Jump to content

Draker's 1972 1200 Sedan - "The Pickle"


Draker

Recommended Posts

New hub seals are in. Installed sway bar bushings and tension rod bushings. Backed the bearings and installed. Now just waiting for brake pads, hoses and eventually the springs.

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
  • Replies 791
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

For more parts in the mail today. Received the brake pads, hoses, and caliper rebuild kits. The calipers were fine. No evidence of leaking, but I figured why not run though them. It’s an easy job and rebuild kits are dirt cheap.  

 

parts from yesterday. Tie rods and bushings, brake hub seals. 


The patient (1 of 2)

EF6D0845-FA68-4A64-8D82-B8872ACDF99F.jpg

 

First remove the piston. Little compressed air and it pops right out. Be careful, does not take much at all!
63F7CD96-304D-4C99-BAEA-73870E715A59.jpg

 

remove the outer dust boot/seal check for any pitting or rust. In my case no issues. 
CE297716-A17B-408F-A7EF-C11EE63D187D.jpg

 

clean the bore

 

check the piston for putting or rust. If this has either. It’s junk. I’m my case, no issues.


rebuild kit. Sorry upside down pic.
35D23CB1-C560-45D0-9BCF-5399B984DF1B.jpg


lube the square edge seal in brake fluid, install. 

 

install the dust boot/ seal on the piston like so. 
646F93E7-F2AD-4DDF-8C10-743B8E0DB4BB.jpg
 

fit the lip of the seal into the groove on the caliper. Make sure it’s seated all the way around. Then start to push the piston into the caliper. Rock it back and forth to get it past the square edge seal. I was able to do this by hand with a bit of force. Caliper piston tool can be used or large channel locks.. or a c clamp even. No need for a ton of force. You could damage the inner seal. 

 

Compress the piston and double check the dust boot. The dust boot install is the hardest part of the job. 
E24C2BE2-1E3A-4618-9E07-330DB3D14369.jpg

 

reinstall on the vehicle.
9B94FB6F-8855-469F-AAA1-A4F9AC2FFAFC.jpg


I rebuilt both calipers tonight and installed brake pads and hoses on both sides. 
 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Draker
.
  • Like 1
Link to comment
3 hours ago, chukar said:

Do these calipers have a metal ring that goes around the dust seal?  I rebuilt some 300zx calipers and they had it but I'm not sure if all calipers do. 


no metal rings here. Just square seal and dust boot. Pretty easy once you the hang of how to get the lips to tuck into the groves.

Link to comment

I received the new 175lbs springs today and I got them installed. The alignment is completely fucked so I bought some toe plates and a digital camber/caster gauge. That should help get this thing dialed in nicely. I've aligned them manually, but it just takes so long. This should speed it up a bit. Also I've got a few other cars needing alignments so if it goes well, the tools will pay for themselves in no time.

 

Still waiting for weather seals. Still no quote from datsport, I've tried so many times. sigh...

Link to comment

The Datsport thing is weird. I know they are running quite a bit behind but I have been in contact with them a couple times this month through email. Granted that most of the time I have had to initiate the contact. Place my order for the wagon on the 7th, don't expect it to ship for another week or two.

Link to comment
20 hours ago, Draker said:

They’ve replied 3x saying they will get a quote to me soon. Then 2 weeks go by and repeat.

Well, that sucks. They already have my money so I'll have to see what happens.

 

The old spring looks beefy as hell!

Link to comment

Indeed. I assume you want a firmer spring rate? There are three things that increase a spring rate.

 

Coil diameter... the smaller the coil width, the stiffer it gets.

Wire diameter... the thicker the wire the stiffer it gets

Number of coils... the fewer the number of working coils the stiffer the spring rate.

 

Draker, if you take some careful measurements on both springs I can tell you their spring rate. Need the coil diameter outside to outside is fine, and the thickness of the wire. Looks like 4 1/2 coils on the Red and 3 1/2 on the Blue one.

Link to comment
3 hours ago, datzenmike said:

Indeed. I assume you want a firmer spring rate? There are three things that increase a spring rate.

 

Coil diameter... the smaller the coil width, the stiffer it gets.

Wire diameter... the thicker the wire the stiffer it gets

Number of coils... the fewer the number of working coils the stiffer the spring rate.

 

Draker, if you take some careful measurements on both springs I can tell you their spring rate. Need the coil diameter outside to outside is fine, and the thickness of the wire. Looks like 4 1/2 coils on the Red and 3 1/2 on the Blue one.

 Other way around, I want a softer rate. The blue is the new spring. I think I calculated the red at around 475lbs? 

Link to comment
7 hours ago, datzenmike said:

200 would be a bit much on such a light car. wow!

 

What formula?

 

11,250,000 X wire4/8 X coils X Diameter3


I used a spring calculator online. 

Link to comment

Got it back in the air, checked all the fasteners to make sure they were tight. Found a few and got them tight. Found both wheels had play in the wheel bearings, so I got those tightened up as well. I gave it an eyeball alignment then broke out the new toys.

 

D6956717-9D6C-4B67-93AC-6CB133C7E99C.jpg
A60A6C9D-0A97-4821-9AD1-EE57B87CC11C.jpg
F759DEA0-DA49-48A2-917A-2D34F80E921F.jpg
5637C28F-55EE-4458-ABEB-8D31B6CFA40E.jpg

  • Like 3
Link to comment

I could use some turn plates to make adjusting caster a bit easier. So far I just dialed in the camber at -.3*. Wiki says -0.25* - 0 is the ideal range. That seems a bit light, so I bumped it down a little more.

 

 

Edited by Draker
.
Link to comment

I "built" some turn plates by using heavy duty lazy susan bearings with a board set on top.  The board slides and the bearing turns so it does the trick well enough.

 

The bearings I'm talking about are like $20-$30 each, iirc

  • Like 1
Link to comment

I got the car out for the first test drive post coilovers and alignment. It tracked straight, turning felt great. I've got a lot more braking power although there is a considerable bit more pedal travel than before. I'm thinking I may need to swap to a bigger master, although the current is acceptable. It's will probably be annoying after some time.

 

Second I think the 175lb springs are a bit much. I'm bouncing around too much inside the car. I'm thinking I might look at 10" 125lb springs. Still stiffer than stock and longer than the 7" I bought before. This should help with the droop when the car is in the air. I'll also need to play around with the strut adjustments before I start dishing out more money on coils. I may be able to soften it up a bit. not sure if they are on the stiffest or softest setting from the factory.

 

Otherwise, I'm happy with it. Still need some tuning before I call it good though.

  • Like 1
Link to comment

I just took another look and one of them was set pretty firm, so reason to believe they were both on the more firm side. I'll admit I twisted the adjustment knob around on one trying to figure out the settings.. so at least one was set to 3. 1 being the softest, 4 being the stiffest. I'll take it for another test drive at some point and see where I'm at.

Link to comment
14 hours ago, ]2eDeYe said:

Where did you get the alignment toys? 


amazon for the most part. Just so I could return if they sucked. But turns out they are pretty decent. I saved about $150 that it would have cost to take it to the alignment shop. Few more alignments and I’ll be saving money.. lol

  • Like 1
Link to comment

55044-H5001 (OR H1001) QTY 8 FNT UPPER LEAF SPRING

55046-H1000 REAR UPPER QTY 4

55047-H1000 REAR LOWER QTY 4

 

I replaced these once on the grey coupe. It was in this century but I'm pretty sure the year started with a zero. Back then I was able to get 2 of the 3 parts OEM IIRC.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.