Pinbill

Hey Everyone, I almost went for a test ride today, but the clutch will not engage. There is way too much play between the throw out bearing and the pressure plate springs. With the slave cylinder hooked up the clutch isn't engaging at all. Here are a few pictures of what it looks like. When the clutch fork is engaged and the bearing is all the way forward, the bearing extends to where the splines start on the shaft. When the fork is disengaged there is a lot of shaft showing. I checked my invoice from MSA and they sent a 70-74 clutch kit. The springs on the pressure plate look different but measure the same height if they are laying on the work bench. Pic 1 is the fork not engaged. Pics 2 and 3 show the max travel of the fork engaged. I took it to the place that rebuilt my transmission and the tech inspected the throw out bearing and fork mechanism. He thought the bearing/ fork was assembled correctly and the problem had to do with the clutch or pressure plate. The car build date is 6/71 and it has the A transmission. Does something seem out of place to you?

Thanks man, it is a real bought it from an old lady story. I am going to take her for a ride when I get things dialed in. It should be a reliable driver soon. I can take it for a test ride tomorrow. I need to put in the driveshaft, exhaust, and fill the differential then I can drive it around the block. Ran into a snag on the brakes though. I rebuilt the proportioning valve and now am not getting enough fluid to the rear brakes. Front brakes seem to work OK. There is a thread where a guy has similar symptoms. I am going to take it apart tomorrow and make sure the seals are going in the right direction.

In case anyone is still watching, here is a picture of the car with kyb shocks and spring kit from zcar depot. I also replaced the rear rubber spacers with poly ones. Is the car sitting a bit high? Could it be the torque sequence on the rear bushings making the car ride so high? I tightened the control arm brackets and differential mount cross member nuts with the car in the air. Then I tightened the large bolts with the car on the ground and the suspension loaded.

A few pics of the exhaust. Hard to believe it is 50 years old.

Another big day. Today it was my daughters birthday party at the house and I still got the exhaust painted, the steering rack bushings installed, the sway bar bushings in, and the differential sealed up. I came across a post about bearing preload on the pinion bearing when installing the flange. I changed the pinion seal and removed the flange. Should I do anything special when re installing the flange and torquing the bolt. Bill

Ahhh, I have to make sure I don't put the car through the back of the garage. Haha. I had the console off to replace the inner shift boot. The light in the defroster switch is burned out. While reading about it, I found out the later cars have a neutral light as well. Mine also has a blank next to the defroster switch. Thanks again for the info.

Chugging along on the car.... Should be test driving next week. An emphasis on Should. I saw that a wire is loose on my back up light. I am going to solder it. It reminded me that my car turns over in gear. Did late 1971 240zs come with a neutral safety switch? Thank for any info, Bill

Big day on the car. Got the oil pan on, transmission in, and front end assembled. The old strut packing glands worked well to press in the front control arm bushings. Found out that there are an inner and out washer for the sway bar.

Thats great info. It looks like both types of side gaskets are covered. The OEM one I am using, without the nails, fits real snug on its own. I have some leftover Motorcraft sealant that I really like. I ordered the competition oil pan gasket before reading that it may be best suited for the competition pan. We will see how it goes. Never got the second plunger out of the master cylinder but I have it cleaned up real good and will run it until I get a newer style. Lots of parts came yesterday and I am installing the oil pan, clutch, trans, and starting to work on the front end today. It is a pretty exciting day in the garage.

I feel good about the side seals. I wanted to post it here for reference. There isn't much info on the web about the OEM nissan seals. It is not confirmed but I feel strongly about the following orientation being correct. There is a strip of metal on one side that is barely visible. It is embedded in the seal. I wouldn't have seen it except I tore up the old one getting it out. The metal strip goes in towards the bearing. If it leaks and I am wrong I will post up the correct info. Got everything on the brakes cleaned up today and ready to install. Except the MC, I couldn't get it apart to rebuild it. The rubber in the caps had turned to goo and gotten all through the brake system. That might have something to do with it. I am going to clean it and run it for a bit. I will probably get a late series 2 one in the future. The strut caps came off and I removed the shocks. I also pressed out the front control arm bushing. It is almost time to start putting things back together. The tank is going back in with new fuel lines tomorrow or Monday. My two main parts shipments will be here Monday and Tuesday.

I soaked the MC in the parts washer and tried air. I can get a grip on the piston with long needle nose but it won't budge. I may order a new style and have a brake shop make new lines.

Where did you end up getting the seals?

Hello, I am rebuilding the MC on my car. I as able to remove the primary piston assembly from the master cylinder but the secondary piston assembly is stuck in the housing. I only saw one snap ring on the diagram. Should it slide out like the first piston assembly or Is there a trick to get it out? I don't want to get too rough with it and scratch the bore. Thanks, Bill

On the side seals, I think I am going to call Jeff and see what his take is. The ones that are in there now are pretty hard. The OEM Nissan ones didn't didn't come with the metal pieces. I can orient them the same way as the ones that are in there now. Made a bit of progress today. I picked up the trans from the shop. It looks good and has all new synchros and seals. I got the springs off the struts and all the brake assemblies taken apart and soaking. Tomorrow I will assemble the brake MC, calipers, wheel cylinders, and proportioning valve. Then I will do battle with the strut packing glands.

I had to edit my post because I went out into the garage and pulled out the side seals. I picked at them, exposed the metal piece, and pulled them right out. The main seal is in place as well. I went with Nissan main and side seals. I will de grease inside where the cap seals go and use some sealant. I read about metal inserts to compress the seals better. I may go without them and roll the dice. So far I have been having good luck with the car. I found a good shop to replace the synchros in the trans. The dude took it apart today and said everything besides the synchros looked good. My driveline is being balanced right now. I took apart the differential and got it ready to be resealed. Tomorrow I am going to take apart the struts and start rebuilding the brake system. I just need to get the front control arm bushings out before the parts come early next week.

Ok, I have the oil pan down to change the gasket. I am going to change the main seal because I have everything apart. Should I bother changing the side seals while I am in there? There isn't a whole lot of info on the web. Thanks for the help, Bill

I guess I should have tested it before I cut the belt.

Made some progress today. Got the trans out and dropped it off at a shop. The guy has been working on manual transmissions for a long time and said it would be $450 labor max. This might not be the best trans for me to practice on. Tomorrow I am going to drop the rear end, inspect the clutch, and get ready to do the main seal and oil pan. Is it worth keeping this A/C unit on the car? I have read these A/C units aren't that great. I don't know if it can be repaired or not. Also the exhaust is in pretty good shape. I am going to keep it. Is there a better muffler that will bolt right on to the stock size pipe with no welding? Here are some pics of the underside of the car for fun. Bill

Thanks man, Those reproduction dashes look pretty nice. I hope I don't ever decide to try and do that job, it looks pretty involved. I hit all the nuts w PB blaster today. Then I ordered all kinds of parts, struts, springs, brake stuff, bushings, mounts, seals, ect.. I adjusted the clutch slave cylinder yesterday. It was too tight. It didn't help with the third gear synchro but it really made the car drive a lot nicer. I can't wait to drive this thing with it all dialed in.

Thank man, I plan to keep it as stock as possible. I scored a bunch of parts yesterday. A lady in Elizabeth, CO has a parts hoard. She sells parts on Ebay under Z car crazy. I got a right front marker light, a nice rear tail light, a window crank, a new style 240 mustache bar, a new style transverse assembly, and a used untested transmission for $415. Since I need to take the trans out anyway I am going to swap in the other one and see if it works. I can return the used trans if there is a problem and I found all the parts to fix the original one if I need to. Today I am going to start soaking the bolts with PB blaster and order parts. I will be ready next week to get started. I am pretty excited.

Had a great experience driving around with Jeff from Rally Motorsport in Westminster. He was very helpful and knows a ton about these cars. I wanted to give him a plug because he really helped me out with some great information.

Found the ol' super seal set today for the F4W71a transmission. 93 with clutch boot. Can't beat it. https://www.datsunparts.com/2534 I am a bit nervous to put the untested synchros in the rebuild. I may only need to replace the one for third gear. If I need to replace one then I can pony up for a good quality one. I am starting to feel better about the transmission parts availability. Headed to see Jeff at Rally Sport tomorrow for a test ride and to get his opinion on what suspension/ steering parts to replace. Thanks again for the help

That's great info, thank you. If anyone out there has experience rebuilding these transmissions please correct me. I spoke on the phone with a guy in PA who gave me the same part number for the synchros. 32604-P0100. The trans takes four of them. He also said the main bearings sometimes get confused because one has a snap ring. The part numbers were National 207 and 207L. It looks like there are two counter shaft bearings and 5 needle bearings. Three of the needle bearings are the same. I may try to rebuild this by myself....

Update!! I am going to take the car apart this week or next. I am getting my parts spreadsheet together. It is a bit tricky finding the right parts for an early model series 2 but I am making progress. I have decided to have the transmission rebuilt and keep the car original as possible. I would do a 5 speed but I would have to cut the tunnel under the console. I can't find a rebuild kit online for the f4w71a. I read online that the synchros are NLA but the bearings are available. Does anyone out there have the part numbers for the f4w71a synchros or have a set sitting on a shelf somewhere? Thanks, Bill

Hey LTS, Thanks man. I like to drive around and listen to the AM stations. I live very close to Auto Trim Specialists. They gave me a good quote for a vinyl top on an a Chevy Impala once. A few years ago they wanted $150 to staple on a pre made motorcycle seat cover and I haven't been there since. I have been using Rema Upholstery Services. They are at I270 and I76 in Thornton or Commerce City. They did a good job. Not perfect, but they replaced the straps on the bottom, there are no wrinkles, and the vinyl is very secure. They greased the tracks too. It wasn't necessary, but I separated the seats and removed the brackets because I wanted to clean them. I dropped them off on Monday and they were ready on Thursday. They charged $350. The owner is a good guy you just have to call first to make sure he is going to be there. The dash has a crack right in between the temp and fuel gauges. There is also a silver dollar size spot that has flaked off. You can barely see it in the picture, but you can't see it when you are sitting in the car. It is in a good spot. Look me up if you drop your seats off in Denver. Bill