Thread: Datsun Bluebird Suspension

Originally Posted by jplambs

Well just to keep the questions going on my Datsun, coming home from Perth tonight about 40kms out from home my bluebird started sounding like a Harley crossed with a tractor. It was a gradual change, the engine has been making a soft tappet sounding noise for awhile only now its a dull roar, there appears to be air escaping somewhere around the inlet/outlet manifolds but I can't see any holes, although the air coming out was fairly hot so I didn't want to get burnt and just drove home quitely. Anybody got any ideas?

Sounds like a failed exhaust manifold gasket or cracked manifold.

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

hmmm,
L20 bored to 2180,
flatop TRD pistons,
280zx valves,
72 cam,
D shaped inlet ports,
35"long secondaries,
twin 48's,
(mine also had a flowed crank believe it or not!)
option1 5 speed,
rear diff out of the FRONT of a 720 nissan,
front struts out of a '68 model 1600(2" lower)
The SX model had larger front rotors,




oops,,
drifted off there--

i considered that route with mine, but then discovered fuel injection and turbo's the Silvia SR20 motor bolts straight on to the Series 3 Bluebird engine mounts; it's almost as though Nissan wanted you to do it

and im with BigJon, gotta be an exhaust gasket. went through a few myself with similar results, will gradually get louder as more and more of the gasket gets blown out. Check the manifold for any missing studs/nuts that might be causing it to get loose

Originally Posted by Slunnie

Shame that motor wasn't in the road cars. IIRC it was a 1.8 turbo?

yep, 1.8 litre, SOHC turbo.
for that famous qualifying lap they had it wound up to something rediculous like 45psi of boost and the engine bay fire extuingisher nozzles pointed to the front of the intercooler

love reading all the little tricks (ahem, rule interpreations) they did like wrapping an aftermarket intercooler in NISSAN branded tape and putting it in a NISSAN box, to make officials think it was a genuine item!
Or the boost pressure dial hidden behind an oil warning light!

Originally Posted by robzilla

yep, 1.8 litre, SOHC turbo.
for that famous qualifying lap they had it wound up to something rediculous like 45psi of boost and the engine bay fire extuingisher nozzles pointed to the front of the intercooler

love reading all the little tricks (ahem, rule interpreations) they did like wrapping an aftermarket intercooler in NISSAN branded tape and putting it in a NISSAN box, to make officials think it was a genuine item!
Or the boost pressure dial hidden behind an oil warning light!

Very close. I remember reading ATT (quite awhile ago) that the figure was 42 psi.

Paul

Thanks guys, just spent half an hour bent over it with a couple of other blokes from work. We looked at the manifolds and the gasket and couldn't see anything wrong, everytime the engine started it would get too hot in there to keep feeling around. Anyhow I went and got a powerful torch and that was when we noticed that there is a very small chunk out of the head gasket . It appears to be the first cylinder far back corner, its somehow missed the water channel and is just blowing out hot air. So now I have to decide if I get it fixed or if I get a cheap car to get me back to S.A. Problem is I was trying to save some money to spend on the Defender and now it looks like I'm blowing it all on the bluebird.

Could explain why I lost power last night towing a trailer though...

I think losing a quarter of your horsepower out of that leak would be your problem,,,,

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwV7ZTyHY4M&feature=related"]YouTube- Bathurst 1984 - George Fury's Bluebird.[/ame]

Back in the days when bathurst was interesting...

Thanks Isuzurover, mine doesn't quite look like that, its green for a start and it doesn't have fins... but... the engine does sound about the same when its running normally.