Yes, to reinforce the floor. In the end it looks homemade (as does the Mad Dat unit).

You can see that the 60A needs spacers to bring the crossmember down. It looks like you might just be able to keep that setup with addition of the flat plate. In other words bolt the short crossmember to the flat plate. Most (like the Mad Dat unit) use a thin plate, bendable without special tools only some force.

By the way did you find the stock ute tailshaft? It'll fit the 60A box just fine.

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I haven't found the stock tailshaft and I don't know where to find one in the USA. The one that came with my ute when I bought it was a coupe tailshaft for a H145. I am still unsure what diff is installed. I have a feeling it is an H150 but I need to confirm. I will measure the flange bolts on the diff soon to confirm. And take more photos.

Regarding your suggestion on the gearbox mount. See my photo below. Are you suggesting that I disconnect "a" from "b"? And......attach "a" to a piece of flat steel?

It just so happens I have about a 5' piece of 2" x 2" galvanized square steel pipe that might just work for this ( the one I used to sling the ute body while I painted the underside - earlier in the build ) . I could cut it in half length wise and have two C-sections - which would be stronger than just a flat plate. Then I could use one of them to make the cross member if I beat it into shape I suppose. And use the other for the reinforcing plates in the cabin.

I am just worried about getting the angles right to bend around the transmission or..... are you suggesting I could keep the steel plate entirely flat?

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I would see if the short crossmember fits on top of the long crossmember as it will save you having to notch the long piece. The gearbox crossmember doesn't need a lot of strength. The front engine mounts take most of the weight and most of the torsional forces. The Mad Dat unit looks 6 mm thick (?) and where the v-notch is it is single wall.

If you had a running ute with an A12, changing to the 60A does not require a different tailshaft. 60A and all 4-speeds are the same length and use the same output shaft.

Looks like your speedometer is stuffed. Needle should be resting at 0.

I did not know that Sam. I will know when I turn the key the first time. Unless there is a way to test it outside of the car?

Lots of work done this month so far. Got to air out the ute for the first time in a while. It hasn't seen daylight for at least over a year.

Installed the Weber 32/36 carburetor with the adapter plate on the manifold. I was finally able to get some decent studs from the local NAPA to put onto the adapter plate. The existing gasket from the old Hitachi carb was in poor shape. It was worn and had high and low groove marks in it so I decided instead of reusing it I coated the manifold base with high temp Permatex sealant and fit the adapter on top. The nut for the carb base closest to the driver's seat was such A PAIN to tighten. I had to dissamble the rocker cover to get access to the nut and even then it was difficult. I did not want to attempt to take the automatic electric choke off the carb (this was the part in the way) as I did not know how easy or difficult it was to put back on the carb.

Noted that my current engine head is a H75.

I am not sure how to run the fuel line to the carb. It seems to be on the wrong side of the carb. (maybe more suited for LHD model?)

Also the vacuum line from the distributor will NOT go on the damn carb not matter how hard I try. Any tricks here?

Installed the accelerator pedal and cable. The cable is very slack at the moment. I will need a way to tighten the cable. Hopefully the chrome rocker cover (see a few pages back) with the stop tab welded on will help to take up the slack in the cable.

I found the grooved round connector at the driver's side end for the accelerator cable very difficult to tighten. I used a pair of pliers to get it as good as I could but it still has a little bit of slack at that end.

Painted my poo brown heater cover a trick silver/black combo. Never seen anyone attempt this before and I think it came out awesome and will match my interior theme.

Also found a few "scotch" tabs or whatever they are called tapped into the indicator stalk wiring and I had to remove those and repair the wiring. Hoping it functions okay still.

Also received my shift lever rubber boot from Australia. Not sure if i mentioned before.

Heater cover installed.

I also prepared my Nitrous bottle for installation. Then installed said Nitrous bottle. I had to drill two small holes in the firewall for installation. Not sure if it is the original location or not and maybe the previous owner welded the holes back in place before I came along? I have also seen them installed on the driver's strut tower but I don't like that location and my wiring harness seemed to like above the rocker cover better.

I received in the mail from Courtesy parts and Nissan parts warehouse new hazard flasher unit and turn signal flasher unit. I decided to install the hazard to the left of the steering wheel and the turn signal flasher to the right of the steering wheel. Also had to drill some holes here as well for installation.

Received a brand new speedometer cable from some folks in Indiana on eBay. I had to cut the firewall grommet to get the grommet around the brass screw thingy that connects to the dash. Might have to go back and glue the grommet back in place. I did not install the other end on the transmission yet because I was too lazy to get underneath the car today.

Took the steering wheel off to install the steering lock. I hope I positioned it in the right place? For some reason it will only engage by turning the steering wheel to the right. Is this correct? I was able to fake turn the key in the ignition today which gave me some excitement.

I also noticed that there are four screws on the steering lock. Only two of them are phillips head and the other two look like a security screw or something? How do I tighten the other two??

While installing the indicator stalk I noticed a shotty-ass steering bush on the steering column. It looks like someone sliced some provolone cheese up into thin pieces and stuffed it all in there.

I will definitely need help finding a replacement or maybe someone here might be kind enough to mill one for me? :) :)

Also had a lot of trouble installing my steering cover trim. It needs some work. Maybe I am not routing the cabling in the correct position because it looks terrible.

Looks fantastic! A unique treatment for sure.

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What I use is a spare 10mm wrench cut in half with a hacksaw so it fits flat without hitting the rocker cover.



Or, NAPA sells carburetor wrenches.



Not easy to remove the choke assembly.

The electric choke cover (the black part) is easy to take on/off. Just three screws along the ring. See Choke Adjustment for photos and for adjusting it correctly.

Thanks DD. I love the heater cover. I even considered putting some black on the N I S S A N lettering which I might do down the track.

Carburetor wrenches?? Who knew. Either way would have saved me a headache. Whenever i say in my head "there has to be an easier way" I am finding out there usually is. Now I know for next time...thanks again.