Project Dajiban

[KELMO]

29 pages in this thread and I've not posted once. The "before" pic has the vibe of "want some candy little girl?".

 

End result looks the goods.

[datsunfreak]

59 minutes ago, KELMO said:

The "before" pic has the vibe of "want some candy little girl?".

 

Damn. That's the result we were going for with the after...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

😁

[dimlight65]

So, as cool as the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, "Miso Soup!" shift knob is...

 

 

the angle of the dangle makes 2, 4, and "Miso Soup!" too much of a backwards stretch for comfortable hooning.

 

Therefore, I revived an idea I poo-pooed earlier because I didn't like the way it  looked.  I decided to go back to the bubble shifter thing because A) it is...

 

 

and 2) it falls to hand better.

 

 

 

I'm still not 100% a fan of the forward cant, but it does work better.

 

Now we need to figure out why it smokes so much after engine braking, and what is clunking in the rear end... again!

[EDM620]

6 hours ago, dimlight65 said:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, "Miso Soup!

Had a thought, have a leather wrap over and put the Miso on it either on the top or along the grip

[dimlight65]

16 hours ago, EDM620 said:

Had a thought, have a leather wrap over and put the Miso on it either on the top or along the grip

I am going to have to get a "Miso Soup!" decal now.

[dimlight65]

On 10/1/2022 at 4:55 PM, dimlight65 said:

Now we need to figure out why it smokes so much after engine braking

 

So, this engine has what is known as the "Kegger" manifold, because it looks like a beer keg if you squint just right. 

 

https://images.app.goo.gl/wnD2Lwu6khF1Qy136

 

Anyhoo, These manifolds have a known weakness.  There is a thin steel plate bolted to the bottom to seal the plenum.

 

https://images.app.goo.gl/pu5Xn5xyDZMcUwVA7

 

These are known to leak.  I think by being able to engine brake now, I have introduce WAAAAAAYYYYYYYY more vacuum to the plenum than it has ever seen.  I believe I have sucked the gasket into submission... aw crap.  I'm going to regret THAT choice of words.

 

Moving on.  I bought another manifold from the 'Bay, as well as a Hughes Plenum Repair Kit (1/4" aluminum plate, new gasket, and longer bolts.)

 

https://images.app.goo.gl/9hyoK2zzK56C2tY47

 

All of that should be here soon and we'll tackle that chore... eventually.

[dimlight65]

On 10/1/2022 at 4:55 PM, dimlight65 said:

Now we need to figure out... what is clunking in the rear end.

 

Found it!

 

 

 

The pinion angle adjusters had come loose.  (Whoever suggested some Locktite was in our future wins the prescience award.)

 

We hunkered the hell out of them and the U-bolts while we were under there.  We may go back and hit them with a tack weld just to be sure.

 

With the ass in the air though, the air dam is just about at the right height!  s/

 

 

 

Yes, it IS touching the ground.

[dimlight65]

Got a whole bunch of packages today!

 

 

In them was stuff!  A gallon of Zero Rust grey paint so we can finally do something about the roof.

 

 

A new, less aggressive air dam. (Its own post coming later)

 

 

An intake manifold.  (Also, its own post coming later)

 

 

And the plenum repair kit.  And a very extensive kit it is, I must say!

 

 

Up next, manifold disassembly and cleaning.

[datsunfreak]

Air dam on...

 

 

[datsunfreak]

Tim said he'd post more when his cat moves...  😄

 

Van on the move...  

 

 

Edited October 13, 2022 by datsunfreak

[dimlight65]

Ok, the cat moved.

 

 

Had a look at the intake manifold.  This one had a blown plenum gasket as well.  See it poking out between the bolts on both sides?

 

 

 

Cover off, and you can see where it wasn't sealed.

 

 

And the plate where it wasn't sealing.  Dang, I just noticed how out of focus it is... sorry.

 

 

And a couple gratuitous shots of the inside of a Kegger manifold.

 

 

 

 

Finally, soaking in a bath of Simple Green.

 

 

Edited October 13, 2022 by dimlight65

[dimlight65]

Well, while I was welding John's transmission crossmember, he installed my new, less aggressive, more driveway friendly, air dam.  (His picture is infinitely better, but I promised y'all its own post.)

 

 

 

 

And I'd like to report: not a single scrape anywhere on the drive to dinner or home!

 

 

Edited October 13, 2022 by dimlight65

[datsunfreak]

One more roller....

 

[dimlight65]

I should wait for the hot rod parts I'm buying for this to arrive so I can show them off, but I can't resist posting these.

 

It's cleaner than it was

 

 

 

 

 

When the Utawesome VRPs, airflow wedge, and valley pan oil splash shield arrive (the hot rod parts mentioned above), we'll start modifying this baby for more torque!

