69FJWagon Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 you figure out your problem with the KA? Quote Link to comment
Duke Posted January 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 I think so, hope so...I'll let you know later tonight.... Quote Link to comment
Duke Posted January 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 Well...good comes with bad I guess. I got the carbs and dizzy totally figured out. Running like a champ, just needed some little adjustments here and there to get it perfect. I was getting ready to take it out for it's maiden voyage, just checking the last few things over, like the oil... Milkshake anybody? The oil was a milky mess. So yeah, I've got coolant getting into the oil somehow. :cry: Compression is good across all cylinders, I'm guessing the head gasket is blown between an oil passage and coolant passage. I guess this is what comes with buying a mystery engine and not tearing the whole thing apart. It just seems like if its not one thing its another right now. I hope nothing has been hurt internally and that its only a HG. Looks like I have my work cut out for me tomorrow. Quote Link to comment
bonvo Posted January 24, 2009 Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 damnit that sucks lets hope its just the HG Quote Link to comment
510er Posted January 24, 2009 Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 shit man that does suck! Quote Link to comment
Cuts metal like mad Posted January 24, 2009 Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 *wince* damn, that sucks! Hope it all works out. Quote Link to comment
69FJWagon Posted January 24, 2009 Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 Damn It!!!:mad: that sucks man hopefully its a quick fix with a cheap off the shelf part let me know if I can help at all I will be at Troys today if you need anything Clayton Quote Link to comment
inline4 Posted January 24, 2009 Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 Damn It!!!:mad: that sucks man hopefully its a quick fix with a cheap off the shelf part let me know if I can help at all I will be at Troys today if you need anything Clayton get me one of everything? :) I need to fly back so I can pickup my 510 and drive it down here = Quote Link to comment
Duke Posted January 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Well Clayton, not exactly a quick fix.:mad: Today we pressure tested the cooling system. The funny thing was it didn't loose pressure like it had a major leak, but we were still getting coolant in the oil. So off came the head. The head gasket looked OK, no obvious leaks, so we cleaned up the mounting surfaces and continues on with the head gasket change, hoping that it would be the cure. Well, while we were putting the lower timing chain idler (the KA uses 2 timing chains) back on I noticed that the chain guide looked to not be in the best of conditions. Upon further investigation, it was trashed. :(. So now we need to remove the front cover to change that. Well, not so fast, the front cover is connected to the oil pump which is in turn connected to the pickup (yeah, the one that extends back to the rear sump). So to get the front cover off, the oil pan needs to come off. Because of the crank girdle in a KA and how low the engine is mounted in the chassis, the oil pan won't come off without the engine out. So the engine needs to come out so that we can change the timing chain guide. SHOOT ME!!! We are going to pull it tomorrow, order the parts, and I should be able to get it back together next weekend and hopefully have a running and driving car by next Saturday or Sunday. When does the fun start? Quote Link to comment
Cuts metal like mad Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 so the timing chain wore a hole in the water inlet? 1 Quote Link to comment
Duke Posted February 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 :D :D Well, I'm pretty much grinning from ear to ear right now. I just got back from driving it around for like an hour! What fun to drive a dime again. We (my dad and I) put the engine back in today. When doing the timing chain I found some interesting things. It looks like the PO had the cams set at 1 tooth advanced in the intake cam and 1 tooth retarded on the exhaust cam. Most likely the reason it was a bitch to start. I'll also post some pictures of the carnage of the timing chain tensioners. Dropping the engine back in went as smoothly as it could, no major hick-ups (hell, I know all the mounting stuff like the back of my hand by now). That was until I went to put it in reverse to back it out of the shop, let out the clutch and....nothing. No movement in ANY gear. I was freaking out! I was thinking we were going to have to pull the tranny :cry: , something that is not on the top of my list of things to do at 9:30 on a Saturday night. I poked around under the car a bit and it turns out that the slave cylinder had backed out, meaning the clutch was always dis-engaged. Bled the clutch and all was well again! Driving it for the first time was a little scary. A few noises that I need to track down, but all in all it is pretty good, except for the carbs... At idle and revving with no load they are fine, but with a load, when you get on the throttle, it falls flat on its face. I have to very gingerly roll on it to prevent it from sputtering and coughing. But once I get it over the initial sputter, it pulls damn hard! I'm thinking that the float bowls may be a little low, so when the accel. pump goes, they run out. I really don't know though...any advice? I'm just stoked that its running, and there is no coolant in the oil! I'll post some pictures tomorrow. Quote Link to comment
qship510 Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 It's alive!! I don't know Mikunis too well, but what you describe sounds like a way-to-lean condition off idle (duh, I know). Back in the SU days, that meant richening the mixture to get rid of the stumble (unscrewing the tubes). Congrats!! Quote Link to comment
