ruby (510 wagon L20B 5-speed driver build)

[tr8er]

Well I did tell the shop that I was not in a rush.  They then waited a month to get to it.  No sweat, cause I'm still working on rust.  Now it's at a machine shop turning down the yolks to accept the new tube.  That part is done, so now I need to find time to take them to the tubers shop to sleeve and balance.  

 

Good news is the machine shop is a friend of mine who is far too qualified to take on this kind of work.  His day job is building parts for the telescopes on Mauna Kea.  Precision is his first name.  So that part is on point.  Not entirely sure about the other guys, but they actually seem alright, and they are my only local choice, so...

 

I've been distracted by my job which is completely tax motivated, so end of year is an insane crunch.  I've got a 100kW ground mount PV array that we are completing in less than 6 weeks time.  This must be complete before 2014, so its nights and weekends till then.  When I was hourly this kind of shit was awesome.  Now I'm salary and its really not.  But since it is y customer, they are getting everything I've got.  Right now, my car takes the back seat, whatever that means.  

[Doctoraudio]

Hahahah, I own a 10KW 27mhz amp!
Hahaha, I can say break channel fro here to the moon and back.
 

Do the job so you can have the money and time to play later!

 

Mele Kalikimaka, to you and yours. 
aloha!

[tr8er]

Alright. I've had my new baby, and life is starting to show signs of settling. I pulled my shocks apart and found that I have inserts. I thought they were stock. There goes my need for fork oil. Now I'm fishing for opinions on brands of inserts. Gas a just, or the KYB stock replacements, or Konis, or others. I'm at stock height, live on a dirt road and I want comfort till I move off dirt, and get zx towers. Let me know if it's any use spending more for shocks when I need that soft dirt road response. Thanks.

[tr8er]

So I ended the year with a big project for me.  A 116kW PV farm out here.  squeeked it in literally the day before the end of the year.  Had to be complete in 2013.  There was a bunch of wrapup that carries over still, but the physical finish was done.  

 

 

 

Now I am back.  I got my drive shaft finished, and will pick it up tomorrow.  These are the yolks for all who are interested.  The tolerances are for a 2" tubing.  

 

 

 

And today I disassembled my strut towers to discover my shocks were replaced some time in the 80's.  And that one was not done well at all.  So they were Kontrolle brand, which was apparently a decent brand when it was a brand.  The drivers side was installed with two spacers equalling 7/8".  A perfect fit.  The passenger side was installed without spacers.  And was completely shot.  No resistance left, and oil all over the barrel.   Just crap, and I always knew the passenger side needed to be fixed.  I never expected it was installed wrong.  Just odd.  So tomorrow I should get a couple of KYB replacements in the mail.  And I can start the fun process of re-assembly.  

 

 

 

 

The shock that was still working was in great shape.  I presume they were in there for 15 years or more, so I was impressed at the condition it was in.  I kinda wanted to find the same ones, but NLA.  

 

I am also taking in my rotors into the machine shop tomorrow to get them all cleaned up and ready to get the squeeze.  Do you take them in attached to the wheel hub, or separate?  They didn't want to come apart, and it occurred to me that I may want them attached to keep them perfectly round to the wheel hub.  Well, I'm guessing that I am wrong, but I'll be able to handle that on the fly tomorrow.  The plan is to get the front suspension all back together this week, a little each night.  With a newborn, we shall see.  Regardless, I am back on this project to the finish cause I need to finish my kitchen and this comes first.  

[Doctoraudio]

So I ended the year with a big project for me.  A 116kW PV farm out here.  squeeked it in literally the day before the end of the year.  Had to be complete in 2013.  There was a bunch of wrapup that carries over still, but the physical finish was done.  

 

 

 

 

Hahahaha, Hawaiian!

How long you been doing solar?

I started in the early 90's

 

You should be off the grid for sure!

Awesome!

 

 

[tr8er]

Been doing solar since I came home to Hilo in 05.  Would have been doing it in Seattle before that if there were tax credits or contractors back then.  But none, so I just focused on getting my EJ in WA.  Now I've got more time in the trade than almost anyone here in Hawaii other than my bosses and a few indy's here and there.  Love this field.  But like all things great, this too will burn out.  I'm planning on going back for a masters in electrical engineering with a focus on the Hydrogen industry.  It's coming fast.

[Doctoraudio]

Yes, it is coming soon.

I worked for Poncho's Solar Service for many years!
I have been to Hilo twice to do an install and replacement like yours.

[tr8er]

My strut towers are different lengths! Wtf? Someone help I'd these. This is a lame discovery right now.

[opalbeetle]

Those both could be 510 struts. There were three lengths made over the years, I want to say 10 1/2", 11" and 11 1/2". For the life of me I can't find that exact information. I guess one of your struts was replaced at some point in the cars life.

 

That solar project is AWESOME! I'd love to be able to do that here, but, we have such little and low angled sunshine in the winter it is a challenging proposition.

 

Great to see progress happening on that lovely wagon!

Edited February 23, 2014 by opalbeetle

[tr8er]

I started a thread to resolve this and create some base for others having this issue. Those numbers don't work for the tube depth, if that is what your numbers measure.

 

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/60772-id-this-stut-tower-for-500-internets/?p=1055533&do=findComment&comment=1055533

[opalbeetle]

I headed over there to clarify my answer.

[tr8er]

I headed over there to clarify my answer.

And it was good.

[tr8er]

So indeed, I've got two different length strut tubes. Meaning, my car will ride just like I do. (I've got 5/8" difference in leg length since shattering my femur). So I'll be shopping for zx struts to change over, but in the mean time , I need a roller to get my engine in and dollies don't work in gravel. So the struts are going in as is. Took a bunch of pics, intending to do a writeup some day.

 

Cleaned up the suspension parts months ago. Thought I'd enjoy putting it all together all white glove pretty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Really not happy about blue bushings. But I'm kinda wishing I stuck with black everything...

 

 

But done for tonight. Got my wheel hubs/rotors surfaced. So once I get new seals that's happening. Thinking about plasticote on the rotors till I'm ready to get back on the street. Then hope it just peels off rust free.

And it's time to get my Libres all pretty too. Got my old wheels still mounted for the paint booth.

 

Finally on re-assembly and it feels awesome!

[tr8er]

What is this?

 

[TENDRIL]

it look like part of the fuel tank ventilation to  me

[tr8er]

I believe it was on the fender wall near the brake master.

[TENDRIL]

[ggzilla]

An A10 (new 510) should not use the flow guide. Should use the more efficient charcoal canister. No sense in routing tank fumes to the crankcase except maybe for looks (some guys think the canister is ugly).

[tr8er]

I will seek a charcoal canister.  I believe that also means I can remove a hardline from my undercarriage as well which is great.  

 

 

Little stuff going in.  

 

 

L20B soon...  but don't hold your breath.  

[datzenmike]

You might use that fuel tank vent as a return line. L20Bs run hot and all had provision for a return line to keep cooler gas from the tank running past the carb. It also constantly filters the fuel and returns unused gas to tank. The tank stays clean of rust.

[tr8er]

but its ugly...

 

just kidding.  I like that logic, and I also like not needing a pressure regulator on the fuel line for my Weber.  I need to figure out a way to make the lines look clean.  

 

-fuel return line, air cleaner line, Crank case line, and flow guide valve.  

 

And I can't wait to drive this car with a PVC finally installed.  This was deleted since the swap in 2006.  Engine rebuilt shortly after pulling it out to clean up the bay, so it should be relatively undamaged from running it vented.  

 

Also, how important is the special spark arrestor in the tube from the valve cover to the air cleaner?

[tr8er]

Is this valve directional? Or flip able? Or is there a reason Datsun snaked the brake lines all medusa?

[tr8er]

Bent up some brake lines tonight. Killed my back, but got the front all bent up. Replaced the Japanese spaghetti from factory. Mounted the brakeline warning switch sideways on the firewall which cleaned up the run to the master cylinder quite a bit. It's close to the steering column, speedo cable, and accelerator linkage, but hopefully avoids all three. I bent up some #6 solid bare copper wire to mock up the bends. Couldn't imagine doing this without the copper wire.

 

 

I'm happy enough. I'll be getting some straps in the mail soon to secure the runs. I really hope the back lines are still good. I'm putting the tranny in before I'll have a chance to test them. And the line is deep in the tunnel.

[Just Joel]

You might use that fuel tank vent as a return line. L20Bs run hot and all had provision for a return line to keep cooler gas from the tank running past the carb. It also constantly filters the fuel and returns unused gas to tank. The tank stays clean of rust.

Did this to mine... one thing to note though, the vapor line comes from the evap tank in the passenger side rear quarter panel. If your lines between this and the gas tank are less than perfect, you'll know as soon as you dump a bunch of fuel down them via that new return line ;) In addition, you'll need to figure out a way to vent the tank as you've just plugged its only means with fuel. I eventually decided to remove the evap system all together and gut the small check valve in the gas cap to vent the tank. My research shows that this is what the 68 69 models have and it works prefect.

[tr8er]

I'm thinking about running a return line and keeping the vapor line. Both serve a good purpose. I rather like bending tube.