320 Newb Posted January 5, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2017 Next week the rebuilt J15 goes back into the L320. Does anyone know what size pilot bearing might fit the J series engines? 6 Quote Link to comment
Stoffregen Motorsports Posted January 5, 2017 Report Share Posted January 5, 2017 That's going to be an application specific part. If you can't find one, you can always make one. McMaster Carr sells oil impregnated bronze bushings and bushing stock - https://www.mcmaster.com/#bronze-sleeve-bearings/=15s49uwand https://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-bronze-alloy-rods/=15s4al1 3 Quote Link to comment
320 Newb Posted January 5, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2017 ^^^Thanks, good to know. I'm going to pull it out today and take it to the parts place. I'm hoping it's a common size. I also took the generator to the shop today to have it gone over. It was working fine before I pulled the motor but since the motor's out I figure now's the time. I also talked to the shop guy about the wiper motor and he's psyched on reviving old Datsuns and excited to maybe take a crack at it. Does anyone else have a 320 with working wipers? 2 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted January 5, 2017 Report Share Posted January 5, 2017 ^^^Thanks, good to know. I'm going to pull it out today and take it to the parts place. I'm hoping it's a common size. I also took the generator to the shop today to have it gone over. It was working fine before I pulled the motor but since the motor's out I figure now's the time. I also talked to the shop guy about the wiper motor and he's psyched on reviving old Datsuns and excited to maybe take a crack at it. Does anyone else have a 320 with working wipers? Have you ever heard the saying "don't fix what ain't broke", leave it be, they made stuff to last(over built) back then, these guys can't get the quality of materials they used back then now days, a new part now is a down grade of a good used part. 2 Quote Link to comment
Stoffregen Motorsports Posted January 5, 2017 Report Share Posted January 5, 2017 The wipers in both of my 320's worked. I'm with Wayno. Cosmetic restoration only unless further mechanical work is required. (which goes against my usual advice of leaving the patina) 1 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted January 5, 2017 Report Share Posted January 5, 2017 Every 320 wiper motor I ever tested worked, but 50 percent the the wiper assembly pivots were frozen/seized, you have to remove the wiper assembly(I call it a "wiper transmission), and use lots of PB blaster on both sides of the pivots and SLOWLY work it loose like you were trying to remove a rusted bolt. 1 Quote Link to comment
difrangia Posted January 6, 2017 Report Share Posted January 6, 2017 Every 320 wiper motor I ever tested worked, but 50 percent the the wiper assembly pivots were frozen/seized, you have to remove the wiper assembly(I call it a "wiper transmission), and use lots of PB blaster on both sides of the pivots and SLOWLY work it loose like you were trying to remove a rusted bolt. Ditto on everything you say in this post, Wayno. I thought my motor was blasted when a PO converted to Negative ground. The motor was off and in a box of parts when I acquired the pickup. Come to find out, the motor's fine. the passenger spindle was locked up and I destroyed it trying to take it apart. I have another one come from the 'Great Northwest'. You guys are saviours to us Datsun people in the heartland. We have virtually zero when it comes to vintage Datsun stuff. We did have Datsuns here since at least the mid-60's. First dealer in this little Oklahoma town of 20,000 established in about 1964-65. They all got used up and recycled around here. Anyway, I just got the heater rebuilt, back in, & working like a champ yesterday in 'Mighty Mouse'. When the wiper spindle gets here next week, the wipers will be back in and operational. Then the glove box and lid go back on and the hood. It'll be the first time that the Mouse will be totally back in one piece in about twenty six months. Also, I' sure that you've all figured it out that the park position is adjustable on the 320 wiper motor. Loosen the two lock-screws on the little stamped cap over the transmission spindle and rotate to adjust the park position. Dammit, why can't life be so simple now-a-days ?? PROGRESS ??? Steve 1 Quote Link to comment
320 Newb Posted January 6, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2017 Good advice everyone, thanks. I'm having the generator gone over by a pro 'cause one of the long bolts that runs the length of the body rattled out and I can't see what's in there and don't want to open it up myself. Also the pulley has a lot of play in the axle. And it's cheap--only $60 for the service. They make modern alternators that bolt on to J15s but like the idea of keeping it stock. And agree with what Wayno said about old stuff being better quality. I'll take the wiper assembly apart when I take the dash out to repaint. That's great news about it being maybe just being seized. I thought it was maybe the motor since it's exposed in the back and there's some suspect wiring going on. Below is a pic. Originally was there a cap over the back of the motor or all they all exposed like that? 1 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted January 6, 2017 Report Share Posted January 6, 2017 Wow, that is an early one, I hope it works, your not likely going to find another one. I converted over to a 720 motor on my U320, then afterwards I found a good original in one of the boxes I got with the truck. Here is the 720 wiper motor mounted and test wiring. Here is the back side with all the holes needed to mount drilled, only one had to be drilled in the cab sheet metal(top one). Here is what it looks like now. Here is what my early original wiper motor looks like. 1 Quote Link to comment