Duke Posted February 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Today went from good, to OK, to just plain horrible. I started the day doing a little carb tuning, and just planning on buttoning odds and ends up before going back to school. Then it developed a hard starting issue when it was hot. With the motor cold, it would start on the first crank, but it refused to start while it was hot. Tracked it down to the dizzy getting hot, making the ignition module not work. Solved that with a heat shield. Then the battery went south. To much money later I had new battery that was bigger than the old one. This meant modding the battery box for the new battery. Done with that I figured that it was pretty good to go and I would take it out for a little drive to just make sure all is well. This is when it all went to shit. During the "check out" drive the cabin filled with smoke and the motor so I pulled over to check things out. The crank case breather was belching smoke and it wasn't getting power from cylinder #4. Back at home a compression test showed 80psi... And so now I am pretty much where I was a year ago. A car with a cylinder that has possible busted rings/piston/who knows...I'm pretty defeated at the moment. I'll have to wait till spring break to see whats up with the motor...sometimes, it just seems like you can't win. So is life. Oh well, it was pretty damn fast for those few pulls when the carbs were running good. Guess I get to pull the engine again! Quote Link to comment
datto510 Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 That sucks dude! I have been following this build, all of your attention to the little details and then somthing like this happens! Advice?... Stew on it for a few days, then start planning your next move. Besides, its too late to turn back, you already felt the "pull"! Quote Link to comment
fisch Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Man Duke, what a journey you are on! Ups and downs around every corner. I know how frustrating it can get. I think many of us just have to walk away for a few months, let out heads cool and come back at it. The flame will rekindle, it always does! HEh I was saying in my thread the other day the worst, and best, thing I did was get another non datsun daily driver. It is great becasue I have something I can just get in and go, but having that makes me in less of a rush to work on my datto. When your datto is your daily, you have no choice but to get out there and fix it ASAP! I don't know what's better! Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 I do, it's better to get to work everyday, to make money to sink into my Datto... Duke, it'll be waiting for you next break. Don't take it personal, shit happens...maybe time to build that motor into a monster :) Quote Link to comment
bonvo Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 what about buying a rebuilt longblock? i know its alot of money but no more headache take all the cool parts you made for this one and put them on the new one it will even have a warrenty and no more hickups Quote Link to comment
denveratsun Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 I am sorry that you are going through this...I know the feeling...thats why i am saying that I am so bummed for you. :rolleyes:I remember having to pull motors multiple times and so many of my friends have been there too. I bet that if everyone on Ratsun started telling stories about these kind of situations...you would be in for quiet a read! You are in good company man:cool: Sounds like you have a really good start to a very strong motor man! I have felt that same "pull" before and MAN is that stuff addicting! Build the one you got, or repair it. It will be plenty strong!:D The whole hard to start when hot problem could have been a leaky needle and seat. Draining down while sitting for a while and flooding a cylinder (perhaps in this case hole #4?) could cause a condition like the one you described. I lost #3 cyl. in my 74 VW bus because of the same thing on one of the carbs. Washed the cylinder walls down with all that gas and let the rings score the sides. :blink:Not pretty as far as the repair went, but nice to know that the actual "root" of the problem was fairly easy to fix. Just a thought. Quote Link to comment
Duke Posted February 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 Well, I got a update from my dad. It looks like we figured out the problem. I'm not sure what the stock KA piston to deck height is but on my mystery rebuild they are around .05 above if I remember what my dad communicated to me (that sounds like to much to me so I'm guessing it's less). Regardless it looks like the pistons in no. 1 and no. 4 contacted something (possibly the hg) and damaged the pistons. On no. 1 the upper ring land is chipped in an area and there is a faint ring on both 1 and 4 as you can see in the pictures. The first 3 are of the no. 1 piston with the obvious damage and the last is of no. 4 which you can see a faint indent from the hg. Oddly enough it was no. 4 that was giving me troubles but I'm going to get a fresh short block none the less. #1 piston #1 #1 #4 (it is hard to see the damage, but there is a slight indentation) Quote Link to comment
bonvo Posted February 22, 2009 Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 ouch man does the head have any damage? Quote Link to comment
69FJWagon Posted March 11, 2009 Report Share Posted March 11, 2009 any updates??? Clayton Quote Link to comment
Duke Posted March 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2009 Not really anything to report. I do have a freshly rebuilt short block sitting at home waiting for me though. I go back this friday for spring break, so it will get all put back together next week. Being the awesome guy he is, my dad pulled the old motor and tranny, and pulled the head off of the block. So it is all there at home waiting for me to get crackin. My goal is to have it in and running around Tuesday. Third time is a charm eh? Clayton, I'm bummed that I am missing the first American Auto-X. Would have been a good time. Quote Link to comment
69FJWagon Posted March 11, 2009 Report Share Posted March 11, 2009 Clayton, I'm bummed that I am missing the first American Auto-X. Would have been a good time. Im not done with Lisa's car yet so this weekend is kinda up in the air for me too...:( I wish I would have had the car done by this point for this weekend, I have a feeling the next few nights are gunna be LOOONG. best of luck to you on the engine hope that this is the end of the problems Clayton Quote Link to comment
69FJWagon Posted March 21, 2009 Report Share Posted March 21, 2009 SO... HOLDING OUT ON US??? I heard via the realm that its running since tuesday??? and you cant let your friends here know :lol::D I am glad to hear that you have you car running again.:cool: as far as the first auto-x it git postponed till the end of this month the 28th and 29th so if your still in town and want to attend I personally would love to see another datsun out there Clayton Quote Link to comment
Duke Posted March 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2009 Haha, yeah, I have been holding out on you guys. It has been on the road since tuesday...I just didn't want to post without pictures and have everybody get mad at me :). I should have some pictures and a crappy video tomorrow. Quote Link to comment
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