Dave WM

Will do. Its been a long time since I was up that way, had a job where the HQ was in a place called Strafford PA or maybe Wayne PA maybe the same area. It was very peaceful, used to like going there on bus trips.

That would be great! I will let you know when get close. What's a good time to make that drive? for best views, traffic etc....

Test drive went well, Oil pressure came right up (should figuring all the pre running, no noticeable leakage of water, some oil around drain pan passenger side, but I suspect that came from when I installed the full oil filter. No "funny" sounds, just normal Datsun engine. I will get a couple cans of brake clean (I never seem to have enough of that stuff) and hose off the under side around the oil pan to be sure. there was some anti freeze trapped on suspension part under the water inlet, I think that came from when I re attached the heater hose, I blew it out with compressed air, towel dried it. It seems like a natural catch place for water anyway. Had the squeals from the belts, alt most likely, I tend to install too loose, trying to not over stress the water pump. Maybe a new belt is in order, will pickup when I get the brake clean. Next trip will be to south florida, South beach, pretend I am sonny crocket, cruise around at O dark thirty. The beach is fun then, cool and feels like going home again (but for all the new roads anyway). Maybe drive around the old hood and see what's happening. A nice short trip to really give it a test, before tail of the dragon, then maybe plan a trip up the North East. I would ultimately like to drive in Canada, maybe up the Yukon, but that will take a lot of time before I think I can get up the nerve to test the long range of the Z again.

Update: Took a while but the oil pressure came up, I had lots of oil on the lobes so I am sure they are fine. I am recharging the battery and will do a quick cold compression check, just want to see if there is any diff. IIRC last time it was about 155 cold, but not sure about that. I am curious to see if it could have changed (if the valve timing was any diff I assume it could effect the compression). I almost forgot to tighten up the pan bolts. I will go over everything after a few runs to make sure I did not miss anything. I had ZERO oil leaks before so I really hope its still going to be that after all this invasive surgery.

I think loosening the pan bolts all around it so I could pull the pan down a bit was the key. that way as you get it loose from the dowel pins you can immediately pull the cover free with a slight downward and out motion. Same with installing. It VERY slight the angle I am talking about but enough it seems to do the trick. Also I have what I assume is an OE head gasket if that matters. It was not the least bit of a struggle getting it off once it broke free of the bond around the entire cover.

all back but the splash pan and the bottom shroud. draining oil now, getting close. I saw a guy hold the crank by using the cam shaft boss and a adj wrench, the same setup as used when removing and installing the cam shaft bolt. guess since its the tight side under tension for tightening the crank bolt that would be fine. Think I will double check my crank bolt before I put that stuff back on as well.

I got that same setup for the remote starter, think I will check to see if the car is in gear. in gear. in gear. No carp, snorkel...

will do. I used assy lube on the dizzy drive shaft where it passes thru the cover, prefilled the oil pump, will leave the valve cover off when doing the refill just dump oil directly on all the lobes and down on the chain as well to fill, and of course fill the oil filter before install. I generally apply assy lube to the cam lobes anytime I have it open and I know I will be doing an oil change.

I don't recall saying that, but I may have just assumed it. Its all back together now, just have to tighten up the pan bolts, change the oil/filter, install the hoses and refill the cooling system. oh and install the dizzy, Its clocked right 11:30 #1 rotor points to #1 spark. I will prob leave the splash guard off for a while so I can check for leaks etc... much easier to get at stuff with it off. The plan is to finish up, then spin it with the valve cover off, plugs out, using the remote starter (no fuel or spark), to check the oil flow at the spray bar. examination of the chain showed the obvious damage where the links had rubbed on the chain guide metal. Also I noted the new tensioner seemed to be MUCH smoother than the old one. And the grooves warn into the guide and the foot of the tensioner. I will post up some pics later. Besides the chain kit I installed a new front seal, gaskets for the cover, oil pump and will do dizzy gasket as well. Had to make up a new gasket for the water inlet. Belts and hoses were fine, so left them alone. compressor tensioner bearing sounded fine, left alone. Did install a new water pump/gasket/OE bolt set just because. Installed the refurbed radiator, Note removing the lower shroud is very easy and makes it a snap to put back in, and its nice to be able to work on the fan and pump with the rad out then just slide it over the top. there are built in tangs that hold the rad while you get the bolts in, very easy. I was a little unsure about how to tighten up the harmonic damper, I put the car in 4th stuck a large screw driver in the u joint a the diff (not sure that did anything) pulled the brake, then used some locktite (blue) and torqued to about 110 ft pounds. The car inched forward so I don't know if that effected the readings, it would move some then stop and I would continue to torque until it clicked. I would like to find a junk starter and figure out some way of jamming the gear out and locked. then just bolt in bell housing to hold the flywheel.

its all in just have to torque the guide nuts and the tensioner. the OSK cam sprocket does NOT HAVE THE V GROOVE... I ended up filing one I right over the #1 hole, did not bother with putting them on the #2 or #3. Geez... I used some gasket sealant on the front seal. All out of the stuff I wanted to use on the gasket themselves (Permatex gray). So will make a run to the store for that. will exercise care and use very sparingly, I don't like to use a lot of that stuff, just a little dab and then smear it on. Esp around that drainage trough around the water ways. would not want to block it off. Kinda PO about the missing V grooves on the cam sprocket, also the holes are more of them and smaller making it difficult to see anyway.

yea!

Roger. I made up a new gasket, seems they are not easy to get, at least not from the local autozone felpro. Hurry up mail man!

was cleaning up the water outlet (the thing that goes to the heater hose) I noticed a small corrosion hole, it was under the hose so I doubt it would have caused a problem, but I cleaned up the whole thing and filled the hole with some JB weld. I hope those parts get here soon my OCD is really kicking in. Also noted there is a long trough that wraps round the TC cover area of the water inlet and outlet. It leads to the outside. Guessing its a weep hole of sorts to allow any water that manages to get past the gasket an exit other than inside the timing cover?

I test fitted the cover (just wanted to see how hard it is to align and fit under the head and over the pan. Got the feel for it. Think I will try installing the rad with the lower shroud off and the fan on to save some fiddling of installing the fan with the shroud in place. I was able to install the TC cover on my back with the car on its suspension. I just like to work out the ergonomics of it (esp when I am waiting on parts)… the cover seal looks perfect but since the OSK kit has a made in Japan (the felpro in the kit I bought for gaskets was a made in mexico) marking on the seal I will replace that as well. Is that a dry install or do I use a bit of sealant on the outside of the seal? Or should I oil the outside so it goes in easy? Will do that before installing the TC of course. On my spare engine I did that with the cover on, but I think I just installed it dry (lubed of the inner part of course before installing the damper).

My broken one has the KR mark.

FSM no help on the guides, but did mention the shoe of the tensioner should have 0mm distance (I know there is a plastic washer so I will assume the mean it just installed so that the shoe is all the way back until it just touches the plastic washer. It did mention sealant on the 4 corners of the TC cover both sides of the gaskets, but did NOT mention sealant around the water holes like the Datsun book. Prob over thinking all of this.

Ok maybe a minor detail but should the chain be in actual contact with the guide (tangent the Datsun book says) or just a tiny bit of clearance on the exit (loose side) and entrance (tight side). there is enough adjustment to set it up for contact or just a bit of space (like 1mm) seems to me a tiny bit of space is better to avoid excessive wear of the plastic, but maybe that allows whipping which is bad. I am going to go back over the FSM and see what it says.

so yours broke ahead of the mount bolt and dropped the top half. Mine broke the mounts themselves and dropped the whole assy pretty much intact. Interesting. Did you have the correct bolt length for the T stat housing? that is the 1st suspect for why it would fail. Other than that its assumed a worn chain and or worn guide.

I did some searching and found some comments either here or a zcar.com, there was talk about at one time Nissan used a gasket but was later deleted.. When the new parts arrive I plan to take some pics to compare the old to the new, will also show the wear marks on the shoe. there was also some talk about a small hole on the top of the tensioner looks like drilled thru a plug. My guess is it was for oil to squirt out of. Seem some tensioners have it some don't. I cant imagine a lack of oil in and around the chain parts with all that oil from the valve train spilling over from the top of the head. I picked up the rad, looks better still has some deposits in it but at this point I don't want them to mess with it anymore. The new OSK parts are supposed to be here tomorrow.

a couple things, 1st are you 100% sure its the rear seal and not dripping from the top of the shifter? there will often be a lot of oil getting up there (should be NONE) that eventually finds its way to the rear part of the trans and then drips down. You can tell by pulling the rubber gator off the top of the shifter and see if its all gooey with oil. Second IF it is for sure the rear trans seal, you may have a badly worn bush allowing too much play in the drive shaft. see if there is side play right up at the joint where the drive shaft sticks into the trans. IF so then you should replace the bronze bush.

my guide has the same wear area on the upper corner as shown in the pick above, that and its kinda ripped there, SO I think that is the smoking gun, somehow it must have worn just enough to expose the metal and then the sharp edge of the metal catches a chain link, and bingo, disaster. So I maybe would have caught it if I had been more diligent about inspection of that area, look for thinning plastic on the narrow side top edge. The "badly worn" part is confusing since from all the checks the chain has very little wear, IF stretching is a indicator of wear.

So I got the tight side guide today (ordered it orig before the osk order) turns out it is make in japan as well (beck arney) I went ahead and installed it just to see how it goes on, While messing with it I removed the tensioner from the loose side. It was pretty smooth but did have some kind of burr in the cylinder that I could feel. I seriously doubt it could get hung up on that between the spring and the oil pressure, but clearly it will be replaced as well. I did notice there is a gasket behind it. the gasket was not in the felpro gasket kit I ordered, I don't know if it will be in the OSK kit, seem like it should, but if not the gasket that is there seems very intact so will leave it be for now. I also ordered a spare TC cover just cause it was cheap from japan. IDK why I do stuff like that, but figured just in case I managed to break one removing it I would have a spare. Sick. Oh and the tensioner had 3 distinct gouges where the chain rides, I don't know if they are there when ne and just deepen or if the shoe is supposed to be smooth, off to google images... ok no grooves is the way it should be new.

If I ever do this (take a head to a shop) I am going to be very aware of warpage before it goes, and how well the cam spins before I remove the head and after I put it back on after machine work. Trying to avoid a CO like fail on the shaft.

If head is warped was there any talk about straightening 1st or milling both sides. All having to do with keeping the cam journals in line when you go back to bolt it on.

picked up the rad today, looked nice, removed the tape from the neck (protect it from the fresh paint) looked inside, looked exactly the same, build up about 20%, I wonder if they just painted it. Anyway complained, they were very understanding and will take it apart and examine again. I hope they don't just clean up the few ones I can see and call it done. Been to them over the past 30 years at least. Never had a problem. At best now I will prob make this a spare rad and pop for a new one, have to take my chances on made in China stuff, which is exactly what I was trying to avoid.