New World Datsuns...

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

Over a ton, but I have hauled way heavier loads in the past.

When I put my new roof on 3/4 years ago and I did the tear off and took it to the dump, I rolled over the scales at 7200lbs, the truck weighs 3400lbs, so the load was around 3800lbs, and I still had good brakes, one time I had so much weight that I only had working brakes below 30mph and they really didn't work all that well even then.
I have been very lucky that I have not lost any rear bearings over the last 20 years, the C200 dually axle is only rated for 1700lbs, the H190 is rated to haul more(2000lbs), but the dually trucks I have tow vehicles and my trailer way better than a regular truck, I know this because I have towed 30/40 vehicles over the last 10 years and will never tow anything again behind a non-dually vehicle, it can get scary when the roads have deep ruts like the Mt. Hood freeway has(or had), very scary.

Should I make a ground wire for that connection on my matchbox distributor, I have never had it connected in 20 years?

Most never use the ground plug there. But I did read about some 510 guy that on his return home from a show, the car started running terribly. Finally they grounded the Dizzy with that terminal and all the issues went away.

It wont hurt anything.

I worked on the exhaust system again today, it is quieter than it has been for a very long time.
I am waiting to see if it backfires when decelerating like it has for the last half year, it's annoying when it backfires(exhaust backfires), and I can hear the radio again.

Well today is what I would call a daymare(nightmare while I'm awake), My steering broke a long ways from home while I was trying to find an address of a house I was supposed to work at and I could not find it, the break is the kinda break that you have to turn the steering wheel more than a turn to get any kind of reaction, as you know i have power steering on my work truck set up like a 4X4, the power steering gear is on the outside of the frame, I have an idler arm where the stock steering gear would be, well the front idler arm/rear steering gear bolt broke, they share that bolt, and it broke where I needed to turn around on a single wide road with huge ditches.
I finally got it turned around by getting out of the truck and kicking the wheels the direction I needed them with onlookers and got down to the bottom of the hill which was maybe a half mile.
Here is the front end.

So I hunted around in my truck for another bolt and could not find one, all my larger screw drivers were flat edge and too big to fit thru the hole(although I was going to pound one round if I had too), but I found a screw driver that would fit thru the hole that was long enough, I slid it in and then used 2 pairs of vice grips to hold it on the other side and I started for home, I made it several miles before it got really loose again, so I finally found a flat place to pull over and had to wait quite a while to let the traffic by I was holding up as I was driving 30mph, and I did pull over several time trying to get the steering tighter, anyway that time when I looked under there the hand grip on the screw driver was gone, so I put the vice grips on both sides and finally made it home.



So I just had to fix it and get back to that house even though the woman said to forget it, I finally found a bolt that would work but it was not a hardened bolt but I installed it and drove to the hardware store and bought what I needed and installed it in the parking lot, I then finally found the house and did the job and she was so happy she gave me a big tip.
On the way back into town to do a bid before I went home the engine died at a busy light in the left turn lane, I poured what was left of the gas into the truck thinking I ran out although it showed a little, did not work it would not start, so I left the ignition on and crawled under the truck and grabbed the electric fuel pump and it was not running, I also didn't have brake lights anymore for some reason, I am sitting in a terrible spot tearing my truck apart in the street trying to figure out what was wrong and a guy offered to tow me into the Safeway parking lot as he didn't want me to get hit, he had a strap and everything, I connected it up and off we went, I took the strap off and thanked him several times and said I would likely get it fixed in a few minutes, I lifted the deck board over the tank, hit/tapped the fuel pump with a screw driver and it started working again and I drove home, it was not even two minutes.
In the mean time the steering got loose again and I had to tighten it again.
I am going to try to repair it in the morning, but I might just use the 720 turbodiesel instead to do my jobs as I can throw a ladder on the weenie rack it has.
I noticed the frame has a hole in it again, I am hoping this truck will make it another month as I will not likely have work then, and I can then pull the cab off this wasted frame and put it on the 1986 frame I just got, it will take a few days/week for me to transfer the engine/cab/flatbed onto the other frame.
The brake lights quit working because it appears the fuse blew, maybe I touched metal/ground messing around with the wires trying to get the brake lights to work, as they control the trailer brakes also, no brake lights no trailer brakes.
It still steers like crap.

