so what are crush sleeves made out of, any spec's on them? maybe they could be fabbed.

Didn't realize you were a neighbor Eric, everyone else except DD & Ernie are light years away.

Sounds like a plan, thanks for the info.

i have reused crush tubes before
mesure length of tube,record
place tube over steel bar
lightly hit tube were bulge is all the way around evenly
remesure, .5 to 1mm longer would be good
reinstall crush tube and set pinion seal/bearing preload
otherwise bearing preload could be to tight(seize bang)
to loose seal fail,leak oil,whine,crown wheel to pinion depth
will change .
can also use shims between tube and bearing
tommo

Leather dash installed

Attach file:

---

  Datsun1 035.jpg (68.68 KB)

figures, I do have another rear assembly though :)

The crush sleeves are NLA in US and Australia.

Thank you for the advice. I do plan on doing as you instructed on the body work. As for the pinion seal, it was an easy thing to do, so I thought I would give it a try. If it doesn't work, I will rebuild the whole rear-end. If I have to do this, does anyone know the part # for a 78 5spd crush sleeve?. Today I plan on switching out the wheel cyl. and I am going to install my door panels (I replaced the hard board). Maybee I will get back to the body work again, also.

Yes, it is a no-no by the book. In reality it worked for me. Just replaced the seal and not the crush part.

It is easier and cheaper to go to pull-a-part and get a replacement good used diff center for $25.

good work on the patches. A few thoughts you might already be thinking about - take the paint removal out farther around the patches & run the filler out beyond the weld lines & feather to the body. Get rid of that other paint as much as possible, you can spread a large area of filler & when you start blocking it down it'll end up pretty thin but wide if done right. Your going to prime the whole thing anyways. Its OK to go over existing paint as long as its adhered properly to the car, any lifting at all & it needs to go first, Rough up w/80 grit & wipe with a wax & grease remover before applying filler.

Just some thoughts, keep at it - looks good!

Did you simply remove the pinion drive flange from the original H150 diff, replace the seal, then refit the drive flange?

According to the book, this is a no-no.
These diffs use a collapsible sleeve to control the pinion bearing pre load & it is supposed to be replaced whenever the pinion drive flange is removed as it cannot be compressed any further once it has been set at the time of manufacture.

Unfortunately this involves a total strip of the differential including removal of the pinion in order to fit the new sleeve.

Anyway, have a read of the workshop manual & decide for yourself.