Jan's N/A Pulsar [pix + vidz 2013-03-23]

[TurboZ.Dude]

I have bought a new clutch kit, and cleaned up the spare gearbox that's going to be installed on my car next weekend. Some pics below.

Gearbox before cleaning:

Gearbox after cleaning (not a perfect job, I know):


The clutch kit (valeo):




I've got another problem now. The alternator only outputs 13.2 volts. Just a few days ago, it was still producing 13.8 volts... so I don't think it caused the fouled spark plugs. Well, I'll have to replace it now. Darn!

I have recently replaced all my CV joints, the front wheel bearings, and the drive shafts. Now I have to replace the gearbox, the clutch, and the alternator. Bad luck, I guess. But this all is getting a bit too expensive for me now.

[Leyphaen]

I have recently replaced all my CV joints, the front wheel bearings, and the drive shafts. Now I have to replace the gearbox, the clutch, and the alternator. Bad luck, I guess. But this all is getting a bit too expensive for me now.

Well, I believe you should look at it from the bright side: After replacing all those parts the car'll be almost as good as new! ;D

[TurboZ.Dude]

After replacing all those parts the car'll be almost as good as new! ;D

Yeah, I wish. But at least those parts won't fail me for a while...

Received the alternator and installed it today. Haven't went for a test drive since my gearbox is failing, badly. Will be replacing the box this Saturday.

Pics of the alternator:

[Leyphaen]

Received the alternator and installed it today. Haven't went for a test drive since my gearbox is failing, badly. Will be replacing the box this Saturday.

Nice alternator! Looks neat Let's hope the other gearbox is in better shape than the one you got right now... :/

[TurboZ.Dude]

Thanks brother! Yeah, it's all shiny and clean. Re-manufactured original Hitachi 50A.

Well, as far as I know, the replacement gearbox has just about half of the mileage of my current one (130000 km vs 215000 km), so I have high hopes.

[TurboZ.Dude]

Gearbox has been replaced, people! The clunking noise is gone now! The new box shifts very smoothly and is very silent! The problems are all over now!

The car feels slightly more sluggish because revs have now dropped approximately 250 rpm at all speeds. And the new clutch is a bit softer than the old one. Well, the car's actually a bit quicker when overtaking other cars, and a bit more 'torquey' at city speeds.

As it turns out, I had a stage 1 Exedy clutch coupled with an E13 gearbox (which has a shorter final drive). Some rich man's son has been playing, I guess. Probably burning rubber at parking lots etc, breaking the bearings in the poor E13 box. The Exedy clutch is obviously a bit worn down, so that's why I replaced it with the stock clutch I had bought.

Here's the clutch:

[nissancherryn12]

Good to see you have now a new clutch in it and the new gearbox works good!! Enjoy your Cherry

[TurboZ.Dude]

Thanks m8!

As I promised earlier, here are some photos of my interior light project. I'm almost done soldering. I accidentally broke off one of the control pins for the relay, gotta get another one. You can best see the wire and the broken off pin in the second picture from top.

This is my attempt to convert a T12/T72 interior light to fit the wiring of the N12. The T12/T72 interior light doesn't have a mechanical on/door/off switch like the N12, only two surface-mount 'bumper-type' switches. The T12/T72 then has a separate circuit somewhere for switching the light power supply, but the N12 doesn't. So I have to create one. I use a Motorola PIC12F683 for this project, and will do the programming in the C language.

So what this circuit will do is this: the PIC will trigger the relay to switch the power supply for the light bulb when it detects that a button is pressed (and released). This design has no complete 'off' mode, but then again the T12 doesn't have that either.

The LED is there for a debugging purpose: If it is flashing, I can see that the code is running (it lights up every other round, turns off every other round, there is a 0.5 second programmed delay). The LED flashing will be disabled when I get the PIC working as desired.





Here's the programming device I use to program the PIC:

[TurboZ.Dude]

Went to the junkyard today and fetched a set of E16 conrods for my E15ET project!

The donor engine had been standing for a long while partially disassembled (both head and sump removed), so the pistons had seized due to exposure to the harsh weather. I used a long, around 1½ inches thick metal rod and a hammer to force out the pistons from the donor E16 block. Pistons #2 and especially #3 are shot. To my surprise, all the piston rods are completely straight and undamaged (no cracks or anything), so my E15ET project took a leap forward.



Conrod #3 has a different part number, wonder why. It looks exactly the same as the others.

This is the part number on the other conrods:

[Kimmo]

Now that's a bit odd...

[TurboZ.Dude]

Well, a member at ZXOC forums told me they are exactly the same even though the number is different, and I measured the rods to verify. He was right. That just leaves me with one question; why did Nissan change the last number on the rod?

[Kimmo]

Just a lark to mess with your head.

[n12sumfin]

maybe casting batch?

[TurboZ.Dude]

Just a lark to mess with your head.

maybe casting batch?

Ah, that sounds likely!

[TurboZ.Dude]

Adjusted my tappet clearances today using Evan's method, got the engine running smooth and silent (apart from the roar that occurs on WOT ). Took a video of the engine running. Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-PF7GLr3go