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Bought a 521 you're probably all familiar with...


fredges

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Hello, I'm new at this, be gentle.

Recently picked up a 1969 521 and I'm really enjoying it. I'm a recovering VW guy, and this is my first foray into Datsuns. Thought I'd share some photos and start up some dialogue. 

 

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Working out some vinyl lettering for the raised DATSUN on the tailgate. Haven't quite gotten the size just right, but almost there... I like the brown! Thinking about white reflective, too... though burgundy would match the interior ... damn, decisions...

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Original rims are being blasted, and will be painted red, with thin whitewalls on them soon. I'll run the stock hubcaps I have, or just leave the lugs exposed, we'll see... (I'll probably sell the chrome rims that are on it now.)

 

I hope to affix a roof rack to hold my skateboard. I want a gutter-mount unit that won't harm the truck, so I'm looking for suggestions, thanks.

 

Hope to bring it to Canby.

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Thanks! I do feel lucky. Some might say I paid too much, but I'm very happy with what I got for my money. I sold my '68 bug convertible for almost what I paid for the truck, so WifeUnit was OK with the deal. :D Though she just about divorced me when we went to pick it up ... I drove it 373 miles home, with WifeUnit behind me. At 60-65mph. In the dark. In pouring rain. With a couple of rest stops, took us nine hours. Brutal! :D

Hoping to clean up the wiring, tend to a few rusty bits, get those old rims on it and just drive the heck out of it over the summer. 

 

Although, I would love to put a console of some kind in it, ahead of the shifter, so I can get a little music in there. We'll see...

 

Re: the VW comment, 

Haha! Yeah, I've still got love for the old VWs (goddamnvalves), but I've always wanted an old Datsun, since my mom had a brand new 510 wagon back in the early/mid 70's. (I can still smell that car... mmm...) she almost killed my dad when he sold it without asking her. This truck is the perfect vehicle for me now, although at 6' I barely fit in it! Heehee! I am stuffed into it, but I love it.

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Some will always say you over paid,,, even if you got it for free and had to pay to license it.. :lol: 

  i think he was trying to sell it just a couple years ago for something like $3800.(?)  and people would give him shit saying it was over priced..   Good stuff doesn't lose value,, but junk,, will always be junk.

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I think I'm going to ditch the tach. It's cute, and it works, but it isn't stock and it isn't required for operation.

 

Need a flasher knob and a choke knob (anyone? Bueller? Bueller?)

 

Gotta clean up some mystery wires and fix the cig lighter. Want to repaint all the white stuff like on the shift knob and the dash knobs, and fix the turn signal cancelling pin on the steering wheel so I'm not driving around with my blinker on for miles, like an old man (said the old man).

 

Also need to replace the rubber fuel filler hose, as it's leaking like mad.

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I'm not a huge fan of the interior. It's cushy and very well done (even the headliner!). But I would really love to see stock, black vinyl in there, everywhere. I might go that route eventually. 

Once my wallet recovers from the initial purchase, I'll start putting more money into bigger things like that.

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Looks really nice.  J-13, or L-16?

 

Body parts on a 521 are measures in inches.  Bolts are SAE.

The fuel filler hose is probably some inch and a fraction sized.

 

Engine. transmission, and bolts on the rear axle are metric.  Bolts holding those three parts to the truck are SAE.

Brake lines are 3/16, with 3/8-24 flare nuts.

 

If you have the L-16, leave the tach in until you get used to the RPM the engine likes to run at.  4.000 at 60 MPH is normal, for a L-16 truck

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30439037-464C-440A-B1B8-E7574DC16B7C_zps

 

yakima drip rail mounts ... easily had off ebay .. u can either buy the cross bars or make your own ...that wind deflector is hard to find ...but can be easily reproduced ... bring those wheels over we can make them any color lol 

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Looks really nice.  J-13, or L-16?

 

Body parts on a 521 are measures in inches.  Bolts are SAE.

The fuel filler hose is probably some inch and a fraction sized.

 

Engine. transmission, and bolts on the rear axle are metric.  Bolts holding those three parts to the truck are SAE.

Brake lines are 3/16, with 3/8-24 flare nuts.

 

If you have the L-16, leave the tach in until you get used to the RPM the engine likes to run at.  4.000 at 60 MPH is normal, for a L-16 truck

How do I tell if J-13 or L-16? 

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thanks for the info on specs! Fuel filler hose is about 7.25" Circumference, so probably 2.25" diameter?? It's a big hose, but only about 6" long (insert dick joke here).

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yakima drip rail mounts ... easily had off ebay .. u can either buy the cross bars or make your own ...that wind deflector is hard to find ...but can be easily reproduced ... bring those wheels over we can make them any color lol 

Would love to have the rims powder coated! But Olympia is quite a drive for me. Cost? 

And I like the rack on your truck but I don't want the deflector. It'll never go fast enough to need it! :D It's so slow I could drive past a stack of newspaper, and it wouldn't move. haha!

I'd really love to find an old aluminum one, with like a basket all in one piece or something... might have to make it myself... first I gotta learn to weld.... 

 

*Also, your green truck is sweeeeet!

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What are the plans? Going for that lowered stock look?

 

 

 

 

And u wont regret the vw to datsun conversion =-O =-O :-D :-D :-D

Yeah, mostly stock, and I like the height she's at now. Probably won't go any lower. I need to learn how the suspension works in the front first. Little different than the VWs! :D

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That is the J-13 engine.

The aluminium tag, center top of the picture has the engine model, and serial number on it.

J-13 521 trucks had a 4.875 rear axle in them.  It will be normal for the engine to turn more than 4,000 at 60 MPH.  I do not want to do the math right now, for reference, the L-16 521 trucks had a 4.375 rear axle.

 

Front suspension springs are torsion bars.  Just like the rear axle on a VW.

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*Also, your green truck is sweeeeet!

 

 

lol sent pm .... wait, which green truck .... mines the light green one ... a friend bought the dragon green one and we are acquiring parts for hers..... still putting the stuff together..looking fo a set of 720 4x4 springs for it ... 

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lol sent pm .... wait, which green truck .... mines the light green one ... a friend bought the dragon green one and we are acquiring parts for hers..... still putting the stuff together..looking fo a set of 720 4x4 springs for it ... 

The light green one, with the gigantic rims. Like the style of it.  B)

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That is the J-13 engine.

The aluminium tag, center top of the picture has the engine model, and serial number on it.

J-13 521 trucks had a 4.875 rear axle in them.  It will be normal for the engine to turn more than 4,000 at 60 MPH.  I do not want to do the math right now, for reference, the L-16 521 trucks had a 4.375 rear axle.

 

Front suspension springs are torsion bars.  Just like the rear axle on a VW.

Good to know! Speedo shows just over 60 at 4k RPM. I heard somewhere on here you can get longer legs with a roadster diff? I like that idea, if it's true. 

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