nebuchernezzer
8th January 2010, 04:22 PM
This is my 1977 Datsun 200B (810 Bluebird). It's one of the first 200Bs and as such it's the rare IRS model (most 200Bs in Oz had borg warner live axles) with an R160 diff. I use it as my second car (I daily both my cars), it's fun in an old school way and fairly torquey now that I've put the twin carbs etc on it.
This picture is how it sits now, but below is a quick run through my build over the year that I've owned the car.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33713.jpg
I copy pasted this from another forum I post in :)
It's a 1977 Datsun 200b (810 Bluebird in Japan), it's a very early model so it has the IRS rear end (most Oz delivered 200Bs had live axles as part of the Australian content thing).
It's a 2 owner car, for most of it's life it was owned by a WWII veteran, then recently a younger guy bought it. It's still pretty much in it's unmolested original state though. It's got a CD player and some speakers added but it's all been done without cutting anything which is nice.
It's a 4 speed manual with 135,000km, also it's got it's original NSW plates.
I want to keep it nice, easy to drive daily that has nothing about it's classicness really ruined.
I've not done anything inside apart from remove the stereo/sub the previous owner installed, but it should look nicer with a clean as well.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33714.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33715.jpg
Then I bought this A87 head, this casting has better combustion chambers than the standard L20B U67 casting with a nice quench area. They are also slightly smaller than the stock U67 at 41cc each.
I plan to use this better head with twin SU carbs from a 180B SSS. To do this I need to port the head's intake ports out to 1.5" from the 1.25" they are now. I'll also skim the head and rebuild it with the top end rebuild kit I also bought today, fun times!
The cam is of unknown spec, I've got to check and see which L series motor it came from (it's possibly not an L18 cam, although the head itself is from an L18).
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33716.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33717.jpg
So pulled it apart to see what I need to do to it.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33718.jpg
First off come the rocker retainer springs, then push the valves down with a screwdriver and wiggle the rockers out.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33719.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33720.jpg
Next undo the cam retainer and slide the cam out. I think the cam is an L20B item, not an L18 one like the head. The cam and rockers are supposed to be matched (since they wear together) but on this head they likely aren't matched. Regardless I still numbered everything anyways.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33721.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33722.jpg
Then get the valve spring compressor out, compress the springs and remove the collets.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33723.jpg
Slide out the valves, and your done :). You can see the valves are pretty carbonned up, even over the valve seats. It'll take some cleaning and then we'll see if we have to regrind the valve seats or weather I can just get away with cleaning it all up and seating the valves by hand and be done with it. Of course the head will be cleaned up at home then skimmed before I put it back together with new valve stem seals and so on later.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33724.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33725.jpg
Cleaned up the valves and the head a bit. The valves have some pitting so I may get new ones, we'll see. The exhaust valves are the worst which I think is usual.
The whole lot was pretty crusty before but the head looks pretty good overall. The main thing is that the head isn't corroded or anything so it's a good base. Still more cleaning to do but I've cleaned up the combustion chambers at least.
Before.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33726.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33727.jpg
After.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33728.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33729.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33730.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33731.jpg
Test fitted my wheels, I brought these back from Japan with me when I moved back last year.
15x7 -1 and 15x7.5 -7 Longchamp XR4s.
Got to give all of them a good polish and clean up, and fit some tyres to the rears.
It should look the bomb (and the wheels should fit nicely) after I lower the car. I plan to just roll the front and rear guards at home, no extra flaring. It's an IRS so the rears should camber in under the guards nicely. I want the rear tyres tucked into the bodywork and the fronts in line with the guards.
Tyres up front are 195/60R15, which is pretty much the right size, so I'll probably put the same size on the rear to match the fronts (the fronts have a fair bit of life left in them). 195s on a 7.5 won't have uber stretch or anything but they should look quite nice me thinks.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33732.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33733.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33734.jpg
Then I got my twin carbs.
