Hardway

Thank you for the compliments guys. The car is coming along and will definitely be a nice car once I am finished. Unfortunately after all this suspension work there is still a lot of body and paint work, primarily the floor pans and doors. Once all the suspension work is done I plan to drive it for a while and determine when and how I want to attack the body stuff. I second 73str86's comment, it is depressing to think how long it has been since I drove it. I am right there with you EuroDat, I have no plans change the pinion seal since it is not leaking. Once I get the correct side seals and fill up the diff that project will be complete. Like Rome, my shop was not built over night and is the result of many years of tool collecting and hustling to upgrade my tools. I used to have a 25gal 110v air compressor that I made last almost 7 years with near every weekend use. My 60gal 220v upright was a Craigslist find and I only got it because it was such a good deal. I can't imagine life without it! My welder is a pawn shop score and everything else was either bought retail or via Amazon. My 20 ton press is a great tool and actually does not take up too much room given everything it can do. Granted, it makes parking a full size car in the bay next to the Z a big challenge but it is do-able. I also have to give some big kudos to my wife for helping me put up all the shelving in the garage and my neighbor who helped me run all the 220 and hang 3 banks of fluorescent shop lights.

I wanted to give a quick update to this so you guys know what happened. Since my yoke was slightly crushed I used my bench vise and a little heat to spread it back open. It took a little while but I got it and the u-joint fit much better. I ran in to the same problem with the second half shaft and gave it the same treatment. Everything is now together, ready for another round of cleaning, followed up by some paint.

Since my diff seal project did not work out I turned to my parking brake cable that needed some serious attention. Not only was it super dirty but when I removed it I could see that several of the fibers in the cable had broken and one of the ends had broken off the tubing assembly. I know I can buy a brand new parking brake cable assembly for $50 + $25 S&H off of Ebay. However I knew it was at least worth trying to salvage what I had since I shudder at the thought of dropping $75 for just a parking brake cable. I had seen Patcon’s write up on replacing the cable itself which can be seen here -> Classic Zcar Club - e brake/emergency/park/parking brake cable repair Since I have a welder I felt confident about replacing the cable, therefore my real challenge was reattaching the broken end of the tubing. I started by inserting a straight piece of coat hanger wire in to the metal end and tube so they would stay level and close together. I wrapped them with some electrical tape and covered them with a small piece of heat shrink tubing. On top of that I did a longer run of electrical tape wrapping followed up by a larger piece of shrink tubing. The end result, a very firm and solid connection. I tried to pull them apart and could not. Since it is a piece that is under compression and not being pulled I have no doubt it will be good for a long time. I only wish now I had used a longer piece of tubing for more a more finished look but I did not have much to go around. Below is the end result. The other side was not much better off. It was still attached but just barely so I gave it the same treatment along with the last of large heat shrink tubing I had. On to the cable itself. The old cable measured 71 and 1/4 inches. The new tee nuts I would be using as cable stops measured 1/4 inch long giving me 71 and 3/4 inches. I subtracted 3/4 of an inch to account for stretch giving me a total new cable length of 71 inches. Before I welded the first tee nut on I ran my wire brush over the face of the tee nut to knock off as much of the zinc coating as possible. This still didn’t stop a brief light show of zinc sparks from taking place on my bench. However the weld looked good and felt super strong. I used my dremel tool to cut off the edges and followed that up with a few minutes on bench grinder to help round it out. Slipped it in the retainer bracket and proceeded to slide the rest of the cable assembly together. Once together I repeated the same welding and grinding on the other end. The final result, a fully refurbished parking brake cable. All of the hardware and springs were cleaned using the grinder’s wire wheel and will be shot with some paint on a warmer day. A brand new one would be very nice but for only $8.00 and about an hour of my time I cannot go wrong with this one.

With a fresh Sunday in front of me I turned my attention to the rear differential. I wanted to replace the side seals before filling it with fluid and installing it. Everyone had said the axles just pull out, well they require a little more effort than what you can produce on your own. I have a slide hammer so I fabbed up a quick puller bracket out of some scrap steel so it would pull the axle out straight. Using the vise grip adapter that came with my slide hammer the axle came out with 2 light pulls. Once I had the axle out I could quickly see the seal in the diff was not like what I bought as my seals do not have the lip that protrudes out against the axle. So using my slide I hammer I put the axle back in marked the project as on-hold for now.

Got some more work done on the Z this weekend. On Saturday I wrapped up the u-joint install on my half shafts. I thought I had an issue with the solid u-joints I bought but I determined my outer yokes had been slightly crushed, probably due to the shop who put them in last time. I used my vise to successfully spread them back apart. I got the one finished that I started above so I started on the second one. Even though the boot was still in tact it was brittle but the worst of it was at the ends. Someone had obviously been pumping them full of grease and as it squeezed out pass the seals it attracted all the dirt and grime that it could find. The end result, lots of dirt! The u-joint off to the right refused to budge, even under the pressure of my 20 ton press. So before I went at with my torch I decided to let it soak with some 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF. To make it easier to apply I picked 2 4oz bottles with needle tops. This allows me to not only direct it exactly where I want to go but I can shake it up before each use as the acetone and ATF will separate over time. Needless to say it is the best $7 I ever spent! They can be found on Ebay and probably other places as well. After some time soaking with the Acetone/ATF mix the persistent u-joint came out of the yoke and everything else went according to plan. After about 45 minutes of work everything was together and looking good. I had hit everything with my wire wheel prior to assembly and will probably give everything another good once over before I lay down some paint next weekend.

