Stu's 1972 4 Door

[Stu]

Using an aftermarket turbo manifold was an inspired and excellent solution...love it....great work, as usual, Stu....one of my favourite builds.

Thanks. It really boiled down to it was my only option

And you have a spot to add that turbo for upgrade later.

I think I'd rather jump off a bridge at this point

[Stu]

Ran 5/16" steel lines under the car rather than running soft line for the full length of the car. The lines on the engine are 5/16" so going up to 3/8" line seemed a bit silly. Under the car I used vinyl covered clamps riveted to the floor and on the firewall I used Classic Industries clamps bolted to the firewall with riv-nuts. Did a bunch of practice bends to make sure I would start and stop bends where I wanted them I (I only had a big enough roll to make a supply and return line). The line is not perfectly tucked up in all the nooks and crannies but it should be OK. Used my brake flare tool to make a semi-bubble flare to help retain the soft lines since it has to resist EFI pressures.













On to wiring and the driveline.

[RONSLYCHUK]

Very nice work. It looks great.

[iceman510]

Nice work as always, very clean. I will be attempting to make those bubble ends when I do the fuel lines on my '73. Yours look good.

That brake line bend coming into the T is quite impressive!

[ostaylor]

Really nice work... will draw on this for my build when I get to that point.

[Stu]

The CSX radiator is tall, was banging into the horns, and I needed both a place to mount the MAF sensor on one side of the engine compartment and windshield washer and overflow tanks on the other. The horns were exactly in the real estate I needed. Using nut-certs I added holes to the lower frame and used some spacers to mount the horns. I was going to mount 'directly' to the lower frame but the horn got too close to the alternator. The spacers allowed the horns to be more forward and clear the engine accessories.







I mounted the washer reservoir to the side wall and built a bracket to hold a mid-80s Maxima overflow tank. This mounted to the old horn holes.





The mass air flow meter will mount to the old horn holes on the other side on the rubber isolators.

[iceman510]

I like that overflow bottle. I could use one of those. Where did you source it? Any p/n information?

Thanks.

[Stu]

I like that overflow bottle. I could use one of those. Where did you source it? Any p/n information?

Thanks.

It is a Dorman 603-617 and is for 95-99 Nissan Maximas (some Infiniti I30s also). I grabbed the sheet metal clip/bracket from a junk car then cut/modified to go with my bracket. If I did not have the windshield washer bottle, it probably could have mounted in the same place with only light mods to the stock bracket. I liked that the reservoir is skinny and has the angled bottom that matched with the wheel well contour better than a generic bottle.

[iceman510]

Thanks. Looks like that would work for me too. Nice find.

[icehouse]

Some awesome work going on! What is the double red cables for?

[Stu]

Some awesome work going on! What is the double red cables for?

The big one is for the starter (via solenoid/battery in trunk) and the smaller one is main power (fused/breaker) for the rest of the car. I have a mega fuse block from a Saab that is mounted basically where the stock fuses are so I ran the main power under the car vs. in the car.

[Stu]

Since I have removed so much of the stock wiring of things like the distributor, all the crap for the automatic, stock ignition and eternal regulator, my wiring harness has been completely stripped and open for modification as needed. While ingenious, the way that Datsun controls the ground side of the headlights is limiting and I wanted to add relays that take the load off the switch. I am also going to wire the lights to be controlled by the ACC rather than right on the battery. I want to basically be able to leave the lights on but have them turn off when I turn off the car.

I wanted better headlights than sealed beams but did not want to spend the money for projector HIDs, and I don't think they would have fit anyway with all of the stuff I have right behind the headlights. Ended up with Holley Retrobright LEDs. They look like a sealed beam but have a pattern and brightness like an HID. I might upgrade the high beams someday, but for now, they are Hella H1s and should be fine.

I also added Blinker Genie modules for the front corner lights. They will allow the side markers to blink so the car (and my intended direction) will be more clear.



I have never been super happy with the front turn/park and side marker lights grounding through the body so I added grounds to the studs on the back side.

Since I needed to rewrap the harness, I got some adhesive free harness wrap. It is like what is used on stock harnesses, can be rewrapped if needed, and it does not get all sticky and gross like electrical tape.







A little proof to myself that I had not wasted all of my time



Still got a lot to finish up

[cwd240z]

I wanted better headlights than sealed beams but did not want to spend the money for projector HIDs, and I don't think they would have fit anyway with all of the stuff I have right behind the headlights. Ended up with Holley Retrobright LEDs. They look like a sealed beam but have a pattern and brightness like an HID. I might upgrade the high beams someday, but for now, they are Hella H1s and should be fine.

I also added Blinker Genie modules for the front corner lights. They will allow the side markers to blink so the car (and my intended direction) will be more clear.

Since I needed to rewrap the harness, I got some adhesive free harness wrap. It is like what is used on stock harnesses, can be rewrapped if needed, and it does not get all sticky and gross like electrical tape.

Nice job!

I've looked into those Retrobright lights, they seem like a good option. If I'm remembering correctly, don't they have a low beam and high beam all in one housing? Are you wiring it so that the Retrobrights switch over to high beam as well when you turn the original high beams on?

I like the blinking corner lights, I may look into doing that as well. Are you doing the same for the rear marker lights?

I used that same non-adhesive harness tape, good stuff.

[Stu]

I've looked into those Retrobright lights, they seem like a good option. If I'm remembering correctly, don't they have a low beam and high beam all in one housing? Are you wiring it so that the Retrobrights switch over to high beam as well when you turn the original high beams on?

I like the blinking corner lights, I may look into doing that as well. Are you doing the same for the rear marker lights?

The Retrobrights have both a low and hi and I have them wired up so that 'all' the lights are on for high.

I am not making the rear markers blink. When you are behind or 3/4, the tail lights are pretty visible and you will be able to see the front corner markers blinking. To me this mod is mostly so you can be seen when signaling a turn out of a driveway or side street. I will also be wiring the rear lights to have two tail and two brake filaments per side (vs the one per side) by adding two filament sockets and wiring the 'outside' as a trailer using a converter.

[AZ510]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/314758660914?h ... R8KnuLO6Yg

This stuff works great also