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FirstGenFreak's SLOW WD21 Build


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15 hours ago, Slartibartfast said:

Nice space! Good thing you got a picture with it all clean and empty, it's never gonna look like that again.

Correct haha, I already have the WD, 2 old mopars and my harley to go in there, so she is going to be tight! Luckily we have 2 other single car garages on the property.
I made the extra trip up there just to epoxy the floor, other wise it will never happen once we move. 

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  • 2 months later...

So we are finally all moved in and although flat out working on our house, I have got the ball rolling again in this turd!

Pulled it out and gave it a wash, installed a new stereo and have ordered a set of headers and a 32/36 weber kit. 
I've also found a machine shop to build the engine, so I will be getting the core form my parents house in a few weeks when I next make the trip in to Melbourne. 
I found a bit more rust at the top of the windscreen, it looks to be surface rust only but I'll be pulling the screen to have a better look in coming days, but not today or tomorrow as it's 41 degrees Celsius here today (106 F). 

thumbnail-20210115-124611.jpg

thumbnail-20210116-161246.jpg

 

Onward!

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Pulled the seats and carpet to a. have a look at the floor and b. run new speaker wires and fit some newer rear speakers. 

Gotta love these inland Aussie cars. How's that floor!

floor1.jpg

 

floor2.jpg

 

floor3.jpg

 

speakers.jpg

 

Got rid of the 90s tech

old-radio.jpg

Hopefully more updates very soon!

Stay Safe
-FGF

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So I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I noticed some rust stains around the top of the windscreen. My OCD wouldn't let me leave it alone. 



window1.jpg

Windscreen needed replacement anyway, so out it came. 

Far better than I was expecting, some minor pitting and scale, all cleaned up and hit with rust convertor. 

window2.jpg

Another sand and some primer

window3.jpg

Coat of generic rattlecan white and a coat of clear

window4.jpg

window5.jpg

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After that was done I filled the inner quarters and sills with fish oil, I do this to all my cars.

The only other rust this car had was the bottom of the RHS guard I fixed in an earlier post.
Also ran wiring for my 12v fridge/freezer before reinstalling carpet and seats.

So now its a waiting game, I've ordered OEM replacement upper windscreen molding and retainer, waiting for those to come in the mail and obviously engine rebuild. 

More updates coming!

Stay safe all 

FGF

Edited by FirstGenFreak
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So.... Plot Twist....

Going back to my first post, I mentioned the impetus behind this thing was to emulate my old pathy I sold a few years ago....

This one:
79913305-2583408008609663-35977818377090

Well, as soon as I started spending time and money on the white one....

 

My original car came up for sale...

 

It looks to have been kept in great condition.

... And

er..

Well um...

 

I bought it...
Over the phone from pics and a walkaround video the seller did for me.
I'm excited. Took the Mrs for our first date in this car and my best mate whohelped me build it originally took his own life 12 months ago, so plenty of good memories with the thing. 

 

I pick it up in 2 days, 800km round trip..
 

 

Will post updates

-FGF

Edited by FirstGenFreak
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That's a fantastic way for this story to continue!! Congrats on getting your old rig back. Mine has been scrapped so no hope of that for me...

 

What are your plans with the other Pathy now? I vote for keep it and keep buying more - call it a collection so it sounds fancy. :bounce:

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Cheers MJ! 
It's very cool and of all the cars I have had I had instant regret in selling it. 
Will keep the white one for the time being, its fate is undetermined at this point, I'll lock it in a shed and forget about it for a while haha.

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400km trip each way made for a long day. 



Just after fueling up for the drive home:
1.jpg

Some Silo art we stopped to admire on the way home, this is only about a month or so old and has been on our list (Silo art is a big thing over here, we have the "Silo art trail" which brings a lot of tourism into small dying towns.

silo1.jpg

 

silo2.jpg

 

Annnnnnnd
Safely back home.


home.jpg

 

Car ran great, wound the old Z24 right up in the back roads and even overtook several cars!

It's basically the same shape as when I had it except the wheels have been changed out for a smaller set, the gearbox is a bit noisy, some of the interior plastics are a bit knocked around and the wiring for the stereo has been hacked (PO had a sub in the back, obviously ripped it out in a hurry). Overall I am thrilled to have it back, but probably paid a premium for my sentimental attachment. 

Updates soon, goes in for inspection next Friday!

FGF

Edited by FirstGenFreak
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Great travelogue!

