Bert Vorgon's Spring Maintenance Project

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bertvorgon
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Re: Bert Vorgon's Spring Maintenance Project

Post by bertvorgon »

Quite weird actually, funny when you think about it, simple things in life, eh!

I'm thinking of a few other things to make the car a bit more livable too.

Nice to be done the major stuff for now, earliest I have been since the race years.
"Racing makes heroin addiction look like a vague wish for something salty" - Peter Egan

Keith Law
1973 2 Door Slalom/hill climb/road race / canyon carver /Giant Killer 510
1971 Vintage 13' BOLER trailer
RONSLYCHUK
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Re: Bert Vorgon's Spring Maintenance Project

Post by RONSLYCHUK »

Your right there Keith,simple things. You will really notice a difference when you drive it. After I replaced my window felts it was so much quieter that it was eerie!
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Dave Patten
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Re: Bert Vorgon's Spring Maintenance Project

Post by Dave Patten »

Keith,
Looking good!

Any idea what the arm rests came from?
Dave Patten
http://www.FutoFab.com
Dunbarton, NH
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Re: Bert Vorgon's Spring Maintenance Project

Post by blueridgespeed »

bertvorgon wrote: I am working on a project to see what we can do to get brighter lights in our tail/running lights, without going to LEDS, I will post up as to how that works out.
you've probably considered this, but would a dedicated new larger gauge power wire (from close to BAT or ALT) to the rear of the car, operated by a relay, be a consideration. Many of us have done this for the front headlamps... mostly to save load on the stock headlight switch.. I was PLANNING to do H4's, but after setting up my headlights with (?10g or 8g) straight power, with the only the relay switched by the stock headlight knob, I was amazed by the difference. No more "old car yellow headlights" - now bright white like most other cars on the road!

P.S. Don't forget to wash out your tail-lamp and marker lenses, gently with a tooth brush on the insides - for maximum "brightness" from stock incandescent bulbs.
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bertvorgon
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Re: Bert Vorgon's Spring Maintenance Project

Post by bertvorgon »

Thanks for the idea, but, I have enough relays, funky wiring in my car at this point.

My wiring is in good shape, I just thought I would like to see if I could find a "brighter" bulb(s). I am not yet impressed with the LED lights for turn and running use, the light quality just does not do it for me. Even if they are bright, they are quite directional, which does not work with our internal reflectors.
And, by the time you spent the coin on the bulbs, relay to run them, etc, I'm over half way to a high performance tire.

My headlights are good, with my H4 bulbs ( 55/60W), I would like to do Byron's upgrade down the road, get the 80/100 watts in.

So, What I did find.....

Most of our bulbs are over 30 years old now, so just putting in some fresh bulbs is not a bad thing, light quality does deteriorate over time. I found putting fresh H4 bulbs in my Honda Odyssey made a very marked difference.

Originally, our lights came with a #1073 bulb at the back for the turn signal. The 1073 became the 1156. The dual filament bulb may have been a 1034A or 1034 NA. Then in the 70's, they came out with the 1157 bulb. Our licence plate lights have a #89 bulb in there. I have not looked at the side marker lights, as mine are nice and bright, I'm pretty sure I put fresh bulbs in there a number of years ago, when I cleaned all the lenses. And yes, it is good to clean the inside of the lens. They grime up over time.

Our back up light is an 1156 bulb.

I found that a 3496 replaces the 1157, the dual filament bulb. The 1157 produces 32 candlepower on the brake filament, and 45 candlepower on the 3496, which I did perceive as brighter. The running filament is 3 candlepower on the 1157 and 3.5 on the 3496, not a huge diff that's for sure.
The 3497 is SUPPOSED to be brighter, but, it seems the crap Chinese stuff now is not of very good quality. I did buy two, but, I cannot say that they are any better, just NEW. Apparently, if you went to a HONDA dealer, and asked for a HONDA BOXED bulb, you would get the good bulb.

At least the current draw is the same, as the last thing I wanted to do was put more load on my system, what with my large alternator pulley, at idle.

The ideal conventional light bulb setup would be to use the duel filament bulb, in the turn signal hole, and re-wire to use the BRIGHT filament..THAT WOULD BE GOOD.
"Racing makes heroin addiction look like a vague wish for something salty" - Peter Egan

Keith Law
1973 2 Door Slalom/hill climb/road race / canyon carver /Giant Killer 510
1971 Vintage 13' BOLER trailer
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RMS
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Re: Bert Vorgon's Spring Maintenance Project

Post by RMS »

im bad, very bad i got some 90/130s h4s out of AU for $12 they are just as bright as my supper oscars.
two_68_510s wrote:I guess our donkeys are quicker then your sled dogs!
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bertvorgon
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Re: Bert Vorgon's Spring Maintenance Project

Post by bertvorgon »

In line with all my electrical stuff, I picked up a new Honda Civic sized battery today, we had picked that years ago as it was smaller and lighter than most of the boat anchors, fit into out battery well, and did the job just fine. I had two issues last year, where I knew the battery was finally getting tired. That battery owed me NOTHING. As a testament to having a battery maintainer hooked up when the car was parked at my shop...that battery went into service in 2002, so I got 11 years out of that battery.

I don't know what the arm rests came out of Dave, a later Nissan. I looked at this website, but, it shows my style of arm rests, but no chrome trim strip like the 510. My new arm rests have the chrome strip, so look really right on the door.

http://www.new-datsun-parts.com/datsun- ... riorl.html

I decided I am going to put a new flasher in for the turn signal also. When I turn my 4 flasher on, the lights seem brighter. I think maybe the turn flasher is tired, as the front left turn light is dimmer, I dunno, at least it's easy to change.

If you guys see a huge glow up here in the Pacific Northwest, you will know I got all my lights working!
"Racing makes heroin addiction look like a vague wish for something salty" - Peter Egan

Keith Law
1973 2 Door Slalom/hill climb/road race / canyon carver /Giant Killer 510
1971 Vintage 13' BOLER trailer
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vgwagon
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Re: Bert Vorgon's Spring Maintenance Project

Post by vgwagon »

one problem with the higher light output bulbs is heat, they put a lot of heat out which can melt some of the lenses that are very close to the bulbs.\
I went led years ago and found that the light output and direction if you get the correct bulbs is negligible. The shit you see at lordco that are super tall and expensive are not good either as they most likely are too long to fit anywhere. Here is a link to the guy I get all my led's from.
http://stores.ebay.ca/warden-jp2002
Denis Gagné
AKA VGwagon

69 510 VG30e swapped
73 240z VG30et swapped
86 300zx na2t VG30et converted
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bertvorgon
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Re: Bert Vorgon's Spring Maintenance Project

Post by bertvorgon »

Thanks Deni, I knew you would pipe in.

Yes, I am aware of the heat issue, I am doing one other test, with a slightly higher output bulb, which is for the turn signal, which is only on-off-on off-on- off...you get the idea, so heat is not an issue.

This will be it in terms of the bulb stuff, not like they are really crap. On to the performance stuff.

I should have my drivers window and trim arrive tomorrow morning, so I am going to be one changing out the Lexan in the driver side window here in a blink. I've got the window felt technique down pat, so it can be done in a few hours.

Shit at Lordco is right, I bought a couple of LED bulbs to try years ago...my candle lantern is better.

Also, stay away from the Sylvannia crap too, that is such a scam with the 20% brighter bull crap. They drop the candlepower on the low filament, the high is the same, and, if you actually READ the wording, it says 20% brighter than...IN SMALL PRINT, our other regular bulbs...which must really be crap.
"Racing makes heroin addiction look like a vague wish for something salty" - Peter Egan

Keith Law
1973 2 Door Slalom/hill climb/road race / canyon carver /Giant Killer 510
1971 Vintage 13' BOLER trailer
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bertvorgon
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Re: Bert Vorgon's Spring Maintenance Project

Post by bertvorgon »

One of my final projects of this series was to change to glass in my driver side door. Again, thanks to James, I had the matching glass to the passenger side. My driver's door still had all its' mechanism in it, so "all" I had to do was rip out the old channel felt, clean that up, and install the glass.
The metal on the glass had a lot of blue overspray on it, so I decided to clean that off using paint stripper, which also helped get the over spray off the actual glass. I used a new blade to clean off the rest of the grime.

Also, another biggy to do at the same time was remove BOTH the inner and outer window trim. After years of the Lexan going up and down, the rubber had dried out, was trimmed at one point, generally it was crap.
Now, the funny thing was that the trim from James's door, had the different end on it, but, the rubber was good. So, with that in mind, and part being a challenge, I decided to remove my bad strip from my trim, and swap in James's good rubber.

Onto the PROCEDURE.......:To remove the outer trim

1) Use a plastic pry type tool, similar to the one in the picture. With your left hand ( left door in this case) use your fingers the equalize the upward force you will use with the pry tool, prying up from inside the window. Put the tool about 4" along the door trim, that is about where the first clip is. Be forceful, but, do NOT end up with a bending motion, or you will distort the door edge. Once a clip starts to slide up, then progress down a few more inches, you will get a sense of where the next resistance is. After the first two, it should come up quite easily.

