Brake/Clutch return springs

[mikeb]

FYI, just a quick follow up: I received these springs today and they are as pictured and correct for the roadster. My old, "good one" was a full inch stretched out from use and age.

"For anyone looking for the original Nissan return springs, I found these on ebay and ordered a set:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/275852362633?_ ... %7Ciid%3A1

The part number is for early cars, but they look like they should work on all years. I'll let you know how they compare to my one good, original spring...."

[Solex68]

Technically the ebay spring is for the brake and not the clutch but I don't really know how much they differ. I always assumed they were one and the same part. Still good to know.
. Click on image to zoom in

BrakeSpring.jpg

[mikeb]

Greg,
If you look at carpartsmanual.com, 46485-26000 is actually the same for both brake and clutch for the early cars. I took a look at the Datsun Roadster Book Part 1 and here's what Scott shows:

Brake return spring (to engine #R4000) 46485-26000
Brake return spring (from engine #R4001; all 2000) 46485-25500
Clutch return spring (to engine #R40000) 46485-25900 (which is different from carpartsmanual.com)
Clutch return spring (from engine #R40001; all 2000) 46487-25900

Paul Wells sells the return springs and shows it as fitting all years for both brake and clutch. So it seems to be clear as mud!
The spring will clearly work for both brake and clutch, but perhaps Nissan felt the clutch pedal effort was too high and modified the clutch spring?

Mike

[Solex68]

Hey, thanks Mike for the correction. I have 4 parts books and I only looked at one from Nissan.

[mikeb]

Sorry, Greg...I didn't mean it as a correction. You're not wrong. Nissan clearly made a change in the part number for the later cars. I'm guessing here, but I do think it may have had something to do with the clutch pedal effort being higher than it needed to be.

[david premo]

More likely it’s that the firewall changed for the dual master and has a pocket instead of being flat like on the early single master.
Dave

[23yrRebuild]

I've been wanting to ask about this for years, I can probably guess that any replies would be that the springs are needed, to insure that both pedals are "fully retracted" (no pressure on the pedals, even from their own weight). This would be to further insure that the hydraulic cylinder pistons are also fully retracted to maintain proper operational pressure. When I bought my '67 in 1980, both springs were missing. Since installing both new master cylinders decades ago, I've put many thousands of miles on them, without any hydraulic issues what so ever, other than normal bleeding and adjustment every 3 years or so....
I had bought some used springs several years ago, a "red" one, and a "blue" one, and installed both of them. I thought they made the pedals way stiffer than I thought they needed, and it occurred to me that they might also create more wear on the pedal pivot holes...so I removed them, and all has been very well in the hydraulics department.
Are these springs really needed ?

[Solex68]

Mike,
Glad to hear I wasn't the only one considering removing at least the clutch one in my case. Also my springs make a stretching metal sound when depressed and I could do without that too.

[23yrRebuild]

Mike,
" Also my springs make a stretching metal sound when depressed and I could do without that too."

Yes, I forgot to mention the irritating sounds they made !