New World Datsuns...

Wayno - hope you tell/told him about the new Datsun S&S spot in June. It would be nice to see it in person.

Jacob - would be great to see a 620 2 dr station wagon also. But not sure if those were in CR.

Jess - I agree, Path finders, ET wheels or even stock would been better.

So I seen the truck, spent almost 2 hours looking at it and talking with the guy about it.
It has some strange wiper mounts, they look like a cross between 521 and 720 wipers, I suggested 2 things, drill the wiper arms so they can be mounted, then search for a 521 wiper arm system complete with motor and install that in the truck and keep the system in it with the truck if ever sold, I told him do not cut the studs sticking out, drill the arms as they can be bought again, I forgot to take photos of them.
The rear tailgate latch is broken, we pulled the tailgate cover off and removed the latch assembly, since the handle itself is damaged also, I told him to take detailed photos and then he should search the world for another assembly, I suggested the V520/V521 models also as they may be the same, I also said if it were mine I would pull it apart and make a new handle/lever assembly from scratch and have the handle chromed, the mount assembly itself is fine, but the pot metal part is wasted and was already repaired a couple times with what appeared to be epoxy which did not work.







Here are photos of the truck, it has rust in several places and it was raining when I took these photos, I believe it has front drum brakes but I didn't want to lay on the wet ground to confirm, it also has stock looking rims with two 520/521 hubcaps and two 620 hubcaps.
He also had the blocks raising the back removed, it's not jacked up in the rear anymore, he spent a lot of money to have the brakes fixed and the blocks removed, I told him not to take it to the shop anymore.









Here is the engine compartment, it appears to be a stock J13 but I didn't try to see the engine mark as it was kinda dark in the garage and I didn't even think about bring a light.



Both the front and rear bumpers have damage, the front is just a 521 bumper, the rear is U specific, it needs repaired but is not awful, it is pushed in in the center, it's a lot better than not having one.

Unfortunately it appears to have a VIN tag/plate from another truck on it with a CA title, I believe OR still checks frame/chassis VIN numbers, I am not sure how that is going to go at the DMV, all this makes me wonder about the guy that bought it from TicoBill in Costa Rica and then brought it into this country.
This truck needs work, I believe he now understands this now and most of it is over his head, he doesn't even have the tools to try to repair the tailgate latch(we got it so he can open/close the tailgate), he said he was going to be very busy the next couple weeks and would not be doing anything with the truck, I mentioned if he was going to sell it let me know, but I suspect it will be too much for me to buy, if he told me the truth I know exactly how much he has into it including shipping, and that's a lot of money.

Oh and I can say this without any doubt, this 1969 Datsun 521 kingcab turbodiesel truck is a way better truck to drive than the 720, the 720 is a POS compared to the truck.

Well, at least the wheel issue has improved .

Glad to hear your 521 is dialed.

I forgot to mention that the guys at the shop ranted and raved about the truck, they were trying to make him understand what he had but it still had not sunk in on my visit.
I continued on that theme and tried to make him understand that as rare as it is, there is only a few people in the world that want and are willing to buy, ship, and put money needed into these trucks and he became one of them when he bought it, I also said it was not a very rare Chevy that would bring in 10s of thousands, it's just a Datsun truck.

At least you’re trying to steer him straight. As long as Barrett Jackson doesn’t get one.

Or Leno

I really don't want to dump a bunch of money into anything anymore, let alone a Datsun, what he has into it is a lot, especially a truck with a iffy title.
I am positive the frame numbers are not going to match the VIN tag, I don't think he is going to be able to get an Oregon title for that truck, I believe they still check the numbers, I am tempted to tell him not to go to the Oregon DMV, I can get one for it, but it will take 3 years as long as the frame numbers are clean/have no issues.
I was also tempted to ask the original owner in Costa Rica if that was the VIN tag he had on it, but it really isn't my business unless I bought it.

