Europa TCST

[Pfreen]

I think it is a 3 screw Hitachi SU (45mm) off of a Datsun 240 Z.  I have the 4 screw on my car, but no Turbo.

[TurboFource]

Two steps forward one step back....

Got the front Koni's assembled and the spring and perch with the needle bearings on one of them.
I could turn the top of the shock easily in both directions by hand confirming the bearings work.
Then it got hard to turn in one direction..... So I wrestled with the Harbor Freight spring compressor again ( ) to see what the trouble was....the inner part of the coil had a nice sharp edge that was digging into my aluminum perch....at least I noticed it before putting the spring on the other one! It would have been much better to have noticed before the first one though.....deburred the springs and now need to rest before wrestling with the springs again

[BDA]

Good you found it early! Deburring that spring should be a quick job and you’ll be on your way.

My new spring compressor is a steel shaft that fits in the lower bushing. There are holes on either end. Then I have two J hooks, two pieces of all thread, and a coupler to connect the J hooks to the all thread.

I think you can figure what I mean but if you’re not sure, I can post some pictures.

[TurboFource]

Shocks together....

Spindles/hubs together/disc centers painted with high heat paint...

Then I realized the trunnions have to go on earlier in the assembly process.... Trunnion rebuilds next
then front suspension assembly

[BDA]

Good stuff, Turbo. Don't forget that trunnions have a left and right and need to be on the correct side of the car!

[TurboFource]

I kept them separated BDA.

The new springs and perches are 2.6lbs lighter (each) than the old ones

[BDA]

 

[GavinT]

The new springs and perches are 2.6lbs lighter (each) than the old ones

Some dampers can be mounted upside down . . for the easily excited folk who are looking to save every gram of unsprung weight. 

[TurboFource]

Some more progress.....


I debated myself about the arrangement of the upper controls arms.....there seemed like there would be no caster when swapped front to back.....is this right? To add to my confusion I found pics online both ways

[BDA]

Caster for a TC is supposed to be 2° 30' + 30' so the upper A-arm halfs are not the same. This is also confirmed by the fact that all the upper A-arm halfs are different according to the parts manual. Unfortunately, the workshop manual doesn't help in determining which half is leading or trailing and even the section for inspecting damage just copies the dimensions from the S1/S2 manual - the upper trailing arm halfs for the S1/S2 are different on the TC/TCS. You're just going to have to make sure the pair you use will provide the caster you need which means the leading half will be a bit longer than the trailing half since the bottom halfs are the same.

Remember to tighten the nuts on the pivot pins at ride height so you don't tear the rubber when you have large suspension deflection.

Those springs don't seem to have many coils! Do you know the rate on them?

[TurboFource]

BDA they are supposed to be 125lb...I could get them to compress slightly when I put my weight on them (153lbs).

[BDA]

I only commented because there seem to be a lot fewer coils on yours than mine (my current front springs are 250#) but then your wire must be thinner. 120# is a very reasonable spring rate for the front. In that case you would probably want rear rates in the neighborhood of 100#. This is taken from advice from Certified Lotus who preferred 150# fronts and 115# rears. Of course, there are as many spring rate preferences as there are drivers so you may want to experiment a bit after you have it all put together.

[jbcollier]

Castor is set by the fact the T-section is welded on at an angle to the main chassis section.  It is not adjustable.  If your castor is off something is bent.

The upper, leading, a-arms are all the same (except for the very, very earliest).  The upper, trailing, a-arms are straight in the S1 and early S2 as they attach inside the T-section.  Later upper, trailing, a-arms are angled (but not as much as the leading a-arms) as they attach to the outside of the T-section.  The upper a-arms are handed as the ball-joint mounting holes are offset so the ball joint "points out".

[jbcollier]

Your pictures are bit on the fuzzy side but things look to be correct.

[TurboFource]

Thanks JB and BDA! Just wanted to be sure they were correct.