76 620 Introduction

[Chunky Monkey]

How's it Ratsun community! I have been lurking on these forums for the last year and now feel it is time to introduce myself and my truck. The amount of information on this website is tremendous. People like Datzenmike, GGzilla, Mklotz70, 2edeye, Danielc, and many other members advice/time is priceless. Thank you for all the free help you have contributed to amatures like me.

 

The history of this truck begins in June 1976 when the truck rolled off the lot in Grand Junction Colorado. Robert Hudesens was the owner of this truck for 40 years when it was sold in 2015 to Eddie Valdez in Delta Colorado. I was looking for a nice island cruiser and work hauler last year when I came across this truck. When the truck was purchased it needed a tune up and some TLC. A mechanic in Grand Junction was able to diagnose and tune it up before I had it shipped out to Hawaii. 

 

I have now had the truck for 6 months and have done simple maintenance like brake adjusting and fluid corrections. I would like to keep this truck going for another 40 years. I will eventually need to invest in some body work to keep it from rusting out. It still has the original paint on it from 1976. The overall condition is amazing for how old it is. Floor boards have minor rust and the outside has very little. My goal with this post is to recognize and appreciate everyone have invested their time into this community, possibly hear stories of previous owners and learn more about the history, connect with other hawaii ratsun members, and share some pictures of my truck. Thanks for checking it out!

 

 

[mcordero8]

Nice intro! I love your truck it looks solid. Are you going to keep it original, or are you going to do some mods?

[datzenmike]

Nice to see a regular cab long wheelbase truck. They were introduced only 5 months earlier that year. 

[FrankRizzo]

Cool!

 

Hawaii? Hey do you know someone by the name of Howlie?

I figure I must look like this guy Howlie because every time I go to Hawaii everyone mistakes me for him...

i'd like to meet him someday...

.

[racerx]

U being stationed in Hawaii? Nice truck.

[Chunky Monkey]

Nice intro! I love your truck it looks solid. Are you going to keep it original, or are you going to do some mods?

 

Thank you, I my plan with this truck is to keep it as original as possible.

I want to change the rims and tires. I don't like the lowered look as much as most people so I wont mess with the suspension much.

 

 

Nice to see a regular cab long wheelbase truck. They were introduced only 5 months earlier that year.

 The longed is amazing. It has a stock U68 head with a weber 32/36. I havent driven a ton of vehicles, but so far it is hard to beat the feeling of driving a datsun.

 

Cool!

 

Hawaii? Hey do you know someone by the name of Howlie?

I figure I must look like this guy Howlie because every time I go to Hawaii everyone mistakes me for him...

i'd like to meet him someday...

.

 Havent met howlie, but I would like to meet up with some fellow ratsuns around hawaii and talk story about their truck.

 

U being stationed in Hawaii? Nice truck.

Thank you, I was lucky enough to be born here and moved for a brief period in high school. That's how I had the connection in colorado to help me get the truck over here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've had a busy schedule or I would be more active on the forums. I wanted to once again thank the forums.

I was able to figure out I needed a new master brake cylinder after my brakes began to lose pressure and eventually only locked up after a hard push.

This has been going on for the last few months and I waited way to long to fix it.

I rotated the pads at first, adjusted, and bled the brakes but that didnt solve the problem for long.

I bench bled the master, then bled the master, all the nslv, and front/back in the order listed on an old thread. Datzen mike helped with that!

Brakes feel 100% different. Now it travels about an 1/8-1/2 inch before engaging, and it actually compresses it smoothly without a jerk.

My only question and concern is if it can be too tight. I don't want to press to hard and break something.

I think I have just been used to having a bad master and having to tap is 2-5 times before it actually engages.

Now it seems to be instant and consistent. Let me know if you all want future updates in another thread.