My son bought a 74 260z and we are restoring it to the best running condition we can. Question #1 is, when we tighten the nut on the tie rod end it tightens about 6 turns then the whole thing turns any way to get it to tighten more? #2 Can you use metal brake lines for the fuel lines running from the tank to the engine? we have done all the suspension, ball joints and rebuilt the engine and hope to have it going in about a month, the interior is in showroom quality but we need to find a drivers fender. I hope someone can help us. this is my sons first car. Thanks

With the tie rod adjustment what are you trying to do? Is it just a simple replacement or are you trying to straighten a steering wheel? It would be best to have the car aligned at a shop for safety's sake. (handling in wet or ice)

If it's simply a matter of not being able to turn it there is a place to grip the shank. In other words you should be able to get some sort of wrench/grips on both ends of the equation. Maybe the boot is covering the grip on your car. Send/post pics if you can't find it

If you are reaching or need to reach the limits of tie rod travel somethings wrong. (Or being done wrong [see below]) The inner tie rod (on 240's) screws onto the rack. If someone else messed with it and didn't tighten the locknut it may be working loose. The other possibility is that the other tie rod is misadjusted. These would be the only reasons that one tie rod would have be adjusted that far out of whack. (Other than a severe structural problem which you should be able to spot)

A quick and dirty front end alignment can be done at home. It is a temporary measure to "get you through" until you can afford to have it done right. One importnat thing is to have both tie rods be equidistant from their posts. You can measure or remove both tie rods and turn an EQUAL number of turns until the desired result is attained. Alignment angles are measured in degrees,minutes and seconds but you can get close with a homemade toe-in rig. Copy this design...

http://www.bakerprecision.com/longacr16.htm

Also notice they have some instructions at the top of the page.

http://www.bakerprecision.com/longacr16a.htm

When you take it to a shop their tooling can take all four tires into account. At least if something is wrong like a bent/damaged frame they can tell you. Ask for a printout of the data before and after. It's nice to see what the machine sees.

Are you talking about the lock nut that you have to back off to unscrew & remove the tie rod end?

All that nut does is secures the tie rod end in the correct spot. You also use it to make the correct adjustments for alignment. once you have the opposit end separated from the knuckle arm, you back that nut off a little and you rotate the tie rod end in or out to get the correct toe in/out so the wheels don't sit like this / \ or like this \ / if that makes sence. I got the exact measurements written down to where they should be at when I did my ball joints and tie rod ends last spring/early summer. It was a while ago so I'd have to look around for it if thats what your wondering about?

Question #1 is, when we tighten the nut on the tie rod end it tightens about 6 turns then the whole thing turns any way to get it to tighten more?

I'll make the assumption that you are talking about the ball joint locknut located at the steering knuckle at the front wheel.

Castellated nut, P/N#22 in the diag.

There is possibly a thread issue preventing the nut from turning further down the ball joint stud.

Try a different nut, just to see if the stud is OK.

If it screws on all the way then all you need to do is clean out the threads of the original nut or replace the nut.

If it doesn't fix the problem then you will need to run a thread die over the stud to cleanup the threads.

Thread size is 12mm x 1.25mm pitch.

It is just possible to insert a scriber point through the stud shaft where the split pin goes to provide a locking method for the stud. Sometimes it can be just enough to get the nut to pass through the tough bit:classic:

#2 Can you use metal brake lines for the fuel lines running from the tank to the engine?

On my 1973 240Z, the fuel lines are all metal, with rubber only where the rigid lines mate up to the tank and fuel pump.

Perhaps yours are missing??

Anyhoo, they are normally metal, bundy tube is fine:)

Pic. 2 shows pipes for a 260Z.

If you are talking about the locknut on the ball joint end as Nissanman refered to above I had the same problem over the weekend.

The locknut on the new tie rod end was a nylock nut rather than a castle nut like the original. When the nylon part contacted the threads it just spun the whole bolt in the joint. I put a floor jack under the ball joint and put some upward presure on it, that was enough to hold the bolt from turning as I tightened down the lock nut.

Hope this helps.

Steve

The fuel supply line is 5/16", and narrows to 1/4" at the fuel filter. So while you can use tubing that is a similar metal, brake lines are 3/16" and won't supply enough volume, or will potentially be at too low a pressure.

As for the return and vent lines, they are 3/16", but substantially different in shape. You can bend to fit, but rebending a bent brake line may cause it to kink or bind against other engine bay components.

Steve

OOps! I hadn't considered that it might be the nut on the tie rod's pin.

An impact wrench dialed in to the right torque range would get it on or off nicely.

I am getting ready to replace tie rod ends and the the rack boot etc. The last time I tried doing this I could never get that lock nut loose. Does it require heat? Long cheater bar? Maybe its reverse thread?

btw its a 73 240

tks

Don

The LHS [drivers side for a LHD vehicle] is a Left Hand Thread.

The Tie Rods have a flat cast into them adjacent the locknut.

Use a 22mm open ender on the locknut and a crescent or pipe wrench on the cast tie rod end flats and turn in opposing directions.

I sometimes think that Wheel Alignment Technicians have an evil sense of humor when it comes to tightening up these fasteners:mad::mad:

Perhaps they should sometimes be downstream of some of their own handy work:devious::devious:

tks Nissanman,

so the port side is LHT nut.

I don't think I can blaim the alignment guys. Mine is still in the factory original setting. Unfortuantely, the ball joints are factory original too.

So you don't think that heat will be required?

tks Don

No, I wouldn't advise using heat, it shouldn't be necessary.

If they are the originals what makes you think they need replacing:cheeky::cheeky::cheeky:

You might consider getting new lock nuts too, just in case you trash the old ones when you undo them:ermm:

Mine were rusty, and I had to heat them with a torch to get them loose. It only took a few seconds and they were loose.

But I also pumped new grease in the steering rack afterward.

I need to get them off so I can replace the decayed booties over the end of the rack. And the rubber that holds grease around ball joints is shot although the joint itself is actually ok. Main concern is keeping grit dirt etc out of the rack.

to be honest I've made that same arugument you made for the last 10 years. But whenever the weather is bad I won't drive it so crap doesn't get in there.

tks for the interest

Don