Nisfans rubbish old tat, possesed 305 d-turdbo, mot pass

[nisfan]

Ok ive decided to try and keep track of my ongoings in the world of chod fettling.

 

Since swapping the Volvo 340 for the mk2 cavalier ive done a few miles in it and apart from the throttle sticking open once its been TOP motoring. I find it has a peppy and more refined engine than the similarly engined stanza, rides well and has precise handling, it needs a new rubber carb plate thingy as its started to crack making the idle pot luck until its warm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ive decided to start using this as a daily along with the bluebird for now until october. Should give me plenty time to sort out a couple of blebs, which brings me onto the bluebird.

 

Even though its not even on 30000 miles its starting to rust badly, since owning it its only been outside for one winter but still rusts for fun, a few bits ive known about now require attention, under the A pillar chrome caps revealed this,

 

 

COCKSTICKS

Ive ground it down and treated it, its holed in places so will need welded but im going round the car trying to stop the rust getting any worse before winter.

Next was the bit of trim behind the back door,

Removing it revealed this,

 

 

Hhhmmm, wonder what happens if i attack it with a screwdriver?

 

 

 

Shite photo i know but for fuck sake!

Ground it down and lots of holes appeared, FOAD set up the welder and filled a couple of holes for me leaving me with a few more to do tomorrow.

[Ghosty]

Ace forest pics!

[captain_70s]

Mk2 Cav in beige. Top form.

[DodgyBastard]

Action shot!

 

 

DSC_0025 by srblythe, on Flickr

[ShiteRider]

Wow the cavalier is an exact clone of my mums last one -B827WCK. Long since dead. I need some 80's vaux chod in my life.

[Laseraligningfoofooflanges]

I feckin love that!!!

[Spottedlaurel]

Good luck on the Bluebird. Seeing odd holes like that makes me dread what I'd find on the Laurel if I looked hard enough....

 

The Cavalier looks an honest, useable thing.

[nisfan]

The cavalier certainly is a very useable car, it turns out not all vxls r shit or maybe its just this one. Fitted a wheel from a mk2 sri as it had a mk3 wheel in it. The 'new' wheel is pretty worn so a better example will need to be sourced.

Got most of the work i planned done on the bluebird but alas no pics, my nostrils are currently full of filler dust and zinc primer.

[nisfan]

For ages i was looking for uk/euro style lights for the Looroll, even thinking about importing from around the world until a Farcebook friend said he had some, 20 miles away! Jurassic park!

The lights it came with didnt fit with the grill or headlight wipers and one of the reasons i wanted the car was the front.

The shite lights were bodged in so had to re-bodge the right lights in and get the indicators working.

 

 

 

[mouseflakes]

That photo with both sets of headlights has freaked me out. I now need to lie down a while to recover.

[nisfan]

So im driving the bluebird to the unit and go round a corner and BANG, knocking like a bastard on the back shock, hhmm fuck it ill keep driving as its only a few miles, get there and check the top turret where the shock should be...nothing. Turns out the shock nut had stripped and the rod was all the way in the shock. The thread looked ok so i tried putting it all back together but as soon as i started releasing tension on the spring the nut and top mount fired off.

The offending shock,

 

The bit i hate,

 

 

 

Since the shock was no good i had a 200sx shock that may fit, the top mounts were different, Bluebird left, 200sx right,

 

 

 

Swapped over the top mounts but had to remove some of the rubber off the bluebird top mount as the 200sx spring doesnt have as much girth (ooeer missus)

Put it all back together took for a drive and its knocking about so didnt work, a new shock is on order.

[nisfan]

Derskine needed a car for a couple of days as his needed a brake master cylinder, i would have given him the 18 but it was sorned so gave him the stanza which has been faultless for 10000miles, 4 miles into his journey it fucks up running like shit but as i was working early couldnt get out to see it so he took it back to the unit.

Finished work then went and had a look, it was running really rough, fuel shooting out of the carb, loud noises coming out of it.

Bugger!

 

Started checking spark, fuel, leads, plugs, points, dizzy etc, all fine. Thoughts started turning to thinking it had jumped a tooth if it turned out this way it was getting put to the side.

The datsun club faceache page recommended a compression test so one was purchased and 3 cylinders had 200psi, the 4th? 0,nada,zilch.

At this point i thought ill whip the rocker cover off where i discovered this lying beside a rocker,

 

Somehow this had worked loose from the black clip that keeps the rockers in situ. Put it back in and checked all the other bolts of which one was loose.

Put everything back together and turned the key............result! it runs fine.

 

Its a lot quieter than before so im guessing it was on the way out.

 

 

[DodgyBastard]

Nisfan attempted to throw these old Bluebird steel wheels out on numerous occasions but I knew if I kept hold of them they would eventually be fitted to something and would look pretty good.

 

DSC_0394 by srblythe, on Flickr

 

I'm thinking the tyre profile might be too low but the tyres were just a pair that we put on for a trial fit so they can easily be changed for something more suitable.

 

DSC_0393 by srblythe, on Flickr

 

DSC_0398 by srblythe, on Flickr

[nisfan]

Decided to have a go at sorting some rust on the 120y, started with the rear light,

Took the light out and left with the plastic chrome surround,

 

Removing it revealed this,

 

Got the grinder out with a wire wheel and this is after i treated it, the usual shite then bloody rust!

 

 

 

[Jim Bell]

Its got a scabby arse but you have a welder.

[vulgalour]

That seems like a really strange place for the rot to develop, it doesn't look likely as an area to trap water or get stone chips or even trap dirt.  Very odd.  At least it's all fairly simple shapes to replicate.

[captain_70s]

That seems like a really strange place for the rot to develop, it doesn't look likely as an area to trap water or get stone chips or even trap dirt.  Very odd.  At least it's all fairly simple shapes to replicate.

One word, Datsun...

[nisfan]

This^, there's bits like this all over the car. If they have been garaged for years they might survive alright, this isn't one of them.

[cort16]

If this was a ford when you'd ground that back there'd just have been fresh air. There's at least metal still there, which is take as a positive result.

[DodgyBastard]

Some photos taken today!

 

DSC_0723 by srblythe, on Flickr

 

DSC_0742 by srblythe, on Flickr

 

DSC_0747 by srblythe, on Flickr

 

DSC_0753 by srblythe, on Flickr

 

DSC_0763 by srblythe, on Flickr

 

DSC_0774 by srblythe, on Flickr

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

Wow - I haven't seen one of these on the road for a few years! It must be amazingly rare now. What a survivor - and wonderful to see.

[stuboy]

This car needs to be named... Mr hanky the Christmas poo from south park

[nisfan]

I'm thinking about painting it as I don't like the brown, the original was a metallic brown or a turd rolled in glitter if you prefer.

Whether I get round to this is another matter as I've been offered a 305 turbo diesel for it

[nisfan]

Ive always wanted to have these wheels fitted to the bluebird and in a fit of non-autoshiteness i had them professionally refurbed and after 3 years i gon an dun it.

 

 

 

Also got the new shock fitted, it seems i was missing a few things (like rubber bushes) on the old shock that came with the new one.

 

 

Next on the list is a sticky caliper which had appeared again after i freed it off last year.

 

And the pads on the 120WHY were said to be low so i took the wheel off to be presented by a caliper ive never seen before, pads should be easy to change, discs not so much.

 

 

And finally i came across this drawing which i think represents the stanza perfectly,

 

[nisfan]

Today i haz driven a few cars, decided to give the ones that have sat for a while a little run. Stuck a battery on the 18, heat the glow plugs then it fires up right away, brakes still not seized which is a surprise, still an interesting to drive if a bit tiresome but has the most character.

Then swapped the battery to the 328, it ran fine but needs an mot and a few other things but is at the back of the queue until some other shite dies.

Bluebird has now developed some overheating issue, took for a run and was heading for the red before i switched it off. Got back to the unit and it needed 1.5 litres of water. It will idle forever and will sit bang in the middle, when giving it the beans it will slightly creep up and stay there even at an indicated* 80mph on the freeway. Im thinking thermostat or water pump may be on the way out.

 

In other news i pineappled the 120Y, changed the wheels, took the crappy homemade mudflaps and debadged the grill,

Before,

 

After,

 

 

[nisfan]

For the first time i drove the 120WHY to work a 45mile round trip.

On the way there it was fine went as expected.

It was the nightshift 6pm till 6am.

I came out in the morning to a sharp frost.

The bloody thing wouldnt start for ages! I thought the battery was gonna die but eventually got it running and held it at 23000rpm till it would idle.

It ran fine after that but the drive home wasnt nice, i couldnt turn off the cold air vents of which one hit the dash at an angle which deflected it into my face, i couldnt get much heat in the car because of said cold air vents and driving on the motorway at 55-60mph while everybody is late for work doing 188mph is pure shite.

Maybe im getting old but it wasnt for me, i went to FOADWERX 2.0 and swapped over to the bluebird which felt like a new* car, great heaters and comfortable.

I think ive found my limit to a cars age is the 80s, any older is fine most of the time but in winter i like a few comforts.

[BavarianRetro]

I've said that before, Mike. I've had my fill of carbs and points. I won't own anything to keep now that doesn't have Efi, which puts us squarely into the early to mid 1980s.

[nisfan]

The bluebird and stanza have been fine with carbs etc, but for how long who knows. The 120 has a sparkrite fitted which when turned off the car wont run and that wont help.

I do agree with your thoughts though.

[derskine]

I would just change dizzy cap/plug leads/condenser/points (get rid of sparkrite) and I'm sure that'll sort it, they must be ancient anyway.

[captain_70s]

Electronic ignition on the Dolomites made starting made 300x easier, I still found myself turning the key with a prayer on cold morning/evenings though...