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 Post subject: Re: Shawn's new old 1600
PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 2013 8:44 pm 
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Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 5:44 pm
Posts: 171
Location: Northern NSW / Queensland
I changed the original flasher unit that was completely and utterly silent, for a Tridon Heavy Duty Electronic Flasher (2 pin) - not sure of the part number or anything since I threw the box away, but it works well and makes a nice audible click, click, click with the indicators. It's very useful if the auto-cancel doesn't always work on your indicators.

I also spent quite a bit of time messing around with the door locking mechanisms, fitted a couple of parts I got off DATDRIFT some time ago. Adjusted a few pushrods and strikers, doors now all closing easier and locking and unlocking properly. Even got the spare key to work, it was too thick believe it or not.

We have some chromed steel lock knobs (whatever you want to call them) that stick up from the front doors on the inside and they didn't have the little black plasic sleeve/clip/bush thing that clips in to the hole in the door. These chrome lock knobs rattled more than an old Valiant. Some of the old parts and rubbish floating around inside the doors didn't help the rattles either.

I used these: KT Cable Accessories, Snap Bushing, KTSB13S, for mounting hole 12.7mm. Pack of 5, $6 at Autobarn.

The holes in the door required a tiny bit of (rotary) filing for the bushes to fit, but it was worth it so the lock knobs don't rattle all the time. Not sure if standard knobs would fit with these bushes since I don't have any standard knobs.

[ img ]

_________________
'71 Datsun 1600, SR20DET red-top
Mostly OK, needs typical rust and panel work.


Last edited by xfacta on Tue Jan 22, 2013 8:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Shawn's new old 1600
PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 2013 8:49 pm 
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Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 5:44 pm
Posts: 171
Location: Northern NSW / Queensland
And here's a pic of the car parked "in" the local Pizza Hut during the last hail storm (18/11/2012). We were actually getting Subway but Pizza Hut had all their tables and chairs packed away already, so we just backed in. The staff were OK with it. A couple of other people backed their cars in under cover too.
Some sign blew over and put a mark on the drivers door that is not polishing out.

[ img ]

_________________
'71 Datsun 1600, SR20DET red-top
Mostly OK, needs typical rust and panel work.


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 Post subject: Re: Shawn's new old 1600
PostPosted: Sat Mar 16, 2013 7:55 am 
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Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 5:44 pm
Posts: 171
Location: Northern NSW / Queensland
Recently replaced the steering idler arm and had to redo the wheel alignment somewhat. Found a new idler arm locally for about half the price they seem to be going for.
A while ago the gear box stopped leaking oil profusely from all orifaces, so I assumed it was probably empty. Thought I better fill it up since there'd be none to drain.
The filler plug was holding the Queen Mary together and I had to "fabricate" a new longer spanner to undo it.
Turns out the gear box still did have plenty of oil in it, about 2 litres, and it was probably just way overfull. Maybe the previous owners couldn't undo the filler plug, also used to set the correct level, and had filled it via the gear stick or something.
Needless to say I put the correct amount of oil in and only did the filler plug up to "holding together a large boat" torque instead of "ocean going liner" torque.

Still messing around with the fuel level senders, both the standard one and modified after-market ones have different issues. I'm going to try and make the standard one reliable.

Plenty of interior tidying up to do, plus diff, half-shafts and all rear bushes will need work (replacing) pretty soon.
Still haven't managed to get the spare bonnet tidied up and put on to replace the corrugated iron we're using for a bonnet now.

It's amazing the number of people in other vehicles or just walking by that will stop to stare, talk, make positive comments and noises :hail: or just the old thumbs up and nod of the head :thumbsup: . We get asked if it's for sale, or do we have more of them to sell... Funny since we've got more of the rat-rod look than new/restored/schmiko look.
Seen people stop mid-stride like they've been frozen - it was most annoying to the guy with the WRX next to us because it was obvious the frozen guys were staring at the datsun and ignoring his shiny new WRX :lol:
The other day we got a "those gauges are fully sick!". I'll see if I can get some footage of the gauges in action.

