The Soaring 521

[a6m-zero]

Introduction: My name is Kei (pronounced Kay). I have been a car enthusiast for some time now but have been mostly involved with subarus. I have owned 2 of them now and love them to death. Both of them, I would like to think, have made dents in the Subaru community and are viewed as my builds.

 

 

 

 

 

Buttttt I have felt it was time to get my feet wet in another community, one that I have been lurking in for a bit, the Datsun / Ratsun community.

 

The Car: So I went on the hunt for my first Datsun! Each day I scoured CL in hope to find one of my liking. I decided I didn't want a 280z or a 510 so it put me in the pick category. I wanted a little pickup for the light utility and they look awesome! So after weeks and weeks of searching in CL I decided to broaden my daily search to the famous "G" search engine. The posts that came up the most was..... RATSUN! I took a look in the vehicle classifieds and within 5 mins I found the pickup! I contacted the owner and began talking back and fourth. I was amazed with the info and knowledge he possessed about Datsun's. I started to become really comfortable dealing with him and knowing that purchasing this truck from him was a must! So it happened! I am now the proud owner of a 1970 Datsun 521 1600!

 

The Build: The plan for this little lady is to make her into a daily driver with a theme. I want her to be a solid, solid truck. I also plan to do some paint and body work to make her look the the auto version of a Japanese plane, the A6M-ZERO. I am already so excited to begin the work on this truck and hope that others will enjoy it too!

 

I have to give a HUGE, HUGE thanks to Albert ( denmarkboy). I have never met him in person but he is a very genuine person. Has helped me with any questions I have had and has worked with me through this whole process of purchasing this truck. He is created a worry free environment for me and the truck. Again, I can't thank him enough. Also I would like to thank Adam ( eagle_adam). He was the drop point for the truck in Beaverton where I picked up the truck. It was a little late and he was still open to talking about his Datsun's and explaining a bit about mine. He's a great guy and very passionate about Datsun's.

 

I will try to post as many pictures as I can though this build but and a starting point Denmarkboy has a good jump so I'll leave the link!

 

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/64577-is-there-a-cure/

 

Sorry for the huge intro but I promise in the future there will be less words and more OICS!

[datzenmike]

Welcome Kei, to Ratsun. Eagle Adam and denmarkboy...... you cant get more enthusiast than these two if you were on a race track... you are in good hands. Looking forward to pictures of your 'new' PL521.

[denmarkboy]

Welcome to the community Kei , i cant wait to see what you  do to that sweet little thing . One thing is for sure , it will only get better !  And if i can ever do anything to help you got my number .

 

[MikeRL411]

 

Introduction: My name is Kei (pronounced Kay). I have been a car enthusiast for some time now but have been mostly involved with subarus. I have owned 2 of them now and love them to death. Both of them, I would like to think, have made dents in the Subaru community and are viewed as my builds.

 

 

 

 

 

Buttttt I have felt it was time to get my feet wet in another community, one that I have been lurking in for a bit, the Datsun / Ratsun community.

 

The Car: So I went on the hunt for my first Datsun! Each day I scoured CL in hope to find one of my liking. I decided I didn't want a 280z or a 510 so it put me in the pick category. I wanted a little pickup for the light utility and they look awesome! So after weeks and weeks of searching in CL I decided to broaden my daily search to the famous "G" search engine. The posts that came up the most was..... RATSUN! I took a look in the vehicle classifieds and within 5 mins I found the pickup! I contacted the owner and began talking back and fourth. I was amazed with the info and knowledge he possessed about Datsun's. I started to become really comfortable dealing with him and knowing that purchasing this truck from him was a must! So it happened! I am now the proud owner of a 1970 Datsun 521 1600!

 

The Build: The plan for this little lady is to make her into a daily driver with a theme. I want her to be a solid, solid truck. I also plan to do some paint and body work to make her look the the auto version of a Japanese plane, the A6M-ZERO. I am already so excited to begin the work on this truck and hope that others will enjoy it too!

