1971 HLS30-14938 "Lily" build

[Captain Obvious]

On my 77, the gasket for the steering column was glued to the column side, but not on the firewall side. No guarantee, but your earlier year is probably the same.

I don't know about the pedal box reinforcement. Never had that out.

[Zed Head]

1 hour ago, Patcon said:

We'll see. I have no idea what type of plastic this is...

See if a shaving will dissolve in MEK.  Solvent bonds are very strong.  If it does dissolve then you can make your own adhesive from ABS or a similar MEK-soluble plastic.  Like site described for repairing a console.

[Patcon]

8 hours ago, Zed Head said:

See if a shaving will dissolve in MEK.  Solvent bonds are very strong.  If it does dissolve then you can make your own adhesive from ABS or a similar MEK-soluble plastic.  Like site described for repairing a console.

That's an interesting idea...might have to dig around a little. Of course I don't have a donor to take shavings from

[Patcon]

Pedal box is all reassembled with freshened hardware and freshly painted pedals. I was going to start installing these parts but I think I might wait until I get the paint further along

 

 

[Patcon]

I worked on that turn signal some more

I first joined the piece with the hot wire stapler. They make these staples in various shapes. You melt them in then clip the tails that stick out

Then I used a white ABS rod to weld up the crack. I doubt these are ABS but they welded up ok with that rod. I will finish with a little satin white when I get another can

[Patcon]

I also worked on the steering rack this weekend

These tags were in the rack when I disassembled it. The were wrapped around the large nut that holds the inner tie rod to the end of the rack. I did not reinstall them

Here is the housing with the rack slid into it

Here is one of the bump stops. I had a hard time getting these off originally. They can probably be pulled off, but it is much easier to thread them off, once you get them turning

Here are the parts layed out of the bench

Greased up the pinion and drove it in. This was one of the hardest parts. It seemed like it was difficult to get it aligned with the smaller lower bushing in the housing. I pressed the bearing back onto before installing it, and added the snap ring. I wondered if it would be easier to install the pinion in the hole and press the bearing onto it and into the housing at the same time. that might be asking for trouble. the way I did it is the procedure laid out in the FSM.

Once that was in, add the snap ring against the bearing. Then drive the seal into the housing around the input shaft.

The next step is to assemble the inner tie rod ends. There is a spring that sits under the concave cap on either end. Then the inner tie rods are installed into the large tie rod nuts. Before threading these large nuts onto the rack, thread the thin lock rings onto the rack. Then thread the large tie rod nuts on. On this rack the left hand threads were on the drives side, so that is the way I put it back. As I was reassembling this, I greased all of it up, which is why there are no pictures of it. There is a FSM procedure for greasing the ends in place. The small holes on either end of the rack are supposed to have a grease zerk threaded into them. Grease them up. Then remove the zerk and install a threaded plug. There were no threaded plugs in this rack. So I didn't go that route. I also missed the instruction about centering the rack before installing the pinion with the bolt scallop up. I installed it almost 180 degees out, but I don't see how it really makes a difference, so it's staying for now.

The lock nuts and nuts are 32 mm and it just so happens I have a thin 32mm wrench that is a specialty tool for doing BMW water pumps. It works perfect for tighten the lock nuts. I just sort of guessed at the tightness on the inner tie rods. If I tightened them all the way down, they wouldn't move. So I backed them off and approximated the 10 lb resistance to moving like the FSM wants. I wasn't sure why this was a critical as it was make to appear. Any thoughts on that?

Here is the rack mostly together. I sprayed the outer ball joint ends with diamond clear. Hopefully they will stay nice looking for a while. If they don't I will black them with semi-gloss

At this point I tried to grease up the rack from the zerk in the bottom of the housing. I have an 18v grease gun and after a little while. I was wondering where all the grease was going. Unfortunately it was going into the bellows on the drivers side. So I had to cut the tie wrap and clean up the mess. That may be the purpose of the threaded plugs, to force the grease into the tube instead of coming out through the grooves on the inner tie rod ball?? The Moog ball joints seem to be fine. Hopefully I won't run into an issue with the knuckles as I know there are two different sizes. the Moog rubber boots, weren't that great. The big end was a good bit too large and you had to cinch them down pretty good to get them closed. I may revisit this rebuild after the car is complete. For now, moving forward....

