The ultimate score... The $500 SRL311... pair.

[Tomakze]

Last night, a buddy of mine and I yanked the engine, pushed the shell outside and power washed it. It cleaned up nicely. The tranny looks like someone pulled it apart and resealed it. The whole thing is spotless, and looks brand new! Not even a speck of clutch residue inside. The clutch and pressure plate are both brand new, and the flywheel was surfaced. Pretty exciting!

 

Oh, and yes, that is a 4 into 1 header you see!!!

 

[wayno]

It was a good find, if the engine is good, your ahead right there, that is worth more than 5 bills.  :thumbup:

[Tomakze]

I have been a busy bee! I have been working on this thing almost every night. I've also been selling anything and everything I can to raise funds to build it. So far, so good! I've also had some adventures already... for instance, I pulled the oil pan off the engine, and found this:

 

 

So that was a fun discovery! I cleaned most of it all out, but I will spend more time on it yet, as I don't want this to cause problems. I guess I can actually say my car is mouse powered! Perhaps I'll name the car "mousetrap" or something similar. lol!

 

A buddy and I have also begun prepping the body for POR15. We plan to coat the inner fenders, interior, and perhaps the engine bay. Here is what we've done so far:

 

 

And I've started stripping the insulation off the floorboards. The heat gun and scrapper made a sticky mess, but a flathead screwdriver and a deadblow hammer makes quick work of it! It explodes into chunks, which is oddly satisfying, lol! 

 

 

In this process, I've teased out a few rust spots I couldn't see before, but it is all really minor. Nothing I'm going to spend much time worrying about. We will clean it up, patch the tiny holes, use rust converter on what we can't reach, and then seal it with POR15. I like being on top of this stuff... ignoring rust is a pretty bad policy!

 

Then I've decided to buy brand new seat rails for the Miata seats I have. The Datsun rails were sticky, so I took one apart and cleaned it all up and re-greased it... but now I can't figure out how to reassemble it!!!   :blush: So, brand new seat rails it is. Probably a better plan anyway. Corbeau sells double latching seat rails with great reviews for $50 each. I'm sure I can modify them to work, and have a nice, high quality rail to go with the newly recovered seats.

[Tomakze]

Also, if you want to hear me blab about the car some more, I made a video as well:

 

[wayno]

How did the mouse even get in there?

That oil pickup screen looks brand new!!!

[Tomakze]

How did the mouse even get in there?

That oil pickup screen looks brand new!!!

 

The entire engine is new! Everything is new, it hasn't even had oil poured in it yet! And it has the "B" cam, from the Solex car, so it should make a bit more power than stock. The mouse got in through the fuel pump hole. It was there, but loose, with about a half-inch gap between it and the block. Clever little bastard made a home out of my oil pan! Crazy, right?

[wayno]

Yep, they will survive. :lol:

[Tomakze]

Holy cow I have not updated this in a while! Photo dump time! I haven't updated because I have been diligently working away. Tons of my time has gone into research, ordering parts, planning how I am going to do things, etc. I've also had to spend a lot of time and money upgrading the garage to be able to support a project like this. We added two more 20amp breakers to the breaker box so multiple high power tools/heaters/welders could go at once. Then I upgraded the insulation after temperatures here dropped well below zero and prevented me from working. Once the garage was in order, the work resumed. Here's a break down of what we've accomplished (I have had many friends pitch in!)

 

1) finished removing the floor insulation and cleaned the surface.

2) started the long process of removing surface rust, and filling rust holes in the foorboards.

3) stripped the inner fenders, and coated one of them with the first layer of POR15. More rust repair before I can finish.

4) Hours upon hours of cleaning engine components, and it isn't done. I've been systematically removing parts, and using a Dremel with a brass wire wheel to remove dirt and corrosion. The main engine body is done, the carbs are next.

5) did a quick polish of the valve cover.

6) Disassembled the center console and completely restored it, other than the armrest. Pics to come.

7) started mounting seat rails to Miata seats, and modified one of them for the antisubmarine belt.

8 ) Submitted the paperwork to the state for a rebuilder's title. Still waiting to hear back though.

9) Removed the dash, and all parts in the way of the windshield frame. 

10) cut out the windshield frame from the parts car so it is ready to be swapped into the keeper. (By a local shop. Decided that was over my head.)

11) Ordered a ton of stuff from Datsunparts.com (and sawed off my arm to pay for it.)

12) pre-lubed and flushed the engine with cheap oil by running the oil pump with a drill

13) There's more, but I can't think of it.

 

Here are some nice photos:

 

The very sad '68 donor, fenderless, and without a windshield frame:

 

 

The first coat of POR15. Much, much more to come:

 

 

The center console before:

 

 

The center console after:

 

 

 

And a nice shot of the engine and car:

 

 

And a long video update, if you care to see it:

 

 

It is a bit out of date already, mind you.

[wayno]

Welcome back  :thumbup: