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New to the Datsun world with a '71 521 and a KA swap


hellrbbt

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  • 1 month later...

Well, it's been maybe 600 miles. It's only died once.Jiggled the plug on the ignition coil and it came back to life.

 

Only odd part I can't figure out is the speedometer won't go past about 23mph. The odometer seems to follow suit which makes me think it is internal to the cluster. I can hear the speedometer cable click as it spins at speed above 23mph and the needle won't go any higher.

 

Anyways, I daily it and everyone seems to love it. I especially like parking next to modern trucks:

 

OjrPdunl.jpg

 

U7JJjHCl.jpg

 

Cleaned up the wiring in the bay a bit. Still need to do a lot more, definitely not happy with it:

xpVg2n4l.jpg

 

My most recent project was attempting to repair my tailgate latches. Neither of them worked and before buying a new set I wanted to try to fix these. Well, after a good afternoon in the garage and a couple bucks in stainless hardware they work great! Even found a matching spray paint for the truck, Ace Hardware Burgandy (truck was obviously repainted at one point).

 

Disassembly:

SYypUOKl.jpg

 

Close-up of the issue:

gcMtFoIl.jpg

 

Attempt one: tack it in place (FYI this method was the more difficult method):

yn4gfEBl.jpg

 

Attempt two: drill the spot welds and remove the inner piece (this method was much easier):

8kpNprJl.jpg

 

And fixed:

vvxVf1Gl.jpg

7o2bVl7l.jpg

 

 

Today I noticed what looked like serpentine belt dust... I converted to a single belt with single cam KA stuff, but still used the dual cam KA alternator. My alternator uses a 4 rib belt and this is a three, so a shifted it over from the outer three ribs to the inner three. I have a spare belt, just need to keep an eye on it in case this is worse...

 

Before (Outer three):

9YnGjM5l.jpg

 

After (Inner three):

ZfRGDYel.jpg

 

That's it for now... I'm looking into lowering it a bit. I'm unsure if I want to reindex the torsion bars, from what I've read it appears one notch goes 2.5-3". My exhaust hangs kinda low, not a fan of scraping it. I might be able to tuck it up a bit more, might need to tweak my header a bit to make that happen...

 

 

TOlNboAl.jpg

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ew a jetta newer than a mk3

 

 

 

 

 

the truck is sweet though, i think you should paint the stainless hardware so it doesn't stand out so bad though

 

Yea I'm a mk1 guy at heart, but I've always had a softspot for wagons and the mk5/6 JSW is the first newer VW I knew I had to have... Plus I don't mind the 45+ mpg on road trips.

 

On painting the hardware, I agree, they do stick out. I was going to weld in the old pins again to a washer but wanted the ability to take these apart again just in case...

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i own 2 mk3 golfs and wish i had a diesel one, would give both up for a tdi golf. but 30-35 mpg for my two is nothing to shake a stick at with the 100 miles i drive every day. 

 

and test them for a week, if they're good, paint them off the truck and all the way apart and then put them together

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