nj0z1200ute - 1200 ute USA build

[datsunfreak]

Build still happening. I've taken a break alittle to work on the new coupe.

 

Have you started a build thread for it? 

[njoz1200ute]

 

Have you started a build thread for it?

 

No not yet in fact.   I like to knickname my dattos.   The coupe is going to be Project Avocado.

 

Last night I finished fitting my aftermarket race seats, it was a hefty challenge.  :sick:

[njoz1200ute]

Big brother and Little brother.

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[njoz1200ute]

Picture update.

Wrapped the main wiring from the battery under the tray in protective plastic tubing. Wire tires added every couple of inches. Mounted some wiring holders along the route.

Installed the room lamp. Soldered some wires for the new door switches. LED light to be installed.

Does anyone know if my wiper arm is flipped in this image?

Should it be under the mount or over the mount as shown?




LED light upgrade for room lamp




Wiring fished through the roof above the door and out down the kick panel








Had my family mechanic install the King Springs. Rotors are machined. Wheel bearings and seals serviced.
 

This is the washer that I was talking about a few posts back that is causing me some headaches installing the radius arm bushings.

[datsunfreak]

Does anyone know if my wiper arm is flipped in this image?

 

This is the washer that I was talking about a few posts back that is causing me some headaches installing the radius arm bushings.

 

1. 99% sure that right side is bolted in upside down. 

 

2. That's not supposed to come off.   ^_^

[njoz1200ute]

The washer seems to be welded to the radius rod bracket from factory? The reason I started prying it off was because it was distorted a little by the previous owner.

 

What do i do now? Hacksaw it off and tack weld a new washer in?

[Lockleaf]

That is what I did with a similar washer found on my 720. I just welded in a new one. I did it when I replaced those bushings. I used one of the old heavy washers from the old bushings to weld in.

[datsunfreak]

The washer seems to be welded to the radius rod bracket from factory?

 

Yes. This is what I'm saying.   ^_^

 

 

What do i do now? Hacksaw it off and tack weld a new washer in?

 

That will work. If it's not too mangled, you might try heating and bending it back to how it used to be?

 

Or cut off the radius rod bracket, welded on a clevis, and get some heim joint action going?   :P

 

[njoz1200ute]

Build update on the Vanilla Ice ute.

A long time ago I had bought a Nissan Sentra radiator and never got around to fitting it or trying to fit it.










I bought Nissan Altima top mounts and modified them by pounding them flat and trimming off some excess steel. Bolted those to the top of the radiator support panel with some 8mm bolts.




The bottom, well there is a square hollow steel section that runs between each of the radius rod supports that the previous owner fabricated. This worked out for me because it was perfect for mounting the radiator on the bottom. I planned on using the Sentra bottom mount bushings (purchased on eBay) but I would have had to drill out most of the steel. Instead I drilled a 5/8" hole and fitted a rubber hose to the bottom up the radiator to "float" inside the hollow steel section. I shimmed it with some rubber grommets to absorb any road vibration. Not a fancy looking mount by any means but it will hopefully work fine. Also hope that the transmission cooler blockage fittings I made in the radiator don't leak either.

(Got a pair of Sentra bottom mount bushings for offer if anyone wants to try for their build.)







Had to trim some of the brackets off of the radiator to clear the fan. Still need to see if they all clear okay.

Obviously by the photos you can tell the radiator support panel was modified quite a bit so it was not an option to mount the radiator on this panel at all.




Next was the washer bag and piping. Wired up and ready to go. I bought an aftermarket nozzle from a Datsun 620 ($10 for 2) because the original B110 one is so expensive online.




Room lamp and switches wired up.

Next big step was fitting the dash. If you go a few pages back in the thread you will see I did all of the big work already prefitting things like the fascia, gauges, glove box, heater controls, etc...




Dash turned out great.







Heater all wired up. I had to repair the plastic where both cables pull from and I epoxied some metal tabs on to fix this.




Steering column cover mounted and hazard switch wired up.

All underdash wiring connected (as best I can tell) some wires are a mystery.




Valve cover breather hose connected




Horn and grounding wires fitted




New heater hoses fitted and connected to heater.

Found a throttle cable bracket for the pedal but the throttle cable is very loose and stretchy. Need a fix for this.

Battery, some gasoline, and some buckets of water and I should be able to run the engine from the ignition switch for a little while and flush out the engine before I fit the radiator hoses.

[Lockleaf]

Trans cooler lines can only leak if you run trans fluid through them. Those holes are 100% disconnected from the radiator section. If they weren't, trans fluid would mix with coolant in the radiator (which is what killed many 90s pathfinders).

 

The trans cooler could even be left open and it would change nothing.

[njoz1200ute]

Trans cooler lines can only leak if you run trans fluid through them. Those holes are 100% disconnected from the radiator section. If they weren't, trans fluid would mix with coolant in the radiator (which is what killed many 90s pathfinders).

 

The trans cooler could even be left open and it would change nothing.

 

Sounds very logical when you look at what you said.  good to know!

I might take them off completely then just to make sure it clears the fan.

[datsunfreak]

I might take them off completely then just to make sure it clears the fan.

 

You can't just take the fittings off, but it you want to cut the tubes flush you can. Now if you meant take the hose plugs off, yes.   :thumbup:

[njoz1200ute]

Thanks for the info on the trans cooler fittings.

I hacksawed them off for a much more cleaner look. The fan will clear fine now. 

hoses cut off



More clearance





Decided to fit a NOS radiator overflow catch can. Should give at least 30 more horsepower!






Okay. Trial fit some seat belts I bought. Originally came from a 620 or 720. I am not sure where the metal plate at the end of the belt is supposed to attach to?

Secondly. The belts are full retracted and they do not loosen very well at all. I might have to ditch these and buy a modern seat belt. I would feel much safer. Has anyone ever successfully fit a modern belt from a Hyundai, Toyota, etc...? Or a cheapo car like a Ford Escort?

[Lockleaf]

All the seatbelts use the same thread pitch. So long as you are mounting the retractor the same orientation as it's installed in the original car, you should be fine.

[datsunfreak]

Secondly. The belts are full retracted and they do not loosen very well at all. I might have to ditch these and buy a modern seat belt. I would feel much safer. Has anyone ever successfully fit a modern belt from a Hyundai, Toyota, etc...? Or a cheapo car like a Ford Escort?

 

A lot of modern belts are built for air bag integration. Meaning they have little explosive retractors in them. Not the best thing for an old car. And used seat belts over 10 years old are a safety hazard as well. 

 

I've used new aftermarket Jeep belts like these in a few projects and they work well? Just get on ebay and search "retractable seat belt" in the color of your choice and see what you can find.   :thumbup:

[Dguy210]

Most speed shops will sell generic new belts, even rated correctly and you can get them with retractors etc.. My standard lap belts were 15$ brand new, too cheap to use junkyard belts, retractor based were 35-50 or more.

[njoz1200ute]

A lot of modern belts are built for air bag integration. Meaning they have little explosive retractors in them. Not the best thing for an old car. And used seat belts over 10 years old are a safety hazard as well. 

 

I've used new aftermarket Jeep belts like these in a few projects and they work well? Just get on ebay and search "retractable seat belt" in the color of your choice and see what you can find.   :thumbup:

 

I have found a few on ebay I am interested in.  Do you remember the length you ordered?  

[datsunfreak]

Do you remember the length you ordered?  

 

I do not. Sorry.  :crying:

[njoz1200ute]

This weekend was dedicated 1/2 to the coupe and 1/2 to the ute.

The half dedicated to the ute was to deal with the broken washer on the radius rod bracket.

What a total P I T A !!!!

Ok so the plan was the following. Buy a generic bushing kit with washers off of Rockauto. Which I did. Grind/clean the area for the new washer. Take the washer and temporarily epoxy it to the radius rod bracket. Then tack weld the washer in place.

First I found I had to drill the washer to enlarge it to fit over the sleeve on the assembly. I ground the brass looking coating off the washer with a wire wheel and hand grinder.

Epoxy set the washer. Welded the edges....nothing. Welded more edges, nothing. The welds did not stick. I made a total mess of the bracket and had to start over from scratch since the washer was ruined and the radius arm bracket was full of fouled welds.

3 hours of grinding later I got the surface back to bare metal and flat. This time I decided to drill two little holes in the washer to plug weld it on. 1st attempt, the welds did not stick. Had to redrill the holes, grind/clean yet again. 2nd attempt same!!!

3rd attempt for some reason I got one weld to stick but not the other. Then I welded a "bridge" from the washer to the bottom of the radius arm bracket. That seemed to be the only thing keeping it on there. 

2 hours of grinding the surface of the washer flat, Painted and now ready for install.

The photos do not do my pain any justice. Maybe I should have used a really strong epoxy instead and not even bothered to bring out the welder!

Comparo, new versus old



First time getting the surface clean



What a mess !!!!!!!!!



Finished product





This was the 1st attempt washer



Comparo first attempt and factory washer

 

 

[njoz1200ute]

Months ago i had a shop pack the front bearings and install my king springs.

 

Also had the rotors machined.

 

Installed the radius rod and bushings today. That was the last piece of steering to be completed.

 

Ages ago i bought a pair of RCAs from techno toy tuning.

 

I had a very difficult time installing the strut and i see no way i can fit an RCA in there. So i dont think i will use them.

 

I am using King spring superlow as the springs.

 

Also realized i cannot get a brake caliper with the strut installed. So i have to undo half the work i did today.

 

 

 

 

 

[datsunfreak]

Also realized i cannot get a brake caliper with the strut installed. So i have to undo half the work i did today.

 

If you swapped the struts side-to-side you could.   ;)

 

Trust me, you're doing that some day. Either now, or later. Now is better.   :rofl:

[njoz1200ute]

Longer brake hoses needed? If so how to get?

[datsunfreak]

Longer brake hoses needed?

 

No. Just loosen and reroute. 

 

 

If so how to get?

 

I use these, with the adapter fittings.

 

https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productselection.asp?Product=3

 

That gets you a banjo bolt fitting on the caliper end which is niiiiiiiiiiiiice.  B)

[njoz1200ute]

Since i sacrificed my race seats to the Avacodo i bought a pair of excellent black B110 Coupe seats. They are not ute seats so not as roomy but they will do until i can import some ute seats.

 

I installed new seat belts. They are military surplus Humvee. Test fit the seats and the new seat belts are a little short. Seat belt extenders will fix this.

 

 

[njoz1200ute]

New calipers arrived in the mail

Did I order the wrong ones?

Bolt spacing is 8 millimeters too short and it does not Center itself on the rotor

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