'79 620 daily

[Gary]

progress;

trying to fix the steel ones failed, so i remade them in aluminium with a tighter profile. they fit good :)

 

 

tomoz i need tyres for my other car and gotta do a wrecker run see if i can find me a black datsun steering wheel

[Gary]

progress;

 

ive been putting things back together today and for a bit of yesterday;

washer jets/bag in and connected

bench back in (stripped a bolt head, so had to turn down an old 12mm socket to fit inside the runner)

carpet trimmed in various spots

trans tunnel cover thing refitted

rearview painted and refitted

sill trim fitted, looks ok and doesnt foul doors

wing mirrors refitted

i filled some of the gaps in the old cracked quarter window seals with black RTV to help seal

 

 

tomoz ill look to mechanical, sump needs resealing and steering box needs filling, linkages need seating properly and bolted up and split pinned nice, i need some fresh nylock nuts for the rear hubs, bunch of other stuff too but will sort it out

 

i need to remake the little heater cover thing under the cowl too, and a new airbox for the carb but that'll probs wait a little

 

getting real close now, wont be long before i wake it up once more :D

[Wide14u]

this just keeps getting better every time i see it

[Gary]

thanks :D

 

progress;

i remade the little baffle under the cowl over the weekend, the old one was rusted out good :( probably 0.4mm of steel, the rest was filler

 

i started with whatever spare sheet i had, some 1.5mm steel, then cut some lines in the vague direction of the contours of the old one, then cut a few halfway so i could fold it easier, then welded it all up and ground it back to get about the right shape, then drilled locating holes and the bit for the jet to poke through

 

also got some nyloc nuts for the diff, my old bolt shop has now cracked it with small orders (despite being in existence to sell small things :unsure:) and are now enforcing a $25 minimum order each time you swing in :\ which is a bit rich when all your average retail customer generally wants is a bolt or two, in my case less than $5 worth of nuts. i dunno why they keep a retail counter at all if they're pulling this kinda shit. annoying cos i dunno who else to go to for my tricky bolt needs, short of making them myself. anywho the diff is now together proper, wheels are on as they'll be

 

also tackled the bonnet latch, which hasnt been working, it wasnt popping up when i pulled the release, which meant i needed vicegrips or another person to open the bonnet. not so good. fixing it gave me fair grief but i managed to get it working finally. i pulled the pin out and got it on the lathe to clean it up and deburr it and i gave it a quick polish, then got it back in and greased it, i fiddled about with where the bonnet release cable goes (the catch was fouling the return spring), i drilled out the locating holes for the bracket that holds the pin for a little more adjustment, then located it better (ute had been in a stack before is respray im guessing, wasnt surprised when misalignment issues popped up), also pulled the spring out a bit for that little bit more tension. then screwed the release lever in good and its all good

 

also cleaned up the window wiper mounts, then painted the wiper arms black then fitted em, front end is pretty much all back together which is nice

 

 

tomoz i need a few things, the choke cable i got wasnt long enough so need more :( i also need a suitable steering wheel so might try find one tomoz

[Gary]

progress;

been working on it still, just doing little things (which are taking longer than the big things it seems)

 

spent some time with cables, got a new choke cable, new throttle cable was too short (probably made for LHD) so used the old one, got the new speedo cable in and fitted (which was fair long... go figure)

 

rolled out and after trying a few places i got me a steering wheel from a 200B, was almost the same as my old one just in black. looks much nicer :D

 

fiddled about with the clutch master and was trying to find why the clutch pedal wasnt returning. return spring was there and good, then remembered when i thought of removing the clutch pedal i was absent mindedly tightening it instead of loosening, then realised i didnt have to remove it so i left it. i didnt realise how much i tightened it, was ridiculous. that alone took an hour or so by the time i got it loose enough for the pedal to be able to move freely :blink:

 

then messed about with brakes, which took ages by the time i figured out what was wrong. i started with handbrake, the cables were too long but i clamped them to make the front cable shorter which tightened it up a bit, didnt really matter how much i gave it though the wheels still spun free. i got it to bite a little but then it spun straight after which was weird, so i thought perhaps time to bleed the brakes see if that helps. i got me a cool lookin vac bleeder, sussed out how it worked and bled all four corners nice, but found the pedal was soft and if i tried i could make it hit the floor (still consistent pressure though, was like it just needed more travel). so i started messing about with the rear drums guessing they were out of adjustment - they were fair off, probably a good 10 clicks of that little star wheel before it started biting, more by the time i got it adjusted proper. i think theyre a little tight, kinda hard to tell but ill sort it out if dramas

