Frontier KA24DE to D21 4x4 swap. No more KAZ24.

[HRH]

Well thanks, but I have more than enough Altimas in pull and save to chose from.  However, at the moment, I'm not worrying about the cams.  I did find that gasket was the issue.  Because the sealing flange went across that notch, it didn't completely seal, although it ALMOST did.  As a result, there was an air leak, albeit a very tiny one.  Fortunately tiny enough the o2 sensor saw it and increased the fuel to make the mixture correct.  Then to the 1500 rpm idle after running a long ways.  Motor gets hot, throttle body flexes a little more and bigger air leak which then causes additional air to bypass the MAF sensor, upping the idle.

 

So apparently the spacer plate on the Frontier must not have any recessed notches in it.  Either way, you can use the correct non stamped steel if using Fel-Pro and just get the regular gasket fiber.  As shown here:

 

 

 

 

Oh by the way, mhub, I made you a video.  Enjoy!!   :D

 

 

 

And here's how I feel right now:

 

 

 

The end result?  Took Gracie II out for a drive today, up to Airway Heights, out to the valley, up north to pull and save, and finally back here.  Pretty good mix, about 30 miles of highway or so, 30 miles in town with some average driving and some testing runs.  Ended up getting 18.65 mpg, which is solidly within spec for a heavy 4x4.  Actually pretty good for around town/mix driving.  Sustained highway I should be able to pull 22, haven't done a long highway run yet.  Maybe next weekend.  Idle is solid.  Amazing what no air leaks do, huh? ;)

[datzenmike]

Sounds pretty good Matt. I closed my eyes and just imagined the smoke.

[HRH]

Need a little drier pavement, eh?  ;)

[datzenmike]

Put chocks in front of the front wheels.

[Farmer Joe]

very nice, matt!

 

glad you got it figured out. we had issues with that same gasket when we did the first carbed KA in jasons truck. we used the stock gaskets, and ended up with a hug vacuum leak. made some homemade ones and it fixed everything. 

 

wonder if it would get any better mileage with a 240/248 cam combo? 

[HRH]

I wonder that too, but I'm going to hook up the vacuum gauge and do some testing.  Maybe this weekend.  After I bring my new baby home. ;)  Not tellin' yet.  There will be a thread for her, oh yes, there will be a thread.

[LenRobertson]

 After I bring my new baby home. ;)  Not tellin' yet.  There will be a thread for her, oh yes, there will be a thread.

 

 

Hmmm, I've got a premonition on this one. Something that was on Craiglist but recently disappeared. But I don't want to ruin the surprise (in the unlikely event it is what I think it is).

 

Len

[HRH]

It could be.....I was happy to see the ad had disappeared tonight.  I'm so excited Len!  Already trying to find new wheels for her.  I have a few, but want 15" Z 6 spokes like I gave Regy for his wedding present or some Enkei meshes I'm thinking.  I have the 280z snowflakes, just don't like how they look as much.

[LenRobertson]

I saw Rod this morning and he confirmed my suspicions on what the new baby is. Very much meets with my approval for what that is worth. But I won't divulge the secret even under threat of torture. Bribery might work though. Like the rest of Ratsun I'm waiting with bated breath for pics. Or like the cat that ate cheese and would sit by the mouse hole with baited breath.

 

Len

[Farmer Joe]

dangit!! what did you buy?

[HRH]

Oh, I can't say yet!  I may not be able to get to sleep tonight.  Picking it up tomorrow night!   :)  Can't wait!  Already planning out wheels.  Wish I had an extra 500 to buy another set of the 5 spoke SSRs but alas, I haven't even sold the white truck yet.  Got a 500 offer on the 1000 obo today.  Turned that down of course.  Amazing what people offer after all the stuff that's been done to it.  I might go lower than I have to for a ratsuner, but random dude off the Internet?  Yeah, not really.

