New World Datsuns...

Turns out it's a heater hose, one that I replaced.

Looks like the springy hose clamp isn't "seated" properly, and the hose might need to slide on a little further. Alternator, air intake, and oil filter are all out of the way, but I still don't have enough room. Starter will be next and if that doesn't do it I'll remove the lower manifold which will give me enough room for sure. But that's my worst case scenario. Gonna go screw around with various long reach angled needle nose pliers and see if that works. Well, see if I can work it anyway.

Sorry to see so many problems ... I need to helicoil half of my KA valve cover bolts. Do you think I can do it in the car, without getting metal shavings in the oil? DId you find a helicoil that lets you use the stock valve cover bolts?

Indy510 wrote:Sorry to see so many problems ... I need to helicoil half of my KA valve cover bolts. Do you think I can do it in the car, without getting metal shavings in the oil? DId you find a helicoil that lets you use the stock valve cover bolts?

Hmmm, the bolt holes are on the inside of the valve cover seal. And there is still a gap between the cover and the head because of that seal so I think it would be possible for shavings to get in the valve train. After I wrote that out I realized you only asked if it can be done in car, lol. I thought you were asking if it can be done with the valve cover on. Anyway, I did two Helicoils on the valve cover. I used a vacuum while I drilled and tapped, then wiped with towels to be sure I got all the shavings.The M6 Helicoil worked with the stock bolts. There are at least two cover bolts that don't bottom out so keep that in mind when inserting the coils.


I was able to get the leak fixed and the system held strong at 15psi for over 20 minutes. I think it's good. We shall see.

I got this thing for two reasons, easy access to the bleeder screw and temp sensor. I guess that's two in one really. Anyway, the bleeder screw hole wasn't drilled all the way through It's fixed now. It will go on next time the cooling system is flushed

Also drove it around for half an hour or so. Fully warm and it didn't look like the reservoir level changed, and no drips. Gonna let it cool back down and see where the fluid level is.

Holy shit, how can a cooling system that holds 15psi with no issue for an extended period of time still leak? I opened the radiator cap today and the fluid was low. WOW. Sadly, that will probably have to wait until I'm back from Cali.

This is just the back lighting, After this I wired the backlight power into the main gauge power and found out the oil pressure gauge is bad, needle shoots all the way up as soon as it gets power, go figure. Water temp and voltage both work fine.



Also ordered the KA alternator pigtail and added wire to be ready for install. Should look a little better than the individual spades plugged into it now.

So y'all thought I was gonna be able to look at this car everyday and not do anything about it? Hahaha, no way. I woke up around 5:30 this morning and it was practically light out so I hooked up the cooling system pressure tester and pumped it up. I was very thorough with the leak search and I found one. The pressure held just fine, but there was a leak at the rubber hose for the heater core valve. It was hard as hell, but I got a tiny 8mm wrench in there and was able to tighten it.


Look close and you can see the green drip forming on the upper hose clamp.

Retested and the pressure held fine once again, but no leaks from the heater hose. I don't know how I missed this before, especially since the dripping was pretty consistent at about 1drip every 3-4 seconds.

Just got back from a test drive. The overflow tank didn't level didn't change at all, before (with air in the system from a leak) the overflow would be spilling over within 15 minutes of driving. Honestly, I was ripping on it pretty hard so if there's still an issue it'll show soon enough.

And I seriously need an alignment, understeer on left turns and oversteer on right turns. Feels to me like it's coming from the rear. If I'd known the rear crossmember was slotted I probably wouldn't have ever unbolted the trailing arms. It might come down to the string method if I can't find anywhere that will deal with the modified suspension.

Those style of hose clamps will always leak/loosen up.

You're right^^^

Everywhere I used a harbor freight clamp has given me issues. What I really need to do is order a bunch of good clamps for when I come back. That way I'll have them when these ones loosen up again, I can just replace them one by one.

The good news is the leaks have stopped completely, for now. I put in a several hours of driving over the last few days. I'm really glad it's sorted now, less to think about over the summer.

Transmission has quite a bit of bearing noise in third gear, and fifth gear is a little rough but it's hard to describe. That 620 my friend and I got going earlier this year might get this trans and I'll look for a KA trans. That is, if it's refundable...

I've got a few other plans going in my head, but I'll keep them wrapped up until I make some decisions. Probably my last real update for a while. See ya on the other side!

Glad you're leaving it in driver condition.
Safe travels to you.

HF hose clamps? Yikes!


Just start yarding factory hose clamps with every trip you take to the junk yard. Nothing finer than OE hardware.

I know, I know....

I might go with the heat shrink hose clamps in certain spots that won't need to come off. Like underneath the intake manifold and such...

https://youtu.be/A89G4fdQ4jI

Incase you were wondering, it lives!

Getting some of the wiring in a prettier state.



Also found I have a front main seal leak. It's oozing out and flinging pretty much everywhere off the crank pulley. It's weird because when I went through with the last bout of engine work I replaced the lower timing cover which came with a new seal already installed. I had already bought a nissan seal before that so at least I have a new one ready to go in.

In other news, my coolant is still going someplace I cant locate. I just don't get it. The system holds pressure fine with the tester. The coolant level doesn't rise in the expansion tank when it's warmed, but when I shut the engine off the rad sucks some fluid out but it never makes it to the rad. I swear I has this fixes before.

Techflex is super nice, looks nice too. Unless its in a dirty environment, then it collects dust/dirt. This also means the harness itself gets dirty. Inside a car its great, Outside it leaves some to be desired, Splitloom is better, but ugly (to me). At this point, Im thinking splitloom with techflex on top.

By Splitloom do you mean that stiff(er) ribbed plastic loom stuff you can get at the part stores? If so, I agree, ugly as can be, and harder to clean when it does get dirty.

Somehow one of the oem spring clamps worked it's way loose on the heater (out) connection. You know one of those under the intake mani. Ugh! Quickly decided I'm eliminating the hard water line and running one rubber hose from the outlet on the thermostat straight to the firewall pass-through. Two hose clamps is always better than four in my book. I don't have an easy way of getting a photo of what I'm talking about so I'll find one on the net real fast.

Circled in red is where it hooks up to the back side of the thermostat, and in blue is where I'm leaking. You can also see the extra hose clamps along that hose that need to go. I'm tired of going back to the part store to rent the pressure tester all the time. Lol, think I'll buy my own now.

Yea, I think I eliminated 8 coolant hoses on the CA.

And yes that ribbed plastic. It's not horrid to clean. Better than techflex at least.