DatsunDavies

Beebani is the guy to talk to. He has brackets for the hardbody calipers as well. The brackets are different so be thorough. He'll also set you straight but if you want to run ZX calipers you want 1990 300ZX *NON-TURBO* calipers. They are 26mm wide and will match the rotors. Hope this helps.

Here's Jay's drawing of my truck. Thanks again! http://emob1135.photobucket.com/albums/m623/Spooner_Jay/562137_614444125236756_1526155983_n.jpg

Well, you are welcome. I'm glad I could help. What decision are we talking about?

Hello all, I'm looking for a pair of S30 seats. If its a single seat I'd probably still take it. It has to be black or tan. I don't care "that much" about their shape as long as the passenger seat is minimally torn/rippped. The biggest problem is I am a bit on a deadline and would like to pick them up locally. Also, I'm limited to a drive up to an hour-hour and a half from 95032 or 95023 (I frequent both zip codes) for the right seat. PM or post a picture plus your asking price and location. Thank you very much.

Nope, no leaks. *fingers crossed* Thanks for the compliments. I'm glad you found the story. Next plans for the truck are many and varied. The ultimate goal is for it to be a comfortable tourer. I would like to be able to take it to Canby or Long Beach without feeling thoroughly beaten up upon arrival. So specifically, sooner than later, I will be putting coilovers on the front. I like the idea of using motorcycle coilovers like Mike Spreadbury. Also, within the next two weeks I would like to get a pair of S30 seats because my girlfriend and I are taking the truck down to San Diego for Spring Break. The bench fabric is torn and the foam is collapsed and its extremely uncomfortable for anything over an hour drive. The Z24 is almost too reliable but the VG30ET is going in after finals along with its 26gal. tank. VG620 Supertanker. Eventually it will get paint and the rims should be re-chromed. But those aren't to high on the priority list.

Thanks Spoona_J21. I appreciate it. If you do end up drawing the truck please post it.

So I do have mine set up on opposite sides as yours. I'm glad everything still works apart from making it a little akward to bleed. But you should only have to do that once in a long while right? Thanks again K_trip.

Wrap up Since my dad and uncle will always keep their first cars, I am too. After buying it brand new they chose not to keep it stock so why should I? DId I mention this was a factory air-conditioned truck? The A/C went out with the L20b and the plumbing was removed. The truck has evolved over the years and it will continue to. When I was 18 I moved out of Hollister and settled in Los Gatos to work on a mechanical engineering degree. Its interesting to see how the Bay Area has influenced us and our Datsuns. I know its influenced me and the truck just over this short timeline of our lives. Going to old school meets. (August '09) Driving up Hwy 9 and Skyline Blvd. with friends. Or just taking parking lot pictures. All of which perpetuate the evolution of the truck. It may not always be my daily driver. It may not always have the same engine or paint color. But one thing is for certain- I'm keeping this Datsun Forever.

Alright to finish the story... So the truck was put into storage when I was a few years old. I had always grown up hearing stories about my family involving cars. Things like the Morgan Hill Police knowing my dad by first name because he was always pulled over for running 12's on the back of his Firebird that stuck out way too far, or my grandma asking my dad and uncle to increase the boost pressure in her 280ZX so she could get to work faster over Hecker Pass. I started to appreciate the stories when I was was a bit older. I knew I wanted stories of my own. I thought how it would be neat it to have one of those old cars and continue the stories where they had been left off. Out of the 10 cars my uncle had in storage at the time the 620 was really the only one a 16 year old could realistically afford. Everything else was GM muscle or Mopar mucsle. When I was 13 my uncle agreed to let me buy the truck for $1000. Any money I could scrounge up mowing lawns or painting or something of the like went to my uncle to put toward the truck. I have a notebook somewhere where I would log the date and the amount I gave him plus the balance I had left on the truck. This continued for 3 years. I was $250-300 away from paying it off and this day came: It was (mid-February '07) a few days before my birthday and as a surprise my dad and uncle took it out of storage and got it running after just over 10 years of sitting in the dark. Their good friend Tony at Community Garage in Morgan Hill rebuilt the carb and replaced the vital fluids and down it went to Hollister to my uncle's house where the above picture was taken. I think a week or two after this picture I cranked down the torsion bars and lowered the front end to where it sits now. I definitely wanted to do an engine swap since the truck has already had a history of it. I settled on a KA since the SR swap in 240SXs was booming and you could get a lower mile KA for pretty cheap. I found one in Fresno with one of the rod bearings gone on it. I had this engine sitting in the garage for a while. Unfortunately as my only vehicle it was going to be difficult to find the time to do the swap between high school and working. This picture (please excuse the quality) is actually when I was selling this engine for my engine swap idea 2.0. Between engine swap idea 1.0 and 2.0 I put a huge crease in the front end of my truck. I won't tell you how... but I needed a whole new hood, bumper, and grill. It's embarrassing and my wonderful girlfriend (whom I've been with since I've had my truck [sophmore year in high school] hmmmm....) won't let me live it down to this day. Here's after I replaced the front end parts. I don't know why I didn't fasten the license plate all the way before I took the picture. Also the front spoiler wasn't back on yet and I still hate the post '77 rubber bumper pieces. About this time (early '08) I found Michael Spreadbury's "Strutless Wonder" and became hooked on the VG so I found this in San Jose for the right price. It was an '86 VG30e and 5 speed out of a cabin fire car. I had this engine for a while too and just needed a wiring harness be ready for the car. Meanwhile, it was 3 days before I was to graduate highschool (June '09) and I hear through the grapevine (as you usually do in HS) my friend Tim had wrecked his car in the school parking lot of all places. Tim was the only other Datsun driver/enthusiast in my class. I called him and asked if he was alright. Good. The second question was.... "So now what are you doing with your car?" I sold the VG30e as quick as I could. So I could buy his car: He gave me a screaming deal on the whole car. Everything up to the radiator was toast, but the VG30ET he had just rebuilt and everything behind it was perfect. So the engine and transmission are coming out of this car and I'm settling on engine swap 2.1 and hope to get it in sooner than later (Summer '13). Its kind'a funny but I raced Tim in this car a few weeks before he wrecked it. The Z24 had him off the line, then his turbo spooled up and he was gone. Sorry but... Also, to be continued.

