FiveSeventyZee Posted July 24, 2014 Report Share Posted July 24, 2014 (edited) I don't think I've really posted much about my Z yet, which is funny since its where my username came from. But alas, I have resumed work on ole Roldie my 570z so here I go again with the total life consumption that is a Datsun project :D First things first....OICS! This is my first car, I bought him back in December '08. Unfortunately, I haven't driven it yet (the keen viewer may notice all pics are in garages). I have been distracted by project after project (all of which were never meant to be projects). Seeing as it never fit with Junior's build thread I'll post my quick car history here. We start back in '08 when I decided I wanted something different than everyone else at my high school. I wanted something fast and fun that I could learn to work on cars with. I remember looking at 97-99 Eclipse spyders (Thank god I didn't go there :P ), Thought about a Gen 1 MR2...but finally made my decision when it dawned on me that my decision had been made for me probably 15 years before I was even born. My uncle had raced gymkhana and autocross in his 1970 240z. It seemed like too easy of a decision for me after that, hell I even share the mans name, so why not the car too! So I hit craigslist looking for a 240z and found this (small pic, it was the original CL add pic) But being a high school student with no job and no real knowledge of cars I realized I didn't have the resources to get this thing driving anytime soon. So I went on the search again for a car to daily. I figured why not stick with the Datsun family? So I ended up with this I learned a lot with my 720 but it ended up being again a bit too much of a project for me so I decided to buy yet another car....in hindsight I may have a problem :P This was next Again probably not super practical but it was stock, running and is still to this day the most modern car I've owned. I had three cars at this point and only drove the RX-7 so I lent the truck to a friend of my dad's who needed transportation to get to and from work. Well he happened to work as a mechanic and ended up returning the truck running much better and with some detailing done to the engine bay and interior. I didn't want to get rid of it and still regret it to this day but it seemed 3 cars was too many for a 18-19 year old. But that didn't last long... This is Junior, the main reason I became an active member here and one that some of you might recognize (I know some of the local bay area guys remember it) I spent a lot of time and money on this one but I did the most learning which brings me up to last summer. I knew I was moving from California to Oregon and wanted a 4x4 to make winters easier so I sold it (This is the one I REALLY regret)...anyways, bout myself a sweet 4runner which I still have. I'm down to just this and the 570 9/8/2015 Edit: Adding some recent cars to my car history since this is the only real record I have of them. My roommate and I bought a 1987 BMW 535i for shits and gigs. Picked it up for $200 and beat on it for a few months. Then I rolled my 4runner and needed a new daily driver. This time I kept my options open as far as what to buy but ended up with this... And the most current car, I traded the frame/drivetrain of my runner for a 1983 Cressida 1/24/2016 edit: Another update to the car history.. A 69.5 521 sort of appeared at a price I couldn't ignore... Edited January 24, 2016 by FiveSeventyZee Quote Link to comment
FiveSeventyZee Posted July 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2014 Now I know that was a lot of talk and only a few Z pics but that should be remedied soon! Posting this will hopefully help keep me motivated to make progress. Here's the low-down: Its a 1972 with a Chevy small block 5.7 Liter. Has an intake, 750 CFM carb, 2.5" dual exhaust, a Borg Warner WC T5 trans, Spec clutch and flywheel and some other small stuff. When I bought the car it had the V8 swap mostly done. It had run before but also sat for 2+ years before I bought it. I got it running back in '09 and kept it running for a couple of years until the 510 really got me distracted. I got the engine restarted about a week ago and I am working on hunting down a driveline clunk which I'm pretty certain is the diff isolator. Then on to brake lights/headlights/turn signals, radiator fan/shroud and some gauges and I'll be driving! Until then, enjoy a quick clip of a start/rev :P Edit: fun back story to my uncle/me choosing the z. My uncle's car began to rust out (Rochester. NY does a number on japanese sheetmetal) so he bought a new shell to swap all the racey bits into. Unfortunately he got sick and passed before he was able to do the swap but both Z's remained in the family. A different uncle has owned them since then and still has the rust free one (the rusty one was sold for scrap in the 90's and would probably be considered a builder by todays standards :/ ) but it hasn't been restored yet. Here's a pic of it from a year or two ago My ultimate goal is to get my hands on this car and restore it as is, with as much of the car remaining the way he drove it. 1 Quote Link to comment
Kirden Posted July 24, 2014 Report Share Posted July 24, 2014 Very nice. I'm not usually a fan of v8s in datsuns, but this project looks neat. Great back story. Quote Link to comment
FiveSeventyZee Posted July 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2014 Very nice. I'm not usually a fan of v8s in datsuns, but this project looks neat. Great back story. Thanks! I'm actually not a fan of V8 swaps either. That said I bought this car when I was 17 and I had different interests then. I'm sticking with it for now because it is the cheapest way to make large HP reliably and this car is all about driving. Stock is about 100hp more than the L24 and it's easily brought up to 400+ so for now it stays. When I can afford it I really want to build an RB30 with a dual cam RB26 head and turbos...but thats gonna be costly and less reliable than the 8 so only when I have money to throw around. Small update: I put in a new diff insulator today since the one in the car had separated rubber. Still moves around a lot, I'm going to work on keeping it in place some more tomorrow. An electric radiator fan is going on this week along with wiring the stock water temp gauge to the V8 Then I can do at least a quick test drive around the block. The real reason for posting...PICS! Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted July 27, 2014 Report Share Posted July 27, 2014 I'm more of a purist also but of all the Datsuns, the Z car is the best for V8s in them. 1 Quote Link to comment
FiveSeventyZee Posted August 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2014 Things took longer than planned. Got distracted by a project of slightly non-datsun nature... This is not staged...haha I somehow snagged 6 cones at once without knocking any over or punting them...still not sure how it happened but it was pretty funny. And took #32 up to Bend for the Flashback Cruise to promote our project. But the real reason I'm posting is because when I did get back to the Zed I got rid of the diff knock. It still moves around a bit more than I would like but it doesn't hit anything now and it's not going anywhere. So naturally I thought it was burnout time :devil: I really love having a big garage.... :rofl: I just got done ordering what I hope to be the last of the parts needed to do an actual test drive. :D Quote Link to comment
FiveSeventyZee Posted August 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 Small update: Got some TIG practice making a fan shroud out of aluminum. and ready to go in the car, I have to redo my radiator mounting system since the shroud gets in the way of the old one Quote Link to comment
tr8er Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 Excited to see this get out of hand. 1 Quote Link to comment
FiveSeventyZee Posted August 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 I hope you mean out of hand in a good "wow that car is crazy" way not "wow that thing is a piece of shit" way haha started mocking up the radiator. I think I'm going to make steel hooks for the bottom and have an aluminum plate that goes from the shroud to the frame to cover up the ugly core. I also got bored with the spray can in my hand and painted the air filter mesh. I hate chrome and since its an american engine it seems everything for it only comes in chrome...I'm hopping not to have any chrome at some point but for now I'm happy with my small victory :P Quote Link to comment
CGS1948 Posted August 29, 2014 Report Share Posted August 29, 2014 Quote: Here's the low-down: "Its a 1972 with a Chevy small block 5.7 Liter. Has an intake, 750 CFM carb, 2.5" dual exhaust, a Borg Warner WC T5 trans, Spec clutch and flywheel and some other small stuff. When I bought the car it had the V8 swap mostly done. It had run before but also sat for 2+ years before I bought it. I got it running back in '09 and kept it running for a couple of years until the 510 really got me distracted." Are you running a Pre-'96 Chevy 5.7 V8, or the later Vortec 5.7? Your cam sounds very mild, like stock, or is it a R/V grind? Quote Link to comment
FiveSeventyZee Posted August 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2014 It's a pre 96. Not sure exactly what year or what model. I was told it's from an 89 camaro but it looks like it might be a truck motor. I haven't changed the cam so I'm assuming it's stock. I plan on getting a slightly hot cam at some point. Radiator progress pics 1 Quote Link to comment
FiveSeventyZee Posted August 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2014 Got it mostly mounted... I'm not super happy with the quality of the top mount since it's right in front of the engine bay. I got kinda sketchy with the fab work because I was building it at the machine shop and the car was at home and I didn't have a good pattern. Naturally I winged it haha. I'll probably redo it soon now that I know exactly where the holes need to be. It will be flat black to match the fan shroud too so it won't be so awkward with its shineyness Quote Link to comment
FiveSeventyZee Posted September 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2014 Here's the vid from the burnout a few posts up :rofl: Quote Link to comment
FiveSeventyZee Posted July 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2015 I haven't updated this thread in a while but some "progress" has been made. And by progress I mean I pulled the engine... But it wasn't for nothing. I pulled it all apart and completely rebuilt it. New rings, seals, honed cylinders, freeze plugs, bearings and a through cleaning! It's now almost ready to go back in. Just need to pick up new motor mounts and a new oil filter and we're in business. =) 1 Quote Link to comment
Farmer Joe Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 nice! its a roller block.. you get a new cam for it? Quote Link to comment
FiveSeventyZee Posted July 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2015 no new cam. Just a stock rebuild for reliability. Quote Link to comment
FiveSeventyZee Posted July 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2015 Engine's back where it belongs! Just gotta finish all the accessories. Exhaust, distributor, cooling system and fluids left Quote Link to comment
FiveSeventyZee Posted February 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 Just realized I hadn't updated this. I got the engine all the way back in and fired up back in September. There were definitely some horses missing before the rebuild , but they're back now! School started and it's been sitting for a while but here are some pics because why not? :P Quote Link to comment
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