Project Chump Truck/Autocross Truck D21

[HRH]

Oh, I suppose I'll actually start a build thread for the 2wd D21 I acquired.  I've posted about it in insomniacs and a few other random threads, but here's the scoop:

 

Traded a rusty 510 for a rusty D21 in hopes of racing it in Chump Car, and then if that went well, in rally.  It's an '88 2wd D21 with a Z24 and FACTORY 4 speed, isn't that weird?  It blew a headgasket and sat in a field for a few years.  It's beat.  Lots of dented panels, bed loose, dash absolutely shredded.  I cut out the rest of the cracking vinyl so at least it's foam now, lol.

 

Aside from that, I've been working on her fairly diligently to try and get her operational so I can take my red truck down to replace the transmission in it.  That's a bit of a job with the 4wd system.  And I need to get this all done in two weeks, before my vacation.  I HAD the white truck running and running tits, but then decided to drive it over to CDA for it's inaugural run.  That went well until Post Falls, when the new rod bearings I had installed started to make a lot more noise than they should have.

 

Fast forward to trailering it home and finding one of the ball peened in crank plugs for the connecting rod oil galley had dropped out, thus no oiling to the rod bearings.  I drove it awhile.  It didn't grenade, but it was missing the entire rod bearing out of 1, found in the oil pan.  So today, I'm going out to pull and save to find *cross your fingers* a good crank and rods/pistons, so I can bottle brush it, slap some rings and new bearings (again) in, and resurrect my beat little D21.

 

So there you go.  And here are some pictures:

 

 

How she looked when I first got her.

 

 

 

 

 

Bearings anyone?

 

 

 

 

 

[]2eDeYe]

Yummy, bearing soup. :)

Not a bad looking little beater.

[HRH]

Yeah, she's a ten footer lol!  Cab has some body damage, core support is loose from the aprons.  But hey, it has a frame, so who cares! :D

[LenRobertson]

Too bad I didn't see this post earlier today. I was thinking of hitting P&S today, and wondered if you were busy or not. But it is getting sorta late for me to get there, since I've got an hour+ drive. And I have to be in Spokane again tomorrow for Dr. appointment. I may have time to get to P&S in the morning.

 

Last time I was there, I tried to get the steering box from that 210, but couldn't get the tie rod loose from the steering arm. I tried your whack the side with a big hammer, but couldn't get a good swing at it. I may cheat and buy a pickle fork from Harbor Fright.

 

Are you trying to get the truck ready for the Chump races at Raceway coming up? I just looked up the date a couple of days ago, but forgot it already. It really isn't a bad looking truck, but then you have seen my cars and know how low my standards are!

 

I saw the yellow 510 the last time I was at Reg's. For some weird reason I thought they had it running. It is a sad looking little thing, sitting on the ground in the weeds. I'm glad I have projects enough I'm not tempted to talk Brenden out of that thing!

 

Len

[HRH]

No, the yellow 510 isn't running.  It's dumped on the ground, the suspension work is finished, but there's still no motor or trans.  I owe Brenden an L16 and transmission but so far he hasn't requested them, so they're still in my shop.  Just as well, it's a pain to get them out right now anyway.

 

I found a good usable block in Pull and Save, just got it home.  The best part is I timed it right, didn't get rained on at all!!  And I just hosed it down with engine degreaser thinking it was probably going to rain shortly, and what do you know, it's now pouring out!  Whee free cleaning! ;)  The block Regy looked at was indeed good, but was actually a Z20 replacement motor, so I had to go down to a different Z24i, actually the same one I stole the front cover and distributor off of earlier.  I pulled the pan, the bearings looked good on this one.  In fact, the block looks almost better, so depending on inspection I may just swap blocks instead of swapping crank and rods.  I'll have to measure the cylinder bores once I get the head off the motor in the truck.

 

Anyway, rather happy, looks like I may have my goal of getting it running this weekend completed.  Cross my fingers!  Even better, I got some 15 inch aluminums like what's on my red truck.  They don't match the style as well as the steels, but they should be the right width where I think they'll look better anyway, so I may swap the front tires onto them instead.

 

 

[LenRobertson]

As hard as it rained here this AM, I was afraid you would be pulling the engine with ducks landing beside you. Although I wondered if you maybe  took a tarp to throw over the front of the truck to work under (I never think of that). Always plenty of places to wait out a rain at P&S, but it is miserable to do anything under a rig once the ground is wet. Good it worked out for you.

 

If I get to Spokane early enough tomorrow, maybe I'll have some fun at P&S. But the ground will probably still be muddy, so I'll need to look for things up above. I sometimes get parts that are easy to remove, rather than the hard to get ones I really need! I saw a "Datsun 1600" valve cover I'll grab if it is still there.

 

Len

[HRH]

Going to eat dinner, then yank the head to inspect the block!  Woot!

 

 

[HRH]

Finally have the head off, here are the oics:

 

 

Without a connecting rod bearing at all, the piston apparently is able to contact the head.  I assume this was actually a slow progression from the multitude of flaky fragments in the oil pan, so might not be that bad.

