1973 Rebuild

[Patcon]

Party tent!!

[Matthew Abate]

It did the job...

 Got five long days worth of work out of it before it was unusable for its original purpose, between blasting the body and the suspension. Cost me $80 on eBay.

[Captain Obvious]

[Matthew Abate]

Quick update:

[Captain Obvious]

I don't remember if you've talked about what your plan is with the rear brakes, but if you aren't going for a rear disk conversion and are planning to keep stock drums in the back...

While you are doing the rear wheel bearings, you might consider upgrading to the newer 77-78 style two piston rear wheel cylinder design instead of the earlier floating cylinder design? You need the newer backing plate which requires taking the stub axles out. But if you're doing bearings and will have the axles out anyway...

[Matthew Abate]

Interesting. I wasn't aware of this mod. So far I've been going back and forth between replacing all the original drum parts and going with rear discs. Tell me more...


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[Matthew Abate]

Also, does anyone know if the read disc shields from a ZX (or from any other car) will work with the rear disc conversion?


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[Captain Obvious]

I'm mobile and can't post pics right now, but basically until 76, they used a single piston rear wheel cylinder where the one and only piston pushed against one shoe, and the whole wheel cylinder slid (floated) on the backing plate and pushed against the other shoe. Worked well enough until the cylinder froze in the slot.

Then in 77 they changed to a fixed location cylinder with two opposing pistons. Same breaking performance (when everything is working as intended), but I consider the non-floating design much more reliable. I believe the chances that everything works as intended much higher for the later design.

Wheer cylinder replacement cost is also an order of magnitude cheaper last time I looked.

Not to turn this into a sales pitch, but I've got a set of the new design backing plates and stuff for the upgrade available. Easy purchase plan can be worked out when you come over to press your steering rack bearings.   

[Matthew Abate]

I've settled on rear discs despite the additional cost and weight.

Question: has anyone tried to make a dust shield work with the rear disc kits that are available? I was thinking maybe the Zx dust shield might have a close bolt pattern and be modifiable to work.


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[Matthew Abate]

Five months after starting this suspension refresh by pulling the wheels off I am over the hump!

 

After blasting I put the parts through a rinse. The middle bottle worked the best: not to harsh but still effective.

 

Acetone to neutralize the acid in the rinse.

 

POR-15

 

Spray booth and POR-15 Top Coat

 

Not sure if I should paint these or not. Opinions?

Still waiting for my rear inner bearings and some random hardware. Once that comes I’ll start reassembly. After that I’ll flush and repaint the differential. Then it gets new bearings and seals, even though it’s only three years old. I’m just paranoid about the possibility it had dirt in the bearings from sitting in the junk yard.

[wheee!]

Nice work!

[David F]

Opinion: paint.  You are going all out for sure.  I find that after media blasting, the parts have sufficient "tooth" that primer is not necessary.  I paint with rattle can Satin black directly on blasted parts.  Paints lasts years.