Jesse OBrien
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Posts posted by Jesse OBrien
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I say just toss the bumper. Why keep it in the first place?
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Either way, why spend the money machining an l24 block when I could just hone an l28 block instead? I see no reason to hang on to this lump of iron. I'll get the $25 or so that i can for scrapping it all.
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Today could've gone better. I decided enough is enough, and after a bottle of mystery oil, 4 cans of PB blaster, a bunch of WD-40, and a big old bottle of propane from the torch, the time had come to remove the rods from the l24. After I got the crank off, the first three pistons came out without complaint. The fourth needed some massaging. The fifth was downright difficult. The sixth ... was ... well ... it went badly.
These were only going to be spares anyway, so it's not too big of a deal, but it would have been nice to have a spare set of l24 rods.
The block hadn't fared very well, either. The cylinder walls are pretty close to what I'd consider "beyond repair" and on an l24, they're certainly beyond "worth repair".
I also realized that I don't have a pulley for the water pump, but it looks like the l24 water pump snout sticks out too far for the l28e crank pulley. Sorry I don't have any pictures, but does anyone have any thoughts regarding that?
I ordered a few gaskets and bolts for the l28 as well, and with any luck I'll be able to finish assembling that this weekend, and get it (and the transmission) installed.
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No photos today, but I did get the l24 distributor on the n42 block without any issues, and it rotates when I rotate the crank. I also cleaned up the valves, using an ingenious combination of toothbrushes, nylon picks, and magnets (there's enough ferrous metal that magnets still work). I had to implement a lot of gravity and a lot of engine-shaking too, but I'm fairly confident that it's 'clean enough' now.
The l24 water pump also fits, but I'm going to need a new gasket and all new bolts (for pretty much everything, really). I'll still need a new gasket, which I haven't been able to find without a pump attached.
The alternator doesn't rotate. I have the l24 alternator, but haven't tested it, and still have that SBC alternator, which looks like it could be as easy as a pulley swap (maybe) to get it mounted up. I think the most likely solution is going to be a new alternator, but that bumps my budget up a fair amount.
The coolant inlet (on the manifold-side of the engine) is completely hosed. The bolts were all frozen, and even with copious heat as well as PB Blaster, they weren't going anywhere without breaking. So they broke. I have the 240z housing, but there's a metal inlet (or outlet) on the rear side of it (it's around 2/3" in diameter) that's totally bent out of shape. I haven't had any luck bending it back into shape or removing it, but still haven't tried heat. I think the best bet now is to just buy one (or five?) off someone who's parting an engine out and call it done. They're small and light, which makes them easy to ship.
Right now, I'm going to assume the oil pump works, because I don't have a test procedure in my FSM.
I also noticed that the mechanical fuel pump slot exists, but I'm looking for some experience as to whether or not I can just put an l24/l26 fuel pump on the n42 and not need to worry about a low-pressure electronic system.
This weekend, I'd like to reorganize the garage a bit. With 3 engines in various states of disassembly, a complete interior that isn't stored compactly inside the car, and both toolboxes in a small area, I don't have a choice but to clean up. I should have a 4spd transmission to mock up as well, and I hope to contact John from Bad Dog tomorrow. If all goes well, I can get some carbs, an exhaust manifold, and maybe some of the other little extras I need from him (but my budget will be the determining factor).
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I just had what I consider to be a major realization that I wanted to share, though it's a little off-topic. I've had a lot of people ask "Why not just build what you want once?" and while that's a much more efficient way to build a car, you need to have a very clear goal in mind and a very clear budget and all the resources required must be together ahead of time. In an effort to explain why I'm just taking a small chunk of money and a short timeframe to build an imperfect car, I'm going to break down how I write software on a daily basis and parallels that I've seen between software and automobile development problems.
Problem 1 - I don't know my needs
I can't build an exact build spec. Many builds are planned out by deciding what brand intake manifold, what size wheels/tires to use, what line of coilovers to use, etc ... before knowing exactly what problems are being solved. I really only know the fundamental problems with the car right now: It doesn't run, the front suspension leaves much to be desired, and the unibody is pretty floppy overall. I also know that the l-series engines have a shortcoming in oil delivery when raced, but beyond that? I have no way to know how I need to adjust my alignment, since I don't know the driving characteristics of this particular car. I can't choose tires because I don't know what compound, width, or height will work best with my suspension geometry. I'm looking for balance, but planning out a balanced car is a very big challenge.
Problem 2 - I don't have all the resources to build an ubercar
I don't have a compressor, can't run my welder, don't have any machining tools, don't have a frame rotisserie, don't have $15k that I can spend, and even if I did, I wouldn't know what I'm supposed to spend it on yet (since I can't drive the car). I've always believed that a running slow-car is better than a theoretical fast-car. If I had to wait 'till I had all the money, I'd be waiting for 2-3 years before I was 100% ready to get started, and I'd much rather have a running clunker in the meantime than to wait ~5 years to have my ubercar.
Problem 3 - It hasn't been driven in 6 years
This isn't a problem in and of itself, since assembling parts into a running car isn't very difficult. The problem is that every person who's owned it has bit off more than they could chew. They started building high-hp engines or had big plans for the interior, and ran out of gumption because the projects were all just too big, with no payoff in the middle. Driving the car is payoff, and that tends to keep me motivated to improve it without losing the key feature of 'running'.
Solution - Build in iterations
In software, I work in a Scrum/Agile environment. That basically means that we develop in small chunks, and keep a running build at all times. If a new feature is going to be added, we build it externally along with an integration process. Translated to the car, that means keeping the car on the road throughout all its modifications. When I get around to developing a splitter, I'll take measurements, draw up a schematic, build a prototype off the car, then finally test fit and install ... without pulling the car apart. If I'm rebuilding the engine, I'll get a second engine, build it on a stand, then swap it in. Keeping the core functional at all times is a very high priority.
Similarly, documentation is important. I already have a driving log prepped, where I'm going to track mileage, handling characteristics, tire pressures/wear characteristics, and a modification log. If I'm struggling with a problem like turn-in understeer, I want to be able to solve it with analysis of data I already have, rather than trial-and-error. The goal is to solve the problems that I actually have, not problems that other people solved on their cars. While I'm sure there will be some overlap (the stock s30 tire sizes leave much to be desired, for instance) I won't necessarily want to go with the same solution as everyone else (I may find that steel 15x8 wheels with 245-series tires fit my needs much better than the 'standard' 17x9.5 Rota RB's do) because I don't necessarily have the same problems.
I really hope this offers a little insight into why I'm approaching this build the way I am. I'm not trying to prove a point or have a more impressive car than some other person does. I want to enjoy the hell out of this thing, and hopefully get it to the point where it can be my daily driver and weekend motorsport machine.
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I don't see a problem with it, in theory. I just wanted to make sure my theory was one that has some proof of working in the real world. I'm convinced. Do you know what length or part number you use? My old belt looked about as nice as the pile of rusty junk that came out of the exhaust manifold.
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I can't run a compressor or generator in this garage, I pretty much just get lights and a small (4.5" wheel) electric grinder. Chunks of rusty metal won't burn out, they'll bend/chip the valves when it's rotated.
I'm assuming the bottom end is ok enough to run in this, because if it's not, the engine is pretty much worthless to me. A decent head gasket and head bolts is more expensive than I'd like to dump into this at this point, so I suppose I'm just going to have to hope that none of the rusted exhaust has made its way down into the cylinders.
As far as belts go, that all adds up. I assume the alternator bracket serves fine as a tensioner?
I'll have updates on the distributor this week, as soon as I have time to dedicate to garage-work again.
