My 1982 Nissan Maxima Diesel Wagon

[Kyle146]

Hello Forum!
I decided to post up my "New to me" rig in here. I know I am late to the party but I have been wanting this specific vehicle for 5 years. I also own a 1977 280Z (Which I will NOT be taking the V07 Crank).
I just finished doing the IP pump belt and tensioner, all the belts, coolant flush, and suspension refresh.
This car was originally a Austin Texas Car (currently I am in Houston). The mileage is 253k but the odometer is questionable and bouncy. I was informed that the LD28 in my wagon was replaced in 2011 with a NOS longblock (The engine serial isn't correct so I can see that)
The first owner definitely loved his maintenance as I was provided a box full of NOS stuff ( GP main relay, 3 GP resistors, fuel filter water sensor, 3 OD switched despite having a 82', and more misc)
Overall, I would love to do the L4N71B swap if I could even source the diesel one. I also plan on putting a tach in with the tach mod. I just want to keep this tank going for as long as I can!

[Kyle146]

IP belt was in great shape for approximate "70k miles". It even had the original part number which tells me It has never been changed. Tensioner looked brand new as well, but I still replaced it with one from Amayama from a LD20. (It took them a week to even find one)
I also replaced the water pump since it had a leak from the weep hole. It was also factory. but sadly I had to replace it with a L28 pump instead of the LD28 pump. I will include the measurement difference I found between the pumps below.
I notice that it creeps slightly warmer with high load or AC on ( I know AC! and factory R12 too) but nothing I would be worried about yet. I also installed 8 inch pusher fans on the condenser since I live in Texas.
My balancer is wobbling so I found a guy parting out a LD who sold me the starter and balancer for 100$. His motor was at 80k before the oil pan got dragged and it ran dry (his car was lowered). I plan to buy his IP pump as well as a spare. The previous owner told me he ran the IP dry twice which scares the crap outta me. But it doesn't smoke TOO bad.

[glenlloyd]

Very nice car, you're lucky that you live in TX and have vehicles that are in such good shape!

Steve

[Kyle146]

Long overdue updates!
Went with a full manual swap instead of a automatic swap. Sourced all the parts including a LD28 transmission. Rebuilding it was quite interesting as someone had munched reverse gear (even though it has a reverse lockout). I managed to replace the reverse with another reverse gear from a late 77' 280z transmission with no problems. The hardened gear metal made its way to the (Slip yolk?) bushing so that also required replacing. I gave the transmission a refresh with all new bearings as well. I got the flywheel, engine plate, trans mount, and driveshaft all from one seller. Definitely one of the easiest manual swaps I have ever done. The things that took me a while to obtain was a proper shifter (Specific 280zx shifter works close). The pedal assembly came from a non cruise control car so I will need to figure out a way to get the switches working once again.

Did a AC system refresh. Added a VERY custom bracket to allow for a Sanden 7H15 Compressor. Running R152A instead of R134A. Made a Fan relay and attached some 10 inch fans to the front. EASILY gets 40F out the vents.

Replaced my Crank balancer as it was getting wobbly on the AC side (known Problem)

Changed coolant to some Shell Rotella coolant made for Big Rigs. I've been noticing some aluminum flakes which I lead to understand may be cavitation. So far this has stopped the cavitation and flakes in my coolant.

Made QR code labels for the fusebox and relays under the hood so I can access them. Even in offline mode

Still wanting to add a Tachometer and some EGT gauge soon for the eventual plan to MAYBE turbo it...