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My '76 710 Goon


datzenmike

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The tie rods are definitely tilted up to the outsides and need to come down.

struts%20bump%20steer%20001.jpg
 
Run the car up on boards to level the driveway and was able to get a measurement of about 10mm so over 8" so as the tie rod is about 12" long add another 50%... say 15mm, so 1/2" of bump spacer should be close.
 
While up I took the calipers off and checked that they are free to slide side to side. They are.
 
Could not find any evidence that the calipers will ever come near the steering knuckle, but will check again when I put the bump steer spacers in.
 
Car still pulls slightly left on hard stops. Going to check the tension rod bushings.

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Added bump steer spacers, all went well. The toe in was almost a foot over 37.5 feet. Eight inches is about one degree of arc. I have the toe down to 2 " so 1/4 degree. Anyway it rides straight. Steering wheel has to come off and be centered.

 

struts%20bump%20steer%20004.jpg

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I looked and could not find the caliper anywhere near the steering knuckle, so either I am not understanding the problem others have or this Maxima caliper doesn't have this problem.

 

Still pulls slightly left so will take a really good look at the tension rod. Something is amiss, not dangerously so but odd.

 

 

I put spare mag rims on and stretched about 40' of string out to the front, lining the string to the rim edges. Measured the distance between the string at the bumper and out at the ends. The ends were 2" closer so by my math about 1/4 degree tow in. It went quite well.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Raised the rear and cut the old muffler off. It was so thin a backfire last winter popped the front out and it was leaking, badly. Has a nice tone for going to work but I will be travailing in it for 10-14 hours on holidays this summer. Loud exhausts tire you out sooner.

 

So I have a new muffler I bought at a yard sale $5. Cut a bend off a spare chunk of pipe I had so the outlet points downward under the axle. Got to use my welder. Bought a muffler clamp for $3 and because this muffler is slightly larger around, longer bolt  ($2) for the strap to tighten the heat shield on.

 

Two and a quarter inch inlet and outlet, o/d. The old exhaust pipe fit over the muffler inlet, but this one, the muffler fits over the exhaust pipe so the original was 1 3/4"  diameter. Sounds great. Slight thumb thumb thumb at warm idle but quieter when revved. No tail pipe.

 

Checked the differential oil.

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

Car still pulls slightly left on hard stops. Going to check the tension rod bushings.

 

 

And the brakes? 

 

 

 

Still pulls slightly left so will take a really good look at the tension rod. Something is amiss, not dangerously so but odd.

 

Lot of rain but finally got to work on the left pull when braking. Jumped up and down on the right side bumper ... stiff as fuck. Jumped on the left side and it compresses easily. That ain't right.

 

Pulled the strut out and disassembled it. I have the original oil bath dampers and when the spring was off the strut rod was extremely hard to pull out and would fall back in of it's own weight. Removed the compression valve on the bottom and there's something wrong with it. Disassembled a spare 710 damper and the Maxima one is broken...

 

struts%20bump%20steer%20005.jpg

 

See those cracks? Center hole out to all the little ones? I wonder if the strut ever bottomed out?

 

 

So I stripped the valves from the 710 strut and put them on the Maxima one. All I had was ATF but equal pulling or pushing. A but soft for my liking, so I'll have to go to the bike shop for the 20W oil.

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Replacement inserts are generic compression/rebound settings for a wide variety of different cars and weights. They are not bought specifically for a z car or a 710. Sort of like a cheap one size fits all muffler from NAPA.

 

I was using what I had originally. Just adding thicker oil. If this fixes the problem the cost is zero and some new oil.

 

Only noticed the slight pull this winter early in the new year. Haven't jumped the car, didn't hit anything, but that valve sure looks punched.

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OK replaced both upper and lower valves with spares. Refilled with new oil and... disappointed with results. Compression and expansion resistance but weak and there is a 2" movement up or down before there is resistance.

 

Replaced both valves again and bingo. Firm resistance. Assembled the strut and installed in the car. Just have to reset the split collar height. When I first did this I MIG'd a small tack on the strut just below the split collar so it would be impossible to slip downward. All I have to do is compress the spring upward and tighten the split ring. .... and tack it again.

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Yeah learned a small bit about the valving on these struts. I don't have anything against inserts just always had trucks with shocks. Years ago a friend told me about the Nissan oil bath struts (they all were I think) and how you can increase the firmness with thicker viscosity oils. 

 

I do remember hitting the RR tracks near me years ago and was almost air borne. Came down hard and collapsed the split collar down the strut tube. Tire was rubbing the spring perch. Limped home and re positioned it. That's when I MiG welded a tack just below the split collar so it could never do it again. Maybe the strut bottomed out and did that damage? It was that side too. That was years ago and there was no pull to the left when braking but this winter it started. There was also a vibration like a rotor with high spots on it. All seem to be gone now.

 

Steering seems a little tippy. I did an alignment when I added the bump steer spacers and only set 2-3" in rather than the 5-6" from before. Maybe I'll try adding some toe to the front.

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Years ago a friend told me about the Nissan oil bath struts (they all were I think) 

 

Everything RWD was. They didn't go to permanently sealed struts until early 80s on sedans. late 80s on the Z...

 

 

and how you can increase the firmness with thicker viscosity oils. 

 

40W motorcycle fork oil was the "poor man's Konis" of the 70s. 

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Well the steering was 4" toe out over 25 feet. Adjusted back to toe in 4", which translated to about 1 degree per side or 9mm difference between the back of the rim and the front of the rim measurements.

 

Drives a whole lot better and returns more readily to straight ahead after turning.

 

 

Not sure how this changed. I did have the strut out but

 

 

 

 

And I think I know. My camber is off now on the driver's side. The 710 top hat bolt pattern is offset inwards. I also have Moog camber plates. Bet I have the top hat on the wrong way. Well something for next week.

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Top hat was on wrong, corrected and it's much better. Checked the camber and got about 2.26 degrees and 1.25 - 2.55 is allowed. Re checked the toe using two parallel strings (much easier) Have them as high as the center of the rims and measure in to the rim at the fronts and the backs. Add the two fronts and the two backs. Front should be smaller than the back for toe in and subtract them. I got 6mm and 8 to 11 is the sweet spot. Fuck it for now.

 

Took out on the highway and handles like shit. Checked the tire pressure 15, 23, 20 20. Never goes more than 5 miles at a time and in town, you'd never notice. Aired up and back to new again

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  • 2 months later...

Lasr summer I 'fit' an electric fan to push air through the rad and it works just fine around town or idling. On the level highway even in east Washington in the heat after Canby it just barely got over half way up the 'run range'. However.... in the mountains of BC with a long half hour non stop climb in 4th or 5th, and going with the strong wind, the gauge got withing a needle width or the top of the run range. Now there was still some gauge left above the 'run range' but I consider this over heated. I pulled over and shut the engine off to let the fan catch up.

 

So I got two fans from a Subaru. They fit perfectly top to bottom but can't be mounted side by side as they are wider than my rad. So the pull air one goes on the inside left and amazingly the water pump pulley clears the fan motor by 1/4". The other I wired backwards so it pushes air and mounted it front right and there is maybe 3-4" of overlap. Soldered and used heat shrink tubing and lots of electrical tape. The wires to the left fan I encased in rad over flow tubing just in case. The grill fits!

 

So once fully warmed up, the fans kick on at about 2/3 up the 'run range' for 7-10 seconds and shut off for 30 seconds and repeats. The old single fan ran for about a minute till it shuts off. This is moving a hell of a lot more air.

 

Tomorrow the plan is to climb Mt. Washington's 13% grade and see if the gauge will remain at 2/3. This will be a 3rd of 4th gear pull at high revs for well over a mile then lighter climb then a long 6 or 8%. In all, about 3,800 foot climb

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Didn't go above 3/4 of the 'run range' on the climb up. It did spit out coolant from my recovery bottle from over filling it. Held it at 4k in 5th or just above 80 on the highway and ran at 2/3 which I expect as there is lots of wind pushing in.

 

Did notice this last night when I started it up cold after I installed the rad. The cap was off and there was circulation in the top tank.... a lot. This shouldn't happen when cold as the thermostat should be closed. I suspect that it isn't closing all the way. Here's something else.. on the long, long, long down hill run, foot off the gas, in gear and car easily hitting 75-80, the temp gauge fell off the 'run range' and touched the top of the cold mark. This is the first line the needle gets to after start up. I would think that if the thermostat is working, it would close to keep the engine warm.  If you accept that the thermostat is iffy maybe it isn't opening all the way either. Anyone ever have over cooling?

 

Next is change the thermostat.

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Got a $10 NAPA thermostat and yes indeed it was wide open. It was one of those fail in the open position (whatever that is supposed to accomplish) The regular thermostats if over heated just go back to work after. This one is going on a journey... to the dump.

 

So from dead cold (guessing it's about 70F out) at idle, to touching the lowest line on the gauge was 1.5 minutes. I would guess 3-4 min for the top rad hose to feel any warmth and this was at about the 1/3 into the 'run range'. Holy fuck this is now very fast.

 

 

 

I also put a bottle of CLR in the rad when out and face down with rad cap on and topped up with an equal amount of water. Sat for almost 3 days and no ill effects. Looks cleaner in top tank. Has a 20 amp fuse in the relay circuit... this hasn't blown with an extra fan added and I found several spares in case.     

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  • 2 weeks later...

Have driven multiple times now and amazed how fast it warms up now. Got used to how bad it really was. Probably been this way for years but I drive almost exclusively in the summer and only on long trips.

 

So yesterday I had to travel about 60 miles and back. Seemed that I could smell gas faintly .... or had had a stroke? I checked the choke was off and the tailgate was closed. Visually everything seemed ok. When I got home my wife said holly shit is that gas I smell? So the problem was real. Checked the block vent pipe was on and changed the PCV valve for another that I cleaned out with brake cleaner. Dip stick was seated. Started the engine this time with the air filter off and.... gas was dripping from the fuel hose from the rail. Well The hose clamp was loose and the last time the carb was off was a year ago after Canby. I can only assume the fuel line was just pushed on and never tightened? For a year. :lol: :blush:

 

All good and the gas smell gone. Replaced a headlamp that was not working.

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