_________________
'71 Datsun 1600, SR20DET red-top
Mostly OK, needs typical rust and panel work.


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 Post subject: Re: Shawn's new old 1600
PostPosted: Sat Mar 16, 2013 12:20 pm 
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Joined: Fri May 02, 2008 3:12 pm
Posts: 1093
Location: SUNSHINE COAST QLD
I still freeze when i see a 1600,tho i got a yard full,Its just rare to see em driving around.I only see 1 every month or two but usually already know the car.

havent rounded those bits up yet,just finally getting some ok weather up here... wont take long to gather up the bits,so just let me know when u want to grab the stuff mate :thumbsup:

_________________
68 510 - soon to be restored into a replica 68sss
69 510 - current build - L20b turbo
91 GT turbo legacy
GET THAT DATSUN DIFFERENCE!


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 Post subject: Re: Shawn's new old 1600
PostPosted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 10:56 pm 
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Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 5:44 pm
Posts: 171
Location: Northern NSW / Queensland
Recently fixed up the gearstick dust boot, using one I could easily get, Datsun 1200 in fact. Helped to get rid of that gear oil smell. Not a real SR20 dust boot, but it does fit and work, and this aint no show pony (or work horse :lol: )
Got a cheap steering wheel boss with horn button - so now the horn looks normal instead of a red little push button switch on a mounting bracket. Bonus is the auto-cancel for the indicators now works too.

Lowered the front spring seats 5 turns today and redid the wheel alignment, as per a suggestion from Baz at Datsport.
The rear ride height is about right, the front was the same with the car being about level. I set the front so that it's a fraction lower, about 20mm along the length of the rocker sill.
Steering is probably the best we've had it yet, probably the best this poor old car has had in the last 10 or 20 years.
The cheap tyres and any wear on them is about the only major issue with the handling now.
Wonder if my 10 year old will end up being a wheel aligner when he gets older :lol: - or he'll probably hate it and never want to see all the straight edges, tape measures and tie rod adjusters ever again.

Also need all rear bushes, another set of half-shafts and probably rear shockies soon too. And another diff...

Fuel sender I got from Datdrift a while back had to be pulled out and carefully cleaned. It was going a bit crazy. Some fine sandpaper over the resistance wire and cleaning the wiper contacts have fixed it up properly now. I have the fuel guage calibrated with about 5 litres of leeway as it gets low - when the guage reads about 9 or 10 litres left, there's really about 15 litres. Gives us some margin for going that extra few miles to the next servo since undoubtedly we just drove past a perfectly good servo.
10 litres seems to get us a long way when highway driving. It's definitely the stop/start driving in traffic that chews the juice. Highway economy seems extraordinary actually, it will be great to go on a really long trip and get a good long term idea of the actual econmy.

Getting the spare bonnet fixed up and painted soon. Recessed bonnet pins will be the order of the day.
The black fuel flap will also be repainted to match the rest of the car.
It'll probably be a tiny bit sad to lose a lot of the rat-rod look, but much better to look more respectable and less like a piece of wreckage on wheels.

_________________
'71 Datsun 1600, SR20DET red-top
Mostly OK, needs typical rust and panel work.


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 Post subject: Re: Shawn's new old 1600
PostPosted: Mon Apr 29, 2013 8:32 am 
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Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 5:44 pm
Posts: 171
Location: Northern NSW / Queensland
RIP Uncle Jeff, the man who got my cousins, my brother and I all into Datsuns
Passed away Sun 21st April 2013

Bought my first Datsun from Uncle Jeff, the "Green car", L18 SSS motor with twin SUs, Stanza mags and all the beach sand you ever wanted.

We took the (current) Datsun on a big drive out through Dayboro, Mt Mee, back past Somerset Dam, Fernvale and Ipswich

_________________
'71 Datsun 1600, SR20DET red-top
Mostly OK, needs typical rust and panel work.


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 Post subject: Re: Shawn's new old 1600
PostPosted: Mon Apr 29, 2013 8:58 am 
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Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 5:44 pm
Posts: 171
Location: Northern NSW / Queensland
The bonnet, fuel flap and vent grill have all been repainted to match the existing white paint on the car and waiting to be refitted.
I've got the lockable Aerocatch bonnet pins and I'll be doing some test fitting using the old crappy bonnet that's already on the car before we start hacking away at the new bonnet.
I didn't have the chance to get the spare bonnet fitted and the bonnet pin work done before the painting opportunity came along.

