Jeff G 78

About 14 years ago, I sent my plugged injectors in to Marren Fuel Injection for cleaning. They tried to refurbish them, but called to say that they were beyond repair. They informed me that if I wanted, they would sell me a set of flow matched injectors. I can't remember the exact cost, but it was around $60 a piece. I agreed and they said it would be a week to get them in. A week later, they called me and told me that my injectors were ready to ship and that they had a hell of a time with them. They said that they had to order something like 36 injectors to find six within the proper flow range. They said that they couldn't believe how far off spec most of them were. In the end, I paid $360 for a set of injectors, but I know that they are all within spec. BTW, the injectors were made by Ram which is a very common brand. I'm sure you can find cheap injectors from Ebay or any number of other sources, but unless quality has improved a lot, you might be better off buying them from a real injector supplier that flow matches them prior to shipping.

Fixed back race seats can be made to fit without any additional height, but with a cage, even that is too tall. With a cage, the seat needs to be lowered which requires cutting the catalyst hump from the tunnel and lowering the seat. I have a Sparco seat in my 260 on the stock sliders and I have plenty of room to the roof itself. I plan to do some cutting and swap to a Momo seat on Momo sliders to get down below the halo bars.

Yep, rear drums are functionally just as good if (and only if) properly adjusted and they are harder to maintain than discs. The drums tend to corrode onto the hubs and getting to the bleed ports is harder than on the discs. Do it for looks and future time savings if you wish, but don't do it for better braking performance.

The old OE Tercel flush mount mirrors look better IMHO, but I doubt they are easy to find any more. They mount the same as the MSA mirrors, but they are shaped a bit better and are higher quality than the MSA reproduction Sentra ones.

Looks great Steve. How is the flare done on the tube? Is that a washer welded to the tube and ground smooth, or is it something else?

There are lots of reviews on here about those mirrors. In general, the quality is so-so and the tend to vibrate. I thought about them a few years ago, but I decided against them after the reported issues with them.

I have always wondered if the lock wedge serves any purpose at all. The nuts at each end hold the pin from moving lengthwise and I don't see the harm in allowing it to rotate as long as the nuts are installed with threadlock. One of two thins will happen It will either continue to rotate and will likely never get stuck again, or it will soon find a spot it likes and stay put just like the wedge would have done. When I installed new pins in my '78, I did install the wedge, but I was tempted to leave it out and simply RTV the holes closed to prevent moisture from entering the knuckle.

Yep, great deals. I've been using them for years as well.

Steve, just thinking out loud here, but have you tried to reinstall the pin with the puller rod still attached and use the wedge bolt to hold it tight while you remove the rod via double nutting it?

Thanks for the update Fergus. I have never met Victor other than through this forum, but it still feels like a close friend is in need.

Steve, be sure to upload pics of your latest puller when you get a chance. Thanks.

OMG... Weems Lettering Guide! I haven't heard that term in 25 years. That said, I still have one and just saw it when I was fishing around in my old drafting supplies to find pencils and triangles to make my first puller drawing. . For those young guys who have no idea what we are talking about, here is a lettering guide. I just looked and mine is an Ames. BTW Guy, No, I didn't use it. I did it freehand.

I am very familiar with the "rifle shot" sound. In one of my posts above I describe the pin movement exactly as a rifle shot. It scared the crap out of us the first time we heard it. We were in a fairly small room that held the lathes, mills, and presses and the "rifle shot" echoed off the concrete block walls. I think I will drill and tap both ends as well. That's a good idea and will make it easier to finish the job if a pin does break. Stopping in the middle of the extraction to drill out the broken pin doesn't sound like fun.

If anyone hears from him, please let us know how he's doing.

Thanks for the info Steve. What type of threads did you go with on the stud (all-thread) and what pitch? What type of thrust bearing are you using? As for the big wrench needed, I thought about taking a cheap black oxide 1-1/2" (1-5/8" for acme) socket and cutting it in half to remove the square drive so it can slide over the 1" all-thread. The socket could then be made into a jumbo wing nut with some spare steel and some welding. It would be cheaper than a wrench and, if designed right, would be easier to use. Please post the pics of your new puller when you can.

Thanks Lee. Let me know what kind of feedback you get from ZCOT members. A cross-drilled hole would be a simple add to install/remove the rod from the spindle pin. Depending on the amount of space left beyond the nut once the tool is attached, the hole location might be best at the far right end as you look at the drawing. That way, the rod could be installed/removed with or without the pipe in place and the hole could be used to hang the tool on the wall for storage.

OKAY, This drawing is a wee bit better. It's NOT a proper drawing since I decide to mix sections and plan view for clarity. Let me know if you have any suggestions on my drafting techniques. It's been a LONG time since I last did a proper drawing. I did the drawing in AutoCAD 2000 (old school), printed it and scanned it as a picture. If anybody wants the CAD file, let me know.

Hey Cap'n. If you go to McMaster and search "acme" you will see the threaded rods. The one I chose is the alloy ASTM A193 Grade B7 which is a chromoly 4140 quenched and tempered to a 4142. So yes, it is hardened and yes, it can still be machined. For now, I will buy just a 1"-10 x 12" rod as well as the same thing in a standard thread 1"-14 x 12" which is the same material spec as the acme rod. It certainly won't machine like a low carbon steel rod, but my buddy says it will do fine.