Man, when it rains it pours.

I plan on putting a complete idler arm on this in the morning as the one on it is just as screwed up now as the frame, since I use the other holes it has to bolt it on the driver side, even if it gets screwed up also, if I ever want to put it on the passenger side it will be like new again, I will take a photo.
By the time I got home I was wondering what else could happen, but this day is not over yet.
I guess it is time, either I transfer everything or I replace that part of the frame, but that will be difficult with the engine in it and the cab on the frame.
But I am going to try and made it last a little longer, I need to work a little more while it is still warm outside, and people are still calling.

Well I got this back together in 2 1/2 hours, it is a redneck/backyard mechanic fix but the steering is tight as it has ever been which is very disturbing, as it gives one confidence that it will last a while and that is what gets ya.
I did use a larger bolt this time(the one that always breaks), the sleeve that goes thru the frame was loose in what I can only describe as a hole the size of the Lincoln Tunnel, the idler arm mount holes were busted up badly, they were broke off at the hole so basically the idler arm could have fallen off the frame if it had anywhere to go, but with all them arms connected to it and holding it up it was trapped.
I believe this fix will last long enough for me to get the 86 frame ready, I am hoping the brakes work properly on that frame, the pedal felt good when I stepped on it, but I was not moving either, the clutch pedal would not move when I stepped on it, the slave was rusted enough to keep the piston from moving, but I fixed that.
It kinda funny when I get in the truck and start moving every morning, right now the steering wheel is perfectly aligned, but as time goes by it starts to clock to the right farther and farther until I have to fix it like I did today and it is then aligned again

You're lucky that didn't go in the ditch.

I was looking at the ditch a couple times on the way home after it broke with the screw driver/vice grips fix, but I would just keep turning the wheel till it finally changed direction, I was only driving 30mph though, I had time to stop, unfortunately I was also holding up traffic in the single lane areas.
By the way it broke when I was only driving walking speed making a fast turn, that is when it always breaks, when making a hard turn.
I am hoping the larger bolt lasts longer, I had to ream/drill that sleeve just a little so the bolt would slide in, I did that before welding it back into the frame, the other small bolt never breaks, only the shared(idler arm/steering gear) bolt breaks, too much side pressures for the weenie 521 frame.

So recently I have been having issues with my brake lights for some reason that never happened before, and I finally figured it out.
What was happening was the switch button was getting stuck in the housing it is in, a long time ago(over 10 years ago) I put this screw in a hole that the switch button happened to be aligned with, whatever was in that hole was pushed out at some point, that screw has a round head, so what was happening is the round screw head was resting on the switch head housing pushing the switch button all the way in, well the screw head was deforming the end of the switches metal housing to the point that the switch button could not get past the flared end of the switch housing, it was driving me crazy as I had just put the spare switch in a few days ago and now it was doing it.
So once I figured out the issue, I found the right size drill bit(larger than the hole), I pushed the drill bit into the switch hole and twisted a couple turns by hand and out came the switch button, issue fixed button wise, but still have the screw head flaring the end of the switch housing, so I found a regular size nut instead of a half nut that screwed onto the switch and I turned it on just far enough for the rounded screw head on the brake pedal arm to activate the button but not bottom out on the switch housing itself, I believe it is fixed.
Now I have been driving this truck for over 20 years without this being an issue, but recently I added a power brake booster, I suspect that when I let off the pedal before the booster was added, the brake master didn't allow the brake pedal screw head to totally reach the switch housing, but when I added the booster it changed how far the pedal came up and it rested on the switch, I looked and have no pedal bumper to adjust, so now the nut will be the stopper instead of the switch housing end where the button comes out.
It's the little shit that can drive one crazy, I had been driving without brake lights but when I fiddled with stuff they would start working for a little while, I thought the switch went bad but had the same issue a couple days later with another switch, I hope it is fixed now.
At one point over the last week I have been thinking I need a new wiring harness as I thought this was a wiring issue.

OK, so I ruined a starter trying to this this truck started yesterday, it would not run, so I used the 720 flatbed truck to get to my 2 jobs with the ladder sticking way out the back, so today I stuck a new starter in it and the freaking thing started right up the moment I touched the starter.
The starter actually don't work properly, I have to use a screwdriver to get it to work, so I will likely just wire in a remote relay if I cannot figure out why the solenoid won't work, it just clicks, but it turns right over if I use a screw driver.
Then once I get this think going so I can do a pressure washing job today the turn signals will not work, so when I got home I took a look at that, it appears that I have a wire that only works when in one position, I moved the wires around earlier without results and then all of a sudden they start working, I HATE that shit, I will be converting over to a 1980 wiring harness very soon, I will be very happy to get rid of this issue.

Good thing you have all these old Datsuns to keep you occupied. Otherwise you'd have to take up cheap booze, fast wimmins, and high stakes gambling to keep from getting bored.

I noticed this morning that the relay from the last time I had this same issue with a starter was still there mounted on the inner fender, so i wired it up again the way I had it before and it starts with the key again.
The turn signals still worked so i walked away.

I worked on the 720 also.

So I started mounting the engine/transmission on the frame for this truck yesterday, it is the LZ20 in the photos, I am using this engine to fabricate everything I need to mount the LZ23, I want everything drive train wise to be ready when I start.
I will likely test run this engine in this frame though, but I have to pull it one more time to mount a 1980 Datsun 720 oil pan as the L16 oil pan will not work, now I need to find a L20b oil pan/pick up tube, it's never easy is it.
Here are some photos, this is the drive line in the transmission, it looks far enough in for me.

And here are some of the modified motor mount hardware and how it is sitting in the frame, the oil filter does spin off without hitting anything.









The "Add image to post" option is acting a little strange today, it doesn't always add the images the first try, something must be going on with Postimage.

Looks good.

That postimage glitch happens to me a lot. I always assumed it was because my house is down in a hole. Same reason my phone drops calls. Never seem to have those problems anywhere else.

So I checked the Datsun inventory locally last night and seen there was a 1980 Datsun 720 at the Sherwood yard, but it had been there for 4 weeks and it doesn't say if it is 2wd or 4wd, so I took a chance and drove there and it was a 2wd/L20b engine, I got real lucky.
I removed the cross member under the oil pan, I dropped the idler arm, and I removed the oil pan/pick up tube, it was a bitch to get off there, they likely used high tack sealer, I had to hammer it off using a old style jack shaft and the cross member.
The oil pan had some weird oil drain thing on it, the yard instead of removing that punched a hole in the oil pan a few inches away from the drain hole, it is the only 720 with an L20b in the area, I had to get this one.
I also bought the thermostat housing with the by-pass piping, the fuel piping, and I bought the starter, it appears to work when I tested it in the garage.
So the first thing I did was clean up the oil pan, remove the weird oil drain thing that don't appear to work and the rubber plug in the hole, I pounded the metal around the hole flat towards the center and then I welded the hole shut, it went easier than I thought it would, I also pounded out a few dents it had, I will likely lift the engine up tomorrow and install the oil pan and modify the driver side motor mount bracket(oval the hole) so it drops in easier, I will also likely mount this starter I bought as it is clocked better.
While I was there I noticed that the plate between the transmission and engine was still there, but the flywheel was also still there, I tried to remove a bolt with my wrench but had no luck, I expect my electric impact will not remove them either, I used a Z24 plate and everything lines up good except the 2 lower bolts and I had to cut some metal off where the clutch slave mounts, there is no hole or gaps, but I sure would have liked that plate.
This particular truck appears to have 4.37 gears in the rear, I expected it would have 4.11 gears but it didn't, it also had brand new front rotors.

I hate Portland traffic, them people have to be crazy/loony to go thru that every day.

PickNPull puts holes in all Oil pans and gas tanks. Faster than finding the right bit to undo the drain plug. Or in the case of a gas tank, even getting to the drain plug.

Not sure why they feel the need to punch holes in things with drain plugs and still charge full price for them. I guess I can kind of understand a fuel tank...maybe. When I was flipping 8.8s I had to weld up all the covers even though they come off in less than a minute.