KatoKid Posted February 21, 2017 Author Posted February 21, 2017 (edited) Gold star to Jeff!!! When I was cleaning the calipers for final assembly I noticed a small L and R cast into the calipers, normally the location of the bleeder nipple denotes which side the calipers would go on and I had assumed that nipples up top and in the normal location behind the strut was correct.....but no. The calipers have leading and trailing pistons, leading being slightly different in their position (further back from the leading edge of the pad) so I had to swap the struts from side to side which re positioned the calipers so direction of rotation was correct. Doesn't cause any issues or interference so all good! Edited February 21, 2017 by KatoKid Quote
Gordo Posted February 21, 2017 Posted February 21, 2017 Looking really good Dave. All moving along nicely. Quote
KatoKid Posted February 25, 2017 Author Posted February 25, 2017 (edited) Little, but important steps.....I've got a working clutch. I had to find somewhere to mount the remote reservoir for the under dash BMW clutch master cylinder. Normally I would wack a nutsert in the firewall but my priority all through the build has been to make this all reversible back to standard with the minimum of effort so I used the underside of the bonnet height adjustment thingy to hang it from. Everyone reckons the BMW clutch hydraulics are a bitch to bleed so knowing this I didn't even attempt a normal top down bleed process and used a syringe to push fluid from the slave up to the top.....and it worked brilliantly, pedal feels good and clutch is releasing a little over half way through the pedal stroke. Happy days as I wasn't sure if the way I had adapted the BMW hydraulics would provide enough travel. Edited February 25, 2017 by KatoKid Quote
mossy Posted February 25, 2017 Posted February 25, 2017 Getting closer....saw this build during the week and was very impressed, cant wait to see it on the road! Quote
KatoKid Posted February 28, 2017 Author Posted February 28, 2017 Got all my bits back from plating that I had left out or forgotten to do with the first batch, plus my handbrake bell-crank which I had modified. Love bolting on shiny bits! The ZF gearbox doesn't have a speedo drive or output of any kind as the road speed signal originally comes from a chopper plate and sensor bolted to the BMW diff crown wheel so I need to provide a signal for the Speed Hut speedo. The speedo can read and be calibrated for just about any signal so I chose to use their optional Hall Effect sensor which I made a bracket for and mounted it to trigger off the triangular output flange of the gearbox. It needs a pretty small air gap of max 1.3mm so it had to be robust with no deflection. Fingers crossed this works OK. Quote
CBR Jeff Posted February 28, 2017 Posted February 28, 2017 Nice consistent progress Dave. Any clean parts are nice to re fit but shiny clean bits are even better. Your speedo drive looks like it should work although they do need a reasonable mass to regularly pass but particularly a variation from the background. If not try this type of arrangement. Used in rally cars on the front wheels giving better accuracy as it takes out any wheel spin with RWD and you may get some wheel spin from time to time. Jeff. Quote
260DET Posted March 1, 2017 Posted March 1, 2017 (edited) .......................................................... IMG_0175.PNG Not sure that setup would work on a tarmac competition Datsun due to flex around the front axle which is none too sturdy, would prefer using the diff pinion flange myself. Should be OK for road use though I guess. The BMW idea of a larger hollow front axle is far superior but there is not much we can do about the Datsun I guess except put a spacer between the two front bearings. Edited March 1, 2017 by 260DET Quote
KatoKid Posted March 2, 2017 Author Posted March 2, 2017 Thanks for the suggestions guys, gives me some option if this doesn't work. Instructions look like its designed to work with many small teeth like an ABS sensor but they say that it will work with anything ferrous. http://www.speedhut.com/instructions/speedometer_sensor_instructions.pdf Anywhoooo....got the rear hubs, brakes and CV shafts final installed. I had to weld a small tab on the strut leg to clamp the handbrake cable as it was very close to my custom CV adapters. Its close but clamped rock solid so engineers should be fine with it. Gordo 1 Quote
aircobra Posted March 2, 2017 Posted March 2, 2017 is the fuel tank strap held by 2 nuts per side? is that so you can control the tension on straps. are you sure about that? my one only had one nut per strap Quote
specialp3 Posted March 2, 2017 Posted March 2, 2017 (edited) is the fuel tank strap held by 2 nuts per side? is that so you can control the tension on straps. are you sure about that? my one only had one nut per strap Definitely 2 / side on a 73, image attached. Edited March 2, 2017 by specialp3 Quote
aircobra Posted March 2, 2017 Posted March 2, 2017 did you get your bushes from zcardepot with the energy brand? if so, can you tell me how long the swaybar link bolts are ( the hing with 4 rubber bots that connect the swaybar to the susp.arm) are? Quote
KatoKid Posted March 2, 2017 Author Posted March 2, 2017 is the fuel tank strap held by 2 nuts per side? is that so you can control the tension on straps. are you sure about that? my one only had one nut per strap Yep,definitely 2 per side Quote
KatoKid Posted March 2, 2017 Author Posted March 2, 2017 did you get your bushes from zcardepot with the energy brand? if so, can you tell me how long the swaybar link bolts are ( the hing with 4 rubber bots that connect the swaybar to the susp.arm) are? Nope, bushes are genuine Nissan. Quote
