Blowby-too much smoke!

[Zed Head]

On 5/5/2016 at 6:01 PM, Patcon said:

Is ITM it's own manufacturer or are they made by someone else?

This got overlooked as a possibility for the ITM confusion.  Could be that ITM outsources to TIK and TIK quality isn't very good.  How many people have bought Timken for their reputation then opened the box to find National brand?

[S30Driver]

29 minutes ago, Zed Head said:

  How many people have bought Timken for their reputation then opened the box to find National brand?

Out of interest because I am getting ready to do my front wheel bearings and rotors, I opened my Timken boxes & found Timken bearings.  The box has a hologram with a serial number.  Maybe there are some fakes out there.

[Zed Head]

I remember some discussions about the topic from the past.  I'll dig around.  I wonder if anyone has a set of ITM pistons they could examine.

[Patcon]

16 hours ago, Zed Head said:

This got overlooked as a possibility for the ITM confusion.  Could be that ITM outsources to TIK and TIK quality isn't very good.  How many people have bought Timken for their reputation then opened the box to find National brand?

That was what I was wondering, I have no idea but maybe ITM is a product line made by them and these are the same pistons with different stampings. IE "the generic"...

[Diseazd]

19 hours ago, Zed Head said:

I was kidding, of course.  I feel a little bad that the spot-light is now on Datsun Spirit, who has a generally excellent reputation.  I did mean my comment though about change there being possible.  Shops get big and busy, they hire new people and give them responsibility, and things happen.  Could be an honest mistake.

You've done more than enough and it was a good cautionary note for everyone.  With grannyknot's recent selling issue and this, and past CaliforniaDatsun problems, it shows that you have to look out.  I might send a message to the guy in that other thread (Richie, apparently), with a link to this one, just to give them a chance to address the issue.  Maybe Diseazd or Carl Beck has a view.  

Still think that there are written records out there somewhere.  You wouldn't have them though, the other guys would.

Eiji builds his own engines....he's a one man show. He pays attention to every detail (almost painfully so). He meticulously checks and rechecks every clearance and tolerance. If the engine self destructed, I would have to believe that something wasn't adjusted right.....maybe too much advance, something that caused detonation. It's incredible what happened to those Pistons....all broken exactly the same....almost interchangeable. I don't have a clue, but he's coming over next Saturday. I'll ask him if he has any clues.......quite the mystery.

[Zed Head]

Glad you're here but you might have missed the key point we're trying to figure out - Eiji said ITM but the marks on the pistons say TIK.  So, if attention to detail is extreme, is there something more to this whole story?  How did those TIK's get in there?  That might be the key to everything.

[Mark Maras]

 Has anyone confirmed that the Eiji engine is still the one in the car? Block numbers? If not, The logical explanation is, someone swapped the engines. The reason is obvious. 

[Zed Head]

I agree.  I sent a message to Datsun Spirit, from that other thread.  Just to give the opportunity to respond.  I'm sure that zmano would provided the engine number.  Somebody from Datsun Spirit needs to answer these questions though.  The whole thing puts a damper on future recommendations.  If they don't keep those kind of records then we may never know.  The engine did have the blocked PCV port, which is a Datsun Spirit thing.  Who knows, they might have bought their "ITM"s from the internet and got TIK's instead.  California Datsun sells "ITM"s.

[zmanoside]

I just received emails this morning from the previous owner. Attached is info on the block that was put in by Eiji. Block number L28 614069. On the paper it says "Tims block" this was the dudes name that owned the block previously before Eiji bought it and sold it to Kelvin. This is not the same block that is in the car currently. I just looked. The block number for the car that is sitting in my garage is L28 641027....

Edited May 7, 2016 by zmanoside

[siteunseen]

19 hours ago, zmanoside said:

And I wanted to thank everyone on here for helping me identify the problems within this ordeal. I really do appreciate all of your experience and thoughts throughout this process. Im just stoked it got fixed within a reasonable amount of time and it didn't cost an arm and a leg. Thanks again for your help. --Zach

Don't sweat it too much.  You are happy, that's all that matters now.

[Zed Head]

1 hour ago, zmanoside said:

the block that was put in by Eiji. Block number L28 614069.

This is not the same block that is in the car currently. I just looked. The block number for the car that is sitting in my garage is L28 641027....

Yeah, the block that's in there is accomplishing its intended purpose.  And Eiji has what he needs to solve the puzzle.  Maybe he has records on 641027.  Could be he just worked on it, but didn't build it.  Still, very odd that Kelvin either got paperwork for the wrong engine or his engine got swapped.  Maybe even at Datsun Spirit, by accident.  Someone out there must have the real block.  Where's the Crazy Swede (somebody do that @ thing, I don't know how)?

You probably could have sold a 6000 mile Datsun Spirit engine for a bit to help fund the RB.

Edited May 7, 2016 by Zed Head

[zmanoside]