Gave Frankie a little facelift this weekend

[RickB]

I spent most of the weekend working on the carb - making new gaskets and cleaning the thing up.

Between the leaky gaskets and the jet that was really cruddy with rusty looking growths reminiscent of plaque the poor thing was barely running. Now it's running great again and idles rock steady.

After all that I thought it was high time that Frankie got a new smile. The old grill had been smushed a bit when my niece backed into the car with her VW Jetta. I straightened it a bit and it was serviceable but not very pretty.

My MK1 Parts car had this real nice slatted grille that had years of dirt that needed to be removed, the fasteners holding it on had to be ground off with the angle grinder but once it was free and cleaned up I affixed it to Frankies front and well, here's the before & after:

Before:

After:

 

[drooartz]

Very nice. There's got to be a better way to do that scoop, though. That one's just not that racy -- looks a bit like a sauce pan from here.

I jest, of course. You have two drivable cars, while I have none.

 

[Tullamore]

What did you put under that hood to need the "speed bulge"

 

[RickB]

What did you put under that hood to need the "speed bulge"

Hey, that's my "go faster" hood bubble!!

It makes room for an air filter on the downdraft Hitachi carb that's on the 1500 A15 Datsun motor.

Now if I could just get that 5 speed in the thing it would be a really great driver. Now it's just pretty good.

 

[Tullamore]

Ah... I have an A12 in a spridget, clears the hood fine though.

 

[RickB]

Steve - what car is that? Other pics?

I think maybe the A12 is a wee bit smaller than the A15?

Can you fit an air cleaner to that carb and close the hood?

 

[Tullamore]

That is one of my Innocenti 950 Spyders (Italian Austin-Healey Sprite)

You could fit a round air cleaner under it if you were careful about the two nuts sticking up. I would use one of those foam air cleaners especially to get more air being so close to the bonnet.

 

[RickB]

I have just a bit more than an inch clearance over the carb itself.
I found a low profile K&N filter that fit but it still did not clear the hood - by about 3/16".

 

[Hairyone]

I would look at the possibility of cutting a "V" shape out from the bottom of the manifold near the engine side & re-welding it so it's angled down.
Ah no scrap that idea, just thinking about it.. your carb will be at an angle & change the float level. looks like you will have to leave the [censored] pot on the bonnet (hood). Unless there is a different manifold to fit an SU.

 

[Guest]

Get the hood scoop of of a 300ZX Turbo. It'll look good on the car and still not be too big. I got one here I'm savin' fer such a thing. Around a 1986 model is what you want.

That bulge does look a bit "saucey".

 

[RickB]

One thing at a time guys.
You should have seen what that bulge replaced...
Hmmm... think I have a pic here somewhere...

Can't find them, but suffice to say it was an ugly hand made black fiberglass wart.

Actually I have three other bonnets in the back yard, (none with a hole in it).
I'd like to find a side draft intake for this engine - they had SU carbs on some models and that would be fun. Then that bonnet could go away and one of my spares could be bolted up.

 

[Tullamore]

So what is your bulge made from? Looks to me like one of the stock SU filter housings was welded to your bonnet.

 

[RickB]

It's a fiberglass 'teardrop' shape actually - that's just a bad angle. Maybe this is better:

 

[AngliaGT]

I'll have 2 engines - Datsun 1300 & 1400 (A13 & A14)
that will be cheap/free.

- Doug

 

[RickB]

The big question is - what head is on them?
If you have a spare GX head you want to send me I'll pay shipping... :wink:

 

[AngliaGT]

I have a '74 (A13),& a '78 B210 GX.The engine looks
stock on the '78.
I'll need to keep the '78 around until the other GX
is done.

- Doug

 

[Guest]

Got a pic of the rear? What did you do for the back bumper?

 

[bill_powell]

Get the hood scoop of of a 300ZX Turbo. It'll look good on the car and still not be too big. I got one here I'm savin' fer such a thing. Around a 1986 model is what you want.

That bulge does look a bit "saucey".

Another alternative are small plane air intakes. I used one from a Beechcraft Bonanza:

 

[RickB]

Yes Bill - I've seen that one before!
So that's an active scoop?
What's it feeding into?

For the back I put on a chrome bumper and early tail lights, should have a pic around here somewhere...

 

[RickB]

Here is what I originally got: