LanceM

Well it's been decided, I had to try but that piston won't come out. Drilled and tapped and busted off a screw using a slide hammer trying to get it out! Never had that much trouble pulling door locks, oops I mean dents out! Time for a new one, well I had to try! Thanks again, Lance

I would only cut back until I had good metal, find a doner, cut to fit, flange, weld. If you are looking to remove the whole quarter you will have to drill out all of the spot welds holding the pannel on and make a cut somewhere behind the roof gutter.

I just saw a tank for sale on line in the last day or two but I'll be dogged if I can find it now. Good ones are still out there. Lance

You could try leaving the cam in place and moving the towers as a set. Bolt them in place and see if the cam turns freely or if it binds. Probably not the best way to do it though... Taking the towers off a head and then putting them back on the same head is one thing, moving them to another I would think that they would need to be line bored. Just my $.02

Thanks for all of the replys. I have it soaking right now and when I get home tonight I'm going to try one more time. If I can't blow it out then I'll try drilling and tapping and pulling it out. The bore that is exposed is perfect, no scores or marks and I believe the piston is stuck with dried gunk. I figure I've got nothing to loose, if I wreck it taking it apart I was going to have to get a new one anyway. Rick I'll get back to you on that rebuilt unit if things don't go well tonight! Thanks, Lance

What comes in one? do you get new pistons or just seals and springs? I can't get my front piston out, may be just crud but it won't blow out. I figure I can drill and tap a hole in the end and pull it but if new ones don't come with the kit it's time for a new master cylinder. I'm hoping that someone has been there done that and can tell me what comes in the kit or another way to get the piston out. Looking forward to any hints, Lance

Did some looking on line and have found rebuild kits and pistons (pucks ), new pistons are only $6 a piece so I won't even bother messing with the old ones. I find it interesting that a rebuilt caliper is about $26, a new piston is $6 and the rebuild kit is $4 for 2, pin kit is $6. I can rebuild both of mine for what one would cost and have beer money left over! Thanks for your replys guys!

Right, but the rust is the other way around, or should I say at the other end, the exposed end. Fully compressed I don't think the rust will touch the o-ring, the puck is like new from 1/8" in from the outside to the inside. Batteries are dead in the camera or I'd take a picture. Anyway I don't believe that rust will touch the inner O-ring from fully compressed to fully extended, if it does touch fully compressed it will only be during installation as the puck should move out enough after first use to be past it. Another question, are these rebuild parts available at the dealer or is there another source? I've been out of needing Datsun parts for 14 years I ordered a MSA catalog last week but they still haven't charged my card, are they usually slow on getting catalogs out??

Too weird to be true!!! Glad to hear that it's back together and ready to roll!!! If all fixes could be so simple, and less difficalt to find!!

My 240 has been setting for 14 years, it had new brakes when it was put away. I've taken off the calipers and have popped the pucks out after a little work. They were pretty much fully compressed when on the car but rusted to the caliper a bit in front of the inner o-ring. No rust in the body or on the puck other than the outer 1/8". My question is after cleaning should these be OK to rebuild? I'd rather rebuild these than buy rebuilts. I've had bad experiances buying rebuilt parts for old cars, you just never know how many times they were rebuilt, and I can't afford new at this time. I'm figuring that since the rust is in front of the inner O-ring this won't affect anything once it's cleaned up. Am I right or greatly mistaken??? Lance

Ok, so the mounting points are correct and not the problem, brake worked before and didn't rub on the rotor. You had the rotors turned, did you replace the bearings and races or are the original ones being used? (this may have been posted before but I want to be sure) In either case you must have replaced the seal, is it the correct one? If the ID of the seal is too small it will be butting up to but not going over the seal area of the spindle, everything would appear to tighten down correctly but the rotor would be spaced out. Did you put the seal in the right way? (searching for clues here) the open side of the seal should go towards the grease you want to keep in. Last as was mentioned before, if you replaced the races and the inner one wasnt seated fully this would cause the problem too. I don't think you bent anything, the wrench or wheel would have broken first.

Yep I remember now, no gear, well it's been awhile and a lot of other cars since

My guess is to keep it from rotating under high steering loads, but why in just one direction I don't know...

Taking it out is easy, getting it back in right is the hard part. Assuming that it is the same as the L24 engine, take the cap off and mark where the rotor is pointed on the body with a marker, this will help putting it back on. Remove the two bolts holding the distributor, they are under the distributor, feel around you will find them. Pull the distributor out. Putting it back in is a little trickier, when you reinstall it you will have to offset the rotor a bit so when the gears mesh it returns to your mark, keep trying until you get it. Unless you want a lot of extra work don't turn the engine over while the distributor is out! Lance

I'm baseing my theory from my experiance with my '73 240 so this may not apply. Between the tank and the mechanial pump is an electric pump with a filter, it is mounted on the passengers side right in front of the tank. It has a filter in it, if this filter clogs nothing will get through. Pull the right rear tire and you will see it, bypass it and see if your problem goes away.

That is some thick steel! must have be damage from a wreck in the past! Dropping it on the floor wouldn't have done that. Surely you must see where the rotor was rubbing on the old caliper?? I guess I just wonder how it ever worked?? I wouldn't bother trying to bend them back, that would only weaken the steel more. Sounds to me like time for a new strut housing. If it's a DD I'd hate to think what would happen if the caliper broke loose on a hard breaking situation and went for a ride on the rotor till the break line ripped loose! Either that or washer time. I have to ask, are you really sure they are bent?? Just looked at mine, you should be able to lay a straight edge across the back of the top ear it is flat and long enough to check. Thinking more about it, if it is bent then putting a washer there would space out the caliper but it would be crooked compaired to the rotor, leading to some poor breaking and bizzar pad wear I would think. I understand the need to get it back on the road but IMHO I would get it fixed right, either by having someone build it up with weld and machining it flat or by replacing the strut housing. Not being able to drive it is one thing, not being able to stop it is another! Lance

2Many, I think he is looking to put a washer between the caliper and the mounting ears on the strut to move the caliper outwards. Doing nothing to the rotor, leaving it original and correctly mounted. Just trying to clarify what I'm seeing as the problem, I may be wrong. Lance

Sorry for the double post, back button got me! Since the old one doesn't fit right either now I would think that there must have been a spacer or washers there before that have become "lost" in moving things around. I have mine apart right now and you can see a match in the contact areas between the caliper and the strut mounting area (no rust). Are the contact areas on the strut the same size as the flats on the caliper? or are they larger or smaller? This might give you an idea if washers were used before. My mounting bolts only have a lock washer on them, do yours by chance have both a lock and a flat? Maybe when you took it apart you "dropped" a flat and thinking it came off the bolt put it on where you would expect it to be, backing the lock washer when in reality it is a spacer! Just a guess. Lance

If you do go the washer route be sure to use hardened washers, regular steel washers will crush over time in an application like that allowing the caliper to come loose.

If you do go the washer route be sure to use hardened washers, regular steel washers will crush over time in an application like that allowing the caliper to come loose.

I hadn't thought about all of the rubber hoses, add that to the list. Fuel tank I'll take to a local place to have it cleaned and sealed, went through that rust crap with my antique tractor and I'm not about to be cleaning 3 carbs every time I hit a bump! I figured on rebuilding/replacing all of the break componets that are probably rusted inside, calipers, slaves. I just hope the gunk hasn't plugged the lines as I don't want to have to go and replace all of them. Rust isn't a problem as after I got it the only snow it saw was through a window and during the teardown all of the pannels came off and were rust proofed, underside heavly undercoated, gained some weight but it is still as solid as when I bought it, even back then rust was killing Z's and it wasn't going to happen to mine! It's a '73 240Z, mfg date of 11/72, I bought it in 79 before I got out of the service and brought it home with me, only had 50K on it when I bought it, has 116k actual miles on it now. Ha I'm driving a 91 jimmy with 185K on it right now! The engine rebuild has about 16K on it. When I rebuilt it I had the head ported, tripple webbers, header, turbo exhaust, and long track cam installed, along with an aluminum flywheel. Suspension got heavy sway bars, Koni shocks, short stearing arms, hard bushings everywhere and all the other trick stuff. Always called it my street legal go-kart cause that's the way it drives! Well thanks guys, if you think of anything else let me know I'm all ears. Lance

Here's the story, bought this car in '80 in Calif one owner, brought it to Indiana and did a complete rebuild on engine and drivetrain, suspension, a friend had it for a year painting it. I got married.... kids came, couldn't afford a new interior and parked it for the winter (a 14 year winter) in the garage. I can afford the interior now but... it's been sitting for 14 years or so... Breaks are rusty, and don't work, clutch doesn't work, fluid evaproated and left some great gunk behind. Gas tank smells like hell's kitchen, the carbs are stuck (tripple webbers), luckly the motor turns and isn't stuck, the oil is clean. Springs are pretty flat, at least I would expect more than 1" of movement. I'm thinking of starting by changing the springs and working the breaks/clutch hydralics, I have new springs, I figure no need having a running engine if I can't stop it. From there go to the fuel system and rebuild the carbs and get things rolling, then go to the interior. I guess I'm looking for any input as to a better order of things to do or maybe something I should look at that isn't on my list because the car has set for so long. Thanks in advance, Lance