rebuilding half-shafts?

Engine, Transmission and related drivetrain.
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SteveEdmonton
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rebuilding half-shafts?

Post by SteveEdmonton »

I saw in Paul's 69 4-door build-thread a pic of a disassembled half-shaft... then another pic of it later, all nice and shiny. His comment was simply that he had taken them apart, cleaned & re-assembled them. OK then!

I can't seem to find anything else on the Realm about anybody doing this. How exactly do you take them apart? Tricks? Tips? Dangers?
'71 4-door
'74 MGB-GT
'04 Miata
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SteveEdmonton
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Re: rebuilding half-shafts?

Post by SteveEdmonton »

Bump-- Hasn't anybody got anything for me on this? :(

The shafts are out, sitting on my bench. Am I a fool to tackle rebuilding them, or is that the very smartest thing I'll ever do in my life? (OK, more likely, somewhere in between...)
'71 4-door
'74 MGB-GT
'04 Miata
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okayfine
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Re: rebuilding half-shafts?

Post by okayfine »

It isn't common. I looked in the FSM for you and didn't see any section covering the half shafts. I recall Kelvin on the BB list talking about it once and that it was a pain - not so much the disassembly, but the reassembly. Might be worth a search of the old BB archives at datsun510.com.

I pulled the exploded view of the half shaft for you from the Parts Catalog:
Pages from Axle.png
Pages from Axle.png (232.24 KiB) Viewed 7197 times
Perhaps PM Miguel or Rui, the Portugal fellows who have/are doing full restos on their 510s. If the half shafts accordion freely, there generally isn't a reason to rebuild them, so most never have. One of the 510's overbuilt structures.
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Trophy24
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Re: rebuilding half-shafts?

Post by Trophy24 »

I need to replace a torn grease boot on one of my half shafts. Does anyone know where to get one? I searched around and have not found anything but the diagram of the shaft. Nissan?
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two_68_510s
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Re: rebuilding half-shafts?

Post by two_68_510s »

Trophy24 wrote:I need to replace a torn grease boot on one of my half shafts. Does anyone know where to get one? I searched around and have not found anything but the diagram of the shaft. Nissan?
This may be the same, does anyone know?:

http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/22-3010
Joel

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510wizard
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Re: rebuilding half-shafts?

Post by 510wizard »

In the chassis & body manual on page RA-10 is the procedure on the half shafts. Something of interest is the statement, "Disassembly should be done only to lubricate the ball spline. This will be required every 2 years or 50 km (30000 miles)". I guess I better get on those half shafts, I am long over due.
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okayfine
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Re: rebuilding half-shafts?

Post by okayfine »

Good eye! I couldn't find it. There you go, Steve :)

I can't imagine any 510 owner had that done, ever.
Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson
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Chadsinto510s
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Re: rebuilding half-shafts?

Post by Chadsinto510s »

Trophy24 wrote:I need to replace a torn grease boot on one of my half shafts. Does anyone know where to get one? I searched around and have not found anything but the diagram of the shaft. Nissan?
I am assuming you mean #7 in the above pic? Nissan # 39655-21002. Readily available from Nissan. ~$13 LIST.
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okayfine
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Re: rebuilding half-shafts?

Post by okayfine »

They also make good shifter boots for the C transmissions.
Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson
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Re: rebuilding half-shafts?

Post by dislexicdime »

there is a good pic of the insides of the half shaft in this r200 install write up
http://www.ratdat.com/?p=292
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Trophy24
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Re: rebuilding half-shafts?

Post by Trophy24 »

You guys are awesome! Thanks for the info :D
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SteveEdmonton
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Re: rebuilding half-shafts?

Post by SteveEdmonton »

You guys are awesome. I hadn't even checked my own thread for a while, and lo and behold there's a treasure trove of info.

I've got my half-shafts mostly apart now-- enough to have a good look at the ball-and-shaft section. Next thing is to get a really big, really clean work area so nothing gets scrambled in dis-assembly. I figure it'll be vital to keep the right balls in the right channels, in the right order too. My reasoning is that the wear patterns will be different in each set of components.

Why am I bothering to do this? General reason: it's all apart, so why not. More specifically though, one shaft is kind of notchy on extension/compression. It moves, but not as smoothly as I'd like.

Also, while the boots are not wrecked, the rubber is certainly "perishing." Figure I might as well replace them with new ones, while it's all apart. (So thanks a lot for the part number, chico.)

Will post more, including pics I think, next time I get at it... which could be a bit here!
'71 4-door
'74 MGB-GT
'04 Miata
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SteveEdmonton
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Re: rebuilding half-shafts?

Post by SteveEdmonton »

Oops, I mean "Thanks, CHAD, for the part number"-- obviously the Chico part that I remembered is simply where you live. (OK, I live an awfully long way from California...)
'71 4-door
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Chadsinto510s
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Re: rebuilding half-shafts?

Post by Chadsinto510s »

SteveEdmonton wrote:Oops, I mean "Thanks, CHAD, for the part number"-- obviously the Chico part that I remembered is simply where you live. (OK, I live an awfully long way from California...)
:lol:

You're welcome Steve.
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SteveEdmonton
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Re: rebuilding half-shafts?

Post by SteveEdmonton »

Chad: Are these half-shaft boots available through your dealership?

I checked today with the local dealership that actually knows something about 510s (few do), but they seem to be NLA, at least here in Canada.

If you could get stock through your parts dept, and were willing to ship them to me, I'd be very glad to get both these boots themselves (4 of them in fact) and the clamps for both ends (4 sets of those, too).

Thanks;
Steve
'71 4-door
'74 MGB-GT
'04 Miata
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