pope_face

I'm planning on something like that myself, but I'm thinking of going with a small cash or lockbox... something out of staples or office depot. As long as you drilled holes (and used grommets!) for the wires, you could mount switches or circuit breakers inside, and wouldn't have to worry about anyone getting into the box from the outside... if you really wanted to step it up, you could even make all the wires the same colour and route them all through the same hole, so even if someone ripped the wires out from the box, they wouldn't be able to just splice them all together.

If I could find a good, inexpensive engine/transmission combo that would fit without too much work, I'd love to go with a semi-auto or a tiptronic... but, that's a little out of my reach ATM, so I need to go with an automatic...

My truck currently has: mismatched headlights, "custom aftermarket" tail lights, front side marker lights half painted over, and no rear marker, dome, or engine lights... I didn't even know the 521 had an engine light... But, if you're not too antsy about using non-stock parts on your truck, you can get those neon computer dress-up lights... IIRC, they're 12 volt VDC and a lot brighter than any normal bulbs you could find... plus, they're only about $10 and you can get them in white (or numerous other colours)...

Looks pretty good... You're already way ahead of me... you've got an engine, garage, and a full donor vehicle! My truck's been sitting in my backyard for a couple months... I haven't gotten around to getting the garage up for it yet.

Hahaha, I read "Guildford, Surrey..." and I immediately thought of Surrey, BC... which is just about the asshole of the GVRD (my apologies to anyone that lives there)... That is a sexy truck too... I was actually pretty close to buying an 80's Bombardier Iltis... it's a small four-by LRV used by the army up here... essentially a rebadged VW Type 183 (not sure on the actual designation)... it's a pretty neat little truck though... it'll go through water at least two feet deep without any preparation (with only about a foot of ground clearance), and had a super low 7.XXX to 1 cross country gear... pretty fancy stuff... http://www.iltis.ca

I like how the Patrol has to be kept in the driveway by chocks... guess they didn't expect you'd need parking brakes on it, eh? I like the look of the 510/521 though...

Bah, Ronal Turbos... I would kill for a set of six bolt Ronals for my truck... have to be some of the sexiest wheels alive... then again, I was into Euro tuners before I went with the Dat, not that it's much of a stretch... Or the classic BBS mesh wheels... There's someone on the forum that has a sexy, sexy wheel as their avatar... Polished four bolt with the diamonds (ish) as the spokes... you probably know what I mean... But, there are many, many sexy wheels for trucks... I like the American Racing Vector SEs... Ronal Turbo: BBS mesh (not sure of the actual name): American Racing Vector SE:

Yeah, I think making up little kick panels would be the best idea... least amount of playing around, you could blend them in nicely to the floor, and it would offer the best sound for the amount of work needed...

Hahaha, put them in the truck and just drive it for her... =P I have first gen 2-door Explorer seats in mine... they're alright... they sit a bit too far forward for me unless I put the back up really vertical, but they fit pretty good and are comfortable enough... Does anybody know any way to modify a bench into two "bucket" seats? As in, a standard bench seat that has bolsters on either side of the driver and passenger, and then a raised middle section to allow a third passenger to sit in it? Or, the same thing, but with the driver's part of the seat recessed a little bit (perhaps thinner, firmer foam?) to hug the driver more? I'd like to have something a bit sportier in my truck so I can run 4-point harnesses, but I like the utility of the third seat...

$350 is a pretty good price, as far as I've seen... I've been to one shop and they quoted me $800-$1,000 to redo the entire bench in plain automotive fabric... Mind you, I need the entire thing redone (I'm pretty much down to bare springs), but I think that's still pushing it. Only shop I checked, but I think if it's that much there, it'll be pretty close just about anywhere else. I'm considering doing it myself... it might not look the absolute best, but I know my way around a sewing machine, and it seems pretty easy to figure out some sort of foam/padding combination, and then at least I could do it in the fabric I wanted in a style I wanted... kiznook: How much do you think they'd charge to get an entire bench redone from the springs up? Or, could you get some contact info and post it up? Jason: Are you still getting that headliner redone, or has it already been taken care of? If not, I would recommend just pulling it from the car, spraying some 3M adhesive on it, and smoothing some new material onto it... it'd run you just the cost of a can or two of the adhesive, plus whatever it costs to get a couple yards of the material you want.

Lot of good points here... I just realized that if I swap out the engine in my truck I'll have to get it inspected and apply for a different registration... at least when I do that I can get it appraised (apparently I'm supposed to anyways), so in case the unmentionable happens (knock on wood) I can get back more than the $500 on the registration transfer form... But, to add a little story to everyone else's... When I bought my truck, I had to drive quite a way to get it... it was over an hour in each direction, plus an hour long ferry trip... not including ferry wait time. So, when I went to see it the first time (I hadn't even seen pictures of it, just talked to the guy about it) I was already pretty set on getting it. I got out there, fell in love, had the guy drive me around, and decided on a price. He had his paperwork all filled out, so he gave it to me so I could drive out to the insurance place and get the registration switched over. It was about a fifteen minute drive to the insurance place, so I went out there (with my cousin, who was going to drive the Datsun back while I drove my DD) and went in... turns out I forgot my driver's license, so I had to go back and get it, but I asked them if all the paperwork was filled out alright, and they told me it was all set, I just needed my DL for ID. So, back to the guy, gave him the cash, and took both cars back to the insurance place. It was empty in there, and there was two people at the desks, so one of them transfered the registration to me while the other set up the paperwork for the temporary plates. I got the registration done, and the other one starts finishing the paperwork for the temp insurance... then stops and looks at me... and says to me "Are you aware that this is a salvage vehicle?" I didn't know what to do... I couldn't insure a salvage vehicle, and so couldn't get it back to my place... plus, I'd have to get it inspected before I could even think of putting it on the road, and if it was salvaged it would likely mean there could be a hell of a lot wrong with it... Fortunately, the other lady (the one who had transfered the regs) realized something was up and checked the paperwork... turns out the second lady had made a typo on one number... That was my one (and hopefully only) encounter with... The VIN From The Dark Side! And as an aside... quick reply isn't necessarily as quick as the name suggests...

