Whitebird - the no-nonsense version

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okayfine
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Re: Whitebird

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Last edited by okayfine on 10 Jun 2009 13:12, edited 1 time in total.
Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson
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okayfine
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Re: Whitebird

Post by okayfine »

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Last edited by okayfine on 10 Jun 2009 13:13, edited 1 time in total.
Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson
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okayfine
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CV Axles

Post by okayfine »

As you can see in the last picture of the Exhaust post, I'm running CV axles. Or, I will be, once the car's actually running. I bought a set of CNC flanges from Matt when he did his intial run of 'em. At $200 shipped, it was an offer I couldn't refuse. At that point I hadn't really thought about running CVs (but had followed the CV axle thread here and thisismatt's thread on Ratsun) because the KA510 was low enough to cause the rear view mirror to vibrate at freeway speeds.

Whitebird wasn't going to be as low, but again, $200 shipped for the flanges was worth taking a fork in the project and budget road.

I found that there were different makers of aftermarket extended-spline VW Type II axles out there. They have various uses, but in my case they presented a cost-effective option for the custom axle length necessary for 510 CV axles. Add in some GKN CV joints, and I should have zero issues with this setup, even if I had a turbo on my SR (but maybe not if I had the boost turned up from stock).

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As pictured, the CV setup is about two pounds heavier than the Datsun half shaft. Per side.

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Test fit of the major pieces. I still need to shorten the axle by 1", but this is a simple lathe job as there will still be enough spline (due to the extended splines) to fully engage the CV joint.
Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson
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okayfine
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Brake Master Cylinder

Post by okayfine »

A couple weekends ago I took my tape measure to the junkyard and started measuring BMCs. With the SU SR, I needed a shorter BMC to clear the rear carb and filter assembly. The stock 3/4" NIssan BMC was just over 7" in length, and I needed something approaching 4-1/2". A tall (short) order.

However, I found a few short BMCs amongst the lot. Mercedes in their 190Es and 300Es have a BMC that is about 4-3/4", however after looking up the information online, they seem to have a split bore (7/8 and 1"). That might be good information for someone with brake balance problems that doesn't want to run a proportioning valve, however I wasn't going to need that sort of adjustment.

I ended up coming across an '87 VW Jetta. It had a BMC that was 4-1/2" from mounting face to tip. It had a "20" cast in the side of it which equates to 20mm bore, or .78". This being just up from the stock 3/4" bore seemed like a perfect fit. I pulled it and took it home (for $25! MIght as well buy new than trying to bargain shop at the JY these days, at least at my local SoCal wrecker).

The VW BMC has a horizontal mount pattern, so I pulled the BMC base plate from Whitebird and welded up the vertical holes before drilling new horizontal holes. I also had to enlarge the center hole for the BMC, as the VW piece obtains that short external dimension by hiding some of the BMC on the inside of the firewall.

Installed, the BMC matches the clutch master for depth. Now I just have to plumb the lines and install a couple bleeders.

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EDIT: above picture reflects the installed lines and bleeders
Last edited by okayfine on 29 Oct 2008 14:37, edited 1 time in total.
Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson
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okayfine
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SSS Pillar Vent Badges

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The final SSS badges for Whitebird are the pillar vent pieces. I suppose I might luck into finding a '69 SSS Bluebird glove box badge emblem, but I won't be holding my breath. The pillar vent badges weren't difficult to install, but it took a lot of time because the early pillar vents were secured from the inside.

So, rear seat out, welting pulled, headliner pulled at the C-pillar, board pulled from the vent access, and four 8mm nuts removed. Out pops the vent. The plastic part of the vent (early cars external parts are pot-metal) prevented access necessary to secure the SSS badges with the speed nuts, so I had to cut off part of the vent (the plastic part that rides inside the pillar when installed), fit the badge, then glue it back together. Repeat for the other side, then put it all back together. Easy, only took two hours.

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This is how time gets eaten up during a project. A later car with the plastic vents would have cut out most of that two hours.
Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson
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okayfine
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Re: Whitebird

Post by okayfine »

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Last edited by okayfine on 10 Jun 2009 13:14, edited 1 time in total.
Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson
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okayfine
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Re: Whitebird

Post by okayfine »

.
Last edited by okayfine on 10 Jun 2009 13:14, edited 1 time in total.
Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson
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okayfine
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Re: Whitebird

Post by okayfine »

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Last edited by okayfine on 10 Jun 2009 13:15, edited 1 time in total.
Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson
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okayfine
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Fuel Supply

Post by okayfine »

The SR has no provision for a mechanical fuel pump, so I had to install a electric fuel pump. Queries to the BB list surfaced up the suggestion of the AC/Delco EP42S pump. Ted Hedman said it was quiet (which was a priority), and that it fed his (at the time) SUs without a regulator. Not having to add in a regulator was a nice bonus.

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I cut the stock 1/4" supply line just ahead of the rear crossmember, then routed the line towards the outside of the car. I mounted a pump filter (using the same stock 510 filter as in the engine compartment so I only have to buy one part number), then routed the hose to the pump. The pump comes with a bracket which I isolated further with some rubber sheet. The outlet turns down to join up with the rest of the stock underbody fuel line up to the engine compartment where it goes through the stock fuel filter, then on to the SUs.

