1981 b310 found under a tarp....

[orbitz]

So now that I know how to work this bloody computer, and upload pictures I figured I should properly introduce myself and my car. Icome from a mostly 2 wheeled racing background with light dablings of 4 wheeled madness. I have always loved Japanese cars since I was younger, and always remember my grandad, who only drove datsuns, toyotas and nissans, saying that "the Japanese built things to last by overbuilding everything"... Whether or not this is true today I'm not sure, but he sure enjoyed his cars!

 

 

 

Anyways.... I work as an Arborist in BC, and this job comes with its risks. A few years ago I had a really bad accident at work and found myself unable to work for a long time... this led to countless hours on the internet searching for things to do.. I came across this CL add and was immediately in awe.... It read something like this...

 

"beautiful old datsun left behind. needs a bit of work. unsure of engine functions, interior is ok, paint seems nice, rims are fancy".. and so on.. no pictures, and a price tag of... wait for it.............. 500 bucks. So i send the poster an email asking year,make,model etc. The reply was this. "

 

It is a 1981 b310 ex show car.. it has a nissan 1.5 pushrod motor and 2 sets of tires. not sure if it runs or if it is safe to drive but you can have it if you want it....

 

So i asked for pictures and the seller replied that he had no camera so I would have to come and see it... So this is what I found when i arrived..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sooooooo, I gave the guy 500 hundred for the car(i'll get back to him in a minute) and went to work seeing if it would start. I brought a new battery with me, some basic tools, 4 new plugs, some fresh gas and fuel filter, cap, rotor, oil filter, oil, and a set of cheap plug leads...

 

Put the battery in and the thing FIRED UP!!! it took about 3 minutes of getting the fresh gas to pull through and idle. took it for a little test around the block and it was sweet as a nut! it pulled pretty good and had a nice tone to the somewhat sketchy

cherry bomb exhaust. So I thought " nice deal away we go"! and started on my drive from downtown vancouver to whistler ski hill where i was living. she made it up there without a hitch and sat in my driveway for the winter while i started doing some research on the car.

In the meantime I had the rear seat redone, and pulled the backcover near the rear window off as it was flaking away. made a template and cut a new one out of plate aluminium and went to work drilling (without a press) all the speaker holes as like the factory cover had. ( yeah I know the holes are pretty bad. I'll be doing another one with a drill press)

 

 

 

 

 

So once that was done I started looking closer at the engine. I pulled the plugs and noticed cylinder 3 and 4 were really oily and black... so i did a comp test and 1, 2 were good but 3,4 were done... I started looking into motor swaps, stock A15 rebuilds and so on. Of course this then led me eventually to pulling the motor out knowing something would ultimately be happening in the long run.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At this point I was pretty stoked with how everything looked. Not to much rust. A bit by the bottoms of both strut towers close to the front x-member. and some floor pans needed to be put in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was really hoping it was going to be an oval port A15 head.... but nope.. not that easy eh!

 

 

 

 

So now I was thinking engine swap when one day I typed in H89 cylinder head and got a link to peterzekert.com.... This man has helped me like no one has ever done in my life!!!!! I asked him about head interchagability(?), and A series motors and what could really be done with them. Knowing that this man has made an A12 hold 10,000 rpm in the 2008 SCCA GT-Lite National Championship "Runoffs" at Heartland Park made me confident that his knowledge and advice was solid as japanese steel!! He told me I could take an H89 that was off his back up motor on a different set up car and throw it on a .30 over bored A15 block and it would sing at 8500rpm all day long while still being kind on the pocket book at the pumps. I wanted something I could use as a semi-daily driver while having some different bolt on options for the track at a later date.

 

So this is the list of parts from Peter Zekert Racing.

GT Light race prep cylinder head with the following included.(Everything listed was in near new condition) only a few laps as I'm told from Peter.

-Hardness Testing and Pressure Testing.

-Bronze Guides

-Tomei Twin Spring

-Titanium Valve Retainers

-Fresh 3 Angle Grind on Valves

-Heavy Duty Stem Oil Seals

-Custom Oversized Rocker Tower Bolts with Keenserts

-Extensive Bench Flowing on Intake and Exhaust Ports

-Oil Galleys opened up for better flow

-Milled

 

Picture is at my machine shop while doing the pre-assembly of all components so it is not completely put together. We are using the single springs to establish valve train setup. More to come though don't worry!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm using the stock A15 block bored .30 thou over.

 

 

 

The guys at Grindstaff Engines hooked me up with my rebuild kit including:

-pistons

-rings

-all bearings and gaskets

-oil pump

-timing chain and adjuster and cam pulley

 

 

I am using the stock A15 Rods with ARP bolts, balanced at Cords Alpine here on the Island. ( Same shop doing the engine rebuild)

 

Other goodies include a light weight flywheel (3.7 kgs) from Bprojects in Japan.

 

Forgot to mention when I pulled the motor apart we found that the bottom crank pulley was broken a bit on the spline that attaches to the crank which would somewhat explaine the damage to cylinders 3 and 4.(?)

 

So I needed another one of those which Peter Zekert had in his warehouse of wonders! Then realizing that the actual spline on the crank was damaged he said he'd throw in a Fresh from the crank shop Standard size A15 crank. So that was easy!... Wrong... just after getting off the phone one of the machinists called and said i needed a new oil pickup as the one that was on the original motor was toast... So bacl on the phone with Peter and it was all sorted. Pete ur a life saver!!!

 

Old pickup.

 

 

 

New one with new crank pulley

 

 

 

Gotta love some people eh! Peter called me a few days later and said Hey if you want a really nice cam I have one here for a 10th of the price as a Tomei Pro-Cam... Fresh from the cam shop! Ummm ok sure Peter thanks a lot!!

 

Here is the cam profile:

 

 

Valve Lash 0.020" Intake 0.022" Exhaust Hot

Lift

Intake 0.328" at cam; 0.492" at valve.

Exhaust 0.328" at cam; 0.492 at valve.

 

Duration

Intake 302 deg advertised; 262 deg at 0.050" valve lift.

Exhaust 302 deg advertised; 262 deg at 0.050" valve lift.

 

Valve Timing at 0.050" valve lift.

Intake opens 29 BTDC; closes 53 ABDC.

Exhaust opens 57 BBDC; closes 25 ATDC.

 

These timing numbers 2 deg Advance; 102 deg Intake center line.

 

Just got all the bit lined up for the bottom end assembly. Crank is now fully balanced and ready to have some bearing put in and the Rods connected to the crank.

 

 

 

 

So thats about it for now all as once again I've been on here way to long and my dog is starting to give me funny looks!!! More to come as the journey continues.

[king bee66]

wow, that looks great!

[orbitz]

Thanks king bee66... Think this is gonna be a long build... The car came with tons of smog garbage from the factory, and things like the little black carbon can has some lines going back to the gas tank which im not sure what to do with.. things like using a Weber 32/36 with an adapter I bought and an intake for my H89... Have twim dellorto's but have to do wildwood brake conversion i think in oder to clear brake booster... the list is a bit longer than I hoped but I'm ready for the long haul... As I procrastinate about getting off the computer..

 

[Dguy210]

Sweet car, looks good man! I just love the A series engine porn too :D

[orbitz]

Sweet car, looks good man! I just love the A series engine porn too :D

Shinny goodness! Hope it makes the car go a bit faster than stock..

[sunny310]

wow man..nice find. im jealous. wish i could find gems like this where i live.

[wayno]

Welcome to Ratsun

Very nice article, it's like you have been doing this for years.

Nice looking car.

[orbitz]

Thaks guys for the comments and compliments! Still trying to find a fabricator here in Victoria BC who can come to my place and do some fab work on those nasty strut tower bottoms and put some new floor pans in!! Anyone in this are I'll pay good cash for your time.I'd do it myself but I just had my knee replaced 3 months ago and i can't bend down that far!!!:blink:

 

 

 

waititng on some new cam bearing for the build then she's back together and getting put on the sim tester for a few hours to break her in.. PICs Soon!

[ggzilla]

the little black carbon can has some lines going back to the gas tank which im not sure what to do with.

 

Leave it, as it is the fuel tank vent. It does not hurt performance. Works great with a Weber.

 

 

we found that the bottom crank pulley was broken a bit on the spline that attaches to the crank which would somewhat explaine the damage to cylinders 3 and 4.(?)

