datsunfreak Posted March 17, 2018 Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 Vaporware uprights... Test drive... Some standoffs for the sub/amp combo... Standoffs are so it can fit above the seat bracket, like so... 2 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted March 18, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 And "Mission Creep" raises its ugly head once more! So I was thinking, which is always a recipe for trouble, if I were to mount that second 10 gallon poly tank to the roof rack, and fit it with a hose and hand-held sprayer, I could have a hot shower while camping... at the expense of 80 lbs of sloshing weight six feet above the center of gravity. Hmm, maybe I'll rethink that idea. Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted March 30, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2018 Shit's about to get real... I just bought a brand new battery for the thing! I'll get coolant and brake fluid in the morning. Stay tuned. 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted March 31, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2018 Ok, so the shit didn't get as real as I had hoped. I did stop for coolant and brake fluid this morning... aaaannnnd they are all sitting in the back of the van, untouched, with the new battery. But I did get the driver's seat and both sets of seat belts installed! Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted March 31, 2018 Report Share Posted March 31, 2018 Amp wiring... Right seat and belt... Left seat and belt... Subwoofer in... Bolting in the left seat and sub was truly a pain in the butt, due to two objects trying to occupy the same space. But it's in, hopefully for the last time. Next week some brake bleeding then... 2 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted April 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2018 It was butt-ass butt-butt cold* and rainy at the shop today so we pussied out a little. I did manage to install the two battery boxes and made a few power wires for the amps, but that's about it. I was going to promise to do some more serious work next weekend while John is away, but we all know I'm just going to fart around with insignificant little piddly things... if I go to the shop at all. *Today, "butt-ass butt-butt cold" translates to 35 degrees, by the way. Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted April 7, 2018 Report Share Posted April 7, 2018 I did manage to install the two battery boxes and made a few power wires for the amps, but that's about it. Note the battery cables up through the floor between the two boxes. Upper left is the battery for the starting/running of the engine, box on the right is for the camping type stuff, bottom box is obviously for tuneage... 2 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted May 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2018 We FINALLY got some work done! I think I'm finished with all the wiring... except for wrapping it up all pretty-like. Next weekend we'll connect the battery and make sure none of the magic smoke gets out of the wiring harness. Of course we have yet to bleed the brakes because... well, we're lazy and just don't want to make ourselves do it. Quote Link to comment
Aibast Posted May 15, 2018 Report Share Posted May 15, 2018 Did you calculate the main cable cross sections or did it by the experience? Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted May 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2018 Did you calculate the main cable cross sections or did it by the experience? Hmm, the latter... I guess. The majority of the wiring harness is a pre-built kit from some dude on the interwebs. The selection of wire sizes looked appropriate for the amperage of the fuses feeding them. As for the main cables, I went with "as big as the auto-parts store had." 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted May 24, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2018 Saturday we finally got the brakes bled and set it back on its wheels. (I'm sure we did some other things... but I've slept since then.) Some of my trepidation about how this thing is going to drive was soothed when it sat on rubber again. Up in the air, on jackstands, the thing felt really REALLY tippy. I was afeared that it was going to scrape the mirrors changing lanes. Sitting on tires, it feels much more stable. Tonight we hooked up the battery and watched for the release of "The Magic Smoke." Fortunately it is all still contained in the wires! (For the "sarcastically challenged," the wiring appears to be in good working order.) We did have a scare when the park lights caused the gauges to peg out and go haywire. John distracted me with something and, while I wasn't looking, fixed the wonky ground wire (which I swore COULD NOT be the problem) and all was well with the world. Something, something, blind hogs and truffles, something, something... I don't know. JK, thank you very much, sir! We tested out the stereo and it "works" but still needs some fine tuning... that, or the Rubik's Cube head unit needs to be replaced with something an old fart like me can understand and operate. We'll see. Finally, we tested all the lights and wipers and horns and people and motors and shit... ok, so we tested lights, horn, starter motor, radiator fan, and fuel pump. Everything works! The only reason we didn't try for starting was... we forgot to go buy any gasoline. So, since I have to work the regular job this Saturday, and John is doing family stuff, we'll attack it again next Wednesday. With any luck, it will fire right up and, maybe, move under its own power! 2 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted May 25, 2018 Report Share Posted May 25, 2018 Saturday back on it's feet... Wednesday, test firing all the electricals... 5 Quote Link to comment
Lockleaf Posted May 31, 2018 Report Share Posted May 31, 2018 That thing is Bitchin 1 Quote Link to comment
DaBlist Posted May 31, 2018 Report Share Posted May 31, 2018 Have you decided if you are going with S200 Daisy wheels or Slots? Cause you know you'll eventually need the car trailer and have to put those roller's back 2 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted June 2, 2018 Report Share Posted June 2, 2018 Have you decided if you are going with S200 Daisy wheels or Slots? I'm trying to talk him into slots... :rofl: Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted June 2, 2018 Report Share Posted June 2, 2018 So first thing this morning we got a big gas can and put 5 gallons in it, then put that in the van. Filler neck and tank is holding well, but there was a leak at the outlet for the fuel pump. Got that fitting snugged up and no more leak. :thumbup: So, time for the moment of truth. Checked our water level one more time, and turned the key. Fuel pump making the right noises and the pressure lines don't leak, so I poured a bit of gasoline into the float bowl vent and a splash of it down the throat, then... No joke, it literally fired right up and idled perfectly. Blipped the throttle a bit and it revs well, even though it was cold. We let it keep running and got it up to operating temps and it held a steady 180-185 for about 5 minutes. Exhaust sounds perfect. Deep and rumbley at idle, and a nice brap when revved, but not loud by any means. Engine was surprisingly quiet as well. :thumbup: Only real problem we ran into was that when we fired it up we noticed the weeper hole in the water pump was dribbling on the crank pulley and fan belt. :blush: While we waited for it to cool down so we could remove the water pump, Tim decided we should fix something else that has been bugging us. The stereo we installed was not sounding so great, and was a bit too difficult to use. The menus and functions were awful, as was the goofy rainbow-colored display. We decided to go with a simpler unit that we have a lot of experience with, a mechless Pyle... While I cut off the harness for the old radio and wired up the new one, he got busy pulling the old one out of the dash and installed the new one... Worked like a champ and sounds a lot better, and is much simpler and more intuitive to use... :thumbup: After that we yanked the old leaky water pump off. Looking around for a pump locally, we were able to find a store that not only had a new (not reman) water pump in stock, it was "Made in Japan" no less! Best of all, this one is aluminum with nice curved vanes, while the stock piece was was cast iron with stamped steel impeller blades. I bet this just shaved 7 pounds off the van... :rofl: 3 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted June 2, 2018 Report Share Posted June 2, 2018 The plan for Wednesday is to get the pump on, then fill it with water and heat cycle again. Then drain, fill, and cycle again. This way we can get some of the gunk out of the cooling system. The brand new coolant/water we drained out of it today was already stained brown, so... Also, we figured while we were taking off the pump we should go ahead and remove the thermostat and take a look at it. As it turns out, that was a great idea because there was no thermostat at all... :rofl: So while at the parts store we also picked up a 160 thermostat for it. I know that's a bit cold but my reasoning was to start low and work our way up until we see how it cools on the road. If it sits at a rock steady 161 all the time, we may put a hotter one in. Just want to see how many degrees we have to play with first... :thumbup: Fingers crossed our first test drive will be one week from today... B) Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted June 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2018 I friggin' LOVE this picture. With the flat paint and lens flare, it looks like an old magazine photo! I want this as my desktop... and avatar... and poster on my wall... and... 3 Quote Link to comment
Duncan Posted June 5, 2018 Report Share Posted June 5, 2018 I love the van, too. Totally old school, and badass! The motor sound damn good, too :thumbup: (+1 on the slot mags) Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted June 7, 2018 Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 Got the new water pump on, and the thermostat in. Filled it up and no leaks! :thumbup: Fired it up and it cycled just fine. Got up to temp a lot quicker than before and just bounced between 180 and 170. For shits and giggles I said "hey, put it in gear and ease the clutch out and let's see how well it goes back and forth!". That went well, so I said "hey, why don't we take it for a spin around the parking lot?" So I guided him back out of the spot, and then this happened... :rofl: He was gone for about 5 minutes. Seems to be running a little warm (crowding 200) and a tad "down on power". We need to reset the timing as up to this point it has just been the timing I eyeballed it to. We actually have no idea how much advance it has in it right now... ^_^ 2 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted June 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 That went well, so I said "hey, why don't we take it for a spin around the parking lot?" So I guided him back out of the spot, and then this happened... :rofl: In my defense, I heard, "hey, why don't we take it for a spin around the farking block?" 2 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted June 9, 2018 Report Share Posted June 9, 2018 Put the timing light on to see where it was and it was at 15 degrees... :rofl: Stock is 6 degrees, so we changed it to that. Starts way easier and revs much better. :thumbup: Still had a mystery leak from the water pump so while I fixed that, Tim installed a wink mirror... He noticed while driving it the turns signals (which don't self cancel) are too quiet. I picked up some 75db buzzers from the electronics supply... And he wired those into the unused dash indicator light wires... Then tucked them back and zip tied them to the dash harness... Now when you put the turn indicators on they buzz in time with the light flashing. :thumbup: For the next test drive we temporarily reinstalled the doghouse lid and Tim installed a USB charger port in the lid... 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted June 9, 2018 Report Share Posted June 9, 2018 Next test drive went MUCH better. Came up to temp in about 4-5 minutes, and as soon as it hit 175, the thermostat opened and it went back down to 170-172. It stayed rock solid on 170-172 for the 10-12 minutes I drove it. It starts way easier, revs much smoother, and has plenty of power. It will very easily light up the tires through most of first gear now. :thumbup: So we have finally fixed all the leaks, got it running right, and I think we are ready for a longer test drive, maybe 15-20 minutes next time.. , B) Also need to tweak the location of the brake light switch because it's fouling the shifter linkage a bit. And the speedo bounces quite a bit so we need to lubricate the cable and see if we can fix that, too... 1 Quote Link to comment
dimlight65 Posted June 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2018 Before heading to the shop this morning, I went online and bought a vintage license plate. After I got home from the shop, satisfied that the thing is going to be a runner, I went to the Hagerty website and bought a year of insurance. (I filled out information on the Lotus and 1200 as well, but am hoping they read my notes saying "Don't insure those two just yet!") When the license plate and insurance policy arrive, I'll stroll over to the courthouse and register the thing for public use! So, as one of the smart-asses at work said (with full credit to Lockleaf for the name), "The Statutory Grape lives!" 3 Quote Link to comment
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