B210 L20B swap

[datzenmike]

Little late, but how far did you tow? and did you disconnect the driveshaft?

[Conley]

Only about 15 miles. I did disconnect it, my uncle mocked me the whole time. He said it was unnecessary. It was easier than I thought though. Took only about 5 minutes.

[datzenmike]

Automatic not more than 6 miles and max. 20 MPH. The automatic is lubricated by an engine driven pump.

Standard not over 30 miles. Towing in neutral does not spin the counter shaft which is half submerged in oil so no oil is thrown on the mainshaft bearings to lube them.

 

 

I suppose you could tow longer distances if you left the engine idling.

[Conley]

I had done a quick browse on the ol interwebs and read just that about the lack of lubrication.

Forgot to mention, engine doesn't run, the old man said it had timing issues (like the chain jumped a tooth) so I plan on a rebuild at this point. Haven't gotten into it yet though.

[datzenmike]

Chain can't jump a tooth and not a good reason for a rebuild anyway. Obviously the PO doesn't know anything and gave up... so this is your gain. Get it going and then look at your options.

[Conley]

That's good news! I will have to see if I can't get 'er running in the car, do a compression test. Cars been sitting a decade, so I imagine I have lots of rubber to change. The PO had the valve cover and cam sprocket unbolted, I will have to look around for a FSM for an L20B equipped car/truck to help me get it all fixed up.

[datzenmike]

 Cars been sitting a decade, so I imagine I have lots of rubber to change. The PO had the valve cover and cam sprocket unbolted, I will have to look around for a FSM for an L20B equipped car/truck to help me get it all fixed up.

 

 

This is NOT good news. Likely he did not block the timing chain tensioner from falling out and the chain has oodles of slack now.  It's fixable, with some work but the timing cover must come off... which begs the question..."why was the cam sprocket removed in the first place?"

 

Post some pictures of the timing chain and sprocket area.

[Conley]

Hey guys! Finally back to post. Been working on organizing my garage and putting my Pulsar NX back together. It has been a long project that I haven't put the effort that is needed into. I am painting the engine parts and trying to find a coolant hose kit for the bastard. 

Anyhoosle, here is the L20b and its chain. I removed the radiator and started to take the timing cover off, but holy hell how do you get the fan clutch off? Doesn't seem to have any more screws/bolts/nuts except for 4 screws that hold it together. Do I have to take the front cover off of the fan clutch to get it off? 

As you can see, the chain was not secured in any fashion. I assume I can remove the timing cover, check the chain, sprockets, guides etc. and put on the chain back on with the correct timing? My B12 Sentra has a SOHC engine and I've done the chain on that. The plastic guides had broken and were rattling at idle. New Nissan kit had metal guides! Other than the guides though, the factory chain with 200kish miles still looked fine. I'm hoping this cars chain will be in similar condition, and it clearly has metal guides.

Sorry for the huge pics.

[datzenmike]

Clutch fan is part of the water pump. If taking the timing cover off, the water pump, oil pump, distributor and crankshaft pulley must also come off.

 

The metal guides are thick plastic coated so that they are quiet. If worn they should be replaced now while apart.

 

 

See that threaded bolt sticking in towards the chain from the right? It's one of the bolts that holds the thermostat housing on. If it's been replaced with one that's too long, the chain can hit it and make noise. When you are done, be sure to check this and remove and shorten it if you have to.

[Conley]

Awesome! Thank you for the info. I have never seen a clutch built with the pump like that, but I am used to FWD cars. I bet I could find an FSM scan for a truck with an L20B to go off of as well.

 

As for the bolt, thank you for the heads up. I will replace it with a shorter one, or cut it shorter if there's not the right size available.

 

I'll post up some more pics when I get it figured out!

[Conley]

My door handle has broken, driver side. The outside handle, right where it connects to the inside. I haven't found another online yet, I posted an ad in the classifieds looking for one. http://community.ratsun.net/classifieds/item/6939-wtb-b210-drivers-side-door-handle/

Does anyone have an extra one they might sell?

Alternately, would the metal the door handles are made of be weldable? I could ask a friend to weld it up.

I didn't want to start a new thread just for this, figured I'd start here.

Thanks!

[Tolkmod]

check this guy out, been really cool so far and I've got a few parts off him as well.

 

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/pts/5435285772.html

[Conley]

I was lucky enough to score a sweet deal on a door handle from another Ratsun member, tmanhwm.

However I definitely want to hit this guy up, thank you! My windshield is pretty rough.

[Conley]

I have a question for my dear Rats, if you please.

I am thinking, should I install a water pump onto the L20b that doesn't have a fan clutch integrated? I imagine I will need all the room I can get in the B210s short engine bay, and no fan clutch and an electric fan could help that.

I understand the L16/L18 water pumps are clutch free and will fit the timing cover, but is the impeller the same size as the L20b? Will it provide enough cooling down here in Phoenix?

Thanks!

[flatcat19]

I have an L16 with a clutchless pump.

 

I dry fitted a clutched pump from a Z20S. Plenty of room.

[Conley]

Do you use the stock radiator? Are you using a clutchless mechanical fan then, or electric?

[flatcat19]

521. Stock radiator with shroud. . Clutchless fan is my current set up.

 

 

The clutched pump was bad. Just tried it for fitment. Future thoughts.

[Conley]

Got a little progress done, as my B210 has been sitting for a few weeks now and it had been bumming me out! No compression in cylinder 2 on the A14.

I have decided it's probably a valve seat that fell out of its spot and won't let the valve close. So, I decided to pull the L20B and 5 speed from the 200SX, and bought a Weber 38 "Outlaw" (haha) for it. I also managed to pick up a 510 crossmember from Doc510, which I could not believe. I figured I'd have to modify the stock one.

 

Got the engine out, yay, and then I found a guy locally selling an A14 and 4 speed that was in a very old Chevy pickup, swapping it for a 350. For $100. I figured it was meant to be, and that I probably couldn't get my head in and out of the machine shop for cheaper than that anyways.

 

My plan now is to run this 2nd A14 until I am ready to get the L20B in. I want to get larger valves and a performance cam grind for it anyways, and I figure it may be worth it to have the block rebuilt as well as the head. Any off the shelf camshafts available, or is a regrind necessary? I read on here that Delta Cams is a good source.

 

Also, I took the steering wheel off of the 200SX, but in the process needlessly removed the horn button ring and something shot out from behind it and vanished off the face of the Earth. I tried to Google and find the components of the steering wheel to see what shot out and I was missing,  There was one very long narrow spring that went into the wheel that was still there, but in some pictures and diagrams I saw a shorter and much wider spring that fits under the horn ring, that would fit over the steering shaft threads. Can anyone confirm that this wider spring is probably what shot out?

[Conley]

I got another A14 and 4 speed locally and swapped them in. Got the B running OK, but still hungry for more power.

I'm about ready to start working on this L20B. I think I may take it to my mechanic or machinist for inspection though. The whole cylinder head is pretty dirty on top, and the water pump cavity was gnarly. Here's pictures.

So it definitely needs a good cleaning.

Originally I wanted to just put the timing chain back on and reset the timing, but after seeing how dirty it is, I'm thinking of installing a new head gasket, and having the block and pistons looked at before I just toss it in.

What do you experienced Datsunists think?