Project Dajiban

[dimlight65]

So I zooked on the V-band clamps to the collector and "cat"

 

 

 

 

Then I tried it under the van.  Yeah, at some point, you just have to give up trying to make your  dumbassery work.

 

I cut it all apart so I could start over.

 

 

[dimlight65]

Oh, I also made a release mechanism for the fire extinguisher mount.

 

 

There's vidja of it in action on the instant grams, but I haven't fingered out how to get that over here.

Edited August 11, 2022 by dimlight65
Arrrrrr!

[dimlight65]

On 8/10/2022 at 10:38 PM, dimlight65 said:

Yeah, at some point, you just have to give up trying to make your  dumbassery work.

 

I cut it all apart so I could start over.

 

And boy howdy, did I ever fuck it up!  Suffices to say, it was a "Tim can NOT weld" day.  We're just going to tow the bastard to a muffler shop and have a professional either make my thing work, or build a totally new system.

[Duncan]

On 8/13/2022 at 2:14 PM, dimlight65 said:

And boy howdy, did I ever fuck it up!  Suffices to say, it was a "Tim can NOT weld" day.  We're just going to tow the bastard to a muffler shop and have a professional either make my thing work, or build a totally new system.

 

I've done the "cut it all out and start over" routine a hell of a lot of times, too.  Get out the sawzall out and try another day usually works for me 🙂

 

 

[dimlight65]

6 hours ago, Duncan said:

 

I've done the "cut it all out and start over" routine a hell of a lot of times, too.  Get out the sawzall out and try another day usually works for me 🙂

 

 

 

I should be ashamed to admit that most of the problem is me.  I don't really know  how to set the welder up properly.  It's like a 32/36 carb, I plugged it in, twisted the knobs to what the manual said should be a good starting point, and never touched them again.  I'm sure there isn't a single atom of "whack" in any of the settings.

[dimlight65]

I decided today that I wasn't going to let the welder beat me!  I've been using it for years with modest success most of the time.  I was determined to make it work again!

 

To that end, I swung by the welding supply house and bought a pack of tungstens in the size I have been accustomed to using.

 

 

I then got to work "fixing" the holes I blew in the pipes Saturday.

 

 

Disregard that square patch. Someone lined up the pipe backwards and didn't notice until he drilled a flipping great hole in the other pipe. 

 

At about the time I took that picture, I noticed I was out of argon.

 

 

I threw the bottle in the back of the Smart, and drove back to the welding supply for a refill.

 

Back at the shop, I sized up, lined up, and fitted up the rest of the system, which took multiple crawls under the van thankyouverymuch, and zooked it all together.

 

 

Well... almost all together.  As I was zooking this last joint...

 

 

The "gas lens" on the TIG torch broke!

 

 

I'm dead in the water until the new one arrives Friday.  But, I beat the welding gremlins and got my welding confidence back!

 

The guys at "Grassroot Motorsports" magazine are always saying, "You can't weld dirt.  You can't weld air."  Bitch!  I weld dirt TO air!

[EDM620]

I can feel that frustration, back in my youth I was pretty good at stick welding (worked welding components for oil drilling) and years later I can still bubble gum shit together, but MIG welding thin semi-porous Ratsun tin is damn frustrating!

[dimlight65]

6 minutes ago, EDM620 said:

I can feel that frustration, back in my youth I was pretty good at stick welding (worked welding components for oil drilling) and years later I can still bubble gum shit together, but MIG welding thin semi-porous Ratsun tin is damn frustrating!

 

I learned on TIG so it's all I do... some would (rightfully) say badly!  But, it (usually) stays together and does what I need it to do. 

 

Now, as you mentioned, zooking thin assed Datsun metal is quite the fucker of all mothers!

[dimlight65]

John made a shift boot for me and installed it tonight!  It is quite lovely.  

 

 

Much lovlier than my crap photo of it, that's for sure!