This is my 1977 Datsun 620 (HL620237385 manufactured in September of '77). I have had it for 6 years now, and it's my first car. My dad and my uncle still have their first cars after 38 and 39 years respectively so its safe to say I'm going to keep this one forever. Although their first cars were significantly cooler: '68 Firebird 400 (my dad's) or '69 Olds 442 (my uncle's). And how about a rather lengthy history of this Datsun? My dad and uncle bought this truck brand new from Downtown Datsun in San Jose, Ca (If you look closely you can see the Downtown Datsun track jacket on the driver seat in the picture above). They bought it to haul various things for the ice cream shops that my family owned at the time. This is going way back in South Bay history but some of you might remember Scooter's Ice Cream in Gilroy. It was off of 10th st. on the same side as the DMV across from where Guitar Center is now. They had another store in Morgan Hill, but I couldn't tell you where it was. The truck is actually still registered as a commercial vehicle. This is what it looked like around '81-'82 sporting a nice set of Hurricanes. The black truck you can see the nose of is their friend Dan's 620. I assume this truck was the inspiration for what our truck would eventually look like. We have always been a Datsun family. It started with my Grandma, who has had four Z's over the years including a '72 240Z, a 260Z, a 280Z, and a 280ZX Turbo Anniversary Edition. My uncle has had a few Z's including one with a 327 he swapped in. My aunt still has her maroon 280ZX with 4xx,xxx on the body parked in the garage. Sitting next to it is a '75 280Z waiting to recieve a 350TPI Camaro motor. This picture is from a year or two later. By this time the truck was repainted the coppery orange that came on the 720's and wearing the same rims it wears today. I would love to have that rear sway bar but my uncle said it wouldn't work with the 2" lowering blocks that were later installed and he got rid of it. The groovy chrome roll bar was adapted from a Chevy LUV and the front spoiler you can see in the first picture was mounted. That '73 Riviera used to tow their ski boat to Anderson and Tahoe. My dad sold his half to my uncle in the mid 80's for whatever reason. Not too long after that it the L20b came out and in went an imported SSS L18T with twin SUs, higher compression pistons, and a bigger cam out of a 610 Bluebird SSS. The 4-speed was swapped for a 5-speed at the same time. I wish it still had that engine... The head gasket gave out in that motor and in went a Z24 out of an '85 720. I actually still have the receipt for the motor in the glove box, its dated in '92 or '93. Circumstances at the time (mid 90's) prompted the truck to go into storage where it would sit for 10 years waiting for me. To be continued....

I was using this picture as a reference (http://community.ratsun.net/topic/20432-disc-brake-installed-on-a-drum-brake-truck/). I suppose its possible that the caliper was just set on there for the picture without being specified right or left. Does your "NISSAN" read down then as opposed to up like mine on the passenger side? I'm just glad it doesn't effect functionality. And yes, huge improvement. I really want to see how they do coming down a big hill like HWY 9.

Alright so the brakes are installed and I have about 70 miles on them. I had a heck of a time bleeding them as I didn't realize until later to unbolt the calipers and bleed them upside-down so the bleed screw was at the highest point. Also, I ended up going with a 1" adapter just to err on the safe side. I didn't need an inch but the factory studs are already so short I wanted as much threads in the lug nuts as possible. As a note to people looking to do this conversion in the future: I used a 15/16" master cylinder out of a 280ZX four wheel disc car utilizing the residual valves on the bottom side of the M/C . The pedal feel is firm but way more confidence inspiring than a pedal that nearly goes to the floor with glazed and poorly adjusted drums. Here are the obligatory pictures. Here's first test fit. Spinning freely with no contact behind 14's. And here is everything buttoned up. The 1" adapter pushed the wheel out a little too far and the tire rubbed the fender really bad. I hand pulled the fender a bit and got some clearance back. Oh, and how's that for a rising sun? Thanks everyone for their input. And thanks for the welcome K_trip. I've been lurking for a solid 5 years- I guess it was about time I join. I'm surprised I haven't seen your truck around town yet. I am always on the lookout for other Datsuns. This also means that I have a set of 6x5.5 Rotas for sale....

Unfortunatey, the 16's that I picked up will also need a spacer for the caliper to clear the back of the spokes. So I need a spacer (or adapter) regardless. Once I pick up a set, we will find out if it's possible for 14's or not.

I'm sure I wont need an inch. If I had to use a 1" spacer I would get the ones where the spacer bolts to the hub and has studs pressed into it for the wheel. From what I've gathered they are safer than a regular spacer.

So the Z32 calipers/Izuzu rotors will not fit behind 14's. Like this. These are stock Ford Courier wheels, but probably the same as factory Datsun. I "test fitted" the caliper and rotor behind my 14's to a startling surprise. I will need a spacer, but it looks like they will clear. Granted, I wont know where the caliper sits inside the rim until its on the bracket on the truck. But with an inch of washers as a spacer I managed to clear the back of the face and the barrel. This test was done assuming the caliper sits on the rotor relatively close to this. The question is, do you think this will work given the tolerances in the pictures?