This is a request for a Dalek.

comments [0]

Today, I finally headed out to the BIG junkyard I mentioned in December looked around for some parts that I could use in my 510. In particular, I wanted an L-series intake manifold (to adapt to a Z-series EFI intake), a fuel filler neck/cap assembly, a fuel guide valve (controls fuel-line vapors, among other things), and some misc. door bits.

My wife suited up and came to the junkyard with me (awesome!) and we zeroed in on the Nissan/Datsun region of the junkyard. As large as the yard was, the section I needed wasn't really that large, and most of the cars were circa 1980 and later, which made them less useful me than I had hoped. Lots of Sentras, a couple of Z-cars, and one 1979 510. I had this false picture in my head of endless Datsuns or something, but it didn't end up playing out that way.


1979 Datsun 510. I don't like them.

The 1979 Datsun 510 isn't really much like a "real" 510 at all, save that it came with an L-series engine and was rear-wheel drive. Apart from that, the similarities end. Because this one had the L20b motor, the intake manifold I needed was on the car, but after about 20 minutes of wrenching, I gave up on pulling the part. There were too many things in the way, and this particular intake had a lot of vacuum-related accessories that weren't really worth the trouble.



In the meanwhile, my wife was backing screws out of the fuel filler tube I needed (awesome!), and after pulling we pulled that part out, we figured we got what we needed. Because the previous owner shaved the sides of my 510, the filler neck is in the trunk in this photo. I'm not sure when I'll get around to cutting a new hole into the side of the car to install a proper filler access, so in the meanwhile, I'll just have to pop the trunk any time I want to put gas in the car.

I didn't see a fuel guide valve; I think that the vapor system was probably changed over the years, and because I wasn't familiar enough with the 1979 system, I wasn't quite sure what to look for. I did, however, pull the charcoal canister which is a part of that system, but decided to leave it. If I'm going to use a charcoal canister to scrub the fuel vapors, I might as well get a new one.



I also picked up a new fuel pump from Kragen for $29.99 (price-matched to Autozone's current price), since I'm now confident that I thrashed the one on the car when I failed to install the fuel pump spacer. And lastly, I tightened up the alternator, since one of the mounting bolts was rattling around.

Once summer rolls around, I'm pretty sure I'm going to hate the heat... but being able to go to the junkyard in a t-shirt in January is pretty awesome. And having a wife who is willing to join me is pretty cool, too. Thanks, dear. :)

comments [3]

Another request for a bacteriophage, which was patterned after a papercraft template.

comments [0]

This was a request was for a psychiatrist looking disinterested as a patient on a couch poured out his heart.

comments [0]

This was a request for a girl violinist running away from a timpani player. I have no idea what the back-story on this one is.

comments [0]

This was a request for a guy with a sword and rice hat.

comments [0]

Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless;
maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.

Rescue the weak and needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

"They know nothing, they understand nothing.
They walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

~ Psalm 82:3-5 (NIV)


Who is more needy than the Haitians? Who is more poor, and has been more oppressed by the wicked? (we don't call it "predatory lending" for nothing) And where have the foundations of the earth been shaken? I believe the instructions to believers are quite clear.

Why the prophecies and proclamations from Pat Robertson haven't led him to be on the receiving end of a stone-throwing revolt baffles me.


Here's a piece scooped from boingboing, regarding some background on the history of Haiti, and why it has remained in economic shambles for all these years:


Summary: Haiti was forced to pay France for its freedom. When they couldn't afford the ransom, France (and other countries, including the United States) helpfully offered high-interest loans. By 1900, 80% of Haiti's annual budget went to paying off its "reparation" debt. They didn't make the last payment until 1947. Just 10 years later, dictator François Duvalier took over the country and promptly bankrupted it, taking out more high-interest loans to pay for his corrupt lifestyle. The Duvalier family, with the blind-eye financial assistance of Western countries, killed 10s of thousands of Haitians, until the Haitian people overthrew them in 1986. Today, Haiti is still paying off the debt of an oppressive dictator no one would help them get rid of for 30 years.

The rest of the world refuses to forgive this debt.

So, in a way, maybe Robertson is right. Haiti is caught in a deal with the devil, and the devil is us.



For those interested in helping the relief efforts, my old church in Washington sent me this link: www.efca.org


comments [4]