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Bruiser! 78 620 KC project


carterb

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I'm tired of trying to keep Cooper running at stoplights with my foot on the brake and gas at the same time so I drove Bruiser to work today.

Check out these handsome datsuns!

 

11062015_bruiser_1_.JPG

 

For Victoria's birthday, she received some *ahem* automotive accessories...

 

11062015_bruiser_2_.JPG

 

At least they didn't get her the matching seat covers.

 

On a brighter note, she told me she doesn't want to paint the truck red anymore.  She wants to paint it black! 

 

Like father like daughter I guess.  My first datsun was tan and I painted it "diamond jet black" and I loved it!

 

tortilla_chip_pre-paint_10_.jpg

 

tortilla_chip_during_paint_9_.jpg

 

tortilla_chip_post-paint_7_.jpg

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Well, Victoria just had her first real experience with the adventures of Datsun ownership.

Last night, the headlights stopped working.  No biggie, the high beams still worked.  That will get her home.

 

Then...  it was raining so she was using her wipers.  But then it was raining harder so she turned them up to full speed.  Whack whack whack wooooosh...   Bye bye wiper blade.  The driver's side blade was launched from the wiper arm to the side of the freeway.

 

It was an exciting drive home for her.  :frantics:

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  • 3 months later...

: )

 

There's actually more...

 

Datsuns are great aren't they?!

 

Bruiser has been doing great for Victoria but she did strand herself at school last week.   The clutch hydraulics are apparently due for replacement as she ran herself out of fluid.  When I refilled the reservoir and bled the system, the fluid just stayed black black black, no matter how much more I put in.

 

It is still working fine but I assume the seals are shot so I bought a new master and slave cylinder from Rockauto. 

 

Hopefully we'll replace them this week.  In the meant time, we are watching the fluid level - with is stable.

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Goodness.  A lot has happened since last April...

 

First off, Victoria got a summer job last year as a nanny.  It required that she had transportation able to carry two young kids to and fro during the day.  Apparently "in the truck bed" isn't considered safe anymore so we needed to find alternative transportation to Bruiser.

 

Welcome back our 1998 ACR Neon.

 

large.589e8f4250c91_06052106neonreturns(

 

It was the first and only car my wife and I ever bought new.  We owned it for 14 years - selling it in 2012 to a co-worker's kid.  That kid later worked for me as an engineering intern and had purchased a newer Audi so wasn't using the Neon any more.  A deal was struck and it was back in our driveway for Victoria to drive for work.

 

It still looked brand new when we sold it and was only slightly worse for the wear when we bought it back.  The kid's lowered it an inch or so, blacked out the tail lights, added HID headlights, and an aluminum shift knob.  None of them bad things for a kid.  It was his pride and joy until a neighbor backed into the right rear 1/4 panel which dented the car (and its ego) pretty hard.  It sat largely unused after that and along with a cracked windshield, it had some of NorthWest's finest green growth around the windows and a must smell in the trunk from the tail light gaskets that no longer sealed after the 1/4 panel hit - letting water in.

 

We got it home, cleaned it up, and Victoria fell in love. 

 

Within the first week of ownership I had the cracked windshield replaced and the guys who did it couldn't get over how nice of a car it was, complementing it many times over.  Then, just days later, on the last day of school, some dip-wad decided this beautiful shiny car would make a nice platform to show off his dabbing and dipping and twerking skills and now the roof is all dented in like a golf ball! 

 

Perfect!  Thanks moron!  And of course "No one knows who did it"...  *sigh*

 

Even so, Victoria now calls it 'hers' and interest in the truck has waned.

 

So...

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I started thinking of how I might make Bruiser *mine* now since Victoria has lost interest... 

Hmmm...  What to do?

 

Well let's start with wheels.  I actually kind of liked the way it looked when we first got it sitting way up high on those giant monster truck tires.  I never put them back on because the huge offset makes steering really tough for the girls. 

 

large.5897c9d71227e_09242016buriserwheel

 

one last look

 

large.5897c9a9dd776_09242016buriserwheel

 

then on with the job

 

large.5897c9b18b23d_09242016buriserwheel

 

Monster Truck status achieved!

 

large.5897c99606713_09242016buriserwheel

 

large.5897c991ec309_09242016buriserwheel

 

large.5897c98a26fa3_09242016buriserwheel

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Pretty cool for now!

 

Eventually however, I'd like to lower it, but these stick out so far they will hit the fenders I'm afraid...  And I'm not ready to pry up the wheel arches just yet.

 

large.5897c986cef51_09242016buriserwheel

 

large.5897c984a514d_09242016buriserwheel

 

So I started thinking about what wheels might look cool under the fenders when I lower it some day.  Jeff remembered a set he saw at Blue Lake.

 

large.5897c9e07f613_08142016SSRRandstars

 

Not bad at all but a little skinnier than I'm hoping for so after talking to the owner, I passed.  At least for now.

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Now what should take maybe an hour took 4-6 if I remember right.  So many things went wrong...  (If you read my threads - this shouldn't surprise you)

I'm sure I won't remember all of them but I'll try to point out a few highlights:

 

Except for crappy access to the nuts, I think the new master cylinder swapped in okay - or so I thought.

 

large.5897c9414e659_10082016bruiserclutc

 

The slave cylinder gave me some problems but I don't remember now exactly what.  You see, working on a Datsun is kind of like having a baby.  If a woman remembered the labor pains, she would never have another.  God helps her forget those pains the first time she holds her baby in her arms.  I drive a Datsun every day, so I have forgotten a LOT of labor pains!

 

large.5897c94aa18c7_10082016bruiserclutc

 

Access to this connection was the suckiest! 

 

large.5897c943c3b2b_10082016bruiserclutc

 

No room to turn the wrench.  What made it worse, and added an hour to the job I bet, was the fact that the new hose had a smaller hex than the one I was replacing so the tab on the bracket did not stop it from spinning when trying to connect the hard line.  And no, you cant reach both over the fender and under the truck at the same time with both arms connected to the same torso.

 

When I was convinced I was finally done I called Brenda (my beautiful, award winning, peddle pumping, hydraulic bleeding, wife) down to take her place in the cab.  Only then did I realize I had forgotten to re-connect the clutch pedal to the master cylinder.

 

No problem, this will just take a sec.

 

*oh crap!*

 

The rod is too long and won't allow the clevis holes to line up with the hole in clutch pedal arm.

 

"I'll, um, call you back when I'm done"

 

So out came the master cylinder again, so I could make this

 

large.5897c956577d0_10082016bruiserclutc

 

look like this

 

large.5897c951c700c_10082016bruiserclutc

 

Then re-assemble and back in business.

 

"Oh Brenda..."

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In early December the charge light started glowing.

 

Dim at first, then super bright.  I bought myself a little time by charging the battery in the evening every other day 'till I could get a replacement alternator.  Also had to make sure the battery was still good.

 

large.5897c93c0ef96_12052016bruiserwarni

 

large.5897c9316dc2e_12062016buiserbatter

 

The last day I drove it, it BARELY made it home.

The dash lights were gone and the engine was actually cutting out when pulling hills.  I wasn't sure if I was even going to make it home from work but I just managed to get there.  I was definitely pushing it...

 

Time to swap.

 

While under the hood, I noticed that the heater bypass hose was leaking - possibly on to the alternator? 

 

large.5897c90be92e4_12082016bruiseralter

 

So, like any other repair I make to my Datsuns, nothing much goes according to plan...

 

First, I get the new alternator home only to find out it is not the right one for my truck.  I ALWAYS look in the box AND have the store test alternators and starters before I take them home.  I talked with the parts counter guy for quite some time and he had a big line so I didn't want to put anyone out by sending him in back to check it out so I skipped that part.  *kicks self*

 

New on top, old on bottom:

 

large.5897c91dc9edd_12062016bruiseralter

 

large.5897c91908067_12062016bruiseralter

 

The connections were not the same, so I checked the wiring diagram to verify if the stock set-up in a '78 is internally or externally regulated.