They are OEM style SU carbs. I was originally told they were SUs from an MG not the SUs made by Hitachi for Datsun but I now know they are actual Hitachi SUs. I'm also got an OEM airbox which I'm very pleased with. So I'll have old school OEM sports look.
They have 1.5" throats and the manifold splits into four 1.5" inlets. The A87 head has 1.25" inlet ports (unless you get a genuine SSS head, same casting but 1.5" ports). So I fitted just the inlet manifold and sprayed paint down the throats so I had a pattern for grinding out the inlet ports on my head to match the manifold.
I'll put a rebuild kit through the carbs and I'll have to set up a manual choke for these carbs in place of the automatic choke the standard 200B carb has. Obviously I'll clean up everything and paint whatever needs a lick of paint as well :).
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33735.jpg
I ported the head out yesterday with a die grinder. Note that you don't want a super smooth finish in the inlet ports. The roughness will help with fuel atomisation. The inlets were originally 1.25" but are now 1.5" to match the SSS twin carb manifold. I sprayed paint down the runners, die ground the diameters to match then smoothed out the radiuses everywhere. Pleased :).
One done, one not.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33736.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33737.jpg
All done
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33738.jpg
Down two of the runners.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33739.jpg
I picked up some cheap wing mirrors in the same style as the OEM 200B wing mirrors. They are just cheap ones from Singapore, so they aren't perfect but they'll until I can pick up some better ones.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33740.jpg
Polished some of my wheels today.
Hand polished most and used a scotchbrite pad on a air dremel to do the spokes.
One down! Going to replace the rusted nuts/bolts with stainless ones.
Before and after on the 15x7.5 -7s.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33741.jpg
With the fronts in shot as well :).
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33742.jpg
I've got new nuts and bolts for all 4 wheels now, I ended up getting zinc plated high tensile, although it's completely unnecessary. Pretty much just cos they didn't have the bolts I wanted in stainless.
Got my extractors, test fit is all good :).
Now to cut off the EGR pipe thingo and weld the hole up, then paint them and heat wrap them.
When the time comes I'll be scratch building the exhaust from 2" stainless steel.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33743.jpg
This picture is how it sits now, but below is a quick run through my build over the year that I've owned the car.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33713.jpg
I copy pasted this from another forum I post in :)
It's a 1977 Datsun 200b (810 Bluebird in Japan), it's a very early model so it has the IRS rear end (most Oz delivered 200Bs had live axles as part of the Australian content thing).
It's a 2 owner car, for most of it's life it was owned by a WWII veteran, then recently a younger guy bought it. It's still pretty much in it's unmolested original state though. It's got a CD player and some speakers added but it's all been done without cutting anything which is nice.
It's a 4 speed manual with 135,000km, also it's got it's original NSW plates.
I want to keep it nice, easy to drive daily that has nothing about it's classicness really ruined.
I've not done anything inside apart from remove the stereo/sub the previous owner installed, but it should look nicer with a clean as well.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33714.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33715.jpg
Then I bought this A87 head, this casting has better combustion chambers than the standard L20B U67 casting with a nice quench area. They are also slightly smaller than the stock U67 at 41cc each.
I plan to use this better head with twin SU carbs from a 180B SSS. To do this I need to port the head's intake ports out to 1.5" from the 1.25" they are now. I'll also skim the head and rebuild it with the top end rebuild kit I also bought today, fun times!
The cam is of unknown spec, I've got to check and see which L series motor it came from (it's possibly not an L18 cam, although the head itself is from an L18).
