cheers, what spring rate did you get? i think ill get the tops to but yea that is a bit of a neusence, ive got gabriel inserts so not sure if they would fit

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-1969 1600 SR20

T3 is good gear, like anth said it offers some advatages over the steel type. I've been running some in my 1600 for a fair while now with 300 pound springs and i've pounded many a ripple strip at the track with no signs of any wear. The single collar doesn't just float around, it locks off with an allen key, don't be fooled by the maddat/datsport sales pitch

any news on your diff anth?

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LAGWAGON gracefully retired... LAG 510 - the next generation

yea they look good, thats what i was concerned about was it comeing loose but you have cleared that up what springs would you suggest for me(i have know idea on spring rates etc) 1600/sr mainly a street car, fun in the hills etc but dont want it to be rough as guts. did the kit come with allen key and a spanner to adjust? anyone know if engineers like this set up(thread not actually welded on) i would ask one but they will not answer any Qs unless you have met with them and payed the initiation fee of $300 and summited papers

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-1969 1600 SR20

somewhere between 250 - 300 pounds should be fine. The sleeve sits on a welded collar so it goes nowhere, engineers should be fine but in SA it might be different. sorry anth, back to your thread now...

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LAGWAGON gracefully retired... LAG 510 - the next generation

Mine are only 200lb, I think they're a bit soft, if I did it again I'd probably go for 250lb, but then again I haven't dialed my shocks in, so I should probably stiffen them up and see how it goes. It doesn't come with an allen key or c-spanner, but it shouldn't be hard to find an allen key that fits, and as for the C-spanners, theres a guy that makes them in VIC, I bought one from him http://www.nissansilvia.com/forums/inde ... =361363&hl

no worries Leigh, the more info the better as for the diff, the car is ready! Picking it up later today (helps when my mechanic is a few doors down from work). It wasn't as bad as I thought, once I actually found a diff the rebuild only took a couple of days, then another couple to get it back in the car. It's just the bill I could do without

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build-threads.com

thanks anth, i recon 250 will do me, it also says on there site you can choose the spring height, which ones did you get? and i assume you only need the 1 spanner as they dont use the twin nut system?
appreciate your help anth & lag

edit. what size are those minilites on the esky?
cheers

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-1969 1600 SR20

spanner? lol hammer and chisel ftw

You don't need the spanners, save your cash and just jack it up, take the wheel off, loosen the allen head bolt and turn the perch by hand, jacking up the car takes the weight off the spring which sits on the perch leavign it all loose, then all you have to do is the reversal of above and put it back on the floor.

I've managed to do this without taking the wheel off since the perch sits right above the tyre, so when I jack it up the gap between the tyre and guard opens up leaving plently of room to fit your arms through and get to the perch.

Also don't forget to use car stands if doing it this way, last thing you want is getting your arms chopped off when you have your arms through there.....

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"You stay classy OzDat"

alex is right, you can do it by hand, but I like having the spanner just incase it gets stuck, or when you need to raise it and the spring starts pre-loading, a spanner can be handy. and he's right about not having to remove the wheel, its so damn handy!

not sure what height springs I got mate, I didn't specify any particular height.

the minilites on the escort are 16x7

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build-threads.com

since you shortened your struts is there still anough adjustment to get them to say "legal" height if needed?
cheers

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-1969 1600 SR20

Yep that's what I like about not having that second lock nut, otherwise you would have to take the wheel off for sure!

Mine are 325lbs and I think 200mm long, as for adjustability they're at the lowest I'd wanna go, but have plenty of adjustment to go above legal limit. if you were to find that this was not the case you could always replace the spring with let say a 250mm one, the 200mm works for me because where I have it set atm makes the perch sit just above the tyre, any lower and it would rubb on the inside of the wheel but then again i do have 8" wide rims. I noticed that when I had my old longchamps which were 15x7 +11 offset the perch was a lot further away.

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"You stay classy OzDat"

good work on the car man, love that grill i want one so bad

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YOU JUST GOT TO LOVE JDM AND BMX
current rig's:
1970 datsun 1600 p510: 73 SPEC WITH SR SHED
prev rides:
1970 datsun 1600 wp510 project SOLD
1969 datsun 1600: SIMS metal
1984 KE70 corolla:defected/crushed
1985 KE70 corolla:SOLD
1982 KE70 4AGE drift pig SOLD
1978 120Y wagon SOLD

In my last update on the Datsun, I mentioned my diff was playing up just after I installed my CV driveshaft conversion. One of the first things I did was drain the diff oil and inspect the drain plug. This is what I found...


After smearing it around a little bit to dislodge the oil, you can really see the amount of metal stuck to it. Something wasn't right.


After doing a few more tests to make sure my problems weren't driveshaft, tailshaft, or wheel bearing related, it was apparent that my troubles were in fact diff related. I decided to take the easy way out and have my diff removed by my workshop. The idea of dropping the whole rear subframe on my garage floor to get it out wasn't appealing to me at all, especially after having been under the car installing the CV's so recently. Add to that work has been really busy, yadda yadda yadda, I just paid someone to do it.

It's my diff in a box!


After having it removed I took it to local diff specialist Terry's Diffs & Gears (0407 903 308) to be dismantled, inspected and hopefully repaired. I had to wait anxiously for the news, I was hoping it wasn't the LSD as they're getting expensive to source. After a couple of days I got the phone call telling me that my crown wheel & pinion needed to be replaced, but my LSD was fine. It was such a relief to hear that, but at the same time I was really hoping it was just going to be a simple bearing job. Win some, lose some. It could have been much worse.

Here's the damage to the pinion. All but one tooth had the very ends chipped off.



After chasing up a few leads, I ended up at [URL"http://www.zshop.net.au/]The Z Shop[/URL], a huge Datsun/Z-car workshop in Melbourne's eastern suburbs. The owner, Lindsay, is an oldschool guy who provides oldschool service. I sifted through a box full of crown wheels and a box full of pinions until I found a pair in good condition. I took them back to Terry who told me they were no good. Damnit! It wasn't that the parts were of poor quality, it's just that ideally the crown wheel & pinion should come from the same diff, whereas mine were two random parts from unknown origins. Otherwise when the diff is rebuilt it might be noisy from the get-go. So, back to The Z Shop I went to return the parts. Lindsay, along with one of my friends and myself then set about to find a complete R180 diff with a matching ratio to my own (3.55). We found a few candidates and took them back to the main workshop area to take the back cover off and inspect them, which involved Linsday wire-wheeling some of the gears to assess their condition. Out of the three diffs, we chose the best one and I was on my way again, back to Terry's to see if he approved of my purchase.
Success! We were onto a winner, he told me the gears were in superb condition and the rebuild could start immediately. I left the parts diff at Terry's and let him work his magic. Before I left, I took my diff cover home so I could polish it. Since I don't have any pics of the actual rebuild, I'll show you what I did with the cover.

The stock cover, painted black in a previous life.


I had this tin of paint stripper left over from when I re-furbed my wheels. I poured a generous amount over the cover.


There must have been only one coat on it, because the paint came off incredibly easily. You can see the raw metal underneath and I haven't even tried to wipe paint off yet.


After a quick scrape, 90% of it was off.


Then, after a wash, it was almost free of paint. The remainder was scraped and/or sanded off.


The trusty Mothers Powerball Mini was brought out again, along with some metal paste for a quick once-over.


The end result was a nice and clean cover with a little bit of shine. I wasn't too pedantic about it as it's going under the car, after all.


After only a couple of days, I got the call from Terry to pick my diff up, freshly rebuilt with all new bearings, the crown wheel & pinion that I sourced, and a fresh black paint job. Complete with my polished cover it looked the part.


While all this was happening, I got my hands on some exhaust heat wrap to put around the exhaust where it passes under the CV boot. This was applied to the exhaust and then sprayed black while the diff was being re-installed. I also had the exhaust heated up and hammered a bit on the closest section to the CV for extra clearance.
The finished rear end looks even better than before.


Now I have the tedious task of running the diff in. I've been told to keep it under 100km/h and to generally take it easy. Unfortunately the CV's are still hitting on the exhaust under load, which is sort of a blessing because it means I can't really give it any stick, aiding the run-in process. Once it's run-in I'll take it back to the workshop to have the exhaust clearanced further, it might need to be cut and re-welded, we'll have to see. For now I'm just happy that its driving again and ready to be enjoyed over the summer months.

That should be about it as far as major mods are concerned for a while. For the next year I'm planning to just do small detail stuff such as cleaning up the engine bay and getting a nicer steering wheel, nothing too drastic as it s been a big year for this car. I should have some nice new photos up soon, too.

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build-threads.com

lookin good mate, I have a very shiny polished r180 cover I would have sent you for the price of postage if I'd known... I just dropped my subframe to fix diff issues, couldnt afford labout to get it done haha

Glad to hear your diff issues are now all over! pheew lucky LSD tho....

have to admit that rear end looks tops Anth btw how are you finding the coilovers now that they have been on the car together with the CVs??? Going off by that photo looks like you have it really slammed sicne the shafts are on an angle.

Alex

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"You stay classy OzDat"