hi all,
been motivated by everybody around here, so I started planning on rebuilding my laurel.
I started last year on fixing minor things gradually until I did a whole engine rebuild, that was my fist time ever. I'm going to post photos of the car from early stages, the car now is in the body shop for lot of body work and new fresh paint job ( hope it looks good ). Now I leave you with this video checking the revs of the engine.
http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=FtigC2ZcaLs (I don't know if rules allow links!??)
tell me your thoughts about it.

here are some pics of the car before working on it











that was about a year ago.................

nice to see another C31 around. looks fairly tidy. plans for the old girl?

heres my one viewtopic.php?f=7&t=12546

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1981 nissan c31 laurel
1984 datsun 910 wagon

thanks for passing by
as for plans I only wanted to restore it to a healthy condition
engine had trouble overheating for two years , but it just worked without fail I really like the L series of engines, drive train sucks ( previous driver was a real push it to the limit man and fast driver), don't get me wrong that I just recently got the car, its my family car since we bought it from the dealer and the above driver is a cousin of mine

heres some pics of the inside of the car after removing interior carpet (darn stray cats slipped inside while driver's window open and gave birth for 4 kittens had hell of time trying to scare her out











had major rust on the outside frame and inside the trunk.

one thing that I like about laurels is that they share lots of thing with skylines, wish I could buy one, went to paint shop last saturday for a friend of mine that was searching for a good painter to paint his nissan laurel altima (cefiro A31), while there my eyes picked up a skyline with cool ring (net style) covered in dust, asked the worker about it he said that the owner brought it a year ago since then he didn't come back for it
checked through the window and it was without engine and gearbox

this is what the L20 (6 cyl.) looked like before rebuild






lots of grime due to failed power steering pump and etc..., engine was overheating a lot but it survived somehow

generally I only shaved the head (minor welding as corrosion ate the alloy round the cooling holes), the short block just got cleaned with wd40 and wire brushed for new coat of paint.



the valves were cleaned from carbon deposits (that stuff is as hard as steel) couldn't remove with screw driver nor carb cleaner, last I used the wire brush and bingo!! cleaned









sadly didn't have grinding tools (paste and stick) to match the edges of the valve to the head

assembled the short block with new rod bearings (used ca18 rod bearings) and new main bearings (only the main bearing wasn't used as I didn't know to trim it so it would get the correct clearance with the crank.



new timing set (chain and brackets and tensioner) the guy at the parts store told me to use new ones so that I don't run into problems after finishing the rebuild.



I was thinking about my engine, that it have a dished type pistons and the head chambers were like kidneys; the head number is '05L'. could it be that this carby engine is non other than a stripped L20ET ???

paint shop finished painting the car and got new tires





I really think that I need enkei rims (gold or silver mesh) type, what do you guys think

Looking good so far. Nice clean up.

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Money Pits:
- 1980 Corolla Hatchback - Power project
- 1988 Celica Alltrac - Snow fun project

thanks for passing by ...

went out for a ride in it and came back to find the brake lights on while the car is turned off
checked the brake light switch and seemed ok..., then I found this yellow plastic pieces on the carpet.
it was the plastic button that turned the switch off, a quick search on the net for part number and I found that it was the same for most datsun cars (280zx, 200sx, sunny), still no part number though

can anyone give me a hint about the following:
while driving the car when changing gears I feel a strong metal knock sound coming from the back of the car, I replaced the gearbox mount, but still I hear that sound ?? could it be worn bushings in the diff area ?

these are the wheels i have lying around that i would like to fit to my laurel at some point. they arent enkeis but are a good brand.
filthy

$70 worth of stainless steel bolts

cleaned up with a quick wipe with the centre caps and bolts installed as well as my datsun valve caps



before and after comparison

finally after some time, fitted to my bluebird. looks the biz too with my new jdm no. plate.


as for the knocking noise, it could possibly be too much clearance in the diff between the pinion and crown wheel. does it do it when you put your foot on the clutch or when you go on and off the accelerator pedal?

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1981 nissan c31 laurel
1984 datsun 910 wagon

those rims are cool, what I'm looking for is the kind of rims that were on the HR31 (mesh rims)....
I saw a skyline coupe HR31 with those rims (only the body, no engine or gearbox) asked around about it but it seems the owner ditched it here for a paint job a year ago and didn't come back for it

as for the diff problem, I suspected that I might be running short on teeth, didn't have the chance to check nor money to fix. I was thinking of taking a cefiro a31 gts-r diff and fitting it in, but recently I spent lots of money overhauling rear brakes so that would be a waste, and from my user manual the diff for the sedan c31 is H190 which is supposed to be strong even for RB20 and VG30

the problem happens while shifting (engaging and disengaging the clutch pedal) and increasingly if the RPM is HIGH, say from 2800 - RPM

I thought you said you had a wagon 910, Not that beautiful 910 (rare to see them these days as most datsun s are)

that was my 1st bluebird, wagon was my second one. the noise may be in your gearbox actually. probably a stuffed input or output bearing or even the release bearing for the clutch.

have to say, your car looks real nice with the new paint

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1981 nissan c31 laurel
1984 datsun 910 wagon

can anybody tell me the part number for the gearbox cross member bushings

DEAD

got a crazy offer from someone selling his 240sx 5 speed manual for cheap..
I don't know the condition of it, but he says he will sell it without any bell housing,
what do you guys recommend, is this gearbox worth the trouble for better smooth shifting or should I look for a datsun Z gearbox...

been doing some research about that clunk noise I'm hearing, most of the people I asked said that it is a fried diffrential, I checked the tag and the axle was "HE 38", I went to the junkyard for a by chance axle and ended up buying a cedric wagon diff. it was "HF 41" so I'm guessing that it is a larger ratio diff, but I'm worried as some people say that the engine will rev harder on high speeds, I'm using the car for in town and traffic stops, will this ratio have a huge impact on what the car is now or would it be unnoticed?


stock diffrential

here are some pics of JY diff








its a bit dirty with some sand, gonna clean it up, just wondering if the bearings needed any greasing

ratio is 4.11 and taken off a cedric Y30 wagon automatic VG30S.

can't stop thinking what will be the end of this frankstain experiment ............

what ratio was the original diff? 4.3?
anyone know if the export C31 sedans (2.4 SGL) were irs? looking for a long nose R200 and i'd like to know if I can get it from a C31