They are unrelated. If the compression for 3 & 4 was below 90 psi, chances are the valves were burnt. If it was 30 or below probably was the head gasket.

[orbitz]

Leave it, as it is the fuel tank vent. It does not hurt performance. Works great with a Weber.

 

 

 

They are unrelated. If the compression for 3 & 4 was below 90 psi, chances are the valves were burnt. If it was 30 or below probably was the head gasket.

 

From what I understand, and I'm not a car medhanic, but have rebuilt over 35 of my V-twin KTM race motor, that the bottom balancer/puller if damaged would throw the balance off conciderably.(?) When I pulled the engine out and pulled the head, the head gasket was in great shape, but the compression rings and oil rings on #3/4 were absolutely toasted and the backside of both cylinder walls were scored beyond belief.. either way I needed a new crank and bottom pulley. Hopefully she holds up to what I'm gonna throw at her!!!!!

 

ggzilla do you mind if i send you a pm?

[ggzilla]

Sure, go ahead.

[orbitz]

So I've been waiting.... and waiting for my cam bearings to get here from the US. So while doing nothing for a week I decided to take the car down the road to my buddies place to start on the rust removal in the floor boards and lower strut towers. This is my first time doing this so tips and tricks are appreciated!!

 

Passenger side was toast! A bit nervous about cutting close to the frame rail here. Guess I just take er back to the top of the frame rail without taking to much off(?)

 

Lower strut tower on driver side behind the steerng box was in rough shape as well... again just bringing it back to some usefull metal on both sides. Was thinking re seaming it where I've cut it then fishplate over top with some heavier gauge steel for reinforcement(?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

getting there slowly... don't wanna take to much out and make more work in the end!

 

[ggzilla]

Cam bearings ... make sure you line hone them. The Datsun factory service manual recommends not replacing the cam bearings, it is not part of a rebuild. But if you do, they require line honing.

[orbitz]

Been a few weeks now at the fab shop... decided to do the work myself and learn how to weld once and for all.... not saying that these welds look anyuthing more than that of a child using a glue gun... but at least I'm tryin! Again I know this isnt the most popular model of Datsun to be doing a lot of money and time into rebuild, but I have fallen into a weird love affair with this car..... anyways guys/gals give me some tips and tricks to help me through the process of getting this thing up and running again by the end of march...... And a name woudl be sick for the car... Member who thinks up the best name and gives me a good trick on this build gets a Ratsun Shift knob from me with color of his/her choice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice using my bro's hoist to get in there.... Thanks Shawn!

[]2eDeYe]

Again I know this isnt the most popular model of Datsun to be doing a lot of money and time into rebuild, but I have fallen into a weird love affair with this car.....

 

 

We understand, it's a Datsun. :)

[orbitz]

So some more new pics as things move along...

 

 

 

Motor all finished up at the machine shop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh ya and this got picked up last week. Thanks again to RedBanner for the hook ups and KARMA!

 

 

H89 intake manifold before bead blasting, porting and EGR block off.

 

 

 

After bead blasting/porting and EGR fill in/block off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And last but not least.... A freshly rebuilt 63A #1 Dog-leg Gearbox

 

 

 

 

So I;m still waititng to hear about new Engine mounts as I had a hick-up with the last set I ordered.. They never came in so got a refund and am hoping someone on here can help out. Posted on the Datsun Parts Wanted section if you guys can help.. RockAuto WILL NOT deliver to canada, and my supplier here has nothing.

 

 

 

So back to the car and getting the box mounted in the tunnel and get her ready to have the heart replaced!Thanks RedBanner for the parts, I'll be back down as soon as it's running and insured.

[ElephantPrint]

where can i find a single groove crank shaft pulley? 

[datsunfreak]

where can i find a single groove crank shaft pulley? 

 

They used to be available through Nissan Motorsport. Maybe try and ask the guys at Courtesy Nissan? And maybe try starting your own thread and asking this question?  ;)

 

www.courtesynissan.com 

[ggzilla]

We can tell you a lot about single-groove pulleys. Ask in a new Topic, because this one is a build thread for Orbitz.

[TENDRIL]

this thing is awsome!!

[mrmark]

this thing is awsome!!

I 2nd that!