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Computer viking
May 30, 2011
Now with less breakage.

ironblock posted:

Well, as expected, somebody broke the build by reverting a reverted commit, and now they're arguing over whether or not it's a kernel bug in FreeBSD.

In much better news, a heavy box from Australia has just arrived for me. What could it be?

And now I idly wonder who you're working for.

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ironblock
Aug 23, 2013

Screw practicality, best 1 mile commute ever.
WOW. It looks like the contents of the box were me being a huge turd and totally forgetting that I left y'all hanging.

First things first:

Seat Safety Switch posted:

Your to-do lists are very Saul Bass. I like 'em.

CroatianAlzheimers posted:

For real. What font is that? I wanna use it every day now.


Because I'm a huge design nerd, and through some weird compulsion, I used Futura to make the list, since it's the same typeface that Nissan used on the ID plates.




TECHNICALLY, and if anyone wants to make repro Datsun ID plates, it's Futura Heavy for the line items, and Futura Extra Black Condensed for the "DATSUN" brand. I plan on making my own custom reproductions at some future date, since I'm going to be doing a little better than 96hp.


Ironblock gets down to brass tacks
Speaking of horsepower, let's talk about that box for a moment. Consider this apology in part for being so slow and turd-like with my delivery. It's time to let you folks in on The Big Plan. We're building a monster motor. We're not pissing about in the shallow end of the pool anymore. It's time to get serious about naturally aspirated torque. It's time to make those HSRs sing for their supper. It's time for every namby-pamby, limp-wristed, snot-nosed, pencil-pushing, unimaginative, SR20-installing, EFI-lovin' butthole to know who really runs these streets.

"But Ironblock", I hear you say, "You already got that stroker crank, and you already went 1.0mm overbore! What more can you possibly do?"

More.

The magic Aussie box did not contain drop bears, Tim Tams, or 'roo bars.

That box contained a dream.

I did not take pictures of this dream before I took it to the machine shop, which was the cause of brief but mighty hand wringing. :ohdear:

It later turned out that I had done exactly as (I was yet to be) instructed: Don't share any of the specifics.

You see, when I was in Solvang, my old friend Racecar Guy started to tell me about another Racer Guy in Australia, who was getting completely unprecedented horsepower out of these R-series motors. Having freshly grenaded my motor, RG suggested that I contact Aus. RG and see if he could help me out. It ended up being that in exchange for me gopher-ing around the US Nissan dealerships and local parts vendors, he would trade me not only the knowledge needed to build this monster motor, but the parts themselves.

So. You've seen the head, you've seen the rods. This is what I can tell you:
- We're using off-the-shelf cast pistons for a non-Datsun Nissan motor, which end up bringing my bore from 88.2mm to 89.5 - a total of 2.3mm overbore.
- Forged connecting rods for another Japanese manufacturer's engine.
- Lightweight, massive valves from a Volvo engine, re-profiled for my head :sweden:
- A NOS Y44 cylinder head (I can't keep this one secret, it's stamped on the drat casting), iron instead of alloy, and with *much* improved port shapes
- My same crankshaft, offset ground for those new rods.
- A completely ridiculous camshaft

Here are some pictures of one of Aus. RG's crankshafts:




All of this adds up to a displacement of approximately 2300cc.

It has been reported to me that the last one of these engines built, running the usual PHH 44 Mikuni-Solex carbs put down 192hp @ 6200rpm on Aus. RG's dyno.

He's never done one with more modern carburetors: Mine will be the first. :getin:


Obligatory Workchat
I know a few of you are also popcorn.gif about my work life, and that deserves an update too.

So, they fired all the external developers that were doing GUI stuff, and now I and one other junior level guy are the only people working on our project. C-levels are butthurt about lack of progress and tangible results, inevitable unchanging #loltechpeople circus is still going on.