difrangia Posted January 6, 2017 Report Share Posted January 6, 2017 Good advice everyone, thanks. I'm having the generator gone over by a pro 'cause one of the long bolts that runs the length of the body rattled out and I can't see what's in there and don't want to open it up myself. Also the pulley has a lot of play in the axle. And it's cheap--only $60 for the service. They make modern alternators that bolt on to J15s but like the idea of keeping it stock. And agree with what Wayno said about old stuff being better quality. I'll take the wiper assembly apart when I take the dash out to repaint. That's great news about it being maybe just being seized. I thought it was maybe the motor since it's exposed in the back and there's some suspect wiring going on. Below is a pic. Originally was there a cap over the back of the motor or all they all exposed like that? Mine looks totally different than that. The motor shaft lays parallel to the cowl mounting panel and extends over to the left related to this photo and there's a right angle gearbox with output shaft extending into the passenger compartment through the cowl. Maybe there were more than one supplier to the factory and different motors when they were being built ?? Someone with more experience and exposure to the 320's will have to chime in. I don't have a photo handy of my motor and mounting or I'd post it. At any rate there should be a cover for your motor at one time. Steve 1 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted January 6, 2017 Report Share Posted January 6, 2017 Mine looks totally different than that. The motor shaft lays parallel to the cowl mounting panel and extends over to the left related to this photo and there's a right angle gearbox with output shaft extending into the passenger compartment through the cowl. Maybe there were more than one supplier to the factory and different motors when they were being built ?? Someone with more experience and exposure to the 320's will have to chime in. I don't have a photo handy of my motor and mounting or I'd post it. At any rate there should be a cover for your motor at one time. Steve I added more photos to my post above, it shows what an early 1962 Datsun 320 wiper motor looks like. Here are the guts, looks just like his. 1 Quote Link to comment
difrangia Posted January 6, 2017 Report Share Posted January 6, 2017 Wow, that is an early one, I hope it works, your not likely going to find another one. I converted over to a 720 motor on my U320, then afterwards I found a good original in one of the boxes I got with the truck. Here is the 720 wiper motor mounted and test wiring. Here is the back side with all the holes needed to mount drilled, only one had to be drilled in the cab sheet metal(top one). Here is what it looks like now. Wayno, I believe that's your right-hand-drive U320. Did they use the same motor unit as the RHD pickups as the LHD's ?? Looking at your photo of the pickup cowl, I don't know if my Left hand drive unit would mount on a RHD pickup ?? Looks like it'd interfer with the cowl air box unless it mounted upside down. Steve 1 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted January 6, 2017 Report Share Posted January 6, 2017 Here is an L320 RHD wiper motor. Here is a V320 RHD wiper motor. None of these are early 1962 wiper motors. 2 Quote Link to comment
320 Newb Posted January 6, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2017 Wow, that is an early one, I hope it works, your not likely going to find another one. If it doesn't work I'll try and have it rebuilt--the guy who's going over my alternator says he's good with old wiper motors and comes recommended by other car guys I know. I think my 320 is a pretty early 62, if I'm reading the VIN right it's 00568 of the line. Wayno thanks for all the pics--I think my motor is a match to the early 62 you posted. Do you think there's any chance I might be able to find a cap for mine? 1 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted January 6, 2017 Report Share Posted January 6, 2017 If it doesn't work I'll try and have it rebuilt--the guy who's going over my alternator says he's good with old wiper motors and comes recommended by other car guys I know. I think my 320 is a pretty early 62, if I'm reading the VIN right it's 00568 of the line. Wayno thanks for all the pics--I think my motor is a match to the early 62 you posted. Do you think there's any chance I might be able to find a cap for mine? No, the early wiper motors are different, the covers are not even close to the later motors, even your wiper motor looks like it mounts different than my early wiper motor(5 mount bolts), both mine have only 3 mount bolts. 1 Quote Link to comment
