From Smoker to Sssssmokin’!

AliK

Vehicle Dating Officer
Staff member
Club Member
A weekend with a wedding, 2 children's birthday parties and some Z action.

Managed to get quite a lot of small detailed bits done like finishing off all hoses for the water circuit, sorting out some paintwork stuff and for Mr. Gaskin's viewing pleasure, I wire woolled all the copper lines and lacquered.

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Brightwork is going back in also.

I wasn't happy with the position of the timing indicator behind / concealed by the alternator + the fact that with the ATi damper it didn't sit square on TDC - in fact it was 2 degrees north of it.
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I took a piece of old 2mm steel I had and fashioned it into a timing pointer that is a lot more useful than the stock one.

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Also for Mr G's pleasure - I couldn't quite bring myself to have a "magic" Y pipe, so I got another end cap, a short bit of 15mm pipe and created a purely aesthetic feature [emoji14]

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I replaced the poly compression rod bushes with rubber ones at the back and frankly amazed at how much the rubber compressed by and the fact that the nuts hit the "sleeves" at last. Now both wheels sit the same distance forward in the arches. Some of you may remember me posting a photo showing one side further forward than the other - it seems there was a difference in how tight either side was with the poly bushes at the back

I have found two of these on the floor under the car - I assume they are from the brake lines!?

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Next up putting the rest of the brightwork in, getting wiring finished, adding flywheel, clutch, starter motor etc and booking my buddy for "engine in" day. Oh, also planning on draining the fuel tank given it's been sat there for 8 months. My target is end of the month with running engine so let's see what I can achieve in evenings after work.

Finally to please Mr G one last time: it was with a certain degree of trepidation that I got out the rag laced in thinners and a bit of 400 grit wet and dry.

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Had to get through 6 layers of undercoat and paint!!! It's a bit like tree rings that give away the history of my car [emoji14]

I have since Jenolited and lacquered it. I will tidy it up and make a "feature" of it!

Bed time calls - there is an 05:55 train with my name on it [emoji20]
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
Well done Ali, thanks for considering me whilst renovating. That standard timing pointer is concerning - unless the damper is wrong? Could you slot the holes to line it up?

Good to see your VIN is all there. My old track car was silver, then metalflake blue then red - so when I chipped the paint it resulted in a multicolour display like your's.
 

jonbills

Membership Secretary
Site Administrator
That original timing pointer is matched to an original l28 pulley - no reason to expect that it would line up with a new pulley.
 

AliK

Vehicle Dating Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Glad to be of service Rob ;) . In all seriousness though, I do hear your voice of sense ringing in my head when on a sunny day I am doing stuff on the car rather than driving her.

The tree rings I suspect are common on most of our cars that haven't been taken back to metal. There was something very satisfying albeit scary about going back to metal on the VIN. But as Franky says, I really like it!!

The damper markings I believe can be adjusted but just in large set amounts and requires taking the damper apart. My courage definitely is not up to doing that.

Per JB's comment: The damper itself was not specifically designed ground up for the L-Series and is an adaptation of an existing product made for American cars. I noticed Datsun Spirit and others who use this damper on their L-Series, all ditch the stock timing pointers for this reason amongst others.

Getting really excited now and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel approaching. But sadly not Sunday Jason! :p

If I can get the rest of the bolting bits onto the engine finished in the next two to three eves then it's just a matter of small stuff in the engine bay itself.
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
.................The damper markings I believe can be adjusted but just in large set amounts and requires taking the damper apart. My courage definitely is not up to doing that................

Perhaps you misunderstood me I was thinking you may be able to slot the holes in the standard pointer to align it with the pulley.

I always assumed that folks bought a pulley and damper for an L series.
 

AliK

Vehicle Dating Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Perhaps you misunderstood me I was thinking you may be able to slot the holes in the standard pointer to align it with the pulley.

I always assumed that folks bought a pulley and damper for an L series.

Ah! My apologies I did misunderstand. You know, I toyed with the idea of putting spacers behind the stock marker and as you say, slotting the holes. But in the end I couldn't see the point of the stock item given that the ati has 360 degree markings and the original item sticking out may cause other issues when moving the alternator to change belts etc. With the smaller pulley and much smaller belt, the alternator needs to touch the block to change the belt!
 
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AliK

Vehicle Dating Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Tonight's excursion in the garage was sorting out the studs. I have a set of these
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And I think I have them in the right order now ...

