Slowly getting back at it.

It's been awhile since I have posted. Mostly because I have been working on finishing other projects before I can go full speed at this one. Since then I have been doing a lot of thinking and planning on how I am going to do everything from the body to the interior, as well as the things you don't see like the wiring and underbody.

I have rethought out how I am going to mount the engine as well as what engine I am going to use. I am still going to use a VQ series engine but I decided to go with a 350z VQ35 instead. Various reasons were taken into consideration in doing this from power goals to interior.

Interior you ask? Well I don't want this car to look like a Datsun on the outside but feel like a Miata inside. I feel like that would take away from the idea and goal I set out to achieve in the first place. So I decided I would do a Miata NA/NB/NC and a 350z mash up on the interior. Which means I will wire the car to make it think it's a 350z. Doing this will allow me to use 350z gauges, Nissan anti theft system and as well as some other perks I will get into along with being able to use the newer software modern Nissan ECUs have to offer.

So where do we start? Well I plan on using a electronic assist power steering column. This will get rid of hydraulic power steering under the hood. So I sourced one from a Versa. So I bought one from the junkyard with the ignition switch, keys and door lock. 

I also bought the every wiring harness from a 350z. 

Doing this will allow me to make the car think it's a 350z. This takes out having to make my own circuits, as well as allows me to use nissan anti theft system and it will allow me to have more control over the entire car via can bus system, not to mention it should make running a VQ35DE engine in the car a breeze.

So to start I need to make all the keys match for all of the locks in the car. If you notice most modern cars all have their locks built into their handles where as the roadster in 67 had the old style setup where the lock was below the door handle. I plan on using the old style roadster push button door handles to stay consistent with the old school look of the car. So with those door handles I will be using the old style lock. 

The thing is old style datsun locks are nothing like modern nissan keys. To be able to utilize nissan anti theft system I need to be able to use the modern keys for various reasons. So I set out to find a lock that looked like the old Datsun lock but used modern nissan type keys and functioned like a 350z lock. The answer to this was a 99 Pathfinder rear tailgate lock. It was surface mounted on its own like a datsun lock, accepted modern nissan keys and functioned like a 350z lock.

As you can see there is a sensor that detects swipe direction (lock/unlock) which is what we need. This type of sensor is also on the 350z lock shown here:

 So what we need to do now is rekey the Pathfinder lock to accept the key I purchased with the versa key set. This is a fairly simple task and sounds more complicated than it really is.

First we need to remove the swipe direction sensor:

Now remove the clip on the back that holds the metal arm on it, and remove the tension spring, take a picture of the tension spring before removal or just take very good mental notes on how it is installed on the lock for reassembly:

Now with some pliers remove the chrome face. You will damage it so don't worry about that. Remove and discard it.

Now remove the cylinder, it should slide right out, be careful to not let the wafers in the cylinder fall out as it is important the order of these stay as they are (my wafers are not in the cylinder in this picture as I already removed them for the next step) :

Next step, we are going to remove all the wafers. Since I took apart the Pathfinder lock in this picture and it will be re-keyed to the Versa key I do not have to worry about the order of the wafers currently in the pathfinder lock. To remove the wafers just take a needle nose pliers and pull them out one by one:

As you are pulling them out you will see tiny springs under the wafers be careful not to loose them and pull them out as well.

Now we want to repeat the process with the versa lock, but when we pull the wafers out we want to make sure we write down the number code. You can find the numbers on the wafers themselves, if you zoom in on this wafer you will see a number 4. The wafers have a number from 1-4:

Reinstall the wafers from the versa lock cylinder back into the pathfinder lock cylinder, make sure you have a spring installed under each wafer. Once you have done so, check your order by inserting the key you are rekeying the lock for into the cylinder. Each wafer should slide down in the cylinder flush with the cylinder's body:

Reinstall cylinder back into the lock body and at this point when you remove the key the wafers should spring up and not allow you to turn the cylinder without the key. Once you have tested everything and it functions like it should reinstall the spring, the metal arm and the clip. Last but not least take the lock to a local lock smith and have them install a new face as it will be cheaper than buying the tools and parts to do it yourself. 

Now re install the swipe sensor and we are ready to install it on the car and test for functionality. 

Once the wiring of the doors is complete the rest is pretty much a breeze.