well i think i messed up really bad..... please read..

[Guest ON3GO]

well i think i did atleast.

i know alot of you tried to help me with this sectioning the struts and coilover deal but i just dont no.

i followed the directions Ross gave me for his coilovers and how to section the struts.. and i also listened to all you guys. i just still am so damn lost and im freaked out because now if i fucked up these struts this car wont be done in time for me to leave and i wont have a car for texas..

well i only did the front so far... heres whats going on..

i cut the struts with a pipe cutter.. it worked fine.. i measured it to be abit more then 1.5 inchs and the whole cutting came fine..

now i just found out i cant use the gland nut that came with the tokico's.... SHAT!!!!!! cuz we measured and cut based on that gland nut being used to hold the strut insert inplace... i hope im wrong on that though.

ok so now i welded (only one so far all the way done) and put the perch so the threaded part can rest on.. Ross told me to have 1.5" from top of threaded tube to the top of the Datsun Strut.. i did that and its perfect...

now i put the threaded tube on with the spring and the collar thingy.. now put the top part on the spring (i have the insert already in).

so i now have those black washers that come with the kit and it says you use atleats 1 of them... but it doesnt fit where it should fit.. im sorry if this is confusing im gonna take pics in a sec of all this...

now the part where the strut insert has the adjustable knob with the 5 settings doesnt fit threw the stock part with the 3 screws that bolts up the the engine bay (know what i mean).. im sorry if this all sounds messed up but im sick to death and sooo scared and upset.. i have no times for mistakes yet i think i messed up. im like shaking.. plus my dad and mom are gonna kill me!!!!! and the last thing i wanna do is end on a bad note with my parents sense im leave in 3 weeks.. and i have 1 week to get this car done and to Alex for the motor... man im freaked..

any ideas guys?

im postoing pics in 1 min too..

 

mike

[Guest ON3GO]

not the best welder.. sorry but its strong and went threw all they way and its not gonna crack but thats not the problem..

you can see i cut it down there like i was told by a few ppl.

on here you can see the top part on the spring... does that part go just like that, not higher?

heres the stock part with the strut... shouldnt it stick out? it doesnt even fit right.. do i have to drill that hole out bigger?

heres ita ll together... BTW the gland nut isnt on yet, i just did it for the picture but then again i cut and etc based on the gland nut that came with the struts...

and this is the black washers (one of a few) that comes in Ross's kit... where do i put this, i thought it was on top with that silver part that goes on the spring but it doesnt fit..

i know i messed up, i just no it... and im sick to death.. oh god.

 

mike

[j260z]

OK. firstly take a nice deep breath... in through the nose... 1... 2... 3... and out through the mouth... 1... 2... 3... . now that we have relaxed, we'll begin.

here is a picture of what the assembly should look like.

you can see ,in order from bottom to top, 1) the spring. 2) the upper spring retainer. 3) 2 washers. (there should be between 1 and 3 washers)(we'll get to that later). 4) strut bearing. (front only)(the rears are just rubber bushings).

here is a picture with the strut isolator on.

the isolator just sits on top of the bearing and washers which in turn sit on a lip just below the threaded portion of the strut rod. notice that the upper spring retainer can move up and down the strut rod.

here is another picture with the isolator on.

notice that there is a gap between the isolator rubber and the upper spring retainer. this is where the 1 to 3 washers come in. you'll notice in my setup i use 2 washers. i'll explain with these next pictures.

disregard the fact that the first isolator is from a 280z and the second from a 260z. if you compare them you will see that in the second picture the rubber lip has been cut off of the isolator. if you keep your isolator stock, like the first picture, you will need to use 3 washers to maintain that gap between the isolator and the upper spring retainer. what i did is cut the rubber down to where the steel is and was able to get away with using only 2 washers. if you wanted you could cut away at the steel about 1/8 of an inch and get away with one washer. you need at least one washer on the front suspension because the bearing needs something, other than the upper spring retainer, to rotate against when you turn the steering wheel.

 

as far as the adjustable dial on the top of the strut, i do not have mine ordered yet so i cannot comment on them but i'm sure that they must come off somehow in order to get the isolator on. i know that you don't want to alter your strut isolator because that D shaped hole in it is what allows you to tighten and loosen the nut that holds the strut in. without that flat spot on the side you couldn't get the nut tight because the whole strut would be able to spin freely.

 

i hope this helps.

[Guest ON3GO]

i dont have a strut bearing.. does it come with the kit or do i get one.. any ideas on this?

so did i do this correct but im just missing the bearing and the washers?

you dont no how much this makes me feel that your helping me out on this..

please lte me no.

 

mike

[Dan Juday]

The bearing came out with the rest of the parts when you took your struts apart. If that has been a while look around, I'm sure you'll find them. They may even still be stuck in the isolators (the big rubber part with the three studs that bolt to the inner fender).

 

And, yes, unfortunately, you will need to drill out the "D" shaped hole to bolt in your new struts. I wrapped a rag around the polished strut shaft and grabbed it with a pair of channel locks as high up as I could get to hold it from rotating as I torqued the nut on. It worked fine with no marks on the shaft but next time I'd use some thick rubber in place of the rag just to play it safe.

[Guest ON3GO]

awww awesome.. i called into work today saying couldnt come cuz i was soooooo stressed out about this... ill go look around.

 

mike

[Guest ON3GO]

oh about the drilling.. how far "up" does the strut insert have to stick threw the isolators?

 

thanks..

 

mike

[blueovalz]

Great pictures and explanation.

[Guest ON3GO]

yes im with terry on this one! you saved me from spending the last few bucks i have on a hand gun!

i just wish i could explain myself like you guys!

 

mike

[j260z]

the coilover kit does not come with the bearings. there should have been a bearing in each of your front struts when you disassembled them. the rears should have had a rubber bushing in them that is roughly the same size as the front bearings. the reason the fronts have bearings and the rears don't is because the front wheels turn. even if you do find the old bearings from the front struts, i would replace them because they are probably old and need to be replaced. Nissan still stocks the front bearings but does not stock the rear bushings. i'm in Canada but i don't think the stock numbers would change. the number for the bearing is 54325-21000. you will need two of them. as for the rear bushings, search through your parts and see if you can't find them. they may even still be stuck to the inside of the strut isolator, that's where i found mine. if you can't find them anywhere i have 3 extras.

here is a picture of the bearing and bushing.

and here is a picture of them in the strut isolator.

the bearing has to go in this way or it will not work right. if you follow the picture you can't go wrong.

did you find out how the adjustable knob comes off the strut yet?

[Guest ON3GO]

nope i didnt know the knob come off..

so the bearing goes in 1st then the washers...

and its gonna be nice and snug...

right?

[j260z]

man you guys reply so fast i'm out of date before i can get a reply typed out. i started my last reply before there were any comments.

thanks for the compliments. i wouldn't have been able to do any of this if it wasn't for my wife (we own a photography company and she's the photographer) and about $11,000 of equipment... and i can't for the life of me figure out how come i don't have any money for my z project.

[Guest ON3GO]

heheh.. my camera is $200, my last years birthday gift.. i sau gift and not gifts because there was only one .... i never ask for anything anyways...

thank you so much guys for helping me out..

 

mike

[j260z]

sorry, when i posted Dans reply wasn't there so i guess the knobs don't come off.

[Guest ON3GO]

oh ok, i guess i gotta do my home work and drill out the hole..

to make it easier, that guys that did this do you remember what size drill bit or etc you use?

 

mike

[j260z]

i'm not sure what size hole you have to drill but it should be no bigger than it has to be to get that knob through. the strut only has to go through the isolator far enough for the threaded section to get through. that should be around 1 to 1.5 inches. the only other thing you have to remember to put on before you tighten everything up is the bump stop rubber that came in your urethane suspension kit. it goes on the strut shaft right after you tighten up the gland nut.

[Guest ON3GO]

oh crap yeah... i got bigger ones from Ross too..

[Guest ON3GO]

guys the strut bearing's hole is alot bigger then the strut rod, it moves around alot, is that stuff fine? also the Black washers that came with the kit doesnt go down the Strut rod... it hits the top of it and wont go down to the top of the spring perch (silver thing on my pics)..

also does anyboyd have a pic of there setup with everything all on the strut, washers, bearing, isolators, bump stop, etc?

 

mike

[j260z]

just follow what it looks like in this picture.

the washers should stop just under the threaded section with the bearing sitting on top of them. the washers will not go further down the shock shaft than they do in the picture. the washer will end up acting as a stop for the upper spring retainer (your silver thing) when the weight of the car is on it. the strut bearing has a larger hole than the strut shaft but the bearing will be centered and held in that position by the isolator when that is put on.

the order in which you put the parts on should be:

1: insert shock insert into strut assembly.

2: install threaded aluminum sleave. (red piece)

3: install and tighten gland nut.

4: install bump stop.

5: install adjustable lower perch. (gold piece)

6: install spring. (blue spiral thing)

7: install upper spring retainer. (silver piece)

8: install black washers. (2 if you cut off the rubber lip of the isolator. 3 if you leave the isolator stock)

9: install the strut bearing. (bearings on the front struts, rubber bushings on the rears)

10: install the strut isolator over the strut bearing.

11: install and tighten the nut that secures the shock insert to the strut isolator. (you'll have to secure the shock shaft like Dan Juday mentioned in order to get the nut tight enough)

12: repeat for other three strut assemblies.

[auxilary]

I wrapped a rag around the polished strut shaft and grabbed it with a pair of channel locks as high up as I could get to hold it from rotating as I torqued the nut on. It worked fine with no marks on the shaft but next time I'd use some thick rubber in place of the rag just to play it safe.

I held mine with my hand and drove the nut on with an impact gun at a very low torque setting. worked very well.