h4nd's 1974 Daihatsu Fellow Max 360

[h4nd]

Saw this in 2009 in Trademe, bought it.

Discussion Thread:

http://oldschool.co....fellow-max-360/

[h4nd]

It ran fine for a year. A bit smokey after a week around town, so weekends I'd go just out of the city; about 4 minutes open road at full throttle cleaned the oil residue from the expansion chamber.

After about then, it slowly started getting hard to start. Took it to a local mechanic for a tune up, he says, "nah, points" and I have a look around, but none available locally. After a month, I tow it home, and hide it in the shed for a while (that's the trouble with having another car. If I'd only had the Max, I'd have got more serious about fixing the toy up!

[h4nd]

Long saga about getting parts from Japan.

(Placekeeper, more later).

Executive summary, Japanese banks are lying, cheating bastards. Use Hayatonka instead http://blog.retro-classics.co.nz/?p=1114

[h4nd]

Took these precious parts and the toy down to the local mechanic.

Blah blah useless imbeciles trying to destroy cute little cars. Yep, this is another placekeeper. More later.

Dwell Meter! Sheesh!

[h4nd]

Alright, up to what's happening at the moment.

Feb 1: I wash the wee toy, and start out for the Skope Classic, on Friday. Now, it's been running a little... hard sounding, since I got it back from the partners sister, a few days earlier. All running ok, just sounds... sharp? Nasal? Anyway, as I'm onto Yaldhurst, and heading west, up to 60km/h and brrrrr---...... Uh, oh. I know this noise, I took 6 pistons out of my RG250, one at a time. Toward the end, I could tell which side had gone, by sound. I pull a plug, and there's aluminium on it. Piss. I bus home, grab the GSXR and head to the Skope Classic anyway. PM: borrowed the Mother In Laws' CRV, and tow the toy home. Another try round the wreckers, none in Chch, Hororata, Greymouth, Hokitika. Piss.

Now a while ago, when the Max was parked, a guy bangs on the door and says, I have one, want parts? I chase him down, work out who owns the car (it's been given away, reclaimed, stored on a farm, etc). I call the guy who owned / owns it, and he decides later he'll give it to me for just a lamb roast. GC! I go and meet Aaron, deliver the not-so-smallgoods, co-ordinate with the farmer, and tow it to a (new) mechanic this week.

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/7653/360donor.jpg

Today I score some Danish pastries as a bribe, head out to disembowel the donor. Trial run: fit battery, connect starter. Weak spark; clean the points, a couple of litres fuel, a few big squirts of ether, and fire it up. Win! No silencer, sounds like some bratty rotary. Smoke. Lots of smoke. I spend the rest of the day pulling the motor and gearbox.

Right, next:

-Clean up the motor, pull the gearbox, grab the clutch-plate.

-Tow in mine, yank the dead donk (hah!), install the transplant, add 300ml two-stroke to the tank (juuuust incase the donors oil circuit isn't working).

[h4nd]

...aaaand we're back.

 

Set it all up, and the wee toy drove well for a year. No real problems. Doin' the daily seems to be good for these, seems to keep a fresh coat of oil over the engine bay, and drive the moisture out.

 

Went to Summernats march 2014, and came back ok (~1000miles), with just slight hitch in the HT leads (the dizzy cap is so small, the HT leads we're squeezing orange pip style upward. It was vaguely heat related, and took a wee while to diagnose). It does now have a slight clatter so I'm pulling it down, will rebore the top end, and recondition the bottom end.

 

In the meantime, I've bought a 1978  550cc l-40 four-stroke, just for added amusement. Brrrrrm!

[h4nd]

 

[h4nd]

From Wikipedia:

"As a result of Honda's 31 hp N360 being introduced early in 1967, a Kei-car horsepower war broke out. Daihatsu's response, the Fellow SS, was presented.."

[h4nd]

I'll make a new thread for the other car when I get started on it.

 

I've just heard from the engineer that the spare crank from an old motor I got with the car is "unserviceable". The crank had "moved" when the piston(s) failed, the pins had lost metal. Ouch. New plan is to get the current engine pulled down, but this will all have to wait till after Easter etc. Damn. Once pulled down, I'll know what parts I need to order from Japan. I want to build a solid motor, will get as many new parts as I can / necessary. Tune in in a fortnight or so.

[h4nd]

Copied from a discussion thread, for completeness:

 

Posted 15 May 2014 - 11:41 AM

I've had the ZM engine from the Dai 360 pulled down (had no garage, EQC, blah blah).

 

There are 5 bearings in the bottom, 2 of them 'inside' the cranks.