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I'd like to use thread-lock to keep the studs firmly in but will it take the heat I wonder? What have you experienced people used in the past?


Also does anyone have one of these they like to sell me?

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I seem to have always been missing one from my fuel lines. I can always make one but rather use the time more constructively.
 

Woody928

Events Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Oooh, this looks very smart. You're making some really good progress there, given the time you've got available to spend each time! This is almost teasing me now with that I'm expecting to get from Ztherapy lol.

It's all going to look very smart once it's all back together. (you can tell how busy I am at work going through all of these threads! lol)
 

Russell

Club Member
Tonight's excursion in the garage was sorting out the studs. I have a set of these
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And I think I have them in the right order now ...

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a2c8c3278657ac8f7145a58c13b688c0.jpg


I'd like to use thread-lockto keep the studs firmly in but will it take the heat I wonder? What have you experienced people used in the past?


Also does anyone have one of these they like to sell me?

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I seem to have always been missing one from my fuel lines. I can always make one but rather use the time more constructively.

I have a load that are not on my car and probably not going to use so you can have one. Will need a clean up and I have the plastic bits that go inside to separate the lines as well.
 

AliK

Vehicle Dating Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Thanks Woody, I hope I can keep it clean and shiny long term with all the driving I will do ;)



I have a load that are not on my car and probably not going to use so you can have one. Will need a clean up and I have the plastic bits that go inside to separate the lines as well.

You utter star man. Yes please. Will PM you.
 

AliK

Vehicle Dating Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Some people can work at a steady rate, others need deadlines! Being the latter type I finally have a deadline to gun for.

My mate just confirmed "engine in day" will be Saturday 26th i.e. Two Sats away! Need to redouble efforts and focus - so watch this space!!

Assuming all the right parts are there and go back as planned, we are aiming to get her firing too! I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it, I better not lose control I don't think the train will like it!!!
 

AliK

Vehicle Dating Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Received goodies from Mr F.

The Nissan OEM filter was definitely beaten with an ugly stick and then ran over by a bus that decided to stop and engage reverse for a second go with wheel spin!

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I may have to spray it a different colour!


All the same, most grateful for the fast delivery of missing bits as always Mr F! Thank you. [emoji106]
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
Oh no - he's even spraying the genuine oil filter now!

I love them, a nice big filter in a very accessible place.

So many I do on modern cars are tiny and very difficult to get off because of their position. Even my 370Z had a tiny (Micra) filter.
 

AliK

Vehicle Dating Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Now you know Rob why I should never do a nut and bolt resto !!!! I will kill myself with detail and the car will be off the road for more than a decade!!! [emoji14]

Standards likely to slip a little this weekend as I really should crack on with it to be ready for the following Saturday!

I saw this AMAZING level of detail on Facebook which made me think wow, that is some oil cooler / filter cover, then I saw the Nissan one [emoji13] ....
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Huw

Club Member
Hee Hee, you really have been bitten by the shiny bug.

You can get shiny oil filter cover car tart parts from the Zstore or California Datsun web site. :thumbs:

Think you doing a grand job btw. Loving it, especially the metalflake paint on the block.

Nice!
 

AliK

Vehicle Dating Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Quite a busy few hours on the car today - somehow putting back all those small bits feels like you haven't achieved a lot until you see the parts boxes looking emptier.

I have 4 gaskets for a water inlet but none of them fit where they are "supposed" to go. But fit the base of the distributor perfectly!![emoji848] Very odd.

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So I made my own in the end.

Take one gasket sheet ...

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Spray through and around inlet pipe ...
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Spend a few minutes with scissors and scalpel, et voila!
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Decided to go chrome effect blingie on the accelerator linkage ends. Tried white but somehow it looked very odd.
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Even the Dizzy wasn't safe and got blinged! (Sorry Rob!) [emoji12]

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I did have to fix this thing at the base of the dizzy, which I doubt you can find anymore. Tempted to get one machined out of aluminium as the plastic is very brittle / old!

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The engine is starting to look less bare but lots to do still, clutch / fly, exhaust manifold checking torques on all bolts etc.

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My VIN is now a "feature"! And yes I know, it will sit behind wiring loom, but when I go to bed at night and my head hits the pillow, I know it's there!
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With a bit of luck, I can finish all items on engine tomorrow and either break the back of the wiring loom or finish all, ready for drop-in. Depends on how demanding wife and kids are [emoji12]
 

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