I'll have to look for a way to wire the fuel pump so it turns off when the engine dies, and preferably also upon impact. I've seen oil-pressure triggers, but nothing in the odd 1/8 BSP. I'll probably also add in a cable tie to secure the rubber fuel line that runs from the tank to the filter.
Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson
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okayfine
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Re: Whitebird

Post by okayfine »

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Last edited by okayfine on 10 Jun 2009 13:15, edited 1 time in total.
Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson
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okayfine
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Re: Fuel Supply

Post by okayfine »

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Last edited by okayfine on 10 Jun 2009 13:16, edited 1 time in total.
Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson
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okayfine
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Cooling Fan and Shroud

Post by okayfine »

Keeping with the "originality" goal, I wanted to run the stock radiator. Well, stock tanks, anyway, as this radiator has a three-row core. It should be enough to keep a non-turbo SR cool, especially as the all-aluminum construction of the SR will radiate more heat than the iron KA. I installed a Griffin all-aluminum radiator in my KA510 and during some months of the year, even in SoCal, it overcooled the engine and left me with 150° coolant on the freeway and next to no heating action. I don't want to undercool the SR, especially as it is all aluminum and a bad overheat may well warp the entire engine, so I came up with the following cooling accessories.

The stock 510 fan shroud isn't made to mount a fan, and the opening was much larger than necessary. It must be oblong because at its widest it was over 14", yet the core of the radiator isn't more than 11" tall. In searching for electric fans, I came across the Perma-Cool HP line. These fans drew more CFM than their lesser brothers (Perma-Cool has a few different lines of fans) with only a small additional cost. I purchased the 10" fan, P/N 19010 which is 13" x 10.5" x 2.5", and pulls 1250 CFM at 6.8 amps. I looked at the 12" fan, but at 3.75" depth, I didn't have room to mount it between the radiator and the engine. It would have pulled an even more useful 1650 CFM. I could have fit this fan if I used a thinner VW-esque radiator.

In any case, as the fan arrived via Summit Racing last night, I set about making a fan shround and mount in one. The fan came with the through-radiator cable ties, but the fan's effectiveness would be largely diminished without a shroud. Some 20ga sheet metal later:

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The shroud looks a little restrictive and it remains to be seen if it is. If it is I plan to cut large holes along the sides and bolt on rubber flaps, as is common on VW stuff. This allows enhanced flow through the shroud when the car is moving (moving air will push the flaps open) yet will still provide a mostly-sealed area for the fan to draw through when the car is stopped in traffic and the fan's on.

The assembly mounts nicely to the stock radiator:

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I purchased a Painless fan wiring kit, mostly because it came with a GM metric temp sender. This sender screws right in to the sensor bung in the SR, so I don't have to splice in an adapter to the main coolant hoses.
Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson
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okayfine
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Fan Shroud becomes Fan Mounting

Post by okayfine »

icehouse wrote:The fan shroud does look somewhat restrictive, its hard to say if it will work or not. For the longest time on my 620 all I had was a S13 AC fan :D It worked fine until August, and that is on a single core 720 radiator. It would be nice to space the shroud out an inch our 2 from the radiator, allowing an even pull, but we all know SR is kind of a hog when it comes to space :D
Yes, I had a rethink over the weekend spawned by another friendly suggestion that I rethink it over the weekend. After busting the original mild steel sheet with my jig saw (which I also snapped the blade on), I traced a design onto some stainless sheet that I had. Instead of trying the same corner cuts with the jig saw and fail, I decided to cut all the inside corners with a hole saw. Well, got through 5 of 8 holes before I toasted my hole saw. It'll still cut wood but will just rub the stainless to a nice dull brown finish. I had to finish it with an angle grinder.

However, flow shouldn't be a problem:

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All part of the process, I suppose.
Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson
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okayfine
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Re: Whitebird

Post by okayfine »

.
Last edited by okayfine on 10 Jun 2009 13:16, edited 1 time in total.
Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson
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okayfine
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Battery Relocation

Post by okayfine »

When I had the engine out during my SR swap, I didn't relocate the battery because I didn't know I was going to need to due to space issues. I wanted to keep the battery in the stock location for the originality aspect and specifically because I don't do body work and I know I'd hack up the job.

During one of the trial fits of the SR SU manifold, it was obvious that the carb body and the eventual filter housing were going to occupy the same space as the battery.

So the battery had to go in the trunk. $35 of 1-gauge cable was routed from the passenger side of the trunk under the rear seat, under the carpet and passenger seat to an insulated brass pass-through in the firewall. From the engine side of the pass-through the + cable connects to the starter as stock.

With the engine in place, I wasn't going to attempt to remove the battery tray at this point. So I decided to use it to mount my various relays.

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Two headlight relays (for the H4 headlights) and the cooling fan relay are currently mounted.

(Pay no attention to the jumpered voltage regulator plug. This will get rewired, and the wiring taped up, once I'm sure everything is charging as it should.)
Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson
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