dat521gatherer

this is something you can do yourself seeing that you dont have to remove the front face and replace it like on a door lock. to start all you have to do is remove the one screw on the back and the cylinder will come out. the tumblers pull right out and have a small spring under each one. my lock was missing one tumbler on purpose i think as a dead slot for rearranging purposes. it took me a while, many tries but eventually i got it and had to leave out another tumbler. 2 were high 2 were low and 1 was in between and the cut of my key would not accept the right combo unless i took out that other tumbler. it was fun and easy to do. not that many people have this lock but you can save $30 by doing it yourself. done reassembled now go find yourself a 521 locking glove box lock. it's a cool option.:)

thanks for the fuel door! i've wanted one forever. for you guys thinking about picking up his glove box lock keep this in mind. you can remove the screw on the back and take the cylinder out and rearrange the tumblers yourself to fit your key. i recently did this and may post it in the how to section. you guys better jump on that delete plate or it may be mine soon also.:D

crap i cant make it. would be cool to meet you guys though. maybe next time. missing datsun meets is begining to be a habit thats pissin me off.:mad:

thanks fisch. really this thread is many monthes in the making and when i tried to post it i had like 11000+ characters and it said i had to cut it down to 10000. also said 39 pics was too many. so i just ended up doing some cut and pasting into 2 other replies without deleting anything.:D thanks thanks i dont think it will ever be done. i seen one recently on craigslist with the weber with it for $75. i was going to buy it for the air cleaner and then sell the carb but i was broke. i have the a couple pics one of a nice red one and one that doesn't say weber but none for sale. i only have one and would like another for my other truck. thanks thanks, nothing like picking up a cheap running ride to play with:D thanks i agree.

you may want to have your core rebuilt by a good radiator shop. they dont come new anymore so you might have to find a good used one. i have a motor for sale. do you need the box? or the fan blades? pm me.

the 60's vin plates say nissan. i think it was originally called the dat company and then datson with an o in it. that datsun history site tells all about it. the datsun name was dropped around 87ish. some cool vintage pics and history here. http://www.datsunhistory.com/home.html http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Pit/3823/pretruck.html

john candy rocks!

now for the engine. it smoked worse than you'd ever imagine.it was burning more oil and water than gas. i had a lot of oil in the radiator and the breather hose on the valve cover looked like a steam engine going down the road. i had a hose from the valve cover going down to the road so i didn't choke on the shit. i drove the piss out of it like this. it still ran when i took it out. i cant wait to take it apart and check it out. i never had any water in the oil though.:confused: so i was over at pauls one day and he said he had a l16 he'd sell me. i bought it for cheap (thanks paul) and it sat around for months before i finally put it in. it has a w53 head on it. i decided not topaint the engine compartment cause i was in a hurry. please somebody tell me why this thing has 2 dip sticks. old engine out. say hi to jenny.:) it had been a while since i pulled a dat motor and screwed up a few things. instead of unscrewing the speedo cable i pulled the whole plug out and as soon as it was tilted enough all the trans fluid ended up in the engine bay. i stretched out my copper oil pressure line, clutch hose also. banged up the top core support dragging it out. broke off the breather valve on the tranny:eek: another pic of my engine out so it's been in for a few months now and i got about 1000 miles on it. interior as of last month. i have a 520/320 package tray and ya gots to have the locking glove box lock. i just rekeyed it myself last month. i want the fuel door lock bad!! i like the red light switch knobs and i put in the 320/520/roadster interior pull handles. also recently i did the electronic dizzy match box upgrade and adjusted the valves. my dizzy thread here. http://forum.ratsun.net/showthread.php?t=5194 next on the list to do is the water pump has 2 broken bolts and is leaking so you know what that means. yep more pics.:) i'll be back. at least i have a thread to update now. l8r

was the truck blue, red, or brown i dont know but i do know the right door has been replaced and doesn't line up. right fender has bondo as does the a piller. the heater was bypassed with a kinked hose. engine bay with my peculiar kangaroo washer bottle. APRIL 2012 FOUND OUT IT'S FOR A CHEVY LUV. the freeze plug next to the battery was peeing so i put some epoxy on it and it never leaked again. i drove the truck looking like this for a year. eventually i bought a weber from ebay with the cool aluminum air cleaner. the damn thing is so over jetted it's running at about a half a turn out. it's a 32/35 i always end up with the weird sizes. got a 33/36 in my other 521 i think. it came with the original gas cap which is rare. i think the 510 had this same cap also. this was a bad week when i painted this pos. anything was going to be better than what was on it. i just went with wally world red rattle cans . doesn't get any cheaper than that. i broke off my squirter nozzle on my hood. left the masking tape on so long the sun baked the glue onthe rubber permanently i love the 521's with the line down the side. time for this bed to go. it was rusted through the bottom and had some wood in the floor for the bed. after the bed was off i drove down the alley and drug one of my tail lights on the ground like a jackass. i used a empty quart of oil as a gas tank in the engine compartment to move the truck around. time for a wire brush and some primer. might as well paint the gas tank while it's out i had to stick the rubber filler tube next to the fire place to make it pliable enough to get it back on. new bed is on with new hardware. got this bed for free up in shoreline from a guy that has a 521 dump truck. search dump and you'll find it. the whole bed swap was easy, the hardest part was that damn filler tube. the bed loops that hold the chains were removed for some reason so i wacked some off at the yard and need them welded on. the bed is so much nicer than the truck i dont want to paint it. it's even better than the bed on my other 521. i should swap them.