I've had some uncomfortable nose-grindstone interfacing over the past month or two, but it's still way better than my last job! :haw:

I meant to start this earlier in the night so that I could get to some real stuff, but I figure this will at least put some of the puzzle pieces together. And if you think this is nuts, wait until you hear what kind of influence I've had on the rest of my family. Spoiler: My mom now drives the fastest car in the family

Chiwie
Oct 21, 2010

DROP YOUR COAT AND GRAB YOUR TOES, I'LL SHOW YOU WHERE THE WILD GOOSE GOES!!!!
Holy crap this is awesome. Is that gear from Stewart Wilkins Motorsport?

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
Long rods... Honda?

89.5mm bore - KA24? I didn't know they had those in Australia.

A long rod 2.3 should loving howl. Is the camshaft street ridiculous or gently caress you no vacuum ridiculous?

ironblock
Aug 23, 2013

Screw practicality, best 1 mile commute ever.

Chiwie posted:

Holy crap this is awesome. Is that gear from Stewart Wilkins Motorsport?

Nope. I'm not sure if he'd want me blasting his name all over the internet or not, so if anybody wants to talk to him for some Datsun related purpose, feel free to PM me and we can figure it out.


Seat Safety Switch posted:

Long rods... Honda?

89.5mm bore - KA24? I didn't know they had those in Australia.

Again, I've been forbidden from discussing the specifics of it, but suffice it to say that both other motors involved in the mashup have pretty good aftermarket support, and it saved a shitload of money over having custom rods and pistons made. The cast pistons are a lot lighter than the forged ones would have been, too, and it ended up having to be a specific brand with an abnormally thick crown. Since they'll pop out of the deck with the rod combo, the crowns need to be decked and re-dished to get the right compression ratio.


Seat Safety Switch posted:

A long rod 2.3 should loving howl. Is the camshaft street ridiculous or gently caress you no vacuum ridiculous?

That... remains to be seen. The lift is only maybe 0.040" over what I've got now, but the duration and the profile are nuts. It might be a little bit lumpy. Thankfully, the HSRs have really strong low speed vacuum, so they should be able to handle it pretty well. It's going to have some race motor characteristics when all is said and done. No oil squirters on the rods, for instance, so I'm splash-oil only. Means no idling for long periods of time, and that I'm going to be That Guy revving his engine at long stop lights. (But for good reason :unsmigghh:)

Panty Saluter
Jan 17, 2004

Making learning fun!

ironblock posted:

Means no idling for long periods of time, and that I'm going to be That Guy revving his engine at long stop lights. (But for good reason :unsmigghh:)

Wait, there's a reason to do that beyond ~*~MY PENIS~*~?

Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



You're... you're not leaving the car outside while you're away, are you? Saw some rusty-lookin' hardware in some of these pics and got worried :ohdear:

ironblock
Aug 23, 2013

Screw practicality, best 1 mile commute ever.
The car still lives outside. :(

Mercifully, I did a lot of rust-proofing that's held up quite well. The things that are rusting are:

- The chrome. Some of this was not rechromed well, and is rusting from the inside out. I'll have to get the headlight buckets redone completely, or replace them with better ones (maybe start with the stainless version). Some things are developing surface rust, like the mirrors. I need to figure out what I can coat these things with that will help repel moisture.
- The brake calipers. I never painted them, and I should have. at this point, it would probably be easier to get new calipers and paint those than it would be to try and de-rust the ones I have. I'm thinking about what I want to do here.
- The wheel bolts around the rim. I painted these real good when I first refinished the wheels, but some critical judgement errors resulted in my choosing bolts that were way too long. I replaced all of them with new bolts that were the right length, and in doing so, chipped the paint around each bolt head, and never repainted the heads. It was part of one of my various light speed efforts to get the car back on the road, and I need to go back and refinish those parts of the wheels.
- Misc mild steel nuts and bolts. Somehow, I ended up with non-stainless screws for my tail light housings, which are rusting and weeping on the housings. Thankfully, the housings themselves were chromed really well, and are holding up fine. I just got new stainless hardware to replace those screws.


The bad news is that I've completely buttfucked the paint job by leaving it out in the sun for a million years. I'm going to have to get the top of the car re-sprayed, but that's okay, since there were some niggling things that the body shop didn't get right the first time around.

The car is in a much better spot now, and gets shade at least half the day. Covers are a tough proposition because that hill sees frequent windstorms that utterly destroy tarps and covers. It might be that a really good fitted cover with some weights in it would work.

Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



ironblock posted:

The car still lives outside. :(

Mercifully, I did a lot of rust-proofing that's held up quite well. The things that are rusting are:

- The chrome. Some of this was not rechromed well, and is rusting from the inside out. I'll have to get the headlight buckets redone completely, or replace them with better ones (maybe start with the stainless version). Some things are developing surface rust, like the mirrors. I need to figure out what I can coat these things with that will help repel moisture.
- The brake calipers. I never painted them, and I should have. at this point, it would probably be easier to get new calipers and paint those than it would be to try and de-rust the ones I have. I'm thinking about what I want to do here.
- The wheel bolts around the rim. I painted these real good when I first refinished the wheels, but some critical judgement errors resulted in my choosing bolts that were way too long. I replaced all of them with new bolts that were the right length, and in doing so, chipped the paint around each bolt head, and never repainted the heads. It was part of one of my various light speed efforts to get the car back on the road, and I need to go back and refinish those parts of the wheels.
- Misc mild steel nuts and bolts. Somehow, I ended up with non-stainless screws for my tail light housings, which are rusting and weeping on the housings. Thankfully, the housings themselves were chromed really well, and are holding up fine. I just got new stainless hardware to replace those screws.


The bad news is that I've completely buttfucked the paint job by leaving it out in the sun for a million years. I'm going to have to get the top of the car re-sprayed, but that's okay, since there were some niggling things that the body shop didn't get right the first time around.

The car is in a much better spot now, and gets shade at least half the day. Covers are a tough proposition because that hill sees frequent windstorms that utterly destroy tarps and covers. It might be that a really good fitted cover with some weights in it would work.

A small shed is probably cheaper than a repaint.

Powershift
Nov 23, 2009


It's a miniature datsun. buy an old van and park it in that.

ironblock
Aug 23, 2013

Screw practicality, best 1 mile commute ever.
As promised, here's what's happened in the past month with the family vehicle situation.

Mom's outgoing car, a 2010 Genesis 2.0T (Track Pack, of course) got loaned out to my little brother for a cross-country road trip. Mom has been trying to figure out what her next car is going to be for a while, and somehow, somebody talked someone into this:




2008 STI, some kind of magical COBB tune, 3" turbo-back exhaust, no cats. The guy who sold it to her got a wild hair and decided to ride his motorcycle to Alaska, so she got it for a song. It's brutally quick, and has something like 25k miles on a brand new engine.

Mom looks nothing like the typical Subaru driver, so this is pretty funny to me.

Meanwhile, one of the games my dad and I play is emailing back and forth craigslist links based only on the search term "Datsun". At some point, an ad came up for this '67 1600, for real cheap. I went out there with him to check it out, and next day he brought his trailer back and bought the drat thing.




It's a complete turd aesthetically - polished dashboard, weird toggle switches, totally unsafe style bar behind the driver. However, mechanically, it's in perfect condition. Z-Therapy carbs, strong motor, good transmission, no leaks. This car will be subject to an effortpost when I'm next able to lay hands on it.

So I personally own three vehicles: the C4 Corvette, the roadster this thread is primarily about, and a Moto Guzzi V7 Special. I also have mixed levels of ownership of a 1980 RX-7.

With the addition of those two cars, my parents own three trucks, ten cars, and three motorcycles. They aren't particularly wealthy, either. The average vehicle age is probably about 1990, and the average running condition is "lol".

That makes it especially crazy that the next thing my dad did after buying that ugly duckling roadster was this:




dad pls :psyduck:

Yes, it's the "Launch Edition". It was the only one at that dealership ordered with an MT, too. (Bonus sad Z3M looking on from the parking lot)

So now you know. I'm not sure who's a bad influence on whom anymore, but it's pretty clear that I'm not the problem. :tinfoil:

IOwnCalculus
Apr 2, 2003





I don't see any problems there. I managed to convince my dad it was more sensible to buy/build a fast car he could drive every day, instead of a small aircraft he'd fly once a month at most, so he bought a C6 (and then traded it on a C63).

Slow is Fast
Dec 25, 2006

ironblock posted:

With the addition of those two cars, my parents own three trucks, ten cars, and three motorcycles. They aren't particularly wealthy, either. The average vehicle age is probably about 1990, and the average running condition is "lol".

poo poo, we're only up to 9. Working on it though.

ironblock
Aug 23, 2013

Screw practicality, best 1 mile commute ever.
Okay, now I want to write it down just to figure out if I was counting accurately.

Me: 3
1989 Corvette, Z51, 6MT - daily driver
1967 Datsun 1600 Roadster, 5MT - the real deal
2014 Moto Guzzi V7 Special, 5MT - alt daily

Dad: 8
1998 BMW Z3M, 5MT - previous daily
1983 BMW R100, 5MT - alt daily
2015 Mazda MX-5, Launch Edition, 6MT - daily driver
2007 Dodge 3500 Mega Cab, Cummins 6.7L, 6MT - tows poo poo
1967 Datsun 1600 Roadster, 4MT - needs love
1983 280ZX Turbo, 2+2, Digital Package, 5MT - alt daily
1983 280ZX Turbo, 2+2, crashed, parts car
198* Kawasaki KZ/GPZ 550 - frankenstein project

Mom: 4
2004 VW Touareg, V8, 6AT - car from hell, stuck in shop
2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe, 2.0T, Track Pack, 6MT - on loan to brother
2008 Subaru STI, :japan: as gently caress, tuned, 6MT - daily driver
1996 Isuzu Trooper, 5MT - destroyed by several mechanics; won't get rid of it

Sister: 3
1982 280ZX 2+2, 5MT - stuck in paint hell
2004 Dodge Ram, 5MT - daily driver
2003 Kawasaki Rebel 250, 5MT - first bike

Brother: 1
2004 Dodge Ram, 5MT - basically permanently affixed to a horse trailer at this point

Unclear ownership: 2
1980 Mazda RX-7, LeatherSport, 5MT - project car, Racing Beat suspension
1982 280ZX Turbo, 2+2, 5MT - very pretty, bought with milkshaked engine

Preoptopus
Aug 25, 2008

Три полоски,
три по три полоски

ironblock posted:

Okay, now I want to write it down just to figure out if I was counting accurately.

Me: 3
1989 Corvette, Z51, 6MT - daily driver
1967 Datsun 1600 Roadster, 5MT - the real deal
2014 Moto Guzzi V7 Special, 5MT - alt daily

Dad: 8
1998 BMW Z3M, 5MT - previous daily
1983 BMW R100, 5MT - alt daily
2015 Mazda MX-5, Launch Edition, 6MT - daily driver
2007 Dodge 3500 Mega Cab, Cummins 6.7L, 6MT - tows poo poo
1967 Datsun 1600 Roadster, 4MT - needs love
1983 280ZX Turbo, 2+2, Digital Package, 5MT - alt daily
1983 280ZX Turbo, 2+2, crashed, parts car
198* Kawasaki KZ/GPZ 550 - frankenstein project

Mom: 4
2004 VW Touareg, V8, 6AT - car from hell, stuck in shop
2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe, 2.0T, Track Pack, 6MT - on loan to brother
2008 Subaru STI, :japan: as gently caress, tuned, 6MT - daily driver
1996 Isuzu Trooper, 5MT - destroyed by several mechanics; won't get rid of it

Sister: 3
1982 280ZX 2+2, 5MT - stuck in paint hell
2004 Dodge Ram, 5MT - daily driver
2003 Kawasaki Rebel 250, 5MT - first bike

Brother: 1
2004 Dodge Ram, 5MT - basically permanently affixed to a horse trailer at this point

Unclear ownership: 2
1980 Mazda RX-7, LeatherSport, 5MT - project car, Racing Beat suspension
1982 280ZX Turbo, 2+2, 5MT - very pretty, bought with milkshaked engine

You guys want to adopt a 28 year old with his own apartment?

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
Get your mom to dyno tune that STI, the Cobb OTS tune leaves so much power on the table, even on poo poo tier Cali gas.

Your dad has phenomenal taste in roadsters, and should keep doing what he's doing.

Still got that '80 RX7? I need a fender.

Seat Safety Switch fucked around with this message at 03:37 on Jul 28, 2015

ironblock
Aug 23, 2013

Screw practicality, best 1 mile commute ever.
We're working on a better tune right now, actually. Just got all the new kit to redo it, since it was pretty basic and obviously not going to pass smog.

I don't actually care for the Z3M, to be totally honest. I trade him the Corvette sometimes, and I've had a lot of seat time in that car. Switchgear feels cheap, it's not well planted at high speeds, transmission is awful, Franz put a restrictor valve in my clutch line, etc etc etc. It was a bucket of fun to autocross a few times, but out of that stable, it would now probably be last in line. I have a '00 Z3 3.2 to compare it to, and that wasn't really great either.

The RX-7 is actually back on the menu. I work on it when I'm stalled on other stuff. Just got the rear of the car back together with Racing Beat suspension.

Powdercoated wheels!

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
The other day, I found out that Rota inexplicably sells quite a few wheels in 4x108.

ironblock
Aug 23, 2013

Screw practicality, best 1 mile commute ever.
Huh. Since this is the LS, and it's got the special gold wheels, I figured might as well keep 'em. The early SA22s are kinda quirky, and since I live in a godless state run by butthole communists, my best bet is to stick with the original 12A. Since I don't have any of the goodies that the later cars got, my basic plan of attack was to do the suspension, and restore everything else to factory standard.

I'm running out of light, low-powered cars on skinny tires.

ironblock
Aug 23, 2013

Screw practicality, best 1 mile commute ever.
Sheeeit, man. Every time I get back on AI, I get all fired up about my various projects. I'm back to goosing the machine shop along, and I'm already starting to think about possibilities for the next project. Apparently some of Mazda's FWD BP transmissions have the same bolt pattern as the rotary. Makes me wonder if another AW11 equipped with a supercharged and carbureted 13B would qualify as a "Specially Constructed Vehicle" in California. The exhaust ports want to come out right where the axle shaft is, but I'm confident that some kind of workaround is possible.

Food for thought.


IronBlock Commits Atrocities in the Name of Progress

Let your mind wander back through the pages of this thread, to the time that I mentioned an interference problem I was having with the number four carburetor and the steering column. When I come up against problems that require some kind of engineered solution, I tend to butcher first and assume I'll revise later - throw away the prototype, sort of.

This is a short story about how I treated my Roadster like a Datsun, in the worst possible way. It involves galv EMT. :(

I decided that the best way to fix my carb problem was to develop spacers to sit between the intake manifold and the carburetor, such that each runner would be lengthened by about two inches, and angle upwards 15˚, creating a right trapezoidal space underneath the carburetor, and moving the float bowl far enough from the steering that no collision would be possible, even with the engine whomping back and forth as they do (stock motor mounts are really spongey).

Step one was to go to AutoZone, and buy some flexible exhaust tubing and a cheap heater hose with some long straight sections in it.




Step two was to go to OSH and buy some galv EMT with a 90˚ sweep.




My thought was that I could use the flexible piping to determine the rise and overall shape I would need, and prototype it onto the galv sweep. I can't take too much credit for this, because my dad was the one who recommended household electrical parts.




Insert inevitable line about cutting tools here.








This is the shot that really illustrates the clearance issue I was having. The SUs, and even the DCOE-style carbs are relatively flat, and don't extend much below the centerline. The HSRs have their bore about in the middle, so I should have seen this coming a mile away.




The early attempts at this were pretty crude, but let me get an idea of just how far out of whack we had cut the tube.






That got the bulk of it, but introduced other constraints. At full open, the throttle arm is pretty close to the brake master.




The throttle arms are pretty dumb in the first place, and several times I've almost talked myself into getting a common rod machined with a bell crank, the way most people set this up. I don't have a particularly good defense of the turnbuckles, other than that I was able to get them working and synced pretty easily, they look cool, and I get more fiddle room.

At this point, I hadn't even committed to proper turnbuckles (10-32 turnbuckles are pricey), so I was just rolling with some 10-32 studs with long standoffs.




In the end, I was able to get everything to look pretty reasonable, but I don't like that I'm using the HSR booties to hold the galv.




Long term, I think the replacement for these is to CNC or 3D print (metal) some real spacers that look something like this:




Musings About Shop Space
Remember, this was all done with a handheld hacksaw and a vice. I'm trying like hell to get any kind of prosumer shop space off the ground, but it's tough. The first step is most likely to Bobcat out the asphalt in front of the garage at my parents' place and put in a 6" pad with a lift - one of the reasons I've been so gung-ho about getting the RX-7 back on four wheels.

I've been torn about that, because it's a half measure, and long term I'm trying to convince them to let me build a more serious workspace with multiple bays and machine tools. If we combined half the resources we independently spend in a year on non-running cars that I have to put on jack stands and crawl under... Life could be a lot better.

I suspect that it's going to happen anyways, since it will be easier to extend the existing pad, add a lift, and add some sort of UV cover than to build a new structure. It's pretty clear that between all of us, there are more cars every year, not less, we're busier than ever, and not well equipped for the projects we've already got.


Musings About Family
I think this part of the project is what convinced Dad to get his own Roadster. I got him into 280ZXes, after owning an NA and then a Turbo, and now I've suckered him into this dark netherworld as well. As satisfying as working blood magic on Commodore 64-era EFI is, it's nothing compared to strapping yourself into a motorized bathtub with a flimsy lap belt and cheating death on every corner.

He's chasing a 67.5 2000 in Texas, too, and already bought these gorgeous things to go with it:




A car that nice cannot and will not sit outside.



Misc

I saw this today:


:argh:

Geoj
May 28, 2008

BITTER POOR PERSON

Seat Safety Switch posted:

The other day, I found out that Rota inexplicably sells quite a few wheels in 4x108.

The 2000-2011 Focus used 4x108 wheels, and had/has a fairly strong following in grassroots motorsport.

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
Sorry, I meant 4x110, which is what the SA22 RX7s used and apparently nothing else. But Rota's got wheels in that pattern.

CAT INTERCEPTOR
Nov 9, 2004

Basically a male Margaret Thatcher
Something awesome Datsun related that ISNT SWR woke me up. Honestly, if you have something better than SWR then it's gonna be gooooooooood.

mafoose
Oct 30, 2006

volvos and dogs and volvos and dogs and volvos and dogs and volvos and dogs and vulvas and dogs and volvos and dogs and volvos and dogs and volvos and dongs and volvos and dons and volvos and dogs and volvos and cats and volvos and dogs and volvos and dogs and volvos and dogs and volvos and dogs
If someone is looking for bitching 4x110 wheels, my friend is selling some 15x7 (I think) 3 piece epsilons. Polished and straightened.

ironblock
Aug 23, 2013

Screw practicality, best 1 mile commute ever.
All this 1st gen RX-7chat keeps reminding me of that Fiero GT ad where the '80s tough guy is yelling at his hot wife to "come over here and help me wash the Mazda", but she'd way rather talk to the nerd about his Fiero that "looks like a Ferrari". :awesome:

Sadly, it looks like it got DMCA'd. :(

Elmnt80
Dec 30, 2012


Would it be possible to fit a 13b into a fiero? Has this been a thing that has been done?

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
The Fiero engine mounts like an FWD engine would, and I don't know if anyone has an FWD transaxle that can accept a 13B.

If anyone's done it it's probably New Zealanders or Puerto Ricans though.

Bibendum
Sep 5, 2003
nunc est Bibendum
Some guy did it to a Fiat X1/9 years ago but it was not trivial. I recall it involving some pretty crazy starter mounting. it was also a really tight fit, the engine had a weird tilt in the yaw axis, I think he said a 12a would fit in straight.

mafoose
Oct 30, 2006

volvos and dogs and volvos and dogs and volvos and dogs and volvos and dogs and vulvas and dogs and volvos and dogs and volvos and dogs and volvos and dongs and volvos and dons and volvos and dogs and volvos and cats and volvos and dogs and volvos and dogs and volvos and dogs and volvos and dogs
Some old crazy guy adapted a rotary to a k series Honda transmission and had a 13bt powered Acura of some sort.

ironblock
Aug 23, 2013

Screw practicality, best 1 mile commute ever.
Yeah, ye olde "anything is possible if you want to spend the money".

I figure there are enough RX-7s and FWD Mazdas in junkyards that the science could be done, if someone was so inclined. Of course, there's always the bell housing adapter route.

Looking at the position of the axles, though, it looks to me like the exhaust ports want to come out right where the passenger side axle would be.

People *are* solving the problem, though. Hmm, and if he was able to mount to a Toyota transaxle, that should mean that a C160 would work, and those get popped into AW11s all the time...

I need to stop looking at this. I have too many loving projects already :(

ironblock
Aug 23, 2013

Screw practicality, best 1 mile commute ever.
How the gently caress has this thread not been archived :psyduck:

Anyways I now must face my shame and give you all more Datsunposts.


Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Software Engineers

But first, the obligatory e/n work update: I'm on another loving death march, god drat it.

I hate my student loan, I hate JavaScript, and most of all I hate software engineers and people in general.

Work means I have basically no time for touching Datsun, but I'm making it happen despite the encumbrance. All of my bits are at various machine shops getting offset ground and other coolness. The monster motor parts should be ready to be reassembled sometime soon, but I need to order more parts. Also I have superheroed my Vette's brakes into dust, so I need to find time to change those, but my RX-7 is in the spot I want to use.

Basically it totally sucks and I need about a month off from work by this point. Maybe I'll get it when we ship (haha software never "ships" :saddowns:).


How Does Anyone Remember Anything

While I was dorking around with the galv carb extenders, I realized that I had never reattached the rear engine lift bracket, which is helpfully held in by the last head stud. Also pictured are the vast quantities of coating flakes that spewed off of the header as it heated up for the first time. That's the last time I let someone talk me into "ceramic coated" anything. Remember all that "oil smoke" from my first start video? Well, some of it was actually oil that I had spilled, but a ton of it was that poo poo.




I have one of those newfangled clicky torque wrenches, but I can never remember where I've put it. I'm so used to this beam wrench by now that it feels weird doing anything else.

One of the ongoing challenges with this setup was figuring out where to put the return spring. If you'll recall, I pulled all the return springs off of the carbs because the four of them together were so stiff that they would de-align the linkage.

This is a prototype of the single return spring, attached to the accelerator cable mount:




All of the above, coupled with some fancy new turnbuckles allowed me to tune the carbs like a giant sport bike:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9KhK-XuUug






Getting Comfortable

Now that the engine was running more or less reliably, I figured I needed some stuff like seats and a steering wheel so that I could try to drive it! One of the inevitable downsides of the place the car is kept is that a dirt driveway causes all sorts of super-fine dust to build up on everything, so my unenviable first task was scrubbing the grit out of the floor pans.




The carpet install was aided by a lovely soldering iron, which I used to burn perfect little holes in the nylon carpet (Yes, I cleaned up the shifter hole later)




Then I got dirt on the carpet because I'm a moron :shrek:




But once I had seats and carpets and shifters... I had a car.


:siren: WHICH MEANT I COULD DRIVE IT :siren:




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ED0Y74kWuk





There is a followup to that video to be posted by Moof after he realizes that I've finally posted this part.


Becoming Roadworthy

Of course, one of the things that happens when you completely dismantle a car's suspension is that loving nothing is aligned anymore, at all. So I DROVE the car onto the trailer, and took it down for its first alignment.




And because I ain't no bitch, I gave them very explicit instructions.



:cmon:

Now that's how you align a car (if you plan to go fast and buy a lot of tires).


Bonus Round

I thought this was a cool picture. Anybody want to buy that Z3M?




Now I'm getting yelled at on IRC to write more code, so I have to go do that.

Stay tuned for moof_learns_about_datsuns.mp4 and also the riveting tale of how I immediately nuked the loving engine by being a colossal turd.

Boaz MacPhereson
Jul 11, 2006

Day 12045 Ht10hands 180lbs
No Name
No lumps No Bumps Full life Clean
Two good eyes No Busted Limbs
Piss OK Genitals intact
Multiple scars Heals fast
O NEGATIVE HI OCTANE
UNIVERSAL DONOR
Lone Road Warrior Rundown
on the Powder Lakes V8
No guzzoline No supplies
ISOLATE PSYCHOTIC
Keep muzzled...

This is AWESOME!

ironblock posted:


Stay tuned for moof_learns_about_datsuns.mp4 and also the riveting tale of how I immediately nuked the loving engine by being a colossal turd.


This is not...

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
Awesome progress! Poor engine! :(

kastein
Aug 31, 2011

Moderator at http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/and soon to be mod of AI. MAKE AI GREAT AGAIN. Motronic for VP.
wait wait wait. You blew up a SECOND engine? Or is this the point in the story where you actually blew it up, and are just now getting to that part? gently caress, man, that sucks.

tater_salad
Sep 15, 2007


We're getting the longest cocktease in history worse than 14 inch and his camaro

ironblock
Aug 23, 2013

Screw practicality, best 1 mile commute ever.

kastein posted:

wait wait wait. You blew up a SECOND engine? Or is this the point in the story where you actually blew it up, and are just now getting to that part? gently caress, man, that sucks.

Um. Yes. So. The answer is actually "yes" to both questions, but for very strange reasons. Y'all have only seen pictures/videos of one engine so far - that's the one that explodes in the next chapter. :(

Mat_Drinks
Nov 18, 2002

mmm this nitromethane gets my supercharger runnin'
drat, when you drove off into the sunset in the second video I just wanted everything to be ok forever :( :(. SAY WORDS THAT MAKE IT BETTER IRONBLOCK!

MoofOntario
Jan 10, 2007

To Maintain the System the Abusive Power is Sometimes Necessary
-Pappa Brittle
Whoa.. whoa guys its time.. I've been holding onto this treasure since something like April 2015, not wanting to spoil the story.. I was in SoCal to do some work, and dropped by the Bay Area to see IronBlock and how the roadster was coming along, and managed to get first-person-view-video of the first drive about the ranch.

Sorry for the potato-video and mashed-potato-compression -- the original copy of the video was lost (actually inaccessible, its in an itunes library on a laptop in Cayman, and I'm currently... back in SoCal..) and this is the youtubing of a telegrammed copy of the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRelmtsIkWE

I'll let IronBlock pick up the story from here...

MoofOntario
Jan 10, 2007

To Maintain the System the Abusive Power is Sometimes Necessary
-Pappa Brittle

tater_salad posted:

We're getting the longest cocktease in history worse than 14 inch and his camaro

I promise he's got an excuse.. its what deathmarching in the code mines does. It makes these stories stretch out for months/years

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Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
Man I was nervous for that entire minute of drive video.

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