Stoffregen Motorsports Posted January 6, 2017 Report Share Posted January 6, 2017 I always thought my 320 wiper motor looked a lot like the one in my Austin Healey. No surprise there with the strong Datsun/Morris connection. When I rebuilt my spindles, getting them apart was the hard part. Since they were frozen, I had to soak them and heat them repeatedly to get them undone. When reassembling them, I staked them on the tip of the spindle where the drive nub goes to "grow" them a bit, taking up some of the slack that occurred when disassembling them. I also used a lot of grease in an attempt to seal them against future water intrusion. They worked fine in the dozen years I had my green 320 on the road, but I always wished I had spent more time to do them more carefully. Maybe a rubber o-ring could be stuffed in there before the nub goes back on. This would help keep them from seizing up again. But then, so will regular use. 1 Quote Link to comment
deerio Posted January 7, 2017 Report Share Posted January 7, 2017 Good advice everyone, thanks. I'm having the generator gone over by a pro 'cause one of the long bolts that runs the length of the body rattled out and I can't see what's in there and don't want to open it up myself. Also the pulley has a lot of play in the axle. And it's cheap--only $60 for the service. They make modern alternators that bolt on to J15s but like the idea of keeping it stock. And agree with what Wayno said about old stuff being better quality. If anybody is interested, I created a thread recording what I did when I took my stock generator apart, including the re-polarizing process to negative ground: http://forums.nicoclub.com/generator-work-t602602.html But at $60, I would probably pay for the service to be done by a professional as well... Although, it was a good learning experience. 3 Quote Link to comment
320 Newb Posted January 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2017 ^^^Nice thread Deerio! I dodged a bullet with one of those long bolts that had come loose. I didn't realize it was loose and drove around for a while but the bracket kept it from falling all the way out and getting lost forever. 2 Quote Link to comment
deerio Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 Thanks, hopefully others find it useful! As much as I wanted to replace some of the old rusted bits with new ones, I quickly found out that it's not always possible, given that some of the stuff is not common these days. In some cases, drilling things out and tapping for more common thread pitches is a lot more work than I'm willing to put in. :P 1 Quote Link to comment
320 Newb Posted January 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 The inside of my generator was a mess. It was out of alignment and dragging. It's shocking it was still working. Deerio it's funny you mentioned how hard it is to find those old thread patterns. Whoever monkeyed with my generator last cut off the threaded ends and welded them on new bolts rather than tapping something new. 1 Quote Link to comment
difrangia Posted January 10, 2017 Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 The inside of my generator was a mess. It was out of alignment and dragging. It's shocking it was still working. Deerio it's funny you mentioned how hard it is to find those old thread patterns. Whoever monkeyed with my generator last cut off the threaded ends and welded them on new bolts rather than tapping something new. Necessity is the mother of invention, it's been said. 3 Quote Link to comment
delariva Posted January 11, 2017 Report Share Posted January 11, 2017 I haven't browsed the forum in a while, good to see you are making so much progress. It's looking great! 2 Quote Link to comment
320 Newb Posted January 12, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2017 We got the rebuilt J15 bolted back in and married to the transmission but ran into a problem with the distributor. The J15 replacement points that came with the tune up kit doesn't fit the distributor. Check out the picture, the original points are above the plate sits on a pin. The replacement J15 points are pictured towards the bottom and there's not slot for the pin to sit in and the hole pattern is wrong. Does anyone recognize the original points? Is time to maybe convert to this? https://www.amazon.com/PerTronix-1741-Ignitor-Datsun-Cylinder/dp/B000N2XORG 1 Quote Link to comment
distributorguy Posted January 12, 2017 Report Share Posted January 12, 2017 The points on the left are for an L-series motor. A later L-series, after the dual points were phased out. Try a Napa store - make them look in the catalog. Or clean and reuse your old points. File the contacts clean with a points file - about $1 at Northern Tool. Typically I use a cut-off wheel to file them - its faster. 2 Quote Link to comment
Stoffregen Motorsports Posted January 12, 2017 Report Share Posted January 12, 2017 Isn't that J distributor basically a BMC distributor? Could you use a Pertronix for a Lucas unit? 2 Quote Link to comment
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