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Jake's 320 Build


emceefarlane

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks jetattblue! i was a little nervous too but i'm pretty happy with how it turned out as well

 

Okay so i'm in the process of changing the upper control arm bushings

When i started thinking about this i was originally going to purchase replacement bushes from Mike at blue hands http://www.bluehandsinc.com/320520521620drum-urethane-uca-bushings.html but ended up losing my entire year to saving for a wedding

Recently I came across a post on the datsun 320 owners fb page where another guy in aus had put fj45 landcruiser shackle bushings in

I bought a set of Nolathane 47001 from ebay which were incorrect (i should have done more research)

It looks as though the correct part is Nolathane 47004 which by my crude measurements should be correct but i'll have to reuse the steel sleeve from the old worn ones

I've ordered them off ebay i'm just waiting for them to turn up

You can only buy them in a set of 12

 

While i was i was poking around in there i decided to take the upper control arms off for a clean up and to change the rubber bush and refill with grease

I took them off and it looks as though the end nuts have been welded on

 

33ti9at.jpg

 

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This would have been done by the previous owner - i'm assuming because of country roads and corrugations maybe they were vibrating loose

My concern is that the manual asks for a torque setting for these - does anyone think this will be an issue?

I do have a spare set of UCA's that aren't welded they'll just be a pain to get off the car

 

It looks as though overall design of the UCA has the vertical movement traveling horizontally across the thread - is this correct? wouldn't this move the UCA horizontally across the threads each time they travel up and down meaning that the wheel would move towards the front/back of the car in the guards?

 

Lastly where the UCA's bolt to the top of strut tower there are metal shims - if i put a few more shims in there to achieve some negative camber will this be detrimental to kingpin set up and maybe cause binding or something?

 

Thanks

 

 

 

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So strange to see those nuts welded on. 

 

I just rebuilt mine and used 521 bushings from the parts store. The bushings have the metal sleeves and come in two pieces like the diagram. They are about 1/4" too long on each side so I used a grinder to shave them down to size. 

 

I didn't use the nylon washers the blue glove guy uses in his kits. There's nothing on that exploded diagram and there was nothing that came off when I took them apart. Are they necessary or recommended? I can see where they might help prevent binding. I used a nut with a nylon insert and locktite on the nut but didn't torque it down tight to allow it to pivot. 

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Part number 54507-08700 needs to be tightened to spec(the part that was welded on), that part moves/pivots with the arms, it is supposed to move/pivot with the arms, it was designed to move/pivot with the arms, it has no fittings to grease them threads, the likely reason that part was welded on was because someone in the past torqued them nuts so tight they stripped the threads out or it came loose and the threads got ruined from pivoting on un-greased metal to metal threads, that part is not a floating type part.

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3 hours ago, wayno said:

Part number 54507-08700 needs to be tightened to spec(the part that was welded on), that part moves/pivots with the arms, it is supposed to move/pivot with the arms, it was designed to move/pivot with the arms, it has no fittings to grease them threads, the likely reason that part was welded on was because someone in the past torqued them nuts so tight they stripped the threads out or it came loose and the threads got ruined from pivoting on un-greased metal to metal threads, that part is not a floating type part.

 

Does anyone know what to torque them at? Mine were pretty dang snug when I took them off so I tried to snug them in that ballpark. 

 

Also did anyone else watch the blue glove video and see those little white nylon washers he uses between the bushing the arms? Would it be good to include them?

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320 newb:

the upper control arm bush (part 54519-08700) is normally a 1 piece bush with a flange - so if you're looking at in profile it will look like a fat letter T. The blue hands kit has the flange as a separate part but it is required. The ones you removed had probably completely worn down the flange 

the tightening torque is listed as "14 -16.5m-kg" in the manual 

 

I cleaned my arms up a bit better and had a closer look - turns out they weren't welded on they just looked like the were

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so my question now is if you torque the part with the grease nipple in it (54507-08700) into the upper control arm (54533-04300) this means that that assembly is meant to move up and down on the threads of the spindle? (54538-04101)

 

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should the above be tightened the full way up the thread and "butt up" to the machined surface?

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  • 2 months later...

The ride is so good now that i've changed these bushes over - i wish i had done this 5 years ago

I also re-drilled the tabs on the lower control arm to fit a larger bolt the same diameter as the shock absorber - i think when i changed these over many years ago i did it in a hurry & forgot that i had reused the original smaller diameter bolt

 

one of the sealed beams blew so i bought new headlight enclosures

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/H4-Headlight-Conversion-Kit-7-Round-12-Volt-178mm-60-55W-Halogen-Headlamp/143143062196?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

 

LED globes

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Infitary-Car-Headlight-H7-LED-H4-LED-H1-H11-H3-H13-H27-880-9006-9007-72W/32859211995.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.60af4c4dt0VTTL

 

The light from these is so much better

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Went for a little drive after giving the old girl a driveway wheel alignment (both wheels weren't facing forward)

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The tacho has stopped working already but overall the car is running well and the carbs seem to be tuned well :)

 

 

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  • 2 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

nonsense! got at least another 100kms left in the tank

 

 

Not sure how many of you are on the "Datsun 320 Owners" facebook group but a guy on there from Victoria Martin Easton has posted a pic of the suspension on his 320

 

FB-IMG-1567482017237.jpg
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I asked him to clarify part of the suspension which he says is a sway bar

Neither of my 320's have sway bars and i dont think i've ever seen one with them before?

I've looked through the service manual and there doesn't seem to be any mention of it

Another guy on the page Heath Robinson is now asking to buy a sway bar setup as well 

am i losing my mind? would people have been removing sway bars for more suspension travel and that's why i've ended up with two utes that dont have them?

 

Sway-bar.jpg
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after searching the site i've found this pic - does anyone have a better photo of the whole setup?

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Edited by emceefarlane
added another pic
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