Northwest Datsun Enthusiasts - NWDE · This is Matco's excellent twin-gauge cylinder leakdown tester. The gauge on the left is reference pressure, ... Northwest Datsun Enthusiasts

Page 1 Northwest Datsun Enthusiasts The NWDELetter Northwest Datsun Enthusiasts

May 2017

Roadsters at the May meeting

nwde.org

Page 2

2017 Officers & Contact Information

President: Antonio Casila

[email protected]

Vice President: Ted Heaton

[email protected]

Secretary: Don Anderson

[email protected]

Treasurer: Steve Carter

[email protected]

WWSCC Rep: Pete Peters

[email protected]

WWSCC Website http://www.wwscc.org

NWDELetter Editor: Ted Heaton

[email protected]

NWDE Website http://nwde.org

Who are we? Northwest Datsun Enthusiasts (NWDE—pronounced

‘nude’) is an organization dedicated to the preservation and enjoyment

of all Datsun/Nissan vehicles. We meet monthly and try to schedule

automotive/social activities on a monthly basis (see Calendar of Upcom-

ing events). We are members of the Western Washington Sports Car

Council (WWSCC). NWDE is not affiliated with Nissan Motor Compa-

ny, Ltd.

Got News? Please email it to [email protected]

Cover: Brave wet weather roadsters from Don and Dan

NWDE Page 2

Northwest Datsun Enthusiasts

Page 3 Northwest Datsun Enthusiasts Northwest Datsun Enthusiasts Page 3

Up-Coming 2017 Events

April 22 Solvang Datsun Roadster Meet. Solvang CA.

June 10-11 Canby Datsun Meet. Canby, OR.

June 24. Greenwood car show. Seattle WA.

Jul 9 Return to Renton car show, Renton Washington

Jul 13-15 Mt Shasta Roadster Meet, Mt Shasta California

Aug 13 Blue Lake Datsun Show & Shine, Portland OR

Aug 19 Shedd Roadster BBQ, Shedd OR

Aug 27 Fall BBQ

Aug late All Japanese Meet, Vancouver BC

Sep 9? Lake Chelan car Show, Chelan WA

All dAllates Here are the Datsun and Roadster shows for 2017

Page 4

Meeting called to order by VP TED at 1:14 PM

Attendance; Don, Ted, Ted Jr., Lachlan Willis, Gordon, Dan, Art, Steve, Pete P., Tana;

Steve gave brief Treas. report; Balance $3058.00

Old Business; Historic Races July 4th Saturday , only Art interested at this time and checks are due by May21st. Open spot Green-wood show as Jim Wallem can’t attend and his spot open for someone else. $25 is entry fee.

New Business; Pete Peters has a frame and body now at his house, body has paint.

Canby show in Oregon is coming up, June 11th, caravan from Se-attle that Sunday;

Solvang Calf. Show report given by Don and Ted. 109 cars regis-tered for show,97 cars came and 87 of those were roadsters. Great fun in 90 degree day and roadsters everywhere. Dean was spotted wandering amongst attendees and spent whole day talk-ing cars and parts with everyone. Fun to have him there in person. Don and Sandi drove down with Bill and Karen Neal, Bill Cole, Da-vid and Anita Neal, Garth and Kathy from B.C. All cars in our group had zero problems. Ted, Richard and Erica went early in turbo cars and extended their trip 10 days on way home touring Southwest. Ted’s 68 red car had minor altonator problem in Solvang area which was dealt with by Erica

Don and Dan each drove topless roadsters to meeting from North Seattle

MEETNG ADJOURNED 1:49 BY TED.

NWDE May meeting Minutes. May 14 2017

Page 5 Northwest Datsun Enthusiasts Page 5 Northwest Datsun Enthusiasts

NWDE May meeting

Page 6 Page 6 Northwest Datsun Enthusiasts


Page 8

NWDE 2017 Members.

