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D A T 'S Rite - '74 620


Durty Dave

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I've been lurking for some time - have had a love for Datsuns since a 510 infected me with the fever several years ago - but I finally took the plunge and bought a '74 620 yesterday.

tYchzKx.jpg

The front end/brakes need some work before it's road worthy, but those wheels, grille shell, bubble sunroof and stink-bug stance made it too hard to resist.

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I guess Ben (the guy I bought it from) raised the front end from where the PO had it, but I'm not sure if he just didn't re-align it afterward, if the king pins are wasted, or maybe a bit of both. Anyway, the front tires, though new, are already wasted on the inside edges, and it needs some brake work anyway. It's making me consider options for the swap to ball joints and disc brakes. I feel like if I'm going to do it, I ought to do it right once, and be done with it.

Well, I guess the good news is that I bought it right, so there's money left to do some things. Let me know if there sre some pitfalls that I should be careful to avoid.

-DD

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Welcome to Ratsun Dave. Good to have you here.

 

Take some time and line one of the front wheels with the rear one behind it. Just sight down the front and back tire edges and keep trying until it lines up with the rear. Now go look at the other side. Likely the two edges are looking way outside the rear tire. If you can see that the front tire is turned in (toe in) then it's bad enough to need adjusting.

 

Adjustment is quite easy and just requires an adjustable wrench to loosen the two lock nuts and a pair of vice grips to turn the cross rod they are on.

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I don't think toe is the issue as much as camber, but I can take care of all that soon enough,

LHhzq9C.jpg

 

I installed new lock cylinders in the doors today, for all the good that they do right now - no rear window until a new seal shows up. I'd just like to be able to secure it at night.

jL8m7OZ.jpg

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i loved that thing on Instagram, wanted it baaaaaad when he was selling it but i'm way too far away. That custom grille, stance, and those turbines are PERRRRRRFECT.

Yeah, me too. I look forward to respecting Ben's vision, and tweaking it to my own. Pretty sure it will remain green in some form or another, and those rims and grille are definitely staying. Not sure about the bubble sunroof - he said it's a bit like sitting in a greenhouse in the summertime. I build/ride/show custom and vintage bikes, and this thing should come in handy for hauling duties.

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Welcome to Ratsun Dave. Good to have you here.

 

Take some time and line one of the front wheels with the rear one behind it. Just sight down the front and back tire edges and keep trying until it lines up with the rear. Now go look at the other side. Likely the two edges are looking way outside the rear tire. If you can see that the front tire is turned in (toe in) then it's bad enough to need adjusting.

 

Adjustment is quite easy and just requires an adjustable wrench to loosen the two lock nuts and a pair of vice grips to turn the cross rod they are on.

Yes, welcome.

 

It appears that the truck may have wheel spacers on the rear axle (the tires are sticking out more than the front...?), so sighting the front to rear tires won't help with toe.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

I've been plugging away slowly, driving it now and then, so not much worth taking pics of UNTIL YESTERDAY.

I wish I'd taken pics. Went and grabbed a rust-free cab and doors from South L.A., loaded them in my buddy's truck, and made a few stops on the way home. For a couple hundred bucks, this was going to be my diamond-lane pass to repairing all of the rot in my cab in one fell swoop. My buddy dropped me off on his way home, and he was going to unload the cab at his shop the next morning...

..and then I got the phone call. He'd been home for a bit, and then went out to get something to eat with the wife. They took the truck. Happy and full of grub, they were having a conversation on the way home. Driving on auto-pilot, instead of parking on the upper level as he had when he'd first arrived home, he drove down the ramp into the lower level of the parking structure.

My "new" cab is folded nearly in half, and the rear window is blown out of his truck. I guess the only good news is that the areas of the cab that can be used as patch panels to weld into mine weren't damaged, so we're back to using my original cab, and more welding.

Fuuuuuuuu-

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