 

Len, you haven't seen any Zs in the pull and saves with the six spoke wheels on them, have you? I thought they were 15s, but realized they were 14s after checking on ebay.  I swear I saw some not too long ago, but can't remember where, and they're probably not there now.  I may just run 14s for right now since I don't have an extra set of wheels after selling the other turbines to Mohammed for his 610.

[]2eDeYe]

Can you say now? C'mon! :lol: 

[LenRobertson]

Rod  has that set of ricer style wheels (Panasports?) that Reg bought for his 510. But Rod probably wants a bunch for them. I'm not sure if that style would look good on your soon to be new arrival. I don't think Reg has the Z wheels you gave him mounted on anything.but I don't know if it is awkward buying or trading back for a gift. Wouldn't bother me, but I'm socially out of tune with the rest of the world. I don't recall seeing much in the way of wheels at P&S, but I wasn't really looking. I'm kind of fond of the 200SX 15" steelies I have on my 510 although I suspect everyone else thinks they look dumb at least with tall profile tires on them. Reg wants to get them away from me so he can widen them and put them on something, probably the Corona.

 

I'm really bummed the Datsun wheel FAQ that was on Datsun510.com has been taken down. It was kind of out of date, but still lots good information. I tried the Wayback Machine and it showed the page URL, but when I click it just said "Not found". Maybe someone else with better search skills can find it. I did find this with a search, but it doesn't show nearly as much as the original FAQ:

 

http://www.the510realm.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=26740

 

Len

 

[HRH]

Yeah we talked about that Len.  Regy didn't seem to mind, but I would still feel bad.  Think I'm going to put my turbines on and see how I like them.  I'll probably give Regy the Maxima next week to fix the hood and fender and then store her for the winter.

 

Now then, are all of you ready?  Here you go! ;)

 

 

 

 

The ride home was uneventful, which is good.  Finally found the switch for OD on the auto trans.  Sadly the center console is cracked and missing a piece.  Going to need to try and find that.  More likely to modify a newer console or make one with these parts rarer than hen's teeth.  Glad I didn't find the switch for the rear wiper as I investigated it after I got home and found it's loose on the stud.  Need to investigate that further.

 

She idles too high, likely a vacuum leak, but runs great.  Not super fast, not that I'm surprised with all the stock exhaust and whatnot.  I'll probably uncork her a little but still keep her relatively quiet.  The automatic shifts kind of hard, but for it's age, I'd say it's normal.

 

The driver's fender is dinged up and the hood has a few small dings.  Fortunately, they're more fixable than Ugly Betty.  This is going to be the new daily driver in summer.  Winter is the hardbody.  There is so very little rust on this wagon, I'd like to keep it that way.  Factory undercoating for the win!  I did try the sunroof on the way back, it works great!  Only 104k actual miles on this gem.  There are the little issues, but it's 1984 so what can you expect.  I'll fix all those eventually.

 

First things after the bodywork is getting some stiffer suspension.  She is waaay too roly-poly.  Good thing about that is I'm going to gut Ugly Betty for full-race duty, which means massive lightening.  Which further means I'll be removing those giant swaybars I got as they will be too stiff after removing 600 pounds of weight.  So the new Maxima will get those.  I'm hoping the rear bar works with the wagon, not sure it will with the solid axle, but we shall see.

 

In the meantime, anyone have a spare tan center console for an 84 Maxima? ;)

[mhub91]

I was going to buy this from a guy in north Idaho for $1200. Met the dude randomly in a parking lot in Bonners Ferry ID. Super nice wagon.

[HRH]

Haha!  He did indeed tell me a story like that.  Small world, huh?  I paid a smidge more, but well worth it I think.

[mhub91]

Sorry, but I have to admit that when he told me that he only wanted $1200 I told him I thought it he could get a bit more than that. Considering, someone was trying to lowball him at only a few hundred dollars. The guy was very nice so I thought he deserved a better deal than that. That thing was very, very clean and IMO, I think it's closer to the $1,800 range. Possible slightly more.

Yeah, I was that guy  :blush:

[HRH]

Oh it is in good condition, but bodywork isn't cheap! :)  Nor is blending new paint into old paint.  I understand the low balling thing though, I've had two nimrods email me on the craigslist ad for the white truck with "I have $500 cash."  I edited the ad regarding clown shoes and people offering 50% of the obo price.  I put it up for $1000 for crying out loud.  I used to race it, that would indicate it needed to run optimally.

 

The only really bad thing about the wagon?  It had a FRAM filter on it. :(  That makes me a sad panda.  It will get an oil change and an antifreeze check on Sunday, as well as acid-cleaning my 14" turbines and mounting a few other tires.  She'll look better on Sunday, those factory wheels make me want to gag.  I did figure out how to lower the rear seats tonight and laid down in the back.  I can definitely sleep in it, good thing I'm only 5'8"!  Perfect road trip car for the summer.

[mhub91]

Definitely a nice wagon. Good score.

[HRH]

Yeah, if you happen to know anyone who has a good tan center console for the Maxima, let me know.  Mine was doa in Ugly Betty.  Mostly there on the wagon, but a big portion is cracked out.  Going to have to look in the wrecking yard to see if any are close enough to blend in.  Called my Nissan guy today, they're NLA, none in any color in any warehouse in the US.  Boooo.

[mhub91]

I'm traveling from here (Tacoma) south to Portland this weekend. I'll stop at any wrecking yard or Pick n Pull for you. You do the research and look to see if there is a car somewhere en route to Portland I can stop by.

[HRH]

I appreciate it, but I'd say it's pretty few and far between.  I checked all the wrecking yards on the way to Canby this year, not a thing.  Closest I saw was a whole wagon in Poulsbo or something.  I called, and the guy said someone had come and bought the whole car.  Good that it got saved though.  I'll do a check if I get a chance though.  There was actually a guy at Canby who I called who had a center console I think.  Can't remember his name, or his number.  Anyone else who went to Canby know who I'm speaking of?  He was there right at the end.  I had a piece of paper with his name on it, but alas it is no more.  Actually, I think I just remembered a way to get ahold of him.  Going to try that.

[HRH]

Here's some interesting reading regarding restoring plastics.  Read it all, mind you.  Not sure if I want to try it, but I have enough bits left over from ugly Betty to test a few.

 

http://goldwingdocs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=12060

[HRH]

Here's another interesting one:

 

 

 

It seems this one only gets rid of discoloration, doubt it makes it less brittle.

[HRH]

Just a little update on Gracie II.  She runs great now that there is no air leak.  Low end torque is a little bit less, mainly due to not having the SCV (swirl control valve) in the intake which opens and closes a butterfly to partially block the air, forcing it to speed up in low rpm situations.  Essentially it's like having tiny runners at low rpm, then it vacuum operates full open for higher rpm.  It's a very effective system for the single cam.  It also seems to work well for getting better mileage at cruise.

 

I'm still getting close to the same mileage as I used to.  Haven't been on a sustained flat trip, but have gotten 20 mpg with mixed driving.  It's been butt-cold here the last week or two so mileage is sucking.  I've even warmed it up a few mornings.  Today was 10 degrees when I got up.  Not driving to work in a cold truck, I'm a wuss.

 

Anyway, she runs great, heater blows nice and hot, which is wonderful.  If I only pull 17 mpg in the winter, it's not the end of the world for a heavy 4x4 with low gearing.  I'm just happy to have her running well.  The Frontier motor is great, no bad noises, save a belt squeak from my custom ps bracket.  It's a little cock-eyed.  Need to straighten it, just haven't gotten around to doing it yet.  I suspect I'll still be able to pull 22 mpg in nice summer conditions.  I played with the SCV when I still had the KAZ24 in.  In hot weather, no SCV didn't seem to matter.  Cold weather it definitely helped.  We'll see next summer.  Of course, by then, I'm planning on driving the wagon most of the time, but I'm sure I'll find time for the D21.

 

The DE is definitely better on mid-range power though, I do like that.  So yep, she works!  Eventually I might try and figure out the '02 system and run that, but for the moment the '93 system is fine.