Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

Okay, I need some help here. I have pulled a few bodies off of frames but keep forgetting to note where the horse hairs pads reside in relation to the body. It is one of those things you think you will be able to remember by visualizing but I gotta confess. I do not have a clue. Any one out there pulling a body or know where the pads go? I am ordering some more neopreme commercial grade to replace the pads with. I will do up a sketch and post it on the main site if I can get some help here. Thanks.


Steve

I might have a photo, I'll check...TR

Steve - I couldn't find the photo I thought I had. Unless you had everything painted, you can normally see traces of the old mats.

From memory...

On the flat portion of the main rails under the doors.
On the ramps up and down the rear axle hump.
On the flats on the rear square.

Probably more...TR

TR,

No problem. Thanks for looking. I believe you are correct about the ones you have mentioned but there are more. Thanks.

Steve

Steve,

I have a stripped frame in the driveway. I will see if I can figure out where the rathair was on it. If you have the Rallye catalogs, there was a photo of a car undergoing a frame off restoration (with some interesting color detailing) that clearly shows where (s)he was replacing the rathair. I don't have the catalogs handy, so this is from memory, but I believe that the photos are either just inside the back cover of the main catalog, or in the front of the tech insert. If you need me to dig that out, let me know.

I just pulled the body off the frame of my roadster today and can offer this "fresh info", though I don't know how typical my roadster is as it POs have not been kind to it.
The remains of four pads were located at the intersections of the "X" member and the outside rails. In addition, two smaller pads were located at the end of each rail 2" from the rear cross member. Also, there were also two narrow 6" lg strips on the rear cross member at the corners.

fyi

I intend to replace the pads with 0.375" thick 70 durometer silicone gasket sheet as it extremely resistant to acids, bases and hydrocarbons. It will not deform under high load and has an operating range from -50 to 300 Deg C.

I hope this helps.

Hey Sid thanks for the offer. Garth, appreicate the input. I think I have it now. I will do a sketch and we can compare it to your real deal Garth. Not too mant POs remove the body from the frame.

Steve

Garth,

Am I close with this?



Steve

Yes.

The pair of pads should be closer to the rear though and there were two small strips on the rear crossmember at the corners. I will pm you some pictures in a couple of hours (digital camera needs batteries).

You mentioned you are contemplating using nitrile ruppber for replacement. You may want to confirm that the grade you have is oil resistant. There are a few grades of nitrile when exposed to oil, soften and degrade similar to natural rubber. Not good.

BTW after removing the body yesterday and examining the frame, I was shocked to see the loss of material (steel) from nearly 40 years operating in the salt capital of Canada. I should have looked south to CA or AZ for a vehicle.

Regards,

The neopreme I purchased for the body clip pads seems fine. This rubber provides excellent abrasion and oxidation resistance, and good oil, electrical, flame, impact, tear, and weather resistance. There are a ton of rubbers to pick from. I chose 50 durometer. I will patiently await the pictures so I can get it right. Thanks Garth-I really appreciate the help.

Steve

...and, of course, you will add that info to the Tech Info Body section, right?

Yeppir, sure will once we sort it all out.

Steve

Steve,

I sent you four pictures of the horsehair pad placement regular email as I did not know how to post them here. They were about 550 K each in size. I thought I should tell you in case you have attachments locked out of your email reader. There were 10 pads on my 66.

Slowboy,

Cool, I will be looking for them. No, I accept all pictures. Thanks.

Steve

Okay, we have it now. Thanks to Garth and Slowboy for the pictures. There are indeed 10 pads on the frame as depicted by the below picture. Garth is using (damn I cannot remember what he using??)and I am using neopreme as replacements. Slowboy provided me the following information for what he is using.

"The following I previoulsy posted to the Roadster List.

On the 14 cloth reinforced pads for the bolts the following is what I found at the truck store.

Early Chevy pads work for the six large bolts. They will also work for the other eight if you peel off the extra layers, but there are round one that work better.

More specifically:

1950-1955-1st Chevy truck radiator support to frame pads are 2" x 2" of the correct material. Just drill the hole to 5/8s for the larger bolts.

IF you don't want to peel a couple layers off the above pads for the other eight pads you can use the following:

1955-1966 Chevy truck radiator support pads. These pads are round but are a nice fit and need no drilling for the other eight body bolts.

As for the horse hair replacement pads, I went with Coleman Rest Easy Camp Pad that I now have to cut to size."

So thanks to both of you for sharing. I will update the main website with this information as well.





Steve