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The Red Baron


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As much as I appreciate the originality of most of the 510 I knew that I had to convert the automatic to a manual for the simple enjoyment of driving. This is the first automatic I have ever owned and I've owned a number of interesting cars (everything from a Mazda R100 to a Honda S2000) and I couldn't keep it that way. I'm going to store everything that I take off the car just incase. 

 

I was looking for a 280zx tranny when a package deal popped up on CL combining a L20B and 200SX dogleg for a fairly good price. The previous owner was going to put in a SR20DET and so he sold me everything from engine/tranny to fuel system (he was running electronic fuel pump/regulator) and exhaust plus a bunch of misc parts. Considering the engine was rebuilt less that 5K miles ago and the transmission had a new clutch around the same time I knew exactly what I was getting. I was even able to drive the car before he pulled the engine for me. My 5 year+ plan is mucho $$$$ for the engine so this will be a great and fun bridge until then. 

 

Off the truck and before getting it onto the engine stand:

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Looks like I have some work to do before putting this into Jessie:

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Some more details on the engine as I had to chance to start cleaning it up and gathering a parts list. Here are the basic specs:

  • 1977 200SX L20B Block (rebuilt 5/2014)
  • Closed Chamber A87 Head (Ported and Polished with 1.5" Intakes)
  • Isky Stage 1 Cam and Springs (7005 Kit)
  • S/S Nissan Competition 1.69" Intake and 1.38" Exhaust Valves
  • 220 Manifold and 38mm SUs from a L18 SSS
  • Estimated Compression of 9.0:1

It's definitely a 20 footer. Looking good here:

 

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But when you start to get closer...yikes!

 

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Watanabes are Japanese manufacture, Panasports are American copies if I am not mistaken. You could also go for 13" or 14" slotted rim

Way back when, I bought a set of Panasports for an old BMW, They all said Made in Japan.

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Did they machine/polish the caps to balance the rods?

 

I'm not sure...just have the receipt showing the rods being balanced. Basically the short block was rebuilt a few months back (I didn't own the engine then) so don't know all the details just have a receipt with about $600 worth of work on the engine. 

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As I slowly work on cleaning up the engine and upgrading a couple of items (oil pump, etc) some parts for the manual tranny swap are starting to come in. 

 

Techo Toy Tuning Transmission Mount

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Techo Toy Tuning Steering Box Brace (I know, not part of the swap)

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Definitely need one of these :)

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280Z Transmission Bushing

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I'll have some pics up soon of the parts that are being primed and painted. Like engine mount brackets, oil pan, engine block, etc. Using a new method that I have never tried before of sandblasting a lot of the aluminum parts such as the thermostat housing and then spraying a metal protectant from Eastwood to seal them. Looks great IMHO!

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Post a pic of the sealer and the result. I like this idea!

 

Here is a before and after pic of the thermostat housing. Simple process of sandblasting and spraying 2 light coats followed by one medium coat. Looks nice now but now the test of time as the reviews on Eastwood's website are mixed. But some of the reviews were on top of polished aluminum and they wanted to keep the high reflection look which didn't happen. Here is the link to the product - http://www.eastwood.com/ew-metaprotect-14-oz-aerosol.html

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Slowly but surely working (15 minutes here and there) on getting the "new" motor ready for the swap in January. Was able to put in the KA24E high volume pump this morning. Installed and then remembered that I hadn't primped the pump. Maybe it's not that big of a deal but thought might as well do it right the first time. R&R again this time with some fresh Castrol GTX in it. 

 

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Kept the water pump that came with the motor as I'm pretty sure it was replaced only about 6 months ago. Installed the lower thermostat housing and about to screw in the new temperature sensor. Quick question - Any suggested sealant? Torque specs?

 

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carful on those lower stat housings they will crack if removing or tightening that sensor.

 

 

hopefully you put oil in the pump(primed) before you installed it. w/o the oil there will be no vsacuum to suck the oil in the pan.

 

 

when possible use antii seize compond on everything esp around the water pump bolt and stat housing bolts. moisture always rust those bolts

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Was able to put in the KA24E high volume pump this morning. Installed and then remembered that I hadn't primped the pump. Maybe it's not that big of a deal...

 

 

hopefully you put oil in the pump(primed) before you installed it. w/o the oil there will be no vsacuum to suck the oil in the pan.

 

To echo what he said, if it's not primed you will NEVER build oil pressure. Learned that lesson the hard way...  

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