 

once adjusted i found my handbrake could be tightened so it worked! and now that the line pressure for the brakes had something to pressurise against, pedal was now nice and firm :D win! ive done a couple things to try take up the slack for the new handbrake lines, including a little machined spacer for where it connects to the stick in the cab. its not tight but works good anywho. ill try sort out a tensioner someday, maybe if RWC pick on it

 

ive done a handful of other stuff here and there but i forget what they are right now

 

tomoz i need to sort out a little more wiring, and more little things. see how it goes

[Pacific coast Datsun]

Gary i LOVE how you just fab the parts you need! The sill plates came out nice :D

[Gary]

thanks :) fair handy being able to do it :D otherwise they end up another setback which kills motivation :( not so good

 

progress;

i got a bit of trim sorted;

 

and hooked up the gearshift linkages, but somewhere along the line i lost one of the little bushes for where they attach, id sorta wanted to make them all from aluminium and just be sure to keep them lubricated (shifter was fair sloppy) but since i was only missing one i just remade that one. fits nice, even with just this one in shifter feels better

 

had a go at aligning the doors a little better, not going so good. drivers side is weird, that or i dunno what i'm doing (probably the latter). might have to enlarge the holes in the cab for a touch more adjustment, but its not hitting the strike plate evenly like the passenger side is, which means i need to shut it fairly hard to get it to close properly. at one point i had to proper slam the drivers door to get it to work

 

more work tomoz hopefully have it sorted theb

[Gary]

progress;

getting more and more distractions :( still workin on it though

 

i cant remember some of the stuff ive done, fiddling about with things here and there, wiring, some hoses re routed, resealed the sump and got some better sump plug washers

 

machined a plug for one of the temp senders ive removed;

 

fixed the hazard switch, i got one off an S12 gazelle i found, chopped the plug section off it, bent the prongs down then soldered wires directly to it, trimmed it off a little, then opened the holes in the 620 trim, then araldited the new switch assy inside, and wired it in. yet to test, for some reason i dont have power to headlights or indicators. probably messed up a pos/neg main lead somewhere

 

nearly done the airbox, i got a suitable filter, cut out circles out of some steel, wrapped more steel around each one to make up the walls of the box, welded it all together and trimmed it, machined two alu posts to hold the box together and seal the air filter against incoming air, just need a few holes drilled and final welding, then some inlets

 

need to finish box, some more problem solving here and there, then first kick over soon!

[Gary]

well, once again, IT LIVES!!!!111111111oneon1e!eone1!!11

 

:hyper: started it up a little earlier after messin about with a million little things here and there. wouldnt start first up, cranked fine and plenty fuel in the carb but no fuel was getting to the cylinders. fuel float was a bit high but with me not knowing a lot about carbs i didnt know what else itd be aside from jets or something a bit chunked up. i think it was just the needle valve was stuck closed in the end, i gave the carbs throat a quick blast with some co-contact cleaner (didnt have any carb cleaner with me, this stuff is similar i guess) and a couple solid whacks with a screwdriver handle and it fired up first go :D

 

runs ok, idles fine (quite a lot like it used to i spose), revs up ok but i think could do with timing checked so ill do that now that it idles. thermos didnt come on weirdly enough, i probably missed something

 

im fair happy :D i dunno what it is about warm engines, just makes it seem like its alive again

 

other stuff making me happy; my alternator seems to work, so too the wiring i guessed with when trying to remove the external reg, steady 14.4 across the terminals. was fair smokey on startup but thatd just be residual oil from when the valve stem seals were busted, and that its been sitting for some time now, seems to be running cleaner the longer it runs (running it hot to help headgasket run-in but not a lot more for now) but see how it goes

 

progress before startup;

finished the airbox, welded up the gaps and smoothed em up a little, then sorted out where itd attach to the carb. i didnt have appropriate tube at this point so i had to form it by hand, probably should have used thinner steel but works ok for now (the J will be pulled for an L soonish anyway so i didnt want to spend lots of time on making the airbox), then sorted out the little clamp (copied the design of a random stock airbox i got with the ute), then worked on the intake tube which i had to hand form :( all i had was 1.5mm steel too which made it a little more tricky. looks fair rough but should work good