 

Love that particular two-tone combo with the body-coloured flares—wish we got those in North America too. Totally singular, definitely a head-turner for anyone with even a passing interest in trucks, especially as the years tick past! Great you were able to get it back and give it a good home.

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It is a great colour combo, 2nd one I have had this colour.
Those flares I believe are either aftermarket, or dealer-fitted over here, as I have only seen a handful of cars with them, all of them being '86 year models. 

Great to have it back!
 

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Spent a couple hours this afternoon removing all of the electrical add ons and wiring. I thought the PO removed his Sub, but evidently he removed the rear speakers as well and lefts a heap of frustratingly poor wiring routed inside the quarter panels.  Also removed the air horn that was hanging under the bullbar. 
What a mess!

crapwiring.jpg

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Inspection today, passed no worries and car is now transferred into my name formally. 

Stalled at the lights on the way to our local DMV, which was weird, then couldn't get it back into gear.... Sure enough - Clutch slave cylinder blew....

Walked to a local service station, bought some brake fluid and crossed my fingers....

Pumped up the clutch good enough to be able to get it into gear and made it all the way home!
In fairness I fitted the clutch and slave about 8 years ago when I had the car, so not a bad run from Taiwanese parts!

I have a weeks wait for the parts now... I'm gagging to get out in this thing. Not the end of the world, as of midnight tonight we go into another 5 day lockdown....

 

Picked up some new seatcovers too, had some horrible brown faux leather ones on there.

int.jpg


Stay safe out there

FGF

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  • 2 weeks later...

Clutch Slave issues all sorted and I'm really loving having the car back.

Went exploring (we have a book of 250 Victorian Waterfalls, we are trying to see them all) and done a bit of metal detecting last weekend. 
Car ran great and a lovely time was had!

mtcole.jpg

 

mtcole2.jpg

Stay Safe
FGF

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Spent a couple hours this afternoon removing all of the electrical add ons and wiring. I thought the PO removed his Sub, but evidently he removed the rear speakers as well and lefts a heap of frustratingly poor wiring routed inside the quarter panels.  Also removed the air horn that was hanging under the bullbar. 
What a mess!

crapwiring.jpg
I had a first gen honda civic. Someone had used an extension cord to wire in an electric fuel pump, had the orange insulation as well, haha.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

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Checking the oil about a week ago I noticed all of these cracks in the engine fan:

fan1.jpg

 

fan2.jpg

Probably not too far off letting go!

Found a new OEM blade, not an easy part to find these days, although I am sure there are other 80s nissans that could donate a 2nd hand one. 

 

fan3.jpg

 

fan4.jpg

Another job ticked off the list. Next is to build a battery tray and get the 2nd battery back in (another thing the PO removed) and fit my fridge/freezer in the back. 

Going out to chase the yella tomorrow, looking forward to it. 

Stay safe all. 

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  • 1 year later...
  • 2 months later...

So the old slug has been going wonderfully, except for a failed fuel pump (changed on the side of the road and was still in time for work!) 
 

20230114-090459.jpg

 

The Z 24 is getting tired, it has over 500,000km on it. 

 

Many years ago I was contemplating the Twin Cam EFI KA24 engine swap. 
Well, I came across a low KM engine this weekend gone. 

20230128-161023.jpg

 

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I am not sure whether to adapt late model (D22) Factory manifolds and EFI or whether I am gong to try and run a carburettor for simplicity and ease of maintenance. 

 

Either way it will be a huge improvement!

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Tough call. EFI's generally better, but you'd need a bunch of parts off the donor to make it work. Computer, harness, evap gear, fuel system, oxygen sensors, catalyst. Then the fun of fitting the harness to a shell that wasn't designed for it. But, yeah, easy starts, OBDII, probably better on gas. 

 

Looks like some of the Ratsun guys have carb'd the KAs and worked out which earlier distributors will work. Less to set up, less to go wrong.

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My first instinct was to buy a complete car but the KA powered D22 is actually quite a  rare thing over here, they were quickly eclipsed by the diesel engines. 

 

I have found an intake, looking at the runners I am not sure how good it would work if I was to adapt my existing Weber DGV to the old throttle body position. 

Screenshot-20230131-202017-Messenger.jpg

 

Dual side drafts would be nice but that will kill economy.

I'm all sorted with the distributor. 

 

The other option is to go to an aftermarket EFI ECU management system like a MegaSquirt, which some of the Ratsun guys are running. 

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