I agree with Carl. She is a beauty but I think $12K would be top of the mark on it. His picture quality and location is dynamite so kudos to him on that.

Looks really good! You will definitely enjoy it as the early Z cars offer an ownership experience like no other.

You are correct Carl, that is another way of thinking about it. Once the grooves for the clips was revealed rubber seal on the new u-joint was smushed pretty good but not 100% collapsed. I have ordered some more u-joints made by other companies to compare them. In the mean time I will try again with the current new u-joints this evening and see if I can try installing 1 cap at a time so that I can push the cap back out and seat the clip firmly against the yoke.

Good work Grnsky. I am sure getting the rack and steering collar bushings in were much easier with the engine out of the way. Keep the progress pics coming!

You guys make good points. I did make sure to clean the holes in the yokes that the caps go in to, all were nice and shiny before I started. My concern is that the caps have to be pushed in too far to reveal the clip grooves. As I was pressing them in it reached a point where it felt good, not too tight but also not too loose but the clip grooves could not be seen at all. My issue seems to possibly be that once I get the clips in I can press once side back so that the clip is tight against the yoke but cannot get the other side pressed against the yoke without un-doing the work I did on the opposite side. Should I do one cap at a time?

With a pretty Sunday in front of me and the honey-do list satisfied for the day I headed to the garage to work on the Z. I decided to tear in to the half shafts, starting with the worst of the two. The grease and grime was not coming from the seal on the differential but from the u-joint itself. It will get replaced for sure. Using my new favorite tool I pressed the old u-joints out and finished disassembling the half shaft. The end cap has come loose so once everything is cleaned up I will press it back in to place and follow it up with a few tack welds for safe measure. I ran in to an issue once I cleaned everything and attempted to press in my new u-joints. I started a separate thread to try and gain some insight as to what is going on. It can be seen here -> http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/suspension-steering-s30/48852-brute-force-u-joint-cap-too-short.html Since the u-joint issue left me at a stand still I figure why not get some time in with wire wheel and clean up some more parts. All in all, a productive day.

Wanted to share another item I crossed off the list. With the spindle pins finally out I removed the outer control arm bushings. First, just as I have done with previous bushings like these I used my giant C-clamp that is part of my ball joint service kit to push the sleeve out from the middle of the bushing. Then using my reciprocating saw I cut 4 slits in the bushing shell and tapped them out with a cold chisel. 2 of the shells came out just by the force of the saw pushing on them back and forth, 1 required just a few light taps, while 1 required much more persuasion. I find it so odd that 3 of the 4 came out with such little effort while 1 put up the biggest fight. Oh well, they are out!

I picked up 4 new Brute Force brand solid u-joints from Advance Auto Parts based on feedback from other owners who have had good luck with them. The part number I got was 1-0029BF. They are actually made by Naepco for Advance Auto Parts. I pressed my old u-joints out and upon pressing the first new one in I had to push the caps in further than I expected in order to get the retaining clip on. This made the joint way too stiff. I pressed it back out and compared the old u-joints against the new ones. Using my digital micrometer I measured the height of part the old cap that sits in the yoke and it is .467mm, the height of the new cap that sits in the yoke is only .432mm. Has anyone else run in to this? I really want to use solid u-joints since having greasable units means the joint is hollow and the zirk fitting gets in the way when putting them on. Running the u-joints without the clips is not an option so I am left scratching my head. Below is a picture of what I am seeing, new u-joint on the left, old u-joint cap on the right.

Hey Norm. You are correct on the rust repair. I cut out all the old stuff, both the panel you see and the metal behind it. Once I welded in new metal behind the panel I made a new panel and plug welded it in. It was my first real deep dive in to panel repair and replacement. Once it was covered in rubberized coating it looked pretty much stock. Check out my build thread below and it will show you what I did. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/open-zcar-discussion/47863-lime-green-machine-restoration-thread-1972-240z.html

It is definitely rough but I think you still got your money's worth. A body shop will need to look at the rear quarter to see what is needed to fix it properly. The rust above the rail is a common spot. I fixed mine on my '72 240z since it looked the same way. You could definitely tackle a lot of the car yourself if you have a welder and some metal working skills, or teach yourself along the way. If it needs rails then it will more than likely need floor pans. My next comment comes from experience and ask that you only give it some thought. Before you go any farther on this car you need to determine what you want in the end, how much you want to spend, and when you want it to be done. Based on the pics and what you said about making it blue and looking good you will easily sink a ton of money in to it before you know it. If the drivetrain is strong it may make sense to keep your eyes open for a Z with a better body and possibly swap your drive train in to it if you wanted. Between the rails, pans, fender, and bumper you will easily spend $1K in metal alone and that is before you buy anything else or any tools to do the work. There are a lot of quality 280z's out there, many can be had for under $5K. You may have to travel a little to get a nice one but you would save so much money in the end and get more time behind the wheel instead of countless weekends in the garage. If your goal is to develop some real metal and body work skills and amass the tools to do it then you have a great canvas to start with. Again, just some things to think about.

The shop owners seems to reflect the way much of corporate society seems to be moving, inpatient and greedy. Properly diagnosing a problem and not just throwing parts at it takes skill, time, and money, the time probably being the more expensive of the 3. I have had the fortune of working with shops that have taken the time to properly diagnose issues when I had them. This is why it is so important for owners to do their due diligence when picking a shop to work on their car, old or new. If you have the misfortune of dealing with a shop you feel has not been fair to you, stand your ground, ask questions, talk to the manager, ask them to work with you, etc. In many cases you have to pay the bill to get your car back. Once you do, talk to some more shops, get a second opinion, ask your friends, etc. Depending on how much you had to shell out to get your car back, talking to an attorney and filing a civil suit may be warranted. However, make sure you are in the right and you have your ducks in a row before doing so.

I continue to be amazed at the lengths owners will go to in order to save low production number cars. Makes my little rust repair projects looks like cake compared to what you are doing. A true hats off to you for all of your work and effort!

Congrats on your new acquisition Norm! My first early Z car was a '77 280z with a 5spd and I had just as much enthusiasm for it as you do for yours. Unless the previous owner gave you evidence of a recent oil change, that is the first place I would start. Now that you own it you can start a new records log for it under your new ownership. Just as JFA said, if it needs anything else to make it safe and reliable that is where you should move to next. Making a plan and not getting carried away will be key. Bumpers and headlight cones pop up on Craigslist and Ebay and once you connect with some other owners you may find they have the parts you are looking for. As for your price, $1K is really good for a car you drove home. If it has little to no rust then you did great. Post up some pics when you can, we always love to see new owners cars.

The car has a dealer installed ac system and it looks like the original York style compressor has been replaced with late model Sanderson style compressor, a big upgrade for sure and weight savings to boot.

For anyone that is interested I found this on Ebay today. The finish does not look as nice but it appears to be very old stock. At $50 shipped its a little pricey but if you have to have one this may be the ticket. Datsun Nissan Engine Compartment Inspection Lamp Assembly | eBay

All in all it looks like a really nice car but a few things stand out. Air cleaner painted black, valve cover painted black, would like to see what the seats looks like under the covers. If they are original you can bet $ the foam is collapsed. Not a deal breaker but when you are spending $12K for a Z you would expect everything to be top notch. A big bonus that it has cold AC!

I still have all 4 of the large washers. You are correct, the smaller ones are pretty generic but I have those too. If you want them PM me your address Captain and I will mail all of them to you over the weekend. They are in perfect usable shape, a little time against a wire wheel on a bench grinder would make them look great. I have not driven the car yet with the new bushing setup. Since my car will just be an around town cruiser if I need to put the other rubber bushing in I can. The AC-Delco rubber bushings are pretty soft which made installing them a hair easier. I learned a trick when installing them, I used 2 mini vise grip bar clamps like the ones below to compress the bushing enough to get the lock nut started. Took a few tries since the clamps wanted to slide off but after about 10 minutes I was done. They are cheap little life savers to have in the tool box. Amazon.com: Irwin 5464 Mini Quick Grip Clamp: Home Improvement

Great looking car Tim! Your hard work has paid off in spades. You have a car that must be very satisfying to own and drive given its condition and the work you have done. Interesting you had to travel to Wisconsin to get a good Z. I would figure being in CA there would be plenty of Z's to choose from. If you have some pics of the interior and engine we would love to see those too. Keep up the good work and most importantly, have fun!

Hey Captain. I think have what you need as I still have the stock washers from when I did the TC bushing upgrade on my '72. I bought some AC-Delco rubber bushings and they came with new washers so I went with them since they were nice and pretty. I still have 2 ES bushings and 2 of the AC Delco rubber bushings. If you want to go back to stock and put the rubber bushing on the back and the ES bushing on the front you should be good to go. Let me know exactly what you need and I will help you however I can. Or if you want to use all new stuff just order 2 of the AC-Delco kits below for the washers, I bought mine off Ebay.

Thank you E-Tek. Yeah, the weather in TX is nice in the spring, fall, and most of winter. However in the summer we pay dearly for it with highs at above 100 for days on end. Factor in the humidity and it is just too hot to even go outside and check the mail. No problem Grannyknot. The rotary tool is Makita GDC0800C, its technically a die grinder but I think of it as more of a big Dremel tool. I bought mine on Amazon at the link below. It is a bit pricey and for almost half you can get the non-variable speed version. In my honest opinion I think having the variable speed is worth the extra c-note. I love mine and you will not regret buying one. Amazon.com: Makita GD0800C 1/4-Inch Die Grinder: Home Improvement