I'm one of those people who'd pay a premium for a running motor, but haven't been able to find one that was close enough to actually pick up (the closest was down in Ayer, CT ... way too far away). I'm still working on my mass 'for-sale' list, which has some good stuff and some is-it-even-worth-shipping stuff. I'll post that here to give HBZ first dibs on whatever people need, then move on to CL.
I hope to have another update tonight, but I doubt there will be much visible progress this week. I won't be able to install the engine until I receive the transmission.
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Turn the block into a wine rack or table base!
I was actually JUST thinking that. I think it's a phenomenal idea, I'll just have to clean it like crazy to get it presentable enough to pitch the idea to my girlfriend.
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Picked up an n42 long block yesterday, so it doesn't look like the l24 is going to see any use. I'll pull the rods, and send it off to be scrapped.
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I rode down with BFG this weekend to pick up the l28e that he had in Boston. It wasn't a cheap endeavor, since I needed to pick up a hoist and engine leveler along the way, but it was an unqualified success. The engine is an n42, which is PERFECT for my goals. I really couldn't hope for a better platform to use. There are a few reasons to like it:
- Square-port exhaust, which makes exhaust manifold choices much easier
- Intake ports readily accept carb manifolds
- Cam is spray-bar style, which is just as well-suited to daily driving, but better suited to racing (hillclimb) than internally-oiled cranks
- Both l28 blocks are very rugged starting points
After pulling the manifolds off and cleaning it up a bit, it doesn't look too bad.
It rotates, the cam doesn't look BADLY worn (but it's past its prime), and the oil that drained out of it looked reasonably clean (small traces of rust, but nothing alarming). The problem I see is that the exhaust manifold was badly rusted, and there are a bunch of chunks of rust in the exhaust ports. I'm going to have to lean the engine over away from the spark plugs, but I can't find a good place to attach the engine leveler brackets to on that side of the engine.
Rusty exhaust junk that I managed to get out already:
Currently, my big questions are:
- How to get all the rusty piles of 'metal' out of the exhaust ports, without going past the valves?
- Is it worth pulling the head, and if so how much time/money am I looking at spending for my first-ever Datsun reassembly?
- I removed the (really heavy) pump from the distributor-side of the engine. Do I need special belts or an additional tensioner? Does anyone have part numbers handy? At the VERY least, I need to replace the alternator/water-pump v-belt
- Is there a problem with using an l24 distributor on the l28e block?
- Is the EFI junk worth anything? I'm amassing a pile of EFI components, but have no plans to ever use early Nissan EFI again.
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The manual conversion that I had ordered was from an s130, I hadn't read carefully. That basically boils down to the pedals having no chance of fitting the s30 without major modification.
I'm considering picking up the Tilton floor-mount clutch/brake pedal assembly, for a few reasons:
- The ease of isolated brake adjustment will be good if I decide to swap out the front or rear brakes independently of each other, and want to tune them independently.
- Mounting to the floor can be more firm and stable than mounting to the firewall, especially with a frame rail directly under the pedal box.
- I have no brake booster, and this gives me an excuse not to buy one.
- It solves my brake and clutch pedal problem at once.
- The price is comparable to a stock pedal set, but the Tilton pedals are reported to be very high quality, while the Datsun pedals are middling and clunky.
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German TUV and Japan have similar perforation requirements. Universally they are taken care of by putting metal tape on the holes and then body undercoating heavily to hide evidence of any repairs.
You then repair when it suits you. That repair will work just as good as welding. And if it's TUV passable, it's 1,000,000 times better than any stateside 'safety' inspection.
Not to get political, but surveys have repeatedly shown absolutely NO correlation between states with safety inspections and any statistical impact on mechanical-related deaths or injuries. They are identical between inspection and non-inspection states. Somewhere around 4% of all accidents involve a mechanical failure.
Really, all it does is force people into garages that can get the inspection franchise for the state to give them business. And I'm sure bribery to pass is common. What are the penalties for a shop caught passing "unsafe" vehicles, and how is it quantified? It's all subjective, and people (as in any state with safety inspections) know where to go to "get the easy pass."
