zohanisback

I like it a lot. Did some googling and found a picture on car domain. The dash you are talking about has the pain instrument cluster and deletes the gauge pod over the center dash, correct? I think it's awesome, but the dash I am working on will bring the Datsun into the 21st century. An RX-2N gauge from a motorcycle will be the highlight of the instrument cluster, along with oil pressure, voltage, and transmission temp gauges. A 3 gauge pod cluster will keep the remote resemblance to the Datsun dash, but from there all else is modernized. The vents will be round bezels, a double din space will be added, and climate controls will be upgraded to electronically actuated doors. Don't get me wrong, I love the GTO style dash, but it still looks like a 60s car. QUESTION: What do you guys think would be better: 1. A fiberglass dash that bolts onto the dash frame with a little modification of the frame, or... 2. A fiberglass dash that bolts directly to the frame mount points (eliminates frame, lightens the car by about 15lbs)

Yeah, the donating member thing kinda sucks, but it is true. Better to casually.....in passing....mention you're thinking about getting rid of a project and gauging interest rather than throwing a for sale post on Hybrid Z. Not sure if this is "technically legal" by this site's standards, but if you search for "Datsun Classifieds" in Google, you'll find a great little free site run by another, non-named forum for Z cars.

Hmm... Ok. So what is the advantage of using 240sx in the rear and GTRs in the front? Disk diameter? The size of the calipers? I would love to do this, but I want all brakes the same if possible. More of an OCD thing than anything else.

You got some awesome cars! Those Austin Healeys.... Wow, I'm an instant admirer. I've never even heard of the car before, but they look gorgeous!

Wow... Those look great. I can already see red calipers with a black or white Nissan lettering. And yes, could you do a write-up and mention whether or not these would work for the rear, too? I plan on doing disk all the way around, if possible.

It is pretty cool, huh? I wanna get a picture of the dash I've designed up, but the pencil marks are faint in the sketch when I scan it in. I will snap a photo of it after my finals this quarter so you guys can see it. But I will definitely keep you guys updates. I am so excited for the build and can't wait to get the mold done. I have 3 weeks this break, so let's keep our fingers crossed! You are correct. The RX-2N is for motorcycles, but it uses a speedometer working off a sensor and magnet on the front wheel, so it can be adapted to a car's front wheel without a problem. The main thing is building the sensor housing bullet proof on the calipers, and putting the magnets in a drilled out casing in the rims. Like a bicycle speedometer, you then input the tire circumference, and it goes up to 2500mm. According to my measurements, it can accomodate 275/45r20 tires no problem (comes out to 2373mm), and you could probably squeeze 50s on there and still get an accurate reading. I also called and confirmed that this coil sensor was designed to work with multiple engines, and that it can sense 1 RPM to 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 ingitions. Then 2 RPM for 1, 3, 5, and 10 ignitions. In other words, it can read RPMs on anything from rotary engines to V12s, etc. The heat and oil temp are straightforward, and the blinkers and high-beam can be adapted, so the only thing that I have to do is get a 510 ohm or 100 ohm fuel sender. In other words, it can fully and easily be adapted to a car with some basic fabrication.

Awesome ride! Looks great! I second the LS1 swap, but it is a V8, so that might not be what you are looking for. As far as the being a BMW guy goes, I am also a BMW fan. I have an E21 320i from 1982. Pretty darn clean except for the carpets. I just rebuilt the top end on it and fixed all the electrical problems (hazard switch, blinkers, headlights, cigarette lighter, defrost, etc etc). It's been tons of work, but it is tons of fun! Do you have a bimmerforums account?

So I'm building up a custom fiberglass dash, which many of you already know, but I've figured out how I am going to do my personal instrument cluster. I am going to install this little guy: http://www.kosonorthamerica.com/new/shop/motorcycle_gauges/rx-2n-speedometer-gp-style-0-10000-rpm-4/ It will sit in the center top part of teh gauge cluster, with two large ~90mm gauges sitting on either side and positioned down an inch or so. The advantage to using this is: It's pretty much the coolest thing ever with the startup sweep: It lets me combine multiple gauges together to save room in this tiny car (oil temp, water temp, and fuel level [will need sender modification]). It has a shift light with adjustable shift indicator and pre-shift indication Integrates blinkers, high-beam, neutral (that's gonna be fun to hookup on a T56), and engine warnings Looks amazing. I will need to extend some of the wiring, but not by much in our little cars. I even called their tech support and checked to make sure it would work with an 8 cylinder LS1 I am swapping in (which it does anywhere from 1-12 cylinders). Excited about the prospect already. Though the price tag is $$$$$.... :'( They go on eBay in the box for about a $100 less.

There's a reason I'm installing Viper with 1 mile status alerts and remote shutdown. Also thinking of a RFID on a keychain linked to a passive reader to unlock a starting relay. Another cool gadget, if I ever got around to building on, is a biometric reader on the dash which opens the starting relay. For those of you with 30k-80k into your cars. GPS tracking might not be a bad idea.

Ok cool. Sounds good to me. I'll check it out and see what I can get a hold of. Ditto. I thought about it, but: 1) I'm not keeping the tank 2) I want the practice painting with urethane Also...the tank is super clean inside. No rust and all white. I have suspicions that at one point it was actually dipped and coated. Rocks just chipped a lot of paint off it, so I figured why not get in the practice and refurbish a perfectly good tank.

^ ^ ^ This... Maybe you sucked air into the line, too? Unlikely, and I am sure you were topping off while bleeding, but just one more idea. Also, just to clarify....can you not build up pressure in any lines, or just the last one you bled? If the pedal is still firm and the first one you bled is still getting pressure, maybe the front right never had good pressure and that's why it wasn't stopping. A long shot, but just to make sure the bases are covered. I might try a vacuum bleeder to see if you can pull any fluid from it. Maybe a massive piece of gunk went down into the line. Who knows? All just pretty long-shot ideas... If nothing else, grab a new master cylinder. Yours has to be getting pretty old, so might as well freshen it up a bit.

Lol, it is very restrictive, and I just couldn't bear the thought of putting it back in and trying to make the gauges work in the older dash and the gauge "pods." I wanted to redo the interior in all newer styling as far as the door panels, seats, carpet, and rear trunk goes, but there was no use without redesigning the dash (unless you like the mixed retrofit style). Fiberglass is relatively fragile, but in a brittle sort of way. In other words, it is actually very strong, but it can flex very little before it cracks. The amount of force needs to crack the fiber is a lot, though. With small rubber grommets between the dash and the mount points plus small washers up against the fiberglass and screw head, the dash should hold up great. I will need to use a release compound to get the fiberglass of the mold, but I can get some that washes away with water and it will be worth it. I almost have a sketch drawn up with how I want to design it. I'll scan it in this weekend and you guys can give some feedback. I'm thinking of a combined speedo and tach for my dash.

Oh sweet! Well congrats on that! And yes, can't wait to see the final result....

I'm not too worried about fitment issues because I am going to strip it down to the firewall, then build in a custom rack of sorts to hold under-the-dash components a little tidier than they are currently kept. The great thing about old cars is they use larger components for just about everything. Swapping in some newer stuff should make it easier to shorten the dash a tiny bit when I put it back on. Are the Wrangler cores the same size or smaller than the current Datsun cores? My core is toast anyway, so might as well upgrade if I can. It's definitely a great idea. Thanks!

Aww darn... But both are definitely manual, right?

You never finished posting pictures of it up! It looks so amazing though. How did you do the cage by the door?

Just stand on the left side of the transmission (bell housing facing forward) and shift through the gears. You don't need the shifter if you have the stub mount for the shifter. You should still be able to shift through the gears anyway, it's just hard on the hands. I you have a pipe, you can wrap the stub (to prevent scratching) and put the pipe over it to shift, too. If you have a 5 speed, you'll have 5 speeds plus reverse. Forward and left is first, straight back is 2nd, etc. Reverse will be far right and back. Here's a five speed: Four speed: As far as swapping goes, the swap is easy if you already have a manual in. If you have an auto...some fabrication or swapping is definitely needed. I'm assuming you already have a manual in from your last posts, so this won't be a problem. If you have an auto, you would need a flywheel, have to remove the spacer for the flex plate, add a pilot bushing, swap in a slave and master cylinder, etc. If you already have a manual, just replace the pilot bearing. Not sure if the early and late model 5 speed and four speed flywheels are all the same size or not. I know turbo cars had a different sized flywheel, but a N/A car receiving a tranny from an N/A car I BELIEVE you can just bolt up any transmission you want without worrying about spline counts on the input shaft or flywheel size, etc. Someone correct me if I'm wrong? I just took everything from a 79 280zx and swapped it directly into my 74 datsun (resurfaced flywheel, of course). LOL, are all those parts in your dorm room, or are you renting a place? Man I would have never gotten away with that where I went to school. haha!

Well darn. Worth a try. Lol! Probably gonna scrap them eventually. I think the 240z bumpers are a tasteful addition...err....upgrade. Oh sweet! Well they're pretty easy to find in junkyards out west, but yeah, 5 speeds are a blast. I had a 3 speed auto, and when I finally changed it out...wow....it was amazing.

