The Lime Green Machine Restoration Thread - 1972 240Z

[ZohanIsBack]

Your work is impeccable. This will definitely be a very nice Datsun at the pace and quality of work you are performing. That's a pretty nice home shop setup, too! I have all the stuff for fab in my tiny two car garage, but I would LOVE the room for a press, blast cabinet, and upright 220v air compressor.

Always enjoy reading this thread! You are pretty much very very cool.

[Hardway]

Thank you for the compliments guys. The car is coming along and will definitely be a nice car once I am finished. Unfortunately after all this suspension work there is still a lot of body and paint work, primarily the floor pans and doors. Once all the suspension work is done I plan to drive it for a while and determine when and how I want to attack the body stuff. I second 73str86's comment, it is depressing to think how long it has been since I drove it.

I am right there with you EuroDat, I have no plans change the pinion seal since it is not leaking. Once I get the correct side seals and fill up the diff that project will be complete.

Like Rome, my shop was not built over night and is the result of many years of tool collecting and hustling to upgrade my tools. I used to have a 25gal 110v air compressor that I made last almost 7 years with near every weekend use. My 60gal 220v upright was a Craigslist find and I only got it because it was such a good deal. I can't imagine life without it! My welder is a pawn shop score and everything else was either bought retail or via Amazon. My 20 ton press is a great tool and actually does not take up too much room given everything it can do. Granted, it makes parking a full size car in the bay next to the Z a big challenge but it is do-able. I also have to give some big kudos to my wife for helping me put up all the shelving in the garage and my neighbor who helped me run all the 220 and hang 3 banks of fluorescent shop lights.

[Hardway]

With the beautiful Austin weather this past weekend I was in the garage working on the Z and determined to get a lot done. I started painting some more parts and moved things around once they were dry enough to spray more or flip them over.

[Hardway]

When I had removed my parking brake cable I noticed the rear lever assembly was pretty crusty. I did not realize just how bad it was until I had it on my work bench. It appeared to be a mix of under coating and mud stuck everywhere. Given the level of work I am doing there was no way this was staying on the car in its current state.

I could have taken a lot of time to completely disassemble the lever mechanism but found that just by removing the cotter pin on the end I could get to everything I needed. Plus I found a new way to use my Makita rotary tool. This allowed me to get in to every corner that I needed to. Have I said how much I love this tool? Once I done installed a new cotter pin and hit it with some light coats of silver paint. Its not perfect but it is definitely MUCH better.

[Hardway]

I got my Ron Tyler diff mount in from Technoversions.com. I must say it is a very nice piece and well made. Once I had the parking brake lever assembly bolted back in I followed that up with the mount.

Since the parking brake cable puller looked as bad as the lever assembly I treated it to the same level of attention with the wire wheel, a good cleaning, and some paint. Unfortunately I do not have a before picture but trust me, it was very sad looking.

I also did some various clean up on bolts and other hardware. So for the most part it was a good and productive weekend.

[Hardway]

After dinner tonight I decided to put in a little time with the Z. Now that the half shafts had their new u-joints in and a fresh coat of paint I wanted to get them assembled so I could cross them off the list. It took me about 20 minutes per half shaft since the boot takes some work to get it on. In the end persistence pays off and everything came out looking really good.

I take a lot pride and happiness in getting these done on my own. A local shop wanted to charge me $300 per half shaft to press in new u-joints and paint them. I nearly passed out when they told me the price on the phone and repeated the price back to him a few times just to make sure I heard it clearly. They said the solid u-joints were hard to find and very expensive, and they were getting them directly from Dana for $75/each. A few phone calls and two trips to Advanced Auto Parts yielded me some Brute Force solid u-joints for $17/each. I ran in to an issue of my outer yokes being slightly crushed but after a little time being pulled back with my bench vise they were back within spec. All in all between the u-joints, boots, and paint I have around $80 in the pair and 5 hours of my time. Sure beats dropping $600 and I learned how to swap u-joints. Progress and an education, can’t beat it!

[EuroDat]

Coming along really nicely. Like the diff mount and your have shfts look like new.

[Reverend]

What kind of paint did you use on half shafts? Powder? Any primer?

[Hardway]

What kind of paint did you use on half shafts? Powder? Any primer?

I used Rustoleum satin black rattle can paint with no primer or anything. I just wire wheeled them a lot to knock off all the dirt and old paint followed up with a rub down of acetone on a wrag. Once a few minutes had passed I laid down 2 light coats of paint and then a slightly heavier coat to finish them off. Satin black is a very forgiving color. As long as you don't put it on too thick and you have no runs its easy to get a great finish out of it. I had considered using Por-15 on everything but I think the satin black spray paint has a more factory look in my opinion.

[ksechler]

Very nice work. How come you wire brush instead of sandblasting? I sandblasted most of my stuff. I'm not being critical, I'm just curious.

I enjoy reading your posts since we are on similar paths with our cars. How far are you from being able to drive it?

[Hardway]

I had seriously thought about investing in a sandblasting setup but between the initial cost, $150 for the blaster & hopper, $200 - $300 for a cabinet, and then more money for blast media, from a financial stand point I could not swing it. Plus I dont really have the space for a blasting cabinet. If I had a bigger garage and was doing some of this to make money I might take the plunge. I agree, sandblasting would be optimal but for now my $200 rotary tool and $5 wire brush attachment does pretty good.

[Hardway]

While many people were celebrating Easter this past Sunday I was in the garage making some serious progress on the Z. During the week I switched gears to build a press box out of a 2 x 12 x 8 from the hardware store along with some 4” wood screws. I needed something that would be strong enough to allow me to press out the rear stub axle so I could change the bearings. This not only gave me the strength I needed but plenty of depth so I could press the axle all the way out. I had originally planned to use a cinder block but the square in one is just a bit too small. The inner dimensions of my box are 5.5” x 5.5” x 12” It worked like a charm! I padded the bottom with several leather work gloves to protect the threads on the axle studs once it broke free.

I followed the How To article on the Atlantic Z site that can be seen here -> http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/rearwheelbearings/

With the stub axle out I needed to remove the outer bearing from the stub axle. I bought a bearing puller kit from Harbor Freight since I do not have the pieces needed to utilize my press. For the most part I have good luck with HF tools but this thing was just sad. After a few turns the 2 studs that go on each end of the silver bearing plate started to bend. I could see breakage in their future and wisely backed it off.

I took a minute to measure the old bearing vs. the new bearing and it was spot on so out came my pneumatic cut off wheel. I basically cut two relief cuts in the outer shell and bearing carrier and used a small chisel to break them apart. I made one relief cut in the inner shell and it followed suit with very little resistance. The inner axle bearing seal put up a small fight but it was nothing a relief cut with my Dremel tool could not solve. After the seal the bearing came out next. Based on the condition of the grease they had reached the end of their service life.

I won’t re-hash everything in the Atlantic Z article as I followed it to a T and used new lock nuts from Nissan for a 280zx. Plus I forgot to take a lot of pictures as I was a little side tracked by other projects during the day. I will say this, based on the pictures and his experience this job is SO MUCH EASIER with the parts off the car and a press at your disposal. I could not imagine doing this on the floor and under the car. Have I mentioned I love my press?!! The reason I changed the bearings was because they were rather noisy and very loose feeling. Now they are solid, smooth, and quiet. Mission accomplished!