 

got into fixing wiring here and there, brake light switch wiring was busted and a couple other things

 

when i was messing about with the brake switch i found the stopper for where the switch bit goes wasnt there anymore :\ i turned a quick replacement then araldited it in

 

also sussed a way of holding the accelerator pedal in since i lost the circlip :( i drilled the end and filled it with a bolt. the way ive used washers it wont undo itself under use

 

got some more work ahead of me, but wont be long till i can drive it once more :D

[deadmonkey]

your metal work still amazes me! Good work, glad it's runnin!

[Gary]

thanks :) me too, means i can at least try make it run better now that it runs :D

 

progress;

i had it running a bit longer today, i fixed the thermo after some fiddling with the wiring, then wrapped the loom where i could. still looks messy but a little better than before

 

i fixed and made another quick exhaust mount for the old exhaust, it'll be replaced when the L series goes in i think, so just a bodge job for now

 

tomorrow ill sort out timing i think, maybe see if i can get the carb running a bit better afterward, will probably drain tank and refill with fresh stuff too, that might be half the problem. also found the clutch doesnt work, i think just needs bleeding and maybe a little adjustment at the master, see how it goes. ive got the battery hooked up overnight to see if anything is draining it too

[Gary]

progress;

drained the tank and got some fresh fuel in there, no more gold fuel :D lawn mower has enough fuel to last it a few decades now

 

also bled the clutch master, sorta forgot about it till now. slave might have a bit of a leak but might just be greasy i dunno

 

got into timing today, which started by pulling the dizzy cap off for a look. looks ok inside, the point gap was tighter than it should be so i got it back out to 0.45mm, gave it all a quick clean and regrease too

 

then got to setting timing while the engine was running... things got a bit weird. it starts and runs ok, revs up fine once warm and all. it is running rich but i cant really feel misfiring and its blowing brown smoke if i give it WOT at reasonably high revs. when i had the timing light on the pulley it suggested the timing was ~40deg BTDC :\ i thiiinnnkk that means ive skipped a tooth on the cam pulley by mistake when i did the bottom end bearings

 

the weird thing with that though is i drove it for a decent trip over to get my crane with the engine running like this, and it didnt feel like timing was bad. unless J15's are properly slow and i havent noticed :lol: i dunno, ill probably have to pull it apart for a look :(

[copydat]

That sucks! You've gone so far with this J - maybe it is time to get the L series happenin'........?;)

 

 

[Gary]

i want to, but rego will be trickier :( already going to be interesting as it is! see how it goes i spose

 

progress;

more timing, more head scratching but with help, i think ive managed it. i pulled the dizzy out for a closer look, also pulled the plate it backs onto, and the shaft driving it. i didnt check alignment before i removed it cos i was still getting my head around how it works, but it might have been out by a tooth. hopefully thats all it was, i'll adjust it tomoz with engine running see if its good

 

i gave it all a good clean (i can see the timing marks now :D) fiddled about and figured out what the 520 manual was on about with respect to alignment, and now its all back together again

[Gary]

progress;

fixed timing and now it runs good once again. better now though, starts easier and doesnt choke as much under WOT when its cold which is a plus. im not sure what was wrong before

 

after that i set timing good, maybe more advance but i need to drive it to see

 

then i got onto wiring in the hazard switch which i managed, but then found the indicators arent working properly for some reason which isnt so fun. speaking of not so fun, i was rummaging around a spare loom i got with the car trying to figure it out, and actually found an unbroken switch attached to it :huh: DAMMIT heh workin on making an S12 one fit wasnt needed after all

 

when i turn hazards on, the left front indicators all light up constant but thats all that happens :( im not sure what to do yet, ill replace the flashers see if that helps, and i'm rewiring the rear lights cos the wiring around it is nasty as. see if either help. there are a fair lot of unused wiring terminals under the dash that i'm trying to figure out though, not sure what ive done but ill get through it eventually i guess

[Gary]

progress;

fixed the hazard/indicator circuit today

 

first just needed some wiring fixed, one of the side indicators wiring had corroded, so i soldered it back together after cutting back the wires so the solder would stick. also cleaned the rear tailight plugs (gummed up fair lots) and fixed some open wiring and cracked soldering, and replaced a few globes i forgot about

 

after that i ended up needing a couple new flasher units. i think mainly cos ive removed the front indicators and used the T10's in the outer headlights, the thermal ones dont like the drop in load. i got some electronic ones instead, plugged straight in and now it works :D ive abandoned my old hazard switch, now that ive got my head around it ive found that the one i have isnt suitable anyway

 

also wired in the ACC trigger for the headunit ready for tomoz. im getting temp rego so i can drive it about and see what it needs for RWC, then ill get it in for an inspection. before that i need to up the timing a bit, the stock setting isnt so good, also need to clean up some wiring

[Gary]

progress;

got to drive it today :D was on the hunt for problems and things so im not enjoying myself just yet but was cool to take it for a spin anywho. nice to take a pic of it outside of the garage (albeit at the servo a couple houses away hah)

 

 

the belt is squealing a bit, i the pulley looks like its aligned ok so maybe its a problem with tension. see if i can fix it today. drives fine though, doesnt plume smoke like it used to, doesnt choke or mess about under throttle, gearshift is somehow smoother, speedo doesnt flick around anymore, all seems to be well :D

[Pedro]

Nice work mate! It's come a long way

[Gary]

thanks :) sure has, little way to go yet but wont be long till its haulin about every day

 

progress;

last night went for a spin see how it goes at night (if lighting works good, doesnt kill battery/alternatory etc), and all went good

 

today i sorted out a temp guage since the stock one doesnt want to read past C, so a quick spin to parts place and i got a cheap speco one. so far as i hear the guage doesnt like other senders, only the one that comes with it which meant i had to make it fit. the aluminium plug i made for the second sender hole in the head came in handier than i thought it would, i made that into an adaptor to suit the new sender which was a little smaller than the original hole. was fair tight machining for a lathe like mine but managed it;

 

ive thread locked the adaptor to try to seal it so ill finish putting the guage in tomoz. also checked and fixed warm tolerances for the rockers, hopefully runs a bit quieter

[copydat]

Handy much? Should change your middle name to Resourceful. :)

[INDY510]

.

This whole thread is full of Gary Resourcefull ideas ......... . :lol: . ...... ... .. congrats on getting it driving ... :thumbup: .... looks good

[Gary]

hehe thanks :blush: with the right tools (and staring at something long enough), anyone can do anything :D

 

progress;

finished putting the new guage in, never realised how tricky positioning a guage can be :( i didnt want it loud and proud on the pillar or dash or bonnet or anything, but then wanted it within easy sight. looks a bit awkward where it is but should do the trick all the same. ill get engine warm tomoz and see if it works, i really wanna know how the temp is going under there

 

really doesnt need much more until its inspection :D

[Mika]

Been stalking your thread for a long time, Gary, and I think it's time this pic got busted out

 

[Rob W.]

hehe thanks :blush: with the right tools (and staring at something long enough), anyone can do anything :D

 

 

 

 

That's not true. Sorry but you are truly talented a lot of people would have a hard time doing a lot of things you do. I can remember guys who took welding for the "easy A" in high school and actually flunked it .

 

This is one of my favorite builds it is great to see you driving. Hope your inspection goes well.

 

 

[Gary]

lol mika :D that reminds me i need to get me some stickers already :(

 

real nice things to say there rob, thanks man :) its just that im practised a little more though i think, all this stuff certainly isnt perfect (works though :D). practise from workin on my other cars (and mates cars too :P) is what has made the 620 possible. what ive learnt from the 620 will be great for the 510 too

 

the words of encouragement are great fellas, thanks a lot! im not very good with compliments, i never know what to say to do them justice :lol: but thanks!

 

progress;

i took it for another quick spin around the block today to see if temp guage was good, was reading 60deg and peaked at about 65 which is a problem. ive left out the thermostat on purpose but its fair clear i shouldnt have. i got a new one in case the old one was bust, and tested both to make sure they open properly (using stove worked better, kettle not so good). i got the fresh one in ready to test tomoz, hopefully itll be a warm day

 

also aligned the headlights a little better

 

kind of sorted out a loud squeaking noise whenever i put weight on the cab. one of the bolts for the cab mounts is against hard up against steel, i tried using copper grease and it worked for a bit but now its back :( gunna try a different grease and if that doesnt work i might open the hole a tiny bit more see if that helps