1971 Datsun 1200 B110 Project

Carb back together and no more leaks, engine sounds good but needs some tuning.

The motor wants to die when I turn the lights on, I found this bad alternator wire and coil plug wire, need to give the harness and connections a good inspection.
IMG_1828.jpeg
IMG_1829.jpeg

Got the hubs and struts off to get the rotors resurfaced. I’ll be honest, I couldn’t figure out how to get the caliper off other than removing the whole strut assembly with it and the hub/rotor. Afterwards I found I could just remove one strut bolt and it would rotate out to give clearance for the caliper bolt that was hitting the steering arm. The manual was pretty vague about that..
IMG_1778.jpeg
IMG_1806.jpeg
IMG_1814.jpeg

Cleaned and repacked the bearings, one side feels good but the other is a bit notchy.
IMG_1834.jpeg
IMG_1840.jpeg

And I was able to replace these stripped caliper bolts and chase the threads, luckily they were undamaged.
IMG_1832.jpeg

Replaced the intake gasket and noticed these two ports were welded up
IMG_1819.jpeg

Going to go over the wiring some more and probably check the valves and timing, hopefully I can get it running good enough for a test drive :D
 
Kevin Kruse said:
Carb back together and no more leaks, engine sounds good but needs some tuning.

The motor wants to die when I turn the lights on, I found this bad alternator wire and coil plug wire, need to give the harness and connections a good inspection.
View attachment 364603
View attachment 364608

Got the hubs and struts off to get the rotors resurfaced. I’ll be honest, I couldn’t figure out how to get the caliper off other than removing the whole strut assembly with it and the hub/rotor. Afterwards I found I could just remove one strut bolt and it would rotate out to give clearance for the caliper bolt that was hitting the steering arm. The manual was pretty vague about that..
View attachment 364609
View attachment 364605
View attachment 364606

Cleaned and repacked the bearings, one side feels good but the other is a bit notchy.
View attachment 364610
View attachment 364611

And I was able to replace these stripped caliper bolts and chase the threads, luckily they were undamaged.
View attachment 364604

Replaced the intake gasket and noticed these two ports were welded up
View attachment 364607

Going to go over the wiring some more and probably check the valves and timing, hopefully I can get it running good enough for a test drive :D
Click to expand...
I’ve been finding a few sketchy wires and connections on my beetle project but so far, with the exception of one melted wire, the wiring insulation is still in good shape. Quite a few loose screw connections though. This is a nice project you’re working on! That motor and exhaust sound great!
 
@bosco659 Thanks! I’ve been enjoying your thread, my dad had a beetle when I was younger, I remember him driving me to school in it.

@Jim I believe it’s got a timing chain, I’ll check the timing. I also want to see how the vacuum advance mechanism works, not too familiar with it.

@Guy What do you mean by ported vacuum? Currently the dist. vac. is plugged into a port on the carb.
 
Kevin Kruse said:
I also want to see how the vacuum advance mechanism works, not too familiar with it.
Click to expand...
Back in those days (pre-electronics) you had two advances: Mechanical and vacuum. The mechanical advance sits at the bottom of the distributor. It's a "flyweight" advance that works the same way as our XS advance works.

So, engine off or cranking, the mechanical advance is fully retarded to about 5-10°. After start, the flyweights advance it to about 20-25° or so. The mechanical now stays at that (full) advance as long as the engine's running.

The vacuum advance mounts to the advance plate at the bottom of the distributor, and goes further... out to 35-40° or so during high vacuum. So idle, low power setting, decel... we're at max advance. When you put your foot in it, vacuum drops and so does the advance. At full throttle, vac adv is nil and you're using just the mechanical advance.

This all came about as a fuel saving measure. Lean mixtures save gas, but they also burn much slower. So at low power settings, the mixture is lean with enough advance to fully burn the mixture. When you put your foot in it, the accelerator pump give a (temporary) rich shot into the cylinder. At the same time, vacuum drops causing the timing to retard all the way back to the mechanical limit, allowing for better combustion.

I'm sure there's much better explanations out there, but this is the bast explanation my drugged up mind is capable of at the moment. :doh:
 
Kevin Kruse said:
@bosco659 Thanks! I’ve been enjoying your thread, my dad had a beetle when I was younger, I remember him driving me to school in it.

@Jim I believe it’s got a timing chain, I’ll check the timing. I also want to see how the vacuum advance mechanism works, not too familiar with it.

