1200 autocross project Texas

[KiloTango1200]

The right rear inner rocker panel has 2 big blobs of spot welds that was hidden by a thick line of seam sealer. This is the last thing holding the panel on the rear clip.

 

The inner rocker panel is off the rear clip.

 

[KiloTango1200]

Finally, after a crashed e-mail account and replacing a blown computer monitor, I can post pictures. 

 

The Inner right wheel well was the last thing remaining attached to the floor pan of the rear clip. It is finally done!

 

 

The bare floor pan which will be used for patching the rust holes in the Sedan's floor pan.

 

[carterb]

My goodness!

Quite an undertaking!!!

[KiloTango1200]

Scrolled back through the thread to find out when I first stripped the bubbling paint, off the firewall, behind the clutch and  brake master cylinder. It was the middle of May! Time to get this thing back on the road! It's going to major surgery under it's own power, not on a trailer. Only a 15 mile drive, but its an achievement. Cleaned off the surface rust and shot primer on the bare metal. Mounted the shiny clutch master cylinder to make it go. Now I have to do the brake hydraulics to make it stop. Hopefully it will be mobile by next Spring.

 

 

 

[KiloTango1200]

Finally bought an engine stand to get the A14 off the ground and start the rebuild process.

 

Removed the clutch and flywheel to enable the mounting of the engine on the stand.

 

[KiloTango1200]

Way back in March, I was searching for a new clutch hose. DatsunFreak told me that a front brake line from a 280ZX would work but was an inch longer. I thought that was great and got one. A couple of days ago I hooked up the lines and discovered that extra inch made the clutch line hang really low below the car. Lower than anything else on the front of the car. Since it is getting a 3" drop, I wasn't comfortable with a clutch line hanging down waiting to snag something on the road. Need to have a shorter one made. Went to Stewart Hose in Lewisville TX and they said they no longer make brake hoses. I am bummed and head home. I hadn't gone 300 ' and saw an Alfa for sale next to an old school Toyota with numbers on the door. Have to check this out. The company is Autosport Inc. and the owner was very knowledgeable about Datsuns. They even had Datsun horn buttons to fit their Momo steering wheels. Dual Webers mounted on a manifold sitting on the front counter. I told him about my project and my clutch line needs. He suggested Hose Fast in Garland TX. Said they could make anything I need. Checked out their website and decided all the rubber hydraulic hoses will be replaced with braided stainless hoses. Made the trip today, 100 miles and 3 hours of traffic there and back. Walked in, told them what I wanted and walked out with a new braided clutch line 10 min. later.  :thumbup:

 

 

[datsunfreak]

The A14 is going into the coupe or sedan? 

[KiloTango1200]

Sedan:A14, Coupe:CA18DET

[KiloTango1200]

Got the braided clutch line installed. It works perfectly.

 

 

Got the polished hard line installed. When I first took all this apart, the hard lines were covered in crud. I decided to use a wire wheel on a bench grinder to clean off the nasty stuff. Well, I didn't quite have a strong enough grip on the line and I got sucked into the wire wheel a couple of times . I polished it up and it looked great. when it came time to put things back together, the hard line isn't even in the same zip code as the attach point. It took several hours of gentle massage and constant alignment re checking to make it fit. Let's just say the lower part is a little wavy. When every thing gets blown apart for paint, I will this this to Hose Fast and have them make me a straight one with bends of a proper radius. 

 

 

 

Now to bleed and adjust the clutch pedal. Tomorrow it will GO. Making it WHOA is a whole new chapter.

[KiloTango1200]

Yesterday I decided to fire up the engine. It will light up and run on starting fluid, but die after the starting fluid is used up. Looked at the fuel gauge and it said E. Don't know if the gauge works, so I put a couple of gallons in the tank with the same results. Gave it enough attempts that fuel should have made it to the carb and been able to continue to run. When it was in Childress, it fired up and ran beautifully. The shocks and struts are shot, so it really moved around a lot on the 4 hour trip to Denton. Everything really got all shook up. Definitely a fuel issue. Hopefully a line/filter blockage and not the carb. At this point I just want it to be mobile and not spend a lot of time/money on the A-12 that is going to be replaced anyway.  

 

I promised myself that I would do something to the car every day after I got it home. I could only put the new key ring I got from Australia on the key today, as I did all my Christmas shopping and wrapping. That counts as "something", doesn't it?

 

[datsunfreak]

FWIW, those carbs are very hard to kill. My money is on bad filter or pump...

[KiloTango1200]

That's what I am hoping. I have a couple of filters and a fuel pump. Probably wouldn't hurt to pull the fuel tank and at least clean it. The fuel tank from the rear clip appears to be in good shape in case the original tank is shot. Really don't want to rebuild the carb again.

[Duncan]

I had a similar problem on my old 1200.  Turns out the metal fuel line was so full of gunk it couldn't get gas up to the carb .  I disconnected it at the tank, and at the rubber line up front.  I put a rubber tipped air gun on it and blew it out at about 100psi.  A lot of crud came out, and the car ran fine for the next couple of years until it got sold.

[KiloTango1200]

Thanks for the input. It hasn't moved under it's own power in at least 7 years. Lots of time for all kinds of crap to accumulate and block off fuel flow. 

[KiloTango1200]

Removed the fuel pump to carb line and it is clear. Replaced the filter and the filter is not filling up with fuel.The old filter was full of fuel, but looked dirty. I collected fuel in a container at the carb inlet when cranking the engine with starting fluid. A small amount of clean looking fuel and an even smaller amount of water was in the collection bottle. Not enough fuel for the amount of engine cranking for there to not be a fuel delivery problem. Picture of the new filter with a small amount of fuel in it. Not sure if the fuel pump to fuel tank line is blocked, or if the fuel pump is bad. Ordered a new fuel pump off ebay because mine is MIA. Even if the fuel pump is good, 20 bucks and a few minutes work is worth it's weight in gold if it keeps me off the side of I-35 broke down.