I started in this last night, mostly I worked out how I was going to make it, today I finished it to the point that I will need to make more plans before going farther.
This is an adjustable engine stand, I made it to except any engine I have on the property, the A series engine on the stand right now has the widest apart motor mount setup, my diesels motor mounts are closer together, the engine mounts move forwards and backwards, and the rails they are connected to will slide closer together, they are as wide as they will go in the photos, if I need them to spread farther apart I will have to make the uprights shorter, I also put some wore out pressure washer equipment wheels I had on the stand, the rear wheel steers the stand.





















I made it so I could slide a radiator mount assembly onto the front rails that will hold a radiator in front of the fan, the front 2 wheels are removable by just pulling that bolt out, I made it so I could have 2 different types of transmission mounts, I will likely shorten the trans mount post on it now, I may make that mount like the ones holding the engine, I just wanted the wheels on it today so my changes will likely come tomorrow, this is the best one I have made to date, but my other ones with the rubber tires will roll around in the grass while this one needs cement.

Pretty crafty.

I shortened the transmission post and made it so the transmission mount would tilt to whatever angle the mount was, I like it way better, now I can lift on the tail shaft and pull that bolt out, much better.

I am done for the night, my wrist is not happy, but it was sunny outside and it made it to almost 50 degrees today, I just had to do something.
Fact is every time I make something like this I have less metal rusting away out back, I had a shitload of 2 inch, now I just have a couple long pieces left, and a bunch of small ones less than a foot long, they are good as spacers for flatbeds and other such stuff, most the 2 inch I used in this was what held the 521 work truck flatbed on before I put it on the 720 chassis and made it a dump bed, I recycle metal all the time.

OK, so I finished the the cart/test stand for now, I made a radiator mount that is adjustable also, unfortunately it whacked the radiator so i had to fix that also, anyway I started the engine and spent hours trying to get it to run properly, it started easy for an engine that has sat for several years, maybe 8 years, possibly a couple years less, anyway half the issue I was having was the anti run on electrical valve, the other half was rotten hoses, once I got it sorted out it ran great on the stand, I can get it to idle really slow, I will check the idle rpms tomorrow.
I also got the stand sort of self contained at the end of the day, the gas can and battery are sitting on the cart now, I also made a double fitting for the gas can so it picks up and returns the fuel instead of just putting hoses in a can like in the earlier photos.
Here are the photos I took today, the engine is not running in any of the photos, but I had the engine running for hours, most the time spent trying to get the idle down below 1500rpms.

Typical A-series. A decade in storage and it runs like a champ. Out of a 210?

I keep getting an "error 520" page, I back up a page and try again and it usually works, but today it took a little more to find the last several days of posts, but in the end I succeeded in finding DRIVENS post.

It didn't just run like a champ, it took several hours and several new vacuum lines, it is how I took it out of that 210 the day I bought it, but it runs good now, I believe I got it to idle smoothly at 500/600rpms, but that itself took a couple hours, I could not find the idle adjustment screw, at least that is what I thought, but I did find it, it just didn't adjust anything till I turned it in then it would idle at 2000rpms, in the end I had to force it down till it would die, then when I started it it was perfect and it stayed there.

The plan here is to sell these extra A series engines I have, I will never use them now as i have no plans to convert any of my 320s to the A series/5spd anymore, I don't drive the ones I have now.

I think it was out of an 81 wagon, it was supposed to be an A15 but the block is not marked, it's been so long I forget all the details, but I think the engine tag said it was an A15 and the engine number matched the tag, so i bought it even though the flat spot is blank.
I do have another one that ran great before I pulled it, it is an A14 with a 5spd, I scrapped that car, but I have the complete wiring harness for that one also, that was going to be the harness I installed with the engine in my 1963 Datsun 320, but that E1 engine runs great and I will likely be selling that one also, so i will leave it alone and sell it the way it is, that is the one I made into a kingcab.
I was amazed that the fuel pump worked, I have not had a lot of luck with fuel pumps(mostly L block) over the last several years, this one has been run now for several hours at operating temperature, it's not that loud even without a muffler, but I put one on it while running it, but you cannot see it in any of the photos I took.
I will see how easy it starts tomorrow and get a photo of the muffler and the idle rpm.
I still don't know what to ask for it on craigslist.