[dimlight65]

We applied a couple coats of the Zero Rust paint to the roof today.  I think it looks a million percent better.

 

 

We have a plan to deal with the grotty driver's side and rear doors.  Stay tuned.

[dimlight65]

A box of bits arrived from Utawesome!

 

 

I've got a lifter valley oil splash shield

 

 

A 3D printed air deflector ramp thingy

 

 

 

And VRPs (volume reduction plates)

 

 

Wednesday I will start fitting them to the manifold!

[dimlight65]

On 10/21/2022 at 2:34 PM, dimlight65 said:

We applied a couple coats of the Zero Rust paint to the roof today.  I think it looks a million percent better.

 

On 10/22/2022 at 4:52 PM, dimlight65 said:

Wednesday I will start fitting them to the manifold!

 

I stopped by the shop "on my way" to a memorial luncheon for a friend's late mother (quotes because it was by no stretch of the imagination "on my way").  

 

A) The roof looks even better today, possibly due to having a few days to dry and possibly due to the rain (and, I said "doo-doo" twice!).

and

2) I had a preliminary grok of the  Utawesome parts in the manifold.  They are going to require substantial "fitting."  Oh well, I knew the job was dangerous when I took it!

[dimlight65]

So, start with some Utawesome VRPs

 

 

Trim them to look something like this

 

 

Lop off a little bit of the center divider

 

 

And you get something along these lines

 

 

Then, cut a V-notch in the middle for the air defector

 

 

Which sits something like this

 

 

Pookie and bolt that to a Hughes plenum plate

 

 

And it looks something like this when installed

 

 

Next we find an aluminum welder to zook the VRPs in place and we start thinking about swapping this maniflod for the old one.

[Duncan]

Curious as to what the end result will be with the plates.  Performance? better mileage?  both?

 

I've not seen them used before.

 

 

[datsunfreak]

8 hours ago, Duncan said:

Curious as to what the end result will be with the plates.  Performance? better mileage?  both?

 

It seems whoever engineered this intake made the plenum a little too large, making for laggy throttle response at low vacuum. This effectively reduces the size of the plenum to eliminate that. 

 

Some reading on what it does:

http://utawesomeperformance.com/kegger-vrp.html

 

Quote

The addition of these CNC 16 gauge aluminum plates reduces the massive volume in the kegger manifold and greatly increases the velocity of the incoming air.

 

You can see, none of the available aftermarket intakes make torque down low like the stock one. And this mod increases that bottom end torque (from idle to 3000rpm) by 10%.

 

Edited October 27, 2022 by datsunfreak

[dimlight65]

Yes, what John said!

 

Looking at that dyno chart, and comparing it to how I drive the thing, none of the hot-rod manifolds outperform the Kegger until after 4000 rpm and that's right about where I have my shift light set.

 

Not to mention, 4000 in 5th is 110 miles per hour!  Oops, I mentioned it!  😇

Edited October 27, 2022 by dimlight65

[Duncan]

I get it.  What didn't make sense to me was using something to restrict the air.  I know Nascar does it, (or they used to) but just to reduce speed. 

 

Seeing that it was an engineering "oops" it makes sense.  👍

 

 

 

[dimlight65]

16 hours ago, Duncan said:

I get it.  What didn't make sense to me was using something to restrict the air.  I know Nascar does it, (or they used to) but just to reduce speed. 

 

Seeing that it was an engineering "oops" it makes sense.  👍

 

 

 

 

I think it's more "redirecting" rather than "restricting."  The VRPs (Volume Reduction Plates) force the air to take a more direct path from the throttle body to the ports rather than having a HUGE plenum full of air that has to get moving in order to... get moving.

[dimlight65]

We installed the single rear door today!

 

First, I made a nut-holder so I could bolt in the striker.

 

 

Did a "proof of concept" installation in an existing hole because I wasn't sure of my interpretation of John's measurements.

 

 

My mark was about an inch too high, it turns out.  Anyhoo, while I waited for John to show up and confirm the proper striker placement, I removed the double doors...

 

 

...and set them aside

 

 

Then, when John arrived, we installed the single door and "aligned" it.

 

 

Finally, we covered the holes left by the passenger side door hinge with some faux carbon vinyl and replaced the window decals

 

 

I also dropped the manifold and VRPs off at an aluminum welder.  Hopefully I'll get that back next Wednesday.

 

Edited November 3, 2022 by dimlight65

[dimlight65]

19 hours ago, dimlight65 said:

I also dropped the manifold and VRPs off at an aluminum welder.  Hopefully I'll get that back next Wednesday.

 

Picked it up today after work!  I'll post pictures as we finish getting it ready to install.