Taistorm

1 hour ago, MaxPower said:

Early 90’s mitsi Ute gearbox seem to be the better (less shite) box which should bolt up to your new motor, use the 2L petrol 4g63 one and not the 2.6 , any single cam 4g63 engine mounts will work too. Did it come with an ecu? 

I'm pretty sure the box that's in this is out of an early l200. Will just run it for now until it goes bang then look for a km132 5 speed (I know a guy in the wops that reckons he's got a couple, but probably wants decent money for them as they're rather hard to come by here in Perth). Most of the boxes available here are wideblock so no dice. Don't really want to go down the route of a custom bellhousing or adaptor plate to try keep this on the cheap for now. Good to know about the engine mounts though, is that the complete mounts or just the rubber or block mount?

And yes the factory ecu is there. The wiring and most of the various plugs to the sensors are broken or brittle as so I'd rather pin out new plugs and wiring than patch up what's there.

Yeah that's what I had thought. To my understanding it had more aggressive cams, 510cc injectors,bigger turbo and a better mapped ecu. Not a worry though as it was a bit of a gamble when I brought the engine haha. I'm not doing anything wild with it though so it should be all good for the build.

Any advice on the conversion please let me know. 

Cheers.

Decided to do some more work on this on new years day. 

Wasn't sure on what spec the vr4 engine was so decided to see what we were dealing with. Was hoping it was a evo 0 engine so was looking for the tell tales nut unfortunately it fell short, no biggy though.

ECI Multi on the intake didn't quite look right, turns out someone had just stuck a plate over the 'cyclone' lettering. Also the turbo is a td05h 14b, as opposed to the bigger 16g. Going off the ecu part number it looks to be from a 1988 vr4.

Stripped off the bolt ons and had a look down the ports, no bad signs so far. Timing belt and idlers look to have been done but the water pump is pretty crusty on the inside. Decided to mock up the turbo flipped around for a laugh - Will probably just make up a basic log style manifold for this to keep costs down. Then ripped it off and put on some alloy tape to seal it up for now. Check out the repairs on this old manifold from previous cracks...

Later on in the evening I decided to rip the 4g52 out from the bay.

Got her all setup and on stands in the front so the engine crane would clear the lcas.

Check out the inside of the bellhousing.. The bloke who swapped the 4g52  didn't sort out the right size clutch/flywheel setup and the outside of the clutch pressure plate has been wearing on the inside of the bellhousing - it hasn't driven really at all but when I brought it and test drove it around the parking lot I knew something wasn't right but didn't expect this haha.

And here's where we're at.

Does anyone know where I can source original plugs/connectors for the engine wiring loom, most of what's on here is old and brittle or broken and I'm keen to repair most of it or even maybe make a new loom entirely. Also if anyone has any suggestions for easy ways to go about the rwd swap please let me know. I have been reading up on project zero g and also a lot of online forums so far.

I'll probably be looking at a top thermostat housing delete (to get better clearance at the rear) and run an inline thermostat housing. Have someone modify the inlet manifold to swap the tb to the opposite side.

https://oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/88881-tais-1976-galant-goon-discussion/

Chur.

After going to a local car meet Orient express yesterday (which was awesome with a huge turnout!) I decided to throw the exhaust manifold back on, hook up the battery and fire it up after sitting for a few months. 

Then today we had a public holiday so I decided to start pulling it apart and start the prep work for the new donk and assess the rust situation.

I was gonna rip the engine out but it didn't have a  front lifting eye and I didn't have anything to adapt to suit today so we'll leave it for now. However here's what I uncovered with the rust.

Front of the lh sill.

Battery box and where the inner tub meets the chassis rail.

Rear corner infront of the firewall by the lh guard.

Lh strut tower.

The front of the chassis rails by the lower radiator support panel.

Worse than I was hoping for but still manageable. Also had a few snapped bolts which was a pain in the ass.

Not a proper update as I haven't been up to much with this yet, have had a lot on and not much spare time. Have been trying to sort parts but really have no luck so far.

A couple months ago I got a local exhaust shop to bend a bit of pipe and make a slip join to try marry the 1.6 exhaust to the 2.0 down pipe. The slip join cracked when stretching it out but it wasn't a problem to weld up.

Pretty rough for now but should be ok. The exhaust gasket wasn't right and too small and I've had issues trying to find the right size. Also the first muffler was rusted out so I was gonna cut it out and just straight pipe it but I didn't have enough pipe at that stage.

However I've since picked this up as it came up on sale...

The boy wanted to sort out his bike first though.

Must mean the engines coming out soon. Wonder what will be replacing it....

On 11/07/2023 at 07:02, kiwi808 said:

https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p4432023.m570.l1313&_nkw=rx3+flares&_sacat=0
There’s loads of them available from Thailand but it would be questionable if any of them are any good.

@Taistorm had some I think? Be interesting to hear his thoughts on them.

I had a full set of rx3 fibreglass group C bolt on fender flares that were locally made in Aus and also had a pair of much better quality (iirc) frp rear flares that supposedly came out of Japan (purchased locally in Aus though). No idea on brands or who made them as they were sourced through others.

Hey guys, fully forgot about this and didn't end up buying the datsun.