2) The "STAPLES" that Datsun used are NOT to be underestimated...these are staples from hell ! They used a really strong steel, and blasted them through two layers of steel. I looked really closely, and they were not drilled as far as I could see. I saw two different ways the curled ends were done. As you can see in the pictures, it just becomes a lesson in patience, to both start to pry an end out a bit, enough to get a screwdriver in, then, use needle nose plyers to bend the staple as straight as you can. You won't get it perfect, because they have a funny wiggle on one end, so don't worry about it. Then, you can get a flat blade screw driver in, same width as the opening, and pry out as EQUALLY as possible. I used a combination of needle nose, to grip the assembly, and then, the pliers to help push the staple out. Once it was 90% out, you can just pull it out with plyers. Do be careful that you do not force anything, the inner part of the stainless trim is thin, and could distort easily.

3) With the trim apart, take the actual rubber strip and wash it thoroughly. I was amazed at how much more flexible it became, almost like new. There is a small indented ridge near the top, which collects dirt, make sure that gets really cleaned out. The factory also used some adhesive, so clean that all off. I then polished the stainless, cleaned the steel back up strip, wiped it all dry. With James's good rubber, and my trim, I lined them up. The "indexing" was different, showing to me that a person actually did the stapling.

4) Making sure that the rubber is as high as it should be, I used those paper clips to hold it all together. Then, I used pins to index the original holes, puncturing the rubber . I left the pins in to help keep the new indexing all lined up. Then, with a 5/64 ths drill bit, I drilled though the backup strip, though the rubber, very slowly so as not to punch through fast and mark the outer stainless side. I picked 5/64ths as that was the size that the Bostich staples would go through, and give a hair of wiggle room. As it turned out, it was perfect. I used the needle nose vice grips to grip in the MIDDLE of the staple area, so that nothing would move. then I would move onto the next one. After doing all the holes, I peeled it apart, and took a small file to remove any burrs from the drilling, as I wanted it perfectly smooth. I then re-assembled it all, double checked my indexing, and was ready to re staple. I did not use any adhesive, I figured if that was done as a token water seal, it was not an issue as far as I was concerned.

5) I then broke out the staple as single ones, and by hand, carefully got them into the new holes. I then crimped them over, counter acting the bending by using my needle nose plyers. Then, with the needle nose vice grips, really squeezed the hell out of them, specially right at the bend. DONE! It turned out as good as the factory, the rubber is nice and flexible again. What we need to do is find a right angle rubber, similar to the picture, that would do the job. I don't think it even needs the slight curve, and the so called "seal" is only just when the window is rolled up, and the rubber sits on that lip of the window mount, nothing major really.

6) Installation is just a careful reversal of how you took it off, just giving a forceful push down. In my case it was done last after I had installed my glass.
I now have two nice new windows with almost factory new seals on both sides of the window, new window felt, and re-lubed lock mechanisms, door hardware, window rollers...smooth as hell now.
I did find there are a few tricks to do with the subtle adjustments of the windows, to make sure they wind up square, and not cocked. It took me a few try's and some scrapped up wrists, to get it right. There is a reason the factory slots those guides!
Don't be in a rush if you decide to swap out some trim rubber. It took me about 2 hours as those staples are tough, and I could see that it could be frustrating, thus you might end up bending things to the point of no return. While this may not be every body's project, it is doable, and, if we found a rubber strip that would replace the factory stuff, everyone could have new window trim dirt cheap.

The other new arm rest was put on, looks good with the matching set now.
Attachments
Blue over spray from donor door.
Blue over spray from donor door.
IMGP5081 (Medium) (Small).JPG (136.97 KiB) Viewed 4538 times
Took two applications and some brushing, to get paint off.
Took two applications and some brushing, to get paint off.
IMGP5083 (Medium).JPG (228.04 KiB) Viewed 4538 times
Window clean and dry, used a razor blade to clean glass, besides the paint stripper
Window clean and dry, used a razor blade to clean glass, besides the paint stripper
IMGP5122 (Medium).JPG (160.52 KiB) Viewed 4538 times
"Racing makes heroin addiction look like a vague wish for something salty" - Peter Egan

Keith Law
1973 2 Door Slalom/hill climb/road race / canyon carver /Giant Killer 510
1971 Vintage 13' BOLER trailer
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bertvorgon
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Re: Bert Vorgon's Spring Maintenance Project

