Captain Obvious

I would never put paint on a precision machined surface that is supposed to be a metal-to metal mounting, clamping, or reference point. Might just be me, but a couple molecule thick layer of plating is all I would be comfortable with.

Wow. Neat find. I looked over the info at the website, and all indications are that it (supposedly) will work. Only thing that looks like a little hokey to me is that there won't be a full surface contact area for the clips. Because of the way the yoke is machined off at an angle like that, only the "tips of the legs" of the clips will be doing any retention. the bottom "U" portion of the clips will be floating in air. Assuming I'm understanding the geometry correctly...

I simply cannot believe they would have used 5/16 - 20. Sometimes an assembly trick is to make the two ends different so you cannot put something together wrong. But in that case, you don't make them just slightly different... You make them significantly different. I gotta believe they are (supposed to be) M8 x 1.25 on both ends. Do you have a 5/16 - 20 die that DOES fit? I've seen stuff where the threads are stretched either from overtorque or years of differential rates of thermal expansion. Or maybe there's aluminum residue galled into the threads? Or maybe threadlock compound? Or maybe the crests are rounded over as an anti-vibration retention technique? Just tossing out ideas. Have you looked closely at the threads with magnification?

Good. I was wondering how you were doing. Looking forward to the pics.

Sheesh. 70kmh is a walk in the park. So... Which vehicle got hit? Something really nice, or something so-so?

Well I have great faith in you that if you really wanted that old U-joint out of the shaft, you could accomplish that task. Complete confidence. So a question for the collective... On the driveshaft's with the staked in U-joints. If you DO manage to get the old U-joint out, are new replacements available?

Woof. Let's hope this isn't a trend. Hope everyone is OK!! My first Z was totaled on the highway at the hands of a eighteen wheeler. I (unbelievably) walked away without a scratch, but I didn't sleep well for a long time. Every time I closed my eyes, I replayed the accident in my mind. I don't think there was any direct physical injury as a result of the accident, but there were latent muscle cramps all over that I believe were stress induced. The other guys insurance was quite interested in settling as well. It requires hand gestures and such, but someone remind me at Zcon and I'll go through the whole accident description. It's quite entertaining (now).

Actually, I believe he and I are saying the exact same thing. I think we are both recommending using poly on the compression side. If I'm understanding his info correctly, the confusion may come from differences between the suspension geometries of the 510 and the Z? I'm not a 510 guy, but it sounds like the 510 T/C rods run the opposite direction to those on the Z? But I believe we are both saying the same thing?

Yup. Easy peasy. Just like the spindle pin. Sounds like you just need stronger fingers. What could possibly go wrong... go wrong... go wrong... Haha! Glad you got it out.

Oy. How bout them E-A-G-L-E-S!!!!! Captain Out.

Well I sure hope that you are not over and out, but the above exchange unfortunately reinforces why you've stayed away to date. Sad. Ever read the joke about how many forum members does it take to change a light bulb? Come to Zcon Atlanta in late summer. It's not that far from you and I'd be happy to share tea and stories. I suspect my stories are much less interesting though. They usually involve something stupid I did...

Thankfully there is only a small amount of nit-picking here. Don't think too much of it. I've found this to be a friendly group. Other members of the Datsun/Nissan family are absolutely welcome too! I look forward to hearing more of your input in the future.

And if you already tried your old bearings and had the same issue, I don't think a third (OEM) set is going to render any different results.

No. The rear bearing's "tightness" (preload) should be pretty much independent of the nut torque. And there should never ever be any visible metal to metal contact. I'm clearly grasping at straws here, but I have heard about severe rear wheel bearing failures where the outboard bearing actually seizes and starts spinning the outer race inside the strut housing. When this happens, the bore where the bearing is supposed to be a tight fit is all wallowed out and the bearing flops around in there instead of being properly located. And if it's wallowed out enough, the dust shield might make contact where it isn't supposed to? With that in mind, what happens if you just drop an outboard bearing into the hole in the strut housing? Does it fall all the way to the bottom of the hole and rattle around down there, or does it require force to get it into place? Can you please post a pic of where the interference is happening? A pic of the two parts that are making contact? Also another WAG... I know you have the outboard bearing on the stub axle correctly, but is it possible to put the stub axle in backwards? In other words... If the outside diameter of both bearings is the same, you could actually put the entire stub axle in backwards? You know which side is supposed to get the wheel, right? No offence intended... It's a calling.

Pedantic, I know, but ... Only the yellow needs to be the same measurement on the outside bearing. The ratio between race length and extended flange length won't affect the final location of the mating surfaces. As long as the total comes up to the same total width, the flange could be 90% of the width and a tiny thin "bearing" portion could make up the other 10%. The mating faces would still be in the correct locations. It would be the wrong bearing for the application. but it would "work". Haha! I'll tune the OCD down now.

That difference in thickness doesn't make any difference with respect to the problem you're having. Just larger balls in one bearing. From an outside "user" standpoint, doesn't change any of the external geometry.

It's Labatt's 240260280.

Yes, the front bushing would (typically) be in compression, but I'm not sure that means it would make sense to put the rubber in the front. The general belief (as I understand it) is that with the poly up front, you get the better handling benefits of the poly. but the softer rubber bushing in the rear gives the rod some compliance to pivot at that rear mounting point as the wheel goes up and down (when the suspension compresses and extends). From the standpoint of not wanting to damage the rod, it doesn't matter which side gets poly and which side gets rubber. But to take advantage of the handling characteristics of the poly bushings, you want the poly up front. And of course, the problem with putting the hard poly on both front and rear is that when the rod tries to pivot to change angle, the stiff poly resists the change and over-stresses the rod. I'm not a suspension guy, but that's my interpretation.

Well those outer bearings are definitely installed correctly. It's normal for the flange to be drawn towards the backing plate as you tighten the nut, but it's not normal for it to be drawn in so far that it rubs against anything. Are your housings crusty rusty? What are the chances that you have a big ol' rust blob built up on the outside lip of the housing that's getting in the way? I know... about zero percent chance, but other than that, without seeing the involved parts, I got no idea. Can you take a pic of it together and highlight where the rubbing is occurring? What year are you working on? From what I recall, the early years sometimes had a bronze washer installed on the stub shafts that was supposed to help "with noise", but nobody is really sure what it was supposed to do. I also believe that said washer was supposed to be installed on the inboard side, but the documentation is sketchy.

@motorman7, I think they're trolling you with the San Diego listing. You might be honored?

It's a scam. That same car was on Chambersburg PA and Fargo ND last week. Both of those listings have since been flagged: https://chambersburg.craigslist.org/cto/d/1972-datsun-240z/6477688958.html https://fargo.craigslist.org/cto/d/1972-datsun-240z/6478312109.html Someone is playing games. I think they're trolling some of the forum collector folks here like @cbuczesk. I mean... Who in their right mind would advertise something like in that area of PA unless they wanted Chucks attention?

Don't sell yourself short. I don't see anything in those pics that I wouldn't want to own myself. Even in current condition. Thanks for sharing!

That's pretty cool. It's clear that you've done that sort of work before. How about the dash? You going to make a replacement shell for that too? Unscrew the original cracked dried out shrunken foam fascia and replace with a fiberglass version?

Wow... Something is definitely screwy. So where is the rubbing occurring? Inboard or outboard side? In other words... Inside where the stub axle bolts up, or outside where the wheel mounts? Are you double dog sure you got that outboard bearing (the one with the flange on the inner race) installed in the correct direction? The way to adjust the preload is by using a different length distance piece. When the whole thing is tightened up, there should be no axial play between any of the parts. If you can "knock out the stub assembly back outwards with a drift" then I second (or third?) the guess that the outboard bearing is in backwards.

Very nice! Beautiful cars. Transgression completely forgiven! Welcome to the forum.