_________________
'71 Datsun 1600, SR20DET red-top
Mostly OK, needs typical rust and panel work.


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 Post subject: Re: Shawn's new old 1600
PostPosted: Tue Apr 30, 2013 9:20 pm 
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Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 5:44 pm
Posts: 171
Location: Northern NSW / Queensland
A pic from our own private Mt Mee cruise, with the old damaged bonnet still on

[ img ]

_________________
'71 Datsun 1600, SR20DET red-top
Mostly OK, needs typical rust and panel work.


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 Post subject: Re: Shawn's new old 1600
PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 8:22 pm 
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Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 5:44 pm
Posts: 171
Location: Northern NSW / Queensland
New bonnet is on and looks good. Now the car looks fairly respectable.
Paintwork is excellent, on the bonnet, fuel flap and vent-grill anyway... There's a few touch-ups needed on other parts of the car.
I still need to fit the Aerocatch bonnet pins. I've got the brackets I need "manufactured" by a friend, and I've got the hole saws and things I need for the job, which cost more than the bonnet pin set.

Got some new tyres too, Khumo 195/50R15 something-or-others that were on special. They're fairly soft and I mostly wanted the wet weather performance, which should be OK.
The old Chinese cheapies just wouldn't wear out. One of them was frictionless and just locked up on the front, tried it on the rear and it just spun. they came on the car.

_________________
'71 Datsun 1600, SR20DET red-top
Mostly OK, needs typical rust and panel work.


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 Post subject: Re: Shawn's new old 1600
PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 8:37 pm 
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Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 5:44 pm
Posts: 171
Location: Northern NSW / Queensland
This could have been posted in the "photos" section, but I thought I'd keep it with my own thread. It's a photo of a photo since I couldn't get the original out of the frame, it was sticking to the glass.

At one stage this was a fairly typical weekend at our place, plus maybe a Stanza, 180B, 1200 coupe, maybe another 1600 or two...

From left to right:
Red (and pink) 1600: daily driver, alloy 6pt cage, SSS L18 with single 48mm DCOE and 76deg cam, $5 fuel just to get down to the shop but you were back before you knew it!
White (and blue) 1600: full on rally car, L18 worked, twin 45 DCOEs, 8000rpm
White 1600: rally car, L20b worked, twin 45 DCOEs, very torquie 6500rpm (see the early parts of this whole thread)
Brown 1600: daily driver, L20b, twin SUs


Attachments:
[ attachment ]
IMAG0497.jpg [ 852.3 KiB | Viewed 11035 times ]

_________________
'71 Datsun 1600, SR20DET red-top
Mostly OK, needs typical rust and panel work.
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 Post subject: Re: Shawn's new old 1600
PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 9:08 pm 
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Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2003 8:20 pm
Posts: 144
Location: Melbourne
That's a cool photo!


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 Post subject: Re: Shawn's new old 1600
PostPosted: Thu Jun 20, 2013 11:40 pm 
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Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 5:44 pm
Posts: 171
Location: Northern NSW / Queensland
Those were just the cars belonging to my brother and I

_________________
'71 Datsun 1600, SR20DET red-top
Mostly OK, needs typical rust and panel work.


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 Post subject: Re: Shawn's new old 1600
PostPosted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 9:28 am 
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Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 5:44 pm
Posts: 171
Location: Northern NSW / Queensland
Been fitting the Aerocatch lockable bonnet pins.

