0R4NGE

[shlammed]

Just now, datzenmike said:

Eazy-Off and aluminum produces hydrogen gas. So...

no welding that day.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

3 minutes ago, datzenmike said:

Eazy-Off and aluminum produces hydrogen gas. So...

I did not know that. I did use a respirator and did it outside.

[thisismatt]

Regular oven cleaner = lye = sodium hydroxide. Eats aluminum and yeah, produces hydrogen gas. Purple power and Super Clean are also sodium hydroxide based cleaners. They all dull aluminum because of this.

Edited June 21, 2023 by thisismatt

[Z23T]

If you use Easy-Off, Purple Power, or Super Clean on aluminum make sure to wash the part with liquid dish soap and plenty of water to remove any residue form those cleaners. They are super caustic and can pit the aluminum.

My 71B trans still looked like shit after I washed it so I painted it with Krylon Dull Aluminum paint and it looks alot like cast aluminum. It also cleans up easier than the bare aluminum casting.

[shlammed]

good suggestions.

 

 

I tried some muriatic acid on some spare aluminum parts and it does a pretty good job.  need to try it in a manner like i would do a bellhousing though... im not making gallons of mix to dip the whole trans in lol.

 

Will mix it a bit stronger and put it in a lawn sprayer.... try it on the KA bellhousing after i pull it off.

Edited June 22, 2023 by shlammed

[shlammed]

Anyone know a good place for replacement grommets?

 

in specific I want to replace right now the wiring harness grommet at the firewall. 

[MikeRL411]

50 minutes ago, shlammed said:

Anyone know a good place for replacement grommets?

 

in specific I want to replace right now the wiring harness grommet at the firewall. 

Steel Rubber Products catalog may have what you need,

[thisismatt]

https://www.mcmaster.com/products/grommets/

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Search the web for  firewall boot.

 

There's a few Zcar specialists that sell OEM 240Z boots that might work.

[shlammed]

yeah i dont have access to a Z to know that its the right size... otherwise thats likely the closest i have seen.

 

mcmaster doesnt seem to have a wire grommet like stock with a shoulder to tape in stock size or type...

I found a 65mm od for 55mm hole one that would work but the datsun firewall hole is 45mm.  "Adaptiv 12084971"   Im not really keen on the idea of trying to drill that into a larger size.

 

 

On a side note, ended up at the grocery store for some sauce and walked past the easy off... picked some up, cleaned the bellhousing for the L trans and separated it from the center/back half.  The easy off does clean it up well for oils/grease and heavy oxidation but it oxidizes super fast again after.   I used soap/water and scotchbrite to clean it up afterwards and then acetone wipe before high heat primer/aluminum colored high temp paint to finish it off.

 

 

Much cleaner and should be easy to clean vs raw aluminum...

 

Also dug into the stock engine bay harness to understand what was there and what can be removed from it for the conversion carb/emissions, distributor/coil and automatic bits.  Will also be moving the harness around in the bay to along the frame rails vs up around the strut 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Aptiv is a what GM cars use. Formerly Delphi. If you know what you're looking for, Mouser electronics has millions of electrical parts, but they have almost too much, making searching difficult. I did find a few though -https://www.mouser.com/c/connectors/automotive-connectors/?accessory type=Grommet

 

Finding firewall boots is difficult anyway. There is a huge gap between what industry uses and what is available to the public. These boots from Daystar are totally generic, but can be cut to fit - https://www.summitracing.com/parts/dys-ku20040bk

 

 

[DARIN 510]

I have purchased this grommet. I can confirm that it fits the factory hole on the firewall. I was able to fish all of the connectors through the boot carefully. However, it is a little bit on the loose side around the wires. I haven’t gotten to that point yet to get it to fit snug around it. I think I’m going to cut a the slice and tape it together 

Edited June 27, 2023 by DARIN 510

[DARIN 510]

https://zcardepot.com/products/wiring-harness-rubber-boot-grommet-firewall-240z

[shlammed]

Thanks Darin!  That’s all I need to know. 
 

some high ratio heat shrink should seal that up nicely to the wires. 

[shlammed]

Rockauto only shows mid and rear counterbearings.... is OEM the only source for front counterbearings for Z transmissions?

 

 

Working on the bellhousing I have milled the counterbearing face down to match the s13 depth.  Hard to fit some of my measuring tools in there but made it work.  The long reach meant I used some unconventional tooling to get into that surface but made it work.  I ordered a 16.2x mm drill bit to do the 1st gear shift rod (41/64") since all reports I had seen the 16.0mm was too tight.

 

I want to get this transmission together to actually complete something in the build lol. Next down the line would be the intake manifold and engine refresh (very basic inspection, gasket set and re-ring)

 

(no, i didnt mill with a drill bit.  I had just put the drill chuck in when i took the photo.)

