mklotz70 Posted October 9, 2008 Report Share Posted October 9, 2008 Needed to clear up some space, so I ended up starting on the struts that are laying around here. I mainly need to get the springs off them, but I think I'll probably take the perches of too while I'm at it. Don't expect this thread to get finished anytime soon. I'm putting this up for reference for now. Eventually, I'll finish the shortening. I originally planned on going with 210 springs cut down to 12", but coilover kits are so stinkin' cheap on ebay, I'll probably go with that. Yes....I have more struts than I can use at this point. At one time, I had 3 wagons here...now only two and the parts wgn will go away fairly soon.....I hope! Anyway...... ..mmmmm...the holy grail of struts....the '87 200sx 5 lug. I have the rear rotors and calipers too. But, since I plan on running my snowflakes, I don't know if these will make on the wgn. Stock 510. 280zx. The most commonly used strut. 210 struts. Got these simply to use the perches and springs. Not sure I will now. The ones on the left are rear 510 sedan??? I think. No clue. They're either of a 300zx, 200sx or came with another pile of stuff I bought years ago. 300zx struts. No use for them. The hubs rotors will fit the 200sx stuff, but the angles are way off to try to use on a 510. So...they make good practice fodder. Gotta have the 5 lug spare if you're gonna do the swap. The rest of these are of the 300zx strut on the lathe. Pretty much self explanatory. 1 Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted October 9, 2008 Report Share Posted October 9, 2008 I need a lathe... :D Quote Link to comment
datrod Posted October 9, 2008 Report Share Posted October 9, 2008 2eDeYe;86954'']I need a lathe... :D Yea, I don't know how any of you guys work on your cars without a lathe & mill, They come so handy, I did the cutting of the struts for a friend a couple years ago, he just watched in wonder as I cut them off. Like it was something special to him, Just another day in the shop for me :D Quote Link to comment
SickDrift Posted October 9, 2008 Report Share Posted October 9, 2008 Yea, I don't know how any of you guys work on your cars without a lathe & mill, They come so handy, You get really handy with cutoff wheels, grinders and sweat. Quote Link to comment
Bleach Posted October 9, 2008 Report Share Posted October 9, 2008 Looks good. If you're able to cut and weld perches so clean like that, yes the standard coilover kits are cheap. Its the already cut and welded strut tubes that shoot the price up. Because of that I'm just going with drop springs. Quote Link to comment
xtrmemtnmn Posted October 9, 2008 Report Share Posted October 9, 2008 2eDeYe;86954'']I need a lathe... :D Thinking the same thing Quote Link to comment
Phlebmaster Posted October 9, 2008 Report Share Posted October 9, 2008 You get really handy with cutoff wheels, grinders and sweat. That sounds dirty..almost :eek: Oh yeah, it is. :lol: Quote Link to comment
SickDrift Posted October 9, 2008 Report Share Posted October 9, 2008 That sounds dirty..almost :eek: Oh yeah, it is. :lol: Cut-off wheels and grinders? You're lucky to have such an open minded wife.....;):D Quote Link to comment
Phlebmaster Posted October 9, 2008 Report Share Posted October 9, 2008 Cut-off wheels and grinders? You're lucky to have such an open minded wife.....;):D I buy her Home Depot gift cards for our anniversarys. She loves it! :D Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted October 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2008 I have seen a couple of ways of separating the perch from the tube, but I basically wanted to see how it went on the lathe. I ended up having to do the final clean up with the die grinder because the tube wasn't perfectly round. My favorite part about datsuns right now is that they give me the excuse to fire up some of these tools. If I start coming up with other excuses, I probably won't need the datsuns around :) Took some other pics...more for reference. Stock 510 compared to the 300zx. 280zx compared to the 300zx(shorter). I plan on shortening my tubes to use the 300zx insert, which is the same length as the MR2 rear that everyone raves about. I don't need fancy adjustable inserts, so cheaper is better. The basic dimensions of the spindle are the same...you can put the larger 300 hub/rotor onto the 280 spindle.....but you'd have to make a bracket for the caliper. The 300 spring perch above the 280. ...and above the 510. The 280 insert in the 300 tube. The 280 insert in the 510 tube. This is another reason the 280 stuff is a popular mod....the most bang for the buck. Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted October 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2008 The method of removing the perch that intrigued me the most was a simple hacksaw. Cutting just above the weld, around the circumference of the perch, it separates it quite cleanly. It's also very controllable. Once you have the perch off, you can then use the grinder to remove the weld. I need to get these cleaned up a bit and then finish the valve cover..........man do I get sidetracked easily!!!! :) Quote Link to comment
Nissan_Boy85 Posted October 10, 2008 Report Share Posted October 10, 2008 I need at lathe that isn't in Long Beach...got everything else here though! Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted October 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2008 I need at lathe that isn't in Long Beach...got everything else here though! You have a lathe, but it's in long beach? Kinda hard to operate the controls from there, but at least you don't get chips stuck in your shoes :) Quote Link to comment
Icehouse Posted October 10, 2008 Report Share Posted October 10, 2008 Awesome thread mike!!! I once had a chart that compared calipers, it was interesting to see how few truly different calipers nissan uses. Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted October 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Finally got around to pulling all the springs off. Still have a lot of perches to cut off, but it's a start. Not much to post...just a couple of pics....mainly so that I don't end up with a huge pile of them later. Spent an hour or so chasing tools and parts to proceed with this project. Sure hope it goes easier than the valve cover!!! Sure wish I had more shop!!! This is the HF compressor. Works okay....not completely thrilled with it. Was a lot easier once I clamped it in the vise. It's like it's not aligned or welded together right. Oh well...you get what you pay for :( Yeehaw! New 280zx inserts....still pop right back up from the gas charge :) Of course, I have NIB inserts sitting in the shed. In fact, if any of the local guys want to trade a pair of brand new, never mounted 280zx inserts for some 300zx inserts, I'd be up for it. PM me about it. Not sure what the plans are tomorrow....might get to play with them some more. Quote Link to comment
datrod Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 This is great, Now I can just follow your post to do mine, I did a couple sets before but it's been ten years. Now I can just come back to your post if I f mine up. I'll add my pics to your post when I get started. Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted October 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Sounds good. I've studied the "how-to" of these mods, but this is my first actual time doing it :) ....my motto..... "Why pay somebody else to F it up when I can F it up for free!!" :) Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted October 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 I've got a couple other "mods" for this thread that I think Ice will like....hopefully, I'll have some time to do them. Quote Link to comment
yello620 Posted October 16, 2008 Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 This is the HF compressor. Works okay....not completely thrilled with it. Was a lot easier once I clamped it in the vise. It's like it's not aligned or welded together right. Oh well...you get what you pay for :( QUOTE] Mike, All of that style strut compressors are floppy like that. At work we call that compressor "The jaws of death". Something about them makes it feel like the spring is going to come flying out at any moment, yet i have never seen one come out. Jason Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted October 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 (edited) I should have been fixing the exhaust leak on the van....or working on the rain gutters.....or....or..........many other things!!! This was a 100% complete waste of time....which explains why I enjoyed it so much! :) Okay...I got this idea from this thread..... http://www.kustomcoachwerks.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2063&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 I did it a bit differently since both sets of inserts I have still have life in them. Anyway......more pics :) The short ones are the 300's...the long are 210. I'll be messing with the 300 since the goal is short. So, yesterday, I bought a nice big tubing cutter just for this project. HF= $20. I could have used the lathe, but on thin wall tubing...this was much more predictable....at least for me. I cut 3". I used the lathe chuck to hold it...I did not use it under power!!! Moving on to the shaft...I center drilled the end so I could use the live center for support. Then I simply recut the diameters 3" down the shaft. If I had a 14x1.5mm die, I could have cut the threads at this point, but this is just for play anyway....so I wasn't going to worry about threads or the flat spot that keeps it from turning in the top hat. mmmmm....shorter :) Doesn't actually do much for me....but Ice can't go low enough....I basically did this to put a smile on his face. tapped the valve back into the tube... ...put the top back on...inner tube complete :) Then moved on to the strut housing. I simply used the lathe to mark off 3" exactly. Had I set up the steady rest, I could have cut it on the lathe, but the saw is a lot faster. The vertical mark is so that I can line the tube back up. The saw is not a accurate cut like the lathe, so I wanted to keep the tube in the same orientation for each cut. Then, if there was any slant to the cuts, they would be parallel and line back up when the scribe mark is lined up. Using the lathe to bevel the end of the tube for welding was a lot nicer than trying to get the bevel with the grinder or belt sander :) Edited October 16, 2008 by mklotz70 Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted October 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 (edited) hehehe....hit the 30 image limit...had to start another.... mmmm....toys....I mean tools.......okay...toyls! :) After all the fighting I did with the AL on the valve cover.....welding steel was a nice break. I'm still not very good, but this was for play anyway....wasn't worried about it. Got good penetration on about half of it. The hardest part is that my eyes don't like to work up close anymore. I'm having a hard time getting close enough to see the arc/puddle and still focus on it :( WARNING: DO NOT DO THIS MOD UNLESS YOU ARE USING INSERTS LIKE THE KOACHWERKS SITE!!!!! The inserts basically double the wall thickness and therefore the strength. This was just for play! Just to do it! So, don't try doing this to original struts. Of course, I don't recommend doing it at all...I just wanted to try it. Edited October 16, 2008 by mklotz70 Quote Link to comment
whisper3H Posted October 16, 2008 Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 You get really handy with cutoff wheels, grinders and sweat. hahah soo true, dont forget the 'ol sawzall Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted October 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 Mike, All of that style strut compressors are floppy like that. At work we call that compressor "The jaws of death". Something about them makes it feel like the spring is going to come flying out at any moment, yet i have never seen one come out. Jason Actually, it's not floppy enough. It binds. It's like one set of hooks slope the wrong way. It doesn't like to release when the bolt is loosed. It still beats using the two separate bolts and hooks, but it's not well designed. Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted October 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 Needs some fluid to actually work, but it would work. Quote Link to comment
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