New Zealand Datsun Club

So this is the whale 2+2 that I picked up today with James' help. It's an '82 Australian import that had been sitting in a barn for 2 years, it's got a little bit more rust than I originally thought which is my fault for not looking more throughly.

Being an 82 it has the below main differences:
"turbo" bonnet
face lift wrap around bumpers
F54 block, haven't checked what head yet but I think it'll be a P79
CV rear end
Rack and pinion power steering
Slightly updated interior fabric
T tops

Being an Australian car which is pretty close to an NZ new car it also has:
200K speedo
280ZX badging rather than Fairlady 280Z badging
Some other minor interior differences

So after I got this home I tried to start it and the fuel pump was dead which I was expecting, I changed it to the one out of the parts 2+2 and it started right up, took a couple of minutes for it to start running on all 6 but after it did it sounded fine. The throttle linkage was stuck so I lubed that up and took the inlet pipe to the throttle body off and cleaned that out.

There's something wrong with the clutch hydraulics, I'll have a better look on the weekend but I think the slave cylinder might be stuck in position, I've got a full new set that I got for the white car which I might use on this and then replace.

While it was going I noticed the stop lights are on all the time, the little plastic thing for the switch to stop on is missing.

Also it was really hard to get the tail gate open, I managed to get it with the key but it looks like the cable is jammed somewhere so the lever doesn't work and the lock is now stuck in the open position so I'll have to have a look at that over the weekend.

Changed over the clutch hydraulics, the slave cylinder was rusted solid. After bleeding it I couldn't get it into gear with the engine running so I assumed the clutch was stuck to the flywheel, I jacked up the back and started it in gear then tapped the brakes and it broke free.

Borrowed a stopper for the brake light switch from the pedal box going into the white car so they're not on all the time now.

Removed the dead rat and it's nest from on top of the inlet manifold and gave the whole engine bay a blow down.

Moved it around in the engine bay, it seems to drive okay from the couple of metres I moved it, there's still lots of little problems to fix and I want to pull the whole interior out of it to give it a good clean and maybe swap in some of the back bits that I have.

Checked the head as well and it's actually an N42, I'm interested to know if it has flat top pistons or not.

Oh, it also has lock nuts on it and no key so I'm going to have to get them off somehow, they're kind of flush with the ends of the wheels and I don't want to damage the wheels themselves trying to chisel them off so I might weld nuts to them.

Mucked around with this a bit more, it's developed a miss, I pulled out the plugs, it had 4 electrode Bosch plugs in it which looked quite yuck, I found some other plugs in the garage and whacked them in but the miss is still there.

One injector is leaking and another has already had the hose replaced so I'll pull them out and give them a clean in the ultrasonic cleaner at work and replace all the hoses.

The new fuel pump I bought for it should be here within the next couple of days and I've got a new fuel filter to go on it as well.

Also got the heater working and it feels like the air con is still blowing cold as well, the fuse was missing for some reason.

Got the fuel pump, and a new set of NGK plugs and leads. Hopefully the weather is okay this weekend so I can fit them.

I put the dehumidifier in it for maybe 24 hours and I think I got about 3 litres of water out of the interior, it feels quite dry in there now.

I'll be putting the wheels off the white car on it pretty soon, the tyres that are on it are cracked and at least one doesn't stay up.

Still need to track down why the indicators, hazards, dash lights etc aren't working.

Started looking into fitting the fuel pump, the body is smaller in diameter than the original one so I found a piece of silicon hose that fit really well but it's too big in diameter so I borrowed James' mapp gas torch and burnt off some of the original rubber, I haven't tried to fit it together again but I think it'll be okay. I turned the taper off a wheel nut to use as a nut for the end of the non return valve. Need to find an adaptor for the inlet or try and squeeze some 3/8" fuel line over it.

Smashed the potting compound off the terminals on the original pump and put the wiring onto the new pump.




Fit the NGK leads as well, the coil lead is heaps longer than it needs to be. Terrible photo.




Also got the lock nuts off with a chisel, wasn't actually as bad as I thought it was going to be. Put two of the wheels off the white car onto it, looks pretty good to me, again, terrible photo.

Got the rest of the bits I needed and fitted the new fuel pump today which looks like it's fixed the miss. I pulled the top off the tank as well to have a look inside, it was pretty clean in there. Fitted the new fuel filter and did an oil and filter change, also tightened the alternator belt as it was squealing. It's running pretty well now.

Swapped the starter motor off this with the reduction gear one off the white car.

Sold the original wheels off this so I had to swap the front wheels over today which required jacking up three cars to do.

I moved it this morning, it starts really well, then went to the thing at Rocky Auto but forgot to disconnect the battery, when I came home the hazards were going which is the first time they've worked since I've owned it. Tried them again later and they weren't working again.

Also got the new connectors for the injectors and anything else that uses that same style of plug.

That will probably be the last thing I do on this until I get rid of the white car and the parts 2+2.

Here's a better picture of it with the new wheels on it, I'll polish them up later on.




It looks like the steering rack is leaking, when I had jacked up the other day water started leaking out of the right hand rack boot, I gave it a squeeze and quite a bit came out, now after sitting for a week there's a puddle of oil under that side. I'll get a rack seal kit on the way and pull it out some time.

What a survivor, nice work DJ