Fletch's RFB32 resto

[fletch]

Had a bit of a dismantle under the dash today. Need to fit the correct clutch pedal and bracket and also swap around the brake pedal from the (poorly) cut down auto one I was running.

Ended up pulling the column as I'm old and inflexible. How the fuck did I get up and under here when I first had this car ill never know.

Also got a new rubber boot for the column to keep the engine bay fumes out.

A long time ago just before either parked it up to go overseas, the speedo stopped working. I always thought it was the dodgy speedo drive I modified. Turns out it was the cable

New one on order. 3 weeks from Japan. Will give me an excuse to tidy up under the dash properly.

[RUNAMUCK]

12 hours ago, fletch said:

A long time ago just before either parked it up to go overseas, the speedo stopped working. I always thought it was the dodgy speedo drive I modified. Turns out it was the cable

Spend too much time wound off the end of the speedo?

[fletch]

5 hours ago, RUNAMUCK said:

Spend too much time wound off the end of the speedo?

It goes past 180 and keeps going to the zero stop. Maybe that one time I went to Mexico and spent some time there, it loaded up the cable too much.

[fletch]

Spent the last few nights in the shed on the premise of getting a datsun ready to go to nats, but got a bit sidetracked on this.

Speedo fixed

Then I removed the driveshaft to swap for the less 2nd hand one I have in stock. While I was in there I noticed the rear diff cover had been leaking and was covered in shit and thought I better do something about it now rather than later when it runs out of oil.

I whipped the back cover off and spent hours with a Stanley blade shaving the original paper gasket that had set like rock.

The drain plug magnet was broken into a few bits so that got replaced with a donor from a smashed gearbox.

Then I needed to replace the centre bearing on the driveshaft. It's a cnut of a job.

 

[fletch]

I ground a chunk of steel to hammer into the nut to free it up

Then had to cut all of the rubber off the old hanger and press the bearing off.

The new one should have gone straight on and I blindly slapped it on with the F facing the front.

However, the F is supposed to face the back and the price was jammed on. It took a hour to get it off without fucking it.

Fortunately the new bearing came with a  new nut as that was fucked too. Haha.

Reinstalled the driveshaft and also a trigger wheel to get driveshaft speed for the ecu and 4wd controller I am going to run.

 

[fletch]

Some time has passed..

Started to tidy up the wiring. This loom goes to the 4wd/abs ecu, hicas ecu, stereo amp. The abs and hicas were deleted by a previous owner

 

 

What have i done??

 

 

I have a new 4wd ecu im going to run and it requires less wiring, so stripping the loom back a bit. Also there are now a lot of spare wires that run to the front so ill use a few of them for the fuel pump controller and a possible CAN IO expander

 

I also pulled out 13987243598m of wire that ran around the boot to the fuel pump relay, 4wd pump relay, 4wd solenoid relay and taped it up into this tiny loom. I got some of that cloth loom tape and it does a really tidy job.

 

 

I have been procrastinating the rest of the wiring as i lost motivation. Waiting for a mate to come over with all the crimpers and gear to do the ecu wiring etc

 

[fletch]

Next job is the front end.

I have hoarded a few shafts as they are getting more costly and harder to find.

The front right CV joint got a birthday and according to the exploded view parts manual, there is a clip on the end of the cv like so.

 

After trying for a few minutes to insert it, i dug up a spare front diff and found the clip resides inside the diff, not on the axle...

 

 

[fletch]

This week i have pulled apart the suspension. It started with wanting to change the wheel bearings and in the process of getting it apart, i discovered the front kingpin bearings were flogged.

Lots of dubious pressing was involved. I only fired parts across the shed twice. Not bad.

 

The kingpin lower bearings were well stuck. Im sure there is a correct tool for getting the lower ones out, but a squirt of mig was enough to shrink them a little and they tapped out.

Progress

[fletch]

Also, it appears the previous owner had used the incorrect steering ball joints as there is a heap of damage to the aluminum uprights on both sides.

Photo dont really show it, but they are ugly, and it was near impossible to get the ball joints out.

The spare front end has good uprights so ill use them.

I have ordered the correct parts overnight from Japan, so im just waiting for them to arrive around mid july...

 

[fletch]

Further disassembly.

The caster/tie rod bolt was stuck on one side. There was no room to swing a hammer to knock it out as the engine was in the way. I thought I'd be a smart arse and cut the head off and drive it through.

Unfortunately the bolt had a taper and would not go.

After a few beers and some swearing it came out.

[fletch]

I remember now having an issue with the drivers side one 15 years ago. Looking at it now, I see the trimming I gave it to make it fit better and actually be adjustable..

Anyway, remember that bolt I cut the head off?

Lol. WTF.

I'm off to see a wrecker mate this weekend. Dammit.

[cletus]

A customer who was painful to deal with came back for the 4th recheck and he had stripped the thread on that bolt, I thought to save everyone headaches I'd just wang a new bolt in but found as you have that it's a wierd one 

I ended up spinning up a top hat spacer (12mm id 14 od?) and using a 12mm ? bolt

[fletch]

Paets turned up so I picked out all the good bits and assembled the hubs and J arms.

Many parts, lots of creative pressing to get bearings in.

[fletch]

Pretty much all the front bushes and joints were stuffed so I am replacing as many as I can.

Many years ago I got a good deal on some upgrade suspension parts.

Nismo circuit link upgrade.

The caster rod is a bit shorter than standard, the lower arm is 4mm longer for a bit more negative camber. The upper arm mount has the holes drilled slightly differently to try and reduce the misalignment in the arm so the bushes last longer.

I also bought new upper arms. All of the ones I have are stuffed and it was similar money for a whole arm as it was for new bushes.

[fletch]

Suspension together. Wrecker mate has found me the bolt I need too.

I'll chuck some stock gtr brakes on the front for now to get it running and driving. I had a set from ages ago so chucked a new seal kit in.

Also wanted to solve the issue of having heavy steering.

Hicas R32s have variable assist power steering. Mine was always heavy and I never bothered at the time to sort it, but it was the wires missing off the solenoid on the rack.

So I found a spare rack in stock to make 1 out of 2.

Unfortunately there are a few little bits I still need so start the 3 week timer for parts from Japan again...

[fletch]

Some work, not many pics.

New brake hoses all round. Got some new front brake rotors. 

Mounted fuel filter under the car. I kind of made my life hard here. I should have dropped the rear suspension when I made the fuel hard lines and ran them right back close to the tank and used some short hoses. But I didn't. I stuck the filter here to make some room in the engine bay

Then I cut the power steering hose off that doesn't fit my pump and fitted a hydraulic compression fitting to the tube. Got some hose and fitted some ends.

Well, 1 end anyway....

Fuck.

So now I'll wait for the mailman to rectify that...

 

[fletch]

Parts arrived and steering hose was completed. 

Off the back of all the wiring changes I was making, I thought I would test the 4wd pump. The one in the car seemed to possibly work, but was noisy. I have a few spares in the hoard so out they came. The common fault seems to be the accumulator loses its nitrogen charge, and the pressure switch fails.

One of the pressure switches was smashed, and the other appeared to be stuck. I gave it heaps with the hand pump and nothing.

I got a ln aftermarket pressure switch and new accumulator and o-rings all round. I also gave the filters and internals of the housing and pump a good clean as it was a bit scabby.

There's a cool little gear pump inside for making the pressure. This one had some visible marks but I couldn't feel them so back in it went.

Finished. Ready to be re-installed

[fletch]

Rear brakes got a birthday also. I wasn't a fan of racing red so found another pretty shabby looking pair and gave then a clean up.

Also got some new brake shoes and a general tidy up. There's a bit going on in here incl some kind of spacer springy bracket thing that I spent an hour looking for as it boinged across the shed as I pulled it out.

New rotors, pads, brake lines etc.