ggzilla Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 Shocks do not support the weight of the car, so is more likely to be caused by sagging spring. Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted February 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 Wow, I just typed a long reply to that, and it disappeared. Smart phone my ass. The jist was, it probably is the leaf springs. I plan to put in Zx struts up front with new shocks and tires all around. One day, when I'm rich, I'll bag it and there won't be any ride height issues. Meanwhile, I'm focusing on the wiring gremlins. This is my back road warrior til the 620 is daily able. Quote Link to comment
Lonestar Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 Glad to see your still driving this one. I'm so happy to see she went to a good home. Your coming right along, so what you got planned next after the zx struts and what not? Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted February 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 No real plan. I'm just attacking problems as they arise. Tonight, I decided to remove the old school cruise control system. I've got a series of electrical gremlins that I've been dealing with, so I decided to eliminate some variables. It was actually a pretty cool setup. A series of actuators moving toilet chains that worked the throttle and break via a switch that was held on the blinker lever by a hose clamp. It could probably be made to work again. I just don't want it. Free to a good home if anyone is interested. From the looks of things, one of the past owners was a regular at radio shack, and a more recent owner hated wires more than me. I wish this car could talk sometimes. I imagine its had an interesting life. 1 Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted February 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2014 So, I drove the 40ish miles to the nearest walmart today. Spent $300 getting 4 New tires put on and, wow. The trip there was frightening. A lot of shaking. Both me and the goon. I was afraid at 60 mph that I may die at any second. The trip back, I went 75+ the whole way IN THE DARK! It was fun. I still need shocks, but the new tires vs 4 rotten tires of 3 different sizes was amazing. There's some noise coming from the tranny. However, I'm loving driving the datsun. Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted February 15, 2014 Report Share Posted February 15, 2014 Sorry I didn't see this until just now. Well done! :thumbup: Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted February 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2014 So, I've been chasing down wiring problems here and there. Took the car on a 100 mile road trip for work. Occasionally taking it to the car wash, and losing more green paint each trip. I'm thinking i may strip the green off and try getting to the factory paint underneath. Not sure how to best go about that. I also put an Infiniti leather seat in the driver's side. This is the adapter I made for the seat. It fits pretty well, and looks kinda natural. The only problem is, it adjusts electrically. I don't have all of that junk in there so, I can't lean the seat back. I tried hot wiring the electric motor in the seat back using a battery charger, but nothing happened. I broke my ratchet trying to remove the passenger seat from the Infiniti so, for now, it's just got one leather seat. Stupid craftsman. I'm also considering an expanded metal grill with fog lights behind it. Nismo fiesta is in April, and I'm pretty sure this car will be in attendance. Maybe the truck too. I could use some face to face datsun appreciation to motivate my builds. Sorry for the few pics, but photobucket mobile is getting increasingly difficult to post from. They've decided that the oldest pics go first now, so it takes 15 minutes to get to my most recent uploads. I'll get more up soon. Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted February 28, 2014 Report Share Posted February 28, 2014 Nismo fiesta is in April, and I'm pretty sure this car will be in attendance. Maybe the truck too. I could use some face to face datsun appreciation to motivate my builds. We should be there. And my friend Josh is supposed to be bringing his 610 Coupe. :thumbup: Quote Link to comment
KiloTango1200 Posted March 3, 2014 Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 First I've heard of this meet. Right in the middle of my old back yard. Used to live on the Guadalupe River 1/2 mile below Canyon Lake. There is a fun run Hill Country Cruise down the Devil's backbone, a beautiful, challenging drive. When I was young, indestructible and stupid, I used to go blowing down this road in my VW GTI at 1 am going way too fast. No cops but way too many deer. Had a major wipe out because of Bambi but survived. Thankfully I realized I was mortal and stopped acting a fool in a car.This drive is one of a few in the Texas Hill Country that can challenge the difficulty and beauty of the Pacific Coast. A few others are the run over Medina Mountain, and the Road to Utopia. Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted March 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 I've ridden around out that way a bit. Last time I was in San Marcos, a friend and I went out into BFE to buy some parts for my wife's Plymouth Fury. I'm not sure what the road we went down was called, but there were some curves that would turn a hard 45 degrees and immediately drop from level road to 45 degrees down. At 30 mph we nearly went air born at least twice. There is some awesome driving out in the hill country. I'll definitely be going on the cruise. It sounds like a blast. I even drank a beer the other day named after that road. It was a Belgian Triple from Real Ale Brewing Company. You should come out so we can have as much of Ratsun Texas represented as possible. Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted March 3, 2014 Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 You should come out so we can have as much of Ratsun Texas represented as possible. Lonestar says he's bringing his 210 too. :thumbup: Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted March 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 Hmm... Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted March 22, 2014 Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 I see some welding in your future... :rofl: Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted March 22, 2014 Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 Or get some of these? B) http://www.ground-control-store.com/products/description.php/II=146/CA=191 http://www.ground-control-store.com/products/description.php/II=151/CA=191 Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted March 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2014 Yeah, I paid less than that for the car. I'm thinking 1/8" plate with matching holes to sandwich it all together. 1 Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted March 23, 2014 Report Share Posted March 23, 2014 What the hell happened there? Any idea? I'd just find some stout, large diameter washers and weld them on... :thumbup: Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted March 23, 2014 Report Share Posted March 23, 2014 Or option two, make a strut tower brace? Then the end plates will sandwich it together? Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted March 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2014 The PO had washers over the holes. There's one like that on the other side. I thought at first that they'd rusted out, but there's not any rust around the holes. Not really sure what causes that. Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted March 23, 2014 Report Share Posted March 23, 2014 The PO had washers over the holes. Been there... :rofl: Not really sure what causes that. I assume you're looking for another reason than "the PO did something stupid"... :P Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted March 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2014 Prepping Zx struts. I gotta get this thing ready to handle the devil's backbone by April 25. Better brakes and new shocks should help. Turns out the springs were already cut. According to dmike's formula, they're rated about 170 lbs now. I figure that's stiff enough for a daily. Waiting for the collars to come in from fastenal. Any tips on changing out that broken lug bolt? I'm thinking torch + hammer, but I've never done it before. 1 Quote Link to comment
izzo Posted March 25, 2014 Report Share Posted March 25, 2014 yeah. pop the grease cap, undo the cotter pin and nut, and pull the rotor off dude. you can get it to it from back. Might as well replace all 4 while you're in there. Like under 2 bucks a bolt. Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted March 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2014 Thanks. After I hit post, I gave it a whack with a 2 lb and it popped right out. I think I'll be replacing all 16 of them now that I see how easy it was. The ones in the back are longer and running spacers. I was gonna fix them anyway, so I'll just do all and be good for another 25 yrs or do. Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted March 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2014 I'm messing around with the calipers. They may be locked up. Should I be able to move them with my hands? I hope they're not roached. How rebuildable are calipers? Quote Link to comment
datsunfreak Posted March 26, 2014 Report Share Posted March 26, 2014 Should I be able to move them with my hands? Not really a terrible sign if you can't, no. See if they move with a C-clamp. How rebuildable are calipers? As long as the pistons/cylinders aren't too bad, easy to do. You can get rebuild kits from RockAuto for a few bucks each. :thumbup: Of course, you can buy recon calipers from them too for fairly cheap. B) Quote Link to comment
Rhapakatui Posted March 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2014 Working on trying to rebuild the calipers. I got the rebuild kits from O'Reilly for a little bit of nothing. I can't get the pistons out of the calipers. I've had them soaking in pb blaster and knock er loose. I tried shooting air into the caliper to push it out, but no dice. Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment
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