Peggy: '69 2000 (Penny's sister) in Durango, CO - SRL31110613

[tig]

Good habit? Bad habit? Dunno, but I see grime, I gotta clean.










What do the fasteners that attach the e-brake brackets to the clips on the hubs look like?

[theunz]

IMG_0497.jpeg

They are just Clevis pins with a cotter pin through the bottom.

[tig]

Fuel tank is now Very Clean(TM) inside and out.

[



This came. Now I gotta remember how to polish glass and then figure out how the dashboard comes out.



Gear reduction starter. This will go in at a later date; likely when the new exhaust comes.



I'm seriously contemplating pulling the motor and transmission once I get the car running (well) again... Stuff that seems to be far easier with the engine out:

- Heater hoses
- Starter
- Exhaust
- Deep cleaning front 1/3 of car

I'm also very weary of feature creep ... been there, done that, got the tee shirt.

Made a new acquaintance locally who really knows carbs. He's in the land cruiser community and would like the spare carbs I have for my FJ40 (which I converted to Holly Sniper). He's willing to barter... He tunes Peggy (while teaching me to fish) and he gets an FJ40 carb I'll never have a need for.

[spl310]

You do not need to pull the dashboard to replace the tachometer. Remove the in the car portion of the steering column, then you can reach the tachometer.

[tig]

You do not need to pull the dashboard to replace the tachometer. Remove the in the car portion of the steering column, then you can reach the tachometer.

Sweet. Thanks!

That said, I DO need to remove it for the heater hoses and choke cables, right?

[spl310]

You do not need to pull the dashboard to replace the tachometer. Remove the in the car portion of the steering column, then you can reach the tachometer.

Sweet. Thanks!

That said, I DO need to remove it for the heater hoses and choke cables, right?

No, not at all. The hoses can be reached under the dash, the choke cable can be removed and reinstalled without pulling the dash as well.

[tig]

Whew. Lots of updates.

Fuel tank fully restored and in. POR15 sealer. I used extra on the surface rust on the exterior as well... because why not?









New fuel pump (compared to old).




All this made a huge difference in the amount fuel flowing through the system when the engine is running.

Fuel gauge sorta works now, but reads mostly full all the time. I thought I tested the sender, but (apparently) incorrectly.

Changed oil and filter too.

[tig]

As part of diagnosing spark issues, I noticed the connector from the dash harness to the "starter harness" was... well, if you can't say anything nice...



Fixed, with a new OE connector.



Nice new valve cover breather tube. The vendors here kick ass!



I couldn't really tune either spark or fuel without knowing RPMs. So I dug into the tach. The first step was to buff the plastic on the new 8k tach a bit. I could have done more, but I didn't want to push my luck given this is the first time I've polished plastic. Good enuf until the dash gets replaced...

Before:


After:


Getting into the kick panels of cars is probably my least favorite job. Glad to learn the job on a Roadster is no easier or fun. Bunches of pics that I wish I could have found in other threads, but wasn't able to. Hopefully these help others visualize all the stuff up under there...










Had to scrounge hard at the software store for a set screw that would fix the ODO reset knob:




R&R'd the column.




Deep soaked the horn cover in Vinylx. Does anyone make replacement clear plastic rings?




Replaced the bad left blinker bulb while in there.

[tig]

I got the car running again... good enough for a short drive. Once I knew I hadn't effed anything else up, I dug into installing the new EI dizzy. It came with GREAT instructions. Pics would have been nice though. Here's some for others who are better at pics than words like me.

The OE adjustment "screw".


Out with the old...


It's important to orient the tang on the shaft as the old one was.




I'll never go back to the original with this car, so I chopped the wires to the resistor pack/coil with a new connector.






Purdy!


Here's more pics of my timing chain. Someone previously commented on a shim or something. I was too new and only heard "blah, blah, blah".






I set the timing and started her up. Started right away. I then reset the timing using my timing light. Made the rookie mistake of putting the induction clamp on the coil wire and not #1. Live and learn.

Running much better! Still a ton of issues with the carb (and I don't yet have a balancer), but it feels like the timing is good to go! Drove a bunch (got up to about 5k rpm etc...). A cop followed me back to my shop and gave me a warning for doing 54 in a 35... He was cool.

Then I took her home for the first time!


Zoom. Zoom. Zoom!


Anything look amis here?

[tig]

Got new clevis/cotter pins for the e-brakes, so dug into that.



e-brake still no worky and it appears it's because the pads are super-worn. New ones will be here tomorrow.





I also cleaned all the linkages and figured out where the adjuster is. Once I put new pads on, I'll try adjusting it again.




Decided to look at the front pads too. They seem fine. Rotors have basically no lip. Should be ok for now.






I have a VIN inspection thursday. I'm going to avoid breaking anything before that (by like, pulling and cleaning the carb).

New headers are here; exhaust inbound!

[Gregs672000]

Love the work and documentation/pics you do! Regarding the timing chain: Everything looks really good to me. I suspect it got a new chain, possibly some gears and a new chain guide based on the pristine condition of the "evil L" (bracket that sits in front of the cam gear). There is very little visible slack on the tensioner shaft which is where the shims go. Try rotating the engine around using the crank bolt with the plugs out and you will watch the tensioner piston move back and forth. It is this that causes slack in the chain and allows it to smack against the "L" before engine oil pressure is up as the tensioner is the last thing to get oil pressure on start up... it can rattle for several seconds. This gets worse as the chain stretches over time. By shimming the shaft of the tensioner a bit, it keeps the chain tight and stops it from hitting the L. Doing this is not hard, except that you're fighting the spring tension of the tensioner making it a little awkward to install. Some use a zip tie to hold the tensioner in, but I've just worked with it carefully. Access is via the front cover on the head. Be careful to not drop anything down the front of the engine. You can reuse the gasket assuming it's OK. Nylon shims available from the hardware store, just bring the tensioner pad with you to size, only need a few shims, doesn't have to be tight/no movement, just take up most of the slack. You can reuse the bolt holder/tab thingy or use locktite on the tensioner bolts. Doesn't have to be done today since it looks so good, but some time...

Glad the cop was Cool! I had one like that too once... he liked the car, understood what I was doing, and warned me to be careful. Good advice!

[70-1600]

"Deep soaked the horn cover in Vinylx. Does anyone make replacement clear plastic rings?"

Yep, Dean has them.
https://datsunparts.com/products/datsun ... e606&_ss=r

Screenshot 2024-02-27 at 3.10.07 PM.png

-jt

[tig]

A friend lent me his balancer.



After some fits and starts, including my first 3 roadside breakdowns (in each case, just letting the car cool off let me get going again), the car is running as well as it can given the state of carbs... the shafts are worn, likely internal muck, and all of the adjustment screws/plates are wonky.



I've now put about 20 miles on her, and she's just a joy to drive. Motor pulls strong (even if it insists on idling at 2k) and wants to overheat when not moving. Brakes are good enough but SS lines a bleed, and new rear shoes will help. Gearbox is Right, but a new slave is going in. Steering is suprisingly tight. Goes straight-ish. Suspension feels fine.

Turns out driver's seat isn't really bolted down right. Found that out going around a spirited right-hander.

She likes being seen around town...







I've achieved my goal of getting her running well enough to get the certified VIN inspection I need to convert the title from a Builder's title to a real title (the Sheriff's office was super nice).



Now I start really pulling things apart to make her mechanically "tits". Without TOO much mission creep (ha!).

• R&R cooling system. 4-blade fan, new hoses, temp sender, water pump, etc...
• Radiator is mounted too high. Lower it by ~1cm so cap doesn't touch underside of hood.
• New exhaust.
• Refurbished SU carbs (I was going to do it myself, but I don't have the means to fix the shaft-play myself).
• Replace throttle & choke cables.
• Brakes. Rear shoes, fix e-brake cable, SS lines.
• Clutch slave.
• Reverse light switch.
• New LED headlights.
• Figure out why speedo seems to read WAY high.

Given the new exhaust/headers, and the fact that the carbs will come off, I'm tempted to pull the engine & transmission.

This will enable me to deep clean the engine bay and will make replacing the water pump etc... easier. While in there, is the rear main seal leaking? What about the PO report (and evidence I cleaned up) that the head gasket was seeping coolant? Why not just pull the head, get it re-decked, and put a new head gasket in, while there just to be sure?

Of course, there's tons of cosmetic stuff to work on. Especially in the interior. But I'm working REALLY hard to not just start ordering stuff like new carpet, seat covers, vinyl until the mechanical stuff is sorted.

[Gregs672000]

Well let's see... I would not go to replacing a few things until I did a bit more investigation... namely the water pump. They are not cheap, and unless the seal is leaking or the bearing is bad, in my experience they don't go bad often (like my oil pump, I think I've changed out my water pump once many years ago and over 100k miles. Others may have different experience). If it's over heating I'd start with a thermostat change (few bucks), make sure the rad is flowing water and not full of crud (looks aftermarket and near new), consider an electric fan vs the stock one you have (loud) or a swap to the 4 blade (much more quiet but won't improve airflow vs the other) with a fan shroud (the lack of which is likely contributing to the over heating at idle. BTW, is it actually overheating or is the guage just saying it's getting Hot? A laser thermometer will be able to tell, Harbor Freight again). Folks who have used the aftermarket rads can probably guide you there as to what has worked well for cooling fans. I adapted in a electric fan from an 80s era Datsun 310 that came with its own shroud 30 years ago and it still works fine). Determine for sure if the head gasket is leaking (that would go along with overheating)... the rad sniffer you can rent or borrow from most parts stores work great (sniffs for exhaust gasses in the coolant, you buy the liquid used) and look at your plugs carefully... a different color (usually cleaner or whitish deposits) says it may be burning coolant, and you would probably smell it in the exhaust. Consider retorquing the head or at least checking them for proper torque. Also, your carb and exhaust issues can lead to higher engine temps... again, how hot is it getting and how fast? Oil look ok?

Carbs... talk to our member Keith, I hear he's great. The new balancer should work great. Look closely at the linkage and be sure to understand what does what. You should be able to adjust the carbs individually with their own screw, be able to link them together with the balancing screw, and set idle with a common screw as I recall (?), but it's been many years since I was stock. You should be able to turn the idle down to 900rpm or so even if the shafts are worn... that will effect air/fuel ratio... something might be sticking or hanging up or?

Congrats on all your progress!

[tig]

Good to know about the robustness of water pumps. In the BMW world, I'm used to replacing them as part of baselining. I bought a new one, but I'll hold it in reserve until I"m sure it's needed.

I have a 4 blade fan ready to go in. Also new thermostat.

Hadn't considered a fan shroud. Will research options.

My temp gauge is working fine. But the sender needs replacing anyway as it's been abused.

The car has never overheated in my ownership, but it's wanted to get hot (idling at a stop light at 2k rpm with the bad fan/fan clutch will do that). I'm pretty sure the problem is the bad fan clutch.

As I noted, the oil looks fine. I changed it once after I drove the car a bit. No evidence of coolant in it. No coolant smell in the exhaust. Because of the state of the carbs, the car is running rich, so the plugs are just black.