Project Dajiban

[dimlight65]

1 hour ago, iceman510 said:

You guys need to find one of these:  Sorry it's turned.  Tried 4 times to fix it, but the board rotated it every time after I loaded it.

 

 

Yeah, I am intentionally NOT looking for one because there are several different versions and I know if I buy one, I'll buy them all.

 

They are pretty cool though.

[iceman510]

What, 99 cents and you can't swing that, after what you spent on the 1:1 scale Dajiban?  😉

[paradime]

Start a GoFundMe page. Iceman510 will be the first tp donate. 

[EDM620]

46 minutes ago, iceman510 said:

What, 99 cents and you can't swing that, after what you spent on the 1:1 scale Dajiban?  😉

Gotta use scale money for that ...

[dimlight65]

Made pretty good progress today.

 

First, I made a tool to remove the clutch fan

 

 

Which spun right off adding several pounds of lightness

 

 

So I decided to continue the diet and binned the A/C condenser and transmission cooler

 

 

Now the radiator can see lots of fresh air!

 

 

And the front of the engine is nicely exposed now

 

 

So with the clutch fan out of there, I needed to install an electric

 

 

Which I did

 

  

Then I went to install the belt that is supposed to be the "Non-A/C" serpentine for a Magnum donk... 

 

Hint, it isn't

 

 

Routed one way and it's too short.  Routed another way, and it's too long.  We took measurements and ordered one for a Mercedes that should be the right length.  We'll see Saturday.

 

I took no pictures of it, but the alternator is in as well as the throttle cable.  I'm 99.76825% sure everything is reconnected and ready to go except for the signal wire for the electric fan relay.  It got dark and cold before I could get to that last bit.

 

Edited December 15, 2022 by dimlight65

[EDM620]

4 hours ago, dimlight65 said:

Hint, it isn't

Indeed, it looks like it would rub itself out!

[KELMO]

8 hours ago, EDM620 said:

Indeed, it looks like it would rub itself out!

Careful with the words you use around here.

 

Gotta remember, we are all right about 13 years old on this site.

[dimlight65]

So John sends me a text the other day that just says, "Return spring on the clutch."  I'm like, "OK?"  Then he 'splains that he thinks the clutch pedal needs to be pulled up to completely release the clutch and that's why I'm getting a bit of slip on occasion.  I agree that this sounds plausible, so today I installed a return spring on the clutch pedal.

 

 

 

Then I installed the "proper" serpentine belt... and by "I," I mean John did it.  And by "proper," I mean one that actually fits.

 

 

Once we knew it was going to work, I wrote the part number under the hood for future reference

 

 

Then, John painted my bitchin' new cast aluminum valve covers and cold air plenum parts GOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLD!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, he sanded the ribs back to bare aluminum.

 

 

Wednesday, we install all the bling!

 

Oh yeah, we also fired it up for a few seconds.  It runs.

[dimlight65]

First of all... Fine!  I bought one!

 

 

As if I needed any more temptation to paint mine purple!

 

So today I had a look at the plenum on top of the throttle body.  Yeah, the 2" spacer is too much with the "Chicken Bones and Voodoo" throttle body spacer underneath.  I ran over to Summit and bought a 1" spacer.

 

 

It's not GOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLD! but that's ok.  (He says as if John isn't going to take it off and paint it when I'm not looking.)

 

While I was at Summit, I picked up a breather for the valve covers.  I installed it and the other gubbins that are required.

 

 

Something told me I should check the coolant level.  I'm both glad and annoyed that I did.

 

 

That was full when we left Saturday.  I had a look around and found a puddle on top of the bell housing.

 

 

I checked the dipstick and...

 

 

 

That level is way too high... like half a gallon too high... like  the amount of water I poured in to top off the radiator before noticing it dripping on the ground too high.  So, it appears that the gaskets do need a bunch of pookie around the water jackets after all.  And we just thought the last guy was over compensating.

[dimlight65]

21 hours ago, dimlight65 said:

First of all... Fine!  I bought one!

 

 

Ok, so I bought two...

 

 

[dimlight65]

On 12/21/2022 at 6:43 PM, dimlight65 said:

So, it appears that the gaskets do need a bunch of pookie around the water jackets after all.

 

Bought new gaskets and some more bits for the HVnoAC control panel we're going to build.  Tomorrow, Boxing Day, John and I will tuck into re-replacing the gaskets and stuff.

 

Oh yeah, Merry Christmas one and all!

[dimlight65]

Ok, so we got the manifold back out...

 

 

and cleaned up the lifter valley area...

 

 

because of these bastards...

 

 

Then we put it right back on with fresh gaskets and a generous helping of black silicone pookie!

