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damarble
damarble New Reader
1/24/21 9:44 p.m.

Hammering just wasn't cutting it for transmission reverse gear clearance, so I turned to actually cutting it. I sliced an inch out, rolled the edges over, and butt welded them together from underneath. Still a little welding and smoothing left but no more clearance concerns at all.

 

Teh E36 M3
Teh E36 M3 SuperDork
1/24/21 10:25 p.m.

I love this! I didn't know you were the guy doing it. I'm the MZR/Duratec 62 Midget guy. 

damarble
damarble New Reader
1/24/21 10:34 p.m.

In reply to Teh E36 M3 :

Thanks. I'm watching your progress too, that's going to be a fun ride. Mazda L family for the win! 

damarble
damarble New Reader
2/6/21 5:22 p.m.

I've been going round and round on what to do for a fuel tank, and I finally decided to suck it up and clean mine and modify it for the new fuel pump. 

 

It was nasty! but good clean metal underneath.

 

Much better. I wiped it down with an oily rag to keep rust at bay while it sits. I had to cut out the baffles to clean but I left enough to attach new baffles to.

 

 

08-11 Focus fuel pump and lock ring. It's supposed to be the same fit as the Mustang. I'll put the Mustang pump itself in the Focus bucket, it might flow differently. The Datsun tank is 6-3/4" deep. It's just going to fit.

 

 

 

Alfaromeoguy
Alfaromeoguy HalfDork
2/8/21 9:46 p.m.

thanks for this post... i am / was thinking about doing the same thing for my alfa romeo spider/ ecotec conversion..i have a escape 2002 fuel pump assb. right now..

damarble
damarble New Reader
2/8/21 11:01 p.m.
Alfaromeoguy said:

thanks for this post... i am / was thinking about doing the same thing for my alfa romeo spider/ ecotec conversion..i have a escape 2002 fuel pump assb. right now..

As far as I can tell the Focus tanks are one of the very few steel tanks that use this pump style, almost everything else is plastic, and they're plentiful and cheap. The tank with pump was about $20 at the u-pull, can't beat that.

I tried fitting my new brake master and ran into a problem. It's mean to be used with a booster and has no rod. Have to figure that out. Then I tried to get my big brake kit fitted and the hats do not want to go on my hubs even with aggressive wire wheeling and emery cloth. I want to try baking them to get a little growth but they're stuck half on pretty good and I'm worried about damaging them getting them off. 

Alfaromeoguy
Alfaromeoguy HalfDork
2/9/21 12:52 a.m.

what about the hose fittings?    like to use some braded ss fuel lines to my hard lines.. cannot find an adapter to fit onto the pump assb.

Alfaromeoguy
Alfaromeoguy HalfDork
2/9/21 12:57 a.m.

demarble..if it not to hard.. go to the alfa romeo bb.. reg. to the site.. look for bianchi2..pm me.. and i will give you my phone number.. i might have a fix fror your big brakes

damarble
damarble New Reader
2/9/21 12:59 p.m.

In reply to Alfaromeoguy :

I'm going to put the whole hub and hat in the oven and see if it will let loose. The aluminum hat should expand more and quicker than the steel hub right? Either getting it back off or getting it fully on are both wins. I just need to fully clean out the grease so I don't make the wife any madder than I have to. 

I'm not aware of any fittings to use braided lines but haven't looked either. I have no problem using nylon the whole way. 

 

 

damarble
damarble New Reader
2/9/21 6:03 p.m.

Well the heat was a fail but I just reversed the bolts, put a plate between the threads and hat, and pushed it off easy peasy. So more sanding ahead to get this closer to a slip fit. 

damarble
damarble New Reader
2/21/21 6:46 p.m.

The brakes have turned into a rabbit hole which ended with the steering knuckles now off the car. 

While putting the caliper brackets on I noticed there was nothing left of the ball joint dust boots. The BJs themselves are in excellent condition and I'd like to keep them that way because they're very expensive. So the knuckles had to come off.