Now, you want a REAL brake check? TUV/Holland...puts your car on a rolling road with wheel dynoes, and when you hit the brakes if there is a 3% variance side-to side you FAIL! No soup for you!
Something about being let into the Bar-Under 200 Lane on the A1 I suppose...
Conversely, though, there is a statistical correlation with Emissions Testing and cleaner air. And at least in CA, even when bribery was possible it STILL cleaned the air. It's much more Difficult these days to get a 'easy pass' or 'clean pipe' simply from the sting operations and PUNITIVE fines and penalties imposed on the techs doing the work.... Bigtime hammer falls!
I took an out-of-state truck into be smog tested in January... Tech was an older guy, is real interested in what I have in back says "What's in the back of the truck?"
"BAR90 SMOG Machine"
Took me 1 1/2 hours to get my test done! Guy checked, rechecked, then rechecked AGAIN everything. I mean, the truck was CLEAN (as in 0.0 on NOx!) for a Federal Emissions Vehicle, I piped clean to CA standards, and he was SURE I was a Sting Plant. Poor Guy! I just needed a Smog to get my registration...which I still don't have... but let's not GO THERE!
My only real smog complaint comes in with arbitrary parts swap laws in CA. You can't simply build a car with a hyper-clean, hyper-efficient engine. It has to come from a mass manufacturer, have a CARB certification label on it, and be newer than your car. It's a little silly, but it's an easy problem to solve: Leave California (that's what I did, and it's one of the best things I've done in my life).
I'm definitely interested to see the data from those surveys. If it all adds up, I'd love to write a feature on it for Driven Daily. In theory, I find it hard to believe that safety inspections don't prevent accidents.
The only reason I can see to weld my floors vs metal tape or similar is structural rigidity. I've been toying with the idea of making some composite floor panels, since they wouldn't ever rust (just crack and break, then I make new ones) and they don't actually hold anything up anyway. I haven't researched anyone else's previous experiences though, and I'm not ready to get started on body work yet.
Welcome to what most of the western world have to deal with, NZ has the same basic thing, car Warrant of Fitness, or WoF checks.
every 6 months we have to get our cars checked against a list of required performance settings. If they pass, we get a sticker in the window. If you fail, you can't drive it anywhere except home from the testing station or from home to the testing station after repair.
The UK has the MOT test.
Japan has something in kanji, same idea.
Australia the same...
So does Germany...
Even Ukraine has it.
China has it. Every year you troop down to the test centre, they make sure your car won't endanger other road users, and pay your vehicle tax.At least in chinas case a few Yuan tucked into your vehicle ownership papers handed to the tester means you get the approval, never mind the state of the car.
Yet most of the US doesn't. From what I hear, if it runs, they let it on the road.... You just gotta have insurance to cover your ass when it breaks in half on the interstate and causes a pileup.
I'm not complaining about safety inspections. I'm all for them. However, NH does not require insurance at all. If you crash and it's your fault, it's your responsibility. If you have insurance, they'll typically handle the pecuniary end of things, but if you don't, you could be paying for someone's physical therapy for the rest of your life. NH leaves the choice open, and allows people to ruin their lives at will. You can be as irresponsible as you like, as long as you aren't harming anyone else.
We also don't require helmets on motorbikes (because you wearing a helmet really only affects you, NOT wearing one isn't endangering anybody else), and after you've been alive for 18 years, you're not required to wear a seat belt (it's debatable as to whether or not this endangers others, but that's another topic altogether).
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It's supposed to keep you from asphyxiating on exhaust fumes, but the lawmakers who put that in place have OBVIOUSLY never been in an s30. Otherwise, they'd know that no matter how sealed you make it, you're still going to suck exhaust.
