Jordan's '72 2 door KA project

[RONSLYCHUK]

Your welding skills are crazy Jordan! That engine looks great too. I can’t wait to see it on the road.

[JordanTr]

Your welding skills are crazy Jordan! That engine looks great too. I can’t wait to see it on the road.

Thanks Ron. Me too!! It should make all the right noises now. Things have come a long way since the RB26 project!!

[JordanTr]

The other day, I went down the rabbit hole helping Andrew source some decent creep resistant hardware for his manifold to turbo and turbo-downpipe interfaces. Conveniently enough, this information was also very useful for me at this time as well. The Nissan RB25DET studs are M10x1.25 but the T3 flange I sourced was tapped for M10x1.5 so keeping it in the family was out. Andrew's manifold was also M10x1.5. I needed to find some good studs and nuts for us to use. Some internet research led me to an option for Mazda studs P/N 9YA9-21-008 M10x1.5 x ~40mm long (pictured below). These are OE on pretty much any T3 turbo Mazdas I believe. Some internet lore indicated that these are Inconel studs (High nickel superalloy) but it seems more likely that they are a 660 grade stainless steel which maintains good strength up to ~1300*F. Posts from MiataTurbo.net indicate that someone found out that the OE Nissan stud material was SS660. Regardless, either the Mazda or Nissan studs should be up to the task and would be more cost effective for the OEMs to mass produce.



Potentially useful numbers for others (to the best of my research, all these numbers are for creep resistant turbo fasteners)
PN 9YA9-21-008 Mazda stud (M10x1.5x40mm) (ordered these at ~$20 CAD ea)
PN JE10-40-355 Mazda matching M10x1.5 top lock flange nut (ordered these at ~$6 CAD EA)
14415-4p200 (OEM Nissan T3 gasket)
14445-V2700 (OEM RB25 turbo outlet gasket)
14416-V5300 RB25/VG30ET turbo inlet stud M10x1.25x~40mm
14417-P7600 RB25/VG30ET M10x1.25 plain 17mm hex nut (use with lock tab 14495-V5300)
14434-V0301 RB25/Z32 turbo outlet bolts M8x1.25x ~28mm
14414-17F00 RB25/Z32 turbo outlet studs M8x1.25x~37mm
14432-P7600 RB25/Z32/more turbo outlet stud nut plain M8x1.25
14064-40P01 Nissan T2 flange studs M8x1.25x~31mm

I really want to ensure I don't have issues with leaks around the turbo since I am pretty sure that any turbo re-re work will be an engine out affair
Good studs, gaskets, and flatness are 3 key pieces of the puzzle. I discussed with Matt and after battling cracks and leaks on his KA-T, he was able to conquer it by using a copper gasket, sectioning the flange, and machining it flat.

I am planning to section the manifold flange where it meets the head into 4 individual flanges which will help ensure cylinder 1 and 4 don't move around too much due to the thermal expansion of 1 big flange. It will be interesting to check for flatness after making these cuts and then surface again if needed. Another benefit is increased compliance at each flange so it should be able to clamp down more uniformly on the exhaust manifold gasket. Removing useless flange material between the cylinders will also help seal better since this will increase gasket stress where you actually need it--right around the ports. Using the OEM large washers (Yokes?) on the manifold studs should help distribute the stress and again help ensure a good clamp load on the gasket.
I am very open to any other thoughts on success recipes for ensuring no leaks on these guys!!

Fan Shroud
I've been doing a couple small sheetmetal projects at work so I thought I'd take that new knowledge and attempt a fan shroud inspired by 3D Magic Mike. It is not fully detailed yet since the corners will have riveted in gussets etc. but I'm pretty happy with how it looks. What's pictured is the original 10" Zirgo fans on my DNA motoring eBay rad. The black flappers are Spal # 30130012 to allow airflow at speed and close off when stopped so the fans draw air through the rad only. The flappers have little nubs that go into the small holes you can see on the shroud. The purple spacers up front space the rad back from the core support so there is room for the intercooler. It even looks like it will JUST fit with the standard water pump on the KA (instead of the shorter frankenpump I built). I'm planning to water jet or laser 16 gauge aluminum and then bend it up to build the base shroud. I am nervous about the bending part but I'm optimistic I'll be able to get it done somehow.

Because we're all here for pics...

Top
Fan Shroud by TRZ Fab, on Flickr

Bottom


Side view


Back view


Flat Pattern


"bent" shroud


Bend details


More to come. Awaiting transmission parts and heater core parts and warm enough weather to work in the shop. It was -33*C last weekend!

[JordanTr]

I've spent some time in recent days getting the KA trans rebuilt which was a challenging but rewarding journey (I think). I'll advise on the finished product soon hopefully.
I freestyled the FSM a few times and definitely paid for it by having to do a couple things twice but definitely no show stoppers. It was pretty vindicating to find some pretty serious pitting on the center plate bearings of both the main shaft and counter shaft. Other bearings had definite evidence of surface initiated fatigue (aka contamination induced). Synchros were not totally over the wear limit but were replaced anyways. The second gear 2 piece synchro was difficult to measure so I just replaced it anyways. The main tools used were a couple snap ring pliers, press, 3 jaw puller and a bearing splitter.
Per the plan in previous posts, the trans got jobber synchros, OEM seals, OEM full complement cylindrical roller countershaft bearing, SKF or NTN bearings in CN or C3 clearance to match OEM for the others. The locating bearing on the countershaft is the only jobber (Taiwan) bearing in it!

I'm going to bench run the trans with oil in and filter the trans with a little kidney loop to flush out any remaining stuff. More to come on this!

Here are some pics.

OR getting ready!











Main shaft inner race


Counter shaft outer race


Pressing back together with help from duct tape.


Functional but still ugly!


I spent some time finish welding my intercooler piping. The cold pipe is 15 feet of welding alone!! Pretty happy with how it's all turned out.
It's come a long way and a few argon bottles since previous projects!

510 3.2021 by TRZ Fab, on Flickr







PRP R35 MAF adapter in 3" tubing that necks to 2.5" and the turbo inlet.



I also re-did my rad hose couplers in 1.375" tube this time to replace the too small/leaky 1.25" ones... Measure twice, order once! Derr.



My frankenturbo has a setback since quite a few cracks were found by the ceramic coating guys after bead blasting. I plan to run this cracked up 21U hot side for now since I haven't found a replacement yet.



Plan for a week of assembly in April!! Until then...

[gooned]

Nice update, lots going on!

[RONSLYCHUK]

Nice work,as usual Jordan. I am enjoying watching your build.

[Stu]

The fan shroud looks awesome. Very cool you have the ability to fold it all properly. The flaps are a great detail.

All new bearings in the transmission have got to run a lot smoother than the pitted ones And, once again, your welding is so nice to look at.

Hope you find a hot side soon.

[Doraemon]

Will bet the shroud looks amazing when it's finished! And awesome welding going on there. The bearing damage is weird. It's not like it's continuously the whole race.

[Three B's Racing]

Trans work is fun!!! its a pony keg job. However, I couldn't help notice your gutter catch by 1st gear is in a very bad position. It carries oil flung off 1st gear back down a gutter to lube the rear driveshafts input and bearing in the tail section. Yours looks like it wouldn't carry much oil back there maybe. This is how mine was positioned in my SR trans when I split the cases for a rebuild. How was it removing the 5th gear bearing sleeve on the main shaft? Mine was on there, even with the press it took some effort it got replaced.

DSC_8352.JPG (677.33 KiB) Viewed 1816 times

[Three B's Racing]

Oh and one good idea is to take some 3M red scrub and redress all the synchro cones so they have a nice new finish then attach the synchro and spin it on the cone and make sure it doesn't screw itself to it. If it does, redress the cone more and the mating surface of the synchro until it no longer wants to screw itself onto the cone. Don't forget the pony keg 8>)

[JordanTr]

Thanks guys!!

Will bet the shroud looks amazing when it's finished! And awesome welding going on there. The bearing damage is weird. It's not like it's continuously the whole race.

I actually have been on the phone with my bearing engineer for work things but this is a more interesting topic. We did some RCA on it and looked at some more pictures and it’s very clear that the major pitting craters are ball spaced which stems from true brinelling due to overload. This is pretty clearly seen on the one photo of the inner ring.
Makes sense too since the damaged bearings are right next to 1st gear... clutch dumps!!

I have a potentially bearing upgrade for the next time around but need to do some more thinking on it.
I would be excited to do another one now that it’s not so scary!!

Trans work is fun!!! its a pony keg job. However, I couldn't help notice your gutter catch by 1st gear is in a very bad position. It carries oil flung off 1st gear back down a gutter to lube the rear driveshafts input and bearing in the tail section. Yours looks like it wouldn't carry much oil back there maybe. This is how mine was positioned in my SR trans when I split the cases for a rebuild. How was it removing the 5th gear bearing sleeve on the main shaft? Mine was on there, even with the press it took some effort it got replaced.

DSC_8352.JPG

Very perceptive. Yes, I did get the gutter properly positioned before assembly, thankfully!!

5th sleeve wasn’t bad coming off but it was tight going on even with some heat.

I did dress the synchro for 3rd and 4th gear since it basically did not disengage and the clearances were over factory spec.

It’s amazing how little lateral slop there is on the input shaft now that everything is tightened up. Interestingly enough, that input bearing is normal clearance as well (tighter than c3).

Can’t wait to really test it out!!

[Three B's Racing]

Thanks guys!!

Will bet the shroud looks amazing when it's finished! And awesome welding going on there. The bearing damage is weird. It's not like it's continuously the whole race.

I actually have been on the phone with my bearing engineer for work things but this is a more interesting topic. We did some RCA on it and looked at some more pictures and it’s very clear that the major pitting craters are ball spaced which stems from true brinelling due to overload. This is pretty clearly seen on the one photo of the inner ring.
Makes sense too since the damaged bearings are right next to 1st gear... clutch dumps!!

I have a potentially bearing upgrade for the next time around but need to do some more thinking on it.
I would be excited to do another one now that it’s not so scary!!

Trans work is fun!!! its a pony keg job. However, I couldn't help notice your gutter catch by 1st gear is in a very bad position. It carries oil flung off 1st gear back down a gutter to lube the rear driveshafts input and bearing in the tail section. Yours looks like it wouldn't carry much oil back there maybe. This is how mine was positioned in my SR trans when I split the cases for a rebuild. How was it removing the 5th gear bearing sleeve on the main shaft? Mine was on there, even with the press it took some effort it got replaced.
DSC_8352.JPG

Very perceptive. Yes, I did get the gutter properly positioned before assembly, thankfully!!

5th sleeve wasn’t bad coming off but it was tight going on even with some heat.

I did dress the synchro for 3rd and 4th gear since it basically did not disengage and the clearances were over factory spec.

It’s amazing how little lateral slop there is on the input shaft now that everything is tightened up. Interestingly enough, that input bearing is normal clearance as well (tighter than c3).

Can’t wait to really test it out!!

I hear you on the little lateral slop on the input shaft, representative of a good rebuild.

[Three B's Racing]

Hey Jordan, was wondering if you checked 1-3rd gear end play? I've rebuilt 3 transmissions in the last 28 years (last one was last year) and have always found 1st and 2nd gears to be in spec but have always found 3rd to be a few thou out of spec at the upper level. So what I did was had the spacer behind the snap ring made at work a few thou thicker because that spacer is no longer available from Nissan. Did you happen to find the same? Just curious...thanks

DSC_8367.JPG (712.27 KiB) Viewed 1746 times

[JordanTr]

Hey Jordan, was wondering if you checked 1-3rd gear end play?

Hey Lou, I did my best to check the end plays on disassembly and it all looked good. On the first install of new 3rd gear setup, I had basically zero end play and the synchro was constantly engaged. I pulled it off and touched up the ID of the synchro as its gap was over factory spec. After reinstalling, I didn't quantitatively check the end play since it felt pretty proper. I did install that ring and snap ring and then pulled the synchro hub tight against the snap ring setup to ensure I got the most out of the end play I could achieve. Fingers crossed that it's all good. It feels good and bench ran well as you'l see soon!!
Did you analyze any of the bearings that were pulled out? I suspect the common failure point for these is the center countershaft bearing.

[JordanTr]

After years of collecting parts and dreaming up a little filtration station, I finally pieced it all together today!
It's an industrial filter housing rated for 70GPM of hydraulic oil so it does a good job of pulling things out at a couple GPM, especially with a good filter at approximately 3 micron Beta 1000.
The red color is a giveaway that I am using ATF D/M since its the same viscosity at 40C as 80w90 at about 75C. It's also easier to filter and flow and pull contaminants out.

Welded up some JIC fittings onto -24 ORB fittings for the filter housing.

Bench Test Weld by TRZ Fab, on Flickr

Got the whole thing set up!! Guess what both motors and the belt setup are from?! (Hint: you'd likely find one at your local convenience store).



And a video... Not winning any prizes for electrical work or precision alignment but that's ok!!
It's spinning at about 180 rpm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5lKR5P2dGA