[dimlight65]

So the gas lens cup thingies arrived on Friday.  Saturday I went to the shop to finish the welds on the zorst.  I chose a slightly smaller lens and upped the argon pressure a little.  It welded like a champ!  I was flying solo, and there was a weird liquid falling from the sky, so I didn't attempt to crawl under for another test fit.  We'll do that Wednesday.  If John announces my suicide* Wednesday night... it didn't fit.

 

 

 

 

 

*I'm joking of course... He'd probably be too busy filing police reports late into the night to bother posting about it

 

 

Edited August 22, 2022 by dimlight65

[dimlight65]

Woo hoo!  The zorst fits finally!  

Out of focus shot of the passenger side hanger.

 

 

How the flexy things and V-band clamps turned out.

 

 

Passenger side down tube through flexy thing and V-band.

 

 

 

And the tip even came out about level and where I wanted it.

 

Needles to say, I'm quite chuffed!

 

Ok, so there is one more joint that needs to be zooked and I need to install the gaskets at the header, but I'm just about ready to call this project's ass whupped!

 

[Duncan]

Based on the earlier pics vs the later pics, it did like more shielding gas pressure was the trick.  On the earlier pics the welds looked dark and a bit porous.  The later ones looked much smoother and not so dark.  The exhaust looks good.  I've never done one, and really have never wanted to do one due to a lack of a car lift. 

 

Nice job!!

 

 

[datsunfreak]

8 hours ago, Duncan said:

really have never wanted to do one due to a lack of a car lift. 

 

This does make it a lot more difficult. 😁

[dimlight65]

The zorst is DONE!  But there are no pictures. 

 

I crawled under and removed the downpipe that needed final welding and... welded it.  As I was struggling and cursing the header to downpipe gasket on reinstallation, John arrived and we got that side buttoned up.  My back chose that moment to seize up.  John jumped in and installed the gasket on the driver's side down pipe.  With all joints, oxygen sensors, and hangers tight, we had a look at the neutral safety switch.  John crimped on a ring terminal and grounded the necessary wire.  I turned the key, after John got out from under the van of course, and... the starter didn't do a damned thing.  "Oh, we might want to reconnect the battery!" one of us observed.  With that done, the donk fired up quite nicely.  We did have to pump up the jam... I mean clutch to get it to go into gear, but once it did we saw the engine turn the rear wheels through a manual transmission for the first time!  We then noticed that my washable oil filter thingy was leaking.  I took a rag to wipe it off and, guess what!  Headers get really hot, really quickly!  I heard a "Tsssss" noise and then felt something odd on my forearm.  Yep, I was leaning on the hot header.  I've got a nice little blister growing on my arm right now.  After that, we got tucked into the "last" job on this list: setting the pinion angle and getting rid of the annoying "Clunk" under positive and negative acceleration.  We removed the locator thingies that "someone" in our shop trimmed too much off of and discovered that one of them was actually, probably, kinda ok.  However, the other showed signs of movement.  We made a plan for some adjustable locator thingies and I'll be fabricating them on Wednesday.  Stay tuned!

 

TL;DR: zorst done, van started, clutch needs bleeding, donk spins rear wheels, burned arm, pinion angle setting in progress, quite chuffed!

[Duncan]

Congrats on getting it going.  All things considered, you guys pulled that one together rather quickly.

 

Curious as what the locator things are...

 

 

[dimlight65]

On 11/18/2019 at 2:40 PM, datsunfreak said:

 

http://datsun510.com/uploads/monthly_2019_11/large.20191116_131834.jpg.2df13b4dd6af578103f4c2c175ce31b3.jpg

 

On 11/20/2019 at 8:53 PM, datsunfreak said:

 

http://datsun510.com/uploads/monthly_2019_11/large.20191120_173048.jpg.9ec08c6cd819bbc8898defaa6ae555d1.jpg

 

Hopefully those pictures will 'splain the locator thingies.  They go between the spring and axle.  The vertical plates set the pinion angle and keep the axle from rotating.

