Datsun B310 turbo coupe, A15 project

[Lockleaf]

Holy freaking rave! That's serious startup

[Atomic]

decided to mill the intake flanges down to 13.5 mm, will try to look for some piping to them and ask prices:

 

[Atomic]

Bought the intake manifold pipes and such, should arrive in 1-2 weeks  B)

8x

 

4x40cm

 

3 pcs 500mm

[Atomic]

I have the aluminum pipes ready and I just need to find time to weld them. I'm also doing a DIY cnc plasma cutter in school. I could share the project if I manage to get it done.

[Atomic]

Wired up some last sensors:
TPS

 

Open type air temperature sensor:

 

Closed type water temp sensor:

 

Also bought COM to USB adapter, works really well, it was quite pricey tho

 

Fired up Tuner studio:

 

And after 30 mins or so, I had the mega updated to latest firmware and calibrated the TPS, MAP, Lambda and temp sensors.

 

I wired the starter also and bought some mineral based 10w-30 for the first crank cycle and for the future so I'll change the oil when the first warmup cycle is completed. The starter didn't want to turn at first, so I disassembled it and started to work again. So I was able to crank the engine and no weird noises present yet (seems like my transmission axle was well fitted for the needle bearing). So it looks like that my transmission swap doesn't cause any noises so far. Will have to listen if it scrapes on load or higher RPM when i get the engine running.

[Atomic]

I ended up frying one of the wires that goes from starter motor to alternator. I moved some wires and it happened to hit the case of the alternator while the power was still on. So it started to evaporate quite quickly, I was able to toggle the master switch off in time and it was the only wire that got damaged  :rofl: What was it again about fuses... Fuse it or lose it..

 

I'm thinking that I should remove the whole oil cap from the top cover and relocate the oil dump system where the distributor originally was. This enables me to run the intake runners closer to valve cover and avoid hitting the hood when it's closed.

 

Made a plug with M10 bolt and nyloc nut + some rubber that I had laying around. I hope they will not get destroyed by the oil and acids that are in the crankcase  :confused:

 

It was a really good snug fit tho, and relatively easy to pull out, and it won't drop in.

 

Also refurbished the engine to transmission mount:

[Atomic]

Oops it made a new page, I posted some megasquirt stuff on page 34 if someone missed it.

[Atomic]

Bought the connector for the ignition coil and 2x 7 inch fans for the radiator

[Atomic]

I was able to weld the injector pockets to the aluminium bends, the welds aren't that pretty and I still need to continue working with the manifold runners so I'll post more pictures when I tidy them up.

[Atomic]

Did some planing with the pockets:

 

And came up with a angle of 30 degrees that I was able to use when welding the pockets to the bends, the angles held up really well and now hopefully the injectors will shoot directly to

the intake valves and now that they're a bit further away from the intake port, the fuel should have better time to mix up with the air (in theory)

 

Made a small jig for the bends where I was able to weld the injector pockets

 

The first pockets were quite a mess, the weld pool is hard to control with aluminium and mig combo, but really good penetration was achieved.

first pocket, not so pretty

but was able to improve the quality of welds later on, speed seemed to be the key for this to avoid burning through and avoid big drops

Then cut some 40mm straight pipes 

welded more, again, welds ain't so pretty, but they hold up and I'm going to tidy them up.

Going to go over the valve cover like so

was also able to machine the fuel rail

came out really nice. Need to make some threads to ends for AN fittings

tidying up the welds

work in progress

it's soon time for the plenum I guess 

 

hopefully I don't offend anyone with my aluminium welds tho  :rofl:  :rofl:

[Fast720]

Hey Atomic

As long as they don't leak !!! , yes TIG welding them would result in much more control , but your doing it with what you have.

If you want them to look really nice you can spend some time cleaning them up .

 

Use a flat and 1/2 round file ,use the mini grinder to take off the mass of excess , but be careful not to go too deep.

The grinder will go past the surface of the parent metal giving you all the low areas which look bad , file them up and spot tack some weld in the low areas to make them look like one piece.

Good luck

[Atomic]

Hey Atomic

As long as they don't leak !!! , yes TIG welding them would result in much more control , but your doing it with what you have.

If you want them to look really nice you can spend some time cleaning them up .

 

Use a flat and 1/2 round file ,use the mini grinder to take off the mass of excess , but be careful not to go too deep.