NH's smog regulations are relatively lax, but the safety requirements are high. You're required to have functional suspension, tires that have tread and fit your wheels, brakes that have a good chance of stopping the vehicle, at least one seat, seatbelts for all the seats you have, a horn, working lights, an un-cracked windshield, an in-tact chassis, and a baffled muffler (resonators do not count). There can't be any excessive fluid leaks, and I'm sure there's more that I'm missing, but in a nutshell: You are not allowed to endanger anyone else due to your lack of maintenance.
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Body welding is not an essential unless your car is breaking in half. Do you weld? You'll save a lot of money if you can weld up your own exhaust, my friend literally made one by going to exhaust shops and getting their scrap pipes and welding it himself. Carbs shouldn't cost you more than $200 complete. and hardlines can be bent for like $50 for every hardline if you do it yourself.
Making this stuff pretty and cleaning up/ buying new parts (like the hardline retainers for example) are what really kill the budget.
Body welding is absolutely required in NH to pass safety inspections every year. There can't be any holes into the passenger cabin that a quarter can fit into. I would weld, but I'm stuck in a rental garage without proper electricity, and it shorts out as soon as I fire up the little Chicago Due Mig I have.
As for exhaust, I can probably get away with a Summit bend kit and just clamp it all together. It's a temporary solution, but it fits into the budget and will last me a year while I sort out a more permanent solution.
I just caught myself starting to ask what you'd recommend for a hard line bending tool, but realized that I'm getting way off topic. I'm going to pose those questions in my build thread rather than the "what to do with a dead engine" thread. To make things a bit easier, here's the correct thread for those questions:
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It looks like the 'needs assembly' one is already together, rotates, and apparently came out OK on a compression test. It's a no-brainer from my perspective; That's the engine that fits this stage of the build best.
Tony, assuming I sell the SBC and get my money back out of it, I still have $1566.87, minus the $240 engine would be $1326.87 to get the rest of the car ready to go (exhaust, carbs/manifold, hard lines, brakes, body welding, etc). There's a little bit of overhead planned into that, but not much. If I absolutely need to I can go over budget, but the point of this budget is to make sure I only focus on bare essentials for right now. I don't want to get hung up on little details that are inconsequential at this stage of the car's life.
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I freed the pistons, but it was bad news bear from there on out. The cylinder walls are badly scored, and #5 and #6 are badly pitted. This little guy isn't worth saving for me.
However, I have a couple l28's to choose from, one that needs assembly with a 4spd for $240 delivered and the other complete with a 5spd for $750 (but 2.5 hours away). If I can talk a friend with a truck into hiking down to CT with me, I'll grab the runner (it's the simplest solution to my current no-powertrain problem) but I'm not against assembling an l28 with an e88 head on top. I ran a quick search, but still need to ask: Why keep the l24 rods? Are they stronger/longer/better/lighter than l26/l28 rods?
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Other members can reply now? So much has changed since I was here last!
Here's the update for day 2:
Engine
I made progress, but you're absolutely right, 78zstyle. I was hoping I could sneak away with a hone and have it sputtering along again but the cylinder walls are pitted, and I'm not sure this engine is worth the investment. The pistons free'd up, but seeing the cylinder walls makes this kind of a wash.
I also have a couple other options to work with:
One is a complete, running 280z engine with 5spd transmission that I can snag for $750 ... but it's 2:30:00 away and I'd have to talk a friend with a truck into going down with me. My little Yaris is far from a competent parts hauler.
The other is a non-assembled n/a l28 block and an e88 head with a 4spd that would be a much better starting point for a rebuild than this is. That would be $240 delivered.
Either way, I'd want to get some flat-top SU's to put on it (DCOE carbs are expensive, and power isn't the goal here; running and ease of maintenance is), which are readily available on here for roughly $200/set. All told, I would expect to be into either engine for roughly $1k after all is said and done, and would have a carb'd 2.8liter either way. Thoughts? Opinions? Recommendations?