I'm planning on getting everything on the truck blasted... fenders, hood, doors, cab, tailgate, bed, and frame... possibly also the differential, although I'm not sure if I'm keeping it. I'd like to take it to a reliable place, preferably somewhere on this side of the border though... anyone know a good place in Vancouver, BC, or somewhere in the Lower Mainland? And... anybody have any idea how much it'd run to get EVERYTHING sandblasted at a reasonable place?

Yeah, I was noticing the same thing the other day in my truck. I was sitting in it and looking at the driver's side window, and tried pushing it out... it moved. I realized that I was missing the squeegee too, and all the water was just heading down into the door panel. At least the bottom of the door doesn't seem rusted out... Would the squeeges from any of the 510 models work, or could they be trimmed to fit? How about a 720? There's got to be another vehicle out there that uses a straight squeegee that's as long or even a little longer than the ones on a 521... even if you had to drill new mounting holes, it might be worth it just to be able to use a part that's easier to find... By the way, is there supposed to be felt on both sides of the window as well as the rubber, or is it felt on the inside, rubber on the outside? Mine has felt on both sides... just wondering if that's right or not. And I agree with kiznook... I do love this site... I guess there's something about a ~30 year old vehicle by a company that no longer exists that just brings out the best in people... :D

That is a nice cover... I'll wouldn't mind getting one myself eventually, although I am considering just building one of those army truck canvas covers...

If you're not restoring it to original, I would just do what Pacific did... sounds like the easiest thing to do, and then you can choose the colour/thickness/texture/etc to suit whatever you're doing with the interior... hell, you could put shag in it if you really wanted to (even though that was already brought up in another thread)...

w007, on the map...

By the way, what's up with the mag wheels on the Datsun trucks? It seems like 90% of the mag wheels are the slotted ones... They look exactly like the American Racing Ansen Sprint wheels... Was this an option back in the day, or are these wheels just a cheap and suitable option for these trucks? And are they AR wheels, or did some other company make them?

I take it the L16 had emissions control on it after '71, or did it run different parts?

YES! I am so putting a "GO BABY GO" button on my truck... :D I never heard about these locks, but they sound pretty good... I've heard about using power deadbolts in cars, but these sound a lot easier to put in, and a lot cheaper to get... And... couldn't you just eliminate the spring in the trunk lock and wire it up to act as an on/off switch, then have a momentary button for the starter? Or, as has been mentioned, put all the power switches and starter button behind a panel and use the trunk lock on that... you could probably make it a pop-out panel too... turn the key to pop out the cover, stick it in your glove box, and then when you need to leave the car just shut down the switches and replace the panel.

Nice, I like the lights... And yeah, I'm considering doing a similar thing with my truck... I want to hide the front marker lights/turn signals behind the grille, or maybe just have them flush mounted in the existing position... nice little write-up though. Do you happen to know if the lamp (or assembly) resistance affects the turn indicator speed on Datsuns, or does it not make a difference? On my Ford I've gotta watch the resistances, else my turn signals/brake lights won't work...

I think if there's so many Dats poppin' up, there must be LESS interest... nobody wants them anymore... But, if you do pick that up, I think you ought to strip it for parts and send me the rear bumpers... ^_^

ROFL... Smooth... =P And yeah, I thought this was going to get nasty too... glad it didn't. Hopefully there isn't a finite amount of stupid questions one can ask...

I love Civics... I know they get a bit of a bad rep with all the ricers around, but (as I've probably mentioned several times) I had an '84 GL... it was a little sedan... I managed to fit an entire band's worth of equipment in it once, as well as me and a passenger... I'm talking bass guitar, electric guitar, keyboard, three BIG amps, and a full drum set (I think it was a 9 piece). I've never crammed so much stuff into one car...

I've wanted an Unimog for a while, but they're hard to come by here... I'm considering getting one imported from Germany sometime in the next few years, but that'll probably be after I get my Dat finished and pick up a little motorbike... But, as far as the build goes... wow, it looks great. I wanted to rebuild an engine myself, but after reading about all the stuff I figured it was just too complicated... I didn't realize it was actually that easy. I think I may have to just go ahead and do it myself... I'm assuming the L16 and L20B are pretty damn similar, save for measurements... However, from what I know, the L20B had emissions controls... are these fairly easy to remove/bypass, or do they make a big difference rebuilding an engine?

Good idea... Never really thought of that myself, and it'd probably run about the same (or even cheaper) as getting an adapter (~$30 on this side of the border), but you could likely make the adapter fit any aftermarket (and probably even some stock) wheels... I think I may have to do that myself... I just have to find a destroyed wheel, mine is still somewhat salvagable (albeit a little rotted...) The only issue is, it puts the wheel out an extra couple inches, correct? I'm not a huge guy, but I have quite a bit of reach, and the way my truck's set up ATM makes me feel like it should be a lot bigger than it is... my feet reach the pedals comfortably, but my elbows have to be bent in order to hold the steering wheel. Are there any other options that won't move the wheel out any further from the stock positions, or are there any other Datsun wheels that will fit the 521, with little to no modification?