Cars

Charlotte's CA18DET Datsun 1600

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Update 25th April 2002

Ok well the car is FINALLY ON THE ROAD!!! After a hectic Easter holidays getting everything fixed and sorted out, its finally going and being driven daily.

WOO HOOOOO!!!

We spent the whole of the Easter holidays at the Plastic Fix workshop doing the following:

Made up a new 3 1/2" dump pipe off the turbo to replace the restrictive 2 1/4" item, and fitting the new T28 turbo.
Dropped the motor down using the standard engine mounts which resulted in a few complications but it has all been worth it. The brackets between the mounts and the block needed to be slightly modified so the motor would be sufficiently supported, and because the motor now sits about and inch lower at the front, the intercooler pipes needed to be modified too. The motor also moved back and the gearbox up, so the gearbox x-member also needed to be substantially modified.
Replaced the 3/4" brake master cylinder with a 13/16" one from a 200b
Replaced the gearbox
Re-fabricated a completely new fuel system, for details of this go here.
Tuning

We started the car for the first time after all the work on Wednesday afternoon (10th April) but it didn't run very well, mainly because the plugs had been so fouled by the stuffed turbo. There was also an exhaust leak between the head and the exhaust manifold as a result of using 'custom' gaskets - a tip - always get genuine items that are made for the motor! On Thursday we got some new gaskets and spark plugs and had it all in in no time, then started the car again. This time after a few numbers had been punched in tuning wise, it idled perfectly. We had a few runs up and down the road to set up some basic maps, then I got to drive the car home.

On Friday morning we were due to take the car in to sort out a couple more little things, but the car ran like crap again because the cold start hadn't been set yet and another set of plugs had been fouled. We finally got it into the workshop and then in the evening it was off to get it dyno tuned. It's a pretty simple dyno so unfortunately there aren't any power figures as yet. We hooked a fuel pressure and flow gauge up to keep an eye on the fuel system, and even under full load the flow never dropped below 3L/minute, which is really good. Then it was off for a test drive and for the first time I felt how hard the car is meant to go! It was awesomely fast even with 4 people in the car! The car ran beautifully the whole rest of the night. We drove around until about 3am in the morning (as you do).

Since then the datto has been driven every day and hasn't missed a beat. The locked diff makes parking a bit difficult, so a LS is high on the wanted list. Also the clutch is starting to show sign of slipping, so I will need to get a new one pretty soon.

Pics are on their way!

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