Parts Review
As it turns out, the PO left me with a lot of extra parts.
l28et turbo efi harness, ecu, MAF, and fuel rail with injectors, a pair of starters, accessories for the l24, and a new-looking fuse panel (that doesn't interest me at all; I've had two of those go up in flames on me). That's also a spare hood that everything is sitting on.
It didn't come with seats, but did come with rails!
More efi-related junk:
A complete interior. There are a few cracks in some of the panels, but these will most likely go up for sale as well, if there's any interest.
There are a couple heater blower fans in there as well, but I may just end up making a heat/defrost system out of more modern components. The heat in these things was fine while I was in California, but New England gets cold during the winter.
Brakes
It looks like I'm missing a brake booster, and haven't been able to find a price on a new one. Has anyone else run non-boosted brakes on their s30, or dual master brakes? I really like the adjustability of dual master setups, and I've never had complaints about the additional effort required (I use my brakes a lot less on the street than on the track, and dual-master setups are ideal for track days ... so I don't see a problem there). My manual conversion parts should be in this week, and I can start to put parts together for that.
Overall, I really can't complain about how this car was treated. With all things considered, it's in great shape. I can complain about the brake lines being snipped off. I'm going to have to run all new hard lines for this. What a pain!
Does anyone know of a hard line kit, or have any recommendations for fabrication? I've had to re-run single lines for a couple different cars, but nothing to this extent.
I'm really looking forward to getting a powertrain in this thing and sputtering around the neighborhood. The budget is exploding quickly, but I'm hoping that I can sell off some parts to recoup those costs.
Current cost:budget
$1,173.13 of $2500
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I'm not crazy about any particular engine, or even any particular layout. Right now, I'm just looking at costs. I just want to drive something that isn't my Yaris for awhile. The l24 happened to come with the car, and happens to be an easy installation (assuming it's running). I set the goal I have the way I have because it works REALLY well for me at work (I'm a software developer and systems engineer), and I've found that building things in small iterations that all technically work and get progressively better tends to be very successful.
I think I've sourced a complete l28 block locally for $150, which will probably be my best bet if it rotates freely and has moderate compression. I'll need a head gasket and timing chain kit, and I'll have to figure out how to set my timing from scratch ... but that will be the long block assembly, basically. Then I get to start hunting for a distributor/manifolds/alternator/belts/carbs/starter/etc to actually get it running, and plop it in the engine bay.
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You are probably going to need machine work. "worth saving" isn't really something anyone can decide for you. If its worth it to you is what you have to figure out. Motors are fairly cheap. Your cheapest option to get rolling will be finding a decent running motor. The kits to rebuild are around 400-500 bare minimum without machine work. I know there are plenty of L series NA motors out there for much cheaper. To give you an example. The motor currently in my first Z is a $300 ebay motor and i've flogged the crap out of it for the past 5 years. It still runs strong. Whatever you end up doing, save the rods. People use the L24 rods for some builds.
"Worth saving" is relative to having 10 weeks and $2500 as a budget. In this case, it isn't subjective, it's easy to quantify in numbers. If it doesn't fit into either of those requirements, it isn't worth saving. If it gets me on the road within that budget (including all the other stuff I need to fix/buy) then it's totally worth saving. I've been keeping my eyes open on the MA/ME/VT/NH Craigslist, but have only seen one bare 2.8 short block come up and nothing else. eBay might be better, but shipping gets expensive quickly.
I'm trying not to make a rash decision just because no other engines are readily available at the moment. I'm hoping a $500 (or less?) runner shows up that's close enough for me to pick up in the next few weeks, but I'm hoping this is a viable alternative in case that isn't an option.
I spent 810$ for all the bearings, new pistons, rings wrist pins, cam regrind, ARP rod bolts, complete valve job, and all the gaskets to rebuild mine. That 810$ includes the machine work to bore the block to 88mm.
I bought everything except for the pistons locally. Call your Nissan dealer for bearings, see if they can get you any. They're NLA in almost all the Nissan books, though. If you can't get Nissan bearings, Clevite makes them both in the standard and the 77 material, and ACL Australia makes them, as does ITM. I used Nissan bearings, for both the mains and rods, and have a set of ITM bearings on the shelf.
