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I need counsel! Kameari sell a replica of the original Datsun Competition steering wheel. It's very expensive, but the stock Roadster steering wheel is MASSIVE and I'm not a boat captain. I don't want to use some bullshit Momo generic wheel. Datsun Comp:   Stock:   Would this look good in my car? Also, it seems more dished in comparison to the stock wheel, but eyeballing it tells me it's maybe only an inch or two different. There may also be an issue with the turn signal canceling pins. Here are some better pictures of the wheel and the backside. My stock steering wheel is cracked and kind of ugly, but repairable with some effort. What do I do? Looks like I can get the Kameari repro for ~$400. Also, as long as I want to buy expensive things, they sell roller rockers for the R16 - literally the last crazy thing I haven't done to my engine. I figure I need to, but again, they're about $500  ALSO, I found some very interesting Marchal fog lights that I like. Here they are with clear lenses (which I don't like) on another early car:  Please deliver your opinions unto me, that I might make my credit card cry tears of blood.
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Jun 19, 2014 21:41
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What about one of nardi wheels? Im going to use one of the wood ones on my 77 celica, they look nice in old cars. however, its probably cheaper to go with the competition replica. e: attached file didn't work http://www.nardi-personal.com/index...=en#prettyPhoto
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Jun 19, 2014 21:58
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That competition wheel is dead sexy, but 500 bones is pretty high. That second link is a little more reasonable, but yeah, I agree that the stock wheel is a bit much. Looks like it might not be far from rubbing on your thighs which is no fun.
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Jun 19, 2014 22:04
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I don't like Nardi. Nothing in the car is made of wood. If I was using a wood shift knob, I might consider it. I know it's insane, but I really want something that was either factory or sold through a Datsun dealer. I want it to say "Datsun" in the middle (or have the logo, or a D, or the griffin, etc). I'm not super worried about $400 for it, but I am worried that I might pay $400 and the ergonomics are wrong, or the turn signal pins can't be adapted, or something similar. After looking at the side by side over and over, I'm feeling like it might look good in the car. And yes, the stock wheel is about 2-3" above your thighs. It's really, really large.
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Jun 19, 2014 22:13
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Pretty sure $400 is pretty cheap for a decent wheel anyways. There shouldn't be any connections other than the horn, which should be the slipring looking thing on the backside. So, yes it would look good on your car and you should get it.
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Jun 20, 2014 00:35
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ironblock posted:I'm not super worried about $400 for it, but I am worried that I might pay $400 and the ergonomics are wrong, or the turn signal pins can't be adapted, or something similar. After looking at the side by side over and over, I'm feeling like it might look good in the car. On ergonomics; can you guesstimate if the wheel is going to obscure your tach/speedo? That annoyed the hell out of me when I swapped the steering wheel on my old car
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Jun 20, 2014 02:29
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That wheel is insanely sick and you should buy it.
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Jun 20, 2014 04:35
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I did kind of a lovely Photoshop guestimation of how the wheel could look. I think it would actually work out pretty well. Stock wheel is somewhere north of 15", and this is only 320mm, so the sizing may be off. Ergo-wise, it might just barely get in the way, but it sticks out relatively far, and it's less of an issue with the flat style dash. Certainly won't be worse than driving a stock FD!  
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Jun 20, 2014 05:07
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Nobody circlejerked with me about the Marchals so I took that to mean I should buy them (and I did). Waiting to hear back on the steering wheel. Apparently somebody has pictures. Also I've learned that Isky makes shorter pushrods, which would give me just about the perfect geometry with the roller rockers. I have no idea what the standard ratio is on the R16 rocker arms, but I'm trying to find that out as well. In unrelated news, I realized the perfect way to piss off all the old, grouchy purists:   well spent.
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Jun 20, 2014 17:21
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Perfect.
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Jun 20, 2014 17:28
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If you want an opinion from the internet, I think your Photoshop of the new wheel looks terrible, the stock one looks right, can you get one that looks like that but in the size you want?
