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Project DIY: 1971 Datsun 521


Madness

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Man thats for sure! :eek:

 

Great job on all of the rest of it so far man! Looks so cool with the yellow lights next to the bright blue. I am diggin the wide whites too.:cool:

 

Looking forward to gettin the next Coloratsun meeting together soon...when do you think its gonna be roadworthy?

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Woo Hoo! Pictures!

 

Tire solution. I spent 120 bucks on all 4, they are used but they still look pretty good. 185/60's for the front and 185/75's for the rear.

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Interior progress. The dash looks ok but I wish it would have come out a little better. I'm not liking the folded seams in the corners but you wont be able to see most of them.

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That's it until I get the dash pad done...

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For all the engine guys, Where should I go for an engine kit? I want to make sure I have some good parts internally. I've suffered from bad wrist pin retainer rings before... not good.

How is the truck running now or is it not? The L motors are easy to tune & or upgrade. Nissanparts.cc or Rockauto should stil carry most internal parts if needed.

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When my buddy bought the truck he said he got it to start once but there was the biggest cloud of blue smoke he had ever seen. I figured there were bad seals or rings and if that was the case I figured I might as well just rebuild the motor, make it new so I dont have to worry about it. On top of that there was about a half inch of caked on oil, dirt and grease all over the block so I was going to take it out to clean and paint it.

 

I dont want to start it now because I dont want to mess the crank up anymore than it is just in case there is a bad bearing or something. From what I know the truck had been sitting in someones back yard for years. Nest in the heater box and behind the seat...

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Today I pulled the fenders and the lower valance off to try to shave and pound out all the dents. Hail damage but the metal is so thick you can hardly tell.

 

I had 2 boxes put on my door step this morning from Elemental Designs. I bought a really flat 10" subwoofer and 50 sq. feet of sound deadening. :thumbup:

 

But I've come across a slight problem... I got laid off. :( So I filed for unemployment because there isn't any work out there and I'm kinda crossing my fingers that my supervisor will hold his word and call me back in when they get work. I'll give it a little time and start looking for a new job but with no work my tax return money is slowly fading away so I might have to wait on the motor work. Then again I might be able to find some side work, a couple of brake jobs and I'll be picking up a rebuild kit.

 

Until next time.

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I finally got my truck up to my buddies shop and started working on it.

So far I have all the glass pulled out and everything has been cleaned as well as it could. The last couple of nights I've been pretty much been setting up and getting settled but I did get both of the floor boards cut out and the passenger side turned out worse than i thought. The more I cut out the more I realized that this wasn't going to be a small task.

 

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I cut quite a bit out of the transmission tunnel, more than i wanted to. I'm a little worried that I wont be abe to get the floor back to the shape and height it was. This is the type of rust that would turn most people away from a project. :unsure:

 

 

One other thing. Something interesting happened to my steering box. While we were moving it in I was trying to point the wheels straight and we heard a pop followed by a lot of fluid pouring out onto the floor. I took a look and found this.

 

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Has anyone ever rebuilt a steering box or am I high and dry on this one? :confused:

 

I'll post more pictures when i get the chance including ones of the move to ft collins.

 

I need some sleep...

Bart

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Ah man isn't that the way it goes! Two steps forward 10 steps back! What'd be rad is if you could find a donor 521 who's floors you can sawzall out! Check the junkyards, you never know!

 

Weird about the steering box. Did you feel a ton of resistance when turning the wheel before it popped? I wonder if the box had been adjusted too much in its past life and you got some binding. My limited understanding of steering boxes is that the adjustment bolt is more for centering the gears than cleaning up slopy steering? But it can help clean up a bit of the slop. Perhapse someone over tweaked it? Mine is leaking and I've been wondering when I will have to do something about it. Again I'd try to find a donor (trust me I know how hard junked 521's are to find some times!) But if you do a rebuild, take lots of pics!

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Madness,

 

I am not positive but I believe that a 620 uses the same steering box.

 

On the rebuilding of the steering gear box my brother did my 520 mod that included rebuilding the box.

 

The seal # for pitman shaft was SKF 10183 or a CR 26X40X7 HMSA7 R.

My bearing was in good shape so I am no help there. He had to make a gasket for the top and he reused all the shims.

 

The steering box on my 520 was really simple as it is the old style. Your 521 gear is probably a recirculating ball type. It will be mor technical. Get a manual and research it.

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Lots of pictures... I'll just start from the top.

 

After quite a bit of work we got it on the tralor.

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Quick stop on the way up. My buddy Russ washing it for me.

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Arrival

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Her spot next to Lexi, my friends 1987 toyota.

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My girlfriend is a bad ass.

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It took her a couple of hours but she got the radiator out. :rolleyes:

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A better picture of the pass side floor board cut out... Like i said before, I don't really have much to work with.

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Drivers side is a little bit better.

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As she sits. Not too much left.

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A picture of the crammed shop.

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Yesterday I built and burned in the new drivers side floor board. I don't know anyone with a sheet metal brake so I used a couple of C clamps, a piece of square tubing, a work bench, and a big hammer. It turned out ok.

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The hole was a little off. :o

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I was using this guy to strip off the paint and rust. They work really well but don't last long. I toasted one after doing just the drivers side.

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I got a little bored and I didn't want to go home just yet. I'm planning on keeping all of the original roadside kit. Its going to be a little tough because somewhere back there I have to mount a subwoofer box and amp.

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I pulled the valve cover off last night just to see what i was working with. And actually I was surprised. Everything is really clean, almost looks like it had been done recently.

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I started looking around the motor and noticing evidence of a rebuild... top end at least.

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scratched up bolts. Chewed up screws and all of the intake manifold bolts are, for sure, not factory.... I think I might just freshen up this motor with some new rings, valve seals, and gaskets... we'll see once the head comes off. But how can something look so new and clean on the inside but look like this on the outside, even after being cleaned.

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enjoy.

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Madness.....Awesome work on the floorboard!! Love all the pics! Very clean!! I certainly know how much time it takes to stop and get all the pics.....so thanks for taking the time!!

 

As I was panning up the page, I saw the pic of the blue jeans and sweat shirt and thought, dang....this guys got great thighs and a nice butt...........I sure was relieved to see that it was actually your girlfriend!!! LOL :)

 

Cool avatar! Be cooler if you put it up as an 8x10 :)

 

Love all the light in the shop too!!! Great work! Keep it up...very motivating!!

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looks good man keep up the good work where is that 210 cast on the head? ive read that the 210 casting is less then desirable but the motor does look clean internally and you have a girlfriend who helps bonus:thumbsup:

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