 

I have to give a HUGE, HUGE thanks to Albert ( denmarkboy). I have never met him in person but he is a very genuine person. Has helped me with any questions I have had and has worked with me through this whole process of purchasing this truck. He is created a worry free environment for me and the truck. Again, I can't thank him enough. Also I would like to thank Adam ( eagle_adam). He was the drop point for the truck in Beaverton where I picked up the truck. It was a little late and he was still open to talking about his Datsun's and explaining a bit about mine. He's a great guy and very passionate about Datsun's.

 

I will try to post as many pictures as I can though this build but and a starting point Denmarkboy has a good jump so I'll leave the link!

 

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/64577-is-there-a-cure/

 

Sorry for the huge intro but I promise in the future there will be less words and more OICS!

More newbys should study your intro as a fine example of what an initial post should be! Welcome!

[wayno]

Welcome :)

[mrbigtanker]

welcome to the community, you will get all the knowledge you need right here, and they are a lot different and more fun to drive then a Subi,So what you need to do is stuff  water boxer in this truck, bro that would be bad ass.I will be watching you.

[a6m-zero]

Thanks everyone for the great welcoming! I hope to do all of you proud haha. I have pretty much read through all of your builds and am so inspired!

[a6m-zero]

So the last couple days have been pretty productive. On the way home from bring the truck home from Portland I notices the lights started to fade 3/4 if the way home. I was 4 blocks away from the house and completely died. So I figured it was the alternator so I got that ordered and put it! Runs and charges like a champ now.

 

In addition, I did a full strip/ vacuum of the cab and started to collect the loot of what was found haha.

 

 

Then the downside of the cleaning was uncovered.

 

 

I'll be tackling that at some point soon. I also removed the rear bumper that I think is just too chunky / misplaced on the Datsun.

 

BEFORE

 

 

AFTER

 

 

In the photo you can see the tail lights are removed. I wanted to do some troubleshooting because some of the lights weren't working. So at some point I'm guessing someone wired a trailer in cause there was a bundle of wires tucked in the bumper and a BUNCH of wire nuts / splices EVERYWHERE........ugh. One of the plugs is melted bad and another is not working so I'll have to replace it. On top of that looks like I need tail lights too....

 

 

 

 

The left side had on nut holding the lense on and all but 3 pots and there. The seal is torn and brittle, which makes sense. The lense is broken which is the little pieces I found in the light along with moss growing. The right side is pretty much together a few snapped lense threads but the middle section of the lense fell out and is cracked. It was full of water too.

 

I think I'm doing this whole Datsun thing right haha and yes I was using penetrating oil before I get flamed. Had to cut 3/4 of these ha

 

 

And 2 pics for fun.

 

 

 

All in all an interesting few days....

[a6m-zero]

Anybody have some 521 tails they wanna get rid of??

[mrbigtanker]

Very good

[Charlie69]

The 521 does look cleaner without the step bumper.  If you ever get hit from behind that bumper can be the difference in your truck being totaled.

[wayno]

There are no taillight lenses on ebay right now, and finding 521s that are being parted out on craigslist is a pipe dream anymore, I have not seen one being parted out in years.

As Charlie just mentioned, you are taking a chance driving without a bumper, even a loaded shopping cart can do damage without one, but I use the bumperettes on my builds, they are like no bumper at all except more money lost if someone rear ends me, as bumperettes are expensive.

[a6m-zero]

Yeah I completey understand the risk involved but I'd rather get hit looking good than get hit looking like a jerry rigged some diamond plate on haha. I also looked online and I absolutly hate the Orange ones in the tail light too so I gotta be patient and wait to find some

[wayno]

The 3 color lenses on ebay right now are for the 1968 521 that some say don't exist, and the late 520, your truck don't have the mount hardware for them taillights.

You could make the hardware to mount them, but the quality of them taillights is poor, they are cheaply made, and not period correct for your truck.

Yeah I completey understand the risk involved but I'd rather get hit looking good than get hit looking like a jerry rigged some diamond plate on haha. I also looked online and I absolutly hate the Orange ones in the tail light too so I gotta be patient and wait to find some

[DanielC]

Well, now that you have done that, see this thread.

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/18092-521-taillight-rebuilding/?hl=%2B521+%2Btaillights

[Charlie69]

Yeah I completey understand the risk involved but I'd rather get hit looking good than get hit looking like a jerry rigged some diamond plate on haha. I also looked online and I absolutly hate the Orange ones in the tail light too so I gotta be patient and wait to find some

That is actually a dealer installed bumper that most likely came on the truck new.

[DanielC]

I have three 521 rear bumpers like the one on your truck. 

[mrbigtanker]

 

Are these the drones you are looking for?

[mrbigtanker]

 

Here are those ugly orange or amber tailights you are talking about. So these are rebuilt by myself and custom done and the light bulbs are all LED's.

[denmarkboy]

nice to see you turning wrenches on that sweet thang , i agree with both opinions , i like the safety of the bumper but it is not very attractive . Actually its much better looking than some of the crap they were hanging on the back of those trucks back in the day. And i also love the factory no bumper look it is a personal preference .

 

I personally would of held off on tearing down the tail lights , only because the rarely come apart in one piece . And the cost of replacements is hard to justify when you didnt really need to take them off, the wiring and bumper could have been fixed/removed without removing them . and they werent cracked enough to show any white showing threw. so they could of been used as is for a long time .

 

trust me i love new !  But you have to have a build budget like mr. tanker ! lol, And not to many of us do . 

 

And dont throw that bumper away, if you dont want it let me know i will find someone to come by and pick it up 

 

keep up the good work !

[mrbigtanker]

Very well put Denmark,Please for the love of god save those tail lights Zero.

[a6m-zero]

Are these the drones you are looking for?

 

Yes, look at you mr.brand new parts. Haha

 

That is actually a dealer installed bumper that most likely came on the truck new.

 

Yeah I am aware I just don't think it flows well.

 

Well, now that you have done that, see this thread.

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/18092-521-taillight-rebuilding/?hl=%2B521+%2Btaillights

 

I actually looked at the thread prior to all the work haha it's great info.

 

 

nice to see you turning wrenches on that sweet thang , i agree with both opinions , i like the safety of the bumper but it is not very attractive . Actually its much better looking than some of the crap they were hanging on the back of those trucks back in the day. And i also love the factory no bumper look it is a personal preference .

 

I personally would of held off on tearing down the tail lights , only because the rarely come apart in one piece . And the cost of replacements is hard to justify when you didnt really need to take them off, the wiring and bumper could have been fixed/removed without removing them . and they werent cracked enough to show any white showing threw. so they could of been used as is for a long time .

 

trust me i love new ! But you have to have a build budget like mr. tanker ! lol, And not to many of us do .

 

And dont throw that bumper away, if you dont want it let me know i will find someone to come by and pick it up

 

keep up the good work !

 

Yeah I could have waited but I saw water in them and I saw the lense was broken on the one side. So I decided to try to clean them up. I'm a very ocd person when it come to things being not "working/correct" haha.

 

Very well put Denmark,Please for the love of god save those tail lights Zero.

After looking at the tailight parts and how they are pretty hard to come by I may sell the set/parts. This would help another member get a complete sturdy set out of it.

 

Browsing last night I saw this photo and fell pretty in love.

 

 

I really, really like the way this just makes the rear end look finished. I probably won't make it as crazy as the picture but close. And with the taillights and plate mount I have in mind it will look very clean.

 

 

Okay flame suit on cause I know I may make some Datsun purists angry haha.

[mrbigtanker]

i like it myself,just don't know what tail lights to go with.

[wayno]

So your going to weld the tailgate shut, you seen that it still has a tailgate, it's just less than a foot tall, as that truck has had a major body drop.

So far I have not seen one set of taillights that look decent with that look, not even Bobs looks right, and that truck is awesome.

I am not a purist by any stretch of the imagination, if you have seen any of my builds you will know this already, but I do copy anything that looks good, I did this to get rid of the latches.

Perhaps you can find something that is close to the 521 taillights, or just wait a while, I am sure a set will surface at some point.

[a6m-zero]

Oh and if anyone in my thread is interested in purchasing the tail lights please pm me!