Captain Obvious

Yes, the front bushing would (typically) be in compression, but I'm not sure that means it would make sense to put the rubber in the front. The general belief (as I understand it) is that with the poly up front, you get the better handling benefits of the poly. but the softer rubber bushing in the rear gives the rod some compliance to pivot at that rear mounting point as the wheel goes up and down (when the suspension compresses and extends). From the standpoint of not wanting to damage the rod, it doesn't matter which side gets poly and which side gets rubber. But to take advantage of the handling characteristics of the poly bushings, you want the poly up front. And of course, the problem with putting the hard poly on both front and rear is that when the rod tries to pivot to change angle, the stiff poly resists the change and over-stresses the rod. I'm not a suspension guy, but that's my interpretation.

Well those outer bearings are definitely installed correctly. It's normal for the flange to be drawn towards the backing plate as you tighten the nut, but it's not normal for it to be drawn in so far that it rubs against anything. Are your housings crusty rusty? What are the chances that you have a big ol' rust blob built up on the outside lip of the housing that's getting in the way? I know... about zero percent chance, but other than that, without seeing the involved parts, I got no idea. Can you take a pic of it together and highlight where the rubbing is occurring? What year are you working on? From what I recall, the early years sometimes had a bronze washer installed on the stub shafts that was supposed to help "with noise", but nobody is really sure what it was supposed to do. I also believe that said washer was supposed to be installed on the inboard side, but the documentation is sketchy.

@motorman7, I think they're trolling you with the San Diego listing. You might be honored?

It's a scam. That same car was on Chambersburg PA and Fargo ND last week. Both of those listings have since been flagged: https://chambersburg.craigslist.org/cto/d/1972-datsun-240z/6477688958.html https://fargo.craigslist.org/cto/d/1972-datsun-240z/6478312109.html Someone is playing games. I think they're trolling some of the forum collector folks here like @cbuczesk. I mean... Who in their right mind would advertise something like in that area of PA unless they wanted Chucks attention?

Don't sell yourself short. I don't see anything in those pics that I wouldn't want to own myself. Even in current condition. Thanks for sharing!

That's pretty cool. It's clear that you've done that sort of work before. How about the dash? You going to make a replacement shell for that too? Unscrew the original cracked dried out shrunken foam fascia and replace with a fiberglass version?

Wow... Something is definitely screwy. So where is the rubbing occurring? Inboard or outboard side? In other words... Inside where the stub axle bolts up, or outside where the wheel mounts? Are you double dog sure you got that outboard bearing (the one with the flange on the inner race) installed in the correct direction? The way to adjust the preload is by using a different length distance piece. When the whole thing is tightened up, there should be no axial play between any of the parts. If you can "knock out the stub assembly back outwards with a drift" then I second (or third?) the guess that the outboard bearing is in backwards.

Very nice! Beautiful cars. Transgression completely forgiven! Welcome to the forum.

Absolutely! You can't come in here dropping it that you've got a collection from Roadsters to modern NISMOs, and expect to get away without pics. Just isn't right! There are rules you know! That's just cruel! Haha!!

Well that's not good. Can you actually see where it's making contact, or are you hearing something inside the housing where the bearings are?

@pazt2prezent Well now that you're here, don't go away. Stick around. You might like it here! And... Pics or it didn't happen! Let's see some shots of the new addition!

I know it might not be an option for you, but I bought ACDelco part number 45G25036 from Rock Auto. That kit contains everything you need for one side. Two rubber bushings and all the metal pieces. Comes with metal tube, two large washers, two small washers, and a nut. Looks like this: But since you already have all the metal hardware, you would only need one kit. Use one of the rubber bushings on each side. Poly on the front, and rubber on the back. Looks like this: The rubber bushings have a wide side and a narrow side. The narrow side goes towards the frame of the car. It's hard to see the difference once everything is all smashed in place with the nut, but you can see the difference before it's assembled onto the car. The orientation of the bushings should look like this:

Oh, and the obvious fix to your problem is... Drive your Z more often!!

