chaseincats

In the recording, I was going at max 5mph and then came to a stop at the end which is why the clicking slows. The car is up in the air. Where specifically should I be looking for rub marks - the connecting area for the halfshafts to the diff? Could u-joints click if they need grease?

Ya it makes the noise consistently forwards and backwards. I gave the joints a yank but got no play out of them. I don't believe the OE half-shafts have grease fittings (I see a screw on them but not a grease nipple).

I just got under the car and after chocking the passenger side wheel, I spun the driver side wheel and got the clunking - the left wheel doesn't make the diff clunk. Does this help in the diagnosis?

There are 2 u-joints - no boots on the end

I'm not sure - when I get under the car, what should I be looking for to tell?

Hi guys, So I was driving today and somewhere in the rear I started to get a clicking/ratchet type sound when I was coasting out of gear. The sound speeds up and slows down in a 1:1 ratio with the car's speed. It is most evident when I'm going slower and seems to not click as loudly when I am in gear compared to coasting in neutral (but I could be wrong). The sound is not super loud but is very noticeable. I have attached an MP3 of the sound but if that doesn't work, you can hear it here: https://vocaroo.com/i/s0pvF7JKlewZ Any ideas? -chase EDIT: I got it up on stands and spun the rear tires. The clicking seems to be coming from the area where the driver's side cv joint connects to the differential as it is louder on that side but still audible on the passenger side. I shook the u-joints but didn't notice any play in them. I didn't think the r200s ever went bad though? clicking.mp3

There is but it is a non-trivial amount of work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1QDLd2hn4Q

Alright, the string is on, the shifter area is filled with grease, the boot is on, and now we wait. Should I re-fill the transmission to the fill line or do you think that is just asking for trouble (it drives fine with the trans fluid level it currently has).

Thanks, I'll give it a shot!

So should I just fill the area with grease to seal it?

So I got the string on and it's fitting really well. Again, thanks for this idea!! One odd thing I noticed was once I took the inner shifter boot off of the trans (the small circular one that covers the area where you change the shifter bushings) I noticed the inside lightly glistened with transmission fluid. This boot is a fairly new addition - I got it when I began to notice the leak and after putting it on, the leak slowed dramatically, but didn't stop. I noticed there was always a little bit of transmission fluid in the area when I installed the shifter bushings but I though 'that's just how it is'. Is it possible transmission fluid is coming out of there by filling the boot and leaking out of the sides during operation? The attached pic shows the boot with the fluid visible. Super weird

Sounds good, thanks so much for all of this info. Are any of you headed to zcon this year? We should all meet up at some point.

Haha that's awesome. Thanks for all the info, gang! I will do some junkyard donut tire hunting soon!

The original accordion tire has a lot more sidewall when inflated, the car can actually drive with that super tiny wheel/no sidewall? Nothing scrapes?

Gotcha. So are donut wheels permanently inflated or do you inflate them when you take them out of the spare tire well?

That tire is too large to fit into the reduced size spare tire well added on the 77/78 cars unfortunately. I guess that's the price we pay for a marginally bigger gas tank ?

Thanks guys, I'll scour the junkyard for one of these. In all reality, is fix-a-flat seriously good enough that spares are no longer warranted?

It's a bit tough to understand without the pictures. Why didn't he just have the tire from the spare he bought mounted onto the original wheel that had the collapsible tire? Basically I'm asking why he needed the datsun roadster hub.

Hi guys, Is there any place where I can get a replacement space saver tire for my '78 280? I will be driving to zcon and want to make sure I have a spare tire on-board that isn't 40 years old (yes I have AAA too haha). Any ideas? -chase

ok, will do!

You don't think that if the kitchen cord is packed in completely without lithium grease it won't fray before it can get enough gear oil to expand?

gotcha, thanks

Thanks for this!

Gotcha, going to give sealing it from the outside a shot first - hopefully that will work

The o-ring should be easy to find, but the seal is custom molded though, isn't it?