Cheers for all the info and pics/vids though. A series definitely can be little weapons! Have picked up a 76 Galant wagon anyway so have thrown up a build thread.

Cheers 

3 hours ago, ajg193 said:

My brother melted the brush holders on both of his Hikoki battery grinders, not even particularly heavy use - he has about 5 corded grinders for the heavy stuff.

I meant the hikoki corded grinder! Have had a couple which haven't failed from about 3-5years abuse. Definitely wouldn't use battery powered grinders for heavy use.

The milwaukee grinder is pretty handy but I find that you burn through batteries far too quick. Works well for small jobs or on site but if I have access to a power lead, I'd rather use a cord grinder. The Hikoki 125s are pretty sweet and can handle long days of grinding disc abuse.

Have used hitachi/hikoki, bosch amd milwaukee 18v. For heavy abuse drilling through thick steel on the daily I wouldn't bother with anything but the milwaukee one. Ugga dugga impact guns go well, the only issue I have sometimes is if they are accidentally out in direct sunlight, the batteries can overheat pretty quickly (obviously be mindful of where you leave them). My 2c.

That's pretty awesome bro, reminds of my mates old 1200 coupe which had a similar setup. He ended up switching to efi and running itbs! Initially wanted to try go for an a15 swap but it looks like they're alot harder to get now than when I was last over here. Even the 5 speeds for a series are as rare as hens teeth (there was a local company over east that produced toyota t50 conversion  kits as they were easier to get a hold of but even those are costly now). The main reason why I'm considering the parts car is that it had all the bits to manual convert (albeit the trans and hydro clutch setup to suit the L series engine box) and also has the h165 diff and spares to suit with extra displacement. 

Not really interested in going SR or CA route as it would take far more effort and time (which I don't have with a toddler running around haha) but definitely set on doing a turbo build for fun, not too concerned on how messy it can look. Will probably end up just running log manifolds and a J pipe for ease and see how we go.

Hey everyone.  Been a bit dormant on here since shifting to Aus but looking to pick up a new project in the coming weeks and seeking a bit of advice from Datsun and Turbo gurus.

Looking to pick up a 1979 b310 Datsun Sedan running an a12 and 3 speed auto. The car itself is relatively tidy with minimal rust, had an average paint job years ago and Barry (the old boy who owned it) gave the engine a top end rebuild and replaced most of the ignition bits. Goes pretty well but slow as shit. I've been reading up online and going down the rabbit hole and have been thinking of doing a cheap efi turbo build for a bit better power and hopefully line up bits to manual convert it. Looks like the stock a12 can handle around 120hp pretty comfortably running a bit of boost.

However I've also seen a non reg 1979 Stanza (same as the b310 but different spec) come up for a couple grand which has the L16 engine with a 4 speed manual behind it and I'm pretty sure most of the suspension and steering components are a bit beefier and possibly stronger diff and everything is more or less a straight swap. These look to be around 96ish bhp at 113kg as opposed to the 69bhp on the a12 weighing 87kg and would be a bit more torquey.

Is there any preference from you guys and whether the A series would be fit enough for a weekend warrior or should I shell out and grab the parts car and swap over the engine and other bits and use that as a base to start with? I'd still want to carry out a basic turbo build but unsure if the l16 is as susceptible to boost (not looking for big numbers or anything  if I can achieve around 150bhp without opening up the heart that would be awesome but the L16 in the Stanza is a bit of gamble so i may need to give it a refresh anyway). I'll be attempting to fab up my own manifolds and run a megasquirt or cheap haltech or lower end link to manage the system. Will do some more research into the likes of turbo sizing and such but just getting some ideas on what direction to head in at this stage.

I figured as well that I can cruise with the a12 while I mock up and build the setup on the stanza, then when I'm ready crash out the swap.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Chur

Yeah first thing to look at is blocked fins on the radiator. Unsure what that hose is for/goes to though.

Running coolant temp is probably around 90deg.

Is it only running hot when loaded up or even at idle?

Speedhut are pretty good and affordable. Customisable to however you like as well made in the US.

The term you're looking for is 'true agreed value'. A lot of insurers offer 'agreed value' but the pds will say something like.. agreed value or market value, whichever is lesser at the time of claim.

I know that AA standard vehicle policy is true agreed value, however they don't like modifications. Star and classic car insurance ran with true agreed value but wouldn't go very high with what I had unless I presented a valuation. Also to note both required a valuation that was less than 12momths old at the time of claim (in a total loss/write off situation) which would mean getting a valuation every year...

Also remember that every year when your policy renews your values will most likely change so haggle your insurer underwriters for better rates and agreed values! 

I used to work for an insurance company as an underwriter in Aus dealing with special vehicles. My 2c anyway.

Oh man the swift gti's go great! Had a heap of fun with my old one. Revved out awesome and could throw it into corners pretty hard.

+1 for chase being difficult to deal with. Used to get bits and pieces often through my old work and they were never helpful or seemed like the didn't give 2 shits.

Just seen this pop up on fb, might be of interest. No idea on cost though.

I've seen success with posts on local community pages on Facebook. Probably not the ideal way to approach the situation but it's for a good cause.