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"Zeke"- '72 510 2Dr


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Since my last update I have been focusing on engine assembly. With the head and block completed it was time to mate them together, but first I wanted to check and set cam timing per the cam card:

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First I found TDC on the #1 piston using a dial indicator, and marked it on the pulley relative to an L16 pointer mounted on the front cover. Next I removed the rockers from the cylinder head, installed a mechanical fuel pump spring in place of the #1 intake valve spring, reinstalled the rocker arm and reinstalled the head on the block with a used headgasket of thickness approximating the intended head gasket. I installed the timing chain, front cover and pulley, then temporarily attached the Summit degree wheel to the pulley using double stick tape. I fashioned a pointer from a large paper clip and attached it to an upper front cover bolt. I had to open up the center hole in the degree wheel to accommodate the crank bolt socket.

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The dial indicator was set up on the #1 intake valve retainer to measure valve lift position. A steel plate was attached to a valve cover bolt hole to serve as a pedestal for the magnetic base of the dial indicator. 

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The valve timing card was silent on the valve lift at which the specs apply, but typically this is 0.010", 0.020", 0.025" or 0.050", so I took measurements at each for both opening and closing. I tried the OEM cam pulley, aftermarket pulley and Nismo pulley (CW from upper left):

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I obtained best correlation with the cam card using a lift of 0.010" with lash set to zero using the OEM pulley on the #2 dowel pin. FWIW, here's my data vs. lift:

 

lift (in.)       Intake open (deg. BTDC)   Intake close (deg ABDC)    Duration (deg)

0.010            34.5                                   65.5                                    280

0.020            21.5                                   48.5                                    250

0.025            18.5                                   45                                       243.5

0.050              8                                      36                                       224

 

Satisfied with the cam timing, I re-installed the rockers and #1 intake valve spring, and set lash to a loose (for this cam) 0.008" intake/ 0.010" exhaust (cold) for the initial break-in.  I then installed the head for real using the Nismo headgasket (11044-A7651) torqued to 65 ft-lbs, installed the timing chain, tensioner, guides, brass distributor drive gear, oil slinger, front cover and pulley.   

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I still need to flip it over and install the pan gasket, but stoked to finally have the long block pretty much buttoned up! 

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Today I more or less finished up the engine assembly. I installed the water pump, attached the coolant inlet fitting and thermostat housing, installed the dipstick tube, and disassembled, cleaned and inspected the oil pump. Oil pump clearances were well within spec so it was reassembled with fresh gaskets and installed.  Here's the oil pump components and assembled pump. 

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I also installed the oil pan gasket and Comp pan. The new windage tray was interfering with the pickup tube bolt heads which prevented the pan from laying flat on the block, but I was able to persuade it with some judicious hammering. It's just about ready to drop into Zeke!

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Next up is to install the block breather tube, intake and exhaust manifolds and distributor, then I can finally pull the mock-up motor and install this bad boy!

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Test fit the intake and exhaust manifolds this afternoon. Need to clean up the carbs, and fit the ITG air filter backing plate. Otherwise the motor is just about ready to drop in.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Finished plumbing the fuel line. I'm using an Earl's filter and pressure gauge.  I made up a short -6 braided hose and mounted it all to the firewall. I'll be running rubber hose from a nipple off the gauge to the carbs.

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Engine is now ready for installation into Zeke. Performed final install of the oil pump, distributor driveshaft, distributor, intake with carbs, air filter baseplate, 2" air horns, heat shield, and exhaust manifold. Installed the oil filter nipple and oil filter. Installed the 1/8 BSP to 1/8 NPT to -3 AN adapter for the remote oil pressure gauge sender. I plan to install the alternator after the engine is in the car (still need to get a grade 8 3/8"x5.5" bolt for the lower alt. mount).

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Here's the oil pressure gauge sender (gold canister) mounted to the inner fender.  Oil line from the block comes in from the left. I used a tee to accommodate a stock pressure sender so the factory idiot light in the dash will still work. At right you can see the fuel line plumbing on the firewall.

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At this point it's time for some grunt work. I need to remove the mock-up L20B and 280ZX tranny, replace the rear seal on the tranny, and then install the new engine and ZX tranny into Zeke... 

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Thanks for the kind words. That carb heat shield I made about 15 years ago. It's pretty agricultural as I'm not much of a fabricator. It is made from some galvanized sheet metal using simple hand tools. I made a template from poster board and cut and bent it to fit. I glued some heat resistant fabric to the under side. It attaches to the carbs with simple aluminum struts and also underneath at bosses on the Mikuni manifold. Here's a view from the front showing the strut mounting to the forward carb, and a similar view from the rear.

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Here's a view under the front carb showing the attachment to the manifold (8.8 bolt with one small and one large washer).  The short Mikuni manifold has one of these bosses under each carb. Not sure why, but perhaps for this very purpose. 

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I also had to make cutout holes for the accelerator pump actuator shaft under each carb. Here's a wide view from below where you can see those holes.

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Crude, yes. But better than nothing.  I'm actually surprised how well it fits with the factory exhaust manifold since I was running a shorty tubular header when I made it. It would serve as a good template for version 2.0 made from some thicker gauge sheet metal if I was inclined to make another.  

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What he built can be done a grinder, a drill, and vice. The vice can be replaced with a couple vice grips. Put a piece of metal on either side of your workpiece and vice grip them along the the line you want bent. Start the bend by hand, if you need more, lightly tap the bend with a hammer till it's bent far enough.

 

If you want to add some extra finesse, round off all square corners. Its amazing how much "finished" it makes things appear. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with an "agricultural" appearance, as tedman put it. Its still a very smartly designed and assembled piece.

 

Also, if you don't have one, get a flap wheel for your grinder. They will change the whole game pic metal finishing.

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What he built can be done a grinder, a drill, and vice. The vice can be replaced with a couple vice grips. Put a piece of metal on either side of your workpiece and vice grip them along the the line you want bent. Start the bend by hand, if you need more, lightly tap the bend with a hammer till it's bent far enough.

 

If you want to add some extra finesse, round off all square corners. Its amazing how much "finished" it makes things appear. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with an "agricultural" appearance, as tedman put it. Its still a very smartly designed and assembled piece.

 

Also, if you don't have one, get a flap wheel for your grinder. They will change the whole game pic metal finishing.

Completely agree... and you basically described how I get my stuff done....

And yes I got a couple flapper wheels...

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That’s a neat heat shield. I made one for my Mikuni manifold also, but a little simpler. Mine is just galvanized sheet steel with aluminum flat stock, mounted just by the two bosses underneath the manifold. I made dimples in it with a socket and a ball peen hammer for the accelerator pump arms. It is sturdy and works well without extra thermal protection. I can touch the bottoms of the carburetors and they are warm, but not hot. I am also running a stock mechanical fan, so that helps blow some air around some.

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  • 1 month later...

It's been a while since my last update. Motivation has been lacking with the new year, but I'm back at it. Sometimes it helps to step back and take a little breather. Anyway, I achieved a major milestone today and got the engine and transmission installed! Here's a shot of the engine bay prior to install. The last thing I needed to do was replace the grungy original thermal wrap fabric on the e-brake cable. I wrapped it with the same thermal wrap material I used on the underside of the heatshield.

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Here's the new engine on the hook:

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Installed my used but serviceable Tilton 6-bolt 200mm aluminum flywheel and Roadster pressure plate with a new clutch disk:

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In there, with freshly painted "Datsun OHC" cam cover:

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The main things I need to do now are route, wrap and install the engine compartment harness, install the starter, alternator, radiator, exhaust system, and Zeke should be ready to fire up!

 

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More progress this week, nothing major, just little things that need to get done. Installed the clutch slave hose, filled the clutch reservoir with fluid and bled the line- got a nice pedal now. Installed and adjusted the throttle cable. Installed the alternator, starter, oil pressure sender hose, fuel filter, fuel pressure gauge and fuel line to carbs. Filled the tranny with gear oil (Redline MT-90 GL4) and installed the shifter and boot. Installed a new 70" speedo cable ($8 from RockAuto- are you kidding me?).  Here's an overhead of the engine bay as it sits right now:

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Clutch slave and hose installed:

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Shifter:

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Throttle pedal, lever and cable firewall feedthrough from inside:

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Throttle cable feedthrough from engine side of firewall. This is a Mikuni cable kit which I think is unfortunately NLA:

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Speedo cable and grommet, engine side of firewall:

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Speedo cable routing over bell housing:

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Speedo cable connection at transmission. I had to rotate the sleeve 180 deg and file a new retainer flat on the sleeve body to use the proper pinion gear (I think it was 21t) to make the speedo accurate with a 4.38 rear gear and 23" tires. 

