End of Summer Update (1500 Project – 23)

It has been a crazy summer. Work commitments have kept my shop time to a minimum, but I have still been sneaking out and getting more done on the 1500. The front suspension is all back together with new parts and hardware:

I have updated the steering box to a “Type B” version and wanted to use the matching idler with the steering setup. Unfortunately, the threaded portion of the idler shaft was damaged when I removed the steering arm. Grrr. Bill Cole shared that he had successfully modified an early idler shaft to “Type B” specs and I have done the same– here are photos of the process:

In this shot you can see the differences between the early “Type A” and later “Type B” idler shafts. The difference is in the large “Washer” that Nissan used to center the shaft in the cast housing. All other dimensions are the same between the shafts:

The “washer” is just welded to the top shoulder on the idler shaft as illustrated below:

To remove the “washer”, I chocked the idler shaft in my trusty South Bend lathe and started making metal chips:

And the finished product:

Now I just need to replace the bushing in the idler housing and the threaded keeper, and we should be good to go!

In other progress, the body is slowly coming along as well…