New Zealand Datsun Club

Ute back in the shed, let the reassembly begin

Fun weekend in the shed. Got engine sitting in the bay and started re-assembly of The front drivetrain.

Had issues trying to fit a 60a 5speed as the fork and bearing assembly were the wrong ones. Turned out I needed the one with a larger bend in it and also the standard carrier which is longer.

Also the a12 extractors I’ve got don’t fit now so I now need to come up with a plan B.

Still yet to get fuel system set up.

Shit is starting to get expensive

Woop woop, great to see progress, very encouraging, I will get mine on the hoist this week and sort brakes and clutch hopefully.
Be good to catch up with you and the Whanau when you come to Nats, keep the progress happening.

Gearbox in. Ended up sourcing a longer/standard assembly and the fork with the longer hook. Hit the usual issues with the reverse switch hitting the tunnel. Also the drain screw is the male half inch which now sits way too low. Need to find a female internal 1/2 inch screw.

I’m assuming I need to get some kind of grub screw for the reverse switch to fit flush as it won’t fit back a with a bolt head sticking out.

Have had some pretty big nights working on this. I’m pretty new to a lot of what I’m doing so it’s a lot of watching YouTube videos and reading my Haynes manual.

Sourced some headers from SW Motorsport Australia. They cost me $530 landed. They turned up in 3days which was pretty impressive.

I had issues with the Dhla40s when bolting them to the intake. They were pressing in hard in the throttle shafts and the body linkages. Also, there was no room for the accelerator cable linkages to fit between the two bodies.

After using a file and a drill bit file thingy we had space!

Must have pulled apart and re assembled half a dozen times Managed to get it all back on and I think it’s ok. While bolting it back on I de threaded one of the head studs so had to use a helicoil which seems to have worked a treat.

Replaced one of the broken dash mounts with a mates fancy thread rivet tool thing. Was awesome as I was going to potentially have to take the windscreen out if I had to weld it on.

Assembled accelerator cable and fuel lines and they seem to be ok. Just using the stock mechanical pump. Also pulled the 56a 4 speed 18tooth speed cog thingy and switched that into the 5speed.

Plumbed up the electrics (with it still loose/free incase it’s faulty somewhere). Also put a fuseable link on the battery as it previously was a wire straight to dash/alternator.

My wife also bought a spray can of Nissan Cherry red and we’ve roughly patch sprayed some of the blue that had come through. I think it came up pretty Chur.

Hopefully will try start him up tomorrow

Well the Ute made it to nationals in Cromwell. It was a massive mission to get it there.

Bert ended up travelling down to chch with Ange, Olivia and I. So he and I ended up pulling the gearbox back out and removing the sandwich plate. Turns out I needed the half plate as there still wasn’t enough movement to engage the clutch. This meant removing the exhaust so we could tilt the engine. What a frigen rigmarole that was. Also, while I was at work in the AM, Bert hooked up the dash which was a massive job on its own.

When in chch I delivered it to Damon @ RockyAuto. He then had to prime fuel pump, replace starter motor, build engine oil, tune Dhla40, Weld door frame, replace brake line, fit bump steer spaces, fix horn, wheel alignment, WOF.

Had to increase both idle and main jets on the dhla. Even now, it still kinda runs lean when it gets the jandel, but that can be sorted out at another time session.
Didn’t get it running well enough until 1pm Friday and still had the drive down to Cromwell to complete.

Loaded up the transport trailer and we were off to Nats! After Nats, I towed it back to Nelson. Dropped off the transport trailer and drove the Ute back to Blenheim. Ended up loosing the tail light and rego plate somewhere between Murchison and Nelson. Thing is an absolute beast and pretty fun in the wet

Next on the list is to curve dizzy and put some sound deadener to quiet things down a bit more

Took Ute for a WOF today.
Failed on a few things which i wasn’t shocked about.
1. Tail light lense faded and needing replacing or use yellow bulb
2. brake line at strut seeping,
3. Loose steering box, suggested rebuild
4. LCA spacers needing cert
5. A14 motor needing cert.
6. F/L wheel bearing nut needs tightening (I did the right prior to WOF. Should have checked the left

One interesting thing was they required a work certificate for the repair to the chassis rail which was completed last year. Their reason was they could identify welding. Took it to the guys that did the repairs and they filled in the paper work and added the photos from their work.

Any one rebuilt a steering box before? I have a spare which use to be in the Ute so I might see if I can get the parts and rebuild it myself. Any mechanical objections to this?

Engine and gbox out.
Was pretty simple other than forgetting to remove gear stick at the start 2nd steering box and A12 to go back in tomorrow.
Been some heavy heavy rain here today. Glad to be high and dry

Lucky you're not stuck in the queue trying to get south from Picton

Managed to get the A14 tucked away in the corner and got the original A12 back out.

Rebuilt one steering box from the two that I had. Didn’t pull the bearing nut apart as everyone said to avoid it. Cleaned it all down, reassembled so hopefully it’s all smooth and firm from now on. Did all the specs and still ended up winding the thread almost all the way in still but it’s got no play now and still moved freely.

I had help from my daughter. Now I’m on the hunt for a 5mm socked

Planning to have steering column, motor and box back in next weekend.