I measured for boot size and crossed the measurements to Energy Suspension's universal boot list. Found the two I needed and punched the part number in ebay and the first hit was a guy selling a set of 4 for roadsters. Of course now that everything is apart it only makes sense to clean off the rust. Maybe even some paint.

 

Today I modified the 280z master cylinder for manual use. I won't be doing that again. I had to take 0.075" off the piston to make room for a washer to capture the push rod. It turns out the piston is extremely hard steel and my mini lathe struggled mightily. 

jr02518
jr02518 HalfDork
2/22/21 9:03 a.m.

Just as a heads up, the fire wall on these cars seam to be very flexible. After installing one of the know braces, not a hard to install or an expensive part.  It made a big difference.

Just bleeding my master cylinder, I could see no movement of the firewall and feel a much better peddle.

damarble
damarble New Reader
2/22/21 9:06 a.m.
jr02518 said:

Just as a heads up, the fire wall on these cars seam to be very flexible. After installing one of the know braces, not a hard to install or an expensive part.  It made a big difference.

Just bleeding my master cylinder, I could see no movement of the firewall and feel a much better peddle.

I thought that was only a low windshield car problem? 

damarble
damarble New Reader
2/22/21 7:33 p.m.

Finally sucked it up and pulled the dash. Wasn't half as bad as I was expecting. Decided to go custom because late dashes don't take well to aftermarket gauge setups. 

 

 

This is my inspiration for the dash. 

TVR Scott (Forum Supporter)
TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
2/22/21 8:19 p.m.

Looks decent.  You've got a bit of floor rust to deal with but overall reasonably solid there.

 

damarble
damarble New Reader
2/22/21 8:33 p.m.
TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) said:

Looks decent.  You've got a bit of floor rust to deal with but overall reasonably solid there.

 

At least there's no Flintstone action, I can work with this. 

jr02518
jr02518 HalfDork
2/22/21 9:02 p.m.

I have a 1970, 1600 and it has added a profound difference.    It mounts form the inside, The sheet metal on that firewall around the steering wheel moves, a lot.

damarble
damarble New Reader
2/22/21 9:51 p.m.

In reply to jr02518 :

Added to the to-do list then. Thank you. Where do you get them?

Edit-this one? https://www.datsunparts.com/1342

Alfaromeoguy
Alfaromeoguy HalfDork
2/22/21 11:35 p.m.

damarble... here is my email address..... e mail me, and i will send you photos and idea on how i did my bigger brakes....     randelltgribben@gmail.com

jr02518
jr02518 HalfDork
2/23/21 8:05 a.m.

Yes, that's the one.  They are specific to the year/range of the car.  Dean will confirm you requirement.

You might want to look at the dash from a 68-76 BMW 2002/1600 for a "period guide".

damarble
damarble New Reader
2/23/21 9:00 a.m.

In reply to Alfaromeoguy :

Sent

damarble
damarble New Reader
2/23/21 9:05 a.m.

In reply to jr02518 :

Interesting idea. I found this guy that intrigues me, the flat face is just big enough for 3.5" gauges they say. I can't find a real picture anywhere, just their drawing. But then I got to thinking, I have 0.050 aluminum sheets, I have a 48" brake, the dash is 46-47" ish wide, why not brake my own dash?

jr02518
jr02518 HalfDork
2/23/21 12:18 p.m.

When you take a look a the BMW dash, glove box drops from the face. You are going to be looking for a storage bin for "stuff" that is needed for the car.  The separate instrument cluster, in front of the steering wheel consolidates what you will be seeing as far as information.  For you the driver.

You could also look at the BMW E9 dash for additional inspiration.

 

damarble
damarble New Reader
2/23/21 1:45 p.m.

In reply to jr02518 :

It looks like if I make use of the existing lower dash brackets it gives a decent sized slanted area that could hold a good sized glove box. 

I'm going to do some cardboard design tonight. 

damarble
damarble New Reader
2/23/21 7:47 p.m.

Mocking one half. Following the lower dash mount angle works pretty well. I'm thinking a light steel frame skinned in aluminum. Or maybe just an aluminum face, with vinyl wrapped lower panel and detachable padded vinyl wrapped top for easy access to wiring and gauges. 

 

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