[Patcon]

I keep finding things that I have misplaced. It's really frustrating! I was looking for the ring that goes on the filler neck. Like this

I probably have 3 of them here, but I can't find any of them. So I had a 280z filler neck and I was able to get that off the 280z filler neck. They appear to be the same and the holes in the chassis line up. The rubber is evidently bonded to the metal plate. I took a razor blade and separated them

I would like to find one in better condition, but I suspect most of these are dry rotted in a similar fashion to what I have. The rubber portion doesn't look very good but I will reattached it with some black silicone. I plated the metal plate. Now it's ready to reassemble

Overall a decent weekend. I also started blocking the car. Hey @Home Built by Jeff you wanna come help???

 

[Home Built by Jeff]

2 hours ago, Patcon said:

I keep finding things that I have misplaced. It's really frustrating! I was looking for the ring that goes on the filler neck. Like this

I probably have 3 of them here, but I can't find any of them. So I had a 280z filler neck and I was able to get that off the 280z filler neck. They appear to be the same and the holes in the chassis line up. The rubber is evidently bonded to the metal plate. I took a razor blade and separated them

I would like to find one in better condition, but I suspect most of these are dry rotted in a similar fashion to what I have. The rubber portion doesn't look very good but I will reattached it with some black silicone. I plated the metal plate. Now it's ready to reassemble

Overall a decent weekend. I also started blocking the car. Hey @Home Built by Jeff you wanna come help???

 

Haha, I love sanding soooo much!

[Patcon]

2 minutes ago, Home Built by Jeff said:

Haha, I love sanding soooo much!

[Captain Obvious]

If the early rack is like my later rack, then you have to run the grease holes open. No plug. If you put a bolt in the hole, it hits the bronze bushing on the end of the rack and damages it. BTDT courtesy of my PO. I guess you could run some short set-screw plugs that ran in deep enough so they did not stick up proud at all. But since there's no pressure and everything is under a boot, I think you're supposed to just leave the holes open.

Now... About while you are greasing the housing? I have no idea. My later housing doesn't have any facility to grease it.

[charliekwin]

Haha, I love sanding soooo much!

So, uhhh, you're not interested in coming back out to SoCal to help out on mine, either?

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

[Patcon]

Ok, I need some ideas from you guys:

 I have been working on blocking out the car and checking panels. So a few years ago I did all the filling, primer and blocking on the rear hatch and then I shot yellow on the underside and edges.There are several areas on the lower flat of the hatch that have more than a skim coat of filler. Around the latch is one of these areas. I finally found the lock sets last weekend and put the lock in the hatch hole. I am not sure I can get the retainer on the back of the latch because of the overall thickness of the metal and the filler. There is very little of the slot showing on the lock cylinder. This spot is about an 1/8" overall in thickness. I don't know how thick the panel metal is. I suspect the panel is a little caved in from being closed over and over. 

So here is the problem. I like the idea of making the filler thinner, especially around the lock set. I am not sure I can pull the panel to make the filler thinner around the lock set. I wasn't sure shrinking the metal would work. I have concerns that if I try shrinking the panel that it won't be the correct shape. The hatch has a curve left to right. I do not know if the panel has a curve top to bottom. If it's supposed to be flat top to bottom, then shrinking my help. Also do anyone have ideas on how lift the center of the panel. I think the stud welder would just make a mess. I might be able to run a long flat block on the inside of the panel, tie a wire to it and use some light pulling to lift the dented area. If I go the shrinking route I will have to strip the hatch and start over.

Thoughts?