Anonymous Waffle Posted October 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2016 First test drive was a bust. Made it barely 10 feet out of the garage haha... Clutch won't disengage. Clutch feels good, but won't get in gear, or won't disengage when in gear. Well, back onto the jacks and gotta yank the tranny out. And if we're doing this, might as well throw in the ZX Long tail 5 speed in. Question: I received a unused clutch and pressure plate, that was supposed to be used on a club member's 510 wagon, with a l16.... I'm just taking a wild guess, is the l16 clutch different/smaller than the l20b clutch? Scratch that, realized I need a 225mm clutch and pressure plate.. So a 280zx L6 should have a 225mm flywheel as well, so I might snatch that from the zx parts car if it's still good. 1 Quote Link to comment
Anonymous Waffle Posted November 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2016 Well she drives! After 25 odd years, she is driving around pretty decently. There is a whole bunch of work that I still have to do, and one major piece of work is to fix the exhaust leak from the motor, and fix/replace the carburetor. I am not sure what the exact problem is, but it seems to be a secondary throttle or vacuum issue, and causes the motor to bog at WOT, or past 3500-4000 grand (No tach). But for now, it does alright in keeping up with normal traffic, and the 5th gear helps me build up to 55 mph. Managed to make it from work to college, so I have to give it a round of applause for doing a damn good job. Also lowering it is a priority ;) 4 Quote Link to comment
Anonymous Waffle Posted December 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2016 It is official! She is low(er). I received some car part goodies for christmas, so I got to crackin' on the truck immediately. First thing first, I fixed the Transmission Output shaft leak, and replaced the seal. I re-index the torsion bars, and trimmed the bump stops, and put 3 inch blocks in the rear. Sits pretty nicely, but I haven't driven it yet so It's not settled. (I promise to get better pics tomorrow when I am not tired as fuck.) 3 Quote Link to comment
Eagle_Adam Posted December 28, 2016 Report Share Posted December 28, 2016 Always better off a little lower ;) 1 Quote Link to comment
5t341tH Posted December 29, 2016 Report Share Posted December 29, 2016 This model hitachi carb can also leak around the banjo fitting above the float bowl and the gas looks like its coming out of the float bowl. so what is the fix for it? tighten it more? Quote Link to comment
Anonymous Waffle Posted December 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2016 so what is the fix for it? tighten it more? You can only tighten that banjo fitting so much, best bet is to either replace the little o-ring filter that goes there, or rebuild your carb. I rebuilt my carb with a plain rebuild kit, just tear, clean, and assemble. She needs to be just a lil' more lower! Quote Link to comment
oakrun Posted January 12, 2017 Report Share Posted January 12, 2017 replace or sand down the copper Truck has a preeeeetty bad header exhaust leak.. And that is too much work for now.. And the alternator is bad. Also forgot to post this, but any cheap ass advice for this? The battery tray is butter right now. I spy a gas welder over in the corner of your garage. Any chance you have a mig? If not, just gas weld in some new metal. Quote Link to comment
Anonymous Waffle Posted January 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2017 Quick update : Worked on some small things on my truck before I started the next semester of school. Replaced the front signal markers with replacements, and removed the grill to paint it black. Turned out looking really nice. Also repaired one of the headlight surroundings on the grill Put my old door cards back on since I won't be getting new keys or locks anytime soon. New aftermarket shifter knob and shifter boot. This 5spd knob is one of the 40$ ebay knobs, and they're not too bad, worth the 40$. The glue they use is super cheap so it'll fall apart if you're a tough shifter, so you just glue it back together. Quote Link to comment
izzo Posted January 18, 2017 Report Share Posted January 18, 2017 Use a clay bar on the paint. Then mguires ultimate cutting compound, then polish. that paint will shine like new.... You can see the before and after after 3 Quote Link to comment
Anonymous Waffle Posted March 1, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2017 Just a small update. Not much has happened lately. Truck is registered, and driving fine as ever. I've driven 1500 miles so far, so I'm at the point where I start cleaning and maintaining vs. getting it running. Did a oil change and cleaned out the engine bay. Club fun run My license plate mounting plate is bent, and it was riveted on where the original bolts lined up, so I took the quick 5 second route. Me and my friend fucking around on mini bikes. I also found where my oil puddle is originating from. My oil pressure sensor slowly leaks, in a very light bubbling fashion. But not around the sensor, but right where the connectors connect. Very weird. 1 Quote Link to comment
