Captain Obvious

So out of curiosity... Have you tried the age old technique of soaking everything with penetrating oil, partially threading one of the nuts back onto one of the end of the spindle pin (such that the tip of the pin is flush with the outside face of the nut) and giving it a whack or ninety with a BFH? Or leaning hard into the end of the pin with the impact hammer and see if you can buzz it out of there? Either of those methods will eventually cause damage to the nut or pin, but if you're just going to resort to cutting them out and putting the struts on the 50 ton press you've got nothing to lose. I'm sure you tried that first, but it's my forum duty to ask.

With the stress risers from the valleys of the threads, I'm not surprised you're pulling the end off that thing. Even using 3/4 all thread, You've got less than a tenth of an inch of meat left between the ID and the OD. And a tenth of an inch wall thickness of the low carbon nickel plated cheese that most garden variety all thread is made out of won't be enough. And I wish you better luck than others, but as seen from that other thread, it gets better. Keep making your puller stronger. Use an even larger diameter rod of a known tensile strength quality grade of steel and eventually the puller will survive, but you'll simply rip the threaded portion off the end of the spindle pin. Here's to hoping yours pulls before that happens!! And make sure you're wearing safety glasses!! I haven't looked at it to any degree of scrutiny, but that bearing makes me a little nervous...

Cool. Sounds like progress. I'm trying to run the calculations to compare the springs you have to eachother and to what I've got like, but the results are only as good as the data input. A thousandth here and there can really make a difference. Also, when you count the number of coils, that's supposed to be the number of "effective" coils and doesn't count the partial coils at the ends. For example, my (what I think are stock) springs have probably 30 coils total, but if I don't count about a turn-n-a-half at each end of semi-formed coils, I get about 27 effective coils. When I get a chance, I'll take a pic of one of mine to show you what I mean. And the measurements of wire diameter and OD of the spring need to be as accurate as possible. What's this "crappy micrometer" look like?

Looks great!

We're not going to Moscow. It's California. It's like going into Wisconsin.

Yeah, I think you're right. I'm pretty sure they didn't go down into the pockets, but the more forward parts do appear to be covered. Do you think the kit include a thin piece to glue to the ashtray lid? If not, you better have a great looking ash tray lid or that's gonna stick out like a sore thumb once surrounded by new leather. Post some better pics of the whole process when you get the parts!

Careless, I don't have answers to your real questions, so sorry for the non-sequitur, but... Is it my imagination, or are the two halves of that brake caliper being held together by just one bolt? And one of the empty holes look like it's all ovaled out? Like someone took a file to it some time in the past?? And about fitting the grease bulb to a newer rack, if there's enough meat to drill and re-tap, then it sounds like it would be a fine idea. Just keep the swarf out of the rack innards. I'm not sure what real benefit the grease bulb actually has, but it would certainly look more period correct if that's the goal. Is it straight thread or tapered? Also, the pic with the car up on the lift... Is that your shop with all the interesting stuff in the background?

Gotcha. That was probably the language barrier that djwarner alluded to. When you asked them if the newer style would fit your 73, I would have expected them to tell you "No, but hang on... In two days, we'll be listing one for your year." So despite the communications issues, great to hear you found one for your year.. So looking at the pics again, it appears that skin just covers the outside vertical sides of the console and doesn't wrap up and over to the horizontal surface in the center of the console. In other words, it doesn't cover into the center pocket, ashtray, or shifter hole area. Primarily just the sides? Am I seeing that right?

I gotta admit... I was assuming from the very start that you had already looked at that vendor to see if they offered what you were looking for. I figured the reason that you were wondering if the one for the later years fit your car was because you checked into it and they did NOT offer one for your year. So problem solved, yes. But next time: Over by the auction seller's name, click on "See other items" You'll get 15,499 results. Enter "datsun console" into the search box to pare the results down. I get 11 results for different years and stitching colors. I should have asked at the beginning if you had checked to see if they offered what you were looking for. I think I might have to change my forum name...

Wow. $10.4K Woo Hoo!! Most of us must be sitting on a gold mines!!!

Well don't get me wrong, it certainly looks intriguing. It's just that the bidding looks like it's gonna hit $10K, which is a good price for an 18K car, but not necessarily an unrestored 118K car. I'm just wondering what it is about that one that everyone else is seeing that I'm not. I feel like I'm missing something important. I just would need to see it in person to value it that high. Maybe the people who are bidding HAVE seen it in person. Auction is going to close in two minutes. Guess I'll wait around to see what it goes for.

The odometer says under 18K, but what makes everyone so sure it hasn't turned over and is actually 118K? In light of the bids this thing is receiving, it's apparently just me, but someone would have to convince me that it hasn't turned over once. It's not original paint. It's a hood and hatch closed respray, so who knows what's hiding under the paint. Nobody (in their right mind) resprays a 18K car in that way. To me it looks like a resprayed car with 118K on the chassis and no pics of the underside. I mean, I'm all for the values going up, but call me skeptical.

OK, I think I understand where some of the confusion is coming from, and some of it was mine. That auction is for two leather pieces, not just one. One piece is to be glued onto the flip open lid, and the other piece is to be glued right onto the console itself. So even if you're not intending to use the lid skin (don't know if you even have a lid), you might still be able to use the other piece of leather to glue onto your 73 console, right? The question becomes... Is the shape of the 73 console the same as the 74 and later consoles, and would that skin designed for a 74 and later even fit on your 73 console? And unfortunately, I don't know the answer to that. I can point out, however, that the console they have pictured has been cut up and modified up near the radio area. There's supposed to be holes for the knob shafts and plastic bar that spans the two sides. Someone has removed a bunch of material from that console and I think that might make it look more similar to the older units.

Hmmm... Methinks there's some kind of confusion going on here, but I don't know where it starts. First off, make sure we all agree on exactly what that auction is for... That auction is for a piece of floppy leather fabric that you spread over and glue onto the flip open lid that already exists on your Z car console. That auction is not for a console. Nor is that auction for a lid. That auction is just fabric skin cover. So, if your car doesn't have a flip open lid on the console, that leather cover is useless to you. Next, I don't believe they started putting covers on the consoles until sometime into the 280 timeline (75 maybe?), so unless your car is already non-stock in that regard and you or a previous owner has already put a lid on your console, you'll need to do that first. And last, I don't even know if the 240 consoles have the same shaped pocket as the later years. I believe the size and shape of the 260 console is the same as the 280 and even has provisions for hinge attachments for a cover, but there was no cover included. The point is, I don't even know if a 280 cover will properly fit on something earlier than 74. I know that's kind of rambling, but hope some of that helps.

Haha!! Interested. Interested. Very interested....

Those carbs are not original to the car. That car came out of the factory with the early style flat top carbs and someone converted over to the round tops. Why do I say that? Because the fuel rail, balance tube, and intake manifolds are the from 73, but the carbs are from earlier. Also looks like "double stuff" phenolic carb spacers.

It's not that old. 66, 67 tops.

Yeah... Just like that. Thanks Steve!!

It's on the wiring diagram at the top, near the right corner. Up by the fuel pump. And one interesting tidbit... On the USA and Canada diagram, it does ay RHEOSTAT (IF EQUIPPED), so I don't know if it's really the case or not, the implication is that maybe not all cars got one?

Beautiful. I'd love to see one of those in person someday.

Shut up Beavis.

The oil level should only affect the force required to lift the pistons if the jiggly bits on the end of the stalk are not fully submerged. Once you've got enough oil in the tubes such that the bits are fully submerged when the pistons are in the full down position, then adding more shouldn't have any effect.

Sorry to hear that you're going to have to give up on the project before you even got really started. Looking at the bright side, however... At least you can sell it with a title, right?

About a third of the way down on page two of this thread, cbuczesk recommended a blasting guy. If he really would do a whole car for $500, that's a good deal. I'm cheap and almost always lean towards DIY, but if my choice was blast it myself or spend hours and hours working with the methylene chloride, I'd spend the five hundred bucks.

Now there's a reference you don't see everyday. That movie scared the crap out of me long time ago!!