 

Edit: Since it was so long ago, the pictures didn't link.  If the links don't work, go back to page three of this thread to see them.

Edited August 28, 2022 by dimlight65

[EDM620]

Great progress guys!

[datsunfreak]

On 8/28/2022 at 8:21 AM, dimlight65 said:

If the links don't work, go back to page three of this thread to see them.

 

They work for me if I click on them. 👍

[dimlight65]

Ok, so I got the locator/pinion angle thingies built today then John and I installed them.

 

I started out with these for a Chevy truck.  Way too narrow and I didn't like the contact patch of the bare coupler nuts.

 

 

So I found some bolts with shanks to thread into the coupler nuts.

 

 

Ran a die down them...

 

 

And cut them off (one at a time obvs)

 

 

These were then threaded into the coupler nuts

 

 

And cut shorter

 

 

Next post will continue the tale!

Edited September 1, 2022 by dimlight65

[dimlight65]

Ok, so I was not the most correct that I have ever been when I said this post would continue the tale.  Ratsun won't let me load any more pictures.  

[dimlight65]

I'll try a third time.  Fucking hell this is a pain in the ass!

 

Some box steel was sourced (thank you John)

 

 

Axle shaped holes were hole-sawed into it,

 

And it was cleft in twain.

The Chevy locators were similarly bifurcated,

 

 

And forced into the box steel from a moment ago.

 

 

and welded into place.

 

Neither one of us took any pictures of the installation while we were under the van, but the pinion angle is set and everything is hunkered down nice and tight.

 

Once we re-bleed the clutch, she goes back on the ground!

 

Edited September 1, 2022 by dimlight65

[dimlight65]

Oh no!  I just discovered Speedmaster!

 

[dimlight65]

So John has told me in no uncertain terms that I am NOT to buy the kit from my previous post.  I mean, of course he's right but...

 

Anyhoo, I crawled under and took a picture of the adjuster/locator thingies for y'all.

 

 

Then it was decided that I need to get the van back on the road so I'm temporarily abandoning the leaky washable oil filter...

 

 

In favor of a regular off the shelf disposable one (with the bonus factor of "Fuck the environment!")

 

 

Then we installed the dash

 

 

and turned on the lights

 

 

Ooooooo, purple!

 

 

Then I replaced the "illegible red on faux carbon" decal with a, hopefully, legible red decal straight on the paint

 

 

 

Yes, it is crooked because the top edge of the pre-space tape wasn't aligned with the decal like I assumed it would be.  And yes the zorst tip is crooked because... SHUT UP!  That's why!

 

And finally, can someone 'splain to me why the insulation under the rubber floor mat had a die cut cutout right where the shifer came through the floor if none of these vans came with Manuel transmissions?

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by dimlight65
Quotation mark and added last picture

[]2eDeYe]

All caught up, the exhaust was killing me lol. 😄

[Duncan]

20 hours ago, dimlight65 said:

So John has told me in no uncertain terms that I am NOT to buy the kit from my previous post.  I mean, of course he's right but...

 

Anyhoo, I crawled under and took a picture of the adjuster/locator thingies for y'all.

 

 

Then it was decided that I need to get the van back on the road so I'm temporarily abandoning the leaky washable oil filter...

 

 

In favor of a regular off the shelf disposable one (with the bonus factor of "Fuck the environment!")

 

 

Then we installed the dash

 

 

and turned on the lights

 

 

Ooooooo, purple!

 

 

Then I replaced the "illegible red on faux carbon" decal with a, hopefully, legible red decal straight on the paint

 

 

 

And yes the zorst tip is crooked because... SHUT UP!  That's why!

 

 

There was a user on here (Ericwaslike) and he had a 521 truck with purple wheels.  Someone asked him why he had purple wheels, and his answer was "because fuck you, that's why"

 

One of my all time favorite snippy answers to a stupid question, ever...