Post by bertvorgon »

trim...
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IMGP5084 (Medium).JPG
IMGP5084 (Medium).JPG (168.08 KiB) Viewed 4538 times
MY TRIM ON BOTTOM, DONOR TRIM TOP. ALSO THEY USED BOTH PLASTIC AND STEEL FOR THE RETAINER STRIP ON BACK.
MY TRIM ON BOTTOM, DONOR TRIM TOP. ALSO THEY USED BOTH PLASTIC AND STEEL FOR THE RETAINER STRIP ON BACK.
IMGP5085 (Medium).JPG (140.6 KiB) Viewed 4538 times
YOU CAN SEE THE TWO STYLES OF STAPLES USED.
YOU CAN SEE THE TWO STYLES OF STAPLES USED.
IMGP5086 (Medium).JPG (141.92 KiB) Viewed 4538 times
"Racing makes heroin addiction look like a vague wish for something salty" - Peter Egan

Keith Law
1973 2 Door Slalom/hill climb/road race / canyon carver /Giant Killer 510
1971 Vintage 13' BOLER trailer
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bertvorgon
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Re: Bert Vorgon's Spring Maintenance Project

Post by bertvorgon »

MORE...
Attachments
IMGP5087 (Medium).JPG
IMGP5087 (Medium).JPG (150.3 KiB) Viewed 4538 times
DIFFERENT ENDS
DIFFERENT ENDS
IMGP5088 (Medium).JPG (167.27 KiB) Viewed 4538 times
STARTING TO PRY STAPLE OPEN
STARTING TO PRY STAPLE OPEN
IMGP5090 (Medium).JPG (94.64 KiB) Viewed 4538 times
"Racing makes heroin addiction look like a vague wish for something salty" - Peter Egan

Keith Law
1973 2 Door Slalom/hill climb/road race / canyon carver /Giant Killer 510
1971 Vintage 13' BOLER trailer
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bertvorgon
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Re: Bert Vorgon's Spring Maintenance Project

Post by bertvorgon »

MORE....
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STAPLE OPENED UP AS MUCH AND STRAIGHT AS POSSIBLE
STAPLE OPENED UP AS MUCH AND STRAIGHT AS POSSIBLE
IMGP5091 (Medium).JPG (88.52 KiB) Viewed 4538 times
PRYING STAPLE
PRYING STAPLE
IMGP5093 (Medium).JPG (117.92 KiB) Viewed 4538 times
PRIED STAPLE OUT A HAIR
PRIED STAPLE OUT A HAIR
IMGP5092 (Medium).JPG (92.45 KiB) Viewed 4538 times
"Racing makes heroin addiction look like a vague wish for something salty" - Peter Egan

Keith Law
1973 2 Door Slalom/hill climb/road race / canyon carver /Giant Killer 510
1971 Vintage 13' BOLER trailer
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bertvorgon
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Re: Bert Vorgon's Spring Maintenance Project

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GRIPPING WITH VISE GRIPS, THEN PULL STAPLE WITH PLIERS
GRIPPING WITH VISE GRIPS, THEN PULL STAPLE WITH PLIERS
IMGP5096 (Medium).JPG (73.77 KiB) Viewed 4537 times
IMGP5094 (Medium).JPG
IMGP5094 (Medium).JPG (95 KiB) Viewed 4537 times
STAPLE OUT
STAPLE OUT
IMGP5095 (Medium).JPG (67.1 KiB) Viewed 4537 times
"Racing makes heroin addiction look like a vague wish for something salty" - Peter Egan

Keith Law
1973 2 Door Slalom/hill climb/road race / canyon carver /Giant Killer 510
1971 Vintage 13' BOLER trailer
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bertvorgon
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Re: Bert Vorgon's Spring Maintenance Project

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USING NEEDLE NOSE TO HELP PUSH STAPLE OUT
USING NEEDLE NOSE TO HELP PUSH STAPLE OUT
IMGP5097 (Medium).JPG (82.08 KiB) Viewed 4536 times
ALL STAPLES OUT
ALL STAPLES OUT
IMGP5098 (Medium).JPG (68.46 KiB) Viewed 4536 times
PEELING BACKING STRIP AWAY FROM DONOR RUBBER...CAREFULLY....IT'S GLUED!!!
PEELING BACKING STRIP AWAY FROM DONOR RUBBER...CAREFULLY....IT'S GLUED!!!
IMGP5099 (Medium).JPG (71.15 KiB) Viewed 4536 times
"Racing makes heroin addiction look like a vague wish for something salty" - Peter Egan

Keith Law
1973 2 Door Slalom/hill climb/road race / canyon carver /Giant Killer 510
1971 Vintage 13' BOLER trailer
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