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Jun 22, 2014 19:53
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The comp wheel is too dark, needs to be chromed like the factory one.
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Jun 22, 2014 21:07
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My great uncle who just passed away last week told me a joke about Datsun. A group of executives was sitting around a conference table when one of them stood up and said: "We need to name this car company by next week!" Another executive got up and said: "Dat soon?"  I love your Datsun and I hope it gets finished soon. 
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Jul 9, 2014 05:33
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Ladies, gentlemen, and Datsun enthusiasts of all ages. This has been a month for the history books. But before I tell you about that, and by way of apology for the delay in updates, we start our story in media res. Let me whet your appetite with a brief video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIr5rPS11bU Enough about me, let's talk about me As some of you no doubt recall, the "Inter-Continental" nature of my tale relates to my permanent residence and job located in the Cayman Islands. I've groused about the hours and the conditions and the lifestyle impact before. I'm sure some of you recognized what I didn't, long before I did: I am not at all happy with that job anymore. And that's fine, because it's required all kinds of concessions from me and been a very uneven trade lately. So when the pressure got a little too much, I decided that I'd come back to California for a month, and take it easy, work remote, and just... try to take a deep breath. That didn't happen. The antagonization continued, and even after some very angry discussions, I realized I wasn't getting anywhere, gave them notice, and started interviewing around. It turns out that digital art / UX design + JavaScript is something that a lot of people are looking for. So that's it. I quit that job, and I'm moving back to California What that means for you, dear AI, is that you're going to be seeing a lot more of me. Unfortunately, I didn't make this decision until late this past week, so I was first spending every free hour on the Datsun, and then transitioned to spending every free hour getting things like CDMA-networked cell phones and US-based bank accounts. But now, as I look forward to my Monday morning flight, I have a few moments to catch you up on where we're at, and where we're going. Let's begin. Resuming state When I was last in California, during Christmas last year, I made a fevered attempt to get the top on the car. I don't think I have pictures of the process, but that explains the little timeskip here.  So here's how I found it. Straight away, I did a walkaround, to see what had been damaged by sun and weather while I was away. My findings were both better and worse than I expected.      Rust is an unfortunate fact of life for these cars, and finding surface rust starting where the chrome pieces had been worst off didn't surprise me. Some of these may need to be rechromed or replaced completely, since the oxidation is deeply embedded. Having the paint bubble is also deeply concerning to me, and means that this car is going to have to go for round two at the bodyshop once everything else is sorted out.  I discovered that I also had gotten a new gas filler cap at some point, though I don't recall doing so. My next act was to go and unpack all the things that had arrived while I was away.    The last image is something called a "Uni-syn". The Uni-syn is basically a child's toy that someone decided would be good for syncing carbs. You stick it on the mouth and can view its individual vacuum draw by where it moves the little plastic donger. Given that vacuum is only ONE of my many, many challenges with the HSR, I figure starting with a bullshit tool is better than guessing randomly. I then paused, briefly, for a short   Next, without even trying to remove the weeds from the engine bay, my friend (previously mentioned, owns a '68 2000 racecar) and I set to work dry fitting the big Miks, just to get a sense of where the challenges were.      Straight away, it was obvious that there were going to be some setbacks. The linkage provided with the Canon manifold was pitiful, and might not have even been good enough for the Webers you're supposed to use. The DCOE spacing was tight, and the HSRs bumped into one another.      Eventually, this was worked out by determining that if each carb was clocked about 5-10˚, the idle air adjust screw and the fuel intake pipe would just barely clear the next carb over. This couldn't be done because even with the spacers installed, the studs were too long and the carbs couldn't turn freely. What this also means is that the V-Performance method of "ganging" these carbs together was horseshit. What Parker does is machine a new throttle shaft and run it through both carbs. It doesn't solve any of the other problems, and basically removes all advantage available from the rubber boot mounts. Another feather in his cap. Since there was an autocross event to which I was invited, Racecar Guy and I thought it was dimly possible that the car could be trailered to the autocross, and perform its initial roadtest there. We began to parallel track different tasks, and really got cracking.     This is also the first look at the reupholstered seats - but we'll get to them later on. Just a dash of magic I decided to tackle the dashboard, since it's a prerequisite to a lot of the interior and electrical work that would have to be done next. That meant that the windshield had to come off, which is surprisingly easy (four bolts, two nuts).    I then had to paint the defroster vent area with a flat black paint, because that's one of those stupid purist things that everyone goes after. Even on my black car, I was taking no chances.   And before someone says something about the lumpiness and use of a brush, that's how it was done at the factory, and I decided to do it the same way.   I got the dash in just as night was beginning to fall, and just in time to realize that I hadn't marked or drilled any of the holes for the dashboard twisties or the mirror - and also to realize that I didn't have any of those things. The other track Meanwhile, Racecar Guy was working in the engine bay, reconditioning and refitting my SUs, so that I could drive the car at all.   They turned out to be in very rough shape indeed, so he retired to the garage in order to tactfully apply a hammer. I'll have to pick this up later on, since it's now 1am and tomorrow I really do think something magical will happen. Stay tuned.
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Jul 13, 2014 08:59
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Yaaay! Welcome back! It always sucks when a startup goes south. Your video is marked private.
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Jul 13, 2014 15:40
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You should just leave the windshield off all the time and wear goggles. That poo poo looks bad rear end. Sorry to hear the Caymans thing didn't work out. You can watch the declining arc in retrospect in this very thread, unfortunately.  I'm in the midst of making a change for many of the same reasons, myself.
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Jul 13, 2014 16:28
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Stupid youtube has been trying to turn this video 90˚ all night, so just ignore that part or turn your head or whatever. I fixed the private listing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIr5rPS11bU
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Jul 13, 2014 17:11
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Didn't you have the FD in the Cayman Islands which you'd imported? Did it have to stay behind?
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Jul 13, 2014 17:28
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Yup. You have to go through the horrible "Registered Importer" bullshit if you want to bring one into the country, so I figured I'd just sell it down there and reinvest the cash in something else. Also, keep in mind that my current car collection includes a 1980 RX-7 "LeatherSport", which is going to go into some rotary-only shop or another while I'm gone, so that it's a potential DD candidate when I come back. I'm not leaving the RADL, just getting a little more off the beaten path. Expect me to tell you all about why the 12A is the best engine very soon. Here are pictures of another potential DD:     
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Jul 13, 2014 17:59
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This is the best thread 
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Jul 13, 2014 18:02
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ironblock posted:Yup. You have to go through the horrible "Registered Importer" bullshit if you want to bring one into the country, so I figured I'd just sell it down there and reinvest the cash in something else. Also, keep in mind that my current car collection includes a 1980 RX-7 "LeatherSport", which is going to go into some rotary-only shop or another while I'm gone, so that it's a potential DD candidate when I come back. I'm not leaving the RADL, just getting a little more off the beaten path. Expect me to tell you all about why the 12A is the best engine very soon. Only non-cruiser bike I have ever enjoyed riding. That picture makes me happy.
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Jul 13, 2014 19:04
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Humbug Scoolbus posted:Only non-cruiser bike I have ever enjoyed riding. That picture makes me happy. My first bike was an '86 Honda VF500F Interceptor, followed by a '00 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R. I've never ridden anything as big or as torquey as the Hurricane, but I absolutely loved it. It was a cow in the parking lot, and I was expecting to hate every moment of it, but once I got it up to speed, and did some U-turns and hard pulls and got my lean on around a roundabout, I feel like there must be nothing better. It's smooth, and comfortable, and when I rolled on hard in 2nd, I was expecting it to maybe, maybe be as fast as the 10 year younger ZX-6R. Holy poo poo. I felt the invisible hand of four-cylinder fury grab hold of my unprepared bottom and try very hard to wrench it off the back. It might be an old literbike, and it might weigh 580lbs, but drat if it doesn't go like a scalded cat.
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Jul 13, 2014 22:11
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Spotted this today.
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Aug 8, 2014 04:15
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13 INCH DICK posted:Spotted this today. Spooky! I probably know him. Not a lot of black '68s with the Japanese style trim. Minor updates: frantically packing all my stuff for the move back to California. Thinking about buying a Corvette to daily drive while I finish up the Roadster.
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Aug 8, 2014 16:50
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Krakkles posted:How do you feel about minorities? 
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Aug 8, 2014 21:07
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I own a Miata and there was a Triumph Herald in my youth so I am loving this thread. Thus a search on Craigslist produced this: http://desmoines.craigslist.org/cto/4590010104.html Go nuts, those who dream (I dream, but need no more projects)! Otteration fucked around with this message at 06:04 on Aug 12, 2014 |
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Aug 12, 2014 06:01
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My, oh my, AI. What a year this has been. As ever, no plan of battle survives first contact with the enemy. After the initial rush from quitting my job, I found myself becalmed - unable to make progress on anything I cared about, and just kind of wandering around, doing nothing. It took me a long time to properly decompress, and even longer to get the proverbial chocolate and peanut butter of my life to touch once more. I spent some time interviewing around, and working on my own projects. I ended up with a cool job with people I like, know, and trust - certainly different priorities than I had before. Then I decided it was time to get distracted. Intelligent allocation of funds I still needed a way to get places (to work, mostly), and since it wasn't yet freezing-rear end cold, I determined (correctly) that the best thing to do was get a motorcycle. I thought long and hard about that Hurricane. I thought long and hard about Monsters, Triumphs, another Ninja... But nothing felt quite right. Nothing felt simple enough. It seemed like my options were to either to get a big cruiser-y bike that would be a pig in parking lots, or another fragile sport bike that needed to be treated just so. Where had all the cowboys gone, indeed. And then, I found it. The perfect motorcycle. Two cylinders, sticking out the sides. Air cooled. Shaft drive. Twin rear springs.  This, my friends, is a 2014 Moto Guzzi V7 Special. It makes 50hp at 6200rpm. Revving past 6500 is pointless. It has tubed tires. It has a warranty. It is neither fish nor foul, and I've never enjoyed a motorcycle more, and for once, it's nice to know that I'll have at least one running vehicle that can take me to work in the morning. I spent quite a while riding this around, looping through all my favorite roads in the Santa Cruz mountains.  For a time, I thought all was well. Then, the weather started to turn, and I started thinking kind thoughts about cars again. Ask not for whom the Wankel wanks... You may recall earlier whinging about a 1980 RX-7 LeatherSport I have (that I didn't know what to do with). Since I was fresh off the FD high, and missing the smell of unburnt gas in the morning, I decided that I would do a half-assed restomod on the SA22. Basically, replace all of the wear parts with new treats, and drive it with ratty paint.  Dad was also interested in this idea, and proposed that he pay for the parts, I do the labor, and we share the car. There's a shaggy dog story about a series of trades involving my first car, and how it creates some bizarre equity in this RX-7. It's been too many years for me to remember how it all worked, but the proposition struck me as sound. We pulled it out of the weeds, and got going.  I talked myself into moving my Datsun over, and letting Mr. LeatherSport occupy the other "bay" in front of my garage.  After all, it would only be a landspeeder for a few days while I got the Racing Beat suspension installed... Certainly I would never have unforeseen complications and leave it that way for months. It's been that way for months It ended up being that the atrocious carburetor on the 12A (four barrel Nikki, electronically controlled) was all kinds of gummed up, and needed to go the carb rebuilder shop (no way in hell was I doing it; gently caress that), and the fuel tank was full of 20 years worth of crap. So, the RX-7 became long lead, and I became increasingly concerned with my lack of four-wheeled transportation. But there was no time to think about it, because the next thing I was going to do was to travel. A lot. PAX I ended up going to PAX Prime, which was pretty cool, if you're into that sort of thing. It only bears mention so that I can tell The BMW Story. Not having a car of my own, but having missed the open roads and wide open spaces of America, I decided that I was going to road trip my way to Seattle in a single day, from the Bay Area. This presented a bit of a problem, since the plan made no sense, and I was going to have to use my travel companion's CRV. This would have been the worst. We did not do this bad thing. Instead, my dad helpfully offered up his freshly purchased '99 Z3M. Which I promptly broke.  The way that went down was something a little like this: When you travel up I5 from California to Oregon, there's an opportunity to go left, which has more lanes and more traffic, or go right, which has one lane each way, but long, flat sections going into Oregon. I opted to go right, and promptly found myself stuck behind the Motorcade From Hell. It went: Semi truck, box truck, motorhome, camper van, Mercedes SLK vert, and moi. On one of these particularly long and straight sections, each member of the conga line summoned up their courage and passed whatever was in front of them, such that the order was starting to become reversed. We were, at this point, traveling at about 50mph. When I realized just what was about to happen, and the Merc started to make his move, I instructed my passenger to hold onto his butt and other possessions near and dear, because The Thing was about to happen. Down in the distant haze on the horizon, I could just make out the silhouette of another semi. Knowing I had a limited amount of time to ascend to greatness, I made my move, and went for the pass. Downshift to third. The Merc had just pulled in to the front slot, and resumed cruising at about 55mph. Redline in third, up to fourth. By this time, I was moving along relatively quickly, and had passed about half the road turds. Redline in fourth, up to fifth. By the time I got back in front of all five cars, I was traveling at an indicated 130mph, and something smelled a little "on fire". It was about then that the alternator light came on. I looked down and checked my gauges. Sure enough, temp was maxed out. I pulled over, called AAA, and watched the entire cavalcade of misery pass me by. As you may have expected, I had shredded the ever-loving crap out of the serpentine belt, and there was no way I was going to replace it AND make it to Seattle. I lost two hours waiting for the tow truck, and then ended up renting a Chevy Sonic in Klamath Falls, chugging two energy drinks, and hitting Seattle at about 1am. The expo was pretty cool. Other images of note from that trip:  "You know you're in rural Oregon when..."  IronBlock does the needful After PAX, I traveled to Czech Republic and Bulgaria for work, and spent almost three weeks in Eastern Europe attending shows, and doing other things.    I got to go to a neat aviation museum in Prague:     I got to fire a 1943 Mosin Nagant:  I raced on the sketchiest gokart track I've ever seen:  And I hatched a cunning plan. You see, AI, I hadn't forgotten what the BMW did to me. I hadn't forgotten the Nikki carb, either. I still needed a car. Something that could do basic A to B. Cheap, reliable, low-profile.  Something like that. I re-routed my return flight from Bulgaria, and did a 29 hour-ish travel itinerary that put me in Tyler, TX, where I took delivery of this 1989 Corvette. My girlfriend met me there, and we began a road tour of the American southwest. We stopped at an AutoZone, bought a $6 toolkit, and liberated the roof.  We ate waffles shaped like Texas:  We posed for pictures:  We touched Vegas:  Not a very AI trip, in its execution. "I love C4s!" / "C4 worst car" / "Why is it an 89?" I'm glad you asked. 1989 is a unicorn year for Vettes. It's the last year of a few things, and the first year of a few others. 89 was the last year of the early (digital) dashboard, and the last year of the L98 motor. 89 was the first year for the ZF 6 speed, and Selective Ride Control (this car has both).  I had been looking for Corvettes off and on for months, as sort of a lark, but when this came up, I knew I had to have it. Fully loaded, power driver and passenger sport seats, black leather interior, Z51 package, 6 speed, SRC, the works. 78,000 miles. I love driving it. It's a great GT car, with stupid, stupid, stupid amounts of torque. The SRC with Z51 suspension gives it really great handling characteristics. It's more or less my ideal commuter car, and I now live so close to work that I don't care too much about the mileage. End Intermission So, still not caught up to present day, but this should give you some idea what the new stable looks like, and what my variables are. Without spoiling anything, I can tell you that some very interesting things have happened with the Roadster, and I'm compiling them into episodes (and YouTube videos) right now. The important thing to remember is that everything comes back to Datsuns, in the end. I've been away for too long, AI. It's a fuckin' Christmas miracle that this thread hasn't been archived by now. More to come.
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Dec 29, 2014 08:47
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Best thread. That corvette is pretty much my dream car, but living in the UK it's unlikely I'll ever see one, let alone own one. Plus it probably wouldn't respond well to our windy roads and wet summers, and the million other reasons why it's a terrible idea. But still, that's one seriously beautiful car.
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Dec 29, 2014 12:11
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Holy crap what an update. I don't quite get the significance of the GameCube controller, apparently I'm getting old. Gorgeous bike, gorgeous RX7, broken Krautmobile, and I've always wanted a C4 of my own but that L98 is one lovely engine. Nice colour though!
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Dec 29, 2014 19:10
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Pleaaaase keep us up to date on just how much of a pain (or not a pain) the C4 ends up being to own.
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Dec 29, 2014 19:25
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I was hoping this thread would be back, glad to see an update. C4s have always been my favorite 'Vette, especially in that color. Sad to hear the RX7 is still sitting, but I'm looking forward to more Datsun updates!
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Dec 29, 2014 19:35
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 You're back! Please show up and demand the carb as well.  Just be Dokes when he answers the door. "Surprise motherfucker!"
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Dec 29, 2014 19:40
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Epic update. Awesome writing style and love the international intrigue.
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Dec 29, 2014 19:53
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Seat Safety Switch posted:I don't quite get the significance of the GameCube controller, apparently I'm getting old. One of my other misc. hobbies is playing Super Smash Bros. Melee semi-competetively. There was a panel at PAX with some of the sort of... Pillars of the community. The controller is signed by a guy called 'Hungrybox', who's one of the top 5 players in the world. Seat Safety Switch posted:that L98 is one lovely engine IOwnCalculus posted:Pleaaaase keep us up to date on just how much of a pain (or not a pain) the C4 ends up being to own. Y'all just reminded me of another story. While traveling, I was having an intermittent starting issue, where the engine would act like it was fuel starved. I was able to reliably clear it by cycling the fuel pump with the engine off, feathering the gas while starting, and holding about 2200rpm for the first 10-15 seconds until it "cleared" and ran normally. During the trip, this happened a sum total of about 5 times, which I figured was fine, considering that we'd driven about 2000 miles, and it seemed to be the only problem. I finally made it back to the Bay Area, vowing to give it a thorough once-over as soon as I had a free moment. The day after my return, I was supposed to drive to a wedding in Sacramento, about 2 hours away. While cruising up 80, the Vette showed no signs of trouble, and then promptly died in the middle of the freeway, somewhere near Vacaville. I laid on the horn, put the hazards on, and dove off the road. I was able to nurse it into a parking lot, where it died and refused to start. As ever, I was in no mood to try and fix the drat thing when I was supposed to be somewhere. I had a friend pick us up, and left the car there. (I first variously tried disconnecting the MAF, cycling pump, etc). I then had a moral crisis, about whether or not I really wanted to fix the car myself, and in the end, I decided to go way, way outside my comfort zone, and towed it to a Corvette specialist near where I live. He then proceeded to call me and say "Your car starts fine, I have no idea what the problem was". I detailed the whole episode to him, and he proceeded to check everything, and do basic tune-up stuff. So far, there have been no issues. My theory is that the tank has a significant amount of sediment in it, and it's able to intermittently clog the pickup. I think bouncing around on the back of a tow truck for 2 hours sloshed enough fuel around that it cleared the screen, and it was willing to start again. I think it's a pretty weak theory, and if it were really the case, I should have fuel starve in other places. I also suspect the MAF and FPR of being less than perfect. But no, since coming back from the shop, it hasn't misbehaved at all. The battery that's in there was done by a local remanufacturer in Tyler TX, and it needs to go - doesn't hold a charge worth crap. I've autocrossed the car, drifted it around a skidpad, and generally driven it however I please. It's really nice to be able to turn the shocks up to PERF and take a freeway onramp at ludicrous speed, then back them down to TOUR so that California's bullshit roads don't knock my fillings loose. Only other issues I have are that the clutch needs to be bled, the ZF transmission seems to have been mistreated, and the exhaust has some rust holes (thinking about either getting the OBX full system, or having the guy who made my Roadster's exhaust doing a custom one).
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Dec 29, 2014 21:19
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Were you running a little low on fuel at the time? Those older C4 fuel pumps will overheat at the drop of a hat. Draining the tank and replacing the fuel filter(s?) should make life a lot easier though 
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Dec 29, 2014 21:45
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Well, AI, I'm back again. I've managed to move heaven and earth, and very Datsun-y things are afoot. I'm not totally sure where I left off in my grand story, but we've got another time gap. The last photos I updated were from July of 2014. You wouldn't think so, but there are actually 6 months of updates that I've been too busy / lazy / Corvettey to share. In my mind, I thought I had shared a lot more, so we're going to have to backtrack a bit to learn our place in the universe. So, then. Let's get to it. Ironblock Dreams of Flatslides After fruitlessly attempting to refurb the SUs for a full day, even Racecar Guy had to concede defeat. Whatever those carbs went through (a small body of water, most likely), they earned the right to rest in peace. That meant that there was only one option: Do the HSRs, do not pass go, do not collect $200. That left me at a bit of an engineering impasse. First of all, the HSRs wouldn't even mount on the drat manifold because of these nuts. That got me thinking about abnormally large flathead screws, which worked perfectly, and didn't back out thanks to the rubber isolators.  On top of everything, I needed a way to actuate all the carbs. Clearly the push-pull cable setup it expected wasn't going to be any use. I started thinking about linkages and fuel manifolds. For the time being, anything that would let me test fit and start seemed like a good idea. (Yes, these are upside down).     I also (prematurely, optimistically) invested in one of these thingies - all the old timers tell me that these new production ones are junk, and I'm inclined to agree. The quality fails to impress.  Another problem I couldn't figure out - the drat idle adjust screws. Backed out any meaningful distance, they hit the next carb!  An early version had me attach the linkage rods directly to the bell cranks. Not only could they not overcome the resting spring tension, there was so much that they were twisting out of alignment with one of another! I needed more leverage.   At any rate, I had to start reducing variables. I started working on a pretty serviceable mockup for the linkage arms, working with some nylon spacers and aluminum flat stock from a previous project.    Not perfect, but pretty reasonable. There was an obvious clearance issue with the air cleaner backplate, since the two holes in the bell crank weren't at 0˚ and 180˚, but more like 345˚ and 165˚, respectively. The crank on each HSR turns about 90˚ total, meaning that the flat stock was ending at a downward angle when fully open. Not anticipating any full throttle events any time soon, I went ahead and assembled the linkage as best I could.  Now, already I can see the same thing you can: It's gorgeous, but that's gonna be one fiddly linkage. Syncing all four carbs? Oh man! But in July, that was a battle for another day. You have to learn to accessorize As previously mentioned, the stud in the head designed to hold the alternator looked pretty bad, and to get my GM alternator to fit, there were some other modifications I was dreading. None of it ended up mattering much. The die just barely fit over the stud and was accessible with a box open wrench, and the factory alternator bracket was easily hacksawed down to get my fitment.   One of the last parts I ordered while still in Cayman was a set of shortened pushrods from Isky. Given how much the head was cut down, these seemed like a good move - they let me reestablish something close to the original geometry for the rocker arms.        Now, I'm not stupid, but... Every time I go to start a car, there's a 50-50 chance I've left a fuckin' 1/2" socket wrench on the crank pulley. So now I check. In a similar vein, I do poo poo like this when it's time to do a valve adjustment. It's the only way I can be sure.   With that done, I put the rocker cover back on for the last time. "Welcome... to the real world." I tried the carb setup on the car, and it was poop in most of the ways I suspected.   When all of a sudden, oh no, it's super poop!   There went my dreams of using the stock brake master "just for a bit". I would have to switch to the Tilton after all to get my clearance. Since there were enough things stopping me from trying to start the engine, I refocused momentarily on some of the more ancillary concerns, like how I was going to get the shifter working. For those who have been keeping close notes, the 65-67 1600 bodies all used the 4-speed transmission, which is an older design and has the shifter located further back. The 67.5-70 2000 cars used the 5-speed, which I'm also using, which has a marginally different location for the shifter hole.    Modifications were going to have to be made, but I couldn't figure out how to get the hacksaw to do what I wanted, so I made like a startup and pivoted. "'Cause the power you're supplying... It's electrifying!" Every time I ever thought about the wiring for this car, it went in the same mental category as taking out the trash, or remembering to buy milk - a simple chore that just needed to be done. Oh, what a fool I was. Why didn't I realize what was in store?   Eventually, through process of elimination, I figured what was supposed to go where, and then proceeded to uninstall and reinstall it all day while fighting with the rubber gaskets that manage its path through the firewall.    I didn't take a lot of pictures of this part because it was just a lot of horseshit in the end.   But, I did take the opportunity to mount some other electrical-ish things, like the ignition control box.  And these cute little Denso mystery horns off of eBay. Beep beep!   Desperation sets in By this point, I was feeling stuck on almost all fronts. I started doing little things, things I knew could be done without hassle. I installed the rear-view mirror.   I consolidated parts. The speedo and tach came back out, since i had to route their cables.  I fiddled with the bolts on my wheels, making drat sure they'd clear the brakes without spacers.  I thought about cleaning up the seat rails, and gave up.   I installed the first piece of vinyl trim.  "Next time, on Datsun Ball Z" If this one seems like it ended on kind of a down note, that's sort of where I was at. I was stuck on all the really hard stuff - fabrication, design, sourcing - and it seemed like I'd never be back on track. Over and over, I found myself thinking "If only I'd done a stock rebuild. I'd be done by now!" But that's not what this is about. That's not why I've sunk 4 years and umpty-ump thousand dollars into it. It's gotta be done right, or there's no point. Next, I hit some big milestones, and catch story time up with the video of the starter. If you feel anguish in your heart, despair not: I'm working on the Datsun tomorrow, and I'm solving problems I couldn't have imagined in July.
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Jan 31, 2015 09:41
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Ive used that sync tool I had issues with it working right. Try and find something like this of that one doesnt work out I know I paid eay less than 60 for mine. https://chircoestore.com/carburetor...fNGUaAhoN8P8HAQ
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Jan 31, 2015 14:10
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I borrowed one like this from McTinkerson. http://www.motionpro.com/motorcycle/partno/08-0411/
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Jan 31, 2015 18:25
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I was thinking about just building my own manometer, like a few other people have done. Or, just recognize that my time is valuable and order one like what Switch just posted.
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Jan 31, 2015 18:48
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You should change the carb adapter bolts to button or pan head Allens, and use some blue lock tight on them. That's an interesting place for the idle adjustment screws... They're usually more accessible I thought. tater_salad posted:Ive used that sync tool I had issues with it working right. This style blows those stupid ball ones out of the water. My friend uses them for his triple Weber setup. On the linkage, could you tie all the carbs together so you only have linkage on one side (like the middle or front) so that it won't interfere with the master cylinder?
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Jan 31, 2015 18:50
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