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PostPosted: Thu Jan 16, 2020 6:15 pm 
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Hi one and all,nearly finished my 1970 1600 rebuild as to standard original ,I bought it new in May 1970.
On the question of setting up the steering as near as possible here at home prior to getting it to a workshop for wheel alignment and blue slip inspection,__Where to start ?
The front end was assembled near as possible to pre removal,every thing replaced as required.
Can get a string line off the rear wheels to high lite the toe in/out requirements on front.
Steering wheel at moment is about a third of a turn off centre to the right,steering wheel is easy to remove.
Maybe I should check how many turns lock to lock then find centre position ?
The left wheel is straight ahead . The right front is toe in a good bit.
The physical stops between the control arm and the steering arm,? when to adjust. ?
Cheers ,thanks for your thoughts.
Howard.


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PostPosted: Mon Jan 20, 2020 2:46 pm 
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How confident are you that you put the steering wheel back in the original position?
The steering wheel arm on the steering box was also removed or did you leave it attached? I'd work from this and make sure everything is setup from here.

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PostPosted: Mon Jan 20, 2020 8:47 pm 
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Thanks for your input and interest.
Steering arm was removed, pretty sure I marked it well before removal but this was a couple of years back, will have a close look to see if I centre popped for markings. Cheers


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 31, 2020 4:24 pm 
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Just to add,--Re that steering,--all seems pretty good now,did have to re position the steering wheel.Should be close enough to drive to a wheel alignment workshop.
Another question,if you can through some light on, the rear coil springs I had re set about 15 mm longer to a relaxed length of 320 mm due to the car used to sit down at the back.
The rear wheels now have about a 5 deg slope inwards,as if those springs are pushing up too hard,the car is now fully assembled.
The manual is a bit iffy on the length of these springs.
Can get new springs from Bursons but specs only give you the fully extended and fully compressed lengths not the relaxed length.They come wired up in the compressed position.
I guess I'm asking how long should the springs be when relaxed for a standard installation.
Cheers, Howard.
PS I could post this question for "General Discussion"


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 31, 2020 7:07 pm 
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Your problem may be that the rear suspension setup on a 1600 means its not a 1:1 relationship between spring length and ride height. Springs are located closer to the pivot point of the trailing arm, so a 15mm increase in spring length means a 30mm or more increase in height of car out at the wheel (I've never checked the exact ratio). An increase in ride height means positive camber on the back wheels as you now have.

Going by spring length is always difficult - heavier duty springs may be shorter when not installed as the don't compress as much when installed, for example.

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PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2020 1:35 pm 
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Thanks for your reply.
Yep makes good sense,also I been thinking ,when I got the springs reset they may not have been normalized back to the same original hardness ,ie could be stiffer.
I guess we are saying that positive camber is not a desirable outcome ?,certainly looks unstable as viewed from the rear.
I guess I will have to bit the bullet and buy a new set and trust the manufacturer knows his job,what you think--go for it ?.Bursons say they can get them in from Melbourne.Its a pitty they don't state the relaxed length,would give me a bit more confidence that they are ok.As I mentioned the new springs come wired up in the compressed state.
It would be a big ask to get the original springs reset again a bit shorter , becomes a bit of a trial and error exercise,quite a lot of work involved.in-out -in -out.
Thanks for your interest.
Howard.


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PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2020 4:38 pm 
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What sort of ride height do you want on the rear? King Springs make a variety of springs from factory spec, all the way to super low.
If you find a ride height you like, you may be able to find a spring that suits from their catalogue, based on feedback here.
I was running the KDRL07's (240K super low) and on a 16" wheel and tyre, about half way in to the profile of the tire, would line up with the lip of the rear guard.

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PostPosted: Mon Feb 03, 2020 11:28 am 
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Thanks once again SR20, I will look into the King Springs see if they have info on stock standard rear springs.
My resto is completely as per the original production 1970 1600 sedan.(with all its short comings)
With this in mind I would be wanting just an original ride height,Would need to get rid of the positive rear wheel camber .Original 13 inch wheels are fitted.
I can certainly appreciate the amount of work you have put into your SR20.
It would be good to have 2 vehicles --re- one like yours and a second like mine,side be side comparison would be interesting to look at to say nothing of the 2 driving experiences.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 03, 2020 12:08 pm 
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I used to love driving my 1600 when it was relatively standard. Wasn't a ball of fire, but just nice to cruise around in.
Everything that gets modified has short comings! You are always compromise something to achieve something different.

Your resto sounds good. Would be good to see some photos!

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viewtopic.php?t=6579
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 04, 2020 11:06 am 
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If I haven't already mentioned ,I bought this Datsun new in 1970 so its a bit unique as a one owner and still stock standard.
Will get you a few photos.
Must get these rear springs sorted.
The front bumper still a problem (front and rear bumpers both returned to me after chroming with small holes,rusted from the inside).


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PostPosted: Tue Feb 04, 2020 10:02 pm 
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And I thought I'd had mine for a long time (my first car bought in 1981). It too will be subjected to a full restoration to original one day (probably a retirement project....). Unfortunately mine has been modified / messed around with over the 18 year period I drove it, and I tossed out many of the original bits :( Slowly acquiring what I need, but not as easy to find stuff as it used to be.

I just had a look in my factory service manual, standard camber is 0 degrees, + or - 30 minutes. Interestingly, springs are slightly different lengths on each side for right hand drive cars. It also gives woie diameters, free lengths, etc but I doubt this would be useful nowadays.

Perhaps you could get hold of a pair of King springs or similar that are close, and adjust with "spacers" between car body and the rubber insulator that the top of the spring sits in if neccessary ? One of the aforementioned dodgy modifications I did as a youngster was to cut the springs to lower the car, but I made the mistake of not figuring in the multiplication effect of the suspension setup, and the car was lowered way more than I intended. I "fixed" it by cutting donuts from marine plywood and fitting as above. Perhaps nylon (eg from a chopping board or similar) may have been a better idea....

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1971 P510
1972 180B SSS
1965 SP310 Fairlady
1966 SP311 Fairlady


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PostPosted: Wed Feb 05, 2020 10:25 am 
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Your restoration sounds great...particularly since you're sweating the details to get the ride heights correct, nice detail.

My suggestion is along the lines of the other's....probably better to target a "kerb height", which I would define it as the vertical distance between the centre of the wheel and, perhaps rightly or wrongly, the fender / wheel arch lip directly above it. I have a "standard" 1970 Datsun 1600 (with automatic transmission) that I can measure and post up later, if you like?

With that knowledge, and the linkage ratios for the front and rear (I have always used 2.2 for the rear IRS spring to wheel rate), you can more quickly determine the spacer needed for a set of springs to bring it into specification. It's always an iterative process as adding a spacer will slightly change the weight balance of the car and, subsequently, the amount the spring compresses and therefore the final ride height however with relatively thin spacers it wont be much difference between the calculation and actual spacer thickness required.

Yes, would be great to see some pictures when you have a chance!


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 10, 2020 1:15 pm 
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Howiefix2 wrote: *
Hi one and all,nearly finished my 1970 1600 rebuild as to standard original ,I bought it new in May 1970.

Maybe I should check how many turns lock to lock then find centre position ?

Howard.
just as a matter of interest how many turns is a standard steering box please ?


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PostPosted: Fri Feb 21, 2020 6:30 pm 
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Interesting comments all round here regarding rear springs and steering.
Just to refresh --re-- I did have my rear springs reset,should have just bought a new set,sitting too high,may just leave for a while see if settles in/down..Just bought a new front bumper so Blue slip hopefully just round the corner.
Must get round to posting a few photos for interest on a stock standard back yard resto.

That steering on my standard steering box is 3.25 turns lock to lock.if I remember correctly.
Cheers.


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