 

Was intending to refresh all the bits, but spanner twirler says that:

 

1/ the two bearings on the 'inside' of the cranks 'feel' OK, but he doesn't know how the seals between the crank spaces are. The outside bearings have some movement, which may explain the light 'clatter' I was hearing (esp when cold).

 

2/ the engineer who splits the cranks is unclear if the damage that occurred to the last (other) crank occurred due to piston failure (deceleration) or if it 'picked up' (gained / tore material) from the flat part of the crank when split.

 

Q/ Should I risk leaving the crank / bearings / seals, or split it and risk the split damaging the crank and causing it to become 'unserviceable' as happened last time, either when the engine failed or when the crank was split.

 

I was hoping to re-fresh it all, and get another 20 years out of it.

I can get another engine or 2 of unknown condition form Aucks sometime soon.

I can get pistons etc from .JP and will rebore / do the top ends.

[h4nd]

Runamuck:

"JCC list a piston for a daihatstu 360cc. http://www.jccpiston.com/"

 

CubaStreet:

"Your local powerboat yard probably does more pressed cranks than any bike shop these days"

[h4nd]

Update:  Pistons, rings, pins, bearings, conrods and waterpump are on the way from Japan.

 

I've had the crank split, and the crank pin is apparently 'part of the counterweight'. The bearings have gone through the hardening, so I'm glad I had this done, even though there was no apparent movement reported earlier. The next question is, Can they be rebuilt. Suggestions here please? //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/36834-h4nds-1974-daihatsu-fellow-max-360/

[h4nd]

And those bit arrived last week. Hat tip to Alex at mlracing.co.nz who sourced the parts from irex-jp.com.

 

 

New water pump,

new pistons,

new rings,

new piston pins,

new piston bearings,

new con rods,

new big-end bearings.

New, new new new!!

 

All I need now is a crank in good condition. Chatting to the engineer, apparently from the two cranks split so far, I've got 1 good crank pin, so I'm trying to hunt down more cranks to split to find good ones. Apparently the pin is a moulded/forged/hardened part of the counterweight, so he cant bore a hole and fab a pin for it. I'll try Japan, but the odds of finding a new item are probably minuscule. Still, I'll try Classic car Nagoya, on the off-chance http://www.n-classiccar-jp.com/english/

[h4nd]

R100 has bits for me, he's sending them today. I'm really keen to get this back on the road. I'm enjoying motorcycling on these warm winter days, but I do so miss my two-stroke toy car.

[h4nd]

I got the bits from R100 last week, and pulled down one engine. It's a 2-stroke, so no timing chains push rods etc. Head off: 4 & 1/2 minutes. Barrels off, ~20 minutes. Crankcase stripped, ~25 minutes. I love working on 2 strokes. Sometimes.

 

HPE have stripped the crank, and have enough bits to make a serviceable one. Except a main bearing SXO673CS29 (update: typo, need a 0 not an O)  SX0673CS29.

 

Google has no results. Ouch. I'll enquire with some chinese manufacturers, but it might be 'pick the best of the 3 sets', and carry on...

[h4nd]

Good news! With help from folks on the forum, (and spotting that it's an SX0763CS29 SX0673CS29 [update: another typo, transposed digits] ) There are a few options. One chap in Romania has already responded with stock, price and shipping. I'm also waiting to hear from a couple of local sources.

 

So the wee car probably won't be a runner for WinterNats, (I can take a bike I have instead), but it'll be getting a complete refresh. Who knows, another 40 years service? ~ nah, probably not, but this will give more peace of mind about it being reliable.

 

Thanks especially Kicker and FlyingBrick. 

[h4nd]

.... and Jesse at Saeco Chch has come through with the goods. That's great, because the european option was lots of $$, which I was debating if I could justify. This will give peace of mind with all new moving parts in the engine. All ~19 of them (counting rings).

[h4nd]

Time time time. Here's the latest "last part". Rear main seal.

 

 

This engine seems to be a wealth of parts carefully optimised for initial production. Less friendly for maintenance, perhaps...

Apart from that, the engine is apparently ready to fit.

[h4nd]

Local agents took 2 weeks to find out the part is "Discontinued".

 

For ref, (any one wanting x-reference in the future) It's TB5Y 48-108-9.5  and was OEM number 113887201AD.

 

I could only find one mention of the seal for the Dai, for a S38P. In Thailand. 8 years ago. Website for that biz now toast. No reply on phone with helpful Thai speaking neighbour. Have ordered a totally different seal from Orclan, and a local engineer will turn me up a blanking plate. Fun. Not long now.

[h4nd]

Jeff from Auckland bearings seems to know his stuff. The alternative seal has arrived in short order, and this was an excuse to properly warm up the 1100 on the motorway to Kaiaopi. The rebuilder thinks the seal will work, so starts work on it again on Monday.