After more than a year of work, the damn thing started on the first try. I told my friends and they said "Thats nice", but I'm sure you all understand what this means and how it feels.
Last year my old 1200 was t-boned. I found another 73 2dr sedan (unfortunatly for my wife) and transfered most of my accounts from the old car into it. I've added a GX/A13/A12A or whatever head, SU's from a 1600 roadster and a new dash that's probably more at home in an airplane. The dashboard took the most time and so far everything works. No smoke, no fire.
Upon starting the car oil poured out from under the dash on the drivers side, coolant poured out the passanger side, and the fuel pump leaked gas.
I've fixed all of these problems and more and I'm now waiting to register the car so I can start driving it around. I'm sure I'll find more to fix. I can tell the carbs will keep me busy.
Near future plans are for the suspension. I found a copy of the Datsun Competion Departments plans from 1975. It will be much better than what I have/had. Larger swaybars F+R, 240Z front brakes, adjustable ride height F+R, camber and caster adjustment. Far future plans are for paint. Possible paint theme is the BRE blue top. We'll see what happens when that time comes. I don't see the suspension or paint happening before Shasta. Oh, well.
Thanks for listening,
Angelo

Hi,

Congratulations on your work, I know what that feels, and I'm sure many of people here knows that too.

Can you scan, in a similar format that I submit some docs , the "Datsun Competion Departments plans from 1975" ?

Thanks

daniel

"It's just WD-40 on the header!" That was what we said at the race shop when a major fluid leak happened on startup. It all started like this, we always sprayed WD-40 on the headers of the Formula Fords to prevent rust. On startup, they would smoke for a bit and then clear up. Well, one day the header just kept smoking. The car's owner kept asking why this was. "It's just WD-40 on the header. Don't worry," came the reply from the shop owner. After several minutes of smoke it became obvious that there was something amiss. We then noticed the large pool of oil on the floor. It turns out that if the oil pressure sender on a Formula Ford is not installed, it shoots a nice stream of oil onto the header. And that's the end of that story.
Tim

I have the cover scanned as a .jpg and the rest of the book is scanned as a .pdf. The blueprint is 3x4ft.(914mmx1219mm). Its full size. I'll send you the .jpg and .pdf file to check out. I'll ask how to download to the club in the other forum.
Angelo

It's always a real buzz when something you've built kicks into life for the first time, good on ya. On the 240Z brakes thing I wouldn't do what the manual shows, that is welding the 240 caliper brackets to the 1200 strut, thats extremely dangerous. It may have been acceptable practice in the 70's but we have all learnt a lot since then..

i know that feeling, new engine, cranks over for the first time. like having a kid or something, i neva had a kid tho. u think to yourself, wow i wonder what it'll go like. im sure gonna waste some time and cash on this thing!

I dont think I'm going to do the 240z brake thing. This is going to be a street car and I dont want brakes falling off on the street.
Anyways, I went down to DMV, registered the car and went on a maiden voyage. Once again no smoke or fire, but i did take a fire extingusher with me. The SU's are all out of wack. I only drove around the block a few times but that was enough for today. It's quite loud with no interior or tar mats. Only a dash, a seat and a roll cage.
Thanks for the brake tip.
angelo

Hey, when you find a good source for "wack," let me know. Most of my cars are out of it too!

I found one source of "wack", but its not good. I got "WACKED" at a stop light today. Some F*ckin A**hole rearended me. The bumper and the area right behind it is pushed in about 4-5 inches (100-130mm). This is the spot where the trunk floor joins the rear panel. As if i dont have enough problems to sort out, now i have to deal with this crap.
Angelo

Bad luck!

The same thing happen to me when my datto was my daily driver. I went out and bought a small suzuki jeep, slow, but funky and protects the datto from the A*S's of the road.

Good luck with your insurance company.

daniel