I got my ITM pistons from Northern Autoparts, came with rings and pins.
$810 would be way out of my budget for this build, especially since I still have to source carbs, manifolds, and a transmission. I could probably get away without a valve job or a cam regrind (it's ok if it doesn't make much power for now, power is easy to add on later), but that's still a pricey option for what it is.
I am currently $1142.17 of my $2500 budget, but hopefully I can get some money back from selling the SBC 350 that I originally purchased in hopes of installing in this. I may also end up selling the dash and other bits and pieces that aren't required to run/drive in order to make my budgets happen. I'm being very hopeful when I say that I think I can meet this budget, but it doesn't seem very realistic when I include an engine.
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I received my 240z today (to say I'm excited is to say microbes are small), and cracked open the l24 that came with it. It's been living in a snowbank (in New England) for the past year without an intake or exhaust manifold on it, so I was expecting it to be pretty rough. When it showed up though, it didn't look too horrific, but I couldn't rotate it by hand (I still don't know what size the crank bolt is to try a breaker bar on it).
I popped off the valve cover, and was again surprised by how clean and oily things looked:
Pulling the head off, however ... was ... less encouraging.
Here's the chunk of ice that had formed in the oil pan. There didn't seem to be any other water or water damage anywhere but the goop on top of the #3 and #4 cylinders, but it's still not encouraging to see.
I flipped the block and pulled the connecting rod bottom-pieces (I don't remember what they're called) to have a look at the bearings, and they looked like they had been driven, not parked in a snowbank.
It's currently sitting upside-down soaking up Mystery Oil in hopes that whatever's seized will work its way loose, but I'd like to get some opinions on whether or not it's worth saving. I'm trying to get this car on the road within 10 weeks and under $2500, and that's an extremely tight budget to work with (it includes everything from the manual conversion to tool rental to WD-40 to the car itself). With that budget in mind, is this worth keeping, or should I hold out and hope like hell that a block comes up on Craigslist?
Is it worth hoping that I'll be able to get away with a hone, new bearings and gaskets, and a new timing chain assembly to have a decent short block? Is it possible that it's just the torque converter that's seizing it up, and I'm incorrectly assuming that the gunky-looking cylinders are keeping it from rotating? How much does it typically cost to rebuild an l24, and would someone mind saving me some search-time and recommending a vendor and/or required parts? I'm looking through the FSM, but this forum exists and is a convenient way to leverage other peoples' experience rather than researching every little thing myself.
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Oh right, I forgot. The Members Projects section doesn't allow replies from others, does it? Don't expect any more updates in this section, it seems pointless to use a forum as a blog with the comments section removed.
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It begins
Now, the build begins. So far, I'm $1142.17 into it, not including the tools I owned before I decided to embark on this project.
Budgeting
I'm almost halfway through my budget, on day 1. This is a bit of a problem, but that's because I haven't sold the Chevy 350 that I changed gears on. That's a $240 expense that I haven't seen returned yet. I did make a little bit from selling the t5 that came with it (purchased for a GREAT price at $220 plus fuel, sold for the fair price of $300). Hopefully I'll be able to sell that soon, and recoup some of the extra costs to get the budget back on schedule. The chassis also came with a few parts that I think I'll end up selling, since they're likely worth more to others than they are to me. I can't repeat this enough: the goal right now is to get this car on the road. Hoarding 'cool parts' like a high-quality dash won't do me any good if I don't have a running car to put it in. That's how projects end up going on forever, and cars spend years in a garage but never get to drive.
The Chassis
As it sits, the chassis is half-good. The front half is solid, and has had a lot of attention by its previous owners. The rear is ... less solid. The rear wheel arches are relatively rusty, and I'll need to spend a weekend just fixing the little holes that spot the car's underbelly. That wouldn't really be a problem, but I confirmed that my welder won't run on the (15a?) circuit my rented garage runs on. The bushings are in rough condition, but I have a feeling that they'll pass safety inspection (for the road, not on a race track) so I'm keeping them as-is.
