slowlearner Posted August 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2020 (edited) Been a funny sort of day today. Spent most of it working on the datsun but there's not a lot to show for it. I fixed the exhaust hitting on the floor, a clunk in the front end, more waxing and cleaning junk out. The.clunk turned out to be an under-torqued nut on the passenger side strut top. Glad I found that. Course I took the whole strut out before I found that loose nut. Oh well...😦 I also took the car for a quick spin down the street. It's running pig rich. I'm not really sure what to do about that. I really don't want to spend any more time on this carb than I have to. It's not staying for long. Any ideas for quick fixes are appreciated. I had an aircon contractor doing some work on our house. He was drooling over the car. What was more surprising was a lady around my age who was going for a walking past with her two daughters as I was backing out. The daughters, in their early twenties we're oblivious to Nana. Their mother was a completely different story. She stopped and grinned as soon as she saw the car, then turned back for another look having walked past. 😀 I also spent a few minutes gluing an old passenger side mirror back together. It's only for decoration so the inspector doesn't have a hissy fit even though the car didn't come with a passenger mirror. I'm not proud of my hot glue gun repair, but it's done. Edited August 13, 2020 by slowlearner Quote Link to comment
slowlearner Posted August 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2020 GRRRRR!!! Got the seatbelts in the car and took it out for a quick spin. It's running like a bag of spanners. Pig rich. As soon as I put the boot in a little, it starting missing and running on 3 cylinders. I'm starting to thinking the needle and seat are leaking pouring fuel into the motor somehow. I have to sort it out before Thursday. HELP! 😞 Quote Link to comment
Draker Posted August 17, 2020 Report Share Posted August 17, 2020 Make sure you don’t have a sunk float. 1 Quote Link to comment
slowlearner Posted August 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2020 5 hours ago, Draker said: Make sure you don’t have a sunk float. I fixed it by bending up testing tab for needle too far... Coz I'm an idiot.😦 1 Quote Link to comment
slowlearner Posted August 19, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2020 It's hard to describe how frustrating the last couple of days have been on the car. I tried literally every part of the fuel and ignition system with no discernable improvements. First on my own, then with a good mate. In the end we traced to these new, NGK, spark plugs. In the open air, they worked fine. On the motor cyl 4 was dead and cyl 1 intermittent. So it has nasty old plugs back in it now, but at least it runs properly. So, off for inspection tomorrow. Pray it passes. Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted August 19, 2020 Report Share Posted August 19, 2020 I wonder if you got some counterfeit plugs..... Apparently every manufacturer is being copied these days..... Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted August 19, 2020 Report Share Posted August 19, 2020 Beware 'deals' on Amazon. Not saying they are involved but I doubt they check into their sellers much even with negative feed back. Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted August 19, 2020 Report Share Posted August 19, 2020 2 hours ago, datzenmike said: Beware 'deals' on Amazon. Not saying they are involved but I doubt they check into their sellers much even with negative feed back. Same with ebay, you definitely have to read the ads.... I compared a bunch of ads one day and you can see all the cheap deals show ngk, but when they list the brand it is definitely not ngk.... If the price is too good probably a knockoff.... Quote Link to comment
nad015 Posted August 19, 2020 Report Share Posted August 19, 2020 Good luck with the inspection mate! 🤞 hope your going to someone datto friendly, some of them are complete flogs.. 1 Quote Link to comment
slowlearner Posted August 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2020 (edited) Soooo, woke up way to early this morning. Stressing about the blue slip inspection. Put a bit more fuel in the tank and headed off to the garage for the inspection. Not far along, the car started STINKING of petrol. Pulling over, I found petrol streaming down the side of the car from a leaking gas cap. *sigh*. Dropped off the car and went hunting for a replacement. In the end, I bought some nitrile rubber instead. Not long after I got the call from the garage, "It's ready for you to come pick it up." "How did it go?" I asked, expecting a long list. "All good mate, no problems. Nothing leaks, the suspension and tyres are good. All new steering, a little surface rust but fine," he tells me. ……………….could have knocked me over with a feather. Then I threw $1200 dollars at insurance, rego, plates and stamp duty. OUCH! Still, it's plated and ready to drive! With a 5 speed and decent brakes and suspension. He didn't even ask about them, but then they're factory. Right? On the way home it was stinking of petrol again. Opening the boot, the floor was covered in petrol too. Seems the filler pipe had split on top where the breather attaches. So I've gooped it up with some RTV and hopefully I won't feel like passing out when I drive it. LOL 😄 Seriously though, my head is still kinda spinning now, an hour later. My other challenge is that this carb doesn't like to idle properly. So I think I'll be swapping it over to the other one I had on. Or maybe the SUs... who knows. I really want EFI, but that will take a while. So baby steps for now. 🙂 It's pretty massive to have made it this far. Edited August 20, 2020 by slowlearner 2 Quote Link to comment
Lockleaf Posted August 20, 2020 Report Share Posted August 20, 2020 Congrats! Running and driving will help keep the motivation going. 1 Quote Link to comment
nad015 Posted August 22, 2020 Report Share Posted August 22, 2020 You must be stoked getting this thing on the road!!! Congrats!! cant wait to do the same with mine. 1 Quote Link to comment
slowlearner Posted August 22, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2020 Thanks guys. I am very pleased. Although I've realized there's a lot more work to do with it to sort out bugs and little issues. Things like... I also need to sort out the fuel filler tube which is split in several places. So the journey continues. Quote Link to comment
Draker Posted August 22, 2020 Report Share Posted August 22, 2020 Take a look at the fuel filler mod here on ratsun. It's a great upgrade and allows you to run a modern nissan fuel cap. 1 Quote Link to comment