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33716.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33717.jpg
So pulled it apart to see what I need to do to it.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33718.jpg
First off come the rocker retainer springs, then push the valves down with a screwdriver and wiggle the rockers out.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33719.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33720.jpg
Next undo the cam retainer and slide the cam out. I think the cam is an L20B item, not an L18 one like the head. The cam and rockers are supposed to be matched (since they wear together) but on this head they likely aren't matched. Regardless I still numbered everything anyways.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33721.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33722.jpg
Then get the valve spring compressor out, compress the springs and remove the collets.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33723.jpg
Slide out the valves, and your done :). You can see the valves are pretty carbonned up, even over the valve seats. It'll take some cleaning and then we'll see if we have to regrind the valve seats or weather I can just get away with cleaning it all up and seating the valves by hand and be done with it. Of course the head will be cleaned up at home then skimmed before I put it back together with new valve stem seals and so on later.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33724.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33725.jpg
Cleaned up the valves and the head a bit. The valves have some pitting so I may get new ones, we'll see. The exhaust valves are the worst which I think is usual.
The whole lot was pretty crusty before but the head looks pretty good overall. The main thing is that the head isn't corroded or anything so it's a good base. Still more cleaning to do but I've cleaned up the combustion chambers at least.
Before.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33726.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33727.jpg
After.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33728.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33729.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33730.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33731.jpg
Test fitted my wheels, I brought these back from Japan with me when I moved back last year.
15x7 -1 and 15x7.5 -7 Longchamp XR4s.
Got to give all of them a good polish and clean up, and fit some tyres to the rears.
It should look the bomb (and the wheels should fit nicely) after I lower the car. I plan to just roll the front and rear guards at home, no extra flaring. It's an IRS so the rears should camber in under the guards nicely. I want the rear tyres tucked into the bodywork and the fronts in line with the guards.
Tyres up front are 195/60R15, which is pretty much the right size, so I'll probably put the same size on the rear to match the fronts (the fronts have a fair bit of life left in them). 195s on a 7.5 won't have uber stretch or anything but they should look quite nice me thinks.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33732.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33733.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33734.jpg
Then I got my twin carbs.
They are OEM style SU carbs. I was originally told they were SUs from an MG not the SUs made by Hitachi for Datsun but I now know they are actual Hitachi SUs. I'm also got an OEM airbox which I'm very pleased with. So I'll have old school OEM sports look.
They have 1.5" throats and the manifold splits into four 1.5" inlets. The A87 head has 1.25" inlet ports (unless you get a genuine SSS head, same casting but 1.5" ports). So I fitted just the inlet manifold and sprayed paint down the throats so I had a pattern for grinding out the inlet ports on my head to match the manifold.
I'll put a rebuild kit through the carbs and I'll have to set up a manual choke for these carbs in place of the automatic choke the standard 200B carb has. Obviously I'll clean up everything and paint whatever needs a lick of paint as well :).
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33735.jpg
I ported the head out yesterday with a die grinder. Note that you don't want a super smooth finish in the inlet ports. The roughness will help with fuel atomisation. The inlets were originally 1.25" but are now 1.5" to match the SSS twin carb manifold. I sprayed paint down the runners, die ground the diameters to match then smoothed out the radiuses everywhere. Pleased :).
One done, one not.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33736.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33737.jpg
All done
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33738.jpg
Down two of the runners.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33739.jpg
I picked up some cheap wing mirrors in the same style as the OEM 200B wing mirrors. They are just cheap ones from Singapore, so they aren't perfect but they'll until I can pick up some better ones.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33740.jpg
Polished some of my wheels today.
Hand polished most and used a scotchbrite pad on a air dremel to do the spokes.
One down! Going to replace the rusted nuts/bolts with stainless ones.
Before and after on the 15x7.5 -7s.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33741.jpg
With the fronts in shot as well :).
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33742.jpg
I've got new nuts and bolts for all 4 wheels now, I ended up getting zinc plated high tensile, although it's completely unnecessary. Pretty much just cos they didn't have the bolts I wanted in stainless.
Got my extractors, test fit is all good :).
Now to cut off the EGR pipe thingo and weld the hole up, then paint them and heat wrap them.
When the time comes I'll be scratch building the exhaust from 2" stainless steel.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/0/7/3/33743.jpg