Zed Head

Or, maybe because the holding spring is not in place the fork is slipping off of the throwout sleeve. So maybe that's actually a major thing. That spring on the back of the fork should be set in place, clipped over the pivot ball, at the same time you clip the throwout sleeve under the fork tine springs. All of the those parts are firmly held in place and aligned by the spring clips and the nose of the front cover. I see the edge of the spring in your other pictures but it doesn't seemed to clipped on to the pivot ball. Example from internet -

It still looks wrong. Is it possible that the clutch is already disengaged? Put the transmission in gear and see if you can turn the output shaft. Maybe when you install the transmission you're pushing the throwout bearing in to the pressure plate, disengaging the clutch. That could happen if the nose of the front cover is binding inside the throwout sleeve. Also, and this is minor, but there should be a spring on the back of the fork that holds it on to the pivot ball. It shouldn't be loose like you show in your video. Just another odd thing.

The distance from the friction surface of the flywheel to the back of the engine would tell you something about if the flywheel is thin. Again, somebody will need to get you a proper measurement to compare to.

That's a good one. That should show up at the front of the crankshaft. The damper pulley should be projecting forward. You'd see it in your belts and pulleys, they'd be misaligned, from damper pulley to water pump, etc. Might also see it in the distance from the flywheel edge to the back of the block. That's a more direct measurement but someone will need to verify theirs for you. Never heard of it happening but all of your other numbers seem right. Seems like a crankshaft misalignment would cause other problems too though.

Couple more... Is there a gap between the engine and transmission? That will move the pivot ball back. Picture below. Do you get the same distance with the new fork installed? It's a lot of work putting it all together to check, but it's the last unknown. Maybe that older fork is deformed somehow. It's the actual contact surfaces that matter, you can't really tell from the outer dimensions. The pivot ball could be "sunk" in to its seat on that older fork. The fork "tines" have a lot of wear visible.

I'd use the newer fork myself. The pressure plate and slave cylinder and throwout bearing/sleeve/collar will be designed for the newer fork. The older fork is the one odd piece in your collection of parts. The pivot ball looks in good shape. The one you showed is an odd style I haven't seen before. Might be an aftermarket part. Plus the wear on the old fork will lose a little bit more travel.

One last thing on your pivot ball. Is the washer underneath it? Without the washer it is effectively shorter which would cause some of your problem. You'd lose the thickness of the washer plus the geometry would change slightly. Not much else. Shaving the flywheel would also lose you some, moving the pressure plate away from the pivot ball and throwout bearing. Good luck.

Just for reference.

Any chance you put the fork on the wrong side of the sleeve ears?

It would take super human strength. The hydraulic system transfers the power of your leg on the lever length of the clutch pedal directly to the clutch fork. I can't remember if there's a hydraulic amplification from bore sizes but still, that pedal is pretty long. Never mind this second part, I removed it. I didn't really get what was happening. Looks like you have the tallest sleeve but are getting a lower number. Almost like you have a short pressure plate. Not sure what's going on with your setup. Need to ponder. Do you have any pictures of the pivot ball in the transmission? On the front cover.

This place has a good rep. I think it's a family operation. https://datsunspirit.com/

@zcardepot.com Oops. Hopefully, they don't have porch pirates there.

https://covidtracking.com/data/charts/us-currently-hospitalized https://covidtracking.com/data/charts https://covidtracking.com/data/charts/daily-cases-and-currently-hospitalized

Funny, I never really realized this. The 1978 FSM has both, for reference. I wonder where the extra capacity is. Bigger rear case? Or did they just move the fill hole up to keep the new gears covered.

Does the car still have the original 4 speed? 5 speeds take more as S30Driver points out here.

Just feeling a theme. It will pass...

And surviving it is not the only thing to worry about. Useful numbers are finally being generated about how many people actually come out the other side in the same shape they were before they got it. Not many. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jul/06/coronavirus-covid-19-mild-symptoms-who "Another troubling phenomenon now coming into focus is that of “long-haul” Covid-19 sufferers – people whose experience of the illness has lasted months. For a Dutch report published earlier this month (an excerpt is translated here) researchers surveyed 1,622 Covid-19 patients with an average age of 53, who reported a number of enduring symptoms, including intense fatigue (88%) persistent shortness of breath (75%) and chest pressure (45%). Ninety-one per cent of the patients weren’t hospitalized, suggesting they suffered these side-effects despite their cases of Covid-19 qualifying as “mild”. While 85% of the surveyed patients considered themselves generally healthy before having Covid-19, only 6% still did so one month or more after getting the virus." The "here" translation - https://www.biomax.com/lib/press-releases/Initial-Result-Announcment_English.pdf

Smoky burnouts? There have been questions about overall quality of the OBX units. They are the typical "knockoff" part from offshore. You'll probably know more when you look at the drain plug or the fluid that comes out. Good luck

As it stands, things are very clear, I think, on what's going on with the COVID-19 pandemic. It's not even being addressed as a health issue anymore, by those at the very top. But it's still interesting to keep up with what's happening, like watching a tsunami wave growing. Remember when various state governments were going to ban travelers from New York state? Ponder these graphs from MDMetrix. A person can make the increased testing argument but the graphs should drive a person to learn more. Hospitalization rates are up too. https://covid-19.mdmetrix.com/grid.html?list=all_cases New York state is going to be the safest place on the planet pretty soon. 16 states on their 14 day quarantine list as of now. It started at eight, on the 25th of June. And one of those, Washington, was apparently a mistake, it was removed a day later. https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/covid-19-travel-advisory

There are definitely different gland nuts that can affect thread engagement. Some strut inserts/shocks come with a spacer that fits under the gland nut to get a proper fit. Most of them come with their own gland nut that centers the top of the shock too, as it provides proper clamping force. The gland nut fits like a cap over the top of the strut. It is essentially an extension of the tube when it's all put together. Think of it that way and you can probably make things work. Don't forget to check the bottom of the strut tube also. Crud/rust can build up in the bottom. It wasn't really designed for the replaceable inserts. They just happened to work well.

The place that rebuilt the engine was still around three years ago. Not many posts, looks like they got bored with Facebook. Might still be a going concern. https://www.facebook.com/RisingSunPerformance/ http://sehlers.tripod.com/risingsun.html/ Edit - I added this earlier but it didn't stick for some reason. They're still around.

Did you install the better Belleville springs/washers? The OBX's needed some prep work before installation to get the best results. There's a guy that was even making new washer/springs (they're actually springs, but look like washers. Or maybe they're both...). I think it's R. C. Bryant. https://forums.hybridz.org/topic/88099-obx-differential-inspection-and-installation/ https://rbryant.freeshell.org/obx_washers.htm https://www.centuryspring.com/products/disc-springs/

I think that you have the math down about perfectly. EuroDat supplied the final clue to your problem early on. There is no "70-74" pressure plate (tall plate) available in the common low budget aftermarket. There are only two kinds now, a 225 mm plate (coupe) and 240 mm plate (turbo and 2+2). If this forum had stickies this would be a good one. That's a nice illustration of where to measure.