Rockets Wagon

[nissannewby]

Didn't need to bleed it at all, it fired up straight away and idled like a gem, never sounded so good or smooth since I've had it.

Cool. Sometimes they can be a pain.

[Rocket55]

Cool. Sometimes they can be a pain.

I was hoping it was going to start easily, as I was not looking forward to trying to bleed it under that cooler.

[nissannewby]

So only the pump left then. The pump will absolutely transform it mate.

You have done well Rod. Your research and patience is certainly paying off.

[Rocket55]

So only the pump left then. The pump will absolutely transform it mate.

You have done well Rod. Your research and patience is certainly paying off.

Pump, flywheel and clutch to go, I'm hoping it makes a decent difference, i'd hate to do all this for a, meh, so so result.

[Rocket55]

It then came time to fire this thing up, I've had the battery on charge the other day, so it's good to go. Double checked and tripple checked under the bonnet for tools, along the sides of the guards, on top of the grill, bull bar, everywhere. Then went back to the tools and put them all in the tray, none missing, great so time to hit the key. Before doing so I removed the plug on the fuel cut solenoid and then proceeded to crank it over, gave it 4 hits of about 4-5 seconds each to pump some oil up into the turbo. Reconnected the fuel cut solenoid, hit the starter and it burst into life almost instantly, and idled away so soothly and quiet, it's never been so smooth and quiet since I've owned it. I was much relieved.

I let it idle for a few minutes and scoured over it with my trusty work lamp looking for leaks, flapping bits, anything that shouldn't be there and to my discust noticed an oil leak on the oil feed fitting to the turbo where it comes from the block. So shut it down and went about fixing it. Well this fitting is a piece of piss to get at when there's nothing there, but after the turbo, intake pipe, battery, etc. goes in you can see it, but touching it is a challenge. Anyway, about an hour later, the fitting was out and reinstalled with a new copper washer behind it, test again and all good.

Went for a small drive, stopped about 1 km up the road and rechecked everything, all good. Noticed the pyro gauge was not working, get home and check the power supply, no power. Closed the door and a job for tommorrow, as by now it ws 1:30 in the morning.

Next morning, sus out the pyro, pull it all out and find a wire labled "pyro power supply" taped up under the dash not connected to anything. Guess that was me last time doing half a job. Anyway, used the opportunity to run an ignition power source into the cab and into a 4 way fuse block, so now I have 4 pre-made ignition sources. Wired it all up, tested Ok and went for another spin. Eventually the pyro starts working, driving around on a light throttle I see 150 - 250 deg.

Pulled up at a mates house for a beer and a quick photo.





Given that I have not altered the fuel pump at all during this process, I wasn't expecting too much of a power increase. It does go better, a fair bit better, but it's not going to take your breath away. I expect it would be very different if you were to tune the pump to suit or better still when I put the new pump in it. Boost has increased from 12 to 16.5 psi, it revs so much freer and continues to rev past where it used to want to stop and do nothing, quite impressed to begin with. The induction noise is definitely there and with the windows down is loud, but with the windows up it's fine.

Here's a small vid of a gentle run through the gears 1st - 3rd on about 1/2 to 2/3 throttle towards the end of 3rd. Oh, it's uphill also.

http://youtu.be/wQnN0A_15eg

[Stropp]

Well done mate good job.

[gubigfish]

Looking forward to getting all the bits to do mine, good job.

[Rocket55]

Thanks BigFish, it's definitely been a headache coordinating it all, especially when I have a deadline where I need the car working, one way or another. The pump goes in on Thur/Fri this week, so hugely looking forward to the weekend.

[Rocket55]

Feeling sad tonight, went downstairs to the beer fridge and looked across the garage over the roof of my missus' car only to see an empty space where my big girl should be sitting..... But then I think about picking it up tomorrow with a new pump. :-)

[nissannewby]

I will be watching here to see what you think mate.