I asked my friend and he said that 4142 machines fairly well with lots of cutting oil. I'll post some links to the couplers in a bit. I'm playing with Autocad right now.

Zombie thread alert! Welcome Datsun Clark. Z cars work fine for tall people as long as you don't try to cage and race them. For the street, all is good.

I'll ask my buddy at work how hard it would be to drill and tap the rod. He does a ton of machining, so he'll know. After looking at the pipe fittings again, I *might* be able to keep the rod a full 1" diameter and grind a flat into the 1" pipe coupler to clear the LCA flange. The 1" coupler has an O.D of 1.77" and the LCA flange can handle 1.5", so it might just work without adding extra machining to the rod. I'll buy a coupler and experiment before I turn the rod down to 3/4". Yes, the 1" iron pipe will slip over the 1" all-thread. I have tried it with 3/4" rod in a 3/4" pipe and it fits fine. I will not be using thrust washers. I will be using a thrust bearing. The Z bearing holds up the corner of the car, so it should work fine. I agree that a thrust washer would not work nearly as well. All 1" hex nuts are 1-1/2" across the flats from what I can tell, so yes, I'd need a 1-1/2" box end wrench of a big adjustable wrench. I'll check around and see what I can find. I really don't like giving HF any of my money. EDIT: I just rechecked and the acme hex nut is actually 1-5/8" across the flats. I guess I might need the jumbo wrench set after all since the standard threaded nut is a 1-1/2". I just looked at the dimensions of another type of coupling and it is only 1.58" O.D which might just fit under the LCA flange. I think we solved the issue and the rod will no longer need to be machined down to 3/4".

The 1-1/2" wrench would need to fit the nut, not the rod. I'm not sure you could get enough strength without distorting the nut if you welded long arms to it. They do sell large wing nuts, but only in 1"-6 pitch and they are expensive. I found jumbo wrench sets at Harbor Freight for about $45. They might also have them individually in the store??? I HATE Harbor Freight, but how bad can a giant box end wrench be? A large adjustable wrench could also be used. I priced everything needed for the puller at McMaster-Carr. For the standard thread tool, the rod, nut, and washer is $17 and some change. Add a 1" black steel nipple, a 1"x3/4" reducing coupling, and a 1" coupling and the total material cost would be around $25-$30. I am going to ask a friend to let me use his lathe to make the prototypes, so there should be no additional labor for my trial tools. The acme thread puller will be about $45-$50 total. I plan to use an old spare strut bearing, so that too is free for the trial puller. Once everything is proven-out, I would need to procure some sort of thrust bearing for those who don't have a stash of spare Z parts laying around. I only have a few bearings handy, but I might have more somewhere in storage. I did check the specs on the 1"x3/4" reducing coupling and the 3/4" long machined area of the rod should work fine. The coupling is only .55" long for the small end. What am I missing??? EDIT: McMaster has a thrust bearing for about $20. Ideally this would only be needed for those who couldn't find a free strut bearing.

Wow, it's been close to 20 years since I put pencil to paper and back then, I had a drafting machine. Tonight, I just have a few triangles and an engineering scale to work with, but I'm slowly getting a drawing put together. I'll try to get enough done tonight to post something, but NO LAUGHING at my work. :stupid: Here is the all-thread drawing. I will try to do the pipe, fittings and bearing tomorrow night. BTW, I might need to increase the length of the 3/4" diameter section of the all-thread after I measure the dimensions of a 1"x3/4" reducer.

Lee, Necking down the all-thread would work as long as it had a smooth transition between the 3/4" and 1" sections. Otherwise, it will have a stress riser and fail. You could then use a 1" steel pipe with a 1"x3/4" reducer to go against the bushing. The drilled and threaded end of the all-thread should also have a chamfer leading into the threads to match the chamfer of the spindle pin where the threads meet the shaft. At the nut end of the pipe, another 1" coupler could be used to ride against the thrust bearing. I took a few measurements tonight and the O.D. of the 3/4" coupler (or small end of the 1"x3/4" reducer) is ~1.5" and it is about the perfect diameter for the LCA bushing. The I.D. of a S30 front strut top bearing is a bit over 1", so that would work great for the 1" all-thread to pass through. I think we are getting really close to having the best possible tool. Using an acme thread *might* improve the tool, but it might make it less efficient due to the course threads. I can buy 1"-10 acme or a 1"-14 standard thread. The acme rod and nuts are about twice the cost of the standard threaded rod and nuts. I think I will go forward with the tool using this design. I might buy 12" of each type of rod and do an A to B test. By testing both thread types of exactly the same tool design, we can answer the thread question once and for all. If I get REALLY ambitious, I might try to remember how to use CATIA and make a CAD drawing of the tool. In the mean time, I'll draw it by hand tonight and post it as a picture. It will be crude and 2D, but will be much quicker than me trying to use CATIA for the first time in about six years. Even back then I was a complete novice user.

You can rent a hoist from any tool rental place for a few bucks or buy a used one off CL and resell it when you finish for the same amount of money. I see them all the time for $100 - $150 used.