Zed Head

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.

So you've driven it? Loose pistons are kind of noisy.

He has the "monkey motion" shifter. Seems like the assumption is that the tail of the transmission is moving up and down. Would be good to confirm that that's the case. On old 240Z's I'd guess that the crossmember mounting points get rusted out sometimes. You might have good parts bolted to a flexy body. Might check the motor mounts also. The trans mount is only meant to handle so much.

I hope the mechanic checked bore size and didn't just assume that STD was correct. There are some breaks in the assumed sequence of events, like the assumption that this is a Datsun Spirit engine. STD of the ITK pistons could be STD for a different engine. Or they are STD for an L28 but the bore isn't STD. Apparently loose pistons can slap and break. There's a bunch of Jeep forum comments on skirt breakage. Whatever the cause, the dimensions should be checked before reassembly. I don't see any numbers in previous posts.

Those wrist pins don't look in very good shape either. Not 5000 miles of wear. Overall, it looks like a set of used high-mile pistons. Maybe the skirts and ring lands got damaged/cracked when the pistons were removed from the old engine.

I should say though, that even with heat and PB Blaster, I still broke one. That's why the nut-buster/cracker sounds like a good idea. Same reason I go directly to Vise-Grips on the brake fittings. Shifting the odds.

I used MAPP but if I had oxy-acetylene I would have used it. It's a lot faster and more concentrated.

Do you have clear title?