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Resurrection: '72 Datsun 521


Jcooper

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coil was matched when El dizzy was swapped. A lot was done today, only to discover  that there is a fairly large air leak coming from the intake manifold gasket :/ could had swore we checked high and low for all air and vacuum leaks prior to tinkering with the carb---however I was wrong. (I suppose this happens when you don't double check work when working with someone else.) Good news is that its a $3.45 fix. Just not too excited unbolting a bunch of crap to get to it. Oh well..everything is a learning experience lol.

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sometimes the weber comes with s cheap thin carb adapter and they can crack if over tightened.

Not much really to leak on a 521 set up as its pretty clean set up

We took extra care when installing the weber with the adapter, as I have read that they will crack or warp. The motor I'm working on sat for 22 years. When we looked close at the intake manifold, we saw a small crack between the engine and the mount. Closer examination revealed that a large part of the gasket was completely gone- so it will be replaced. I love the 521 set up, just trying to clean up the L18 that was placed in the vehicle. A ton of emissions and vacuum lines were deleted already. When I pull the intake off I'm planning on going over it with a fine toothed comb to check all prior plugged ports.

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March 17, 2014. 

A friend of mine was scrapping an old toyota pickup, and in the process of helping him he gave me some 15inch rims. The old 14s that came with the truck just seam to darn small for my taste. So I was messing around today with fitting. Hopefully I'll have some new rubber on before the day is done.

 

OLD:

578585_10151950326522027_1840161716_n.jp

 

NEW-ish: Will need some polish for sure.

1975086_10151950327332027_1967371455_n.j

 

Also, a little wider than the 14s. This pleases me. 

1964895_10151950327492027_303065806_n.jp

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wow man ... nice truck cool story and the only thing that would make this better.... a nice set of seatbelts that didnt take 6 weeks to get off ebay ... definately need to keep that pretty young thing safe inthe truck ...

haha, they came yesterday and are bolted nicely inside with the bench seat, thanks again for them- and yes, the girl can't wait to "get on the road and go camping with it."

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like tanker said... feel free to include gratuitous special lady pics with datsun updates all the time... glad they showed ..... sorry bout the rest .. todays first day with out a walking boot...theres hope for this injury yet?!?!?!?!

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u should put electric fans onthat rad.,.. i put two on the front as pushers.... hope your radiator works good i have had a few replaced since buying 4... i like the black stuff onthe dragon green truck .... and u should remove the seat tracks ... i bolted my seat straight to the floor since theres no need to slide a seta back and forth gained about 3 inches of head room....oh and the only reaosn i took out my seat belts was to go to 620 shoulder harnesses for my daughter when we ride...

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My girl says she will pose for more shots once I get the truck up and going...officially (therefore I use the excuse to work on the truck on my days off and avoid shopping trips.) Currently just waiting for my intake gasket. Also, being that spring is rolling around soon- I'm sure she'll dress up nicely. Thanks for the pointer on the seat tracks jrock- I would like a little more head room myself. The seat belts work perfectly, just to keep me in one spot ...kinda..for now. The truck did come with shoulder harnesses, but all they consisted of was a strap bolted to the upper cab, and then free hanging down. That, and the male clip looked interesting. 

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You can buy individual engine gaskets at your local Nissan dealer, and like most OEM parts, and after market parts, the Nissan parts are much higher quality.

Use this page for part numbers.

http://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsun520/Datsun520521Index.aspx

 

Although I do not have a 521 with shoulder belts, yet, you can get a good selections of seat belts from seatbeltplanet.com .

I would think you could also replace the top shoulder belt mount with a smooth loop, and figure out a way to mount a seat belt retractor to the lower outside seat belt mount.

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oh and if yours has the provision for the shoulder harness then the 620 auto retracts are a simple bolt in upgrade..... get the receivers too there 620 specific to the belts ...

 

i had to fabricate a upper bolt location on mine....

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Thanks for the suggestions jrock4224! I'll definitely be looking into keeping the shoulder straps. Tomorrow my gasket comes- I would have preferred to order from my Nissan dealer, but they are a bunch of dicks. I was told, "Your vehicle is too old for our system", and "...why not buy a new nissan." :sneaky: ... So..yeah. Rockauto my choice :thumbup:  

 

Also: I snatched some OEM tail lights a week ago- and I put them on for the pleasure of it. You can see the old busted joint I had before on the LH side. The RH side that came with the truck just has some cracks, so for now it will be a spare. I just want to thank everyone who has been following my build- and thanks all for the suggestions as well. 

 

1904085_10151955579702027_1654026278_n.j

 

I do have OEM latches that are coming from my brother, as well as an extra tail gate (which I may end up selling).

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I have dealt with two different Nissan dealers in Oregon.  Both are more that willing to look up old parts, and I have gotten discounts on the price.

 

If a dealer will not support their brand of old cars, why would you or anyone else but a new car from them?

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nice ...!!!! I HAVE NISSANPARTS.CC ACROSS THE STREET AND THEY HAVE OCCASIONALLY DROPPED THE BALL FOR ME A FEW TIMES......(opps not yelling)  its dealerships in general... i usually like to hand pic the people i deal with that show interest in what i have... it takes some time but its nice to have a go to person when buy/order shit ......at my gm dealer i been using the same guy for 20 plus years and some 20k plus in part s ... i can call him with anything and now the deals are so sweet i cant deal with anyone else.... i tried the counter guy once ... cuz i just needed a chrome suburban grill for my late model chevy pickup ... (cause its all chrome..the burban grill)  the dude wanted a vin for the suburban so he could look up the grill ... even after i explained what i was doing ... he continued with the need the vin off the burban this is off or going on ... i was like its for my truck its the same grill just all chrome ... im like, its not going or, off a burban ..so any burban from 99-2004...still no bueno .... i waited a week for my friend to come back who had also by now been promoted to general manager of the parts dept .... more deals...the guys act all put off when i call to talk to him or stop by cuz other then small talk, i wont waste my time trying to get parts from them...

 

 

i hate going somewhere and feeling like i could do a better job helping me on my first day.(and i like to have as much info part numbers to make it easy on them as possible...).. then to get some attitude about buying a new nissan truck ????... that guy would hjust get the long blank stare with no words...followed my a sigh as i turn around and leave.....

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He said they are 15x8s

 

nice ...!!!! I HAVE NISSANPARTS.CC ACROSS THE STREET AND THEY HAVE OCCASIONALLY DROPPED THE BALL FOR ME A FEW TIMES......(opps not yelling)  its dealerships in general... i usually like to hand pic the people i deal with that show interest in what i have... it takes some time but its nice to have a go to person when buy/order shit ......at my gm dealer i been using the same guy for 20 plus years and some 20k plus in part s ... i can call him with anything and now the deals are so sweet i cant deal with anyone else.... i tried the counter guy once ... cuz i just needed a chrome suburban grill for my late model chevy pickup ... (cause its all chrome..the burban grill)  the dude wanted a vin for the suburban so he could look up the grill ... even after i explained what i was doing ... he continued with the need the vin off the burban this is off or going on ... i was like its for my truck its the same grill just all chrome ... im like, its not going or, off a burban ..so any burban from 99-2004...still no bueno .... i waited a week for my friend to come back who had also by now been promoted to general manager of the parts dept .... more deals...the guys act all put off when i call to talk to him or stop by cuz other then small talk, i wont waste my time trying to get parts from them...

 

 

i hate going somewhere and feeling like i could do a better job helping me on my first day.(and i like to have as much info part numbers to make it easy on them as possible...).. then to get some attitude about buying a new nissan truck ????... that guy would hjust get the long blank stare with no words...followed my a sigh as i turn around and leave.....

 

This pretty much sums up most of my frustration. My future brother in law has dealt with the Nissan dealer here in town and says he's a newbie prick "pushing the new and forgetting the old." (Brother in law works for parts in a separate dealer). I've tried to speak to different people at the Nissan dealer- and there is one old school datsun guy who is late 60s and really knows his shit. But he only works part time there. He's been a huge help in answering some of my build questions- however, he even says the owner of the dealer hates the old crap that "wastes his time" when it comes to parts, which also frustrates him since he's running two 620 pickups. So I've been fortunate to get what I need from very very very few parts cars from the yards here in the midwest, yet most of my parts are ordered online.

 

As far as the shops go, some people will give up if the part number doesn't instantly come up with a match. I have a buddy of mine (who has been a frequent second hand on my build), who used to work at an O'reillys years ago. He frequently has to remind the guys at the shop in town where to look in their databases, and he even pointed out to them that the old parts books are way more handy that the online records in most cases with older vehicles. This was the case with my old point distributor, cap and rotor--NO ONE IN TOWN COULD LOCATE A CAP FOR IT..so, went with el dizzy and problem solved. 

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Sat night: March 22, 2014

 

So like I mentioned before, we found a huge leak coming from my intake manifold. We spent most of sat night taking the manifold off and cleaning up the gasket area. Below you see pictures. I do have on major question for anyone following my thread: DO I still need the crankcase emission component tube or can I block this off as well. I already deleted most of the emissions- but I was unsure of whether or not I could get rid of this. (after some brief reading some say yes, some say no- but yes- any answers would be helpful.) Thank all

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