KatoKid Posted March 2, 2017 Author Posted March 2, 2017 Got a bit more done tonight. Rack ends and boots installed and set the Toe just roughly and confirmed that the RA65 Celica rack ends provide enough thread for adjustment. Did I say how much I love bolting stuff on for the last time (hopefully)! Quote
Cozza Posted March 2, 2017 Posted March 2, 2017 Dave is that a spacer under the cross member? I don't think I've noticed it before, nor seen it on any other L series or converted engine setup. Is it just to get the room under the hood for the BMW motor or lower cog? Mick Quote
KatoKid Posted March 2, 2017 Author Posted March 2, 2017 Hi Mick. I'm using the BMW tailshaft that has whats called a Guibo joint at the gearbox end. Its just like a big rubber doughnut but it doesn't tolerate any deflection meaning the output shaft of the gearbox must be pointing straight at the nose of the pinion shaft. I couldn't lower the nose of the pinion any more so the only way I could get the alignment right was to lower the front of the engine, hence the spacer....and it bought me just a fraction more room for the gearbox in the tunnel. David Quote
Cozza Posted March 2, 2017 Posted March 2, 2017 Ah righto. How will it affect the front suspension geometry? I can see the LCA's will be flatter which I assume affects roll centre and maybe other things? I don't have much understanding of those things. I guess it is all compromises. Thanks for the info though Quote
KatoKid Posted March 6, 2017 Author Posted March 6, 2017 I'm not too worried Mick, if it does affect the suspension geometry it wont be much and I doubt you would notice driving on the road. More baby steps.....reverse light switch and speedo sensor or wired in. There is a very handy rubber grommet on the top of the tunnel behind the fuse box that does nothing but is a great place to run wiring for the gearbox. Very neat and tidy. Also tidied up the connectors and wiring for the O2 sensors. Ponyo240z and scott 2 Quote
KatoKid Posted March 10, 2017 Author Posted March 10, 2017 NFI Gareth. More wiring....seems like it never ends. Speedhut gauges don't have provision for them so I need to provide additional warning lights for charge and brake warning. The engineer will expect the brake warning to be in direct line of sight so I made a binnacle to go on top of the honeypot. Came up OK but once through engineering I may move them....to this location which uses the driver side fresh air vent cable mount and ties in the underneath dash bracket. Knob is for dash light dimmer, On/Off for arming the fan controller and the last vacant two for the warning lights for charge and brake warning if I choose to move them. In keeping with my desire to not cut or drill holes the Davies Craig programmable fan controller is mounted to a plate that uses two holes that originally mounted the regulator. Fan power comes direct from the +ve terminal to an insulated stud and the controller power comes from the switch above under the dash. I've also read of plenty of incidences where aluminium radiators if not insulated from the body and if fans aren't separate earthed will result in the radiator being eaten by electrolysis in a very short time. Not sure how true this is but everyone swears by insulating so a quick trip to Pick a Part provide the insulators and crush sleeves. Something non electrical....yay! I made the hard lines for the front calipers. Ordered the stainless braided lines this morning and they were ready this afternoon. Fronts are an exact copy of the originals, the rears are R31 but 20mm longer and has the inverted flare on the body end rather than the R31 bubble flare. All bolted up easily....just gotta bleed them now. Getting closer! Rickers and Gordo 2 Quote
KatoKid Posted March 15, 2017 Author Posted March 15, 2017 More little annoying stuff getting done.....booster hose. Went to Pick a Part and grabbed a few different bends that looked like they may work and really lucked out as one was perfect at the booster end (including valve) and looks like it was from the factory. A bit of straight hose from Enzed did the rest to the manifold. Little steps taking soooo long! Quote
KatoKid Posted March 17, 2017 Author Posted March 17, 2017 Nothing photo worthy but another significant milestone.....my brother came around a gave me a hand to bleed the brakes. Was a very straight forward and painless task , all done in 5 minutes. Pedal feels excellent and no leaks so happy chappy. Also gave the clutch a proper bleed after just back purging with a syringe. It was a bit doughy before but feels great now and the take up point is halfway off the floor...perfect. PeterAllen and Gordo 2 Quote
KatoKid Posted March 29, 2017 Author Posted March 29, 2017 Not much happening lately as pedal powered two wheel endeavors has taken over: https://www.strava.com/activities/896725050 https://www.strava.com/activities/913159438 Installed the tail shaft and other bits and pieces needed to make this thing move under its own power....if I had wheel nuts I could have driven it! Good news: Thermo fans work a treat, had it idling on the hoist for half an hour and fine tuned the cut in temp. Works brilliantly, one fan comes in then 10 seconds later the other fan, run for a couple of minutes until they pull the temp down 5 degrees and cut off....rinse and repeat numerous times. I was somewhat concerned that the eBay radiator and fans wouldn't cope but seems really solid. Ran through the gears and gearbox seems good and no drive-train vibes. Clutch feel and take up point is perfect. Speedo works! Binacle lights for Charge and Brake warning work. Bad news: Idle is crap for some reason NFI why! Grrrrr Quote
CBR Jeff Posted March 29, 2017 Posted March 29, 2017 Wow Dave big efforts there. You will wear those bikes out with rides like that. Steady progress on the BWZ as well. Jeff Quote
Cozza Posted March 29, 2017 Posted March 29, 2017 Great news, you can almost taste the first drive now. Quote
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