Captain Obvious

So I was this many years old when I learned this. I did the other five injectors today, and not only was there no damage at all to the barbs, but there was no swearing required! Well... I may have said "Dammn that was easy!!", but that was it! I made a shallow cut to expose the polyester reinforcement lattice. Doesn't have to be neat: Then I stuck the hot soldering iron all up in there and melted through the polyester weave and the rest of the tubing. After maybe fifteen seconds of wreching around in there, I was able to pull the tube off: After all these years and all that swearing!! Thanks again Zed Head for bringing it up!!

Well for me, the "old standby" method is using a razor knife to cut a slit into the rubber hose allowing it to be pulled off the barbs. That and a lot of swearing. The swearing is especially important when you get down to the bottom and are digging around inside the ferrule with the tip of the razor knife. But the problem with that old standby method is that no matter how much swearing is employed and despite how careful you are (I am?) with the razor, you always cut a little too deep and put cut lines into the barbs of the injectors. Memory says I've seen pictures and instructions put out by Datsun that warn exactly NOT to do it that way because of the inevitable damage, but that's the same old memory that says I've seen many recommendations for grinding the tubing off. As for the purpose of the ferrule? I'm thinking it's primarily there to prevent the tubing from being inserted too far onto the barb. It might also provide some support to the end of the tubing to prevent fraying and cracking over the years, but mostly for insertion depth. And as for how to get new tubing on? The service manual says to just put a little gasoline into the end of the new tube (as lubrication) and push it on. No clamp required. So I will try the soldering iron method for removal. Since the reinforcing threads inside the tubing are polyester, it makes a lot of sense. I have high hopes.

Haha!! Add it to the list for next time!

Zed Head, Thanks! I don't remember ever seeing that soldering iron technique in the FSM. I had always remembered the recommendation to grind the ferrule off and then peel the remaining rubber. Interesting thing is... The 75 manual recommends a grinder, but after that (76 an later) recommends the soldering iron. It's not like I spent a lot of time pouring over the 75 manual, but I couldn't find any other mention of doing it that way. Anyway I'll give that a try, and if that doesn't work, I'll try burning it like it floats. Thanks!

Haha!! You know me well my friend! I'm pretty sure I could make them, but I'm also pretty sure I would just rather buy them!

I'm working on getting the old dry-rotted cracked leaky hoses off some fuel injectors. In the past, I've simply cut/pulled/snipped/pried the old hose off the injectors, and while that works, it's always resulted in some scratching to the barbs on the ends of the injectors. The FSM talks about grinding the hoses off and I'd like to give that a try. Problem is, grinding could destroy the small metal ferrules at the base of the hose. So, question is... Anyone have a source for replacement ferrules? Here's a pic of injectors with and without the hose. I used the old standby method to get that hose off (in pieces), and I'm looking for a better option. Before and after the cutting/slicing approach to hose removal: If I destroy these ferrules, are replacements available? Note that you can see some scratching on the hose barbs from the removal process:

Sorry to hear about your friend and coworker. Are you thinking this will end up being another change of jobs for you, or do you think you'll stay where you are? Kinda up to the family, right?

Sounds like good progress! One other thing to check... The grommet around the antenna drain tube. It's back there in the same corner as the end of the exhaust pipe.

I'm sure they are hardened. The description on the website says: "Heavy duty inner and outer rollers are made from H11 tool steel to be used on stainless steel applications." Who in their right mind would make those dies out of tool steel and then not harden them afterwards? Who I ask would be so foolish???? OK... Who besides me?

Fingers crossed. How will you know? Just using your nose to verify, or do you have a smoke machine?

Yeah, that tool looks great. Probably much more durable than what I cobbled together. I didn't heat treat my dies and I'm not sure how many shots I'm going to get out of them before they start showing damage. Let's just hope I don't need to do a lot of bead rolling.

Cool. Hope it takes care of the leaks! Have you got other areas you think are leaking as well, or is the taillight the last one?

It's intentional. You're just the new guy providing the entertainment for us grizzled experienced owners. Soon you'll be just like us.

Craft foam sheets from the local arts and crafts store? That's what I did on my family truckster when the taillights started leaking on that one. Leave the original gasket in place and augment with a thin layer of auxillary foam. And maybe some seal-n-peel as well? Something like this: doesn't have to be neat... Just enough that it won't show from the outside:

And since I can do pics again, here's my solution to the bulkhead feedthru. Not as glamorous as what you did, but more stock-ish. I made a stainless version of the original feedthru. Used the bead roller for this too. New stainless version with old crusty original in background:

Wonder if my picture posting problems persist. Let's find out. Here's my cobbled together bead roller for when I was messing with the tubing: OK, so I can post pics again.

Funny... For the exact reasons you mentioned is why I thought the Seall-n-peel was a better option. I wanted something that would NOT bond (was NOT a glue), and I wanted something that took up volume instead of adhering two items together. My thoughts are if the foam alone is not sealing, it's because the foam is not thick enough, not compliant enough, or has taken a set and isn't spongy enough anymore. You don't need the foam to stick, you just need it to take up the gaps. And if the foam alone won't fill the gaps, then you need something with volume, not stickiness.

Agreed. Neat project. Kinda confused what he was doing in the first pic with the aluminum rod turned in the lathe, but maybe it'll all make sense to me later. The way he's clamping the part in the mill vise, that lathe work seems unnecessary? Like I said, maybe it'll all make sense later. So what bearings is us putting in?

I will work up a summary on what parts I used. I can quickly tell you however, that the Sentra throttle body I used was not compatible with the original TPS, and the TPS that came on that throttle body was not compatible with the Bosch L-Jet. The original is three positions (idle, mid, and WOT), and the TPS that came on the Sentra throttle body was a potentiometer. Bottom line? I spent a bunch of time adapting the original TPS onto the Sentra throttle body.

I'm not sure I would use that. The intent of the seal-n-peel is that it designed to take up volume, but NOT stick. It's intended to peel off (easily without damage) at the end of the heating/cooling season.

I used "Seal and Peel" which is a clear silicone that is designed to be an easily removable temporary seal. I haven't had the pleasure of trying to pull the taillights out since (so I don't know how bad it would be), but I've done the same on other cars and it was fine. They came off without a fight. I would post up some pics o what I did, but I'm getting the same server error as other people. But the tube looks like this:

Wow. Makes me really wonder if the oil control rings were installed properly. I can't imagine they wore out that quickly, but maybe put in wrong somehow? In any event, the answer will hopefully be forthcoming soon.

I'm thinking a PO was running a velocity stack snout or was matching the hole to the back of a non-stock air cleaner or something.

Yeah, that's got to be tricky. Watched the video. That's pretty blue. And if you've burned up one quart of oil already just idling in the garage, then it's pretty clear there's something internal wrong. From my armchair, it doesn't look like a carb issue. Curious though... If it is a ring issue, it would seem unlikely that there would be the same issue on all six cylinders. If the rebuilder knew how to do the rings correctly, he might have had one ring slip out of place on one piston or something. But all six seems unlikely unless there was a systemic mistake. I'm no ring expert, but there are different ring compositions. And don't some of those different compositions take longer to seat than others?

Yes, .100 nozzles are stock. And about the suitability of the SM needles, some people seem to have good results with them and others can't get idle to work right. I think there's a problem with the rings seating, or as Yarb suggested, an issue with the oil control rings. Why would you take it to a different shop? Wouldn't it be the responsibility of the first shop to make things right?