Hey guys, just got my donor motor block back from the machine shop. It got the super special hot tank/clean out job. Its looks nice. This brings me to my question. The guy that runs the shop gave me some parts they had to pull out of the block, that i apparently didnt know that were there. Im posting some pic's, but they all have something to do with oil flow i believe. So, any suggestions on where these bad boys go would be most helpful.
Thanx.


http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2...s/100_1083.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2...s/100_1078.jpg

 

The third pic is the clearest one... I have no clue, cuz this is not my area of expertise. The Block looks KILLER though!

Rod.

 

the spring and ball are to the oil pump. The smallest cylinder looking thing appears to be one of the cylinder head locating dowels. If it's only half a cylinder (cant tell) then it could be a keeper) But I doubt that would be with the block (would be in the head).

Can't really tell on the rest of it from the pics though.

 

Ok, here's an update. After doing some investigating on the block that is still in the car, the spring, ball, and mangled washer are the oil pressure check valve thats located where the oil filter goes. I have both head dowls in the head, so, the cylinder is kind of a mystery right now. I am also having trouble locating some oil plugs, metal ones, one goes in the front of the block, the other goes in the rear. Anybody know if local nissan dealers usually cary these?

thanx j,

bob

 

I haven't had any luck with the local dealer for older Z parts. But my local auto parts store, Broadway Auto, was able to get me a full set of block plugs, including the oil gallery plugs, in a nice ready-to-go package pretty cheaply. Or you could thread them (and then clean out the passages really well: no shavings!), and use pipe plugs.
Dave

 

Thanx BoulderZ.

What do you do in the winter? Do you drive your z in the snow? I'm a former CO resident myself, use to live in longmont and littleton. Eventually i am sure i will be back. Just curious, not to many Coloradoans on this site, just wondering what you do when it gets cold and snows.

UPDATE: VERSION 2.0

Called my local Nissan Dealer and found the oil galley plugs at one store, thirty miles from my house, and found the oil check valve fifteen miles from my house. its all a drive, but well worth it. Going to start putting it all together tomorow. Wooo Hooo!

PS: My new tokiko's got shipped today. God bless ebay, i am way stoked.

bob

 

Hi Bob,
Nope, I don't drive Z's in the snow. My truck (long suffering but durable Toyota) and my wife's Jetta (that car has been great) are way better for that. And for commuting we bike or take the bus, so that eliminates a ton of have-to driving. I haven't had too much issue with this Z, because I took it apart before the first winter after my purchasing it. But "my" previous Z (I was babysitting it for my brother for a few years while he was in NYC), I never drove in the snow, and tried to avoid rain (easy to get caught out here, though). Ironically, he has it as a daily driver in Seattle now.

Well, you probably remember that CO winters are more of a series of colder/snowier spells with decent weather in between, and not so much just a long endless slog of icy cold nastiness. Even in the dead of winter, a third of the days are easily nice enough to start up a classic and drive it around a little to keep the cobwebs off of it. The snow almost never sticks around. It's extremely rare for it to take more than 24 hours after a snowstorm before the roads are bone dry. Of course, that's down here on "The Front Strange". The mountain towns would be more challenging to sports car ownership, I'm sure. It's frequently warm enough to work outside or go for a run or bike ride in shorts in the middle of winter. My wife and I always joke about the mandatory week of 60's and 70's in January, you can almost set a calendar by it. Of course, the other days it can be a high of zero, and the early sunset (the Flatirons are like a 4 pm light switch) could be a pain if you don't have a garage to work with, so you have to be flexible. I've biked to work in shirt-sleeves in the morning and ridden home in snow below zero enough that it "squeaked" as you rolled through it.

Funny you lived so close by! There are a couple of other Rocky Mountain Z guys on here (and the Z Car Club of Colorado is quite large and active, www.zccc.org), but not many. Darrel's on here somewhere, and he lives fairly nearby, too. He's very active in the local/regional Z scene. Generally, though, a lot of the gearheads in CO are 4-wheelers rather than sports-car or muscle-car guys, but there're still a good number around.