@Guy What do you mean by ported vacuum? Currently the dist. vac. is plugged into a port on the carb.
Click to expand...
Ported vacuum port usually located under the rt front of the float bowl in that carb base, it should have no vacuum at low idle. Onley when you start opening the throttle it will have vacuum and advance the timing by acting on the distributor vacuum advance unit.
 
Jim said:
Having worked at a Toyota dealership in my younger days, that bogging off idle was almost always caused by badly retarded timing. Either the advance mechanism or (more likely) a stretched timing belt. Put a timing light on it and see where your at?
Click to expand...
If I'm not mistaken, the Toyo 3T-C is a pushrod hemi with a chain-driven cam in the block.
 
atom4488 said:
If I'm not mistaken, the Toyo 3T-C is a pushrod hemi with a chain-driven cam in the block.
Click to expand...
You're prolly right. Was many years ago when I worked there. Last Toyota I worked on with the same problem was a Corolla with a belt. Late 90's iirc. Belt was stretched and timing retarded. Got it within a few degrees by maxing out the distributor. Guy was happy. "Close enough," he said. I reminded him those belts will break when they get old. He said "Noted." Never heard back.
 
$2K is a heck of a backup budget for this project! Don't know whether the 18RGU shares the bellhousing pattern, clutch spline configuration etc to make it compatible with your tranny...you'd love to have those sidedraughts, though. They'll certainly wake the engine up.
 
So I bought a new timing light as mine stopped working, and it was a bit retarded, and also noticed I was a tooth off when I put my distributor back in. Got it back in right and set timing to 10 degrees BTDC, also checked my valves, exhausts are all good at .008” but intakes were a little loose around .015”, but I checked it cold while the book says to check it warm, but read online that they don’t really change, I’ll check again later when warm.

As I removed the spark plugs, #2 was tight all the way out, threads were flattened 🙁
IMG_1891.jpeg

I bought a chaser off Amazon and worked like a charm, phew..
IMG_1921.jpeg

I replaced these oreilly’s plugs with some NGK BPR5EY-11, I wasn’t feeling those tri electrode ones..
IMG_1820.jpeg

Replaced the distributor cap, there was some pitting on the contacts, got a new one for assurance. And I noticed when searching for 3tc or early Corolla distributor cap the ones shown are screw on type but mine is a clip on, so I’m guessing mine is off a different model? Luckily there was a number on the cap and the ones that came up seemed to be for forklift motors or something, it fits though.
IMG_1860.jpeg
IMG_2015.jpeg

I addressed some nasty wiring, the fan relay has put in some work..

IMG_1971.jpeg

Got a new one wired in
IMG_2014.jpeg

There was a mess underneath the harness tape coming out of that burnt relay, broken exposed wires and corroded bad solder joints. I noticed the fan doesn’t turn on sometimes when I was testing it and I have to give it a nudge, it sounds pretty whiney, might be going bad and that caused the relay to burn?

I cut and soldered a section of the coil wire and it was corroded inside, hard to solder. I would like to get an MSD ignition for it in the future.
IMG_2010.jpeg

Added a coolant reservoir as there was just a line going down to the floor..
IMG_2016.jpeg

Browsing OfferUp I found a decent looking grant steering wheel for $40, pretty happy with it.
IMG_1895.jpeg

So the engine starts up pretty good, still not sure if I have the choke set up correctly with the fast idle cam, but I’ve been chasing a dying idle after closing the throttle. I added a return line after the pump, wasn’t sure if it needed one or not but heard it’s good to have with a carb so tee’d the 5/16 line with a 1/4 return. Also bought a vacuum/pressure gauge and checked the fuel pressure at 5.5psi. That didn’t make a difference so I started shooting carb cleaner around and it looks like the throttle shafts are leaking pretty good, I’m thinking that’s my issue..

 
Took the carb off to check the throttle shaft and it’s got noticeable play.

Found a bushing kit, gonna give it a shot.
IMG_2023.png

Also last time I tried running the engine it wouldn’t stay running, would rev up if I gave it good throttle but letting off it would completely bog and die. My rebuild kit didn’t come with a new power valve and I noticed the diaphragm has some cracking, might be leaking fuel making it too rich? Plugs were a little dark.. Ordering a new one.
IMG_2022.jpeg
 
Back
Top