1. Don & Sandi Anderson Shoreline

2. Marcia & Franc Blas Seattle

3. Art Borst Seattle

4. Tana Bryan Auburn

5. Steve & Cheryl Carter Auburn

6. Antonio Casila Renton

7. Michael Da Dalto Normanday Park

8. Peter & Jennifer Dills Snoqualmie

9. Joe Eberle Port Orchard

10. Craig Erwin & Rucey Myers Seattle

11. Dave Firestone Woodinville

12. Al-Michael Franco Seattle

13. Joanne & Gordon Glasgow Renton

14. John Goss Bellevue

15. Ted & Ted Jr. Heaton Bellevue

Page 9 Northwest Datsun Enthusiasts

16. Jack Kampa Spokane

17. Atsushi Kato Seattle

18. Curtis & wife Marsten Des Moines

19. Pat Mahoney Colton

20. Karl Payne Tempe, AZ

21. Pete & Debbie Peters Lake Forest Park

22. Ken Pletcher Duvall

23. Daniel Robinson Seattle

24. Dennis Sullivan Burien

25. John Valiton Seattle

26. Jim Wallen Seattle

27. Evan Wert Bellingham

28. Lachlan Willis Renton

Page 10

Horsepower and torque are all about cylinder pressure. Compres-sion ratio, cam timing, cylinder head flow, and all the rest of the goodies that go into an engine aren't worth much if what enters the cylinder doesn't remain there to be turned into cylinder pres-sure that will push those pistons around.

In the dark days of engine-building, car crafters had to rely on a compression tester to tell them if they had a weak cylinder by comparing the cranking pressures of the cylinders against each other. But this was crude and a less-than-accurate way to evaluate how well the engine was sealed up.

This is Matco's excellent twin-gauge cylinder leakdown tester. The gauge on the left is reference pressure, which Matco says should be between 45 and 150 psi. With the cylinder hose disconnected, turn the regulator knob clockwise until the far right gauge reads zero at approximately the 5 o'clock position. Then screw the cylin-der hose into the spark plug hole, connect the hole to the gauge, and read the percentage of leakdown.

Steve’s Tech Tips

LEAKDOWN Testing

http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/116_0406_cylinder_leakdown_tester/viewall.html

http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/116_0406_cylinder_leakdown_tester/photo_01.html



Tools Let's start with the leakdown tester itself. There are basically two different styles: single- and dual-gauge units. The single-gauge units would seem to be a little easier to operate, but they require you to pay particular attention to the inlet pressure, as each gauge will have its own requirement. If the inlet line pressure is too high or too low, the result will probably be in error. Some twin-gauge models also require a specific range of inlet pres-sure, which you read on the first gauge. The second gauge will read a percentage of cylinder leakage. The Matco tool that we use in this story works in this manner.

The Proform leakdown tester is also a twin-gauge unit. Regardless of which tool you use, the point is to use your leakdown tester as a comparative tool. For example, your gauge might read 10 percent while your buddy's reads only 8 percent on the same cylinder. It's really not critical which gauge is correct as long as it operates consistently every time. Procedures The first step is to ensure the engine is warm. Because we will be pumping air into the engine, leave all the spark plugs in except for the cylinder you're testing. As an example, let's start with a small-

block Chevy , cylinder Number One. Yank the plug and turn the engine over until the piston is at top dead center (TDC). If you have balancer marks every 90 degrees, this will help. Now install the air-fitting adapter into the spark plug hole. You'll also need a breaker bar or ratchet and socket for the crank nut. Remember to double-check that your gauge reads zero before you start



Page 12

There are also single-gauge leakdown testers. These gauges require you to zero the gauge w The idea is to put air to the cylinder and then gently rock the piston around TDC to ensure the rings are seated. Keep in mind that cylin-der pressure is used to help seal the rings to the cylinder bore, so you want to give them every opportunity to do so. Now record your leakdown percentage. It's really just that simple. Test the remaining cylinders in the same fashion and you're done. Often, the cylinder pressure applied to the piston may turn the en-gine over. The key is to have the piston as close to TDC as you can so the crank, rod, and piston are all as vertical as possible. Once the rod journal has leverage on the crank on either side of TDC, the cylinder pressure combined with that leverage may force the piston down the bore. This is the reason for leaving the spark plugs in the engine.

It's important to place the piston as close to top dead center (TDC)




Results Everyone wants to have a hero engine, but don't believe all the hype you hear about 2 percent leakage engines. No cylinder seals perfectly, especially if the engine is nitroused, supercharged, or turbocharged where the top and second rings are set with wide ring endgaps. Even for normally aspirated engines, respectable leakage numbers would be anywhere from 8 to 12 percent with a variation between cylinders of 4 to 5 percent, but it's possible the variation could be as high as 10 percent. So if you test an engine and see leakage numbers even in the 15 to 20 percent range, this is not cause for alarm. Much of your concern around an engine that needs freshening should revolve around ex-actly where the leakage originates. That's where we'll go next.

Prop the throttle blades open to listen for air escaping past intake valve back into the intake manifold. Your ears don't have to be as big as Rat Fink's, but it helps.


Page 14

Leak Paths There are three major leak paths where cylinder pressure can es-

cape : past the rings, the intake valve, or the exhaust valve. We'll ignore the head gasket for now. With each of these three leak sources, it's easy to tell where the leakage is originating with some sleuthing. If you can hear a hissing sound coming from the valve cover breather hole or from the dipstick tube, then the air is escap-ing past the rings. If you prop open the throttle blades and hear that same hissing sound, then the pressure is leaking past the in-take valve. If the air is escaping past the exhaust valve, you will probably be able to hear the air even as far back as the tailpipe.

Poor ring seal on a leakdown test will make itself known with a hissing sound clearly audible out of the PCV valve hole or from the dipstick tube. Be careful: Too much blow-by will make your eyes bloodshot. Let's evaluate each of these leak paths separately. Say your engine measures 30 percent or more for each cylinder, and it's all running past the rings. This is a good indication that your engine is tired and could use rebuilding. But if the leakage number is under 20 percent and most of it's past the rings, then be advised that a re-build is not going to be worth 50 or perhaps even 20 hp. As an ex-ample, on the nitrous small-block Chevy story in this issue, we re-placed pistons and rings in the engine (granted the cylinder wall finish was not corrected) and picked up less than 5 hp, the equiva-lent of just over 11⁄2 percent gain. The point here is that even cyl-inders with 20 percent leakdown do not represent a major horse-power loss.





Powder coating bargain.

Les Schwab will powder coat wheels for a very

reasonable price if you use their common dozen col-

or choices. Any where from $30-$50 depending on

the color and up to double that for any of 600+ spe-

cial colors.

I am going to get 320 truck wheels done in the stock

common Gray color and it is only $27 a wheel!.

Just take them to your local Schwab dealer and they

ship them once a week to Oregon. 1 week turna-

round. Handy as you do not have to transport them

far.


Ted’s 1964 NL320 #420 off to a new home


Roadster drives in May


Roadster Drives in May


Roadster drives in May


Roadster Drives in May


After Solvang Roadster tour

Page 22












Curtis restoration progress. Curtis does not keep us up to

date with pictures but here are some I found.

Page 34

A Rare 320 truck vin tag. Truck #18.

320 trucks were made from 62-65 but pro-

duction started in late 61 and here is one

tagged as a 1961. Imported to Austria in

1962!. Currently in Switzerland.


Parts for Sale.

NICE 68 roadster rear bumper. $250

Contact Ted at [email protected]


Pete Peters restoration progress.

Pets says “NO Progress this month”


Don’s backyard roadster display

Don and Sandys “racing” (bibs on!) chickens

Page 38 NWDE Page 38

Editors Page

The editor welcomes all members pictures,

articles, news, Datsun items for sale, etc for

the newsletter.

Send them directly to me at

[email protected].

Ted

Page 39 Northwest Datsun Enthusiasts Northwest Datsun Enthusiasts Page 39

Club Meetings

When: Second Sunday of each month .

Time: 1:00 pm. Folks usually arrive half-hour earlier to gather &

gawk at vehicles, then order pizza.

Where:

Round Table Pizza

302 SW 43rd Street

Renton WA 98055

Phone: (425) 251-0606

Directions:

1. Take I-167 (Valley Freeway)

2. Take the S 43rd St exit (IKEA exit)

3. Follow the signs to SW 43rd St

4. Go west on SW 43rd St (towards Southcenter)

5. Round Table is in the shopping complex on the right. Enter

the first driveway

Page 40

Northwest Datsun Enthusiasts

The PREZ Page ( The back end)

Picture by Antonio,

Documents

Northwest Datsun Enthusiasts - NWDE · This is Matco's excellent twin-gauge cylinder leakdown tester. The gauge on the left is reference pressure, ... Northwest Datsun Enthusiasts