 

Edited June 28, 2023 by shlammed

[shlammed]

On 6/7/2023 at 12:34 PM, datzenmike said:

I would run what ever the 510 cylinder size was. If you go larger the rear wheels may lock before the fronts, which must be avoided.

 

All if not most car L20Bs are front sump. The dipstick location still reaches down into the deepest part of the pan.

This dipstick does not look like its going to work for front sump...  is there different areas to be able to mount them?  Just have to drill it out or something?

 

[datzenmike]

Nissan only used the one dip stick position for front and rear sumps. The dip sticks may come in varying lengths though. It will work.

[shlammed]

3 minutes ago, datzenmike said:

Nissan only used the one dip stick position for front and rear sumps. The dip sticks may come in varying lengths though. It will work.

ah so there would be some level of oil in the rear part of the pan at any time?  That sounds like a lot of oil.

 

I have the oil pan off the old JBC race car L series and to fill it that full would take like 10 liters of oil lol.

Edited June 28, 2023 by shlammed

[datzenmike]

The stick is just to the rear of middle. Front sump are middle to front for cars so there is room at the back for the steering. Rear sump are middle and rear for truck steering and torsion bar brace clearance at the front. It'll work.

[DARIN 510]

Front sump L20b? I’ve never seen that ever. I’ve seen some over seas L16-18 with front sump and dipstick. But never in the US. Why would you want to make it front sump? And the dipstick tubes that I have seen are different. Am I missing something ? Here is a pic of my L20b. I see a brass plug at the front. Looks like you could knock or drill it out to correct tube size. 

[datzenmike]

Well they are called front sump though you might call them almost a mid sump and are on cars where the steering is to the rear of the engine and must pass under the oil pan so the front/mid is deeper. Trucks are the opposite with the steering in the front and the deeper part of the oil pan to the rear.

 

All I can say is, both use the same oil dip stick location. Never seen an L4 that had it located somewhere else.

 

You have the oil pan you want to use? Hold it in place and stick a dip stick in. Remember the dip stick doesn't have to reach the bottom of the pan, just the oil surface and about an inch in.

 

Here's a truck oil pan looking into the rear where the pick up is. It's deep all the way to the rear.

 

[DARIN 510]

23 minutes ago, datzenmike said:

Well they are called front sump and are on cars where the steering is to the rear of the engine and must pass under the oil pan so the front is deeper. Trucks are the opposite with the steering in the front and the deeper part of the oil pan to the rear.

 

All I can say is, both use the same oil dip stick location. Never seen an L4 that had it located somewhere else.

What are you talking about ? Lol. Front sump > oil sump at front of motor , rear sump > rear of motor. Kind of like a KA24.so what do you call this then? 

[shlammed]

Had a good long weekend... managed to finish pulling the front and rear subframes, steering bits and did an inventory check for the front end bits.  Driver rear wheel corner needs some work, its super tight.  Bringing it all home to clean it all up and get ready for reinstall.

 

 

 

I would love to figure out if there is a translucent color that would match the needle color of the 510 cluster.... the needle on the tach is backlit.

 

 

Next up at home Im going to finish my transmission assembly, do a re-ring, new gasket set on the engine and find all of the front end bits to do my JBC V1 rack kit.   The front end is fairly complete... some of the front end hardware is pretty rusty and I am missing a (1) spring for the headlight buckets. 

 

Next up when Im back at the car I want to try to align the front end panels, beat the hood back into form and get this chassis on its side to clean up the bottom before I reinstall all of these parts.  Intending to to knock off the loose undercoat, prep some of the surface rust, epoxy prime and then topcoat with raptorcoat bedliner type product or something similar...

[shlammed]

Pulled the L20b apart to do a gasket and ring pack.  I was told the engine may have been burning oil from the valve stems but it was running.   

 

 

Now I have the decision to make to see if pistons and boring makes any sense or if I am back to square 1.  The lip near the deck is quite substantial   I would be surprised if I didnt need to go 0.040 or 0.060 to get rid of it.  

Unfortunately finding pistons without huge mark-up on the price for stock is another challenge and going forged is a decent expense.

[shlammed]

Was watching youtube of an engine builder diagnosing while doing a teardown and they mentioned that a few pistons in that engine were "clean" and no carbon on top... cause is oil getting past the rings and cleaning piston tops.  I wasnt aware of that dignosis before but i can confirm i have 2 holes out of 4 that the pistons were pretty clean.

 

 

Do I rebuild with OS pistons or sell all the L bits and get going on a Honda K series.... both at this point will be equal effort and not all that different in price.

Edited July 13, 2023 by shlammed