710 project thread

[Will]

...and a bunch of photos from being on the road: (my dad came along for the ride - he's 65 and has never been cross-country.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Will]

All in all it survived okay - the worst was when the clutch slave cylinder blew out in Indiana and I accidentally disconnected the throwout bearing arm when I was checking it out. Luckily it died within walking distance of a place to get a jack and an Autozone that could get me a new slave cylinder the same day.

 

...also I really really need to get the ZX front struts into this car - the front tires are wearing out on their inside edges and the struts dampen nothing. The thing was steering on its own whenever I drove on grooved concrete roads.

 

...aaaand the ignition lock cylinder slipped 180 degrees out of place, so I could turn the engine on, but I couldn't shut it off. For the last day of the trip I needed to pull the plug on the ignition switch to turn the car off.

[whitedatsun]

Hardtop weatherstripping - just in time for the hurricane!

 

uff a very good car like mine is a good project haha more pictures please ............. and how did you get the weatherstripping ................... greetings from mexico

[Will]

uff a very good car like mine is a good project haha more pictures please ............. and how did you get the weatherstripping ................... greetings from mexico

 

The weatherstripping is from a place in Los Angeles - here's the info:

 

Here's what you'll need:

2 - 18" pieces of E401 (they were about 8 dollars each when I bought them.)

 

And here's the place that sold me the weatherstripping:

J & J Auto Fabrics Inc.

www.jjautofabrics.com/‎

909-874-3040

jjfab@linkline.com

 

[defdes]

What neighborhood is that, Williamsburg? Beware of Datsun thieves in Brooklyn, I lost my first 510 there in '84.

[Abe Froman]

Will,

 

   Great photo's of the car driving across the country, that is so cool that your Dad went with you. Those are the kind of memories that last a lifetime.

 

       So the car is back on the west coast, interesting......

[Will]

What neighborhood is that, Williamsburg? Beware of Datsun thieves in Brooklyn, I lost my first 510 there in '84.

 

Yup! Williamsburg - I lived two blocks south of the Graham Ave L-train stop. ...kinda sketchy, but the only trouble I had was when someone with a trailer hitch backed into the bumper. Other than that, I was only getting offers to buy the car left under the windshield wiper, and seeing the car used in impromptu photo shoots since there is a place that teaches photography two blocks away.

[Will]

Will,

 

   Great photo's of the car driving across the country, that is so cool that your Dad went with you. Those are the kind of memories that last a lifetime.

 

       So the car is back on the west coast, interesting......

 

Yeah, West Coast! The 710 survived two New York years without turning to rusty dust. I'm hoping I can stay out here for keeps. I was actually hoping to install the 160J front before I got on the road out west, but I just ran out of time.

[Will]

Got the spring perches off of the 280ZX struts, finally.

 

Does anyone know - will I need to re-use the arm from the bottom of my 710's struts, or should I use the arm that is already on these 280ZX struts to hook these up to the steering system?

 

I'm also thinking about switching these left-for-right and right for left, since I read in some of the other posts that there could be brake clearance issues. If I swicth the sides will I need longer brake hoses? 

 

[ProjectFeint]

Use your 710 arms, and your already using 280zx wheels so no need for strut placement switching

[Will]

Use your 710 arms, and your already using 280zx wheels so no need for strut placement switching

 

Okay, cool - I thought that switching sides was for extra clearance for the steering linkage, but it is for clearance for 13" wheels?

[ProjectFeint]

Caliper clearance issues with 13' and some 14' wheels, although I had an issue where the inner wheel weight would catch on the tie rod end boot every time the wheel would rotate but i got tape weights put on and that solved it :cool:

[Will]

Indy recommended some places where I could pick up some coilovers, and I went over to Troy Ermish's shop today to pick up a pair & Troy welded the rings on to my struts for free. That saves me from trying to find a muffler shop or someone with a MIG welder to do the job!

 

His shop is only 15 minutes from where I'm staying. Datsun parts that I don't need to send away for in the mail? Woah. 

[Will]

...some sway bar stuff I'm trying to figure out...

 

I've been noticing the rattle-can noise when I go over bumps, which makes me think that I have a sway bar end link problem. I removed one of the links to get a closer look. The poly bushings look kinda old, but not totally destroyed.

 

First off, it looks like someone put in a larger sway bar at some point. Unless 710's came stock with 1" sway bars.

 

 

Also, maybe because the sway bar is larger than stock, the brackets for the bushings are only held on by one bolt each instead of two, with one end of the bracket pinched down by another plate. It seems kinda shoddy, but I don't see any evidence of the brackets shifting around.

 

 

...and the sway bar links are a lot smaller than the hole in the end of the sway bar. Is that normal, or will I need to get larger-diameter links or fashion a bushing for the hole in the sway bar? The hole in the end of the sway bar is about .7" and the sway bar end links have bolts that are about 3/8" in diameter.

 

 

If anyone with more suspension experience can chime in, I'd love to know. 

[Eagle_Adam]

jessi's goon is the same way, one bolt for the sway bar mounts are under a bracket the other side held by a bolt. ill see if i can find pics 

[Eagle_Adam]

[Will]

 

 

Thanks for the picture - it does look like a thicker sway bar has been swapped in. (and I should finally be able to get that tach out this week.)

[510T]

Will I just read through your thread and thoroughly enjoyed it.  You are doing a great job on this car! 

 

You should be able to buy some sway bar end link bushings that have a small shoulder to take up the difference between the bar and the endlink.

It was great to have you on the last fun run and now I know the story of the park bench ;)

 

[Will]

 

 

It was great to have you on the last fun run and now I know the story of the park bench ;)

 

Thanks for the tip - I'll pick up some of those and also make a small spacer out of rubber hose to keep the links from rattling - there is a ton of space in there! I'm bummed I didn't go on the run last Sunday - I was coming off a few days of not enough sleep and didn't want to doze off and drive into the ocean.

[Abe Froman]

Will,

 

   I know you have swaybar questions, but what about 280zx strut's with coilover's update photo's. We can see a tease in one of the swaybar photo's !

[Will]

Will,

 

   I know you have swaybar questions, but what about 280zx strut's with coilover's update photo's. We can see a tease in one of the swaybar photo's !

 

Ah - I've been spotty with my photography. Once I got the coilovers in I was in too much of a hurry to get it on the road and drive over some sppedbumps to see what happened when the springs motions were actually dampened. The fronts are really worn on the inside edge and cupped from the camber and bad shocks that were in play before, so I'll take some more pics when I put some new tires on (I might actually get a chance to put the Momo Vega rims on at the same time. Finally.)

[Will]

I've been hitting all of the local Pick-n-Pull yards since I got to California. 

 

Found this at the Richmond yard:

 

 

Now I got a Datsun frame for both plates (though if anyone has a Torvick frame from Santa Rosa, I'd like to trade!)

 

I found some cheap new tires in Santa Rosa, so I figured I'd hit up the yard in Windsor while I was out that way. I got there an hour before it closed, and walked around for a while since I'd never been there before. I found some new seatback release levers for my Porsche 924 seats. Has anyone ever tried putting a Porsche 924 tach into a 620? It looks like it is the right size, and it even has a cone-shaped lens!

 

 

Anyway, the yard was supposed to have a '75 or '76 620, but I found this:

 

 

 

Could it be? a '78 620?

 

It looked like someone had tried to remove the wiper switch, but couldn't figure it out. (push in and turn counter clockwise - just like a childproof medicine bottle.) I checked it out, and sure enough - 3 clicks. the yard was closing in 15 minutes, but I managed to get the intermittent wiper system out, and the dual rear view mirrors.

 

 

 

I was in a hurry, so the fiber optic line for the switch got twisted and kinked. Since the line is really short anyway, I figured that maybe I could swap it with the fiber optic line I pulled out of one of the other switches.

 

 

 

The line pulls out without too much difficulty, but it is hard to push a line back into the switch since the sides of the shaft are dimpled to hold the fiber optic line in place.

 

 

I pushed the dimples out to with a nail and some light tapping at first:

 

 

 

And then I cleared it out for the last bit with a drill that was the same size as the hole:

 

 

The fiber optic line now slid in pretty easily with just a tiny bit of resistance, and I then hammered the dimples back in with a blunted nail to hold the fiber optic line:

 

 

Presto! fixed switch with a longer line:

 

 

Also, I picked up a 280ZX doorhandle surround, but even though it looks really really close, it is not the same as the 710 part (though the doorhandle and lock latch look like they might swap over:

 

[Will]

Finally had a chance to solder the 160J-SSS gauges together:

 

 

They look pretty good, but the SSS clearly had a different dashboard wiring harness. All sorts of weird things were happening when I turned on my turn signals. Back to the soldering iron for me.

 

 

 

...and a little change. Swapped out my big reflectors:

 

 

 

for some smaller Japan-style lenses:

 

 

 

In other news, I hooked up the intermittent wiper harness and switch, but it only gives me the regular high and low speeds. The first click doesn't do anything. I tried removing the little black box, but that just makes the wipers not park when the wipers are switched off. Anyone have any troubleshooting advice for this setup?

[Will]

I just read this in a very nice thread about installing the intermittent wipers.

 

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/31295-datsun-620-intermittent-wiper-conversion/

 

"Now the two wires you have left, we need to do something with them! The wire on plug 2 that I had left over was a solid darker green wire, just cut that dude off at the base of the plug. 
Now the wire you have left over on Plug 1 should be a blue/red wire and will be needed to power the delay box. You will need a Quick Splice for this. Quick Splice the Blue/Red Wire to the Blue/Black Wire! When you are all done, your new adapter should look like this..... (My solid green wire on plug 2 hasn't been hacked off yet in this pic)"

 

My '74 710 uses the same plug for the wiper switch as the '78 620, but maybe it doesn't have the powered wire to keep the delay box running? I'll need to check in the morning.

[Eagle_Adam]

deff watching your intermitant wiper install!!! i picked up one for jessi's goon a while back but have gotten to it yet. 

 

 

 

and those SSS gauges!!!!!!!!! OMG!

 

 

WANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!