Hi Type4,

Welcome to the forum. The stut photos dont clearly show the top of the strut tube. Is there no large threaded retainer to hold in the insert?

The stut appears to have had a larger tube welded to the stub to allow the fittment of a larger diameter insert. This is a great mod to increase the volume of the insert to help with shock oil temps and foaming.

This tube, standard or modified like yours, is alway welded to the stub and therefore not removable. Only the insert is removable by undoing the threaded reatining nut/collar at the top of the strut tube.

Id be very suprised if the strut has been built so you cant get the insert out.

I've never seen a sealed strut. It looks as if someone cut off the original strut tube, thus separating tube and spindle, then welded this "sealed strut" to it.

If you go to the downloads section, its in the top left of the page you can find a downloadable PDF of the Factory Datsun 1200 Competition Suspension book.

OK you appear to have a sealed unit. Normally there is a threaded collar at the top of the strut, this is simply undone and the cartridge is removed. In the picture it looks like the top is sealed.

Now as for the assemble, even back in the day these were a fabricated part for race purposes, a threaded spring perch was welded to the strut housing, the housing was also cut down to a shorter overall length and then an appropriate damper / shock cartridge was put in........................unlike your E36 your not going to find off the shelf race parts. As your current struts have a set spring height this may be a good time to redo the front suspension.

If you can take a picture of the lower control arms and radius rods on the car one of us can tell whether it's 1200 or Z car or 200sx etc. and give you a course of action.

For the rear end several GT-Lites guys use Winters quick change rear ends, Dave Patten (I think) had one for sale on GT-racecar.com forums.

As to the problem of long tracks, is the car over revving or does it hit the aero-wall like mine, I.E. you get above 90 MPH and the motor starts struggling to overcome the drag.......my car no puts out about 80 horsepower at the rear wheel, a full SCCA National level car will put out 100 rwhp.................so this may be a case of your used to an M3 which doesn't have this issue.........................I'm assuming you have Weber DCOE's on the car, tell us what size (40, 44 or 45mm) and what main jets are in it....................this will give us a rough idea of how hard the motor is tuned.

As for the gear ratio in the diff now, mark the drive shaft and tires, spin the drive shaft and count the number of turns at the wheels.


Overall the 1200 is no different from the BMW, you set the camber, caster toe etc. Like most people running the car I have a fabricator for the big bits.

You can send the motor to Rebello Wirth etc like some racers do but if it already has the good bits then it's simply a task of up keep. A lot of people get parts from Peter Zekert as he does a lot of them. Isky stocks valve springs, JE & Arias pistons are still available and a hole host of companies can grind cams. A series buzzing to 9000+ will need freshening after 6 hours running.

Transmissions run from $700 to $7000 depending on whether you're using the A series Nissan 4 speed close ratio or a sequential box from a big name company

Rear ends are everything from stock H145 to modified H190 or quick change.

Suspension tends to be custom: I have the common modified 280ZX struts on my car. The class morphed from C-Sedan to GT and cars became tube frame the suspension went to custom unequal length A-arms, this was also common on cars that were tubed from the firewall forward.................read the C-sedan suspension manual on this page. Also read all the strut swap info. Sway bars, the 7/8 front 5/8 rear Addco bars are still available but beyond that it is custom bars usually tubular.


As for Gaskets I get most of them at the parts stores......of course over 25 years running a 1200 I pretty much have 3 of everything.

I'll give you a quick break down on my car just as an idea:

The motor is a JDM GX engine with:
Reground cam (.460 lift 280 duration) purchased from another GT-Lite driver , it cam with new lifters.
Porting done by me (suorevsion from a friend)
Isky valve springs (New)
pushrods from Peter Zekert
Keihin Flat slide carbs and manifold bought used from a DSR competitor who converted tobike engine

The gearbox is a 4 speed close ratio bought from San Fran region driver used

Diff is H145 with LSD..............purchased used along with a huge stash of parts from Arizona region SCCA member.

Rear springs are Nissan comp with Koni shocks were in the huge stash of parts from Arizona.

280ZX front suspension (used) was picked up from Tom Neally (GT-5 / Lites car builder)


Basically read everything on here and GT-racecar.com and you should get an idea of where to get everything.

Tom

I hope this helps.

Attach file:

---

  DSC01376.JPG (163.88 KB)


  DSC01375.JPG (163.38 KB)


  DSC01374.JPG (165.19 KB)

Try posting some pics to help us see what your talking about

But my "shock" is welded to the spindle. How do I get the insert out of that spindle/strut housing?

Nissan 56105-H5025 about $50 each from Nissan, for Datsun B110
They are white but look like these aftermarket Bogen units:



I heard some reports of local Nissan dealers saying they can't get them anymore. I bought my last set in 2010 from Nissan.

I also bought some KYB gas-a-just and a friend just bought some Konis last month. They are new old stock, so search the web to find them.

Koni S1003

threaded sleeves that springs sit on are not stock.

An insert is a shock absorber for a McPherson strut. It's the only part that can wear out. Original the strut housing had valves and oil in it and the strut was the shock. But then they came out with the insert cartridges, no rebuilding necessary, just pop a new shock cartridge in the housing.

Peter is who I bought the car from. And Im kind of confused on the word "insert", is that the threaded sleeve the spring sits on? Because I have found that from Koni. And I have the sleeve and spring in good condition. Its the shock that is shot and I need the whole assembly (shock and spindle) replaced. Thanks for your responce.