One note: don't push that front oil plug in too far, no more than flush with the front of the block. Your #1 main bearing oil passage is very close to the front (mine was about an inch or inch and a quarter back on my L28 block).

have fun,
Dave

 

Thanks for the tips. I had to order the oil jets that go on the top of the block from my local nissan dealer. i found out the machine shop that my block got hot tanked at had drilled them out. I was a little bummed to find that out, cuz now i have to wait till wendsday to finish putting everything else back together. Yesterday it was all about the main bearings, got all of them back in, and the crank is sitting in nice and pretty. Tonight its all about the rods and pistons, and putting in my new set of Tokico struts and springs.

I do remeber the snowy, then sunny days. Thats the nice part about living out there, that, if you havent lived out there, no one understands about. Its not like the mid west, where its freezing all the time. Although, during my last residence out there, it was below zero during the day, and man, that is f'n cold. Of course i drove with the window down, and the heater on full blast in my work van. Thats livin' baby!!

I did like living out there, and i know one day, i'll be back there, with the z in tow. Good to know there is a z club out there.

There are a lot of gearheads, and muscle car and truck guys. Which is funny you mentioned that, because my dad, who's teaching me how to put all this crap back together, is a serious muscle car guy. He mentioned to me that his engine stand had never seen any motor under 400 cubes and without eight cylinders. So, needless to say, i get a lot of crap for driving a six cylinder japanese sports car. But hey, different strokes, for diffrent folks.

Oh, i've got pics on the way guys. got a couple good shots of the freashly and squeaky clean l28 block, in case no one has ever seen one completly stripped, and without that crap blue paint job it comes with from the factory.

Blue? Who the hell idea was that?

Bob

 

Sorry to hear about the oil jet delay. I know waiting on all the little things was the most maddening part of the build for me, too. Have fun putting the pistons and rods in! Truly gratifying, can't wait to see the pics.

That's funny about the engine stand! I only purchased my stand because I couldn't pass up a deal on a 400 c.i. Pontiac big block w/ 6X heads for $50 a few years back. I don't even particularly like American V8s, and still don't know exactly what I'll do with it, but it was a heck of a deal. It handled a lot more easily on the stand then the long L28, though. Glad I went with a 4-legger.

Ditto with the original Datsun baby blue. I went with "Old Ford Blue", came out pretty nice. What color are you going to use?

Dave

 

Sounds like you are getting the ball rolling fast Bob. Looking forward to seeing pics of your progress. Hey Boulder, what year is the big block 400? I still want to put a Pontiac motor back into my '75 Firebird. Of course I know you are too far from me. But I am still curious.

 

It's from a '79 TransAm. A friend of mine had it all set up for 1/4 mile drags in California. In his words, he was "too dumb at the time" to know that he had cracked a head gasket such that it dumped coolant on his headers. With all the steam, he thought he had blown the motor. Without testing it further, he found a new donor motor and swapped all his mod parts over. A few years later, now in Colorado, on tearing down the original motor he found it was perfectly fine. He could've just installed a new head gasket! Oops. Thus kind of embarrassed, and under pressure to get the engine out of his apartment's living room (yeah, that was popular, I'm sure), he sold it to me for $50. I'm thinking of building a car from scratch for it. I figure I can use that as a great excuse to get a TIG torch I've had my eye on. After I finish my Z, of course. And my pickup. And... well, you get the idea.
That '75 Firebird of yours will be great, if your work on your Z collection is any indication!

How'd the piston/rod install go, Bob?

Dave

 

More from the adventure files....

Well, to answer your question dave, the pistons havent made it home yet. There still sitting on the floor. Thought i would try to set up atleast the front half of my suspension last night, and well, things happend. I snapped both bolts of the strut housing, at the bottom where it bolts to i believe the ball joint. I am not sure on the name of the part, all i know is i now need to find two more bolts, drill the old one's out, and get new lower ball joints and tie rod ends cuz mine are blown out. I am going to try to get the pistons miked and put in tonight, then maybe play with my set of tokico's again. They look cool in the box, except for the blue part. not really a big fan of baby blue.

Oh, to answer your question, my block is going to be black. The head has already been painted fire engine red, and the valve cover i did in black, but i hand painted the "Nissan Ohc" in red. The intake manifol is also black. I'm just a sucker for red and black. And at one time, my motor matched my g/f's hair. That was pretty funny.

