New World Datsuns...

I like it. Hope it works out as planned.

DRIVEN wrote:I like it. Hope it works out as planned.

So do I, the only thing would be a hassle is if I had to remove the pedestal for any reason, as once the nuts are tight inside the pedestal the socket don't want to come off the nut, but after wiggling it a bit it comes off, but then the socket don't want to go back on the nut either if I have to remove it like when I test fit it on the 520 pedal assembly, it was kinda a bitch to get off but I got if off, it only took a little extra effort.
The push rod is within an eighth of an inch and is adjustable over a couple inches either way with the extra short clip piece.
I am hoping to have a real spacer on it's way in the next couple days if Ted has it, I offered him a lot money to entice him into finding me one fast, he thinks he has one in a parts truck.
I can make my own brake lines, and I had this brake master on the 320 briefly so I know it works, it's new anyway.
I have done this a few times now, the 520KC ute and 521KC diesel both have home made pedestals with dual circuit masters, so I am hoping things work out, the work truck has the 86 dually axle and V6 hardbody dual piston front disc brake assemblies, I hope this works better than my stock 521 master brake cylinder, the back brakes don't really work right now, the front disc brakes and the electric trailer brakes are doing all the work, it was really hard to stop it fast when I didn't have trailer brakes.
I am going to have to get that fitting out of the intake manifold, it has been there a very long time(20+ years), it has 2 outlets on it that are small, I figure the outlet should be the same size as the booster inlet/outlet, I have found that steel fittings don't like to come out of aluminum after they have been there a while, I can only imagine what will fall into the intake manifold runner when I force that fitting out, I have another intake if things go bad, that is why I want a couple days to do this, in case things go bad.

So i did the power brakes/dual circuit master conversion today, everything went as expected, the pedestal was hard to install and it might be a bitch if I have to do a clutch master change, it is tight in there now.
I took it for a test drive with and without the trailer, I believe it stops better, but I would have to lift the back wheels off the ground to see if they actually work, I still have to press fairly hard, but I really need to drive it like normal when I am not thinking about it to know for sure the results.
The brakes bled normally, no issues there, although it would likely go faster if I had someone pumping the pedal while I bled the brakes instead of me using a stick.
Here are some photos.













I still need to make a brace for the booster/master for sideways and up and down stability, that is a lot of weight hanging out supported by only them two stock brake master mount bolts, my pedestal works great except for the clearance once the nuts are tightened, if I have to get that pedestal off it is not going to be easy.

So I put two braces on it, one on the plate the booster connects to at an angle, and the other where the brake master is straight down, this acts like I used a triangle brace, it doesn't move at all now.




Every time I do something, it makes it harder to deal with other things, I sure hope this was worth the effort, I have been stopping this truck with the stock master for 20 years myself, and I have lost my brakes before and drove it home using the trailer brakes and E-brake.

I like this plan better than limping on E-brake.

DRIVEN wrote:I like this plan better than limping on E-brake.

And trailer brakes, they actually worked the best, between the two of them I could stop pretty fast, by the time I got home from across town I was good at stopping it, but I am better at stopping it with regular brakes, less complicated.
Left hand trailer brakes, right hand e-brake means steering with knee, but need both feet pressing hard on floor for proper stopping in this situation.

The brakes are better, no doubt about it, I don't have to press near as hard to stop, but still don't know if the rear brakes are actually working.
The reason I wonder about the rear brakes is when I bled the rear brakes the fluid came out rust colored on one side, that is not a good sign.
Another thing I noticed is that when I first bled the brakes I had a kind of spongy pedal on top, but the next day it was not spongy like it was anymore, it's not rock solid either, it doesn't feel weird so I am not worried about it, I might bleed all 4 corners once more in the next few days just to get any left over air out, but I am happy I did this so far.
Now if I could get rid of all the exhaust leaks, it's terrible, it was so loud today when I got home I re-did half of what I did last weekend, it's a little better now I think, I will see tomorrow.

So I got it quiet enough to hear other noises now, I have what sounds like a knocking/pinging sound, at first I thought it was the engine but when I re-timed it it was still there, then I thought it might be one of the front transmission bearings, now I am thinking carrier bearing as it happens when accelerating and decelerating, I actually thought it was a rattle in the cab at first, but yesterday when starting out it made a grinding sound briefly, then didn't ping/knock for a little while.
It really sounds exactly like pinging/knocking, it's such a clean sound but doesn't happen when sitting still with the engine running, I have to start moving.

wayno wrote: The brakes bled normally, no issues there, although it would likely go faster if I had someone pumping the pedal while I bled the brakes instead of me using a stick.

I hate doing this. What about connecting a tube to the bleeder and submerging the other end in brake fluid? Then just pump and make sure the master cylinder stays full.

There are also one-way bleeder bolts that allow you to loosen the bolt, pump the pedal, and tighten the bolt when done. They work great in my experience. Cost me $20 for four bleeder bolts, kinda something you don't use often, but when you do it's really nice. Same with installing a valve rather than a bolt for the oil pan drain, though you do this more than brake bleeding...

I have done this brake bleeding so much it's more about being clean(saving the fluid) or messy(on ground), if they don't bleed easy, then something is wrong, bad master, Master not bench bled, something put together wrong(calipers upside down), doing the front circuit before the back, if everything is good it takes 5/10/15 minutes max to bleed brakes even the way I do it with a stick(15 minutes).
The biggie is to not let the reservoir run dry, as if one does they have to start over.

Well that rebuilt/reconditioned 1973/74 Datsun 620 power brake booster only lasted a couple months which totally sucks.
I ordered another one from a different vendor today, and it has already shipped.

Wow. Don't build em like they used to.

The booster arrived today, I might change it out tomorrow, or I might wait till next Saturday, next Sunday is Blue Lake.
The truck stops, it's just like it used to be before I put the booster in, I have to press hard.

OK, I wrote this below when I finished changing out the booster.

I put the booster in and now I am not happy, the pedal goes way down and then gets rock hard, the brakes still work good but they are rock hard, it wasn't like this before with the other booster when it worked, it wasn't rock hard it felt normal.
It feels like the brakes are not bled in one circuit and only the rear is working, but I can lock up the front brakes, when I hit the hard spot it don't really move down any farther, but there is nothing in between, 4 inches of nothing when it is running, when it's not running it feels better.

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So now I am writing this below.

After I finished I wasn't all that happy with it, there was too much play compared to how it was before, so I pulled the brake master and spacer off the front of the booster to measure the shafts of the two boosters, the old one had this rubber spacer(1/4 inch thick) on the end of the shaft to cushion the pedal, when I pulled the new shaft out it had no rubber spacer, so I felt inside and could only feel metal in the inch round hole the end of the shaft drops into, I felt around inside the booster cavity to see if I could find it in case it fell off the end of the shaft when I pulled it out, I could not find it.
So as a test I put the grease covered rubber piece on the end of the shaft and carefully inserted it into the booster then bolted it back together then pushed on the pedal, it was right at the top, so I put everything back together and drove it, the pedal is right at the top and feels like it did before.
The one issue I may have is that I adjusted the pedal shaft connection out maybe an eighth inch trying to get a little happier before, now I don't believe I have room to adjust it back to where it was before if the brakes start dragging after I drive it a while, I may have to take it apart again just to put the pedal rod adjustment back to where it was before as the pedal is right at the top when I start it, when I turn it off I have an inch or two play but the vacuum sucks all that away when I start it.
Conclusion here is that when this new booster was rebuilt/reconditioned they left the rubber cushion piece out, all I can say is that it didn't take me a week to figure it out like it usually does lately.
So I took another old booster apart to see what it had and it took a while but I did get the rubber piece out for a photo, they forgot the rubber piece on the right.

Good thing you have all those spares kicking around.

I used the rubber piece out of the one that went bad in the truck.
The rubber piece in the photo was out of an old rusty booster I was given at Canby, I asked how much for the spacer on the booster and the guy said just take it, I don't think he wanted to haul it home.
I didn't spend a lot at Canby this year, the booster, a 521 package tray, a Weber adapter and some SU parts from the Ztherapy guys, under a $100.00 total.
I am trying to decide if driving to the local AutoZone to see if I can get my core charge back for the booster is worth the effort, it has to be inspected and pass for a measly $29.00 doesn't seem to be worth my time, I don't even know where the nearest AutoZone is.

The brakes didn't seize up today so I believe they are adjusted good enough, they are right on top, I am not used to my Datsuns having the brakes work right at the top, usually they have to go a 1/3 or more often 1/2 way down before they work.
I have been daily driving this truck for over 20 years and this is the best the brakes have ever been.

I picked up some firewood today.



And this is what it looked like stacked, about 3/4s of a cord.

That's an amazing little truck. Any ideas what a load like that weighs?