New 320 owner, 62?

[wayno]

My L320 has been hard to start since the day I bought it, I would have to turn it over a long time before it would even try to hit let alone start, I had the carb rebuilt and that made no difference, I made that matchbox electronic ignition for it and wrote that article on a whim because they were talking about how hard 320 ignition parts were to find on another forum, well my engine went from turning over for 10/20 seconds to starting within the first revolution of the crank stone cold, I also did the same thing today with the MG Midget 1500 electronic ignition that I added to that article, it starts right away even cold.

I suspect it might be a combination of things for me, a wore out 320 points distributor, and hotter spark, all I know is that it runs way better with electronic Ignition, I will say that mine took a long time to start warmed up or cold, but it started easier warmed up than cold with the stock points distributor, but not much better.

[thisismatt]

What is your start procedure?  On my L16 I pull the choke out part way & stab the throttle two small blips, and it starts right up every time, unless it's been sitting for weeks between starts.

[320 Newb]

Sadly my choke is to0 funked up in the carb to work... When I pull the choke in the cab nothing moves in the carb. Maybe I'll work on freeing that up a little?

 

When I fire it cold it turns over immediately, then dies immediately. Then it won't start again 'till I shoot a little carb cleaner down the carb. I drive it for 10 minutes then for the rest of the day it fires first crank. Next morning, repeat. 

 

I put in new points, condenser, plugs, and plug wires. 

[thisismatt]

Try a couple taps of the throttle then hold the throttle in part way (like 2k rpm) & start.

[Lockleaf]

If you can't choke it and it's cold that's why it won't start without starter fluid.

[wayno]

Sadly my choke is to0 funked up in the carb to work... When I pull the choke in the cab nothing moves in the carb. Maybe I'll work on freeing that up a little?

 

When I fire it cold it turns over immediately, then dies immediately. Then it won't start again 'till I shoot a little carb cleaner down the carb. I drive it for 10 minutes then for the rest of the day it fires first crank. Next morning, repeat. 

 

I put in new points, condenser, plugs, and plug wires. 

 

I put new points/condenser, rotor, cap, plug wires, plugs, coil and it still don't start easy, but it starts easy with the electronic ignition.

My issue is that I still have positive ground except when I do them tests with the electronic ignition setups, I then remove to wires to keep from frying anything and wire just the ignition to run on negative ground, I don't even turn the key on, everything is done in the engine compartment, I also use a remote starter trigger.

I also put a Weber on it today, so when I put it back to the stock points distributor I will see if it starts better, I don't plan on changing it over to negative ground till I change out the engine/transmission to the J15/4spd on the floor, this is what it looks like right now.

[320 Newb]

Thanks everyone for tips and advise. I'll keep working to diagnose the cold problem. 

 

Off topic, I think this clutch operating cylinder kit fits the 320:

https://www.amazon.com/Seiken-Clutch-Operating-Cylinder-NISSAN/dp/B00VQCF9H0

 

Is the cylinder kit the same for both the clutch and brake? Both of my brake and clutch operating cylinders are leaking, should I purchase two of those operating cylinders or should I be looking for another part?

 

 

[320 Newb]

Does anyone know where the fill plug is for an early 62 column shift transmission? 

[wayno]

In the cab there is a hole in the tunnel near the heater box, that's where the dipstick is, I believe you fill it thru the dipstick hole.

[difrangia]

The red pan in the rear is a column shift floor pan. The dip-stik/fill-hole is directly under the hole on the right (rear in the photo) side of the hump. Should be a rubber plug in the hole in the pan. The white pan in forward of photo is a floor shift pan for a 320 and it has the rubber plug intact..

 

[difrangia]

In looking at the photo that I just posted, I believe that the white floor-shift pan does not have the rubber plug in the hole. Sorry.

[320 Newb]

Thanks everyone this is super helpful. 

 

Also just an update on my cold start issue. I tinkered with the choke linkages and got the choke flapper to seat properly and boom! Now that the choke's woking properly it starts first crank even cold. I'm a happy 320 owner. 

[320 Newb]

Damn. Found the dipstick and it's pretty bone dry. I noticed the bottom of the tranny was a little wet but I'm not sure where it's leaking from.

 

Any tips on where I should start looking for leaks? I gave a good tug on the drain plug to see if I could tighten it a little and I couldn't budge it. 

[wayno]

Fill it up and you will find out where it is leaking if it is leaking.

[difrangia]

Wayno's right. You don't want to drive it much without lube.

 

Clean/dry the lower area as much as you can, fill 'er up, operate a little, & look for fresh lube where it's not supposed to be.

[320 Newb]

I cleaned up my transmission, filled it up, and it looks like its leaking where the shift linkage goes into the side on the driver's side. 

 

Has anyone made this repair? It's the stock 320  four speed on the column transmission. Here's a picture but its upside down. 

 

[deerio]

Andy has done a ton of work documenting what he can with his projects over on nicoclub.  I would suggest reading a lot of the threads he started as well as Steve's (difrangia) build thread, all of them very helpful.

 

http://forums.nicoclub.com/running-on-a-budget-63-pl-320-t586738.html

http://forums.nicoclub.com/transmission-parts-list-w-pic-t592689.html

[320 Newb]

Ted H. posted a while back about 99-06 Volvo S80 door rubbers fitting 320s so I went to the salvage yard and pulled a couple. S80 rubbers fit the seams really well and are super high quality, but the rear rubbers come up a couple inches short. Front door rubbers work great but are about 6" too long which requires cutting a section out and gluing. 

 

Off topic I noticed a clicking in my distributor. Not sure if it was always there or not, maybe it's just the arc? Tomorrow'll pull the cap and make sure the rotor isn't rubbing something while it spins. 

 

Any other ideas while the rotor might be clicking?

[320 Newb]

Figured out the distributor clicking. The cap was a little unseated and the rotor was brushing up against one of the metal poles. Easy fix and it's quiet again. 

 

Got the door Volvo door rubbers cut and in, adjusted the scruff plates to fit. 

 

I also pulled the floor pan and can see my transmission is leaking out the side and rear. At least. Looks like I've got to pull it. :( 

[difrangia]

Don't know if you've pulled a 320 trany before, but here's a link to a good thread on NICO in which Andy in KS pulled a trany from inside the cab through the floor opening. I believe that he had to shift the engine a couple inches forward to get it done.

 

http://forums.nicoclub.com/running-on-a-budget-63-pl-320-t586738.html

 

Some real good info in this NICO thread and several more of Andy's threads for a couple of projects going on here on Ratsun at the current time.

[320 Newb]

^^^^ great lead, thank you! I might have a Moss Motors gasket set part number to add to the mix if everything fits. It looks like it should but I won't post it until I know it works. 

[320 Newb]

Still driving my lil' rig daily. New door rubbers, channel felt for the side windows, and a '61 Ford pickup back window gasket. Oh and new glove box bumpers. All that stuff makes a world of difference in the rattle trap department. 

 

One thing that's weird though is yesterday out of nowhere it started driving like the timing is off. When accelerating it skips here an there and periodically light backfires. I checked the distributor and it still seems bolted down tight. 

 

Any ideas what might have happened?

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Check the points gap.

[320 Newb]

I put new points in a couple months ago and gapped them. Is this still maybe the problem?

 

I didn't replace the rotor or cap though. Could either one of those be the problem?

[difrangia]

Check the little hot wire and terminal in the distributor housing that connects the points to the coil. When I first started driving ours in early 2014, it croaked about three or four blocks from home. Traced it to no fire. A previous owner had jury-rigged the terminal that exits through the distributor body and it was shorting out. I had to come up with a better insulator bushing to insure no electrical short and never had a problem after that.

 

Steve