Zippy
By Leigh Brooks | '69 Datsun 2000
Meet zippy
Zippy<p>Say hello to Zippy, a ’69 2000 which followed me home, or rather, was dragged from Auburn, WA to my Home for Wayward Roadsters.<p>The car is very …
Engine
U20<p>This will be my first OHC rebuild. I’ve worked on a G-15 and an R-16, but this will be my first U20.<p>The first step will be to peek under the valve …
Interior
Mmmmm, red<p>The interior has been redone, probably about 10 years ago. Red and black interior with a white exterior is one of my favorite combinations …
Rear
Rear<p>It doesn’t show in the pictures, but the rear panel is full of bad bondo and cracks. Fart can exhaust and rear bumper overriders will have to go …
Cam
Decidedly Un-Zippy<p>I finally got around to digging into Zippy’s engine.<p>Lifting the cam cover was a bit of a surprise. I knew the cam would be rusty, …
Crank
Milky goo<p>I dropped the oil pan after draining about a quart of latté-colored goo. There is rust on the inside of the block and inside the pistons. …
Block
Surprise!<p>Or maybe not so much of a surprise, actually. Cylinder number 1 is full of water, but the rust is not bad, as the valves were closed.<p>Number …
Head
Hmmmmm<p>Other than a few rusted valves, the head looks fairly good. No obvious signs of gasket failure, so I’m guessing the head must have …
New lump
Zippy meets the new lump<p>I got a great deal on a running motor. I saw it run on an engine stand and overall it is in good shape. No chew marks into …
Removal
Out with the old<p>The hood was removed and various tubes and wires disconnected in preparation to pull the old motor.<p>I really want to fix the rust …
Plucked
Dirty engine bay<p>The past 35 years have not been too bad to the car.<p>You can see the Jacobs electronic ignition on the fender wall. Not sure if I will …
Cleaned
Clean engine bay<p>Even though I’m not going to repaint the engine bay right now, I coulnd’t resist cleaning it up a bit. Seems that most of the work I …
Pilot bushing
Pilot Bushing<p>The brass insert in the middle of the crank is the pilot bushing. This locates the front of the transmission input shaft. It’s a good …
Clutch
Friction<p>The flywheel was resurfaced and balanced with the pressure plate.<p>The clutch is held in place with the handy clutch alignment tool while the …
Ready
Ready to go back in<p>The tranny matched up with the block very nicely. Starter was installed and the whole thing was ready to cram back in the car.<p>It …
It's in
It’s in<p>Here’s the engine finally back in place. I still need to hook everything back up, get a new battery and replace all the fluids.<p>Then it’ll be …
Ground
Check your grounds!<p>I got all the hoses and wires back on the car. At least I thought I did. I got a new Optima red top battery and installed it, …
Oil pan
A little bit of color<p>On a lark I decided to paint the oil pan red. Mostly because I only had red spray paint in the garage.
Carbies
Fresh carbies<p>One last thing to take care of before firing it up - the carbs. They were in good shape but really filthy. I used carb cleaner and a …
Timing
It’s all in the timing<p>I cleaned and lubed the recurved distributor that was originally on the car and spent about 4 hours taking it in and out, …
Test drive
Good to go<p>I bled the brakes a few days prior and everything checked out. Just a bit of adjustment needed for the handbrake. I jumped in the car, …
Exhaust
New pipes<p>I took Zippy to a local custom mufler shop to replace the nightmare exhaust that the car came with - a huge “fart can” hooked up with flex …
Thermostat
Hot water<p>I decided to swap out the water neck with the smog vacuum switch to an earlier one without. While I was at it, I replaced the thermostat and …
Brakes
Stopping is good<p>Zippy’s brakes were a bit soft, so I ordered up new stainless flex lines, pads and shoes.<p>Starting with the rear brakes, I cleaned …
Brakes
On to the front<p>Zippy continued to put up a struggle. I couldn’t get the old pads out. Finally I decided to take the whole caliper off and mount it in …
Brakes
Bleed like a craze, dad*<p>Everything back in place and the new stainless flex lines installed. Zippy had one little bit of resistance left, the bleeder …
Races
Zippy goes to the races<p>Zippy’s first official outing was to the Pacific Northwest Vintage Races at Pacific Speedways, near Auburn, WA.<p>The car ran …
Races
Out on the track<p>During the lunch break, the car clubs were allowed a few laps on the track. I followed other members of NWDE, but didn’t push the car …
Races
Racing roadsters<p>Two roadsters were competing on that day. I forgot to get the names of the drivers, but the cars looked great!<p>There were many …