In further part ordering news....I finally got my TVV switch from Kragen (Checker to you folks not living in cali). Yay!!! Now i am just waiting to get my Air Regulator that sits atop the intake manifold from them. Hopefully it will be here today. Should be picking up my oil jets tomorow. Then, Thursday, well, that will be rebuild day. Going to finish this car this week if it kills me. Want to have it done by sunday, so i can take myself out for a birthday ride, in my car that may actually run and ride right for the first time in the three years i have owned it.

Bob

 

Thanks man, for the compliment. Yeah I still have a long ways to go on my Firebird though. My Z's are still taking priority, but eventually I will get her finished. So anyway wow, out of a '79 huh? What kind of HP is that 400 cranking out? I still have my dad's '77 TA sitting at my place, with a blown 403c.i. Just waiting here, until he comes over here, and picks it up. He plans to restore it completely, and drop over a 500HP '69 455, he built up, with low miles. I am probably going to help him with the interior of the TA. Since I seem to have a knack for it.

 

I hear you man, I will cross my fingers for you. That would be pretty sweet, if you could take your Z for a drive on your birthday. Just make sure you do it right the first time. Don't want to cut corners, did that, after I got my Z running in February. Lasted about 3 weeks, and my clutch wouldn't engage correctly. All because I didn't use new parts. Anyway just trying to encourage, and help you out. Keep us updated bro', and the best of luck to you man.

 

Thanx for the props wildman. I am making sure to get all new stuff, but it seems like when i get one new thing, ten other old things break. Thats what just drives you crazy. As soon as i took out the old struts to put the new ones in, it was like BAM! ball joints and tie rods. Thats the stuff that makes you just want to bang your head against the wall. Or when i got the block back, and i had to go on the hunt for the most obscure parts known to the Nissan Dealer, i am telling you, i'm hoping i keep the car forever after putting all this work into it.

i will be sure to keep the updates coming. i want to get the pics up soon, but i usually have to reply when im at work, and i dont have my camera with me. I'll get to my other comp as soon as soon as i can.

bob

P.S. If anyone knows anyone who wants a slightly used l28 block, or where i can sell it or unload it, give me a shout. It needs a home.

 

Remember Bob...

Righty Tighty/Lefty Loosey (Unless you're upside down!)


Rod.

 

Ha Ha, very funny Rod!

Well, here is another update for you guys. I have pistons and rings in the motor now. It is starting to look like a real motor again. Tonight i am tackling the timing chain once again. Had to do the whole set up last year, so, it should go pretty smooth. Still working on getting the suspension all put together. My ball joints and tie rod ends will be here today. And the kind folks at Kragen finally got my air regulator, so, my intake manifold is once again back together with about three hundred and fifty bucks worth of new parts on it. Taking the day off of work tomorow so i can hopefully get most everything set up on the motor to get droped in on saturday. Wooo Hooo.

Bob

 

bob are u taking pictures of your rebuild ? if so can we all see ? im very interested in pictures...

 

Yeah, i am taking pictures as i go. Got some of the block, and the putting the crank in, and a couple of the block with the pistons in it. I am trying to get them loaded as soon as i can, but i am going between two computers, and it doesnt always work out. They'll be here soon though.

bob

 

avatar aside, it sounds like you're doing great.

 

Sorry bout that J, you are wise in the ways of the z car, but, alas, i cannot support my Broncos arch rivals, the silver and black. But, the Raiders are 2-0 so far in the preseason.

But hey, i'll root for them to beat the chargers, and the chiefs, just as long as denver already has the lead in the division.


Bob

 

Dont they always

 

Ooooh, they dont always. But, most of the time, yay they do. Depends on what the cheifs do usually.

You know, the raiders are the one who fired Mike Shanahan, then he went on to coach the broncos. So the raiders kind of brought it on themselves didnt they?

bob

 

I'm not gonna comment on choices Davis has made with his coaching staff throughout the years I just hope old Art and a different QB will get out of the bottom of the barrel.

 

Sorry J, maybe one day al will fix his team.

Update:

Hey guys, just throwing some more info out today. Got my new tie rods and ball joint's in today. Looks like most of the work is going to get done this weekend, unforeseable circumstances prevented me from doing a lot today. Anyway, i'lll keep you updated.

Hey, if anyone has an idea, i got my oil jets in today, and one is smaller than the other, does anyone know which one goes in which hole?

thanks

bob