I dedicate my truck thread to our late friend paul (71-521) I found this 1971 521 truck on craigslist for $300 in renton and gave him $260 for it about 2 1/2 years ago. it ran and smoked but it started right up. a fellow nwde member went and looked at it and posted that it would be a good parts truck. I thought theres my beater truck i want. I didn't want to see it get parted out seeing that it still ran. besides I needed something to tinker with. the po said the cab had been wrecked and they put another one from the junk yard. hence the crunched bed and cab perch. I still need a cab perch. I never thought this truck was worth restoring but i cant resist making it better. here are some before pics of what it looked like when i got it less the canopy. one of the first things i did was to paint the rims white and shins up the caps. next i got a wiring harness (thanks tdaaj) for the engine and interior cause there was just too much hacked up crap that didn't work and it wouldn't charge. the wires at the volt reg and fuse box had been molested pretty bad. i also got a seat (thx again tdaaj) cause mine looked like this. also i dont really care for buckets, besides i sometimes roll with 3 peps in the cab. tailights got cleaned up and some red tape added to one. i got very discourged with the condition of the floor pans. cleaned them up and primed them. it still needs new pans. look how bad they were. i never took an after pic. both the right seat rail and the trans tunnel are bent up. the front lower grill pan is crunched and rusty. it was missing the back window and had a piece of plexi glass held in with some wood screws i removed the plexi glass and sanded primed and put in a good used seal with the correct back glass. cost about $12 total. i tried the string method but ended up haveing 2 half drunk friends help me while i slid a couple different flat tip screw drivers around it . worked good for being a novice first time experience with glass. it had 2 after marked dome lights in it. i put the correct one in and eventually hooked up some dome light door switches to it. the newer 521 dome lights on ebay come ready with a secont wire ready to run to the door jambs. the old originals need a wire soildered on to the dome light. it's the best upgrade i ever did. yeah it's not bright but it's sure damn functional. dome switches came a a option but i've never seen a 521 with them.

i wish he had some pics up. would be nice not to call long distance to ask him anything. probably wont ship anyway.

point the new owner in our direction.:)

scrap metal dropped waaaaaay down this last month. he could get maybe $50-100 for it if he took it down to a junk yard. all metals dropped. simon & son in tacoma is paying .02 a pound for steel. that's about $40 for a 2000lb truck. i took 500 pounds down the other day to clean up a yard and burnt up more cash in gas getting there. other places may vary. cans are down from .73 to .60 as of 2 weeks ago. wait for one that you dont have to screw with the mounts. if you really want put a want ad for 521 on craigslist. who knows who's hiding some rigs in there yard just waiting to be discovered. even if it ran with a 1300 motor i'd be hard pressed to pick it up for $500.

ok but why the hell does everyone have to replay it slow mo. thats just stupid. i'd rather watch it in real time 10 times in a row than watch it in slow mo once.:confused::confused: must be the in thing to do. cool cars though. at least the dog wasn't in slow mo.

not sure if they'd bolt right on. i was going to try to get them for fun but rear metal bumpers are $26.50 each but if i can con them into ringing them up as bumper guards/bumper ends there only $3.50 each:) the part that gets me is the pricing is cheap unless its a truck part then the prices for some things are almost double in some cases. another thing i want to do is strip it down and stick the parts in the next isle so when it's crushed the doors and fenders will still be there.

does anyone know what this head is worth? it's so clean on the inside it looks as if synthetic oil was run in it. it wont be there much longer so if you want something you'd better get it or bribe me to get it. if i had the money i'd get the fenders and doors for myself but cash is tight right now. whats the most common parts people need? the passenger fender and door right?

well this just breaks my heart. the damn thing isn't wrecked and the floor boards are good. still has the engine and trans. they wouldn't sell me the whole thing. looks like someone couldn't get grandpa's truck running so they just sent it to the yard. the bed floor is even in good shape. most of the little parts are gone these pice ars a couple weeks old. the doors and fenders are there still and in awesome shape. engine and trans still there also. i don't know who pisses me off more the people who got rid of it to the junk yard or the junk yard for not selling it whole. what a license to sell cars is that much of a pain in the ass. :mad:

yeah when those little things grow on you it's hard to get rid of them. i encourage to keep the 320. but seeing as you've been through so many vehicles i fear that you will just get rid of it eventually. nice rigs. keep us updated. i've been waiting for the right 320 to come along for a while now. i've even been buying parts and i dont even have one.

$600 is too much. try asking $300 and go from there. how long has it been siting? it will probably need brake work. is the windshield cracked? does it have the bumperettes? did he say most of the electrical stuff worked before it was parked? have the engine parts been sitting out in the rain? it looks like everything is there and the engine just needs to be delt with. the main thing is if you want to put a l series in it the motor mounts will need to be cut and relocated. thats the main reason i stick with the 71-72 model 521's maybe the 70 also i forget what was the first year of the l16 in a 521 it was 69 or 70.

another one. you can get them new on ebay but they are not cheap. http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/for/828820570.html

got one of these in the garage works great. very heavy and vary big. been using it for 15 years . it was in the house before that. i'll never go back from the franklin style. most people upgrade to wood pellet stoves. http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/for/834198900.html

that was great. a purest after my own heart.

your right i didn't even notice that his is upside down.

something doesn't add up. 1971 should have been a l16. not a 1300.

not mine but it sure is nice. startin out with a bang. the nicest ones are always found in this color. another 5-6 grand truck. when will the value of these ever start to go up? the nicest ones have been at that price for the last few years. http://cgi.ebay.com/Datsun-1970-Datsun-Truck-Pickup-PL521-Better-Than-New_W0QQitemZ300256034667QQihZ020QQcategoryZ6188QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem