2eighTZ4me

Tony - as always - succinct and to the point. Yes - I understand completely. I haven't really taken the car out for more than 30 min. on any given stretch, and the weather has been fairly cool. That would explain why I'm not getting the oil up to temp. I got one of these; http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productselection.asp?Product=1227 to mount the sensor bulb in-line. It is mounted after my Oberg filter and before the thermostat. Now that you mention it, on the last run I did, I was feeling a little heat on the "send" side from the thermostat TO the oil cooler, but the return line was cold. Your explanation made sense of that. Guess I just need to drive harder eh? So - is the inline gauge adapter not going to work for me? Is it best to mount the sensor in the pan? I can't imagine they'd sell a whole heck of a lot of these things if they weren't meant for a purpose. thanks again!

I've got the temp sensor mounted just before the thermostat. If the "moving" oil is not going to get enough temp. to move the gauge, it's certainly not going to get enough temp to trip the thermostat - right? At that point, why even bother having a thermostat. John Coffey recommended (highly) that I get the thermostat. If my oil is never going to get hot enough to trip the gauge, why even bother with a thermostat? It'll NEVER trip it. I wonder why he recommended that if the moving oil is a "known factor"? It's not like you mount the thermostat to the oil pan. John specifically recommended Oil filter adapter > remote oil filter > thermostat > cooler. I figured if I put the temp sensor just before the thermostat, I'd know exactly what is going on at all times. I DO have the AZC oil pan with the turbo drain tube plugged off. Perhaps I pull that and install the sensor there? Although, it's high enough on the pan that perhaps it never touches oil - hence the "drain" tube inlet....Oh - isn't this soooo much fun? Yasin - I really appreciate your help.

Yasin - first off - that is a NICE setup! Secondly, I have my probe mounted in a special AN threaded holder that is right up on my right inner fender near the core support. It's mounted after the remote oil filter. The oil then goes about 2" further into the thermostat. I did not mount mine in the pan. I got the remote mount from Pegasus Auto Racing. I still feel the lines are hot, but apparently not 180 degrees worth of hot. I guess I won't worry about it too much. I'm not running a turbo like you, so maybe my oil just plain isn't going to get hot enough to cause a problem - much less open the thermostat.

I run Rotella in my DD 280 and my 81 Toyota pickup with 348,000 mi. on it. Nary a problem. I am breaking in my race engine with VR1 and a bottle of ZDDP Plus (from Eastwood Co.). Plan on running the VR1 and ZDDP in the race car exclusively, but for the grunts - they get the Rotella.

OK - kudos to me for figuring this out....BUT have a question. Turns out the gauge WAS working. I put in a new one and still got no reading on oil temp after 20 min. of driving. I pulled the sensor bulb and hit it lightly with a torch, and sure as heck - the gauge reads. My question is - how hard do I have to drive the car to get the oil up to 180 degrees so the thermostat will open? I have done some pretty "spirited" sessions and can never get the gauge to budge - and hence the thermostat never opens because it's set to open at 180 degrees. Is it normal for my oil temp to be this low after driving fairly hard?

What head is on your car? I have spare valves lying around that are in great shape. They'd lap right in to your head. Let me/us know.

Wow - they really prong you for rocker arms. Do you have any factory rockers off that head or another head? I sent mine to Delta Camshaft out west and they do a fabulous job of resurfacing rocker arms. I got a set of 12 done for just over $50 with shipping and they look like brand new. If you have a set lying around, I'd go that route and send the MSA ones back. You'll at least know that they are geniune Nissan and from the correct metallurgy. My humble $0.02 worth.

This thread's making its' way to the Tool Shed real quick.....

Tony - you are quite the wordsmith. Always enjoy reading your "no B.S." posts. I will look into the Schroth harnesses as well, as Summit Racing screwed up my order royally, and I have to return the harnesses. They even pulled two harnesses of different color and different part #'s. Good thing the first track day isn't until mid March at Road Atlanta. I'll put the old harnesses up for sale for a steal when I get the new ones installed (with disclaimer, of course) and see if anyone bites. Worse case, you can use them to hang your latest hunting conquest from the tree.....

They did indeed have a belly pan. I just pulled mine a few months ago and had it blasted and powdercoated. You can tell it's for a 280, as there's a hole about 1.5" around in the front left corner for the radiator petcock. The 240 and 260 had the petcock facing rearward, and therefore do not have the "drain hole" out the bottom of the pan.

Most radiator shops that boil the tanks have their own coating that they use. I've had it in my DD for over 12 years now without any problems at all. I would just pony up the extra $$ and have the rad. shop do it for you. Probably just as cheap as the POR stuff, and certainly not as messy. That way, you walk away from the radiator shop with a tank that is ready to bolt in and go. You did say you wanted to drive didn't you?.....

As a matter of fact, I probably would. It sure as hell beats 30+ year old seatbelts that offer half - if not quarter the restraining capability as a 5 point harness. Not sure how the DOT lets stuff like this go by. If it's mandated for racing, it should be mandated for road use. Change your belts every 2 years. Most track day events will allow you to use factory restraints - I'd feel far more confident with a 12 year old 5 point harness than a 35 year old lap belt with perhaps a shoulder belt.

I have a pair of 5 point 3" harnesses that are dated back to 1996. I cannot run them on my car due to the rules. Is it illegal to sell or use them in a street driven car? I'd like to sell them to someone that can use them, but I don't want to be "outside the law". This is not an ad to sell them - it is a post to see if that is an acceptable practice. I will post an ad when I get my new ones and have all the pieces of the old ones out.

Okay - it seems awful strange that nobody has ANY input on this. Am I a dorkhead asking newbie questions that I should be able to search on? (More than likely!) I found out that by crimping or damaging the sending unit near the sensor bulb - or creating a harsh bend can cause the sending unit to fail. The gauges are activated by a gas inside a copper tube that expands as it heats and drives the gauge. Since the gauge was already in the car, I can surmise that the sending unit is bad and the PO ruined it when tearing out his old engine. I'm ordering a new gauge. The kicker is - I have pulled the outlet hose from the oil thermostat, and oil is indeed going through the thermostat (it pooled up real nice in my garage), and I also made sure that the bolts are facing the bottom per MoCal's instructions. I am still unable to get any oil to the cooler. Is the thermostat directional? Meaning, I could have installed it with the bolts facing downward, but just installed it backwards? JohnC recommended this device - wondering if he has any input? I've driven the horse p** out of the car and gotten it well into operating temperature. Not sure what's going on. Guess I won't be able to tell until I get a new gauge huh? Thanks all....

That's freakin' GREAT! Excellent job!! You oughta try your hand at songwriting sometime.....

If the car sat for 15 years, chances are the tank is full of rust and garbage, and you've basically clogged the filter of the new fuel pump again from sucking more of that trash up in there. I'd pull the pump and clean the filter screen again. If it's nasty, pull the tank and take it to a radiator shop and have them clean it out and seal it. You "can" do this yourself with the POR15 product, but I highly doubt you'd want to do it in the Colorado winter... plus it's a nasty mess. Money well spent to have someone else do it. Some things you're better off DIY - but things like this, I've found it's better to pay a professional to do. See what the pump filter looks like first though - my guess is it's clogged again.

I guess that all depends on how much gas costs at the end of May! It's like driving a Sherman tank. There is no guts in the car, no carpet, no sound deadener - nothing. It's loud and obnoxious, and good God - the fumes are unreal. I don't know if I'd even make it out of Ga. without passing out. I've just put in the hatch inner weatherstrip, and still have to do the doors, but the PO cut out the rear wheel wells to give clearance for those wheels, so the a$$ end of the car is wide open. I made some inner flare liners out of sheet metal, but there's still some open areas that fumes (and rocks) come in. It has a nice pebble collection in the back hatch area, as the slicks like to grab them and fling them into the rear area. There's still a lot of work to be done, and I need tires BADLY, but there is a chance I'll make it! Gives me something to shoot for nonetheless.

Hmmm - there's supposed to be video. It worked fine for me when I checked it out at work. Course - I'm not the video guru - it's just a .mpg file. It failed on me here at home. Let me work on that. Yes - there is video to go with the audio! My bad...... Try to right click on the link above and do "Save Link As" - save it to your hard drive and play it from there. I gotta get this up on YouTube - ratz!!!

Perhaps Mr. Mortensen can chime in on this - or anybody for that matter. I purchased an oil cooler thermostat and a sending unit housing from Pegasus. I've had the car up to operating temperature numerous times. The oil temp gauge will not budge, nor am I seeing the oil thermostat opening. Is it possible for the sending unit "sender" to go bad? Any way to test it? The gauges were already in the car when I bought it. I can touch the sending unit housing and the thermostat themselves and they are indeed warm/hot to the touch. Oil is definitely flowing through those pieces. The hoses after the thermostat, however, are stone cold. Telling me the thermostat is not opening. I made all connections per the install instructions provided. I suppose I could have it backwards, but I triple checked. The routing goes filter adapter out > Oberg oil filter > temp sensor housing > thermostat > oil cooler > thermostat bottom side > oil filter adapter in. I find it strange that these two problems coincide, yet I suppose anything is possible.

The words "stroker" and "budget" should never - under any circumstances - be used in the same sentence.....

Au contraire. I was told specifically by Bill at Ron Davis Radiators that the stock fan with a shroud will cool better than just about any electric fan. (without a shroud) Truth is - you really don't need a fan once you're moving more than say 20mph. Mother Nature takes care of the cooling then. From a power perspective - yeah, it is one more component to have to spin, so I could agree with that argument. I am going to be converting over to a Spal fan here pretty soon (once I pay the Christmas bills!) and ditching the stock fan/clutch. The car was already wired for it, so I may as well use it.

OK - shot this last evening with my digital camera, so the quality isn't great. Will redo during better daylight with the camcorder - once the wife relinquishes control of said device..... And yes - my valves are adjusted properly. The valvetrain is noisy due to the cam, and for some reason, the mic on the camera tended to accentuate the clack. http://www.hangoverture.com/cars/VidRun.mpg Give it a little time to load.

Drooooooooollllllll.......!!!!!!! That's one pretty piece there Babalouie!

It was a hair over $550 with shipping. It doesn't weigh but about 5lbs. It's amazing workmanship. Worth every penny IMHO....

I had a custom Ron Davis unit built for my car. The inlet and outlet sizes are 1 3/8". Width is 24 3/4" (core width) and 18 5/8" tall. I'm almost 100% on these numbers, but I'd have to go back to my diagram that I drew for them to build it.