The 117 Coupe is back!

"Nakazoto" (Nakazoto)
05/29/2018 at 15:24 • Filed to: None

The engine rebuild all went very smoothly on the 117 Coupe and she’s back in business!

I had a couple small issues after I got her running again, but nothing too serious. The number 1 injector was leaking. Turns out the 40 year old injector seal didn’t like all the jostling around the intake did while it was being removed and installed. I popped new seals on all the injectors and that solved that problem!

There was also a small oil leak where I removed a stud on the head. The original head was cracked, so I got another head from a Luv pickup and aside from a few different studs, it was identical. One of the studs I removed though went all the through and I didn’t plug that up. Everytime I revved the engine, oil came spraying out. A bolt to fill the hole solved that problem!

Finally, I had a small coolant leak from the thermostat housing, but re-torquing the bolts fixed that up right as rain too!

I have about 70 km on the engine now and she’s still running great. Going to do the first oil change at about 100 km and take a look to see what the oil looks like. I did have one small electrical gremlin earlier today, but I haven’t been able to replicate it since. Of course, that’s probably something that’s a result of it just being a 40 year old car as opposed to my rebuild.

At any rate, I’m happy to have my car back!

DISCUSSION (10)

punkgoose17 > Nakazoto
05/29/2018 at 16:47

I love your Isuzus. What year is each one?

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > Nakazoto
05/29/2018 at 16:47

Whoa, a 117 and a Bellett with rally lites and you’re in Texas? How did I miss your previous posts?! Cars look great!

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Nakazoto
05/29/2018 at 17:17

Damn I love those cars, especially the Bellett! :D

Glad to see the 117 is back and you’re not having any issues with it (too much!) this far!

Any other major projects on the way? You still have an 80s Nissan Z, don’t you? You should post a walkaround or drive vid of some of your rides sometime if you ever have the time! You’ve got quite an awesome collection! :)

Nakazoto > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
05/29/2018 at 17:51

Thanks!

On the Bellett I recently had a new exhaust put on. The stock header paired cylinders 1 and 4 and cylinder 2 and 3 in two separate pipes until under the seats, where it went 2-into-1. I had a shop lop it off just before the 2-into-1 (it was all rusty and leaky anyways) and went with true duals all the way out. I then put a Porter muffler and a Moss Motors resonator/muffler on it (you can just see the Moss mufflers sticking out the back in the photo) and my god does it sound good. It’s a little quieter than I would like, but the sound is so, so good. I’ll have to take a video sometime!

The Z31 SS and the Cosmo are the next two major projects after I wrap up work on my father’s Austin Healey. The Cosmo is still my super slow going restoration, but the Z has some fun stuff in store for it. The VG30ET is coming out of the Z and I’m building a new VG33ET to drop back into it. I’ll pop on a T3 turbo from an earlier model Z as well and that mixed with the bigger displacement and higher compression should put me close to 300 hp. I’m excited, it’s gonna rip!

I have a few videos online but I plan on making some more that are more vehicle/garage-centric.

Here’s me driving the 117:

And here’s one of the Beat (with a nice ITB shot):

Nakazoto > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
05/29/2018 at 17:57

Thanks!

I believe you’re in Texas too, right? Where abouts? I’m located about 2-hours south of Fort Worth, which puts me in a prime position for either Dallas or Austin.

Nakazoto > punkgoose17
05/29/2018 at 18:02

Thank you very much!

The blue one is a 1973 Bellett 1800GT and the maroon one is a 1978 117 Coupe XC. They’re both the SOHC models, which is actually a good thing because it means I can find engine parts for them.

The engine in the Bellett is a G180SS, which is high-compression, twin-SU version of the G180S that was in the ‘72 Chevy Luv. The engine in the 117 Coupe is a G180Z with ECGI fuel injection. It’s a more primitive version of the EFI in the ‘84 Impulse and is essentially the same block and head found in the late ‘70s Chevy LUVs.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > Nakazoto
05/29/2018 at 18:13

Yup, up in Dallas. Would have guessed you were much further west based on your pictures. Somewhere around Killeen?

Nakazoto > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
05/29/2018 at 18:37

Not quite that far south, we’re a lot closer to Stephenville not far from a tiny little town called Hico. I actually come up towards Dallas quite often for work, so we’ll definitely have to run into each other the next time I’m up there with something fun to drive!

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > Nakazoto
05/30/2018 at 11:08

Ah, Stephenville was my next guess! Absolutely, that sounds great.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Nakazoto
06/02/2018 at 07:18

Awesome! I do love that Bellett....also, glad to hear you still have the Cosmo! I remember that from JNC, but wondered if you still had it as I imagine it’s neigh on impossible to find parts for...

The Z should be epic when it’s completed! :D

Thanks for the video links! I think I had seen those before, but I’d lost the link to your Youtube channel ages ago, so it was nice seeing them again! Nice series on exporting/importing from Japan btw!