Carl Handratty

Yeah...I plan to do a full restomod truck so Summit Racing will be in business for at least another year or two haha. Man, I really keep falling back onto a KA24E or KA24DE(T) swap but I am open to any other 4cyl that could be fun NA or Turbo, still trying to decide that too. I like the simplicity of a NA setup but I have never run a turbo so I kind of want to dabble. Other engine considerations were 22R, 22RE, SR20DET and if I really wanted to suffer a bmw engine. I love the idea of the "axis" truck build haha. Are you running the 1.6L in your 521?

Slow Spring in MN with with quite rainy and cold weather. I got the engine and trans removed so it was easier to push on the pad behind the garage. Sold the motor and transmission to a local guy with a 520 and 521. I'm not one keep a lot of excess in the garage so on to the next guy who could use it. Dats is always on my mind but I have a '54 Chevy 210 that a needed a new power steering rack and a '70 Honda CL100 that needed the fuel tank lined and I installed an electronic ignition in it so getting those ready for the season has been priority. On the plus side the wife said "it looks good back there like lawn art" so I'm taking that as a win and that she's ok with seeing outback for the foreseable future haha. The 3 year old loves climbing all over it and "fixing it" with sticks...

Did you think the quality and fit was great? Got a poor review from a local guy that used them.

I have a local in MN that said his friend bough their panels and they were "TRASH, ABSOLUTE TRASH" so now I'm conflicted ha. I guess I'll just pound out some sheet steel. Rockers, idk I'll probably still order from ebay or something.

Anybody used these Redux Garage guys outa Canada? I mean what more could you ask for. Nice looking panels. I need rockers, driver front floor and firewall. Tryna decide if I just buy them all and replace everything. new new new. But...at a cost. https://reduxgarage.com/collections/datsun-520-521

Some nice snowy pics of the Dats. Can see I got the flower bed shoveled out of the back. Only a couple pin holes near the passenger wheel well. I was really happy to see how solid the metal was.

Dang! Opportunity missed to have a rolling garden bed! Still time I guess! Can you imagine some 8' sweet corns in a perfect row back there? Haha perfect Midwest build. You know with the l87 head and the exhaust header, I'm wondering if they did some work on this thing at some point. It is a L16 on the tag by the dippy.

Thanks for the good insight. I really appreciate it. Yeah, my header already has a pitting hole in it so I'll probably junk it. It's in rough shape. I'll keep an eye out for a stock exhaust manifold. My tailpipe is missing from the header on out so on the next rendition I'll get a 2"er in there. Now you got me thinking about trying to find a L20B. There's a few L28s in my area but that's about it. Harder to find now I guess. I'ma look into that Z22 block though. I may have to just go KA by necessity. Few DE's floating around the area. Yeah I always run e fans. Was planning on removing the fuel tank and running a cell where the spare hangs and use a block off plate on the original pump location. Before all this, I guess I should be focused on suspension parts likes bushings and whatnot because I'm doing a body off restoration. I have a good powder coater in town who can do the frame. I'll need to find all those kingpin parts and bushings once that's complete.

Noted! I am tryna squeeze every horse outa this thing. My other cars have v8s so this is a completely different territory for me and when i get it on the road I don’t wanna be sad. Ha. I won’t no matter what but you know what I mean. any other performance upgrades you suggest? Cam and lifters?

Need to post on the parts wanted and see if any one has a 99002.825 Datsun L Series Weber Downdraft Manifold available? I'd love to run one on this engine. I think I wanna try my hand at EFI like a few others on the site and this seems to be a good option for the flange attachment and just overall air performance. Top End Performance says they're backordered everywhere because of a foundry issue.

Know anything about the rusted headers that are on the engine? Were those a OEM or aftermarket option? Maybe just made by the previous owner.

The little tag says L16. Yeah compression is abso f'd. The carb was on it but was off for testing and the intake looks obstruction free from what I can see. All the plugs were out to allow easier turn over. Who knows why it was parked in the first place. Figured it would need the full treatment.

Alright, I had to upload my iPhone HEIC pics to Google Drive, DL them, Upload those to a HEIC to JPEG site, DL them again as JPEG, Upload them to IMGUR then paste the link here. Am I missing something? What a PITA. Truck moving after 38 years parked. Only the back passenger tire was free. Once we got it home we banged on the drums until they came off but not without a lot of rage. Here it is after a painful trailering experience with 3 wheels locked up. Would have been impossible without the skid loader and forks. Some decades to remove. Finally scooped this out today. Was all a frozen ice block for the last two weeks but its been in the 40s here in MN the last 5 days. I think I'm going to keep the 1.6L or look for a 2.0L while I get the body ready. I had all these plans to replace it with a 2.4L but I kind of like the option of keeping it semi original. Driver floors need replacement. Driver door is likely a replacement. The inside is reddish orange unlike the rest of the green truck. power washed the truck, was hoping more red paint would be blown off. Power washed all of the grime off. cold compression numbers just turning it over. Haven't started the engine yet cuz the carb is thrashed and the plug wires are trash and broken. Not to mention my wiring harness is cut out. Cylinder 4 was super jumpy. Sometimes 20psi then the next time 40psi and so on. Either way, not super valuable numbers because the engines not warmed but there IS compression so that's hopeful. I'm going to rebuild it anyway. C2-3 I put oil in after the original test and they said more or less the same. C1 went from 0 to 20-25 PSI after a squirt of oil so that's better than stuck.

Oh, I’ve got the truck back, took it apart and power washed it. I’ve just been deterred from getting posts up because I need to make an imgur accnt or whatever to add photos on here. Not used to that style of uploading compared to other forums. I’ll get pics up hopefully tomorrow. the Mosstun looks so much better after a couple hour bath 😆 Also, really considering using the original powerplant to get it back on the road even after 30 hours or research on 13b, ka24, sr and rb swaps. But I know a lot more about those engines now.

Hell yay brother I respect that. and youre right Toyota>Datsun for just about everything but cool factor. I’m seeing running Toyota mini trucks running 3ish grand about and Datsuns are all over the place in price. Even on the classifieds here. Some people charging 10k+. For me the price was right to get it home, figure it out later. But yeah man ill sure be paying for everything I touch in there. Maybe you’re right though, I get back from the crime scene and see it in a new light in the driveway and may go a different direction. Your pickup $2500…sounds good about now haha. 😆 love that 510. If I’m going small car id probably fulfill my dreams of a bmw 2002 or better yet 700 model. scheduled for Thursday to get this pickup home. Will post more about it then. Taking my backpack blower with to give it its first cleaning before it leaves the farm 😂