First decided on a rough position for the brackets a mate made up for me, put some guides in place using masking tape.
The brackets, mounted to the inner guard, would be the securing point for the pins themselves, and all the mounting holes are slotted for adjustment. I've used a Torx headed bolt and nylok nut on each bracket, plus an ordinary nut and bolt, so they can't be removed from outside the Datsun once the bonnet is closed and locked.
Fitted the brackets, aligned the pins, put a dob of grease on top of them and closed the bonnet down on them to leave the dob of grease on the underside of the bonnet. Remeasured everything a couple more times before drilling guide holes where the bonnet pins would poke through.
Attachment:
File comment: Bracket fitting
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IMAG0070.jpg [ 587.41 KiB | Viewed 10952 times ]
Used the Aerocatch templates to mark out and cut holes in the bonnet, by using two hole saws the correct size and a hack saw blade with a handle on it. Used a grinding stone in the battery drill to smooth off and adjust the new tear-drop shaped holes. This was easier and quicker than I expected. It took longer to measure and mark everything out than it did to actually cut to holes to size.
Attachment:
File comment: Marking out
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Bolted them in place and started that whole adjustment process... This takes a fair bit of time, and I've still got a bit of adjustment to do today before declaring the job finished.
Attachment:
File comment: Aerocatch fitted
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IMAG0082.jpg [ 848.79 KiB | Viewed 10952 times ]
Discalimer: the instructions do say to mount the Aerocatch units with the skinny end towards the front of the car, but they looked stupid that way. I found many more pics of them on the internet, mounted with the fat end towards the front and they always looked better. Once closed and locked, I can't see an issue.

Just got to put all the Mass Air Flow sensor and air filter back in place today. Might see if I can actually mount the radiator overflow bottle somewhere reasonable too, since it's just been cable-tied to the pipe from the turbo to the intercooler.

In hind-sight, I'd probably recommend using a Dremel to cut out the holes, rather than hole saws. It's probably cheaper and easier, but the hole saws weren't too bad.

We were going to paint the Aerocatch's white too, but decided against it as they'd probably look a bit strange anyway, rather than hidden. So in the spirit of that old engineering saying "if you can't hide it, make a feature of it", we've left them black since the wheels, door handles and bumpers are already black

_________________
'71 Datsun 1600, SR20DET red-top
Mostly OK, needs typical rust and panel work.


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 Post subject: Re: Shawn's new old 1600
PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 8:17 am 
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Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 5:44 pm
Posts: 171
Location: Northern NSW / Queensland
Finnished left hand side mount for bonnet pin, everything back together. Air filter even got a clean and re-oil.
Attachment:
File comment: LH pin mount
[ attachment ]
IMAG0086.jpg [ 65.17 KiB | Viewed 10937 times ]
Finished right hand side mount and new cooland overflow bottle mount we made up.
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File comment: RH pin mount and overflow
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IMAG0087.jpg [ 917.63 KiB | Viewed 10937 times ]
Fuel pump stuff in the boot, just so it's pictured , not 'cos we changed anything. The lift pump is just a little one but it works for daily-driver usage. All fuel line changed to proper fuel injection hose where needed. Steel lines under the car.
Attachment:
File comment: Fuel stuff
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IMAG0088.jpg [ 599.42 KiB | Viewed 10937 times ]
Battery is a Optima red, held down to the floor by a proper bracket. When we got the car it was a "free spirit", able to drift around inside the box that was held down by a couple of self tappers.
Attachment:
File comment: Battery
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IMAG0089.jpg [ 600.19 KiB | Viewed 10937 times ]
We also changed the old ball joints over the weekend and checked the wheel alighnment.

_________________
'71 Datsun 1600, SR20DET red-top
Mostly OK, needs typical rust and panel work.


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 Post subject: Re: Shawn's new old 1600
PostPosted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 7:37 pm 
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Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 5:44 pm
Posts: 171
Location: Northern NSW / Queensland
Pics of how it looks outside now
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IMAG0095.jpg [ 918.5 KiB | Viewed 10897 times ]
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I'll have to get the front apron repainted white, and a slim-line number plate.

One day we'll get the bumper bars rechromed. I'll probably get the Aerocatch bonnet pins painted white too, and put some stainless bolts in them instead of the black ones.

_________________
'71 Datsun 1600, SR20DET red-top
Mostly OK, needs typical rust and panel work.


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