 

 

And finally, the GOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLD! valve covers are going on too!

 

 

[EDM620]

I be thinkin' your doggy house be needin a window for all that GOLD to show itself

[datsunfreak]

10 hours ago, EDM620 said:

I be thinkin' your doggy house be needin a window for all that GOLD to show itself

 

It has been discussed. We are still ruminating on it. 😁

 

On Tim's previous Dodge van, we did make a lexan window for the top of the doghouse, and it worked well. But it had a nice big flat spot where this one does not. Only the rear half is "flat enough" to cut out and replace with lexan. 

[dimlight65]

22 hours ago, EDM620 said:

I be thinkin' your doggy house be needin a window for all that GOLD to show itself

I have parts on the way for an access door.  We may or may not go that route.  Stay tuned.

[dimlight65]

On 12/28/2022 at 9:18 PM, dimlight65 said:

I have parts on the way for an access door.  We may or may not go that route.  Stay tuned.

Well, as the actress said to the bishop, it's smaller than I expected, but I think it will work.  Pictures tomorrow.

[dimlight65]

I wish I had taken pictures or video of the coolant coming out of the drain.  It was a lot!  I'm sure there was a gallon of coolant in the sump.  We left the plug out while we worked on the Sting Krate bicycle's shifter.  One of the knobs I bought to try on said bicycle was a purple dildo.  I didn't like it on the bike but...

 

 

 

We refilled the radiator, with the oil drain still out, and watched to see if any coolant was going to migrate into the sump again.  It did not.  We're going to drop the plug again on Monday for one final check of the sealing, then fill the oil and give it a go.  

[dimlight65]

Does it look to anyone else like the "Floor" and "Floor-Defrost" diagrams are labelled backwards?

 

 

If so, I think I know how to plumb the HVnoAC control panel. 

If not... ????

[dimlight65]

It appears that we have finally got the intake all sealed up.  water and oil levels are good and we fired her up.  It sounds good!  Of course the only thing I took a picture of was the hood release strap I made.

 

 

I got tired of searching around for the release handle and decided to do something about it!

[dimlight65]

We put the doghouse back in and had a look from under the hood to see if it was going to be too dark to see all the gold.

 

It was not!

 

 

 

 

 

Then we replaced the janky negative battery cable terminal with a snazzy quick-release unit!

 

 

And I added to my under hood decals.

 

 

 

A test drive was performed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will not be talking about that until Wednesday.  

[dimlight65]

So the test drive was... problematic.  There was a wicked misfire, terrible rev-hang, and no power.  We ran the codes to try and figure it out.  Apparently the Manuel and autotragic use a different crank position sensor.  We had shimmed up the original for depth, but it still rubbed on the flywheel laterally.  I've purchased a Manuel sensor which we're going to try tomorrow.  

 

But that's not why we're here right now!  I realized, just this moment, that my oxygen sensor kluge actually worked!  There were lots of automatic transmission codes, and the crank angle sensor code of course, but no O2 sensor codes!  Ok, that's all I have for this middle of the night rant.

[dimlight65]

Yes, the crank angle sensors are different.

 

The one for a manual (top) is 1/8" shorter...

 

 

and is at a different angle...

 

 

You can see where the flywheel milled off some of the old unit...

 

 

as opposed to the new one...

 

 

Also, the plugs are different.  See the little alignment tab thingy?  On the black automatic sensor it's in the middle but the white manual sensor is off to the left.

 

 

I trimmed the offending plastic and installed it...

 

 

and she clears the flywheel just fine.

 

But there's coolant on top of the bell housing again...

 

 

Not sure what we're going to do about that.  We did decide to ditch the "Chicken Bones and Voodoo" throttle body spacer just in case that was causing the rev hang and high idle.  Vacuum leak suspected.  Also, the throttle body was filthy and sticking a little so John cleaned it.  

 

 

 

So Saturday we will worry about the coolant on the bell housing.  I sure hope we don't have to pull this melon farming intake again!

[dimlight65]

LOL!  John just sent me a text saying something to the effect of, "Rev hang can be caused by a stuck PCV valve."  I'm like, "Duh, I just put a new PCV valve in there?"  Then I remembered seeing this hose...

 

 

...sucking itself flat when the donk tried to rev down.  I guess I need to replace that with an actual vacuum line.  Oops.

[datsunfreak]

So, how much  more torque does it make? Enough to do this...

 

[datsunfreak]

So the engine is now strong enough to torque the axle over so hard it broke the original mounts...  

 

We got it rotated back around where it belongs and decided to weld the axle tube to the bottom mounts, making the stock (broken) mounts superfluous...