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Loren O's '72 521 -Found this out in the woods.


Loren O

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2013-03-18151919.jpg I've been posting about this truck in "post your 521" & "I've been thinking about buying this for awhile now." but it's been suggested I start a build thread,(which I was looking forward to doing anyway ),so here goes;

Here are some pics of it before I bought it:

2012-10-19115644-1.jpg this is from the day I went to look at it.

These are from sometime later:

2013-03-18151805.jpg 2013-03-18151834.jpg 2013-03-18151843.jpg 2013-03-18151903.jpg 2013-03-18152247.jpg 2013-03-18152355.jpg 2013-03-18152415-1.jpg 2013-03-18152415.jpg

 

These are from after I bought the truck;

My canopy will need some work. It needs new hatch struts,some new glass,& the wood paneling inside is ruined,so I'm going to insulate it,then cover that with mexican blanket. 2013-05-23142255.jpg

here's a picture of the truck waiting to be moved to my friends garage,so I can do the L20b & 5 speed swap. 2013-08-30192425.jpg

I'm still waiting for the engine,transmission,&2 weber carbs I bought for $100 from a NAPA customer of mine to be delivered.

They're in his shed,&he is going to use the boom of his excavator to lift them out,load them on a trailer & bring them to where I'll be doing the swap. Other than that I just waiting for my friends garage to clear out so I can get to work on it.

In the meantime, I've been collectin parts. Bought a rear window from Rocket dog, a grille from someone at the Canby Datsun show, I'm buying some 6 lug slot mags,with tires &an adapter so I can use the factory air cleaner with a weber carb,& a pair of Bumperettes/brackets from Taadj (with help from Hooligan finding them & getting a price). I want to thank all of them for helping me out with this stuff!

classifieds-37-0-89991300-1375047568.jpg

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While I'm waiting I decided to try polishing the valve cover,the timing cover,&probably a few other parts. I grabbed a couple valve covers & a timing cover from where my truck is sitting,waiting to see how well I can polish them,I'll be painting the engine block,etc before I do the swap. I'm useing 3 different grades of scotch Bright pads, NAPA Aluminum Brightener,& a dremel type tool to do this,i was going to use a3m roll lock attatchment kit,but the shank is too large for the dremel ,so I went to Ace hardware & bought some scrubbing wheels for it instead. Here are some pics of the progress on one of the valve covers.

2013-08-31160532.jpg 2p013-08-31160513.jpg 2013-08-31162735.jpg 2013-08-31162454.jpg

I'm going to scrub a little more on this tomorrow,the follow that with Blue Magic polish. I'll post pics of that tomorrow.

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Dude just a clean and polish and it will look good,great start, NOW LOWER IT.lol

Thanks! Yeah,it's DEFINATELY getting lowered! I can get 3" blocks through work (NAPA ) for around $45 & the front is just a matter of re-indexing the torsion bars,right? It doesn't sound that different from slamming an old VW bug ( I used to be a hard-core VW nut, worked for Discount Import Parts for just under 9 years.)
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For your polish job to look good, you will probably have to sand out the corrosion pitting.  Starting with something like 220 and working your way down to 2000....

 

I'm a fan of natural finish for the valve covers and especially those wheels ( I hate those wheels polished, personal opinion)

 

For the valve cover and those slot mag wheels, use this:  It has an etching solution in it (muriatic acid if I remember right).  Even if you want to polish the aluminum, this is a good start to get the oxidation off.

 

The cool thing; if you start to polish the aluminum and decide you don't like the polished look, just spray this back on it, and it will bring the finish back to the natural aluminum.

 

001-9.jpg

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For the front, yes,,,, reindex the torsion bars. Jack her up, remove the torsion bar adjusting bolts completely. Now on the front of the lower arm, remove the nut holding the torsion bar in place, smack the torsion bar back and they will slide right out. Make sure you mark the bar before removal and then just reindex them.

 

Depending on how much you want to lower the truck, you can always get the 720 4X4 leafs out back too

 

Truck looks good by the way

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For the front, yes,,,, reindex the torsion bars. Jack her up, remove the torsion bar adjusting bolts completely. Now on the front of the lower arm, remove the nut holding the torsion bar in place, smack the torsion bar back and they will slide right out. Make sure you mark the bar before removal and then just reindex them.

 

Depending on how much you want to lower the truck, you can always get the 720 4X4 leafs out back too

 

Truck looks good by the way

Thanks! Will the 720 4x4 leafs be better if I want to occasionally haul things with this truck? I want to lower it,but I want to keep it functional too. I may put on some type of reciever hitch between the bumperettes,but attached to the frame,just in case I need to tow something. The bumper thats on it now just doesn't look good to me. I'll save it,just in case though. What's the difference in the ride,between the 720 leafs & 3 inch lowering blocks? I'm used to driving my Goon with worn out struts & shocks,so I don't expect a soft ride,but I really don't want a "kidney buster" ride either if I can help it.
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Thanks! Will the 720 4x4 leafs be better if I want to occasionally haul things with this truck? I want to lower it,but I want to keep it functional too. I may put on some type of reciever hitch between the bumperettes,but attached to the frame,just in case I need to tow something. The bumper thats on it now just doesn't look good to me. I'll save it,just in case though. What's the difference in the ride,between the 720 leafs & 3 inch lowering blocks? I'm used to driving my Goon with worn out struts & shocks,so I don't expect a soft ride,but I really don't want a "kidney buster" ride either if I can help it.

Datsun/Nissan 720 4X4 leafs are not arched as much as most of the other leafs, so you sit a couple inches lower without using blocks, a good combo is 720 4X4 leafs with 2 inch blocks in 521, then start cutting the overloads/bump stops to make the ride tolerable.

It's been a long time since I have worked with a 521 frame, so I am not sure of the clearances with that combo I mentioned, but I do know that anything more than 2 inch blocks you will have to remove the bump stops altogether, and you likely will have to cut them almost all the way off anyway, they did not have moar loar in mind when they built these trucks.  :lol:

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For your polish job to look good, you will probably have to sand out the corrosion pitting.  Starting with something like 220 and working your way down to 2000....

 

I'm a fan of natural finish for the valve covers and especially those wheels ( I hate those wheels polished, personal opinion)

 

For the valve cover and those slot mag wheels, use this:  It has an etching solution in it (muriatic acid if I remember right).  Even if you want to polish the aluminum, this is a good start to get the oxidation off.

 

The cool thing; if you start to polish the aluminum and decide you don't like the polished look, just spray this back on it, and it will bring the finish back to the natural aluminum.

 

001-9.jpg

This is a great idea by the way when you spray this on aluminum it will dull it out but like he said it has a acid that will clean the pores in the metal.Then polish right over its faster and you get a better shine.Try you like.lol

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Datsun/Nissan 720 4X4 leafs are not arched as much as most of the other leafs, so you sit a couple inches lower without using blocks, a good combo is 720 4X4 leafs with 2 inch blocks in 521, then start cutting the overloads/bump stops to make the ride tolerable.

It's been a long time since I have worked with a 521 frame, so I am not sure of the clearances with that combo I mentioned, but I do know that anything more than 2 inch blocks you will have to remove the bump stops altogether, and you likely will have to cut them almost all the way off anyway, they did not have moar loar in mind when they built these trucks.  :lol:

Wayno i think the 720 leafs give you a 3" drop alone.

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2013-03-18151919.jpg I've been posting about this truck in "post your 521" & "I've been thinking about buying this for awhile now." but it's been suggested I start a build thread,(which I was looking forward to doing anyway ),so here goes;

Here are some pics of it before I bought it:

2012-10-19115644-1.jpg this is from the day I went to look at it.

These are from sometime later:

2013-03-18151805.jpg 2013-03-18151834.jpg 2013-03-18151843.jpg 2013-03-18151903.jpg 2013-03-18152247.jpg 2013-03-18152355.jpg 2013-03-18152415-1.jpg 2013-03-18152415.jpg

 

These are from after I bought the truck;

My canopy will need some work. It needs new hatch struts,some new glass,& the wood paneling inside is ruined,so I'm going to insulate it,then cover that with mexican blanket. 2013-05-23142255.jpg

here's a picture of the truck waiting to be moved to my friends garage,so I can do the L20b & 5 speed swap. 2013-08-30192425.jpg

I'm still waiting for the engine,transmission,&2 weber carbs I bought for $100 from a NAPA customer of mine to be delivered.

They're in his shed,&he is going to use the boom of his excavator to lift them out,load them on a trailer & bring them to where I'll be doing the swap. Other than that I just waiting for my friends garage to clear out so I can get to work on it.

In the meantime, I've been collectin parts. Bought a rear window from Rocket dog, a grille from someone at the Canby Datsun show, I'm buying some 6 lug slot mags,with tires &an adapter so I can use the factory air cleaner with a weber carb,& a pair of Bumperettes/brackets from Taadj (with help from Hooligan finding them & getting a price). I want to thank all of them for helping me out with this stuff!

classifieds-37-0-89991300-1375047568.jpg

Also if you lower more then 3",you might want to get lower profile tires.

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This is a great idea by the way when you spray this on aluminum it will dull it out but like he said it has a acid that will clean the pores in the metal.Then polish right over its faster and you get a better shine.Try you like.lol

I just realized I didn't post this picture with the others. I've beem useing NAPA Aluminum Brightener,which also has an acid in it. I'm going to have.to get some 220 grit sandpaper & a bunch more scrubbing wheels for the Dremel tool.

2013-08-31171848.jpg

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Wayno i think the 720 leafs give you a 3" drop alone.

I guess I need to get some 720 leafs then. Is it just the 4x4 leafs that are flatter give the 3" drop ? I know where a rusted out 720 2wd is. I'm going to be pulling the z22 & transmission for my Goon from it anyway . A 3" drop is really about all I'm after at the moment. There are alot of really rough,dippy roads & some gravel roads that I drive on almost daily. I can't lower it very much.
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I guess I need to get some 720 leafs then. Is it just the 4x4 leafs that are flatter give the 3" drop ? I know where a rusted out 720 2wd is. I'm going to be pulling the z22 & transmission for my Goon from it anyway . A 3" drop is really about all I'm after at the moment. There are alot of really rough,dippy roads & some gravel roads that I drive on almost daily. I can't lower it very much.

Only the 4X4 leafs.

DSCN1639.JPG

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Ok,thanks! Does anyone know where I can find a set of 720 4x4 leafs? Preferably cheap.

 

At the "you pull it" wrecking yards, but you need good tools, sometimes the U bolt nuts do not come off easy, 3/4 inch socket and a 1/2 inch drive breaker bar and big ratchet.

I use my cordless impact once I get the nuts loose, that's if the leafs are high enough off the ground to use it, otherwise I use the ratchet with a 3/4 inch socket.

Your going to pay almost a $100.00 for a set of leafs except if you get their today, it's half price today, that's if there are any at the wrecking yard you go to.

If you have a hack saw, you might be able to cut the U bolts, but you have to  get the shackles off to, and that is 3/4 inch nuts, and maybe a hammer, the other end needs a 12mm socket/wrench, and a bit crescent wrench, don't remember what size the nut is on the back of the front leaf mount.

Take some WD40 also, it might help with the U bolt nuts.  :)

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I just realized I didn't post this picture with the others. I've beem useing NAPA Aluminum Brightener,which also has an acid in it. I'm going to have.to get some 220 grit sandpaper & a bunch more scrubbing wheels for the Dremel tool.

2013-08-31171848.jpg

 

It looks like your product is the same or similar to what I suggested, so your good.  I've been reading a lot of labels lately, and there seems be only two or three different companies that make most of the house brand parts store products.  Every store just puts it's own labels on them.  If I remember correctly,  Napa and O'reilly house brand brake cleaner is the same, Autozone's house brand and Advanced Auto's Warever brake cleaner are the same.  Like wise, Autozones' house brand 510 brake shoes are the same manufacturer as O'reilly's Brake Best Select.

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At the "you pull it" wrecking yards, but you need good tools, sometimes the U bolt nuts do not come off easy, 3/4 inch socket and a 1/2 inch drive breaker bar and big ratchet.

I use my cordless impact once I get the nuts loose, that's if the leafs are high enough off the ground to use it, otherwise I use the ratchet with a 3/4 inch socket.

Your going to pay almost a $100.00 for a set of leafs except if you get their today, it's half price today, that's if there are any at the wrecking yard you go to.

If you have a hack saw, you might be able to cut the U bolts, but you have to  get the shackles off to, and that is 3/4 inch nuts, and maybe a hammer, the other end needs a 12mm socket/wrench, and a bit crescent wrench, don't remember what size the nut is on the back of the front leaf mount.

Take some WD40 also, it might help with the U bolt nuts.  :)

Thanks! I'm sure it will help knowing what tools i'll need to have with me.
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It's been a busy weekend & I didn't get alot done I guess. Anyway, the pitting on this valve cover is pretty bad. This picture is after a few hours of sanding. I think It will take several more before it's smooth.

2013-09-02172638.jpg

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Brought these wheels that I bought from Taadj up to where my truck is sitting,waiting for my friends garage to clear out so I can do the engine& transmission swap. We only had 10 of the correct lug nuts at NAPA,& I ordered 10 more from the distribution center. I still need to find 4 more, or maybe 4 anti -theft ones before I can put them on. Thanks again Taadj for bringing them down & dropping them off!

2013-09-07170652.jpg

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