My new '77 Hatch

[luckywinner]

Hey guys!

New to the Forum, new to these cars.

 

Here's another trouble maker!

...the blue one ;)

 

 

 

My struts are shot, and I want to lower the whole thing anyway, of course.

I jumped the gun and bought some strut assemblies from a 'yard.  Hopefully they'll be in better shape than my current struts.

 

 

off of this beast:

 

 

 

 

If nothing else, I paid way too much to sunbathe for 4 hours, with a side order of tophats.

Actually I got a brand new looking alternator, starter and fuel pump off it too... and a sway bar with poly bushings, thinking maybe it was bigger than mine, but of course not.

My brakes seem to be brand spankin new, pads and rotors, so I want to switch just the strut assembly proper.  Those fasteners will need an impact driver, so it might be a few days before any progress is made.

 

Anyway, here's the BEFORE.  If there isn't an AFTER really soon, I'll be more disappointed than you.

 

 

 

 

 

It looks good from afar, but it has its share of dents and rust, to include a hole in the driver's floor big enough to put. my. foot. through.

It runs great, and the battery died on the way back from the 'yard.  I'm lucky I was on a hill, but diappointed that the alternator couldn't keep me running, even with my headlights and brake lights on.  Oh well, good thing I snagged that other alternator.

 

So that's that!

I'll be around.  I can't wait to tear into this thing.  It looks promising!

 

-Andrew

[B210GX]

You want the good news or the bad news?

[B210GX]

^{Can you take the struts back?}

^{what did you pay for them?}

 

^{Nice car btw..  and for the pics on the first post :thumbup:} 

[luckywinner]

I paid a lot for them actually, with all the acutrements. No bueno?

[luckywinner]

Oh, and when I said I wanted to use just the struts, I meant the housing, strut, spring, tophat assembly. I want to take off the brakes and hub.

 

Gimme the bad news.

[datzenmike]

Well you could compress the spring and remove it. Take the gland nut off the top and if the insides have never been replaced with a cartridge type damper... just dump the thin hydraulic oil out and replace with 20w motorcycle fork oil.. under $20 a liter and enough for three struts. The thicker oil will be harder to push through the valves and will firm up the action.

 

To lower and firm up the spring, try hack-sawing off one coil. Now reassembling it this way will be firmer but I'm not sure if it will lower or lower as much as you want. What I did was trim off the lower spring perch carefully and grind away the weld that held it on. This will allow the perch to slide down the strut tub and be adjustable. To hold the spring where you want it just secure it with a $20 set of 2" split collars. You should be able to do this in a morning for only $40-$50.

 

There's little advantage to the struts you bought. The 210 brakes are pretty much the same and the strut used at the least. I would take them back and find a set of 280zx or Maxima struts with the monster calipers and vented rotors on them. Remove the lower spring perch from your struts and switch over to the zx struts.

[B210GX]

to lower your car 1 1/2 inches you can use the B310 top hats that you bought  ..but.. you have to modify your strut towers to accept these.  as these protrude through the strut tower instead of sitting below them.

 

Mine still sits high in the front, even after cutting 1 and 1/4 coils off.  I don't want to cut any more as I want to put the larger power plant in mine which is roughly 60lbs heavier.

[Will]

 

Wha? The pumpkin is in North Carolina?

[luckywinner]

hm.  The tophats were really what I was after, but I was hoping the struts would be better -- they couldn't be any worse than mine.

So I got the whole assembly, and paid more for it, but that way I'll have spare bits...

For some reason I thought the 210 spring would be harder too, but I can't find anything to back that up now.

Bummer. 

 

If I take stuff back, I'd rather take it back assembled, "oops, wrong crap."  Where can I find B310 tophats new?

They're on ebay for 110 shipped out of Bangkok, but that seems steep.  says the man who just bought half a car for 30 year old abused refuse.

[B210GX]

look up KiroTech  on this forum  he had some for sale..idk if he still has them or not  $50

 

 

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/50963-datsun-210-b310-strut-mounts-and-bearings/

[luckywinner]

I hope not, for his sake.  That was January.  I'm probably getting a pair of Thai mounts, because that seems to be all that's available.

 

Some people have suggested using 280ZX struts because they're shorter.  What years?  Does it matter?  78 to 79 is a $25 difference per strut.

 

I brought back the 210 assemblies, got all my cash back except a few dollars in NC environmental fees.  On my way to pick up a new battery now.

[luckywinner]

What I really want to know is whether there's any difference in length between the different zxs.

[luckywinner]

A couple ebay auctions lead me to believe that the short and cheap version is 280Z struts. $30 apiece isn't awful. Sound right?

[datzenmike]

Can't use '75-'78 280z struts, no advantage. '79-.83 are 280zx and the struts are slightly shorter, have larger wheel bearings, a super large caliper and a large vented rotor on them. Be sure that your rim will fit over them or go 14" rims. Maxima struts are almost the same.

[luckywinner]

Okay, I feel like I'm going crazy.  I'm sure I've been told a 78 280Z strut would work, and be shorter.  I guess not.

 

I can get ahold of Maxima parts pretty easily, but I'm not eager to jump into that just yet.  Yes, I want to slam the nose down a FOOT! fiberglass the whole body! squeeze a V10 in it and fart a thousand horsepower!  ...but one step at a time.

 

If I get bigger brakes right now, I'll need bigger wheels right now.  I certainly want those things, but picking the right wheels takes time...

More important at the moment is fitting struts in that aren't totally shot, and shorter is a bonus, as I plan to cut the springs if it's going to be apart.  Slipping on a B310 tophat too will be quick and painless.  I'm not trying to be lazy, I promise.  I'm uneasy about cutting up my suspension without a clear plan that leaves me with a driving car, and I haven't yet figured out how to drive it with no wheels on the front ;)

 

Another line of questioning that I need to investigate is suspension bushings.  Mine are all shot, except for a couple that are missing...

I'm sure there's been plenty of discussion about that, so I'll look it up.

 

Thanks, btw, you guys are awesome!  I really appreciate all the tips!

 

-Andrew

[luckywinner]

So, yesterday I bought a battery.  I probably didn't need to.

I had my dash apart Monday to run wiring for a tach, and I figured I knocked something loose, because my charge and brake idiot lights were on, and almost flashing...  Then the car died a day later, with all the lights on; first I noticed the turn signals weren't working, then it sputtered to a stop at a red light.  Starter wasn't even thinking about engaging, let alone turning the motor over.  So I rolled it back and popped the clutch to limp it back home with no lights on. (I run my lights during the day all the time, old habit.)  Dead battery, obviously.  I checked the battery when I got home, and it read 12V, but maybe that was just a wimpy charge it had from the ride home just then.  I SHOULD HAVE LOOKED ON HERE.  I knew I should.  There was something about the way the idiot lights were sort of flashing that told me that there was something weird going on.  But I ignored that instinct and agreed with the instinct that observed that popping the clutch and driving with no major power drains worked fine.  Dead battery, obviously.  Buy new battery, put it in, idiot lights still on.  WTF!!!  Go inside, read this thread and this thread ... went outside, pulled out the auto-choke relay, disconnected it, still have idiot lights.  Plugged it back in, put my battery back, burned a pinhole in my radiator with the wrench in my hand because I'm an idiot, and THEN I checked my fuses...

 

 

That's life.

Brand new battery for no reason.

 

80¢ later, no idiot lights except the big neon one with a picture of my smiling face.

 

If something is weird, check the internet BEFORE you blow a cool hundie on a part you don't need.

[luckywinner]

I call the parts store, and they say I can come get the old battery back.

 

I can always find a use for an "extra" battery.  No such thing as too many spare parts... ;)

[bananahamuck]

If something is weird, check the Ratsun BEFORE you blow a cool hundie on a part you don't need.

 

Fixed

:D

 

 

But seriously there is alot of shenanigans on this site,, but the number guys that will try their hardest to help you with a specific model of Datsun is incredible..

[luckywinner]

I noticed my car ran better when the fuse was blown.

It stumbles a lot just off idle, but runs fine through the revs.  Over the weekend, however, while the fuse was blown and idiot lights were on, it ran like a dream.  No hesitation whatsoever.

I pulled the cap to check the vacuum advance and it doesn't hold anything against my thumb.

The 210 in the 'yard didn't have a dizzy, what else should I look for?

[athoose]

Glad you snapped this up and you're on ratsun.   I was fighting the urge to grab this especially when the price dropped. 

 

Pull a part in W-S has a few ZX's.  You could always take your wheel along a see if they fit.  Like those wheels.

[luckywinner]

I got those tophats from KiroTech.  Thanks again!

 

 

I need to get this thing running better, it's frustrating.

Should I look for a matchbox distributor or just replace my vacuum advance unit? 

[luckywinner]

Well, nevermind about the vacuum advance, it's working fine.  The line running to it was coming from a part of the spaghetti with no vacuum!  Now I have straight manifold vacuum pulling it and it works great, night and day difference.

[B210GX]

you dont want straight manifold vacuum. You want ported, hook it up to the  carb  its the one above the center exhaust ports in this pic