The grinder will go past the surface of the parent metal giving you all the low areas which look bad , file them up and spot tack some weld in the low areas to make them look like one piece.

Good luck

 

Yeah, they seem to be air tight and I'm only able to use MIG at the moment. I'll be cleaning them off before I weld them to the intake flanges.

 

I'm planning to buy some sanding disks for the small air rotating tool to smooth out the rest. I'm glad that the wall thickness is 3mm so it's not so easy to cut them through  :rofl: And as for smoothing out the low spots, do you have any knowledge if some ceramic metal 2k compound can be used for such purpose? I know some that take up to 1200C in heat, but don't know how they will stick with different expansionratio than aluminium. Altho the flanges shouldn't be that hot in the first place. Ps. loving your build thread!  :thumbup:

[Atomic]

wired the coil and mounted it to the firewall... Upside down ofc, Do'h!  :rofl: The sparkplug wire kit was quite expensive tho, it had some special mini inserts that could be only found in some early 2000 wv's. 

Sleeved more cables also:

 

[Atomic]

I managed to mount the two 7'' fans to the original radiator, the waterpump pulley came a bit close tho, but isn't hitting anything  :thumbup:

 

Then i was able to make the mockup mount for the slave clutch cylinder, might have a chance to test it when I get some lines done:

[Atomic]

Finally installed new brake pads to the front:

 

Also started messing with fuel regulator and AN fittings, haven't used these before, but they seem to be really good

 

Made the clutch piping ready, I only need the flexible hose for the slave cylinder and then I can start testing out the clutch mechanism

 

+ some random photos of current situation:

[Atomic]

Started to make the plenum, bought 135 and 45 degree 2.5'' aluminium pipes and cut them half and came out with this kind of plenum setup:

 

[Atomic]

Cut the sides for the plenum, it's going to be roughly a bit over 1 liter in volume:

 

Also ordered new oil pressure sensor, same series than my other gauges

[Atomic]

started welding the plenum:

 

 

Needs a flange for the air intake and runner plate, will continue tomorrow

[Atomic]

Got one pair of intake runners welded in, used some wood to guide the the pipe to oval:

 

It was pretty cold -7C / 19.4F inside of the warehouse where I was welding, so didn't get that far because my fingers started to freeze. I had some other problems too with allignment of the injector pockets, but I'll see what I can do with those. Also some of the injector holes still seem bit loose with bigger O-rings. I might glue the injectors to the pockets, or drill the pockets to fit ready made pockets that will utilize the normal 14.5mm O-rings.

 

[Atomic]

Sorry I have been really busy with the plasma cutter project, but it's coming together!

Here is a small peek:

 

Also got the new autogauge oil pressure gauge and installed it next to the lambda sensor gauge:

 

I painted the gauge ring black so it would match up with the other gauge better, came out pretty nice, i can't wait to make some custom parts with the plasma cutter for my ratsun  :thumbup:

[Atomic]

Cleaned out some wires from the enginebay, doesn't seem like it, but i did!

 

Then I tightened the steering box screw to eliminate the horrible lack of steering output from the box. I have read tho that tightening up the screw might break down the box and wormgears, will need to see how it lasts out, but turning the screw really improved the steering. From sloppy to tight.

 

Also connected the oil pressure sensor

[datsunfreak]

Then I tightened the steering box screw to eliminate the horrible lack of steering output from the box. I have read tho that tightening up the screw might break down the box and wormgears

 

Only if you overdo it. It needs to be adjusted from time to time for even wear, but just like the rear brakes, they seldom are. 

 

Just make sure it doesn't bind as you get closer to all the way right or left. You want to adjust for the whole range of steering, not just on center. 

[Atomic]

Only if you overdo it. It needs to be adjusted from time to time for even wear, but just like the rear brakes, they seldom are. 

 

Just make sure it doesn't bind as you get closer to all the way right or left. You want to adjust for the whole range of steering, not just on center. 

 

Bind meaning that it would essentially get stuck in some position? I'll try to recheck the whole range when I'm able to. Thanks for info  :thumbup:

[datsunfreak]

Bind meaning that it would essentially get stuck in some position? 

 

 

Possibly, but more likely the steering just gets really heavy at the limits. Which will wear down the worm gear rapidly. 

[Atomic]

Nothing much to post about the car atm, but during the week I'm making progress on the plasma cutter at school: