Round 2 - My "New" 1975 620 30 Years Later

[2wheel-lee]

Here's my intro...My first vehicle was a 1976 Datsun 620. It was one of those vehicles that went from friend to friend as they got older. My friend who had it before me, shows up just outside one of my high school classroom doors (he was at the same school but a few grades higher) and got my attention. Oddly, he asked if I wanted to finally buy the Datsun, and then went on to say that he wrecked it into the back of another truck. Short story, is that I bought it for $500 in 1986. I learned a lot about wrenching - a lot of which I still value those experiences today. Lots of stories. 

For the last 5 years or so, I've been wanting another 620 to customize. This kind of stuff isn't new to me, as back in the late 80s and 90s, I had a lot of my vehicles or my customer's vehicles featured in Truckin' magazine, Mini Truckin', AutoSound & Security, and so on. The itch was back. I wasn't really serious that day I was looking through craigslist. I mean, I don't have time for this sort of thing. I'm recently widowed with 4-year-old twins, just moved into a new house that I've been remodeling for the last 3 years, and I still have a lot of work to do on it. 

So I saw a 1975 Datsun on craigslist that was typically over priced, albeit a little lower than what I see around Los Angeles. It appeared to be in decent condition for a 40 year old truck. I called him up, then met him the next day. I took the truck for a drive, and I thought again, "What the hell am I doing here with this?" Really, I can't take both of my kids anywhere in it since the cab is so small. I was also reminded of the lack of power steering and the damn scary 4-wheel drum brakes. I was thinking throughout the drive, no way do I want to go through this again. I went back to the guy and made a deal before driving it home. Again, driving home, followed by a friend and my kids, I questioned what I was doing. But after driving it for a while, the love started to come back again.

Through my day job, I normally drive 2015-16 vehicles all the time, so going to something that rattles and makes a ton of noise, has a slight exhaust leak that comes through the ripped shift boot, and is generally uncomfortable is a bit taxing. The more I drive it, the more fun it's becoming.

So...the plans begin... 

 

 

[datzenmike]

Welcome to Ratsun lee. Try this... http://community.ratsun.net/topic/54932-photobucket-ratsun/

[mcordero8]

Cool intro! Welcome to the rat. Can't wait to see the pics.

[FrankRizzo]

Im right there with you man. Im in the process of an owner/build of a ground swimming pool. What is cool for me is that the 620 fits in the garage with the Challenger. My condolences on your wife, hopefully the truck gives you a little diversion.

 

pics when you can.

[Draker]

Welcome to Ratsun!

[Leche]

Welcome, glad to see you are enjoying her more every day.

[2wheel-lee]

Back in the 80s and even early 90s, my absolute favorite wheels for 620s were Porsche alloys. Though at that time, only 14s and 15s were generally used. I remember in 1988 when I wanted to put 16" Momo star wheels on my Toyota (after my first 620), I was told that it couldn't be done. Uh huh... However, in 1988, there was only one company that made a 195/50-16 tire - Pirelli, and they were expensive. Yeah, I had to pay about $200 a piece. I digress...

 

Although I still like 15s on the 620, I prefer 16s. Sure, there are larger wheel/tire packages I could go with, but I still love the conventional Porsche alloy look on the 620. Also, trying to keep a particular look, I wanted to go with the 16x6" wheels. These were less desirable by Porsche guys, because they'd often take the 6s off the front and move their 7s to the front and replace the rears with 8s. However, the 16x6 wheels were often sent to a number of companies who would cut out the centers and make wide 17s, making a lot of the 16x6s harder to find. 

 

I also learned that there were two generations of 16x6s: early and late, so finding a full matching set became difficult. The first set I found on ebay were the late ones. They were off a silver edition 1989 model. They were practically brand new, so I snatched them up. That's when I found how hard the later models wheels are to find. Getting the other set turned into a challenge, but I finally found some. They came with a virtually brand new set of BF Goodrich CompT/A tires that are hard as a rock. They stopped making these tires a looooong time ago. These wheels are date coded 1988, so from the looks of them and the tires, they must have very low miles. 

Next step is to get the hubs redrilled for the Porsche 5x130 pattern. Unfortunately, I'm striking out. All the shops around Los Angeles and Orange County who used to do it no longer do. I'm still working on this. Then I'll send the wheels out to be polished. 

 

Oh, and back in the 80s 620s and BMX bikes went well together...and they still do. :)

 

 

[2wheel-lee]

Ever wonder why there aren't a lot of 620s on the road these days? I know. The brakes. They suck. The PO just replaced the master cylinder and all the wheel cylinders, so the brakes worked about as good as four-wheel drums can work. But still, they suck. Like I mentioned, I'm spoiled driving brand new cars for work all the time. 

 

While I could have bought adapters from one of the many people who make them, and then pieced the parts together, I just went with pre-made kits and a 280ZX master cylinder. Well, though I haven't installed the kits yet (waiting on the redrill), I can already see that the kits are not complete, so I'll still be doing some work. Yeah, it cost a little more as a kit - I wish I had more time on my hands. 

 

 

[banzai510(hainz)]

NO its not the brakes.

It lazy cheap owners with no money.

 

Pac North west still has alot.

[2wheel-lee]

Yeah, I say that I don't have a lot of time, but there's a certain part of "the hunt" that I enjoy. My truck came with a slider back window that makes more noise than a jumbo jet. Though my kids love the slider, as they can actually crawl back and forth between the cab and bed, I don't care for it. I wanted a slider. Off to the hunt...I couldn't find one anywhere, until a late night craigslist search when one showed up. 

 

When I went to the guy's place, he was in the process of parting out / cutting up an old truck. A lot of the stuff was gone, but we made a deal for $200 that I could take a bunch of stuff he had readily available - including a 5-speed trans!

 

I'm guessing the heater core in my truck was bypassed, so I assume it's leaking, so I pulled the one out of his truck's carcass. I also got the seat belts, which I also needed. Though I didn't need the doors and side glass, the cowl, gauge assembly (no tach), headline buckets and a few other things, I got those as well. 

 

And I got my solid back window glass. 

 

This is a lot of what's been fun: the hunt and meeting lots of interesting people with interesting stories.

 

My junk collection begins...

 

[2wheel-lee]

NO its not the brakes.

It lazy cheap owners with no money.

 

Pac North west still has alot.

 

I don't disagree about cheap owners!

 

But the brakes on this truck are about as good as drums can get. While many say that four-wheel discs can stop on a dime, the drums stop on $2.63...in pennies. OK, I joke a bit. But drums don't compare. I surely wouldn't trust them to spirited driving. Sure, they're fine in the back, and still commonly used there on modern vehicles. But up front. Datsun knew this as well when they upgraded the fronts to discs. 

[banzai510(hainz)]

I have a 521. If you drive 2 to 3 car lengths your fine.  Have the drums tight as it can go your fine.

 

Now if you use your I phone alot while driving then disc are not going to help you anyways

 

Dont get me wrong if you got the set up use it.

 

Dude that fucking truck is Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I dont think I would do anythin to it. Just lower it thats it and put electronic ignition in it!!!!!

[abbylind]

Nice ride!

[2wheel-lee]

I'd like to share a little story about and experience I had with my first 620. This may be more valuable to the younger guys here, but the older guys will appreciate it as well. 

 

As I mentioned, I bought my first vehicle - my 620 - wrecked when I was about 17 years old. The front end was caved in pretty badly. The distributor broke off, and it took out the timing cover with it. No big deal. Though the extent of my automobile repair knowledge was limited to finding and repairing a broken shift fork pin in the manual transmission of that truck after a mis-shift when I had borrowed it from the previous owner. Don't ask me how I found that broken shift fork pin. I only knew that it wouldn't go into gear, and only guessed that if I took it apart I might find something. 48 cents later, it was fixed.

 

Anyhow, so I bought a Chilton's manual to help me replace the cover. Hey, I'll try anything. 

 

So I get into the procedure. Remove the smog pump....check. Remove the alternator...check. Remove the water pump...check. Remove the oil pump.....what? I already removed everything that had a belt on it. What and where is the oil pump? The Chilton's manual I had just said to remove the oil pump, but it didn't call it out, and I couldn't find anything that described where it was or how to remove it. I was only briefly stumped before determining the book was useless - it didn't effectively communicate what I needed to know in order to complete the procedure. Being the enthusiastic kid I was, I basically chucked the book and tried to just figure it out from there. I never later went back to look to see if it was somewhere else once I knew what it actually was.

 

Ultimately, I figured it out. I got the new timing cover installed and fired it up. Though I was again briefly stumped with flames backfiring out of the carb. But I somehow sorted that out as well. 

 

Fast forward some 25 years, and there I worked for one of the automobile manufacturers writing and editing service manuals and technical service bulletins. I recalled and often shared the story above about the importance of not assuming anything and to write to the lowest common denominator of your audience (that was me at one time). When giving instruction, it's important that all the information is clearly communicated. If one item is missed, our products (service manuals and technical service bulletins) may render themselves completely useless. 

 

I appreciate having had the opportunity to learn such a valuable lesson. Of course, at the time, I had no idea at the time that would be such a meaningful experience. 

[2wheel-lee]

Oh, and something else we can all relate to. Of course I had to buy a timing light to adjust the distributor. It was hanging on the garage wall at my dad's house since 1986. I inherited the house many years ago after my father passed, and that timing light was still there. About a month ago, while making an effort to finally clean out the garage, I threw it away. If I haven't had a need to use a timing light in 30 years, I didn't see a need any time in the near future. So I sucked it up and threw it away. My dad was a pack rat, and I am a pack rat, so a lot of stuff just had to go. Keep in mind, I didn't have this 620, nor did I even think I'd actually own one again. Wouldn't you know it, a week or two after throwing it away, I bought this 620, and I suspect the timing might be off, and I need to check it. DAMN!!!

And that's why I shall likely remain a pack rat.  

[2wheel-lee]

It's been 25+ years since I bought a set of lowering blocks. I felt like a kid again at Pep Boys. I remember the ones from long ago were solid cast. I'm not so sure about these. I'll probably also pull a spring or two. 

 

Need to contact Beebani about some front coilover brackets. 

 

I took my hubs and rear axles to a shop to have them redrilled for the Porsche bolt pattern. The price to do this sure has gone up. Also, most of the shops that used to do this no longer offer the service.

 

[yello620]

 

 

Oh, and back in the 80s 620s and BMX bikes went well together...and they still do. :)

 

 

 

 

Super clean 620 you found there. Sounds like you started with 620's about the same time I did. Think I got my first in 87.

 

I'll just leave this here.

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/36703-the-bmx-bikes-of-ratsun/

[2wheel-lee]

Last pics before I start molesting it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mcordero8]

That truck looks really clean as is. Are you sure you want to molest that one. That looks like a survivor to me. 

[2wheel-lee]

That truck looks really clean as is. Are you sure you want to molest that one. That looks like a survivor to me. 

 

I've thought about that a lot.

 

Here's my justification - as lame as it may be. It's not the original paint. I'm guessing it was painted 15 years ago. The rear right lower quarter has damage. The rear lower left did as well, and it seems that panel is now made of bondo. 

 

But really...I wouldn't have as much fun driving/enjoying the truck in stock form. The brakes work as good as drum brakes can, but they really suck compared to what I'm used to. Sure, I could have focused my efforts of cleaning it up to be as clean and stock as possible, but I'd still keep wishing to do many of the things I've always wanted to. I do like that I'm not working on a previously molested truck - and that was my reason for getting one that was stock. 

 

But I still think about it. I'm not a museum, and I didn't buy it as an investment, so I may as well enjoy it. 

[banzai510(hainz)]

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[2wheel-lee]

OK, I wanted to really drop my 620, so I obviously needed 4x4 springs, right? While looking for something else on ebay, I saw some 720 4x4 springs. Well, as much as I'd like to have scoured around all the junkyards around Orange County, California, the reality is that there aren't many. And I haven't seen 720s in a long time, let alone 4x4s. OK, so I don't go often. It's also particularly hard taking 4 year old twins to a pull-your-part kind of place. Trust me on that one! Being a full-time dad, I'd otherwise have to find a babysitter....or risk them getting under/into/on top of everything. 

 

So the ebay deal started to seem better and better. For $130 shipped for both springs from Idaho, I think, to southern California, it was well worth not having to find them elsewhere. 

 

What are those pieces hanging off the bottom of the overloads?

 

I also need to find that thread that had the correct part numbers for the Energy bushings. 

 

 

 

[2wheel-lee]

Making progress. I stripped down the front suspension for cleaning and inspection, as well as getting it ready for Beebani's coilover mounts.

 

The previous owner took pretty good care of the truck. The grease fittings were well used. In other words, lots of grease has been pumped into them. However, none of the excess was ever cleaned off. Anywhere near a grease fitting there were decades' old grease cakes, not to mention a former engine oil leak as well as a steering box leak. 

 

One of the kingpins still feels tight. However, one of them has a slight bit of play. What is consider acceptable, and what is the way of measuring acceptable play? 

 

 

[hobospyder]

mklotz has done extensive video explaining and rebuilding of king pins

 

https://www.youtube.com/results?q=blue+hands+video+kingpin

 

i just searched. that's where it took me. should help with researching and provide answers

[2wheel-lee]

mklotz has done extensive video explaining and rebuilding of king pins

 

https://www.youtube.com/results?q=blue+hands+video+kingpin

 

i just searched. that's where it took me. should help with researching and provide answers

 

I've seen the videos, but I don't recall him mentioning anything about allowable play. But maybe I missed it?