74 replies to this topic

[NA_Goodness]

Ok, so as a lot of you know, I decided to go buy myself a cheap daily. The Mazda (Madaz Monster, as its been named) is a fantastic daily, but it belongs to my sister who wants to sell it, so I either had to get a new one, or drive my 33 daily. My choice is obvious.

Anyway, here are a few pics of the beast:









As you can see, not in the best condition, but for $500, what do you expect?? Could be worse! The engine runs great (although the oil light stays on for a bit too long...), the gearbox and diff are fantastic (apparently) and the clutch works fine. I say "apparently" because I havent actually driven it yet. The retards who owned it before me decided it would make a great burnout car, so they cut the rear brake line, put a screw into it and clamped it off, effectively removing the rear brakes. Judging by the amount of rubber at the back, the burnouts werent huge. Waste of time I reckon . The bloke I bought it off removed the line and was going to replace it, but another 31 he liked better came up so sold it to me as is. $65 later, and the new line is sitting in my Mazda waiting to go on. I'll post pictures of that tomorrow when I install it.

There are a few other small things wrong with it as well. Some need urgent attention, while others not so urgent. I'll make sure I take photos of all of them and keep adding them in here so you can all watch it as I go along.

Ok firstly, here's the motor. 3 liters of naturally aspirated, single over head cam fury!!



Just begging for a turbo conversion... Maybe one day.
The rocker cover is spotless, so it looks like someone has done the gasket and cleaned the cover in a parts washer. There is a lot of oil down the front of the motor though:



But I suspect thats just left over oil from the gasket. When I was looking at that, I noticed something that scared me a bit:



Thats one large crack in the timing belt!! So that'll have to be replaced tomorrow before I drive it anywhere. Hopefully I can get in there without removing the radiator, but I doubt it. The harmonic balancers are hard to get off RB25s, so I'm going to guess its the same with the 30. That means I'll need a puller to get it off, so radiator out. Oh well, I suppose a coolant change would do it good anyway!
This this is annoying me already...

Moving on, this is the tip of the exhaust:



Thats pretty much what it looks like the whole way through. Sounds like it too! Rattly fucker...
It looks better from this angle though



Sort of... Ian Diffan have quoted me $400 for a new exhaust, so not quite the value of the car, but close! Lol. I'll check out my other options and get back to them. I know they'll give me something decent though, but if I can get it cheaper, I may as well.

Moving inside now, and I only noticed this when I jumped in to unload it from the trailer:



Crap. Should be too hard to find a replacement though, plenty of R31s are being wrecked by people. Does anyone know how much it would cost to install if I supplied the window?

This is interesting! And slightly optimistic...



Fuel guage doesnt move much when you turn the car on either. Might get some fuel from a jerry can and fill it up, hopefully its just dead empty rather then a broken guage.

The stereo needs a bit of looking at:



Not entirely "theft proof". I'll visit a few wreckers tomorrow and see what they have in the way of a bracket for it. If not, I'll just make one up. No biggy!

It does have the correct number of pedals though!



Apparently the rear seats looked like this too:



So that'll all need cleaning up.

Ok, so thats what it looks like at the moment. Tomorrow when I get up (If I get up in time to go to work, finishing at 4:30am means getting to Ozzy Park by 12 is difficult) I'll get a timing belt, new coolant, new oil, new oil filter and some engine flush and fix that all up. I'll need a puller, so thats why I need to go into work and steal theirs. I think I've the only one to use it in the 2 years I've been there, so they wont miss it. Might do cam and crank seals while I'm there, I suspect the cam seals are pissing out oil...
The brake line will go on tomorrow so it's driveable again, then we can see what the beast can do!
It'll need a good clean, so I'll hit that paint with a steam cleaner and try and get it all off. A good vacuum should see the interior all nice and dandy! A new cam cover, and I can take it into work and spray down the motor, clean all that oil off, so I can see if there is anything else leaking. I dont want to do too much to the motor, just clean it up so its nice and reliable. And so it doesnt leak oil in the garage, my land lords (My parents) would KILL me! Hahaha.

As for future plans, I'm thinking some nice rims (Wantanabes are high on the list atm), King Springs Super Lows, new tint, new stereo, fix the antenna so I can some radio, and clean it all up.
One day, I would love to paint it (Martin, want a cash job? ), fit a S3 front end to it, and maybe chuck the RB25 from my current 33 into it. Who knows, the RB30 block may just be donated to the "New Age Datsun" project

So yeah, thats about it for now. Sorry for the long and boring intro! Any comments, questions, feedback, post them up. If you see anything I might like for this, let me know! I'm always on the lookout for parts for it. The cheaper the better, obviously

[Ten Four]

My $700 pulsar wins.

[NA_Goodness]

Its a bit rough around the edges, but 3L RWD beats 1.8L FWD with crappy lip spoiler any day! At least my exhaust leak is loud and proud, and not "hidden" with some alfoil and cable ties!

[Ten Four]

Enjoy fuel consumption... And I bet you mines faster.

[Nic_A31]

Keep bottom end and rape the R33 for the DET head and parts - ultimate shitter sleeper wagon FTW!

[NA_Goodness]

Nah, the 33 is going to be the 3L, so when that happens the 25 will go into this one. Nice easy swap. For now though, it'll be cleaned up and kept stockish and reliable.

Well, thats the plan...

[Nic_A31]

That's what I said about the Ceffy and its SOHC stock goodness / reliability .... now its a skid pig!
Stop lying to yourself Maylam - Full house 26/30 w/ big single....you and me BOTH know you want to (and will).

[NA_Goodness]

Haha, yeah I'm scared that'll happen...
Nah, 2.5L is enough for the 31. Its a daily after all. The 33 is the monster: RB25/30 with big single!

[Nic_A31]

25/30??

Pffft, 26/30 with 25NEO cams ... speaking of, buy Martin's old 25 off me. Need room, and money.

[Char]

these all have series 2 motors like sedans?
give u $350

[NA_Goodness]

I'm not ready to part it out just yet. And if I do, I'm keeping the block

[NA_Goodness]

Well yesterday was quite eventful! Went to Repco after I got out of bed and bought some oil, an oil filter, coolant, timing belt kit, and a harmonic balancer puller. I figured I use works often enough, it'd be easier if I had my own. At $30, it wasnt too bad. All up that came to $250, which is annoying, but very much worth it. Time to get into it!!

The brake line I had made up by ENZED in Ozzy Park cost $65. If anyone needs hoses or fittings, I recommend these guys. Absolutely fantastic work, they're yet to let me down! The hose was fitted in about 5 minutes, with the mounting bolt conveniently found in the glove box.

This was the new hose:



Shiny!!

Fitted:



Not too hard.
This is the result of the previous owner's abuse:



Piss weak! Hahahahaha
Also I REALLY need some axle stands and a decent jack!! I've spent $3k+ on top end tools, but dont have a fkn jack!



Looks good dumped though!!
Dad helped me bleed it up, and I took it around the block for the first time. THAT was a relief! I'd ownedit for 3 days and I hadnt even driven it! Lol. The low down torque is nice, but I couldnt give it too much shit and didnt want to go oveer 2500rpm because of the timing belt. I did find out why the kms were so low though... The odometer doesnt work! Haha, so fuck knows how many kms its really done. A fair few I'd say Still, it runs well, no noises (on idle anyway) so I'm happy with that.
The fuel gauge doesnt work either, so I'll have to have a look at that during the week. It did show a bit of fuel last night, and then showed half a tank moving it into the garage tonight, so looks like it works a little bit. I'll pull the sender unit out this week and see whats going on there. I wanna fill it up with fuel as well, but I've run out of money

Anyway, it was time to bring it into the garage and start that damn timing belt. The kit I got had timing belt, cam and crank seals, and tensioner, so they were all replaced.
Jumping under the car to drain the coolant so I can remove the radiator and found this:



Interesting way to block up the radiator drain! Lol. Had fun trying to chase all the coolant with the drain bowl too
You can see the oil leaks here too:



Yummy! Gotta give that a clean when I get it to work.
Back to the engine bay, the top hose of the radiator came off surprisingly easy! Then I realised why:



She very broken! Posted a few WTB threads around, then went back to work.



Looked familar! Ive dont timing belts on RB25s and RB26s before, so this was pretty easy compared to those.
The thing was filthy under there though:



That shit was a few mm thick in some places! 2 cans of carby cleaner and 2 cans of degreaser later, and this is what I had:



MUCH better!! Obviously its not perfect, and as you can see everything outside the timing cover is still caked with crap, but that would have taken me much longer to clean and I didnt have enough degreaser, so I'll wait until I can take it to work then I'll get the high pressure sprayer in there and go crazy. Should get it all nice and spotless.
According to the workshop manual (which I dont actually have a copy of), the cam is set up to add pressure on the timing belt in order to keep it tensioned. To counter act this, you have to remove the rocker cover and loosen off the cam bolts... FUCK THAT!! I just wound the crank a tooth back, fitted it up so the lines on the timing belt matched up with the notches on the cam and crank cogs, then while holding the belt on the crank, moved it back so it lined up perfect. As I was working alone, I needed something to hold the belt in place while I stood up and fitted it on the tensioner (I was laying on the floor at the time). I remember reading on another forum about a "wedge" to hold the timing chain in place on a KGC10 Skyline, so I came up with the PEFECT solution:



Kingchrome spanner wedged in between the block and the belt, then wedged into the power steering pump! Worked perfecty!!

