure!"...   :rofl:

 

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Inside the timing cover was spotlessly clean, and the chain/gears are in great shape...   :thumbup:

 

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Weather should be warming up a bit next weekend (40 today, 65 next week), so I stopped there...

 

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Fuel pump, distributor, and oil pump are all off now, and I masked off those surfaces like I did on the deck so they won't get painted.   :thumbup:

 

Still trying to decide between black (like the A15 came with) or blue (what the original A12 came with), so I have 6 days to decide...   :rofl:

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