1967 Family Patrol Project

[sleepyzzz]

Bruce owner of 311Parts, is a very good guy to do business with, and like you, he called me one time also, after getting an email from me. He is one of the few trying to keep parts for the Patrol, and the Datsun roadsters and I have used him several times and never had any problems that couldn't be worked out. and it was always in a very fair, and fast response to what ever i needed.

[Coyote Patrol]

I have installed a lot of rope seals, only 1 on a Patrol. If I remember correctly I used a rope seal from a 292 chevy. Had no problems. All of the steps 1-11 sound about right except the lithium grease. I was always taught by all of my instructors in High school, and tech school to install them dry and grease the crank surface where it contacts the seal. I believe the reason for this was to prevent the seal from turning in the block groove. With as tight as this seal is going in you probably won't have to worry about that. My opinion, I would install it in the groove dry and lube the surface that contacts the crank. by the way, I have used the method of flattening a rope seal with a hammer. It works good, just don't get carried away.

[50car]

On my motor, it was pretty much the same except rather than using lithium grease, I was told to soak it in 30 wt oil.... seemed to work just fine and I have no drips at the rear main. And yes, it was amazingly tight when it went together....

[sleepyzzz]

On my motor, it was pretty much the same except rather than using lithium grease, I was told to soak it in 30 wt oil.... seemed to work just fine and I have no drips at the rear main. And yes, it was amazingly tight when it went together....

the roadster guys soak the rear main seals in oil also, before installing. just a messy job,but it works.

[faux40]

It's done! We picked up the engine from the shop yesterday... Took some "creativity" - including removing an entire section of the fence to squeeze my little pickup truck onto the back patio to unload it.

Sorry that the picture is blurry -- but that's Mother's Automotive there on the left.


A tight fit all the way back to the patio


More of the squeeze


Safely unloaded



I suspect I should have/could have picked a better way to bolt the chain! Whew! I was lucky this didn't break and drop the whole thing!


On a side note... Lookie what I pulled from the depths of my garage... Our Super Bike! Made it myself a few years ago to haul the family around (better paint it soon!) The kids are too big now so we'd better get that Patrol on the road!


Oooh, shiny!


I really like the artistic juxtaposition of the engine on the stand in the foreground and the short block waiting for it's turn.


A front view --


A side view -- I'd better get that Nissan Blue on soon!


The Valve train


Joe thinks he's going to be the first to drive it... Wanna bet?


Anyway, now you know just how far along we are... So close! Just need to find a bunch of free time!

John & the very happy family patrol

[50car]

Have you figured out what the large lettering on the block indicates? In the side view and front view of the block you can see some large lettering on the block... hmmm...
as far as paint goes... you could go all rat rod on us and not paint it... nah... the blue would look so much better..

[RiverPatrol]

How exciting! I can almost hear it running now.

[Esteban]

John, congratulations on your rebuilt engine. It looks great!

The way you have described your Family Patrol Project in every posting, makes following this thread even better. Like we all are becoming a little part of it. I just imagine how exited your boys are.

What was the final method used by the guy at the shop to install the rope seal? Hope you have a picture or two at the machine shop.

[moore_rb]

sweetness...

All I can say is: Have fun with that driver's side rear engine mount.


More tips from a guy who just put an engine back in one of his Patrols:

1) Loosen the four bolts on each side that hold the rear engine mounting brackets to the engine block. give the brackets about 1/8 inch of wiggle room.

2) Loosely bolt the padded engine mounts to the engine brackets before setting the engine into the vehicle, and put only a couple turns on the small upper nuts (front) and on the rear upper bolts, so that the mounts can flop around- this will make it easier to set the bottom studs into the frame mounts as you lower the engine into place.

3) set the studs into the frame mounts in the rear first - then twist in the large mounting bolts in from the bottom - again just give them a few turns to make sure they have a good bite on the threads, but don't crank them down yet

4) lower the engine enough to set the front studs into the frame mounts, and twist in the lower bolts a few turns (same as in the rear)

5) drop all the weight off the engine hoist, and tighthen everything up in this order:

a) rear engine brackets to engine block
b) rear engine mounts lower- again, have fun with that driver's side one
c) rear engine mounts upper
d) front engine mounts lower
e) front engine mounts upper (the small ones) -- don't over-tighten these! I think they only get like 20 foot pounds (check the manual)

[faux40]

Howdy All -- Some exciting news!

First off -- Esteban, my engine guy ended up using a Chevy 292 rope seal. The one "for" the Patrol was way, way, way too tight. Apparently the 292 seal fits well. As for pictures... I think I blew it. Really no pictures at all from the shop. I am planning on having him do the same thing to my second engine (and maybe the third... despite not actually planning on getting three Patrols going, but...) -- When I do, I'll be sure to take pictures especially since he's happy to assemble it with my kids in tow!

Robert -- thanks for the tips... just trying to unbolt that rear mount was enough to get me wondering if we even need to actually install that mount at all! (just kidding... but I'm not looking forward to it!). On a related note, on installation day, I'm happy to have a bottomless supply of good beer, gin and tonics and pizza for as long as it takes to get the engine in... if any patrollers wanna make the trek.

Now, on to the news...

Jay and I spent an afternoon putting some of the goodies back onto the engine. Here's Jay installing the oil pump.


And Jay is torquing down the pump...


With all the gasket festivities that went on, we ended up with the P40 set from Motor Power Inc. and the set from Datsun311Parts. The oil pan gaskets are not exact, but really, really close. The only real difference between them is one missing hole... Add the hole and they match!


And now Jay puts the oil pan on. We are short a few oil pan and timing cover bolts -- What grade replacement bolts should we get for the oil pan and timing cover?


Just like the oil pan gasket, the side cover gaskets from the two sets don't match... the difference is that neither fit. The one from the Motor Power Inc. P40 kit would fit, but it has a whoop-de-do at one end. The Datsun311Parts side cover gasket is about 1/4" too small. I can stretch it to fit but since there’s no ridge or anything, there’s no way to hold it in place while installing the cover. I was thinking of using some gasket goo to see if I can stick it in place — perhaps clamping it to the cover and letting it dry — and then installing the cover. Not sure if this will work, but perhaps it’s worth a try. Ideas?



Now, for color -- I picked up some engine paint... Not going to type the name for fear of being shamed out of the 60Patrol community . I think it's a bit darker than true Nissan blue, but it's close and the color pleases the entire Family Patrol.


Now, for some tragic news... The kids were playing out in the back yard and one of them -- of course, the names are being withheld to protect the guilty... was climbing on one of patrols when this:


Became this:


The guilty party was deeply remorseful. Very sad day in the Family Patrol household.

Anyway, maybe we'll make some more progress this weekend!

j