Richard McDonel

Still monkeying with the steering rack. I have two of them here; one from a '71 and one from a '72. On both racks, the outside diameter onto which the rubber boot fits measures 36 mm. When I bought a pallet of parts off a guy down east last year, there were two brand new "McQuay-Norris" boots from Black Dragon. Great, except they have a diameter of 45 mm. The boxes they came in had Black Dragon part #62-400. I wrote BD, attaching pics of my rack with a vernier caliper showing 36 mm, and their boot clearly indicating 45 mm. Their reply was that part 62-400 is the right part for my car. Period. I went on McQuay Norris's website, and they too have only one part # for all '70 - '73 Zs. My local Nissan store acknowledges an older factory part number (48203-78500), but says it is no longer available. Anyone else had a similar problem? Thanks.

I inherited new axle boots and u-joints with my parts 240Z. In the course of pulling the u-joints, I caused or discovered some damage on the inside mating surface of one yoke. I had an extra set of axles and decided to go ahead with those, but found that the end nearest the diff is permanently sealed - not held with a spring clip etc. Of the various manuals, the factory shows the whole thing as being a simple project (remove with a soft-faced mallet, etc.), while Humble glosses right over it. Clymer is confusing in that in one paragraph it says you can't do it because there are no replacement parts available, then in the next goes on to describe how to do it. A peek in the Black Dragon catalogue shows they have remanufacatured replacement axles, but only for 260 - 280 automatics (at $900 a pop! I'm building a Datsun guys, not a Lambo ). What I'm guessing is that the sealed-end axles I have are really for a later model automatic. Sound right? Now, with respect to the damaged yoke -- and here I'm talking about the small piece, not the end that is part of the axle -- does anyone think I will have any balance problems using one from the A.T. axle? Thanks, as always

Thanks all. Interesting stuff. I guess I'll concentrate on getting a good, running car going, and worry about the air pump later. No use holding up the project for something that few seem to have in place anyway. We ain't putting it on the 18th fairway at Pebble Beach!

I have three exhaust manifolds, believed to be one each from a 240, a 260, and a 280. All have air-line fittings that have been crimped off somewhere in their history. Common practice on many cars from that era. But can anyone tell me if there were ever 240Zs that did not have air pumps? If I want my 1971 240 to be a quality restoration, should I be trying to find an old air pump and mounting hardware? Thanks

Nice Car!

May I expand on this thread? Here in western Canada, ethanol is not a big thing, although it might start expanding as we now have a plant making the stuff here in Red Deer. Only a minority of stations sell it right now. I frankly know little about it, but where I do have some experience is with its mineral cousin, methanol, which we used to run in our oval-track modified racer. That stuff is corrosive. After every day's racing we we would flush out the lines, pump, and carb with gasoline, and if we didn't, evil things would begin to happen. For instance, I used the wrong foam baffle material in my fuel cell once, and the stuff turned to porridge. So my question is, how corrosive is ethanol as compared to meth?

Slightly off-topic, but mention of matching numbers is interesting. I know Corvette guys are anal retentive on that, but how important is it in value when talking about 240Zs? I'm doing my restoration as close to dead stock as I can - steel wheels, S.U. carbs, original ride height, etc. I'm also sticking with the L24 motor, but not the original block for this chassis. (I do have a perfectly restorable L26 sitting on the garage floor, but my 240 is getting an L24). Not that I will be looking to sell once the project is complete, but does anyone have thoughts on the relative values of matching-numbers vs not?

My restoration project is now at the rear control arms. They're about to be sandblasted and painted. But they're so light! Does anyone know of any failures of these parts? I can imagine seams and joints separating. I have no intention of racing this car, but I think back to my racing days, and we used to re-weld entire seams of stock frames and control arms. Any thoughts or experiences to share? Thanks

Vitamn Z Let us know if you hear from anyone who has hands-on experience with these units. I'll do likewise of course.

The chat on the previous thread reminds me that I have three 240 brake boosters laying around the garage, none of which I can be sure is any good. Does anyone here have any experience with rebuilding these things? Is it a job the backyard / home handyman mechanic should be attempting. Special tools? Thanks, Richard McDonel

I guess any day in which one learns something can never be a total loss. In my case, I had the front struts and steering arms powder coated. Then I installed the new ball joints and tried to assemble the steering arms to the bottom of the struts. No fit. As the new ball joint had a larger nut and a slightly longer thread than the original, I immediately assumed a further ball joint fitment problem. A little more fiddling around though, and I determined that there was no contact between the nut / stud and the underside of the strut. The problem was the powder coat. Somehow, I had looked at a simple shock tube being bolted firmly in place and had assumed something less than a machine-fit, but no, the fit is very precise. A layer of powder on each surface is enough to prevent seating. Sandpaper drum on the dremel-style tool, touch up both surfaces, and we now have a fit!

More steering problems! I stripped my rack and pinion right down to the main tube. I wanted to get the tube powder coated. The aluminium pinion casting stayed in place. Unfortunately, while it was hanging in the coating shop's oven, it fell off. Now if it came off that easily, an apparent result of differing rates of heat expansion as between disimilar metals, I shouldn't have too much trouble putting it back on the same way, I being possessed of both a propane torch and a yard full of snow. The troubling part is getting it back on at exactly the right alignment. I have another old rack I can use a a guide, but it seems it would be very easy to be off by a few degrees. How critical is this? Also, there was some dried sealant or adhesive left in the casting where it joined the tube. What do you think - JB Weld, silicone ? Thanks.

I appreciate everyone's help. I think the matter is now resolved, but a couple of interesting twists. First, the steering knuckles I already had were apparently not the wrong ones after all. When I inserted the balljoint, it would not seat firmly - there was movement and it could be rocked slightly by hand. Now I have a second set of knuckles, same size as the first, and the ball joint fits as snug as can be. The problem with the original set? I'm guessing that after 40 years of wear, the tapered hole was either out of round, or no longer straight. Any other thoughts? The second point of note is the effectiveness of this site. I send my query out, it goes all around the world, and the fellow who replies lives less than 4 km from me. I never knew "240dkw" (Dan) who is perhaps the only other guy in Red Deer, Alberta (pop. 90,000) with a stripped-bare 240 in his garage. He contacted me, and offered me his already-sandblasted steering knuckles that will likely end up on my car. Thanks Dan, and thanks to the people who developed this forum.

My in-restoration 240Z came with a pair if new ball joints - still in the box - but the taper doesn't fit the steering arms. I have now learned that no one carries ball joints for either (depending on who you talk to) 240Zs or 1970-only 240Zs. Mine is a '71, so I'll assume the problem applies to all 240s. I would like to hear from others who have dealt with this problem - is it better to try to track down a set of later (260-280) steering arms, or should I just find a machinist who can enlarge the taper? And if anyone has a spare set of later steering arms, how much $? Thanks, and happy new year all, Richard McDonell, Red Deer, Alberta

Yes, the stops came off with no problem. One little twist of each with pliers to get started, then gently rotating in line with the threads on the rack. The parts are probably re-usable. Thanks again.

Wow Steve, you are a fount of knowledge! I think we'd all do better with a Golik manual that with a Haynes. Many thanks. I'll let you know how I make out. Regards,

Thanks Steve, I was happy to receive your post, as it was the first outside confirmation I had that the damn things existed, what with Haynes and the factory making no mention. My situation is that I'm stripping the rack right down so I can get the housing sandblasted and painted, but the rack won't come out with steering stops in place. Actually, I already had the lock nut and ball joint off - I just put them back on to make my photo of last night a bit clearer. To loosen the lock nut with the steering stop in place, I first used a 32 mm bicycle cone wrench, which bent. Then I bought a cheap 32 mm combination wrench and ground the open end down thin enough to fit between the steering stop and the ball joint. Now I understand from you that no great damage would have been done by just prying the thing out of the way. So the remaining question is what happens to the rubber in the steering stop when I pull the whole thing right off the rack? I don't see replacement parts in anyone's catalogue. It seems to me you would have a pretty iffy "stop" if you just shoved the thing back on. Also, what are the immediately adjacent holes in the rack for? Do they accomodate some sort of set screw to prevent the stop from moving on the rack? As the King of Siam repeatedly says in "The King and I," "Tis a puzzlement!" I appreciate your help.

Thanks fellows. I think we're getting close, but not quite there yet. I have page 188 of Haynes in front of me, and I'm assuming the illustration in question is Fig. 11.66. There is still a piece missing. That figure shows a cross section of the threaded-on ball joint body, then one more threaded-on piece to the left. Mine has a third piece (I'm guessing a steering stop) and if you look at the attached photo, my friend is pointing to it. That is the mystery piece that has me confused. We have determined that it is not spring-loaded, but rather is rubber-mounted. I'm sure that I could get it off with a pipe wrench or a big hammer, but that would no doubt destroy whatever rubber mounting there is. Now I do have a second 240 steering rack, and as you can see from that photo, there is a metal-foil wrapper around the ball joint and lock nut, with the words "disassembly instr." But there are no English "instr," only oriental script. The mystery piece is to the right in that photo. Any further thoughts? Again, I am appreciative of your advice.

I'm doing a ground-up resto on a '71 240Z, but having a problem with the steering rack. I've removed the outer tie rods and the boots. I did have some difficulty removing the inner tie rods because the lock (jam) nut is quite thin and is crammed between the tie rod one one side and an unidentified object on the inside. This object does not appear in illustrations in either the factory manual or Haynes. Instructions in both books make no mention. Overall shape and size (there's one at each end of the rack) is much like a bearing. It is round, without wrench flats. Push on it hard by hand, and it feels like there might be a spring inside. Immediately adjacent to it is a hole drilled into the rack. I've poked around the hole with a punch, but that has yielded nothing. Until I get rid of these things, I can't withdraw the rack. My local Nissan dealer has no knowledge of, or interest in, early models. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. If someone needs photos, let me know. Regards, Richard McDonell Red Deer, Alberta, Canada