Hi there! There's several things that can cause a grinding when going into gear. A bad tranny is one, but that's probably not it. It does sound like the clutch master cylinder adjustment is out. Easy way to test this is to jack the rear of the car up, then put it into gear with the clutch depressed. If the tires start moving, you need to adjust the master cylinder so the rod is more depressed when the clutch pedal is relaxed. Probably 1-3 mm is all you need. If the tired don't start spinning, maybe a bad tranny. But IDK if I'd worry about that at this point. Also make sure that the slave cylinder is bolted down correctly and all the way on the transmission. Double check just to be sure. Also check to see if the clutch pedal is firm or soft. If it's still soft, you probably need to bleed it again. Get someone to help you depress the pedal and feel for yourself until there are no more air bubbles. As far as the acceleration goes: Could be the carbs need cleaning (try some seafoam?) or need rebuilt. Could also be the accelerator pump. Mine had problems, too. To test, hit the gas until it bogs down, then just let of the gas and punch it very quick. If it roars to life, could very well be the accelerator pump. Good luck and welcome to the club.

Oh man, yeah that would suck. But at least you have a place to work. A 240z engine will be awesome, too. Although you haven't driven much manual, I highly suggest a late model, closed ratio (more like a racing) 5 speed transmission. Easy to swap in and so much fun. If it already has the five speed, you're off to a good start, and the early fives are still a blast. As far as the year goes, my datsun is a 74 260z, and since yours is basically a year newer, you are one of the few I've seen with the larger bumpers. That said, I do have a front and rear bumper if you wanted the stock replacement to go on the rear again. I'm not a huge fan of the larger bumpers, and you could have mine for $30 bucks + shipping. I think the front might have a ding or two, but nothing that couldn't be easily fixed (and you have a front already). Problem is.........you're in NH and I'm in CA. Darn, I want these out of my garage so bad... :-/ Anyway, hit me up if interested. Good luck to you as well!

Oh man... No idea whatsoever. From what I've seen on other forums with people making custom dashes, they sell them for about $400-900 if they're fast and experienced at fiberglassing. I would imagine if I get a good mold, I would like to shoot for somewhere in there. I have Christmas break coming up, then I would like to get the mold roughed in. It's too early to tell. I figure I have a solid week in labor just to get the mold ready for bondo and a catalyst sealer. The trick with this is that I have to build the mold and keep in mind the actual fiberglass dash will be slightly larger. It won't be hard to calculate in the mounting points, but I want the dash to fit tight, so I need to design the dash mold 1/8" too small all the way around. Gauge pods, screen locations, etc all have to be worked just right. And since I plan to PVC leather wrap it, I need it a little sloppier yet. The main problem is basically the new dash will be such a deviation from the old dash style. Gonna just unscrew the vinyl dash from the metal frame and start building onto the metal frame. The important question at the moment is....what should the gauge pod sizes be? I'm thinking standard 52mm. Hmm.... Ok, maybe time to think about moving this thread to Interior. lol.

Haha, I was hoping you would post more pics of the garage. Looks like a great setup! I have plans written up for a 40x80 automotive/fab shop I wanna build one day, but all just dreams at this point. lol. The 3" exhaust sounds nuts--must be pretty awesome to have! I replaced mine with 2.5", but now that I'm working on a V8 swap, I am tearing everything down again. I hear ya on the college stuff though. I just graduated college and started med school this fall. :-/ Money is tight, time is tight, etc etc etc. Still love hanging in the shop though. You got a great place to work on yours!

Wow... That build thread with the roll cage is spectacular. Makes me realize how much I have left to go! Gonna have to bookmark it so when I get to that point, I'll have the information. As far as the original post, I was also gonna do just what was needed, and now I am stripping it down to just the shell. I will feel better knowing all the parts are new and everything is perfectly restored. I am also opting for a rotisserie with my car. I think welding in a roll cage on a rotisserie would also be easier since you can cut the floor out for the cage, then flip the car sideways and drop the cage further through the hole and weld the top of the cage. Glad I stumbled on this one.

No worries, good luck! Thinking back on it now, my gauge read 2/3 when it was full, but accurate when it was low, so I just left it, lol!

Dude... That is one heck of a story. I'll be honest with ya, I would probably have broken down into man-tears if my z rolled down a hill and went off the edge... No really, part of me wants to laugh and cry reading this. Haha! That said, you are taking this very well. I commend you. lol. Secondly, welcome to the restoration group. It's a fun journey. Are you planning on going all stock (maybe so from the stock rear brake replacement?) or are you planning to modify? Anyway, looks awesome so far with the replaced hatch, etc. Also, your buddies shop is amazing! Is it private? And is it mainly for car work? I love seeing what shops others have, so that thing looks like paradise to me. Anyway, good luck and looking forward to more updates!