Jeff, I guess it's possible, but I'm wondering if maybe your float levels are a low contributing to the problem. I'm thinking that if it only takes two weeks for the bowls to evaporate that far down, then there wouldn't be so many people with gummed up stinky gas left in the bowls of cars that sat for a year? Also, do you have the stock air cleaner and stock vent tubing in place?

The Tension/Compression rods (what you called doglegs) look great. My only suggestion is that you might consider running a combination of rubber and poly bushings instead of all poly. There have been reports of snapped rods when used with all poly. The belief is that the poly is too stiff and eventually snaps the rods and many people (myself included) run poly bushings on the front side of the bar, but run rubber on the back side.

Thanks, I get it now. That makes a lot of sense. It was never supposed to be seen by the customer. I think the original suggestion included the belief that it was supposed to be shipped like that, but you're saying it was an internal protective fixture only. That's quite plausible.

Haha! Sounds like a great place to store it. Seriously though, I have no idea. Seems like a lot of cost to put those on the ball joint just for shipping protection, but I don't have any other great ideas. Did you buy parts for the T/C rods? Reason I ask is there's a rubber protective bootie that comes with some of the upgrade kits: PS - Is it just me, or does the guy in that encabulator video look like Dickless from Ghostbusters? You know... Professor Jerry Hathaway.

Glad to hear everyone is OK. Has the other shoe dropped yet where the woman who U-turned in front of you us suing you for damages? Any inkling of that sort of crap? And in an obvious thread-jack... I've been thinking I should get a dash-cam. What is everyone using? Anyone have one they recommend?

Yup. That's the Encabulator alright. Then they made it even better by adding a turbo. It's awesome.

Thanks for the details. Learn something every day!

Wow. that would be an OLD encabulator for sure. They've long been replaced with the turbo versions haven't they?

The aluminum housing of the antenna assembly should be electrically grounded to the body. And the extendable antenna (mast) portion must be electrically isolated from the "ground" of the body while being connected to the center prong on the co-ax cable on the interior of the car. It's been so long since I've been inside one of those things that I don't remember the brass finger things, but if they slide along the mast, they're probably there to help insure electrical connection.

Good luck with the project, and here's to hoping it works out great. One thing... Just because they say "no release agent" required, it's not always true. A little bit, even if it's just as insurance won't hurt!

The pistons are supposed to be hard to push up. I agree with the assessment that there is something wrong with the "easy" one. Sounds like the check valve jiggly bits on the stalk are not sealing correctly.

Neat project. I'm no expert on molding parts, but it really looks like a tricky project to me. I got some questions and ideas: Where are you going to put the parting line in the mold to separate it to remove the finished part? Are you planning to pour the mold in two stages and have the part line along the front and back faces of the finished part? If so, I would recommend against that. I think the part line would be much more hidden if it were along the top and bottom thinner edges of the part. A lot less post mold cleanup. But the problem is setting things up so that's where the parting line goes is more difficult. I've seen where people pour the whole thing in one shot and them use a sharp knife to cut the mold open to create the parting line and get the original pattern part out. But if that's what you're planning, I think you're going to have a hard time blindly "aiming" for the narrow edge of the pattern. Or are you just planning to pour up to the top edge of the pattern part and leave the whole top edge open? Some other thoughts... Make sure you use some sort of mold release on the stuff you don't want the silicone to stick to (like the wood and original pattern). I worry that the cross section of the part is going to end up wavy in the finished part. Especially if you don't come up with a way to mechanically support the mold as you use it. The mold is somewhat soft and squishy and it's going to be like pouring juice into a fish. How are you planning to hold the two halves of the mold together as you pour? And as for what material you make the mold out of, I'd go as soft as you think would be usable. It'll make it easier to get the finished parts out of the mold without tearing the mold. Honestly, I've never had great success on my first mold. I usually end up learning a lot on the first one and then making others based on my mistakes learned on the first one. In other words... I'd use something cheap and easy to work with and flexible for the first mold, because if you're like me, it won't be your final version. Then maybe use something stiffer the next time. I mean, I wish you luck and hope so, but that doesn't happen for me. I'm not that good!