BRuZED

I'm in Portland Ore.(as is the car...)

Here's the skinny. I don't have the time any longer to sink in this beautiful '77. She is in BEAUTIFUL cosmetic condition... Her history: I'm the 3rd owner. The 1st was a Lutheran Minister who drove it locally ONLY. He originally bought it brand new from the storeroom. The 2nd owner drove her until the carb needed rebuilt. I then bought her for $250. She blew a gasket in 2007. I have been struggling with the lack of jobs and other bills so i couldn't give her the time and love she needed. The head has been to the machinist and taken care of. Brand new timing chain, gaskets, etc, etc. Given her history...I think the 180k miles may be Original? All of the parts(...and some extras.) are there. I just dont have the time with being a father and working 40-50hr weeks. All i want to see from her is the original investment i put into her. $250. I'm putting this on craigslist as well, but if any of you from the board want her I will take $200. She will need to be towed and it has to be this weekend as her storage space is no longer going to be available. She's a great car, i just need to be realistic with my time...

Hey again....it's been a long while.... I got to the point with working f/t and going back to school I shelved(blasphemy! -I know!) my Datsun because of lack of time.... Well I'm back into it....my problems before.... *SOLVED*(with much gracious appreciated help -thanks board!) I got her started up and sounding GREAT..... Until she got to operating temp. Then STEAM from the exhaust....not oil....STEAM. I inspected the engine but couldn't find any moisture? My question: Even though I had my head surfaced, could a micro-crack be causing the steam? Refference: http://forum.ratsun.net/showthread.php?t=1327&highlight=bella any help is graciously welcome!

Well we went to time her today to find we have a water leak somewhere... *doh* back to tinkering.

She's up n' running!!!! It was an issue of the dizzy not being at '11:28' I matched it up and on 1st crank got her running! BIG THANKS TO EVERYONE! *YOU GUYS ROCK!*

***UPDATE*** Ok. I got her TDC & checked the points = OPEN then looked at the position of the rotor = in between #1 & #3. Soooo.... I'm back to thinking i may haffta re-stab the dist. any thoughts>?

Gar. Ok, so we checked the plugs for spark, sure enough they were hella weak. Also, upon closer inspection we found some cracks on the dist. cap up by the carbon brush, so we went and got new plugs, cap, rotor, and wires. Got them in this afternoon, and now the backfire is constant, which I guess is an improvement over the intermittent backfire, but she still won't light up. And no amount of adjustment of the distributor makes a difference. So, with enough spark and gas to cause constant backfire, what could be causing a no-start situation? Does the dist. spindle need further adjustment? I'm just having a hard time figuring out WHY SHE WON'T LIGHT UP!

Plugs are now 'triple checked' and so it the clockwise order.... I will re-check the pump minana...

Okay, so we re-checked the oil pump spindle, sure enough, it was off. Pulled the pump, reset the spindle, hooked everything back up, and she still won't fire up, though we have quite the backfire going on now. I tried to advance the distributor but she only turns clockwise so far. So, let's recap... Cam set in proper relation to TDC (compression)#1 piston. Yes, cam is dead-on. Distributor/oil pump drive spindle installed in the classic '11:28' position. This I'm curious about. When we put it in, it wasn't quite what I'd call "11:28", maybe more like 11:25 or so. Can this be off by a tooth? Should it be lining up exactly with the bolt holes in the mount? Distributor installed with ROTOR, pointing to the #1 spark plug wire on top of cap. This is good. All wires going to proper spark plugs. Don't assume! Also good. Valve lash set, so valves will open AND close. also good. Intake manifold and carb mounted tightly, no vacuum leaks. This I'm assuming is good, it's kind of hard to check without the engine running, isn't it? Also, is this problem alone enough to cause a no-start situation? Any more ideas, guys? We'd love to get her fired up tonight.

I have accesss to a timing light(i know i need one....) I'm gonna go give it the 180* -We'll see....

I originally had a nasty overheat back in Aug. http://http://forum.ratsun.net/showthread.php?t=1327 Since then I started back into my 710 and then I had re-injured my back which kept me side-lined up to 1 week ago or so... I dove back in.... I now have a complete to spec(or to my fullest intent and knowledge) 710! But then theres the problem.... She is getting spark and fuel but is not starting up!? I'm willing to bet it's the timing, but I have adjusted the dist. to no avail. :confused: Is there any other things i should be looking for/@ any ideas getting this L20b rockin' again would be gracious and appreciated! *thanx!*

I haven't messed w/ the oil pump nor the distributor. Could the distributor be out-of-whack even tho' it was running fine before pulling the head? The video just finished! I will watch it tonight... What could be making the timing chain so gimp?

#1 but there is a HUGE difference in slack now(more) I haven't messed w/ the Dist. at all.

Well... Being that the engine is in the car and parked in the street....not really. But it's reality. I'm figurin' that's what is gonna have to happen.