I baught the car from a real IPO! Idoiot Previous Owner!

[BuDavid]

Hi people, I just have the free time to put in the new parts which I was waiting for a long time.. they arived and I started taking off old ones a replacing them, shocks, springs and rear brake kit..

I was with my fiend next to the lifted car, he was pulling the shock absorber out and nicey! oil ws dripping, for the first moment I was glad to se that, because I thaught that the previous owner was intelligent and he put oil inside the tube for betteh heat transfer.. but suddenly my friend was laughing at me and he told me that this oil is from the strut itself:dead:

then I told myself I a real idiot to think of that sice I noticed many stupid things before from the car done by previous owner such as REPLACEMENT ONE'S SIDE BRAKE PADS ONLY! since he cost about 21USD ONLY FROM THE DEALER!!:stupid:

anywayz, we continued pulling out parts, the fun was with the front shocks, we pulled theshaft of the strut, firts it didnt wan to come out, I thaught ok due to negative presure since it was flooded with THE STRUT OIL AGAIN!

well, it wasn't just leaking, a pulled few times harder and congratulations! I got in my hand the shaft af the strut only and I could nicely see the inside damper element! I could give a lecture of shocks with that $^!#! that guy idn even bother to replace the struts since he got the car USE ONE OF COURSE 12EARS AGO!!

springs had different hights, I Don't know why.. oh god, my car well run like a BMW if I put it bac I guess! I discovered that I was driving a suspentionless vehicle!

I'm really pissed of from that guy!

today I hope that I'l pull out successfully the second rear strut and replace it.. :tapemouth

Iguess I better go to the garage than wasting my tim burning ners on that guy:beard:

I'll post photos when I get my car ready..

take care for now..

Mohamed..

[boyblunda]

Mohamed

I may not be reading this correctly and I am not sure about this in Zeds but al least some other early Datsuns did not have sealed shockabsorbers and were filled with oil. It is common for replacement shockabsorbers to come as a sealed cartridge but they may differ from the original.

Differences between shockabsorbers and/or springs might also occur if people swap parts between vehicles.

FWIW or might be worth.

EDIT: THe FSM actually shows the outer casing being filled with oil.

[EScanlon]

Also, and I defer to more knowledgeable folks, IIRC the springs in the front actually WERE a different height from the factory. This was to offset the weight of the driver in the weight distribution balance.

2¢

E

[Arne]

I suspect the only thing that you can blame the previous owner for is never changing the struts.

1.) Factory springs were different lengths in front. The right front was about 1/2" (12 mm) longer than the left front, to compensate for the weight of the battery. That is totally normal.

2.) Factory struts were never sealed cartridge assemblies like your replacement units are. The strut tube is the outer tube. Inside you will find an inner tube inside of which the piston runs. The upper nut (called the "gland nut") will have the shaft seal, as well as an outer oil seal (or o-ring), and will have a method of centering the inner tube. The entire assembly will be filled with a rather smelly oil that we used to call "fish oil" back in the day.

From your description, I am almost certain that you disassembled those struts for the very first time since the car left the factory. Nothing unusual at all.

[a7dz]

Well said Arne. I too have just taken the struts out of my car even though they were changed a couple of times still had the fish oil in the strut as called out in the day on the parts list for the struts. With the new gas struts inserts the oil is no longer needed. When you buy new springs they too will be different lengths. At least the European or domestic replacements.

Good luck with your project.

[SaltyCrackers]

I don’t know what we should be more pissed off at, the lack of care by the previous owner, or your spelling and grammar.

[sblake01]

I don’t know what we should be more pissed off at, the lack of care by the previous owner, or your spelling and grammar.

If you're talking about Mohamed, I'm sure you sound just as strange to him. Your comment was totally unnecessary.

[bpilati]

Also, and I defer to more knowledgeable folks, IIRC the springs in the front actually WERE a different height from the factory. This was to offset the weight of the driver in the weight distribution balance.

2¢

E

I have been wonder this for years, what the heck does IIRC mean. I've been afraid to ask but I can't figure it out.

Yes the front springs were of different height, but I understand that Datsun never sold them that way at the dealers. They only sold the drivers side spring (correct me if I'm wrong). However you can now get them like factory from Courtesy Nissan since we had them made according to factory specs (LF, RF and two rears). Anyway, the original struts were not cartridges, that is, the guts were inserted directly into the strut tube and sealed with o-rings. The factory manual shows how to overhaul them. The factory manual does not show the use of strut cartridges.

[a7dz]

SNIP ...Anyway, the original struts were not cartridges, that is, the guts were inserted directly into the strut tube and sealed with o-rings. The factory manual shows how to overhaul them. The factory manual does not show the use of strut cartridges

I disagree with there being no cartridges. My FSM clearly shows the strut cartride in the picture on page FA 13 in figure FA-32. on my 70. The " O" ring is to keep the cooling oil in the strut tube. It is put there as a cooling agent. The instructions in steps 8 & 9. State to remove the cylinder from the outer sleeve clean the oil with gasoline.

[Arne]

I disagree with there being no cartridges. My FSM clearly shows the strut cartride in the picture on page FA 13 in figure FA-32. on my 70. The " O" ring is to keep the cooling oil in the strut tube. It is put there as a cooling agent. The instructions in steps 8 & 9. State to remove the cylinder from the outer sleeve clean the oil with gasoline.

Cartridges were available from the parts department as replacements, but were not installed in the cars from the factory. I disassembled many of those smelly, messy things in my previous career.

[Arne]

I have been wonder this for years, what the heck does IIRC mean. I've been afraid to ask but I can't figure it out.

IIRC = If I Recall Correctly.

[ilikemyz]

I think it is normal to find all kinds of strange things in an older car. the previous owner may not have been a factory trained specialist from Nissan, I am sure he did his best job (s)he knew how to do. BUT, I would hope that the p owner would have had the up frontness to tell you what had been done to the car, if you had asked, or maybe you did ask, I dont know that. just my 2¢

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