Looking for ORIGINAL 240Z STRUT SEAL KITS (NUTS)

[Carl Beck]

Dan:

I would highly recommend that you include a set of Dust Covers - that cover the stock shock piston rod inside the springs. This is very important if you want them to last very long.

In 1970 - Nissan replaced my shocks three times! As I recall the first set started pumping the shock oil out past the seals in less than 5K miles. The replacements didn't last much longer. The third set Nissan installed when I had about 16K miles on the car. Even though it was technically out of warranty at 16K miles - the car was less than 6 months old.

The fourth and last time - the Dealer actually replaced the OEM set up - with a set of Koni's - I paid just a few dollars for the difference in the cost of the shocks and the Dealer ate the cost of labor.

There was a real good reason that Nissan switch to using cartridge inserts.. That give them a primary seal on the Gland Nuts that helped wipe the road dirt off the shock pistons - and then a good seal on the cartridges to keep the oil in. That is also one reason that the shock manufacturers usually send new Gland Nuts with their cartridges.

FWIW,

Carl B.

Edited June 8, 2012 by Carl Beck

[AZ-240z]

Hi Carl,

All terrific information on how tire size translates into aspect ratio measurements. I'm sure I'm not the only member to have all original suspension components which will include the correct size tires when they arrive, ie. 175 HR 14 mounted on 4 1/2 x 14 stock wheels. These have the correct stock diameter of 25 inches, as I am told.

Just wanted to validate information that you had already proffered.

As to the Dust Covers for the original shocks I had installed, sounds like I missed the opportunity for that when the work was done. The addition cost to break down the suspension, again,to get Dust Covers installed is not cost effective right now with a few other projects yet to accomplish. My mechanic said he had rebuilt many factory shocks in his early career at Datsun and felt that these would last me many years. Since my car was initially restored in 2004, I have put a total of about 6M miles on the car. The reason I didn't put aftermarket shocks in,( I had a set of Mulhollands installed about 5 years ago and two of them had seized causing an extremely harsh ride) there are no "hydraulic only" inserts currently manufactured. All contemporary inserts, KYB, Koni, Mulholland, etc., are "gas and hydraulic" which would require me to cut the stock springs to compensate for an increase in ride height from the gas charge.

Carl, if you know of any contemporary shocks that are hydraulic only, I would appreciate your input. I do appreciate the advantages and benefits offered by new shock insert technology, but I just didn't want to compromise originality by having to cut springs to, hopefully, the correct length to compensate for new shocks.

This may be a battle I cannot win, but, this project has taught me much about my car and, magically, all of the components for the project came together when he came up with good original, rebuildable shocks and I found the NOS seal kits in a dealers dusty inventory. I just couldn't resist, but wish I, or my wrench, had thought about Dust Covers.

Thanks for all of your responses, always informative and greatly appreciated.

Dan

Original Owner: hls30-20419

Edited June 8, 2012 by AZ-240z

[Arne]

Koni Classic are still non-gas, I believe. Part numbers 86-1811 & 86-1812.

[AZ-240z]

Arne, I had probably knew that at one time, but never followed up by calling Koni. On line price for Koni's is $339 per pair, or about $680 front and rear. Cost to install would be about $500. That was probably in the

back of my mind when I had the chance to rebuild the stock originals. Cost for 4 NOS seal kits was $140, the rebuilt shocks were free as provided by my mechanic, and install was $500 for a total of $640, as opposed to

$1180 total for the Koni's.

If this experiment fails in the near future, I'll have to bit the bullet and do KYBs and cut a set of springs, or do Konis.

[Arne]

Arne, I had probably knew that at one time, but never followed up by calling Koni. On line price for Koni's is $339 per pair, or about $680 front and rear. Cost to install would be about $500. That was probably in the

back of my mind when I had the chance to rebuild the stock originals. Cost for 4 NOS seal kits was $140, the rebuilt shocks were free as provided by my mechanic, and install was $500 for a total of $640, as opposed to

$1180 total for the Koni's.

If this experiment fails in the near future, I'll have to bit the bullet and do KYBs and cut a set of springs, or do Konis.

I suspect the Koni's have a firmer ride than either stock or KYB, even on the softest setting. So they may not be the ideal choice for a stock car, regardless of price.

As an aside, $500 seems like a lot to do 4 strut inserts on a 240Z. I can do a set of 4 in my garage in about 2-1/2 hours. Granted, not everyone is equipped to do this at home, but I can't imagine it taking a shop any longer than that.

Edited June 9, 2012 by Arne

[AZ-240z]

I would agree with you about the Konis. My car is just occasionally driven, usually once every couple of weeks to keep battery charge and fluids moving, to local car shows, and sometime a 200 mile round trip to

Tucson for major maintenance items or the install of newly found parts to feed my need for originality. Point being, these rebuilt shocks should last quite a while as opposed to someones daily driver.

[lonetreesteve]

Hi Dan,

I wish I had seen your post earlier. I've had an NOS set of 4 seals for a few years now that I've never used (see pic below). However, after reading through this thread, I might just hold on to them in case I need to replace my inserts someday. Hearing that the stock inserts are not too soft and not too stiff, if I can find a complete set of 4 NOS stock inserts (and dust covers) for my '71, I may just have them installed along with my 4 seal kits when the time comes. As difficult as it is to find the NOS inserts, I guess I better start looking pretty soon.