Gave the timing cover a good clean before refitting it:



Also very dirty! Gave the outside a quick clean, but wasnt too thorough cos it was going to be cleaned with the high pressure sprayer anyway.

So it all went back together, and this is how it sat for the night:



All complete but radiatorless. Drove it back onto the lawn and let it sit there for the night. Time to go catch up with Nic and Emma for a wel earned beer!! Lol

Woke up the next day to a message from Allan saying he has a radiator for $100. You LEGEND!!! Grabbed that on the way home from Motorvation (What a load of crap, could have saved that $40 and spent it on this!!) and fitted it tonight.
Gave it a quick clean, and got it quality tested:



Dog walked off, so I suppose it met her expectations!

Not exactly a KOYO radiator, but it'll do the job!



Anyway, I fitted it up, put the fan in, tightened everything down, filled it up with coolant, put 2 bottles of engine flush in it to flush all the gunk out and clean it up while I bled the system and turned the key... I'm happy to announce that it ran perfectly!! Except for the rattle in the exhaust, all was good. Its a very quiet motor, with the soft clicking of the injectors the only noise. If you give the accelorator a quick stab it'll hesitate for a split second before revving, but otherwise it'll rev fine.

Then the bad news!! Talking to Nic and Socs on FB while it was bleeding up (and starting off this post! Lol) it started to run like shit. I tried to give it a rev and it didnt really want too, then I let it go for a bit and gave it a bit more of a rev, and had nothing. It looked like it had dropped a cylinder or something. I turned it off, checked all the connections and turned it back on again, and it ran like crap for a bit then just died I dont know if it had anything to do with the coolant sensor, because it didnt run like crap until it reached operating temp, but I dont think that would be the cause. I waited 20 minutes to see if it would start again, and it just cranked, not even the hint of it firing. FUCK SAKES!! I'm a bit annoyed now, of course, but I suppose these things happen. As Nic said, better happen before the test drive then during it. Anyway, I moved the 33 out into the back yard () and pushed the 31 into the back of the garage so mum and dad's cars can be moved back in, then called it a night. Nic and I are going to attack it tomorrow arvo to see if we can figure out whats wrong. Could be fuel, or spark, I doubt its timing for it to run fine for so long then to just cut out. Bit strange! The fuel gauge started working and said 1/2 tank, so if its right, then it hasnt run out of fuel, although come to think about it, it did look like a fuel issue... Pump was priming fine, but possibly a blockage? I'll check it out tomorrow anyway, hopefully we can get it going. I havent driven my daily out of my street yet! Kinda bad

I'll keep you guys updated tomorrow!

[Nic_A31]

Cheer up cupcake, we'll have her firing on all six again perfectly by this time tomorrow!

[Ten Four]

That is.... a lot of oil...

[NA_Goodness]

Lol, yeah here's hoping! Seriously starting to think fuel now, aye.

Haha, yeah it sure is James! I'm surprised there is still oil in the motor! Lol

[Socrates]

pretty sure they use one coil to distributor system, maybe coil has gone to shit?
or something in distibutor has gone to shit. not sure if it still has points system though.

Is the exhaust leak/problems just in the rear muffler?
the fix is a $100 cannon away hahaha

Also if interested, my mate and i were able to get secondhanh lukey extractors for his r31 for $110, bolted straight in to the stock cat. No modding required.

[NA_Goodness]

If you can get some extractors for me for $100, I'll take them! But my main focus with the exhaust is replacing the cat back section. When it's running again, ill put it on a hoist at work and assess the dramas under the car, but it's not just the rear muffler that's fucked, the middle one is dented and rusted as well. Also, I'm not putting a cannon on it! Fuck that, I've come to hate cannons recently. A nice, classy rear muffler will do, nothing too loud.

As for the running issue, the dizzy is fed by a coil, but isnt a points system. I'm pretty sure if it's got aircon, power steering and EFI, it has moved away from points
Honestly, I reckon it's fuel. The randomness of the misfire, the inability to rev, and the not starting at all points to fuel issues. Possibly ran out of fuel, but the gauge says half a tank, so I was hoping that'd be correct Ah well, we'll find out tomorrow and let you know!

[Hanaldo]

Fuck that, I've come to hate cannons recently.

Ghey

[Socrates]

Ok will place a WTB on R31 forum to see if i can find you a good deal on extractors.

In my experience with R31 when the fuel gauge comes back to life it is accurate, how long has car been sitting?, how old is fuel? etc
Could be some dirty fuel, water, fuel filter?

[NA_Goodness]

Filter looks new. I reckon it's a flow issue rather then a quality issue. Don't worry about putting up the WTB thread asking for the extractors, but if you could ask for the full exhaust that'd be awesome. I SERIOUSLY need to replace that!! Lol.

Lol Martin, every Skyline has a cannon. They can look ok, but not on old cars, and I don't like them cos they're too common.