Racer X

The green stuff is a protective coating to maintain the friction surface on the flywheel. If not removed before use it will foul the clutch disc. Lacquer thinner will probably work too, but acetone is a cleaner, better refined solvent. Be sure to do a wet wipe/dry wipe for final cleaning after getting all the protective coating off, to ensure it is completely clean.

In this picture, is the piston at #1 top dead center on the compression stroke? Oh, and one picture is enough. We don’t need to see 4 pictures of the same thing.

Before you rotated the engine one revolution, was it at top dead center?

I don’t know what a “pulley wheel” is. The engine has a crankshaft pulley, at the front of the engine. It has a timing mark on it that should indicate 0 degrees, and when lined up with the timing pointer will either be #1 cylinder top dead center on the compression stroke (both valves closed) or #1 cylinder on the exhaust stroke. Set it and confirm #1 top dead center compression stroke by observing the cam lobes. If it isn’t there, turn the engine over (with a socket and ratchet) one revolution to get top dead center. Then observe the tang on the distributor drive spindle to confirm if it is in the proper position. Simple. And yes, the cam sprocket has a timing mark, and the chain has two bright links, used for the initial engine setup. Once the engine has been run, those marks only line up again every few hundred revolutions. So don’t focus on that.

Question everything.

I always enjoy Terrible Ted and the Ten Fingers of Doom, Wango Tango, Snakeskin Cowboys, Great White Buffalo, Journey To The Center Of The Mind. But when I began to see him pimping haddcore Republicant politics, I nearly burned that part of my album collection. Then I decided I don't have to like the Nugent of today, and I can still enjoy the Nugent of yesterday.

The preload will need to be checked, and if not to spec, adjusted per the service manual.

As a journeyman utility mechanic I trained in light, medium and heavy duty vehicle maintenance and repair, steel and aluminum fabrication (there was a fabrication shop with a large shear, sheet metal brake, iron worker, hossfeld bender, gas, img and tig welding equipment), and the shop had a full machine shop with a Bridgeport mill, metal lathe with a 12” headstock, several industrial type drill presses, a 10 ton hydraulic press, cylinder head tooling, brake service equipment, exhaust service equipment. So I was overqualified as an aerospace machinist. That Cincinnati mill is awesome. Every machine shop needs at least one.

I long for the moment they tell me I don’t have to wear this ******* mask anymore. I know, if you have been vaccinated you don’t need it outdoors, but I spend 8 to 10 hours a day inside The Big Shed, and company policy still requires masks and social distancing.

I dunno, you think that’ll be enough for a sheet of plywood? 😬

I worked as a civil engineer after college, but decided I didn’t like driving a desk, so when an opportunity to serve a 4 year state indentured apprenticeship as a truck and heavy equipment came along, I took it. 30 years later I “retired” , took a job driving semi trucks hauling oversized loads, then landed at The Big Shed a an aviation machinist. Now I’m about 13 weeks from permanent retirement.

When that happens I use a hammer and a pin punch to shatter the broken tool, and a dental pick to remove the broken bits. Fiddly, but effective.

A stethoscope won’t “hear” an exhaust leak. It is great for tracking down mechanical noises though, like that knock on the video.

On the noise in the video: It is a knocking sound, not a ticking. It is deeper and not a noise that the valve train would make. It is most likely a main or rod bearing. The only way to know for sure is a tear down. As for the valve adjustment, here is how I do it. Set the engine at #1 top dead center, using the timing mark on the crank pulley as a reference. The #1 cylinder will have both valves closed and can be checked and adjusted. Also, half of the other valves will be closed, or the cam lobes will be in a position to allow adjustments. Then rotate the engine one full turn until the timing mark is again lined up with the zero mark on the pointer. I forget which cylinder is then at top dead center, but the other half of the valves will also be in a position that they can also be checked. I have done it this way hundreds of times, and can run through a valve adjustment in less than 15 minutes. Remember, the lash settings are specified on a hot engine, and if you fiddle around too long, the engine will cool too much to facilitate proper adjustment.

I’m, why is the intake and distributor on the right side of the engine? Oh, and the knocking sounds like a bearing, a main or rod bearing.

Auto manufacturers always begin building next year’s cars in the middle of the current year. Your car, with a build date of 11/76 is a 1977 model year car.

The connectors on Datsun Z cars can be very difficult to separate. Keep trying.

The valve train is going to be noisy, so listening for valves that are too loose or too tight isn’t a good way to evaluate the clearances. If you set the valve clearance correctly the feeler gage will have a light drag as it is pulled through. I use go-no go feeler gages, which take the guesswork out of the process.

They tell me that I can’t really call myself a Boeing employee until I’ve been laid off and been rehired at least twice. I expect to retire in a few months, after just over seven years as a machinist. Never been through a layoff or a strike. Must have missed the layoff/strike part of the culture, eh?

Andromeda Strain.

Took a different look at what to do so I can get my brown 72 in driving condition for the summer. I was building this engine for the car when I was married to Mrs. Racer 1.0. The bottom end was done and I had started on a head for it when we split up. Right after that I was at Portland with the race Z for an ICSCC meet and had a crankshaft break. I was leading the points in my class, and the next meet was Pacific Raceways the following week. I didn’t have time to build another bottom end, so I swapped the head and other stuff and ran it for one weekend. Took the head and other stuff off a couple weeks later and put it all and a fresh race prepped bottom end. That was about 24 years ago. It is an L24 P30 block, bored 0.030 over. The cylinders are eyebrow clearanced. The crankcase was smoothed and sealed with Glyptal. The head, intake and exhaust from my race car have already been on it once, so they would feel right at home. I don’t plan on returning to the class I ran the race Z in again, so that setup is available. Stay tuned, eh?

Actually, I'm in Aviation. I work in The Big Shed. So sort of in the flight business, eh? Probably more risk and exposure there, about 45,000 people wander in and out everyday. A small city. And it is situated on the northeast apron of the Snohomish County Airport.

Remove them from the car first, then clamp in a vise. Drill a small hole (1/8") if you can't find a screw. Are you converting to 240 bumpers?

Found out last week that a coworker who has been vaccinated (about 6 weeks ago) has been sent home after testing positive for Covid. Wait. What? How does that happen?

Have you checked for vacuum leaks? If so, how? Changing carbs, or going EFI, is following the same route as the guy who put the Webers on did. I know, the Webers replaced those pesky flat top Hitachi things, but the flat tops can be made to operate correctly, give the proper maintenance and adjustment. Your car looks like it has been neglected for a considerable amount of time. Get rebuild kits for the carbs, and replace the intake/exhaust manifold gasket. Put the fuel return back into the system. Then adjust and tune the carbs.