slowlearner Posted August 28, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2020 On Thursday this week I started on things again. One thing I was sure of was I'd had enough of the Nikki downdrafts. It ran ok when you were driving it, but the choke was hard to get right and BOTH of the carbs I had demonstrated an inability to idle at the lights. I suspect both of them are full of varnish and other gunk and I wasn't going to pull either of them down and clean them out. I cleaned all the jets and passages of the first one to no avail. So off it came... I had a few challenges getting the Hitachi (SUs) on it. Breather tubes, fuel lines, etc. I bought all new rubber lines for everything. A few guys at the parts store drooled all over the SUs. I can't blame em. They look horn. Despite having the chokes disconnected, the stock L18 started straight up on the SUs too. Better than can be said for the rotten Nikki! I was still waiting on filters when I posted these first pics. BTW, the reason for the tubes going into the foam filters is the fuel bowl vents. I'll be dirt racing and I KNOW it will fill up with fine dust otherwise. My other big challenge after getting it inspected was fuel tank leaks. I managed to find a 510 fuel filler rubber pipe. So I headed up to my fave exhaust shop. North Shore Performance Exhausts. I love the guy for all manner of reasons. His bike/dirt-bike hoarding habit is just one. No word of a lie, he had a penny farthing sitting outside the shop. I was hoping to get the pipe back yesterday but there was a mix up. In the end, he came up with this. The whole thing went back together this arvo in a short time and after giving it a quick thrash, it works well. No leaks! Yay! Although the car still stinks of fuel fumes. Which brings me to the whole idea of owning a Datsun. Driving it! You can see a few pics I posted of the car this evening when I got home from a test drive. I was able to drive it across to work tonight and then to the shops. I'm still getting used to the Dogleg gearshift. I can see why companies stopped making them. I missed a few gearchanges. I have to say, the SUs work really well. I'm actually very impressed with them. The filters turned up today. I still need to get it to idle properly. It's either too high or too low. Still it's a LOT better than before. I think it's ready to be a daily and do some events. P.s. yes, I'm hoping painting things red will make them faster. 😄 Quote Link to comment
Aaron Datsun Posted August 28, 2020 Report Share Posted August 28, 2020 Congrats on getting the car registered I have a pair of SUs on my car this winter. I have to get the body work done first. I had plenty of issues with my fuel filler as well. Glad you got that fixed. 1 Quote Link to comment
slowlearner Posted August 29, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2020 One other thing I discovered yesterday is the odometer is stuck. The speedo needle is also so shakey as to be next to useless. Not sure what to do about that. Quote Link to comment
Aaron Datsun Posted August 29, 2020 Report Share Posted August 29, 2020 (edited) 4 hours ago, slowlearner said: One other thing I discovered yesterday is the odometer is stuck. The speedo needle is also so shakey as to be next to useless. Not sure what to do about that. I can't help on the Odometer, but I had that issue with the Speedo on my Z it was fluid or binding in the cable (inside the sheathing not the outer portion) pull it out and clean it real good it should help with the bouncing. Edited August 29, 2020 by Aaron Datsun Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted August 29, 2020 Report Share Posted August 29, 2020 11 hours ago, slowlearner said: One other thing I discovered yesterday is the odometer is stuck. The speedo needle is also so shakey as to be next to useless. Not sure what to do about that. They are very easy to disassemble, just be careful.... at minimum you could try to clean it.... or might be a broken gear on it.... either way on a bench would be about the only way to figure that out.... On the speedometer cable if you try to clean the old one do not lube with regular grease..... I made that mistake and it snapped ... I'm not sure the proper product to use..... If you can just get a new cable.. much easier and it's done once... 1 Quote Link to comment
MikeRL411 Posted August 29, 2020 Report Share Posted August 29, 2020 2 hours ago, Crashtd420 said: They are very easy to disassemble, just be careful.... at minimum you could try to clean it.... or might be a broken gear on it.... either way on a bench would be about the only way to figure that out.... On the speedometer cable if you try to clean the old one do not lube with regular grease..... I made that mistake and it snapped ... I'm not sure the proper product to use..... If you can just get a new cable.. much easier and it's done once... Lube? Graphite, usually oil dag, not water dag. 1 1 Quote Link to comment
Draker Posted August 30, 2020 Report Share Posted August 30, 2020 I used grease on mine and it was fine. I should have used graphite though. Now it’s gonna be a mess next time. Been a few years and still ok. Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted August 30, 2020 Report Share Posted August 30, 2020 5 hours ago, Draker said: I used grease on mine and it was fine. I should have used graphite though. Now it’s gonna be a mess next time. Been a few years and Not really sure, I was warned against it after I had done it.... after i used grease my cable snapped in less than a week..... maybe my cable was just that bad... Quote Link to comment
Aaron Datsun Posted August 30, 2020 Report Share Posted August 30, 2020 I was told graphite Quote Link to comment
slowlearner Posted August 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2020 Learned 2 important things yesterday arvo. 1. The fuel gauge doesn't actually work. 2. You can't drive without fuel. 😆 I'm also tracing a few oil leaks and a slipping fan belt. Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted August 30, 2020 Report Share Posted August 30, 2020 If the temperature gauge doesn't work as well it's the small voltage regulator that powers both of them. If the temperature gauge works find the wire on the gas tank sender and ground it. Gauge should read FULL Still reads EMPTY..... gauge is bad or wire to the gauge from the tank is broken Reads FULL.... Everything towards the gauge is good Tank is not grounded or sender is stuck in the down position or float sunk. 1 Quote Link to comment
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