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"Zeke"- '72 510 2Dr


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Naturally, I didn't need any of that crap. Zeke performed flawlessly.  228 miles round trip according to the odometer.  Stoked!  Speedo is still flaky above about 60 mph (reads about 10% fast, and intermittently it oscillates +/- 5-10 mph), but odometer is dead nuts according to the online mapping directions.  I'm still pretty sure the speedo weirdness is a cable issue.  At any rate, it was a small turnout, maybe a dozen cars, evenly split between Zs and 510s.  Eagle Rock swapmeet no doubt syphoned off some attendance. I took a few pics, but rather than post them here, check out the San Diego Datsun Enthusiasts FB page in the next day or two.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1582136235334754/

 

Sebastian hooked me up with a couple of UFO SoCal stickers, one of which I applied to Zeke when I got home. As you may know, Zeke was once one of Randy York's project cars, and since Randy (RIP) was President and founder of UFO SoCal, this sticker pretty much completes this build.  Thanks, Seabass!  

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Speedometer twitch is the inner cable catching on the inside of the sheath. The cable is a tightly wound spring and very flexible. It will store the twisting energy till it lets go suddenly and the speedo jumps. Check that the speedometer has no, or few as possible, tight bends and no kinks. You can undo the transmission end and pull the inner flex cable out and lubricate. Graphite grease or something with molybdenum di-sulphate grease in it.

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Thanks datsunmike.  Twitch is a good way to describe it. It's a new (but cheap-ass) cable, and came with no rubber seal to keep oil out of the sheath. I installed a less than stellar seal from an old OE cable, but oil is still making its way past the seal and up the sheath. Cable bends are as smooth as I could make them.  I have removed and lightly greased the length of the drive cable and it works great if I disconnect from the tranny sender, drain the oil out of the sheath and drive it with a drill. Speedo needle is smooth up past 90mph (limit of my drill).  So my conclusion is that the drag from the oil in the sheath is causing the cable to rapidly bind and release,  thereby causing the needle to oscillate. Either that or the final bend into the sender (not there when I drive it with a drill) creates enough drag to foul up the operation. I have an old OE cable that I managed to unstick with PB Blaster (had some localized rust due to a nick in the plastic cover).  It worked perfectly when I pulled it many years ago for my SR conversion. I may try that one and see how it goes. 

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I still have one of my old UFO SoCal membership cards, signed by Randy.

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Randy had these business cards printed up for recruiting new members to the club, similar to the flyers Rex had printed for the national UFO Club. This one was in my wallet for many years.

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I guess it was premature to pronounce Leaky Zeke leak free. Earlier this week, during my post trip inspection I found evidence of a coolant leak from the radiator. Crap!  It's a pretty minor leak. No drips, just a little of the tell tale "powdered sugar" on a small area of the lower tank seam. I'm surprised I even noticed it. Probably could have been "fixed" with some stop leak, but who knows how long that would have lasted? Instead I decided to see if the radiator shop could repair it, so yesterday I yanked out the rad.  Red circle shows where the leak is, and next pic is a closeup of the leaky area.  This is a stock automatic 510 rad converted from 2-row to 3-row core, and has been otherwise performing flawlessly.

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Sometimes things go your way.  I was really expecting the radiator shop to tell me the tank is shot, or some other dire scenario making a repair economically infeasible. I was already pretty much resigned to shelling out the $300 for a new aluminum Koyorad, but the shop tech tested it right away. Turned out to be a straightforward resolder repair,  I was out the door within an hour for $65.  Sweet!  This is the same shop that repaired Zeke's heater core and cleaned the fuel tank, and they continue to impress me with their service. Big shout out to Mac's Radiators in Bellflower, CA!  Here's the repaired area:

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After lunch I reinstalled the rad, refilled with coolant and purged the air from the system. Could that be the last of Zeke's leaks? Here's hoping...

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There's a few repair jobs that most 510ers despise with a passion. Replacing rear wheel bearings on a sedan is probably right up there near the top, as is replacing an oil pan gasket without removing the engine, replacing a rear main seal without removing the engine, or anything requiring removing/replacing the front cover without removing the engine, or removing the engine  to perform any of the previously aforementioned operations. 

 

Another sorry task that comes to mind is replacing half-shaft u-joints. Like rear wheel bearings, most of us have probably chosen more than once to replace the entire half-shaft or semi-trailing arm with a known good one from a donor car, rather than R&R the u-joints or bearings. And that was a good strategy when parts cars were plentiful in the wrecking yards.

 

But not so much, anymore. Rebuilding what we have, if possible, has become more of the norm. Fortunately, most of the parts are still available. For example, I recently purchased a set of rear wheel bearings, seals and lock nuts for when the time comes for that nasty job (hopefully not in my lifetime!). And since I have three spare half-shafts, but only one is good, I thought I might broaden my 510 repair resume by attempting to rebuild the two bad half-shafts, something I have never attempted before. 

 

First, the parts. I procured some SKF u-joints from NAPA. Then, I checked to see if the axle boots and clamps were still available from Nissan , and I'll be a monkey's uncle...

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Not sure why I stuck the axle nuts in this pic at lower right,  but there you go. 

 

So, with parts in hand, I endeavored to disassemble the half-shafts. Much easier said than done. In fact, I have made near zero progress to date. I was able to remove the c-clips from the bad end of this half-shaft, but my 3 lb sledge and socket have been no match for the u-joint, despite liberal use of PB Blaster. Most certainly this half-shaft has never been disassembled  since it left the assembly line in Japan.

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You can see the mark where I had the yoke clamped in my bench vise.  Wailing on the socket placed over the  bearing cap I was able to push it in maybe 0.010" and gave up. I even tried to press it out with my vice, but it got to the point where I'm pretty sure my vice was going to let go first.  I might try some heat from a propane torch, but honestly, I'm tempted to throw in the towel and take them to a shop to be pressed out.  To be continued...

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Instead of trying to drive cap into end in order to drive the other side out... If you put halfshaft in a straddling position in vice and pound with a hammer the caps will back out rather easy..  I use a lead hammer to reduce the scarring on shaft 

 

 i will go out and take a couple pics tomorrow and add arrows if no-one beats me to it. 

 

 

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Much like this ,, 

 

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129_1005_52+four_wheeler+easy_u_joint_fi

 

 

Just open jaws enough for part on left to be held and still let part on right ( yoke in these pics) fall through.. You can flip it around and if separated just use u-joint against vice as you're throwing them away anyways. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited by bananahamuck
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Put the half shaft R&R on the back burner for now.

 

Decided I should really change the diff oil since it was still the old oil from when I pulled the diff from my SR car back in 2001. That car got an R180 Quaife and this R160 went on the shelf until Zeke came along.

 

I put the car up on jack stands and used a bubble level on the door sill to verify that it was pretty much level fore/aft to avoid over/underfilling. The old Redline oil still looked pretty good, if several shades darker than fresh oil, so it was probably a good idea to change it. I used this funnel with the tube run down through the large port in the spare tire well to fill the diff.

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The carboard box just holds the funnel in the trunk at about the right height to keep the hose from kinking so the oil keeps flowing downwards into the diff. 

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I have always used GM LSD friction modifier p/n 1052358 to eliminate limited slip clutch chatter, but it's apparently been superceded by AC Delco p/n 8890030. One half bottle (~2 oz) always seemed to do the trick, so in it went.

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Planning to put some more miles on Zeke this weekend. Only 125 miles to go to complete the 500 mile break-in on the engine. With the 500 mile service complete, Zeke should be good to go for the road trip to Monterey for the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion  later this month...

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9 hours ago, Tedman said:

 

Planning to put some more miles on Zeke this weekend. Only 125 miles to go to complete the 500 mile break-in on the engine. With the 500 mile service complete, Zeke should be good to go for the road trip to Monterey for the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion  later this month...

Sweet. I will be there on Saturday and have car corral parking. Looking forward to meeting you and seeing your beautiful 510.

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See ya there, five1oh. Should be fun!  

 

Logged another 60mi on Zeke this morning. Stopped for gas and was able to calculate gas mileage for the first time.  157mi on 7.63 gals for 20.6 MPG.  Not bad for dual 44s, but not great.  I was expecting a little better based on past experience (pre-ethanol days),  but then again I did increase main jet size to account for the ethanol in todays fuel. Also, I'm sure MPG  will go up as the motor continues to break in.  

 

From GPS speed on my phone and an RPM vs. speed spreadsheet I created for my setup, I'm pretty sure my factory tach has been reading low by about 10%. So this afternoon I swapped in a known good factory tach that I used in my SR car in its pre-SR days.  I haven't taken it for a test drive yet, but hopefully the replacement tach will be more accurate. I know there's a calibration potentiometer on the back of the tach, but calibrating by trial and error sounds like a PITA, so if need be I'm considering having a speedo shop calibrate the tach.  

 

Also, earlier this week I pulled my speedo cable from the sheath, greased it up real well, re-installed it, and added some extra grease at the trans end to try and block the gear oil from leaking past the rubber seal and migrating up the sheath.  On my test run today it seemed to work as my speedo needle was indicating a steady speed and not bouncing like it has in the past.  

 

I'm kind of a nerd for gauges...   

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Thought I'd add the MPH vs RPM chart I created in Excel.  These are the transmission gears ratios I used for my transmission:   3.062, 1.858, 1.308, 1.000, 0.745

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After putting some miles on Zeke, the driveline seems to be noisier than I expected, even after accounting for the urethane bushings in the rear crossmember, diff mount and semi-trailing arms. The bulk of the noise seems to be coming from the diff, which doesn't surprise me given the amount of A/X and track day miles it has seen. So I decided to try swapping in the stock 3.9 open diff that came with Zeke. With no idea regarding its condition, I pulled it out from under my work bench and checked it out. Aside from LOTS of grime, a cursory inspection seemed to indicate that it might be in good shape, with no excessive backlash or bearing grinding, etc.  First order of business was to clean it up. Like I said, there was a lot of crud caked on.

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Degreased, with cover studs removed:

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Yup, it's a stock 3.9:1. No scary surprises inside. No chips in the ring or pinion gears. Bearings appear to be intact.

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At this point I decided to go ahead and replace the seals and rear cover gasket before installing in Zeke.  I already have a new pinion seal, so I needed to order a cover gasket and two side seals. Since these parts are NLA from Nissan, I hit up my local Subaru dealer. They had one seal in stock (p/n 806732200) so I ordered the second one, then I found out that the cover gasket (p/n 38353-AA010) is NLA!  Fortunately there's a few online Subie parts vendors with residual stock, so I ordered one plus a few spares.  So much for getting this thing installed this weekend! Should have the parts by mid-week.

 

While waiting for parts, I painted the diff:

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If this diff turns out to be good, I plan to run it while having the 4.38 rebuilt. Should make the run to Monterey and back more enjoyable, and should get better mileage. I also have a stock 19t speedo pinion gear to swap in so hopefully the speedo/odo will be close to normal.  I need to check my spreadsheet...  

Edited by Tedman
premature save- fumble fingers
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In other news, my Coco mats were delivered earlier this week. I ordered them from Cocomats.com.  They weren't sure on sizing, so they sent me a paper template for the PL510 that they had on file. I test fit the template, marked a few changes and sent it back to them. The mats fit perfectly and look great!  I chose black/gray to complement the seats. They are rubber backed and have nubs to grip the carpet and stay in place.  They should do a nice job protecting the carpet. 

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More on the diff situation- 

Installed new pinion and stub axle seals in Zeke's original stock R160. Rear cover gasket stayed on the diff when I pulled the cover, and it wasn't damaged, so I just reinstalled the cover and torqued up the bolts.  Time for the fun to begin...

 

Pulled the 4.38 R160 LSD and installed the cleaned up and  resealed stock diff. Here it is after I wrestled it into place last night:

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Today I re-installed the half shafts and reattached the driveshaft. I had pre-filled the diff with gear oil before installation. Much easier.  Took the car for a short 5 mile test drive around town this afternoon. Happy to report no problems with the diff, and no leaks!  Seems to be much quieter than the 4.38, but I really need to take it on the freeway to be sure. Couldn't really do that this afternoon because Friday in LA...

 

Today I also gave Zeke his 500 mile service. Engine break-in is officially complete! Changed out the straight 30W break-in oil for 6 quarts of fresh 20W-50 Valvoline VR1, and installed a new OE style oil filter. 

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Also adjusted the valves. Cam card for this Americam cam specifies lash at 0.006" IN/ 0.008" EX Cold, but I have been running it looser at 0.008" IN/0.010" EX during engine break-in as a precaution. Today I tightened up the clearances to 0.007" IN/ 0.009" EX and I think I'll stick with that.  It's not a competition engine, so I don't mind giving up the extra 1/4 HP or whatever that might be gained with the tighter clearances, which, frankly,  make me a little nervous. Cam and rocker pads are happy.  Tools and checklist for the job:

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After revisiting my speedo calculations for the change from 4.38:1 rear gear to 3.90:1, I determined that the 19t speedo pinion gear that I have on-hand will be too small, so I ordered a 20t gear from Motorsport Auto. By my calcs, I'm actually in between a 20t and a 21t gear, so I'll first try the 20t and see how it goes.

 

I'm cautiously optimistic that installation of Zeke's original stock diff will make the long drive to Monterey next week far more tolerable, but hey, it's still a 510, so I'll be packing earplugs...

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My 20 tooth speedo pinion arrived in the mail today along with a new seal and o-ring. Kudos to Motorsport Auto for prompt shipment!  I ordered the parts Thurs night, got 'em Saturday with the USPS mail delivery. 

 

So after lunch today I put the rear of the car on jack stands, disconnected the speedo cable and removed the speedo sleeve. I thought no sweat, just slide the old gear out, slip the new gear in, badda-bing badda-boom, done, right?  Wrong. I had forgotten that the pinion gear is retained by a tiny roll pin that needs to be pressed out. I took me a while to find a suitable tool to press out the pin- a small allen wrench did the trick.  Here's the new red 20t pinion gear, and the speedo sleeve with the old 23t green pinion gear. You can see the little roll pin in the sleeve, and that the sleeve o-ring is pretty well flattened. Good thing I ordered a new one.

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I mounted the sleeve in my vice and tapped on the allen wrench to press out the roll pin.

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 I pried out the seal from the bottom of the bore in the sleeve on the cable end. It seals against the pinion gear shaft.  I'm hoping that replacing this seal will keep gear oil from migrating into and up the speedo cable and causing erratic speedometer response.

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Here's the disassembled speedo sleeve with the new o-ring and new seal before assembly. The 10mm socket will be used to press the seal into the bore of the sleeve.

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New seal pressed into the cable end bore. I had to use an 11mm socket on top of the 10mm socket because the bore depth was deeper than the socket.:

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You'll notice that I'm still using the stock 280ZX aluminum speedo sleeve with the high tooth count (20t-23t) speedo pinions. Theoretically, this sleeve only works up to 19t pinions, and for 20t-23t pinions you need to order the special steel offset sleeve from Nissan Motorsports.  Well, way back when I did just that, but found out that it only works on the earlier 5-speeds and Comp 5-speeds where the sleeve retainer is at the top or 12 o'clock position. On the later 280ZX trans like mine, the retainer is on the bottom or closer to 6 o'clock position. My solution was to rotate the stock sleeve 180 degrees, and file a new slot for the retainer. Worked like a charm. Here in this next pic you can see the slot that I filed.

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Here's the reassembled speedo sleeve with the new 20t pinion gear installed and ready to go back into the trans. Looking forward to trying it out tomorrow...

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  Break in is accomplished by driving it, not necessarily by accumulated miles. There is no mileage where it is 'broken in'. Oils, metal and manufacturing are better today (oils especially) than back in the '50s when you pussy-footed around for the first 500 miles. Break in is faster if you 'drive it' with 'verv'. Oh.... the mileage will get better as the break in continues and things loosen up. It may also start running cooler.

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All good points, datzenmike.  Exclaiming that the engine break-in has completed was misleading. What I meant was that the engine had completed my somewhat arbitrarily defined break-in period and that it was time for Zeke's 500 miles service.?

 

In other news, went for a 60 mile freeway cruise this morning. By GPS I confirmed that my speedo is reading ~10% high, and the odo is 3% high.  If I can find a 21t speedo pinion, that will get me down to +5% speedo error and -2% odo error, which I can live with. 

 

Also, the speedo needle was steady up to 85mph, so it looks like replacing that seal in the pinion sleeve finally fixed the intermittent bouncy needle problem.  ?

 

Forgot to add that the stock R160 is far quieter than the 4.38 LSD at freeway speeds, so that's gonna work out good for the trip to Monterey. Time to send out the LSD diff for a rebuild...

Edited by Tedman
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