 

large.5897c9251161a_12062016bruiseralter

 

large.5897c920c0394_12062016bruiseralter

 

Looks internal to me, and couldn't convince myself that the alternator they gave me could be used so I took it back.

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Fortunately, they were able to get one in the store the next morning,

 

This one looks better.

 

large.5897c908070d1_12082016bruiseralter

 

Unfortunately they didn't have a heater bypass hose.  And looking through my hose bin, I could not come up with a better one, or any better short hose with a different diameter on each end.  (If someone has a part number for a replacement I'd appreciate the lead) 

 

I first tried to stretch a small diameter hose over the bottom nipple.  The nipple appears to have been broken off at some point in time and there was a jagged protrusion.  It looked like plenty of length for tube engagement so I filed off the sharp bits and then tried everything I could to get that little hose over the nipple.  Heated the hose in boiling water, lubricated it, etc.  Nothing doing.  But in the process of pushing as hard as I could (while knowing I should stop while I'm ahead) I slipped and ran my finger over the top of the nipple with great force, opening up a nice gash in my knuckle.

 

large.5897c905a50ae_12082016bruiseralter

 

At that point I gave up and used the next size up hose.  It slipped over the lower nipple just fine but was looser than I wished up top on the hard line that runs in front of the head.  I cranked down the hose clamp and crossed my fingers *ouch!*  okay, my other fingers.

 

Oh, and also, this happened:

large.5897c90e456c7_12082016bruiseralter

 

What the?!

 

In the end, I got everything back together and the charge light was out and I had 14-16 volts or whatever across the terminals while the truck was running so happy days!

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For the front, this being my first time with a 620, I wasn't sure there would be enough adjustment in the torsion bars to lower it where I wanted it so I figured I'd go straight to re-indexing.

Manuals are your friend!  (and Ratsun of course)

 

large.5897c8f886e16_12292016lowbruiser(5

 

This is where I'm starting.  I was surprised to note that the torsion adjusters are at different heights on each side.

 

large.5897c8f5b0368_12292016lowbruiser(6

 

I started by removing the lock-nut from each of the adjusters.

 

large.5897c8f3e973d_12292016lowbruiser(7

 

Then, I got a reference for where each adjuster is starting from.

 

large.5897c8f1aee3c_12292016lowbruiser(8

 

The left side is almost flush with the bottom of the crossmember.  But the right side is perhaps an inch above.

 

large.5897c8eb96f80_12292016lowbruiser(1

 

Then I dropped out the adjusters.

 

large.5897c8e97d3a8_12292016lowbruiser(1

 

There is a clip under this dust boot that must be removed to extract the torsion bar.  The manual says to replace it with a new one.  Um...  The manual obviously wasn't written for a Datsun owner.

 

large.5897c8e4ccb0d_12292016lowbruiser(1

 

large.5897c8e2bdb7b_12292016lowbruiser(1

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It looked to me like rather than removing the torsion bar, you could just remove the adjuster sleeve and arm, and sure enough, on the left side, the sleeve and arm just pulled right off the bar.

 

large.5897c8df63f64_12292016lowbruiser(1

 

The torsion bar is splines on both ends so the sleeve and adjuster has mating splines.

 

large.5897c8da962db_12292016lowbruiser(1

 

large.5897c8d6b134d_12292016lowbruiser(1

 

On the right side, the sleeve stayed with the torsion bar and the whole assembly came loose from the front suspension arm as described in the manual. 

 

Either way, I put them back on one tooth off of where I started. 

 

large.5897c8d2bfe8c_12292016lowbruiser(2

 

After putting everything back together I set it on the ground and took new measurements to see where I was at side to side.  I needed to make an adjustment so I lifted it back up, turned the nnut a few times, set it back down and measured it again and there was no change.  At this point you ask yourself for the umteenth time if you really understand which way to move the adjusters to get the result you want a the wheel.  Then I adjusted again and remeasured - again with no change.

 

What the?!

 

It was at that point that I noticed a little issue:

 

large.5897c8d0a010f_12292016lowbruiser(2

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