biggaryT78

No money makes it more fun right? Its just a little TLC goes a long way on these things.

Hey thank you everyone! It was the Two bolts that held in the gear assembly (not sure what its called actually) One had sheared off, I had to weld a piece to it and then remove what was left. Then I simply replaced the other one (both with tempered bolts) and boom! steering is back and tighter than ever. I think it needs an alignment too but I think it did before and will very soon as I got new tires. I seem to have a small brake fluid leak, I lose fluid over a couple months of driving it drains the res. Will be locating that as soon as the snow melts a bit. The new tires really help this thing drive in all conditions. I still wont drive it in the snow it's just not safe, so I did have to use uber to get around for a few days the last month of cold and snow. Needs new battery cables I think, (clamp type temp ones on it now) when the temp is cold, it really does not love turning the engine over. But when it turns it starts right up, same with if i push start it. EMERGENCY ONLY. Yes agreed on a V8 being too heavy! I wont be lifting anything big, I mostly work on Subaru and motorcycle engines. And of course this datsun. But I think it will look cool with that little picker in the back and pretty useful with how things have been going for me and engines lately. haha. :( Have decided to do some minor body work, this thing needs a little bit more TLC. Then plan to give it a 3 tone paint job with origional stripe locations kind of Chip Foose style White/Red/black with Black stripes and Datsun logo. Once I took off the rattle can paint (oven cleaner trick) from the entire truck, the bed had almost none of the original paint left on there and was showing mostly the gray primer. It has such a straight body already, I feel its minimal effort to get it ready to paint so why not, and will probably blend in better around town and at the minimoto race track. Exhaust - I agree Banzai, I am going with a full 1.75 exhaust, and as quiet as possible. I don't need extra sound, the weber sounds fantastic sucking air in, and runs wonderfully. This engine is strong and really kicks a lot of butt out there on the Denver streets. I love driving this truck. Rear of the truck needs lowered about 2" I like the front indexing as it is now, just want it to match, I do not love the raked look. What else for odds and ends???? Heater fan not working. Wipers are slow, I want a new motor or at very least take linkage apart and grease and tighten it all up with some new bushings or something. New shocks would be nice, but the ones on there now actually do a pretty good job. I need to shorten the gear shift AND OR tighten the linkages it is very loose and since I am 6'6" my leg is in the way of second gear I have to move it. The blinker/Brights switch is in my way, I need to move it or at very least shorten it. Unsure of what to do here, I will search on the forum for an elegant solution. my knee needs that space. The key does not work in the glove box or the doors, this is annoying. Must re-key or get one made for those. That's about it for now! Thanks to everyone on this forum. Giant help and inspiration for me to see such passion about these cars and trucks. Gary www.garytussey.com

Quick update on this truck. Been driving this thing pretty much everyday since I got the Weber. Which has amounted in about 1750 miles and one oil change. I soaked and cleaned the fuse box and replaced the Alternator with an Internally Regulated one and jumped the proper connections. I have still been getting some intermittent charging issues, Mostly when it is cold out, so must be a loose connection or the temporary type ground wire or a battery. NEW Problem: Last night I was moving the truck in my driveway and when I cranked on the steering wheel I heard a loud POP and now my stearing is very loose! I am afraid I broke one of the gears inside there, I left the truck where I had test drove it, and am having a guy come look into it before i get it back to my house. Looks like I will be under the front end for a while still before I get to the many other issues with this little truck. On a great note, I got new tires for it, and have saved up some money for a custom exhaust that will go on after I can drive it again. The L20B has been Fantastic! It pulls strong with that 4 speed and keeps me from getting tickets by not having that 5th speed. It is fun and spirtited driving and people really cannot get enough of the truck. I have a bed mounted Cherry picker I will be mounting in the back right of the Bed for moving engines around town and holding up an umbrella at the race track. Also it just looks awesome with a cherry picker in there and I have never seen many that have it, I happen to have this nice picker, so the Datsun is going to be getting it permanently and I will carry the Parts Truck look all the way now. Pictures to come.

Okay cool. Thank you Lockleaf.

That Local Denver Datsun/JapSteel meetup is actually THIS weekend. Sonic at 9:00am SUNDAY NOv 15th 2611 S Broadway, Denver, Colorado 80210 So I took some pictures while I was out and about instead. Its a little truck with a big personality. HAVE TO LOWER THE BACK> look at that tail wag. Someone hit something sometime. Looks like a frown face. this Grant was on the truck when I got it but had no grip. This was my solution for now. Actually it is VERY nice to use. I knotted two para cords together on both sides of the wheel so what you see here is about 2 hours of work and reminds me of the handle of a Katana. So that works. IF anyone can tell me what these seats are out of I would love to know. Heater gets hot. Fan is not turning on however it still defrosts pretty well. Fuel rail removed now. The engine bay is getting cleaner every-time I get in there. Weber is now working great! Little adjustment on the Choke cable made high idle work perfectly. Went out and started it this morning in 32degree weather and it fired right up, and was derivable right away to take kiddo to school.

The flashers work both inside the cab and outside markers. I will follow through the info above and let you all know what I find on these blinkers. It isn't even strange that they worked... and now they aren't, because that seems to be what happens to this truck. Taking my DSLR camera with me to the end of the season Datsun and Old Jap Steel meetup in Denver today. Should have some cool photos to post of that later. Just an observation and No Way! I will not be selling this truck anytime soon, just making note of the vibrations and attempting to fix the major ones first. Need tires. ASAP. The snow is coming.

Sorry for not posting pictures, but this truck is running pretty dang great right now so I had to post an emotional update on this project. I have been having a blast driving it back and forth to work. Lots of people have stopped me and wanted to talk about the truck and they have stories about their Dads and Grandfathers having a 521 or lost their virginity in one, although not sure how. I can see why these cars and trucks built such a great community, they give back more than you put into it every damn time. The engine sound and feel of the steering wheel pushing back against your hands is like a direct connection to the road. Lots of people might never experience this. UP NEXT: 1. Slightly hard time idling on cold start, the high Idle doesn't want to stay on. 2. Loose everything, the truck rattles around a lot. I keep finding vibrating things and taking note where they come from to fix. 3.Temporary exhaust works great, HAHA it is kind of funny how a total hack job can be really elegant in function. 4. Blinkers do not work, I had the steering wheel off, might be my issue but the switch for brights works so investigating this weekend. 5. Shocks are old and warn all the way around. 6. Brakes seem to work a lot better after a quick bleed, and I had one emergency braking situation already and it stopped fine, but I would love them to feel firmer and stop more evenly when medium pressure is applied. I will look at adjustments this weekend when I paint the rim. 7. Music solution.

I was looking that up and it seems like i still have to get emissions once and then I am exempt for 5 years. But just checked and you are right. Exemptions http://www.aircarecolorado.com/index.php/about-the-test/1981-and-older/A few vehicles are exempt from emissions testing, and a small group of 1982-and-newer passenger vehicles is tested with the two-speed idle test instead of with the I/M 240 test. Newly-manufactured vehicles, for the first seven (7) model years, or until a change of ownership Pre -1975 collector-plated vehicles Pre-1942 horseless carriage-plated vehicles Vehicles with a two-stroke engine manufactured prior to 1980 Motorcycles Farm-plated vehicles Electric powered vehicles

BAHAHAHAHA!!! Banzai you make me laugh man and you have a point. Tach? I can hear it dammit! why do I need a tach? So true. I was going to get a nice quiet muffler for sure, I want this thing to be invisible but I never thought of catching my girlfriend... I really hope that doesn't happen I love her!

Update! Got my headlights fixed up... It was corrosion on the leads, on the passenger fender wall relay connections. Once I pulled them off and cleaned them I put them back and the headlights/brights worked againt! must have bumped it a bit when I was installing the engine, battery etc.... Purchased a new alternator "1980 200SX" that is more amps and Internally regulated... $58.95 after they tested mine and it was bad. I had a very slight clearance issue fitting the newer 'slightly bigger' alternator. The bracket would touch against the case of the alternator so it could not be bolted to bracket or moved out enough to tighten the belt. I simply flipped the bracket over "So it is now like a U" and it worked perfectly. After I installed the new alternator, I pulled the plug off the regulator and made jumper wires from WB to WR and from Y to W. NOW the ignition light goes out when truck is running, and now the battery is charging. Fixed. I put on a temporary make shift Exhaust so I can drive it and test and tune it. I simple bought a flexible 2" exhaust hose and put a clamp on one end... Stuck that end into the Mani - and Made my own bracket out of Flashing to hold it onto the manifold bolts. Then clamped the 2" Borla muffler that came with this truck onto that pipe and sent it out by the drivers door. Simple and not elegant but good for now. When I get my next check I will be able to get an exhaust on this thing and then it should pass smog test. I will keep adding parts and updates to this truck as often as I can. For now she starts, idles and drives and I am very happy with how zippy this engine is! it's FAST around town but runs out of gears real quick. I want a tachometer a voltage meter and a radio would be nice. Interior is looking pretty good actually. I will post some real photos of the finished/ongoing project truck soon! I took it out for a test drive and a beer.

I am going to check out the facebook group. I met Desmo last week when he dropped off a fan for my L20B and I cannot wait to check out his 510 sometime.

Good point, it looks big and has those sides on it. I wouldnt mind a wheel that disconnects though, I am pretty tall.

For the headlights I found this thread that might apply to my truck. http://community.ratsun.net/topic/67806-521-high-beams/?hl=headlights&do=findComment&comment=1309615 Going to try soaking the fuse box and look into the switch at the Steering column because I did remove steering wheel and the lights worked before so might be that!

I will check all that out asap, I also have a spare Alternator from the L24 I was going to take them both in and have them tested so I can rule that out. I feel like it stopped charging after I moved a wire on an ignition post to get rid of the Oil and Ignition lights staying on even with key off... I hate wiring issues. Why my brain does not work like that I have no idea.

Looking for Radiator in town. Found a 510 one on C-List might be picking that one up this week. So far the radiator that is in there seems to function well after routing the hoses better. On the list is an electric ignition system for sure. Gotta get the alternator charging first thing so its probably time to do new battery cables.