 

[Morrisun]

You MAY want to run fresh gas/solvent through the fuel lines, yes circulate, tank to fuel filter and from pump to carb. There is lacquer and other nasty goo and schmang lurking in these lines, and suspect the vaporization in the Texas heat happens fairly fast leaving this stuff behind!

I only caution you because the cylinder head on my 1200 coupe Smurf was rebuilt twice by the previous owner (DRIVEN, who pasted this advise along to me) and I sold 2 push rods and two rocker arms to a local machine shop TWICE. Both times they had cleaned the fuel tanks and changed the filters but, failed to clean the lines. The goo and schmang combined with the gas and caused the valves to stick in the valve guides and burn the valve and seats.

An electric fuel pump and clear sump of sorts to see the discharge from the lines may be one of the ways to make sure there clean. OR replace ALL the lines in your fuel system which is what DRIVEN did! Wouldn't what to hear the small stuff is what bit you in the ass!

[KiloTango1200]

Thanks for the advice. When the car went into storage some 7 odd years ago. I filled the tank with good quality pre-ethanol Premium and spiked it with triple the normal dosage of  Sta-Bil. I let the car idle for about 20 min to make sure everything was full of treated fuel. Right before I started this thread, I rolled it out of storage and fired it up after nearly 7 years of hibernation and it ran fine. The fuel doesn't have a funky smell and the carb looks very clean. But better safe than sorry, so I am going to pull off the hard lines, fill them up with MEK, plug them and let them sit for 24 hours. Ill blow them out with the air compressor and repeat one more time. Hopefully that will be enough to eliminate any fuel line grenades from ruining my day. Going to have the fuel tank professionally cleaned also.To everyone who is following this thread, Happy Holidays and may you and your family be deeply blessed by the Deity of your choosing. If you don't believe in one, then the very best of luck.  :)

[hobospyder]

Dude if ketone doesn't clean it out I don't know what will. I'm not allowed to play with mek at work but from what I've heard it works better than mpk does so yeah, if you have any issues after that I think you may need new lines

[KiloTango1200]

Started the process of defueling the fuel tank today and found this. I removed the fuel tank filler hose, and the hose to fuel tank connection was basically gone. I'll replace the hose to make the car mobile, but I really don't like the idea of a thin walled fuel tank behind the rear seat, with no protection. A fuel cell in the spare tire well is in the plan.

 

 

Bought a cheap Harbor Freight transfer pump to empty the fuel tank. After a brief search in the hardware drawer, I found the appropriate size nut to thread on the plastic line to keep it on the bottom of the fuel tank. 

 

 

Fuel sample from the bottom of the tank. No water, no particulate contamination, no rust, no funky smell. Only a slightly dark color. Really optimistic about the interior condition of the fuel tank.

 

[KiloTango1200]

Got the new fuel pump. Hat tip to World Wide Auto Parts in Madison WI for supplying a hard to find part.

 

 

New fuel pump and old fuel pump. They look very different, but the important parts are the same.

 

 

Here is another time in this build that I am stumped. I pulled the original fuel pump and found a spacer that looks like it is Phenolic. The new fuel pump came with 2 gaskets so it makes sense that the spacer has a gasket on each side. What is this made of and should I remove it and use new gaskets on both sides? The service manuals do not address this. Any help is appreciated.

 

[datsunfreak]

New fuel pump and old fuel pump. They look very different, but the important parts are the same.

 

 

Not exactly.   ^_^

 

Just as a head's up, these stamped steel pumps are prone to internal leaks, which begin to dump fuel into the crankcase, then seizing the engine. So keep an eye on your oil if you run it. If the oil ever starts to reek of fuel, you're close to the engine going boom. 

 

I pulled the original fuel pump and found a spacer that looks like it is Phenolic.

 

 

In fact, it is. 

 

 

should I remove it and use new gaskets on both sides? 

 

Yes, you should.

 

Doing anything but that will misalign the pump arm and things will get ugly. Quick. 

[KiloTango1200]

I figured as much but wanted a 2nd opinion. Thanks DF. The A14 is going to get an electric pump. This pump is just enough to get the Sedan to your shop in Ft. Worth for a 1200 North Texas group picture before the rebuild. If you can get the UTE included, then we will have 4 out of 5 1200's in DFW in one picture. Mat might  be willing to trailer the White coupe to the photo shoot to bring it to 5 1200's 

[datsunfreak]

This pump is just enough to get the Sedan to your shop in Ft. Worth for a 1200 North Texas group picture before the rebuild.

 

Sounds fun.    :thumbup:

 

 

If you can get the UTE included, then we will have 4 out of 5 1200's in DFW in one picture.

 

We'd probably have to do it at his shop to make that happen.    :rofl:

[Duncan]

Keep the original fuel pump. 

 

I say that because I had changed my fuel pump when I had a no fuel condition on my old 1200.  I cleared the lines and the car worked, so I left the aftermarket pump on there. 

 

It ran fine, but became increasingly hard to start after it was warmed up.  Turns out the aftermarket pump had WAY more fuel pressure than OEM, and the residual pressure was flooding the carb after it was shut off.  I think the Datsun only requires 3 or 4 pounds of fuel pressure, (going from memory) and the aftermarket pump was substantially higher.  I put the original one back on there, and the problem went away permanently.

 

The electric pump is a good fix, but you may need an external fuel pressure regulator.

 

I only mention it because that was a real oddball problem that I have never heard of before.  Hopefully, you won't have the same situation.

[KiloTango1200]

Thanks for the heads up Duncan!   :thumbup: