Datsun SPL311 Racer

Purrs like a kitten

2010-08-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

Since the head gasket looked like it was about to blow through again, I took the engine completely apart. I then took the block in to have it decked flat. It wasn't far off, but I was going to make sure that block wasn't going to be an issue. Since the head had been rubbed on extensively by Verne Colvin of BRE history, the compression was already high. I had the machine shop check it and we couldn't see light between it and a stright edge.

Then it was down to reassembly, which I thought was pretty straight forward. And yes, I put everything back where it came from (rods, valves, pistons, bearings, etc.). Although I did fix the maxed out dizzy advance by putting it in one gear back as it should have been before. This would give me more adjustability.

Refilled fluids and cranked the engine for 20 seconds to build oil pressure. Plugged the coil in and hit the starter. It started right up and purred like never before. A slight tweak of the timing and carbs settings and it was running smooth and had quick throttle response.

There's a race this weekend so I packed her up and dropper her at the track so as to have a good pit and pit layout. AND, it's supposed to be 100degrees Saturday. O joy!!!

I will update with details of how she runs. Wish us luck.

Engine Tear-down

2010-08-13T00:02:00.000-07:00

After the lousy engine performance at ORP, I felt there was nothing to lose by tearing apart the engine to get to the root of the problem. Taking the head off revealed the effects of the unstable timing, carbs challenges, and eminent head gasket failure.

It didn't take long to locate the root cause of the poor performance. Removing the timing cover this time revealed heavy gouge marks. Not only was the cam gear grinding on the cover, but the timing chain was getting into the act too and over an 1/8" of the reinforcing rib on the inside was ground away. "Why?", I asked.

I took hold of the cam gear and the whole cam shaft would move in and out of the block some .130". I'm no pro engine builder with countless builds under my belt, but even I could see that that wasn't right. Since there's a helical gear on the shaft that drives the distributor, it was easy to understand why the timing wouldn't remain stable.

Some more disassembly revealed that the woodruff key was forced out the back of the slot when the cam gear was jammed on. This kept the cam gear from bearing against the block as it should. Thus, the shaft would slide in and out at random, and take the distributor setting with it. Flat on the ground without load, the engine would time and run well. Race it up or down a hill, and it would crap out.

And now, the train wreck picture show......

Woodruff key jammed half way out of the slot

Should the side of the cam bearing be ground into like this? I doubt it.

Another angle. And pistons 3/4.

Pistons 1 and 2

Another head gasket for the trash. And the buildup on the valve area.

Oregon Raceway Park June 18-20

2010-08-08T19:09:00.000-07:00

The engine wasn't right, obviously. It had a knock in the front of the engine since the day the engine builder did the initial run-in of the new build. $1500 and a whole race season lost netted me a rebuilt engine with no power and an ominous knock. Gee, thanks man! I was determined to race this year and wasn't in any hurry to give up. I ran the engine once out of shear frustration with having missed the year before. The knock didn't improve or worsen. I figured a rebuild was the worst I would have to face and was rolling the dice.

I spent time after that last race to go over the car and look for what might be causing the lack of power and the odd knocking that had been present at the front of the engine since I got it back from the engine builder.

I ran a compression check and one cylinder was higher than the rest by 30psi. Loss of compression is one thing, but increased compression? What the hell? I had the carbs running both even and balanced. Timing seemed stable. Valves were adjusted and checked at the track last time. Just the knock, compression imbalance and lack of power. I took off the bottom end and checked everything I could see. I took off the timing cover and checked the chain and tensioner. All looked fine. I decided to forego the PIR race and get ready for the very fun ORP races.

I started a new job on 6/1, but was sure to arrange being off Friday the 18th for the HDPE at ORP to test the car before the race. All I needed was the car to be right.

I asked a new friend from the track to come by and look over the car and help me see the problem that the car had... I couldn't see the problem having stared and prodded over it for so long. The extra set of eyes, and more importantly experience, would be a great help.

After messing with the timing it didn't seem to improve anything. He called his friend and we came to the conclusion it had to be the valves. We rechecked them, and sure enough, one was very loose. We readjusted it, checked the compression, and all 4 were spot on. Yeah!

I'm going to ORP.

Grass Valley- Still No Power

2010-08-08T18:19:00.000-07:00

The excitement of the first race in Grass valley's new Oregon Raceway Park was the most anticipated race of the schedule for me. I headed out for the 3 hour drive to SouthEast of the Dalles. Got there at Friday after the drivers training had completed. Unfortunately, the other drivers had anticipated the race as well and parking was at a premium by the time I arrived. I dropped the trailer and car off in my assigned paddock space and found myself a camping spot 1/8-1/4 mile away down a gravel road.

I learned that in Eastern Oregon it gets pretty cold at night. Being in the high plains with the 30mph winds got things quite chilly. It carried into the morning. Sweatshirts under jackets with a head cover was necessary all day. The car wasn't quite running right, but I sensed it was all a function of the carbs needing adjusted.

The first run was frustrating in that I had almost no power up the hills. But, the car did run and the track was a blast.

The organizers see to it that the Novices get screwed on run times. We're the last before lunch (practice), a mandatory lunch meeting and the first run ("quals") after lunch. Since the car ran like crap, I had no time to work on it between runs. I skipped the quals to save what I did have in a car for the race. After all, it is my 4ht year trying to get through the novice program.

The race saw me run dead last with the car having almost no power to pull up the many hills of the course. But, I did get another race logged. YEAH!!!

Rose City Opener 4/24-25

2010-04-30T12:22:00.000-07:00

4/24/2010
First race of the year and I'm back in the pits trying for another year to complete a Novice License attempt. What is it now, 3-4 years??!?! Aaargh.

But first...Drama!

On Wednesday the 21st, I find myself still chasing an electrical demon that won't allow the car to run well. If the Field is plugged into the alternator, the car runs awful (ammeter pegs at 30). I ran the HPDE without it, so I knew I had a back-up for the weekend.

But, me and my infinite wisdom, I choose to totally, yes totally, rewire the car. New fuse block, master switch, fuel switch, wires, connections. I'm going to root out this problem and fix some other troubling items in the process. Also, I'll have a wiring diagram to work with as a result.

In 6 hours, everything was rewired and the master/kill/alternator combo was per the kill switch wiring guide (Longacre). But, it failed. Connecting the Field wire on the alternator quickly bogs the motor down. More on that later. Because I had a race to go to.

Car is "ready" with 100LL in the tank to avoid pinging, engine recently rebuilt and Accusump accumulator primed with 2qts of 40psi Mobile 1 synthetic oil. Car is purring like a kitten, warmed up and ready. I'm now strapped in, Hans, arm restraints, and the other usual accouterments. Mirrors adjusted, time to head to grid. "10 minutes early guys!" the Novice director says. So I'm there, midway down the grid, Miatas everywhere like locust. A few Pro3 BMWs and a couple REALLY fast stock cars and GTIs.

5 minute warning. The sun disappears behind a dark, very dark cloud.

1 Minute warning, car starts right up and the drops begin to fall. We head out. By lap 3, the rain is pouring. The only sollace is that everything from my neck down seems to be in the dry (speed good!). But there's no grip on my older, hard near-treadless Advans. The high speed turns are treacherous. 50 MPH sideways is thrilling, but not when the front straight wall is coming at you.

Three more laps and the water is getting deeper on the track. I pull into the hot pits because I don't want to crash me or hold up the others. "I'm waiting to see if it lets up!", I tell the pit steward. "Only 2 minutes left in session!", he yells over the remaining cars going by. So I return to my spot in the pits (under my nice new canopy I got for last year's attempt).

Hour later and the sun has returned, track is dry. "Qualifying" run goes well, but the engine won't rev past 6k and full throttle seems to bog down the engine as the session goes on. But, no oil leaks, pinging, blown head gaskets. Even the brakes are much better. I'll race today!

Race was at 4:30ish. The car ran the whole 30 minute session without major issue. Yes, I finished dead last, but I have not overdriven the car and saved hurting it in the process. I pull into the pits, shut the car down, and a wave of emotion comes over me. I sit there for 5 minutes, just realizing that the car and I finally made it through a complete Practice, qualifying and race set.

FINALLY! And I'm spent. Mentally spent. I check in with the race director 20 minutes later, and there's no issues with me from the Senior drivers reviewing the Novice Race. Job well done.

Time to pack up and go home.

FINALLY!!!!!!

She's ALIVE !

2010-04-20T11:30:00.001-07:00

New year with new expectations of finally keeping things together to complete the Novice Racing Program with Cascade Sports Car Club. We (car and me) ran all 4 sessions of the first High Performance Drivers Education (HPDE) on March 20th. Weather was perfect ! Yeah! And in Oregon even!

More on the run day in a bit, because there has to be drama with this car first, right!?!?!?!

During the engine initial start-up, after it's total rebuild, the thing wouldn't really run well. The builder tried everything he could think of. After an hour of futzing and frustration, I noticed the Ammeter was pegged to one side. The builder unplugged the alternator and instantly things were running better.

There was/is also a strange knocking noise that seems to emanate from around the water pump. It does not sound healthy (or death eminent). It didn't get worse or better and the engine guy said he didn't know what it was and that it was at my risk to run it. Un-belting the water-pump as a test didn't fix the knock.

Being fed up with missing the entire race season last year waiting for my engine to be rebuilt, waiting a month and a half to start the car up (bye-bye dyno time), I wasn't about to jump on his suggestion to pull the engine and pulling it apart (we'll see if that turns out to be a bad decision). I had planned on start-up since early February when it was reassembled, but the builder was booked. Now it was the Tuesday before the run and I was seeing red mist!

Screw it! I'm running on battery only and damn the knock!

Saturday morning arrived and it was chilly, but sunny. Wife, kid and good friend Steve came by to over-see the melee around lunch time. Wife took pics, kid had lunch in the hammock in the trailer and Steve thoughtfully ensured I got my harness belts on properly (among other little but crucial details).

The 2 morning runs were great. I took it easy and felt the car out, slowly increasing engine speeds and turn loading. Things were all right!

Car ran well, albeit it ran battery only (aka a "total loss")...meaning w/o an alternator. But, I had a nagging problem with the car not wanting to rev past 5300RPM. Oh well, I was getting seat time and I could fix that later. Smooth first, speed later. Brakes too were finally working well ! Yeah!

The after lunch session was good with the family taking smug pictures. Last session of the day I had some 1-year old 100LL fuel to use up. I put it in, cranked the carb needles to be more rich, and headed out. By the third turn though, knocking was creeping in and I know how quick that will blow things on this motor. I up-shifted to 4th to lower the revs and puttered in. Too bad it pings only when the engine is loaded up. A dyno tuning session would have helped mitigate that kind of adjustment need.

I figured I had had a good day, and it was time to thank the car by letting her off easy. That, and I know not to push my luck too much.

So, in the following weeks, I have time to address some issues before the Rose City Opener on April 24th!

Meanwhile, some pics from the day.

2010-02-08T19:10:00.000-08:00

Since I changed over to a 5-speed, I needed a 5-speed cross-member to mount the transmission onto.

The 5-speed XM is shorter (1-5/8" vs. 2-13/16" tall) and moves the transmission bolt mounting holes aft (about 11/16").

The tranny mount is in front of the X in the vehicle frame, thus the shorter of the trapezoid sides is aft. Note that the transmission mount is also different for a 4-speed to a 5-speed.

2010-02-02T11:51:00.000-08:00

***2/2/2010 UPDATE
I pulled a couple pics as I am changing the routing of the line through the firewall and the mess attached to the oil filter sandwich plate. I'll update with pics when a replacement fitting arrives and is installed ;-)

Light weight Aluminum air scoop for oil cooler and radiator. Previous one wasn't very good.
Oil cooler (Earls 41010 13Wx2Dx3H, 9-row) attached and fitted with 10AN connections.

End rounded over to minimize abrasion on oil lines (it's a tight fit as you'll see later.

Back side of rounded corner.

Trim added to increase softening of corner.

Oil lines from sandwich platge added.

Accusump placed into passenger side seat well.

One J-clamp in place, but will fab a custom bracket to hold globe valve (heavy).

Radiator boxed in to drive flow.

Oil lines going under frame and into air scoop.

Looking up into the scoop (aka the clag view). Cooler safely tucked in behind the grill vents.

Another clag view.

Happy New Year

2010-01-16T22:02:00.000-08:00

Well, Santa didn't come bearing lots of unexpected car goodies, so I had to hit the internet. After some serious shopping, I now have some spendy insurance for the car's engine. Nope, not Haggerty or Hemmings, but Canton.

Canton Accusump oil accumulator to be exact. And lots of really spendy blue and red fittings attached to fat steel braided oil lines. Pics are on the way, but the size 10AN set-up should push some of the 2qt capacity into the engine right quick to avoid any starvation due to pressure drop.

The rebuilt engine returned in late September, the 2009 race season was a complete washout. Three years into this and still haven't gotten to race in a complete Novice session (Seattle was a close one tho, until the dizzy ground wire jumped off its connector 5 minutes before the session ended). Waaaah! Anyway, I had the oil cooler and lines steam-cleaned for re-install with the virgin engine.

But the Accusump came fitted with an 10AN set-up. Hmmm. My current oil cooler lines/fittings are all 6AN. There must be a reason cause the volumetric flow rate is quite different. Some more checking with the engine builder and he's adamant about "nothing less than 8AN, but go with the 10AN !" Drat!!!

So several, and I mean several, hundred dollars later, I have a very nice "Aeroquip fitted, steel braided line plumbed, shiny Blue Accusump pressurized, globe shut-off valved, Earl's Racing cooler, 10AN Oil pressure plumbed" insurance system. It sucks that you need an adapter for just about every swivel fitting (that is a royal bitch to install onto the braided line). 10ANs to NPT threads because there isn't a shut-off globe valve in anything but an NPT thread (that I could find) and NPTs into the engine oil filter sandwich plate, and Accusump. Even Earl's coolers use an O-ring adapter to 10AN fitting. Sheesh Louise !

I'll add pics as soon as the lines and globe valve mountings are in place.

Season Opener -Engine Failure

2009-05-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

I entered the Spring Opener in Portland for the start of a good racing season. Jazzed that winter is gone, the car's winter projects completed. I decided to pay the extra bucks for the Test and Tune Friday sessions to get some serious seat tiem that last season's mechanical hiccups stole from me. Unfortunately, there was something lurking in the engine that I didn't know about.

Missed session one waiting for the expert help in adjusting the carbs. He wasn't available until the second session. I also had a non-functional tach suddenly, so I busied myself troubleshooting that. Wasn't about to over rev the engine or cause it to ping, so I passed on the first session. Ran the second, vowing to take it easy and just get seat time.

On this first run session, it started started losing power and some oil pressure dips. Not wanting to go through the head rebuild AGAIN, I wisely shut it off and coasted from the back stretch to the pits. Seems the valve cover gasket let go and washed the engine bay with a layer of Royal Purple protection. Took an hour to clean. The thought was that the double gasket set-up, left over from last season's head bolt spacing effort, was the root cause. Replaced the gasket and got ready for the next practice session.

Then, the next session ran fine until late in the period I smelled a bit of burning and then a temperature increase. Drove it back under low engine load. This time it appeared that the new alternator wasn't perfectly aligned when I modified the mounting casting. The 1/8' off at high RPMs caused the belt to jump the crank pully, get lodged, and the spinning motor burnt through the belt. Fixed that with more grinding of the casting and a new belt. Picked up a new tach from Baxters at the same time. Put that in, got it working, and the rest was showing well. Oil levels oddly still checked out as OK. Too much oil to start with???

Then, a very rude awakening 5 laps into the next run. Coming down the back stretch at full power (somewhere around 110+ MPH), I lightly touched the brakes to set the car for the high speed turn in to Turn 10. The car instantly swapped ends and I was spinning. On track, off track, on track, off track and still going. Don't flip, don't flip, don't flip I screamed in my head. Luckily, it didn't, I was fine and no collateral damage. But the tire wall was a damn sight closer. Fired her back up, got Black Flagged and went to the pits. The pit boss looked under the car and screamed "Get the hell off my grid" and pointed to the paddock. I got out, looked under and it looked like I'd taken the car through an oil car wash. It was dripping from everywhere!!!!

The valve cover had let go again and misted oil everywhere at 70psi and 100mph. SHAT!!!. Real nice on a white car.

A nice MGB Vintage racer happened by and graciously helped me figure out that the pressure is building too high in the valve cover and not venting out properly...hence the gasket pushing out. OK, drilled the center out of the catch tank and ran a new hose from the valve cover to the tank for the next day of "practice,/qualifying" and the Novice Race.

One practice session was flawless. Finally!!!

But then, the "race"....it lasted two laps for me. The oil pressure went to 20psi and I shut it off and pulled into the Turn 8 pull-out. Flat towed back after watching the other drivers f0r the remaining 25 minutes of their Novice experience. Popped teh hood. No oil anywhere it shouldn't be. Must be the gauge or pump. Hmph. Pack it up and go home busted, AGAIN.

Days later, I took off the oil pan and removed the oil pump. Oil pump pumped fine. Maybe a weak bypass spring (for over-pressure conditions, it opens a bypass valve)? But then, I saw it there, gleaming in the fine residue of oil in the pan. A big brass shaving of some sort. What's brass doing there. Then, further review and a trip under the car told the story. Billions of bits of what used to be the brass main bearings for the crankshaft. I can;t even find the right explitive for my feeling right then.

Now what? Besides a rebuild for the engine???

Misc Pics for Details Later

2009-01-27T20:22:00.000-08:00

How about some video?

2008-11-08T16:57:00.000-08:00

Finally...Proof that the car does run!

Warning: Sound track is atrocious since it's
all wind at speed on the video recorder's built in mic.

First off...a reminder about the first lap.

"Blew the Head" 3x now

2008-11-05T12:58:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm getting pretty good at rebuilding the top side of the engine now.

Race #1, Practice #1, Portland International Raceway
3 laps and major overheat due to BAD pinging. #4 cylinder has H2O in it. #1 is steamed.
Water temp went to 250 degrees sitting in the "Hot Pits" chatting with the stewards
about the "awful pinging sound that engine is putting out".
This overheat resulted in the gasket near #4 to die. #1 was close to doing the same.
Cause: Altered Motors, who I enlisted to help because of the pending race,
set the timing to 54 degrees advance. Not good. Now I double check. Should be 25-ish.
Result: No permanent damage to block/head seen. Rebuilt in 4 hours.

Race#2, Practice #1, Pacific Raceways, Seattle
5 Laps into 1st practice, temp goes to 240 and steam is hissing out the overflow tank.
Pulled plugs. Cylinder plugs #s 1 and 4 have water on them.
Steam cleaned them...steam was coming out of the plug hole too.
Cause: Sticky thermostat and suspected head bolt torque not sufficient.
Result: No permanent damage to block/head seen. Another head gasket bites the dust.
Tore down and rebuilt in 2.5 hours. Doubled the washers on the head bolts to take up some of
the suspected yielding of the bolts. Gotta get new bolts or stud the block (better option).
Made first novice race. Start went to full-course yellow for two laps right away.
Second lap, head gawd awful popping/banging noise like a valve dropped and was being
forged by the piston. Pulled into pits. Engine guy said it was a smog port plug that had come
loose and the exhaust was leaking out there instead of going through the manifold.

"No worries, go back out!!!" I did and hauled @$$ for some 15 mins. Then it just quit with half a lap to go :-( Turns out the ground line on the dizzy came off. But. I got mostly 5s, some 4s on my Senior Driver reviews (out a best 5) YEAH! One race signed off on!

"Race" #3, Session #4- Alfa Romeo High Performance Track day, PIR
Temp suddenly went from 190 to 225 degrees as it started to ping through turns 8/9.
I immediately shut her down and pulled into my pit (coasting). temp went to 230 and
she drank another 2 gallons of water during a futile attempt to cool it off.
Yes, that's a bad sign. #4 spark plug was steam cleaned and steam was coming out of the
spark plug hole. #1 looked suspicious.
Cause: Switched to premium pump gas. It has 10% ethanol.
Fuel (alcohol) predetonated in the cylinders effectively advancing the timing way early.
Result: Day over and learned that I need to richen up the carbs a lot when going to pump
gas. Another rebuild!

Process for replacing a blown head gasket on the Datsun R16 motor.
1. Drain water from motor/radiator. (there's a block drain plug too, if your motivated)
2. Remove water temperature sensor and second head plug.
(2nd orifice originally allowed a coolant line connection to the intake manifold).
3. Drain oil from motor and cooler (it'll have water in it too).
4. Remove spark plugs wires and plugs.
5. Remove thermostat housing, thermostat from head.
6. Remove alternator tension rod from head.
7. Un-couple exhaust header from exhaust piping.
8. Remove valve cover breather tube and then valve cover.
9. Slightly loosen, in 2 counter clockwise sequences, the intake/exhaust manifold nuts.
10. Once all Ex/Int nuts are loose, remove them and the washers completely.
11. Slip intake completely off studs, just enough to move out of the way of the exhaust manifold.
All the fuel lines and cables can stay as-is, attached to the intake/carbs.
12. Slip Exhaust manifold off studs. This can fall since it's also unattached at the bottom too.
13. Starting from one end, barely loosen the rocker shaft tower bolt. Move to the next and then in sequence to loosen a small amount on each one of the 4 tower nuts. The idea is to gradually loosen the nuts so that the pressure from the valve springs isn't allowed to tweak the rocker shaft on any one nut loosening effort. Remove all four nuts and washers.
14. Carefully lift off the rocker assembly and set aside.
15. IMPORTANT: Remove the 8 rocker push rods, but keep these in order so that you can put them back exactly in the positions (holes) they came from.
16. The head is Aluminum (on mine) and the block is cast iron, so you need to be careful not to deform the head in the bolt loosening effort. So, as was done in step 13, you want to loosen the 10 head bolts in a similar fashion. Starting from the middle set and working outward counter-clockwise. Three cycles of small loosening efforts should release enough pressure equally so as to not tweak the head. Remove the bolts noting where the one longer bolt comes from. Should be port side of #1 cylinder.
16. Lift off the head. the valve cover studs have a tendency to catch the throttle cable tho. Expect some water to be in the head still.
17. Remove the head gasket and assess the damage.
18. Soak up any water in the cylinders right away.
19. Spray the cylinders and block face with a lube to prevent rust from starting (WD-40 maybe).
20. Assembly is kinda the reverse, but not exactly. More on that, with pics, specs, later.

The starting point and patient.

A Royal Purple 0W-30W oil milkshake inside the valve cover.

Valve cover and rocker assembly.

Manifold bolts removed from studs. Intake slipped off and outta the way.
Exhaust manifold, loose at the down pipe too, is next to come off.

Push rods removed, sequenced for reassembly later, and head removed.
One (closest), and 4 show steam cleaning signs. #s 2and 3 look normal.

#4 clean, 3 has some water intrusion signs, 2 is dark with normal burn residue.

Another view.

Burnt gasket. Water passage and head bolt holes in bottom left.

#1 almost went completely, but not quite. Some steaming seen.

Cylinder block with piston #1

Block, piston #4. geez, there's still water in it!

Poor head gasket...sorry I did that to you. Head side.

Block side

Offending bolts. These have yielded over time and don't hold a necessary torque.

Pics of the rebuild coming soon to a blog near you.

Finished Pics

2008-09-02T12:27:00.001-07:00

I'll add more in a bit...just wanted to upload these for now.

Paint's Done !!!

2008-08-10T21:46:00.000-07:00

Racing to the finish so to speak. I have 5 days to get the stickers on, install the electrical system, fluids and fire it up for the race ICSCC race at Portland International Raceway on Saturday August 16th.

Holy s#^@ Batman....we're not gonna make it!

White and Blue are now under 3 good thick coats of clear. Let her cure a day or two and put on the numbers, DATSUN logo, and various others. My assigned Novice race number is 312. Tried registering as #311 as in the car model SPL311, but I figure "311...312...whatever it takes".

Anyway, I'll be trying to make it regardless.

Paint time!!!

2008-08-06T21:20:00.000-07:00

A few more bondo additions, then sand smooth. Lots of sanding. Then primer. Thirteen hours worth of hand sanding including the post-primer sanding phase to smooth out the orange peel surface I created trying to prime. It wasn't me actually...its was inferior air supply (and learning curve).

Lesson learned...there is no substitute for displacement. Usually a phrase aimed at engines, but I'm applying it to compressor motors now. A little 6.2CFM/8 gallon compressor cannot drive an HVLP gun to give any sort of decent surface finish. Even if the gun does say only 4-6 CFM required, you need 3x that. The gun just cannot atomize the paint properly using a wimpy compressor; especially a thick filler primer with a 1.5 gun tip. Adding 20% more reducer to the paint helped tho. Leave the small stuff for nail guns.

So, a few dollars later, the 220V 16.4CFM compressor is on line and functioning very well. I painted 4x as much in 6x less time with way better surface finish results. Happy worker bee finally:-)

The culprits:

WIMPY WIMPY :-( HEFTY HEFTY :-)

Some pics of the car after post-primer sanding and paint dust wash.

And a couple after initial paint (Mazda White). Color accents are next, and then 4-5 coats of clear coat. I get to learn to spray metallics next.That'll be an interesting lesson.

Sneak peak inside....Dude! Where's my dash?

Major Progress This Time

2008-07-20T23:44:00.000-07:00

Oil Cooling system.... done

Fuel System... done

Fire system....done (c'ept for last 2 fittings in dash/trunk) awaiting dash/rear firewall.

Battery Box.....done

Tranny tunnel cover...done

Shifter Cover...done

Driveshaft Install....done

Rear Brakes....done

Dash pour...done

Ok, now the pics !!!

Engine with all new Aeroquip fittings and hoses

Canton Oil cooler bypass plate, Aeroquip plumbing, and B&M Cooler.

Safecraft 5lb Halon System. Will have the pull handle mounted to the side of the tranny tunnel.

Custom non-conductive light weight battery box (UHMW).

Super light weight jet-ski Odyssey battery (695 CCAmps).

Custom home-fabbed aluminum tranny tunnel with shifter inset. Floor pad on driver's side too.

2-Part poured foam dash. Swells a lot!

Shaved to desired contour. Next is to spray contact adhesive, lay on headliner foam, and smooth on the black suade cover material.

Fuel cell, pump, and filter. Fire supression nozzle waiting for rear deck cover before final fitment.

Fuel cell breather filter. Using the old fuel fill location on the back trunk panel.

Floor pan and tranny tunnel plates. Nice swirls in the finish eh?

Next up...ELECTRICAL !!! AAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!

Progress Report

2008-07-01T13:36:00.000-07:00

Front brakes/hubs refurb'd

Engine accessories getting back in place. Fuel line needs new routing and fitment. Oil cooler and Accusump getting located next. Not going to a dry-sump.

Fire supression system layout in process. Battery needs complete encasement per rules.

Ah, the wiring mess. Got the gauges positioned in the dash tho.

Fuel cell cleaned and re-installed. Fuel pump tested and filter in place now. Need new line from cell pick-up point to pump. Sounds like a small box ofull of spendy red and blue fittings is in my future. Moved the battery from the trunk (fuel area) to the pass side area next to the fire bottle.

PAINT -And some assembly required

2008-05-27T22:28:00.000-07:00

Here's the Goal: #311 FProduction Race car with livery reminscent of Datsun color scheme.

Got the firewall and tranny tunnel painted last week. That helped me free up space by re-installing the motor (after being out a year+). Bolted and safety-wired the tranny cross member bolts in place while I was at it. Slight frustration by breaking two 1/16" drill bits on the bolts. I think a drill press fixture may be in the works to steady the bolts for this process.

Then, with that done, a few pics taken in the sun, and roll her back indoors for paint inside the main area and trunk spaces. But not before the neighbor kids waddled by for a look see on my progress. Man, mom needs a new hobby or somethin'...10 kids ?!?!?! Go for a swim!

They asked that I keep the fumes to a minimum in the future. I'll see what I can do.

5/27/2008

Inside is now painted with 3 coats or 2-part base and 3-part clearcoated with 3 coats. I'm not too impressed with my clearcoating skills. I think the inside of a car is a bitch to paint, especially, with effectively a 12" paint gun ( including the feed bowl and attached pressure regulator) and a few more inches for the rigid air hose coupling. Add to that the clear, which with my eyes and fogged glasses I can't see...well, you get the idea. Yes, I was cussing and getting my face full of spray. Wouldn't have that problem if I had a $10k paint booth would I? Fortunately, everything comes off my glasses with a good soap and water rub. Too bad I can't see that well while I'm painting tho.

Anyway, the results aren't horrific and I'm hopefully building skills for the important outer panels that are next. One can easily see the difference between a $700 Seta paint gun and my set from Costco.

Before:

After:

Time to go to bed and rest. Still have that full-time job to go to. No sign of the neighbor kids.

Some assembly can happen now while I forget what a bitch the painting was. I'll call this next phase prep work for the outer panel paint effort later. Maybe when I'm done with this phase I will have forgotten the painting frustration.

CARB REFURB

2008-05-20T22:38:00.000-07:00

Having sat for a few years, these carbs were looking dull and dingy. Add in the unknown conditions inside meant it was time they had a refurbishing.

Before....

During.... Lot's of penetrant, carb cleaner, and a soft brass wire brush in the drill press.

The little black spring at the botom of the pic, which holds the float valve parts in place, can and will launch into some other dimension within the garage if not kept track of. Luckily, I have 3 other carb sets from which to borrow parts :-)

After

Needle profiles were reasonably straight and tapered. Hope I can reset it all correctly when needed. An Edelbrock SU carb balancer will help later.

Exhaust Manifolds

2008-04-15T20:02:00.001-07:00

Too many of these. Between the mismash of mounting tabs and collectors, it's hard to find the best one of the bunch. Maybe #2 is what I'll use. It's probably from a 2000cc engine.

The rest...ebay?

These are all different and I wonder what their history is. I'll post to the 311s.org and see of those folks know.

Brakes clean-up and teardown

2008-04-15T19:44:00.001-07:00

Must rebuild the brakes since the insides are an unknown. If there's rust, better to know before trying unsuccessfully to stop going into turn one.

A before look of the front brake assy...

Front Dunlop/Sumitomo Disc...Not pretty. I really Hope it isn't rusted inside because they are over $280 a pair.

Cleaned the caliper....and clear coated with high temp paint.

Pulled the pistons apart. Good thing I did because they were starting to rust. I hand worked the inside surfaces with 1200 grit paper to remove as mush rust and pitting as possible. Now reassembled, clean, and ready to be re-mounted and filled with fluid.

Rear drums. Cast Aluminum with a steel insert brake surface.
Before...

And after. I may repaint these black since the Panasport rims are silver.

Next is rebuilding the rear brake piston assemblies.

Back Finally !!!!

2008-04-15T19:02:00.000-07:00

After much time moving into the new house (last July...sheesh!), the car is finally being worked on again in earnest.

Much to my surprise, I was fortunate enough to hook up with Joe again at TopTechMotorsports to check the engine over. It had been sitting for some time who knew what evils lie inside after the precedence made with first motor tradgedy.

Fantastic bonus was that Joe built that motor many moons ago. Man he knows alot !!!! Good thing I had him review it because the dizzy was out 180 degrees. Rest seems good for a race season. Tranny is looking good too and reportedly has special German syncros in it. I dunno what that means, but someday I'll know the difference they make.

I installed a different clutch pack that was part of the original lot of parts from the car buy. I think it'll be a good change.

Lightened Flywheel for quicker revs out of the corners

Old / New clutch option. Note the backing place is very different. (Besides the rust)

Got tranny cleaned and ready.

Inside of the bell housing showing clutch arm and thow-out bearing. Both lookin' good.

Good looking motor...needs a tranny :-)

Flywheel attached. Used the Blue treadlock here and on the clutch pack bolts.

Flywheel and clutch pack in place. Just add tranny.

4 Bolts and it ready for install. But the rest of the car isn't :-(

Weldments...FINALLY!

2007-06-17T23:59:00.000-07:00

Finally procured the services of a local and accessible welder to add additional bars to the doors and to the underdash area. Also, a buddy CNC'd a quick release adapter for the steering wheel...very nice fitment.

With the bars in place, it's now time to Paint.

On a related note, I finally got something I always wanted; an epoxy coated floor. No more stains and messes to clutter things. It took getting a new house and having nothing in it, but I took advnatage of the empty pallet to get 'er done!

Will post car pix after piant!

Fender Flare

2007-05-02T21:10:00.000-07:00

After installing the Superlites, I see that I will have to learn how work sheet metal. The back tires are so close to the inside of the fender, that they will rub with any load in the car (or in turns). I first noticed it when moving the car back into the garage. There's a slope to our drive forcing me to really lean into the roll bar to push it back uphill. The tires rubbed off some old glag that was left adhered to the inside of the fender. I just thought it was underbody coating...

Paint Scheme in Yeller

2007-04-19T14:35:00.000-07:00

Color has been decided and here's a Photoshopped preview of the goal. Tasty!

Lift Installed

2007-04-19T13:57:00.000-07:00

Got the 4-post lift installed this past weekend and finished the hydraulics on Thursday. Bought it on line for $1550 delivered, including jack tray, castors and 3 drip trays. Had it delivered to work, the boys unloaded with a forklift and reloaded into my 16' car trailer. 1600 pounds, and 14'x2'x2'. it was a brute of a package.

Got it home and spent 2 hours maneuvering pieces out one-by-one. When they say you need an overhead crane or a few friends, they were right. But, I did it all myself using engineering prowess with a table jack, dolly, and floor jack. The impact driver made quick work of the countless 24mm bolts holding the parts together. The drive-on platforms were by far the heaviest. But, I did manage it myself and lived to tell about it. Here's some pics of the 3 girls in their 2-car garage. And, I still have the 16x35ft woodworking workshop full of auto parts. Hmmmm...gotta solve that one soon. Bye for now, gott go do more bondo as it is sunny!!!!

Primer / New Race Shoes / Task List

2007-03-28T20:05:00.000-07:00

Interior of the car is now primed. I also included the trunk area, engine side of firewall, roll cage, and the inside of the doors/trunk/hood.

I've reassembled the body panels so as to better fair out the pending fillers in the surface dents/holes. I hope to get to that this weekend.

Priming was my first use of a HVLP sprayer and 2-part (3 actually) primer from House of Kolor. It was important to wear a special paint respirator due to the high VOC that makes the epoxy primer work. The respirator has to be replaced after 40 hours of exposure to the atmosphere, so it gets rebagged right after spraying. And never, ever spray in the garage near the furnace/water heater unless you want to experience the highly explosive nature of VOCs. I took advantage of rare early spring sunny days in Oregon to paint outside (in the front yard no less). Fortunately, the breeze gods were with me as my neighbor did not complain of grey specs on his black truck afterward.

Since the car was media blasted a few weeks ago, I had to do a good scrubbing with a box worth of Scotch Brite pads and "wash" every inch, panel by panel with Metal Ready metal prep. Then quickly neutralize with water, and dry it as fast as possible. It's basically Phosphoric acid that reacts with the steel/rust leaving behind a nice Zinc coating that prohibits rust on bare panels. My shoulders are getting a good work-out, which will help during the long races later.

Then, before painting, every spot must we wiped down with a clean rag soaked in special solvent to remove any fingerprint oils (and everything else).

Then comes the mixing of the spendy primer. Its a 4:1:1 system, so I mix 4 parts primer base with 1 part reducer and 1 part catalyst. Then into the sprayer and move quickly to set the gun adjustments to spray well. It's a balance or air-pressure, air volume, paint volume, and paint pattern. Get all this right and it looks fantastic. Get it wrong...well, call Sunkist cause you've got a big orange peel mess.
The new shoes showed up. there has been great debate on the forums about PanaSports vs. Superlights. I now have both, lucky me !!!! Panas have Advan 032 race tires and the Supers have Hankook Ventus race tires. This could be fun later.

Panasports

Superlights fitted in place.

Ah, but first I had to do the typical Datsun hub modification to remove the extra lip left on the hub turning. A tad bit-o-grindage and all is fitting nicely (lug-centric fit). No loss in strength. Nitrile gloves did well in protecting the bearings from swarf. Datsun has a huge front hub diameter.

Drive out the lugs to get access.

Arrows show lip to remove

Lip gone and rims could then be fit.

So, next steps are:

1.Bondo

2. Sand

3. Sand

4. Sand

5. Weld in remaining roll cage bars for door/dash

6. Clean and Prep

7. Primer/Filler coats

8. Sand

9. Clean and Prep

10. Paint- layers 1, 2 , and 3.

11. Wet Sand

12. Clearcoat- layers 1, 2, and 3.

13. Re-assemble panels

14. Wet sand

15. Pollish paint

16. Weld up custom exhaust

17. Rewire electronics

18. Install everything

19. Fit seats

20. Shoot self for not kistening to wife

21. Doesn't matter from here on out....

And I want to race when????

Color Possibility

2007-03-03T20:28:00.000-08:00

Thanks to some friendly help from "Shifty" in beautiful Hood River Oregon. (a top, must see small city in the US).

He colorized a 311 Roadster to look just as I imagined. Well done!!!

Stripped!!!

2007-03-03T19:40:00.000-08:00

The Roadster has been stripped of her old and patchy 3-color paint. Plastic media was used to remove the paint (sandblast style).

Some residual red areas are left. This is the original primer that has a good stick. No reason to really get all of it off. Will just primer over it.

Here are pics of the body and panels before paint. We actually got a sunny day here in Oregon. On a Saturday no less!!!! And I'm taking advantage of it!!!

Looks kinda small in that big trailer.....Got plenty of head room for the victory parties inside!But, it fits.Here are the panels...YARD SALE ! Doors look like they will need the most body work. Hood isn't too bad. Just need to fill the DATSUN logo holes.

Dang, rust through holes, but not rusty. My guess is this driver's front quarter got hit and somewhat rebuilt. Fuel cell box is the nicest thing on this car now.
Inside now, warm and dry...well, as dry as can be in Oregon.

This is interesting if your monitor is good. In the following shotthere are three types of fillers used. going clockwise from 9 o'clock, there's bondo between the panels. This was from PO. Shiney silver is factory lead fill. Blue is #2 PO bondo work. I think I'll sand it and make a #4 offering.

This tunnel shot makes me think the car has taken a hard hit in its previous life. Hard to tell if it was racing or not. The body and frame numbers don't match.

DISASSEMBLE JOHNNY 5 !!!!

2007-01-25T20:20:00.000-08:00

Totally taking the engine apart to both learn it and make sure it is good to go for thrashing about the tracks. Found out that is NOT good to go, so it was very good I went through this exercise.

Although the Aluminum head is in great shape (just needs some passage cleaning), I will take out the valves to make sure the seats are good. I'll check the spring rates at work while they are out.

Unfortunately, 3 very bad things have been discovered in my work.

First, this #$$^!@# crank end bolt will not come off...yet. I broke a socket and a crescent wrench trying. Off to Sears for another 28mm socket. Tomorrow I'll put the torch to it and see if it'll help release. Maybe I won't tell them about hammering on it?!?

Next, I discovered 2 cam lobes pitted. Severely pitted. This, to my unexperienced eye, screams engine death if worked hard in a race. It's gotta come out, but @&$^$^ bolt has to budge first. I'm now ondering wha tthe hell caused such carnage. No bits were found in the draining stage. Perhaps more experienced folks will chime in.

3-Main looks OK from this point.....

And then it appeared....

In 2 places....

So next task is to get out the Crank-end bolt and remove the timing chain/cam.

Some other pics of the process. Clutch/Flywheel

Couldn't tell what these bits are sticking out from the block near the "A". But they helped the oil pan seal leak.
I'm thinking that these will be "before" shots for the pending paint job.

ORIGINAL CONFIGURATION

2007-01-25T11:15:00.000-08:00

This is a pic of the car when it was first ran in the Northwest by its original driver, Dan Garrison in the early '90s. I'm lucky to have found this pic as it shows the car pretty much as it was when I acquired it in late 2006. However, it now sports an improved roll cage and all the stickers have been removed. Other than that, same beast. I'm working to bring her back as close to this pic as possible.

Engine and Tranny Removed

2007-01-13T21:45:00.000-08:00

Nothing much to add here. Took the engine and tranny out to work on them. This also lets me get to the exhaust manifold, rear diff and roll the car out for steam cleaning. I'll evaluate the need for a media blast and repaint afterward.

Cooling Cavities

2007-01-06T00:59:00.000-08:00

Seems that my 1600 may have gotten some crud build-up during its wait to run again. Two years worth of "drained coolant" or improper use of fluids in a race car. The radiator is going in for cleaning/pressure check this weekend.

Till then....got any pipe cleaners?

2007-01-01T22:19:00.000-08:00

Included are first pics from my Datsun SPL311 Racecar. I bought the car on Craigslist because my better half didn't want me spending the time converting my recently acquired 1969 MGB GT into a racer. Now we are a 5 car family of 3 and my 4-year-old has chosen the 1991 Track/Street Miata as hers (wise kid since it's at 58k miles). In this blog, I hope to show some of the "progress" of getting the car, which sat for 3 years, up to race ready condition.

My hope is to gain some understanding of the car and gain some long-term friends in the group. I have been a solo cat for too long and my wife is very understanding in my mid-life need to find speed and camaraderie. I hope this blog can serve to show some pics to generate ideas as well as constructive feedback.

I was VERY lucky in that this car came with LOTS of extras. For example:
6 cranks
3 blocks
6 rocker arms with rockers
2 CI heads
3 Aluminum heads
5 cams
1 full race engine w/7.5 qt aluminum pan
1 extra full front suspension
guages galore
extra pit wheels
3 trannys
3 sets springs and rods
countless extras
New HP exhaust Comps

I have 2 Momo Start Searts
G-Force 6-Pt Cam-lok Harnesses
8 Gal RCI Fuel cell

I realize I am a luckey SOB and do not take any of this for granted.

Now...let's build this damn thing into a track monster. Thanks for your feedback.

2007-01-01T21:59:00.000-08:00