New World Datsuns...

Sounds like a normal day to me, two steps forward, one step back, well most the time.
At least your getting stuff done, I have been cleaning the garage for days now, there are so many butter containers and cans full of nuts and bolts, I save them all in containers then sort them later, well it is later.

Well, it's official, I'm never getting rid of Wynona. She's making me work for every little thing. I'll never get my money out of her if I went to sell her at this point. Just like the hardbody. I got the timing cover on and was planning on putting the oil pan on next, so I go to attach the water neck on the side. Top bolt strips out. F me. So I drilled and tapped it with the angle air drill and managed to get it straight. Now it's a 10x1.5 bolt instead of the 8x1.25 that was in there. I suspect the bottom one will strip the next time I yank that off, but it seems to have enough threads to hold for now. I'm eating dinner. Pretty sure I won't need to yank it off and drill and tap another hole.

This is why mechanics don't work on 80's rigs. Too much shit to go wrong. Oil pan STILL isn't on. After dinner I hope to have that accomplished, lol. Been at this all day and all I've done is route a pain in the ass clutch hard line, install a backing plate and flywheel/clutch, and a timing chain set and timing cover. Unbelievable.

Haha, now do it flat-rate.

Yeah, that'd be about a 5000 dollar bill! The good news is the oil pan is on and I wrestled the stupid fucking crossmember back into position. I did manage to get the steering shaft off by one spline, but I'll just yank the steering wheel and accept the dots won't line up by one. Thank goodness for not a clock spring or other crap in the steering wheel, right? Just a horn, like it should be.

Should be able to install the transmission tomorrow, have a tax appointment in the afternoon. If I can get it mostly buttoned up, and maybe even the head on, I'll be pretty happy. The rest can be fiddled with on the weekends.

Ok, today is better. Transmission is installed, crossmember is in. Oil pump is in. The rear transmission crossmember however is a problem. The automatic mounts WAY back on the edge of the automatic, whereas on the Maxima 5 speed, it's just like the rest of the long tails with a pad about 8 inches from the rear output. Definitely going to need a custom transmission mount. Think I have a pretty good idea of how to do it, but I'll need some metal bar stock and it's just not getting done before tomorrow.

Still have to install the cylinder head and hook up all peripherals, but the clutch is bled and works fine. That was an interesting thing. The Maxima always had a pissy clutch, but it worked fine. Part of it was that damper thingy I removed on install in the wagon. The other thing was when I went to change the throwout bearing, they had the throwout bearing pedestal spring upside down so the pointy side was digging into the clutch fork! Not to mention there wasn't any grease left, just hardened leftover grease-dirt. After cleaning that all out, it works much smoother. And now for lunch and a tax appointment.

https://youtu.be/ubyOg-K62co

Here's a little jazz/funk for you while I do some errands. Eventually I'll post some pictures.

Oh boy, a massive picture dump for all you lucky fellows! Enjoy!

Yes, this application requires bench-pressing the crank into the block. It's not fun. Here's a quick way to relieve the donor car of fuel providing the pump works: Jump the fuel pump relay and the ignition on switch becomes a fuel pump switch! Be careful disconnecting this and don't arc it. Gasoline is flammable.

This is the freeze plug that took me half a day to install. Fucking bullshit. Still annoyed about that. Oversized to 2 and 1/16 now.

Mohammed came by and helped out separating the transmission while I screwed around with the pedals. Then we drug Ugly Betty to the front yard with the hardbody. He got to drive Ugly Betty with no power and no pedals and a dangling steering shaft, lol! Good times. She's firmly anchored in snow now and will remain until spring melt.









Note the pretty new flattop pistons! Ooooo! And the Datsmo pedal pads! The gas pedal doesn't fit the Maxima. It will fit the Z however. Got those off Facebook, as much as I hate it, they pretty bad ass for 20 some odd bucks.

Wagon mount at left, 5 speed Maxima sedan mount at right. They look really similar on a quick glance. Only about 8 miles off. Nothing some welding can't fix.

That's a lotta pics, yo.

pics yay! Solid progress!

I went and welded a support a bar to hold my engine up while I remove the crossmember... Also did some measurements to make sure the engine stays at elevation and rotation. Then I went out for some beer with friends.

Maybe I missed it in an earlier post but, what is the reasoning behind assembling it piece by piece in the car instead of building the engine on a stand and dropping it it complete? Bench press comment had me wondering.

Ha, kinda like bench pressing the L18 in the 620 so my friends could remove the steering center link. Remember, the 620 uses a 620 oil pan. Haha, found that out the hard way.

Reason for in the car is lots of snow and cold and garage isn't long enough to fit the cherry picker in front of the car. At least it's covered and I'm not doing it outside except for the Betty motor yanking. Think I would have done it a bit differently but at the time I also thought just the head was the problem, thought the block was ok. How silly was I?

Makes sense.

Alright, back out to the garage!!! Think I have an idea for the crossmember.