The Engine
I'm feel a bit like an archaeologist while I pull this little l24 apart. It looked innocent enough when we muscled it off the truck, but things went downhill pretty quickly after I realized that I couldn't turn it over by hand.
It had been living in a snowbank for the past couple years, and it showed. Right now it's hanging out upside-down with a bottle of Mystery Oil breaking up the relationship between the rings and cylinder walls.
As further evidence that it had been living in a snowbank, I found several large chunks of ice that had formed in the oil pan. While that's a little disconcerting, it appears to be the only water that was in the block. All the major components were still covered in slick dark oil.
The e88 head was dirty, but didn't seem to have suffered any serious injuries. Here's how it looked directly after pulling it off the block, I don't have any photos of it cleaned up (stay tuned for more tomorrow!)
Assuming this engine can be salvaged (hopefully with nothing more than a cylinder wall hone and new rings/bearings/studs, then a new timing chain set), I'll have to source an intake, intake manifold, exhaust manifold, distributor, alternator, and transmission (I think I have that covered, though), and figure out if a 4spd manual will mate with the automatic driveshaft and crossmember. I spent an hour searching on here and classiczcar, but for some reason I couldn't find a definitive answer to that question. If the l24 can't be rescued, I have a lead on a local (ish) l28 block that I could get and an incomplete l28et that I could take for a grand (which would break my budget single-handedly, but offers much better performance than an l24 assuming both run).
Right now, I've blown my $250/week budget out of the water, and am into the project for almost 4x what I should be. I'll put together some for sale listings this week and hopefully recoup some costs so I can get this poor car back on the road! Post some replies, give me some positive feedback, and make any other recommendations you can come up with. I'm eager to take some experienced advice!
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These louvers I have for you are interesting; they actually have little locks holding each corner on (I guess they used to get stolen a lot?), they're here in Manchester for you though. We'll have to meet up soon.
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Sounds like a really good call to me, I'm a little jealous. Actually, I suppose I'm jealous of anyone who has a running car that they don't hate ... but right now? Especially jealous of you.
Datsun 4speeds
in Drivetrain
Posted
It seems like everyone treats the 4speed like a red-headed step-child because it doesn't have overdrive, but I'm trying to figure out if there's more to it. Are the 4speeds especially weak, or do they have especially epic failures?
I'm just finishing up an l28e to carb conversion with a LIGHT refresh (it doesn't count for much, honestly ... I hope to end up with ~150hp if I'm lucky), and am looking at transmission options. The goal is to daily drive the car and participate in hillclimb races, and I can source 4speeds very cheaply (or free). If they're reasonably robust (I don't have any plans for big power adders, if things go VERY well I'll end up at 175hp and ~175ft/lbs).
I can sort of compensate for the lack of overdrive with a wider differential/final (I prefer the wider differential, since it keeps the stock transmission isolated and eases quick swaps). I could also go to a taller tire to get a little more gearing, but I have reservations so I'm asking for some feedback from you fine folks.
With this low-output engine, it won't be a blistering-fast car off the line, but I'd like to keep it responsive and fun to drive. I don't want to have to downshift to 3rd to pass someone on the highway, and don't want to wait 5 minutes to get out of 1st/2nd.
The way I'm looking at it is that my friends who race Porsche 911's re-gear their 4speeds rather than replacing them outright. They're making a bit more power (200-250hp) but I'm not sure that's a vast enough difference to make a re-geared Datsun un-driveable.
I'm just looking for feedback and others' experience. Is the 4speed worth working with, and if so, WHICH 4speeds are worth working with? At what power level do they become unstable hand-grenades? Are they really only worthwhile in vintage racing classes or other applications where the rules dictate that people need to deal with them?