 

The edge of the valve has just a slight bit of aluminum on it, but no marks on the piston at all.  So I'm assuming that's leftover shavings from the piston crowning on the fire ring of the combustion chamber then?

 

 

 

[HRH]

The donor block appears to be in better shape than the original block.  I tried to ridge-ream it, and it was a bit out of round.  Donor block has next to no ridge, so we're going with that.

 

 

 

 

[HRH]

 

Looks good right?  Yeahhhhhh.  About that.  I shouldn't be surprised getting a motor from a wrecking yard.

 

 

 

I noticed a little more than usual motion when pulling the bearing caps off.  So this time I ordered a crank kit, which, fortunately for me, there were still 6 left at the manufacturer back in North Carolina.  Annoys me putting a new (reman) crank in this Z24 motor but if I put it together and it fails again, I'm going to be pretty annoyed.  So hopefully that will come in before the next weekend and I can get this truck running!

 

Anyone have any ideas what would cause it just to wear on one area of the thrust bearing side?  Seems odd to me.  The rest of the block looks in great condition, but I'm a little worried since there doesn't seem to be evidence of any other problems.

[datzenmike]

If to the rear side of the thrust bearing maybe sitting running for long periods with the clutch pedal down? This shoves the crank forward but I've never seen wear like that.

[HRH]

Yeah, that's certainly a possibility, I've never seen wear like that either.  Especially when the bearings looked so good coming out.

[nerdistmonk]

Nice little d21 man, these trucks seem to have a gift when it comes to keeping their owners busy, ive had my hands on every moving part in my truck, but its never done.

[HRH]

Thanks!  I found a good local crank today from my engine machinist's shop.  I asked him about the wear and he asked if it had a really stiff clutch in it.  Apparently that's the only side that wears, and it's from clutch action, like you mentioned.  I've just never seen one that bad either.

[HRH]

So here's where we are now!

 

Much better.  New rings, bottle brushed the cylinders of the new donor block, new bearings, rear crank sleeve, front crank sleeve.  She's getting a lot of love for an old Z24.  Fortunately it seems to be paying off this time.  No nasty noises other than exhaust ticking/valve train noise, and it's minor enough that I don't care.  A few clunks I still have to find given the condition of the truck when I got it, but she seems to be a viable runner, knock on wood.  I have some videos I'll be uploading in a bit.

[HRH]

I'm overloading my computer and youtube with all this uploading.  And I'm attempting to make burritos also.  Have a bunch of stuff on the stove.  Here's the first video, it may be slow to load due to trying to upload three videos in rapid succession.  If it is, I'm sure it'll be normal in 30 minutes when the other two have finished.

 

[HRH]

And here's the second!

 

[izzo]

did you plastigage or check with a micrometer or just throw some shit on and go

[LenRobertson]

Hey Matt - cool vids. Karen was watching the 2nd one over my shoulder and said "I hear a lifter noise". She is pretty good at picking out noises on her car. She doesn't always know what the noise is, but she always notices a new one. Do you plan do drive this truck as a daily for awhile? Maybe get a little better mileage than the red one?

 

Len

[HRH]

And here's the third!

 

[HRH]

Yeah, I'm going to daily this for a while.  We'll see how the mileage goes.  Should plain get better since it's dragging a lot less weight around.  But TBI vs. multi-port.  We shall see.  One thing that definitely needs to be addressed, the steering is about 18 turns lock to lock.  Thinking about using a circle track quickener.  Either that or I'm going to have to find a close-ratio box for a hardbody.  Don't think I had much luck doing that before when I had my 2wd.

 

As for plastigage, the crank is standard, bearings are standard, block is original junkyard with very little ridge, so cleaned up the old pistons and rings and off we went!  I usually don't use plastigage anyway, I just mic stuff.  The new crank was a known good core from my machine shop.

[HRH]

Well, the truck has made the trip to work back and forth about 3 times now, feeling a bit better.  Seems to run pretty well.  My anti-freeze smelling/leaking issue seems to have been the overflow bottle, knock on wood.  I replaced it with a Pulsar overflow tank that used to be on the 510.  Holding fluid now and stopped smelling.  Front timing cover seemed to be leaking which was odd since I sleeved the crank pulley and put in a new seal.  It almost looks like it's sealed up now, but if not, need to take that back off and redo the seal.  Might have a small crack in the timing cover or something too.  That'll be rtv'd up instead of welding as I'm not taking it apart again if I have to avoid it.

 

I'm almost thinking of lowering the 4wd, it's so nice to go through the air when you're only 4 inches off the ground.  Way easier.  Molly likes jumping into the lowered truck a lot better too. :)  I'll probably leave the 4x4 alone though.  Clearance in the winter is handy.

[]2eDeYe]

Lower the 4x4? Shirley, you must be joking. :lol:

 

 

 

Bigger tires is what you need. :devil:

[LenRobertson]

Sounds like his n hers trucks. The red one when you are by yourself and the white one when Molly goes with. Gotta keep our furry friends good and spoiled!

 

When you see Reg, ask about his new friend he met today:

 

 

Len

 

 

 

[HRH]

Dang, that looks like good eatin' Len! :D