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Passenger side of engine. Experimenting with placement of inspection lamp (far left) mounted to a lower bolt hole for the hood prop brace. Will need to drill 1 hole to attach the upper tab. I like this location as the unfurled lamp can reach and illuminate either side of engine.

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The main hurdle now is to complete and install the engine compartment wiring harness. I ordered some new Hella relays for the headlights and horn, and a fused power distribution block for the headlight wiring. Once I get those I can finalize the wiring, wrap and install the harness. Zeke is getting really close to firing up!  

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Happy Ground Hog's Day!  I've no idea if Punxsatawney Phil saw his shadow today, but if he was in SoCal he would've definitely needed some Ray Bans. Ok, whatever. Got a few things done this week on Zeke.  Drilled holes in the fender and installed the coil. Original holes were welded up (Randy was going to install an SR20), so it was sort of painful to redrill them.  You can also see the new repro data plate installed on the strut tower (both the strut tower and door jamb plates were missing when I bought the car).  

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I also stamped and installed the repro door jamb plate. I had to file the holes in the plate a bit to get it to fit the existing holes.  It is installed with 1/8" rivets. Both plates were purchased from Zeddsaver.com, and I used a metal stamping set from Harbor Freight to imprint the numbers. 

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Zeke was also missing sunvisors, but I scored a used pair from a friend's stash.  One was missing the 3-hole bracket that attaches it to the roof but fortunately I found one from DAPsupply.net.  These visors are in pretty good shape for being 45+ years old, but one was beige and the other was grey. Since Zeke has a black headliner, I sprayed them with Landau Black SEM vinyl spray paint and they turned out pretty good.

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So far I've only found one of the proper chromed Phillips oval head pointed M5 screws that are used to attach the sunvisors, but I did find a place on line selling black ones for a 240Z so I might try those ($8/set). Here's what the OE screw looks like:

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I also wired up the main power and ground for the alternator, and installed a fused junction block.  In the following photo you can see the blue alternator ground wire going to the forward motor mount bolt, and the red power wire going to the junction block on the inner fender. Power comes from the battery to the junction block via the 8 gauge red wire you can see running along the top of the frame rail from the left. The junction block has two fused terminals (on left) that will be used for main power to the headlights via relays. There are two J-case fuses under the rectangular-ish rubber weatherproof cover immediately to the right of the bolt head.

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I now have the Hella relays for the headlights in hand so the next step will be to finalize the relay mounting positions and then adapt and wire them with the modified factory underhood electrical harness. Zeke is really getting close to coming alive now!  

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The head gasket I installed is the bottom one in the pic below and I installed it as-is. I once ran the older style NISMO 88.5 gasket (top one in pic) on an L18 bored out to nearly 2 liters without opening up that water passage and it worked fine.

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Today's project was to mount the headlight and horn relays semi-discretely behind the RF strut tower. I found a few lengths of L shaped sheetmetal in my garage which was left by the previous homeowner. I think it might be the stuff used to waterproof roof edge beams (flashing?). Anyway, I cut a short length to which I could mount 4 relays side by side (Headlight switch, Hi beam circuit, Lo Beam circuit, and Horn).  These are Hella weatherproof relays which were purchased from Waytek. They are attached with 8mm ATF bolts and nuts, which I had on-hand, though I'm considering changing out the bolts for Phillips pan head screws for a cleaner look. 

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I made a bracket to affix the assembly to the rear of the RF strut tower opposite the fuse box. There were already two holes there, so no drilling was required. Here is the relay assembly mounted to the strut tower. I plan to paint the cover black for a less conspicuous appearance, and maybe change out the hex head screws for Phillips pan head screws as well.

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The L bracket under the cover has riv-nuts installed to facilitate relay access by simply removing the two hex cap screws on top to open the cover. Now I just need to wire the relays and integrate the rest of the underhood harness...

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Regarding the headlight re-wiring, I'm following the schematic pdf posted by Dimebag at The Realm:

http://www.the510realm.com/download/file.php?id=12529

 

Did a little (ok, very  little) wiring work today. First I labeled the relays. Yes, I still have a Dymo labeler.  If you are under 40 you've probably never even seen one of these.

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Here's the labeled and semi-wired relay assembly:

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