chikaskia Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 how do. been lurking for at least a decade, have ran various ea81 2wd, mostly c/w, since @ 1990, 74 gl coupe and two ff-1s before that. i have agreed to acquire and reconstruct a 1400 gf coupe with manufacture stamp of 1-76. the young man who had it last snapped two intake studs, one near flush with the head, so that is the first obstacle to clear. have read the pdf found here as well as other info, if extraction fails or ruins the head, may need to replace, if so may be looking for head gasket replacement advice for wet sleeve 1400. he also pried the balls out of the control arm and tie rod, and totally chewed the clutch (the car was a toy for him to drive on their rural property), so all need replaced. i have spent a week reading all posts i can find on usmb with relevance to the gf, even tried to call mr. borges in dighton today as per seahag's suggestion, but he denied being a resource, however he did take my email and said he would "send some pics". he had never heard of usmb previously. paid particular attention to the topics of wet sleeves, seec, gft, and gsr, dual/single exhaust ports, various conversions and exchanges. particularly interested in hearing more discussion about head gasket issues/problems/fixes to apply preventative maintenance. my goals with this project beyond just getting the car back on the road are pretty utilitarian; safety, preservation and fuel economy. advice i am seeking would include optimum carb and carb jets/settings for best mpg, opinions on best size/brand of tires. i plan to use the car primarily for secondary road medium distance touring/commuting, i want it to be able to enter and maintain speed on the interstate, but mostly going to be babying it along back roads in oklahoma and the surrounding region. i will be satisfied with 30 mpg but don't understand why i could not reach 35 mpg, is it possible with this 1400? i have yet to find the thread(s) that deal with fuel economy in general, but will be glad to be referred to any. the 74 1400 gl coupe my farm mate in missouri had would do 75 at 3300 rpm, to get 33 mpg. i am very curious to distinguish the minute differences between all models gen 1 coupes from rx to the intro of the ea71, both mechanical and cosmetic. i have posted in the marketplace what parts i am needing. as i progress i will try to post some pics of "bee" thanks for any replies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonvo Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 we need pictures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chikaskia Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 won't be back out there until at least this weekend but will get some up for you then. meanwhile just imagine bug ugly, like the tan 83 gl sedan i won on ebay back in '02 for $100. and rode the hound from okla to king of prussia for. bee is currently in pieces. with rust and front end damage, but salvageable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chikaskia Posted March 28, 2013 Author Share Posted March 28, 2013 got some pics today! try not to make too much fun of me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chikaskia Posted March 28, 2013 Author Share Posted March 28, 2013 more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chikaskia Posted March 28, 2013 Author Share Posted March 28, 2013 more pics of bee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chikaskia Posted March 28, 2013 Author Share Posted March 28, 2013 and a few more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeroy Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Oh... A Hardtop! I should have realised when you called it a GF. Looks like it is in reasonable condition for a project. Some of the very late EA63 engines had dry sleeves like the EA71. If the engine number is higher than #914674 it will have dry sleeves and make rebuilding much simpler. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonvo Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 i see 2 shifter boots in the car 4wd??? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doughildreth Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 I have 1400 rebuilt heads I listed for sale last week, not sure if they fit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chikaskia Posted March 28, 2013 Author Share Posted March 28, 2013 Oh... A Hardtop! I should have realised when you called it a GF. Looks like it is in reasonable condition for a project. Some of the very late EA63 engines had dry sleeves like the EA71. If the engine number is higher than #914674 it will have dry sleeves and make rebuilding much simpler. Good luck! I have 1400 rebuilt heads I listed for sale last week, not sure if they fit? the engine is #62xxxx so is wet sleeved, and doug, your heads are for the rarer, and more desirable dry sleeved 1400. wish they would work! hopefully there will be no issues with the stud end extraction i should clarify that sam, who is 15, and who was given this car as a toy to run in the yard, and who did all this dis-assembly, has agreed as a part of the deal to help me fix and repatriate everything. he currently plans to weld nuts to the stud ends and then torque on those to get the ends out before we try any drilling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sikend667 Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 looks amazing i just got an entire front clip off a wagon to do a front end conversion on a 79 it will be kool to see yours rolling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maudsland Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 i see 2 shifter boots in the car 4wd??? i think the second boot is the shifter boot just sitting on the tunnel after been removed Cheers Thierry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chikaskia Posted September 24, 2014 Author Share Posted September 24, 2014 wanted to put an unfortunate end to this attempted project, sorry for taking 18 months to post about it. the mechanical issues all seemed surmountable, but i learned that to get the car legal would take $500 in back tags, and i just could not invest that in it, so got out while i was ahead. i ended up going to denver to get a 92 honda vx with the d15z1 vtec-e (my overarching goal is acquiring a 40 mpg+ vehicle to commute long distances). that honda developed starting issues and then a coolant hose came loose and overheated enough in just a few seconds to blow the head, and has now been sitting at surfside waiting for me to round up the $1500 to get it fixed. my apology to lead you all on, but it was a fun look at a rare remaining gf in situ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooner Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 What part of colorado are you in sir? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rust Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 looks like we may have some "cross polination" going on here (pun intended). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowmastered87GL Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 My neighbors had that Datsun Honey Bee in the 80's. I think Jesse James has one turned into a drift machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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