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'73 1200 Coupe Project, aka Timmy


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Just got a shipping confirmation email from Speedhut. My gauges will be here Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   :thumbup:  :thumbup:  :thumbup:  :thumbup:  :thumbup:

 

You'll enjoy them. Their support is great too.

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Pertty. Is that a GPS speedo, or does it work with the Datsun cable?

 

GPS. Figured I'd shoot the wad and go GPS since I'm planning to play around with tires sizes and gear ratios as we go along. And this saves me from also being forced to play around with different speedo pinions in the transmission every time I make a change. 

 

And now I can remove the cable completely and run the harness for these gauges through the firewall hole the cable is using right now.  :thumbup:

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Got one out of the box and gave it a test fit...

 

Size looks good, but...

 

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...it won't get in the hole...   ^_^

 

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Time to break out the dremel and get to cutting...   :thumbup:

 

First hole cut down to size, and the tach fitted up...

 

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Yes, you have to cut out a lot of material...   ^_^

 

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All three cut to size...

 

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All three installed...

 

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Not loving the silver gauge face rings behind the silver gauge rings, so decided to paint it all black. Last minute decided to keep the heater control as is...

 

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After some paint...

 

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Gonna give it a week to dry reeeeally well, then install the gauges in the dash next week...    B)

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Got the gauges screwed back in for good this time...

 

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Looking through the instructions for the speedo and realized these came with something I didn't even know they had, a dimmer switch! 

 

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You can actually use it to dim up to 8 gauges at once!  :rofl:

 

So, where to put the switch...

 

Took out the plug in the hole under the speedo for the trip odometer knob, drill it out about 1mm bigger, then installed the rheostat for the dimmer in that hole (it's the dime sized silver thing between the gauges)...

 

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I like this...   B)

 

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Drilled the upper right hole (headlights maybe?) out to a larger size and installed a horn button there, and put in the cigarette lighter as a way to hold in in there for now...

 

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I want to try and find some new wiper and headlight switches for the bottom two holes, and a new cigarette lighter, then that should be all we need to finish up in here...

 

Yes, I know I don't have wipers...    :rofl:

 

It will either just be a dummy switch for looks, or we will hack it to control something else...    B)

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... or we will hack it to control something else...    B)

 

Maybe one of those brake solenoid "Roll Control" thingies for the front brake circuit so you can do awesome burnouts?  

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It's looking good John!

 


Yes, I know I don't have wipers...    :rofl:

 

It will either just be a dummy switch for looks, or we will hack it to control something else...    B)

 

Planning on registering it as an antique to get around the wiper requirement in the Texas inspection?

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Planning on registering it as an antique to get around the wiper requirement in the Texas inspection?

 

Indeed. None of them are daily drivers, so only antique tags for me.  :thumbup:

 

And my inspection guy told me I only need functioning wipers if I have wipers. If they're aren't there at all, they don't need to work.   :rofl:

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THAT sounds like that would be an exact wording in a California law book :)

 

 

I only need functioning wipers if I have wipers. If they're aren't there at all, they don't need to work.   :rofl:

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  • 3 weeks later...

Few things knocked off the list today...

 

Drained about half the coolant out so I could remove the Auto Meter water temp sender and install the Speedhut sender. Still had water shoot out the head when I removed the sender.  :rofl:

 

Got it in, and routed the harness up and around the brake lines so as to be a bit less visible...

 

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Pulled out the Auto Meter oil sender and replaced it with the Speedhut sender, and also routed the harness for it up under the stock harness to hide it a bit...

 

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While I was under the car today, I noticed something else...

 

We had previously noticed (and I mentioned here) that the car needed more caster since the tires rub the footwells when turning. Made a mental note to fix that some day before driving it, so today was that day.   :thumbup:

 

Pulled out the TC rods so I could take them to a machine shop and  see about having the shoulder machined down to dial in more caster. Turns out the previous owner had already done that. But for some reason he had installed a spacer on the TC rod to make it have less caster instead. I'm thinking he may have done that to keep the tires from clipping the front fenders (this was pre-flares). 

 

So, we popped out that spacer, reassembled it, and it was nowhere near the footwell. At least an inch gap now. It was actually juuuust rubbing the flare on the front.  :rofl:

 

Since removing a 1/2" spacer moved the wheel almost 1" further forward, I took it back apart and put in two washers where the spacer was to move the TC rod back 1/8". Now that was enough to give me around 1/4" clearance between the tire and flare at the front and a little over 1/2" space between the tire and footwell.  :thumbup:

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