Restoration of BringaTrailer 240z - HLS30-35883

[inline6]

Switching back to the unibody... I found another place that needs some dent removal with the stud welding gun and puller:

   

 

A few rounds of welding pins and pulling and tapping with a hammer and punch, and things are flattened out nicely.  I use a touch of body filler to finish it off.

Also, it is time to execute on the plan to address these holes from the factory in the bottom of the rockers:

  

There are two of these oval holes in each rocker along the bottom, inside edge of where the inner and outer rocker panels are spot welded together - one at the front and one at the back.  It seems the factory wanted these to be there to drain water out of the rockers.  Well, water should never be getting in there!  And that is my plan.  This oval design acts as an entry point for water that blows down the bottom surface of the rocker panel.  It allows entry into the rocker panel and that is not acceptable.

To address that issue, but still allow for drainage in case water finds its way in, I made these and plan to weld them in place:

 

Held in place with a magnet to keep it from dropping inside, these are little shields that will allow water to drain out, but shield the opening from water running from front to back on the bottom surface of the rocker.

  

  

I have other plans that I will implement to eliminate water from getting into the unibody structure.  I will be addressing, with a water proof solution, the emblem attachment holes, door tag rivet holes, door sill screw holes, etc.  The metal surfaces inside this car's rockers will never see moisture again!

Edited December 7, 2020 by inline6

[Patcon]

There are other ways for moisture to get in.

One being condensate

Another being really humid parts of the world. I do like the shielding idea

[inline6]

19 hours ago, Patcon said:

There are other ways for moisture to get in.

One being condensate

Another being really humid parts of the world. I do like the shielding idea

Yes, I have in mind to shooter primer and paint through certain access holes to cover some of the bare metal, and also plan to utilize cavity wax to coat the hardest to reach areas.  

I think I will be able to plug all sources of "water entry", which will go a long way toward eliminating rust in the future on this car.  And the wax should keep rust away from inner cavities of rockers and frame rails, etc.  But, of course, rust never sleeps.  And this car too will succumb to the elements one day.  

 

[Patcon]

I used Eastwood internal frame spray instead of cavity wax. It has a long tube so you can coat the inside of pretty much every frame rail and has a chromate type finish and if it gets on any outside surface, won't interfere with finish paint

[wheee!]

I second the internal frame spray. Works great.

[inline6]

Hmmmm.  That is what I have - I know I got it from Eastwood.  I thought it was wax.  Welp - here it is:

[grannyknot]

They do have a wax spray but that's not it.  You'll need a minimum of 4 cans to do the car properly,  I wish I had bought 6, it is very thin and sprays out so fast that the can will be empty before you know it.  It pays to do a few practice runs.

[Yarb]

For the long runs “frame rails” etc. I used a small section of hangar wire to attach along the hose in order to reach back in to the area being treated. Also comes in handy to make those awkward bends that allow good access to different areas of the car.

[Patcon]

All good advice!

and don't even consider buying it in Quarts and spraying it yourself to save money. I tried and couldn't find anything it would feed through properly...

It is very thin and will run every where. It dries very quickly

[inline6]

Picked up where I left off on the engine today.  I assembled the valve train.  Lash pads used were .180" on the intakes and stock (~ .120") on the exhausts.   The rockers were reconditioned by Rocker Arms Unlimited in Redding CA.  I have had some done by Delta, but I think this place does a better job.  

 

With the rocker arms adjusted to the correct clearances to the cam, I was able to inspect a few of the valve seats and bowl area:

    

 

Also, light from the combustion chamber side illuminated the ports, so I took a couple more pictures of the port work.  One exhaust and one intake port are shown in that order:

  

 

For installation of the head, I referred back to the discussion earlier regarding head gasket thickness.  Stock Nissan thickness measurements provided earlier in the thread indicate about 1.20 mm.  That is about .047".  This is the head gasket that I purchased:

I measured it again today, across each firing ring between bores, as well as in a couple of areas around the outer edge of the gasket.  My measurements were typically between .057" and .058".  1.5 mm is .059".  So, if this gasket compresses to .047", then that is about .012".  That seems reasonable, but I don't know how much it compresses.  My piston, as mentioned a while back, pops up .025" above deck.  So, at the highend, I've got .058" - .025" or .033" (with no gasket compression).  And, at the low end, I've got .047" - .025" or .022" (if the gasket compresses ~ .011" to .012" inches upon installation).  This is not a race engine, so I think this will suffice.  🙂

A few pics of the engine as assembly continues:

    

[grannyknot]

1 hour ago, inline6 said:

The rockers were reconditioned by Rocker Arms Unlimited in Redding CA.  I have had some done by Delta, but I think this place does a better job.

The Rocker Arms Unlimited rockers seem to be more polished than how Delta does them, I wonder if that helps the break in.

[inline6]

22 hours ago, grannyknot said:

The Rocker Arms Unlimited rockers seem to be more polished than how Delta does them, I wonder if that helps the break in.

Yes, the finish looks a bit more polished.  I had an issue with one rocker in a set of twelve that I sent to Delta.  It came back with the tip end ground out of parallel with the cam wipe pad.  I sent it back, and it came back worse (even more out of parallel).  I sent it back again and they got it right, but the pad was noticeably thinner than the other rockers when all was said and done.  I think their fixture is not as reliable.