Anonymous Waffle Posted April 4, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 So my inner door handle broke and stopped working today. As you can see, the arm that goes from the handle to the bracket to the door latch has a plastic piece that allow the arm to be held in place, and not slip out of the bracket, is broken. So when I open from the inside, the arm slips out and thus stops working. So I did a quickie fix, with one zip tie. Zip tie the arm to the door, loosely, but tight enough to provide tension and not slip around, and that arm should never slip out. 1 Quote Link to comment
Anonymous Waffle Posted April 6, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2017 Also, I finally got around to finishing up the floors for now. I was being too damn lazy and put it off. Grinded and por 15'd the areas of the floor that needed to be covered, thats why it looks so ugly and looks like I never took a painting class in my life. The original floor mat will be going back in later to cover up the floor. 1 Quote Link to comment
5t341tH Posted April 13, 2017 Report Share Posted April 13, 2017 So my inner door handle broke and stopped working today. As you can see, the arm that goes from the handle to the bracket to the door latch has a plastic piece that allow the arm to be held in place, and not slip out of the bracket, is broken. So when I open from the inside, the arm slips out and thus stops working. So I did a quickie fix, with one zip tie. Zip tie the arm to the door, loosely, but tight enough to provide tension and not slip around, and that arm should never slip out. haha nice job. this was my exact same fix for it 1 Quote Link to comment
Anonymous Waffle Posted April 29, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2017 Just some small stuff that I've been doing on my truck. Currently saving up to do the big things like exhaust and intake stuff, so in the meantime I did these. So my alternator took a shit while I was out buying some food. It stopped charging, and I noticed it did this.. That's about my 3rd or 4th alternator in a span of 2 years. I wanted to cover up my por'd floor with my og floor mat, so I started the clean up. It was covered in dirt and rusty water marks, so I used something different, watered down CLR and a scotch brite. Glove up and scrub away. The passenger side is still not perfect, as the rust has pretty much "dyed" the mat a rusty color and hardened the rubber. Interestingly enough, its not black like I expected it to be. Its a dark blue-grey. Whatever. Also had to cut the shifter boot hole a lil' bigger to accept the aftermarket boot. And a tach for anyone who gives a hoot. 1 Quote Link to comment
Anonymous Waffle Posted May 2, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2017 Use a clay bar on the paint. Then mguires ultimate cutting compound, then polish. that paint will shine like new.... You can see the before and after So I got tired of procrastinating and followed izzo's advice and did the same. I'm not entirely done, but its better than before. 1 Quote Link to comment
Anonymous Waffle Posted June 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2017 So updates. Alot of stuff happened before canby, but here's for the people who haven't seen such updates. Got a header on it for now. I would prefer to keep cast iron, but due to the joined intake/exhaust style, this'll do. Before canby I had a super ghetto, scrap exhaust on that was too damn loud. After canby I got a 2" exhaust to a cheap turbo muffler that goes turns down before the axle. Surprisingly quiet, but a nice sound when you step on it. This was how I deleted the cat before I got the full exhaust. Did a thing. I got tired of looking at a meh looking valve cover. Not bad for a first time. Well now I have to clean everything else to make it look better! I'm excited for this. 6 lug slot mags. Planning on getting smaller profile tires, and slapping these on. Going for this look - Next plan of action : I picked up gaskets for su's, and I'll be putting the 1800 flat top su's on, after I modify the linkage to cable throttle. 2 Quote Link to comment
Anonymous Waffle Posted June 16, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2018 I guess it's due time for a little update? I don't do too much on my truck besides regular maintenance, since i daily drive it and use it for my work. Most of this work that I had done was done just about a week before Canby in preparation for the trip. Went to a fellow club members place who was parting out a 75' long bed from Oregon, and took a few parts, like a lock set, windows, and the battery tray section. Seriously appreciate the parts he gave me. I'm going to be sand blasting and repairing the little bits of rust on the blue section, and taking what is salvageable (Blue 620 front was smashed from p.o.) and grafting it to my truck. In prep for Canby, my battery was just about to fall out of the ghetto repair we did about a year ago, so I went ahead and made another ghetto repair. Some license plates I picked up for buck cheap at some swapmeets, and a bunch of rivets, made for a pretty sturdy tray. Replaced the windshield and windshield gasket, and Canby was the test to see if it leaked or not. Didn't leak :thumbup: :thumbup: My 240z seats I threw in started to get really uncomfortable in long trips. It's really supportive if you're hitting mountain roads pretty hard, but more than a few hours and your back is pretty sore. So I was really lucky to find a local guy that had a black, notched seat in really good condition, with just a few rips here and there. And my favorite part, SU's baby. It took me a long time to get the right weekend to throw these on. The hardest challenge I had was converting the Mechanical linkage to Cable pull linkage, and I was thinking of using a shaved bolt as the linkage bar, but I took a 280zx intake runner linkage bar, cut it to length, drilled holes, tapped and attached a Nissan Altima Bell Crank. The only problem with my setup is the very intense curved angles the throttle cable is doing, due to my SU's "Smog equipment" and balance tube. This piece is a failed piece, because I didn't realize that a small section of the bar has hardened steel, but you get the idea. (Yes the throttle cable bracket is very ugly, I just kinda slotted holes until it worked) 3 Quote Link to comment
Dolomite Posted June 17, 2018 Report Share Posted June 17, 2018 How’d you get that header collector to seal? It doesn’t sound like a farm tractor. 1 Quote Link to comment
Anonymous Waffle Posted June 18, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2018 How’d you get that header collector to seal? It doesn’t sound like a farm tractor. A 2 bolt flange was welded to it. Its a tight fit between the motor and frame but its in. When the header was in your 510, how did you hook it up to your downpipe? 1 Quote Link to comment
Dolomite Posted June 19, 2018 Report Share Posted June 19, 2018 It had an extremely shitty slip fit downpipe. It was super mangled and I didn’t want to punish you with it. 1 Quote Link to comment
Anonymous Waffle Posted January 5, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2019 (edited) Well updates! Been a while since I picked up a new project, not a datto, but a 1988 Mazda Rx7 Turbo II. Here's a pic for whoever cares, sitting since 2003, got alot of work to do. When we pulled it out of the owner's garage. My 620 started to spring a head gasket leak in the #1 cylinder, causing it to burn coolant, and pressurize the coolant system on the engine side. So off the head went. Oh and did I say this was happening over christmas? It was fun, the motor is definitely a low mileage motor, with no ring ridge, and all cross hatches showing. #1 cylinder plug Pulled the valves and put in new valve seals and did a quick valve job. I believe this head hasn't been shaved from the looks of it. And it wasn't warped and within spec according to the book, so I just cleaned it up and threw it back together. Edited January 5, 2019 by Anonymous Waffle Quote Link to comment
frank88 Posted January 5, 2019 Report Share Posted January 5, 2019 This is a great thread and really good read. Your truck is similar to mine so good to get inspiration from! How do you find legroom with the bench? Mine came with some random seats in and I bought miata seats but they are a bit big without modifications. Quote Link to comment
Anonymous Waffle Posted January 5, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2019 1 hour ago, frank88 said: This is a great thread and really good read. Your truck is similar to mine so good to get inspiration from! How do you find legroom with the bench? Mine came with some random seats in and I bought miata seats but they are a bit big without modifications. Hey thanks! I'm 5'8 or a 172 cm, so I sit rather comfortably in my truck. My bench is pushed up pretty far, but I think my 'new' bench is broken, as the tilt of the back support doesn't hold a spot, it just leans all the way back. I'll need to fix it when I pull it to fix the seams and cushioning. The Z seats I had made it nice to drive when I pushed it hard around corners in the mountains, but its not very comfortable for long trip drives. The bench is definetly the way to go. If you have trouble finding benches, there should be a couple of threads about people talking about bench swaps, like bronco rear seats and d21 seats, etc etc. From the pictures I've seen, you have a very clean truck there! Quote Link to comment
frank88 Posted January 5, 2019 Report Share Posted January 5, 2019 Thanks. It is clean, just a few bits to sort plus I'm doing an r1 carb swap. My battery tray has also gone but not sure I'll be doing the number plate mod ? Quote Link to comment
Anonymous Waffle Posted August 20, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2019 Been a bit since I've updated. Some of the prep was for powerland. Put in a 510 aluminum radiator. Picked up a pair of 720 4x4 springs from pick n pull. Made my own air stacks, using a backing plate of a 411 sss filter, and used a press and trailer hitch ball to create a cone. Not perfect, probably not practical, but it works. Due to being lowered four inches, I went ahead and made a carrier bearing spacer, and replaced the carrier bearing rubber with a 1 inch sheet of rubber. Might be temp, might be permanent. 2 Quote Link to comment
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