Zed Head

We're all agreeing on the principles. The rest is a matter of degree. I don't remember what the eight possible contact surfaces looked like when I took mine apart. The nature of the driving before disassembly would play a part also. Might start searching images to see what's been captured unintentionally. Maybe somebody has some parts apart right now?

People have said that you can remove the clutch fork pivot pin and run a longer bolt in the hole to push the cover off. Sounds sensible. The front cover has the same problem as the front housing, it's essentially glued on. EuroDat/Chas has compiled a parts list out there somewhere, I believe. Worth a search. The bearing part number will be there.

I sent a message to Greg@TheZStore with a link to this message. They can't help if they don't know. Gonna try oe of those @ things - @Joseph@TheZStore @Joseph@TheZStore siteunseen likes this Like t

That's a good point. Some PB blaster or solvent might soak in and loosen it up. Don't stick anything between the pieces and try to pry though. That will damage the sealing surface.

Here's an example. The 1978 5 speed instructions will work. Maxima manuals are hard to find. Look in the forums Download area. I'd post a link but the site is turtle slow today.

You really need to get a good set of instructions and keep track of what you're doing or you'll end up with a pile of parts, or extra parts when you're done, or break something. For example, there's a snap ring on the main shaft bearing that has to be removed in order to get the front case (aka bellhousing, not cover, the snap ring is under the cover) off. Doesn't look like you removed it (you didn't mention it, and you mentioned the Torx bolts instead). The instructions will also identify the shafts. The guys here are saying it's easy, but it's not "remove 5 bolts and replace a bearing" easy. It's a "long series of simple steps" easy. The MT chapter of the Factory Service Manual is your best starting place. That looks like the bearing that commonly falls apart. Good luck.

I believe that you're correct, in should never be. But there must be something stopping the control arm from moving back and forth around the hub, or the hub moving inside the arm,because there's rubber there, and rubber compresses. The other piece stopping movement is the locking pin in the hub. Probably why it and the metal around it gets deformed. The locking pin locks the spindle pin in place and the washers and nuts on the spindle pins compress the inner sleeves against the shoulder of the spindle pin. You can draw a line of force through the washers, the sleeves, and the spindle pin, to the locking pin and hub. Easier to imagine without the control arm in place. There must be some metal to metal contact somewhere, at times, either at one of the two inner gaps, or at one of the two spindle pin washers on the outside against the outer edges of the control arm bushing holes. In static conditions the hub and spindle pin become one solid assembly floating/isolated in two pieces of rubber. But loads can compress and elongate the rubber in any direction. Nissan designed a lot of their Z parts to be hanging in rubber space. There are people on Hybridz replacing the spindle pin with 5/8" bolts. I think that I went through this whole thought process before but forgot the details. They get metal to metal contact for sure, easily, if they don't grind a locking slot in the bolt. Then it's just a time-consuming way to make a spindle pin. Anyway, there's just two examples of how to look at these aftermarket parts. What are they supposed to be doing and what will they really do?

I'm only pondering the outer bushing. Actually, you may not even need or want a washer. If you look at how the stock bushing works, the hub casting must rub on the control arm surfaces occasionally,like when you hit the brakes or accelerate. So those two gaps are actually pretty precisely fitted, I would think. Metal on metal, a bearing surface, whenever a forward or backward force is applied. The casting rubs on the arm. Otherwise the rubber centers it. Nissan didn't put anything between the two. Not sure why the aftermarket guys did, except that their design allows sliding back and forth.

The thing about those outer bushings is that they designed those two thin flanges of urethane to take side loads, apparently. Not huge, but still not the best way to do it. In the stock configuration, the rubber bonded to two tubes of metal controls the centering of the arm. It's more than just a material change, the way they work changes also. You could probably cut that outer material completely away and stick a couple of thin washers in there, in its place. You could just look at how it's supposed to work and make it work the way you want it to.

Not positive but I think that Maxima's or trucks had the fill plugs on the driver side. How long is it? Truck boxes are shorter. Nobody's ever confirmed that the various numbers and letters have any meaning. you have to measure and look; ratios, length, speedo bolt position, exhaust hangers, etc. You have two hangers which would be Z, not ZX. Not sure about Maxima or truck though.

Some of the bushings that companies sell are only being sold becuase they can be sold. Is there an advantage to putting hard urethane in the bushing closest to the road? A harder material in a big bushing can stop a lot of deflection but how much does that narrow bushing really buy? Probably transmits a lot of road noise. Just a thought. Nothing wrong with mixing materials.

Forgot to say, the splines of the clutch disc and mainshaft can get gummed up with clutch dust. Vigorous wiggling while pulling will probably make same progress. The sticky and gummed up parts will cause problems during instillation also.

Did you remove the shift lever? And the two little bolts on the bottom that attach to the dust cover? There are two dowels that can get sticky. And the nose of the of the mainshaft can be sticky in the pilot bushing.

Yeah, the block that's in there is accomplishing its intended purpose. And Eiji has what he needs to solve the puzzle. Maybe he has records on 641027. Could be he just worked on it, but didn't build it. Still, very odd that Kelvin either got paperwork for the wrong engine or his engine got swapped. Maybe even at Datsun Spirit, by accident. Someone out there must have the real block. Where's the Crazy Swede (somebody do that @ thing, I don't know how)? You probably could have sold a 6000 mile Datsun Spirit engine for a bit to help fund the RB.

I agree. I sent a message to Datsun Spirit, from that other thread. Just to give the opportunity to respond. I'm sure that zmano would provided the engine number. Somebody from Datsun Spirit needs to answer these questions though. The whole thing puts a damper on future recommendations. If they don't keep those kind of records then we may never know. The engine did have the blocked PCV port, which is a Datsun Spirit thing. Who knows, they might have bought their "ITM"s from the internet and got TIK's instead. California Datsun sells "ITM"s.

Glad you're here but you might have missed the key point we're trying to figure out - Eiji said ITM but the marks on the pistons say TIK. So, if attention to detail is extreme, is there something more to this whole story? How did those TIK's get in there? That might be the key to everything.

I remember some discussions about the topic from the past. I'll dig around. I wonder if anyone has a set of ITM pistons they could examine.

This got overlooked as a possibility for the ITM confusion. Could be that ITM outsources to TIK and TIK quality isn't very good. How many people have bought Timken for their reputation then opened the box to find National brand?

Yep, you're on the new owner of old car path. Expect more. Study up on ignition modules.

I was kidding, of course. I feel a little bad that the spot-light is now on Datsun Spirit, who has a generally excellent reputation. I did mean my comment though about change there being possible. Shops get big and busy, they hire new people and give them responsibility, and things happen. Could be an honest mistake. You've done more than enough and it was a good cautionary note for everyone. With grannyknot's recent selling issue and this, and past CaliforniaDatsun problems, it shows that you have to look out. I might send a message to the guy in that other thread (Richie, apparently), with a link to this one, just to give them a chance to address the issue. Maybe Diseazd or Carl Beck has a view. Still think that there are written records out there somewhere. You wouldn't have them though, the other guys would.

Thanks for the entertainment anyway. I wonder if things aren't slipping a little at Datsun Spirit. A fairly short while ago it looked like somebody else was taking over operations. Maybe they're cutting costs and milking the reputation. The guy never replied to my question.

And, the head has been replaced. Could be the whole engine was swapped at the shop that did that work. Might not be the engine Kelvin bought. He might have been ripped off and didn't even know it.

Working from memory is not the best way to solve these kinds of problems. Datsun Spirit or Kelvin must have some sort of written record. Just because typed the words in to an eBay ad doesn't mean they happened. Does nobody have a simple part number from a receipt or estimate or build sheet? Was the engine shipped or installed in the car? Did more than one engine ever sit in the same place? Does Datsun Spirit do simple repair work besides builds? Less emotion, more fact-finding is the way to go. These are all unfounded accusations until somebody shows some proper documentation.

Still wondering how the ring fragments got past the skirt tops. There's no path. Pistons aren't ITM. Where'd they come from? Does Datsun Spirit keep records of the block serial numbers? Each one is unique. Might offer a clue. In the long run, doesn't matter much to zmano. It does leave open questions about the other two parties though. Hate to say.

Maybe monkey motion refers to what happens to the shifter in second gear. Never did understand why they called it that.