In a moment of boredom my dad and I said, "stuff it bet we can get the coupe running!"
Now the car hasn't been run in the nearly 10 years or so the previous owner had it, so I had my doubts. There were masses of custom crap wiring everywhere, dust and debris, not to mention half a mud hornet nest on the block.
So we started by a general tidy up and cut out the crap wiring. Then off came the air filter and checked out what we had. The manifold was held on by only 2 bolts! The exhaust header was in the boot and all the fuel and vac lines had been cut!!! Pretty wizz poor effort that.
Borrowing from Wile E Coyote's school of acme engineering we adapted what we could. This wasn't meant to be long term (I'll pull the engine for a full rebuild) but was just a case of can we do it?
Headers went on, now 5 bolts holding it all on. Had to make a fuel line from the pump to carb using the return line. Made an ignition switch from the coil to the battery out of the junk wiring we removed. Made another wire to the starter to jump start that. And borrowed a zed alternator adjustment bracket and put that in instead of the lump of wood holding the belt tension. Couple more little things and we're ready.....now where's that battery?? Didn't come with one, perhaps tomorrow then.
Today we had another go, with battery this time, so we hooked it all up. Pulled the plugs to turn her over on the starter to move the oil around (it was still full). Also checked spark which we definitely had (got zapped, again :roll: )
All seemed good, quick final check. Rigged up a tin can as a fuel tank (tank is out) and this is the result!
240k hardtop first turnover - YouTube
Helps when you connect a ignition switch to actually flick it on :oops:
Round 2
240k hardtop It's Alive!!! - YouTube
All seemed good so far. We've come this far, why not get her really going. In order to do that needed to fill the radiator.. So we pushed her outside since I didn't want to pull the bottom rad hose inside the garage.
Dropped the bottom hose, which still had rusty water, and flushed it out a bit before reconnecting. The battery we were using wasn't that healthy so we had to use the black wagon to jump it but here goes
240k hardtop outside - YouTube
Now needed another hand so I had to put the phone down this time.
240k hardtop running - YouTube
Sorry for the crap video.....
Now it's only running headers, with air leaks literally everywhere....but she runs!! Got warm and the thermostat even opened before the tin can emptied. So not a bad exercise in acme engineering.
Got to thank my dad for the assist on this. His old datsun racing trickery coming to the fore on this
That's probably all for this year with the holidays about to kick off. Hope to get some minor bodywork done early on next year and finish my bumper assemblies off.
Merry Christmas and stay safe on the holidays!