I don't know either. Wish I still had a good reason to make you an offer on all your A stuff.

I have a lot of A series stuff, including A series dual SU stuff and 5 speeds.

So the engine started easily this morning, it has what sounds like an exhaust leak, well that is the noise of the exhaust going into the air filter housing from them 2 tubes coming off the ends of the exhaust manifold, it was way louder when I removed the air filter housing while it was running, nothing I can do about that, or a better way to say it is I don't care because I am going to sell it, let the new owner remove all that stuff, right now it is complete with all vacuum lines where they are supposed to be.
It appears to be idling at 700rpms, according to my meter one doubles the 8 cylinder rpm to calculate 4 cylinder rpms and is is idling at 350rpms, I can make it idle lower but I have to force it with a screw driver as the adjustment screw is all the way out, it idles very smoothly.



Here is a couple photos of my muffler in position, the engine is running in these photos.





There are a lot of hoses on these engines, but everything is there, the engine is idling(blurred fan blade), and the radiator still has a small leak, but it held water all night.

Well that was a waste of time on that engine, it appears to run great, doesn't smoke or make a lot of noise either, but it has no real oil pressure, it's at 20 pounds at an idle, but when I raise the rpms the oil pressure drops instead of raising, I really don't want to spend a lot more time on it, I certainly don't want to spend money on it.
I suspect this is the reason they were selling the engine in the first place.
I guess I could pull the oil pan and see if the screen is plugged, but that is just more time being wasted.

Yeah, I'd bet sludged up pan/pickup.

I just cannot help myself, I just have to chase this lost cause because that is what I do.
I pulled the pan off after draining the oil and was careful not to ruin the gasket too bad, it had a lot of crap on the bottom, and the pan was a little caved in from sitting on it all these years, but the screen was completely clear and it could suck from all sides anyway, top and bottom, I cleaned the pan and removed the pick up and made sure it was not cracked from possibly being bent, it was just fine.
I next pulled the oil pump off the side of the block, I pulled it apart as much as I could, I could see nothing wrong with it but could not figure out how to inspect the gears that turn and create the oil pressure, I put a ball bearing in the pressure valve and put it all back together and added oil and started it, I forgot the oil filter and lost a quart of oil on the ground(shake head here along with face palm), I installed the oil filter and did a little cleaning then started it up, I shut it down again and pulled the ball bearing out of the pressure valve and put it back together, it had pegged the oil pressure gauge at 80 pounds, not the gauge in the photo below as I changed over to another one, I started it again and it idled at 60psi cold, and at about 45psi warmed up, all I did was pull this shit apart, clean it and put it back together, I found nothing wrong, but before when I started it I could hear the slight rattle before it built up pressure.
Here is the oil pressure.



Here is the water temp, I used a 720 temp gauge I removed from a 720 dash, I have no idea if it is working properly, I believe it is showing a little hot.



Now here is the chasing a lost cause, before and after it is warmed up it idles clear(no smoke), but it blows a puff of smoke now when I give it the gas, it clears right up after the puff, but it is smoke, what causes this in the photo below, it only took one try to get these photos.

Here is idling and is the same revved up.



Here is the puff of smoke.



Is it wore out?
It sure does run good.

Valve seals?

Wore out? Probably not. It's almost 40 years old so I'm sure the valve stem seals are rock hard. The A15 I had smoked a bit and used a ton of oil. When I pulled it down I found the rings completely coked and stuck. New rings and a bottle hone made it like brand new. I flogged the everlovin' shit out of that thing for several years. That was in 2005 and it's still on the road as of a couple months ago.