luseboy Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Did you ever get the tie rods off? the passenger side one (I'm pretty sure it's the passenger side...) is reverse threaded. You probably already know that, but just in case! I initially tried getting the lock nut off first as you tried but then tried using a 16" monkey (pipe) wrench on the tie rod end itself. That coupled with a hobby torch, PB blaster, liquid wrench, and a nice big sledge hammer ended with one thumbnail broken half off and my tie rods removed. Give it a try, if it worked for me, I'm sure it can work for you! I had a much worse time with my gland nuts (6 days to get the first one off) than the tie rod ends (3 days). Anyways your project is looking good! I'm happy to see that you're getting close to being done. I'm acctually starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel myself... But I have a fair bit more work left to do than you do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted March 25, 2012 Author Share Posted March 25, 2012 Regarding the tie rods, I did notice the reverse thread, and I ended up just taking it to a shop. Got so fed up with steering and suspension shops not wanting to take a look (called all the local shops), that I just went with a the first shop that would. Ended up costing ~80$ for removing the 2 nuts (apparently 1/2 hour of work at 120$ an hour plus tax and fees)...few days later, my friend informed me I should have just asked him to take care of it at his machine shop for free. Oh, well, lesson learned. We tackled the gland nut at a friends garage. Pipe wrench and a 4 foot leverage arm broke the gland nut free like it was nothing, like laughably easy, I was very surprised as I had imagined it was quite stuck. I'm hoping the rears don't give me much trouble. I did notice that one of the hub locking nuts on the rear looks like the top has been dremeled off. So some work has been done at some point. Since there is still some construction, I can't continue with the project until the water lines and heater and such are finished as the worker needs the space to move back and forth to install the lines. Need one week of sunshine to finish painting the doors, fenders, hood, and hatch. And have placed what I hope to be my second to last order at MSA for the seals and other odds and ends (only the front air dam and random assortment of seals/gaskets left to go). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luseboy Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Regarding the tie rods, I did notice the reverse thread, and I ended up just taking it to a shop. Got so fed up with steering and suspension shops not wanting to take a look (called all the local shops), that I just went with a the first shop that would. Ended up costing ~80$ for removing the 2 nuts (apparently 1/2 hour of work at 120$ an hour plus tax and fees)...few days later, my friend informed me I should have just asked him to take care of it at his machine shop for free. Oh, well, lesson learned. We tackled the gland nut at a friends garage. Pipe wrench and a 4 foot leverage arm broke the gland nut free like it was nothing, like laughably easy, I was very surprised as I had imagined it was quite stuck. I'm hoping the rears don't give me much trouble. I did notice that one of the hub locking nuts on the rear looks like the top has been dremeled off. So some work has been done at some point. Since there is still some construction, I can't continue with the project until the water lines and heater and such are finished as the worker needs the space to move back and forth to install the lines. Need one week of sunshine to finish painting the doors, fenders, hood, and hatch. And have placed what I hope to be my second to last order at MSA for the seals and other odds and ends (only the front air dam and random assortment of seals/gaskets left to go). Haha stuff always works out like that. I spent $60 for front strut bearings and then realized that the bearing guy at the bike shop i work at could've gotten me some for free. Oh well, we all make mistakes lol. Ya mine were a huge pain. Clamped the nut in a vise super tight, put a piece of wood under the end of the strut, and my gf's dad put all his force into a 6-foot breaker bar while I hit the end of the strut with a brass mallet. It was crazy! But we got them off eventually, luckily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted April 10, 2012 Author Share Posted April 10, 2012 (edited) ^Took my rears off today, managed to free the gland nuts by standing on the LCA and using a pipe wrench and 4 foot breaker bar, came apart pretty easily. Well construction is finally finished. So I decided to get at it yesterday and today. Painted my fenders. Turns out I didn't smooth it as much as I had thought. Another item to throw it in the "good enough for now, will redo later" pile . Loosely assembled my fronts together. The washer they provided looks to be a crush washer, so no rubber ring under the gland nut I guess. Still need to add oil and figure out a way to tighten the gland nut. Spent all afternoon taking the rears apart. Was dreading a stuck rear strut, a few rust loosening blows got them out with no drama, the struts were KYB struts so replaced at some point, but totally blown. Looks like the bearings were replaced at some point as the nuts on the spindle are not peen type nuts. If it starts howling I'll have to eat my words and take care of it, but for now plan is to get it on the road. Weatherstrip kit arrived, hoping that they fixed the door issue. Plan: Finish and install suspension Install and route brakes Install weather strip Route interior and electronics Install exterior Install glass Fix and install driveline We are getting there folks, getting there . Edited April 10, 2012 by seattlejester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dershum Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Which insulators are you using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luseboy Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Which insulators are you using? They look very similar to the msa camber plates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devil_S30 Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 Noice,glad to see more progress. I remember seeing your car a long time ago on I-5N in Seattle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted April 11, 2012 Author Share Posted April 11, 2012 luseboy is correct, msa units. They were on sale for ~100$? a set so I figured I'd spring for a set. Devil: Hmm, must have been the PO, my car has only moved about a foot since my ownership, and that's a vertical foot from jack stands . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devil_S30 Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 LIES! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
280zex Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 Devil_s30 that was me you seen prolly, anyways I'm just down the street from you in Auburn. I know you seen my Z rolling around, its got the big whale tail spoiler on it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devil_S30 Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 Really? We live so close! haha I'd love to see both of your guy's car in real life Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted April 13, 2012 Author Share Posted April 13, 2012 Maybe when it's finished haha. Finished preparing what I think is the last piece for the front, the steering rack clamps. MSA forgot to ship my steering rack boots, so once those come in I can put everything together. Will have to source a steering rack grease resevoir from somewhere... Started preping the rear, but found one side doesn't spin as easily as the other. I'm hoping that it just needs to be warmed up so the grease loosens up. If not since it will be on the car, I can loosen it by using the car as a counter weight since I can't get it to budge otherwise. Oh how I hope I don't have to do the rears . Since they could potentially be coming back off, just coated them in some black paint to prevent rust for the time being. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devil_S30 Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Keep us updated on it. I've been slacking on my thread haha. Wish I was more of a help but I am only 16. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted April 13, 2012 Author Share Posted April 13, 2012 Don't underestimate yourself, you'd be surprsied at what you can do and what doors are still open for you at that age . A little bit of searching yielded the resevoir is actually an expansion resevoir, to hold excess when the steering rack is warm. Looks like some people have just tapped the fitting and placed a pipe fitting. Think I'll try my hand at that a bit. I've always wanted to try my hand at a catch can of some sort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted April 16, 2012 Author Share Posted April 16, 2012 Ended up marring my fender with my air hose, so it gives me an excuse to redo the fenders and order some fender mirrors . Wasn't sure if I wanted to do the hubs myself, but I took the plunge. Just need anti-brake squeal grease for the pads tomorrow and I can start remounting the front! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted April 18, 2012 Author Share Posted April 18, 2012 Got anti squeal, which meant the calipers could go on. I forgot to keep the hardline from my cores, which meant I had to bend my own. Took me 3 tries, and 6 additional flares with my awesome ridgid double flaring tools, but at the end success! Looks like my 555 ball joint didn't come with a zerk fitting, so I'll be off to harborfreight to purchase those and a grease gun. Waiting for my next paycheck to order fender mirrors and look into door locks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted April 22, 2012 Author Share Posted April 22, 2012 Well things really got into a groove and I didn't get a chance to take pictures. I had trouble tightening the ball joint to the knuckle as it was just so awkward to grab. Considered buying a vice, when the guy at the store suggested I just use a regular C clamp and a desk. Clamped the LCA to the desk then jammed the knuckle against the clamp and 45lbs was no problem. Struts, Crossmember, Sway bar, and LCA: A friend came over today and helped me hang my suspension. Thank you all for those who offered, but the timing just worked out that he was free and I had everything ready . Cross member went in first, followed by the FLCA. Then the strut assembly was put in. We found the strut kept spinning when tightening the strut top lock nut, but a strap wrench quickly solved that without any damage to the strut. After trying to line the LCA to the strut, we ended up taking the LCA out, attaching it to the strut, then attaching the LCA to the cross member. Next we tried fitting the front sway bar. I have the 1 inch MSA front sway bar, but no matter how we tried, the sway bar wouldn't mount to the LCA. Does the car just have to be on the ground for this? Or do you have to shorten or remove something from the end link? After spending an hour or so trying to get the LCA to straighten out, we found that there just wasn't enough weight to compress the suspension, so put that on hold. Steering Rack: We then moved onto the steering rack. So like most I had knocked off my grease resevoir. On a 240z, the grease resevoir is a M9 size thread. As that is almost impossible to find, I had seen a variety of methods, but I just jammed a M10 Zerk fitting in there. If it leaks I'll just seal around it, really bad form, but it works for now . I had been told my boots were toast and had to be replaced, so I had ordered a set. The aftermarket set we ordered from MSA is a universal type, where you trim the ends to meet your needs. I trimmed off 2 rings, which resulted in quite a bit of a gap. I highly recommend trimming off one ring then test fitting! We managed to tighten down the boots as best as possible, when I noticed the stock boots looked to be in decent shape, just dirty...Well I guess I have replacements. The steering rack bushings really were giving us a hard time, so I boiled some water and placed the bushings in a bowl, what a difference that made! Steering rack went in with very little drama. Then went in the tie rod ends. Still need to adjust the toe, but pretty good for now. (you can see the defeated sway bar lol) Hopefully will get started on the rear, the studs from the nissan van don't want to be pulled in for some reason. I'm going to go and borrow a 200 lb impact gun tomorrow and see if that won't convince it. Stay tuned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbs70z Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 She's coming along nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted April 23, 2012 Author Share Posted April 23, 2012 That she is . So The fenders have been beaten on just hanging around, and I noticed in the darker light that the white wasn't quite as thick as I wanted it. So I wet sanded some of the rough areas and applied a thick coat to sand down later. The passenger side is just too far gone, it had a central crease combined with some weird wavy bits, so just paint for now and add finding a better fender to the future list. Decided to stick with my color scheme... Gold LCA's front and rear and... Silver supporting bits. Put in my rear disc brake bracket today as well. Will have to go pick up some pads for the calipers in the near future. Hopefully can get time to put the rear suspension back in this week, followed by installing the fuel cell and fuel/brake lines. I have this sneaking suspicion that the rear sway bar may end up hitting the fuel cell container and I'll have to forgo it at that point until I can remake the fuel cell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted April 24, 2012 Author Share Posted April 24, 2012 So there is a strange order to all this. First I'd like the suspension in so I can mount the brakes. I'd like the brakes mounted so I can route the line. I'd also like the fuel box in so I can route the fuel line. Some where in all this I will have to install my differential, or else I'll have to try and slot my diff into the mustache bar, which could be quite an ordeal. So I decided that having the diff all ready for when it is needed would be a good idea. I pulled all the parts I will need from the 280z rear end I took a while back, and removed the half shafts and the oil vent thingy. Then I opened up the 200sx turbo diff, double checked to make sure and it has 37:9 stamped on the gear so indeed a 4.11. Cleaned it up some and started welding. And there we are a welded 4.11. we'll have to see how this all works out. If it turns out the ratio is too high, I always have the mystery R200 or the 3.54 R200 to fall back on, until I source a different drive line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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