Smitty Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 Hello Ratsun, I didn't see a noob section so I'll just start here. I'm generally a Volkswagen guy but every so often I find myself attracted to minitrucks and I 've owned a few 720's and a couple of 620's over the years. About 10 years ago I caught "new car fever" and traded my 85 king cab and some cash for a 2 yr old S10 with less than 20k miles. Don't get me wrong it's a great truck, 4.3 Vortec, 5 speed, lowered on 17x8 and 17x11's, cowl hood, yadda yadda basic hotrod styling...but I've always missed that 720 king cab and since the guy that bought it totalled it, owning it again was out of the question. Fast forward 10 years, I sold off one of my VW's to free up some money and garage space and started looking for a '74 down 2 door 510 or possibly another '85 720 kingcab. I found a '77 620 kingcab. It was rusty but I wasn't looking for anything fancy and it was inexpensive and it ran and drove, perfect for a ratrod V8 swap. TWO DAYS later a fellow saw it, loved it, made me an offer I couldn't turn down, so away it went! Now, if you are still reading, I'm on the hunt again and the minitruckin' gods are smiling. I hear tale of another "old" Datsun for sale and head over to check it out. What I found was a '71 521 "farm truck", original owner, original paint, original title issued in 1970, still at the original address on the title, owner's manual and warranty/service book in the glove box along with the radio delete plate. Containing my excitement, I negotiated a deal and brought it home. After closer inspection I found the cab is perfect with the exception of a small rust hole on the driver's rocker but the floors, cab mounts and corners are beautiful. After removing and cleaning the fuel tank, blowing the lines clear with compressed air, replacing the brake master and bleeding the brakes, changing the oil and filter, fuel filter and adding a battery I had a running and driving truck. After going through all the electrical connections (which is like 5 on this thing, lol) under the hood and cleaning off all the corrosion I was able to get pretty much everything working with the exception of the light in the engine bay and I haven't messed with the Kangaroo bag/pump. I've since added a new muffler, lowered it, new tires and wheels, buffed off the oxidation and have just been cruising it around making people smile. It's the first 521 body I've ever seen in person and being so solid, it truly is a rare find for the eastern portion of the states as most Datsuns I see here are generally rust buckets. Enough jibber-jabber, I've lurked here long enough to know you guys like OICS When I brought it home: After washing and buffing work related injury random Curently Oh, by the way, if you couldn't tell I could use a good passanger side front fender, preferrably in #46 green if anybody can help me locate one It's not exactly the 510 I was looking for but has turned out to be a great little truck! thanks for reading my giant post -smitty Quote Link to comment
skunk Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 sweet little truck, Welcome to ratsun. keep the pics coming. :D Quote Link to comment
Zeusimo Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 Nice Truck, Clean Interior! More OICS!!! Quote Link to comment
Wide14u Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 this a nice little truck and i like the type 2 in the back ground i had 19 type 3 at once they are fun but i just like datsun trucks more Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 I always thought that color was 'Sea Foam Green' This truck below was #546 paint code. Quote Link to comment
deltapeco Posted January 4, 2011 Report Share Posted January 4, 2011 nice truck 1 Quote Link to comment
justin 620 Posted January 4, 2011 Report Share Posted January 4, 2011 Clean. Amazing what a lil work can do! I say, clean and polish the engine and engine bay, keep it classic and simple. But that's just my 2 cents. Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted January 4, 2011 Report Share Posted January 4, 2011 That's a really nice farm truck Smitty, the farm trucks i'm used to seeing look like they have not legal for the road in years. You know, the ones with the fenders welded back on because that's how you fix a farm truck. :blink: :lol: Quote Link to comment
Smitty Posted January 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2011 Thanks everyone! It's nice to get a positive response when you put effort into something. It was definitely a barn find as I cleaned enough mouse poop and dead bugs and leaves out of it to hold me over for awhile. The front bumper brackets are a little tweaked, I assume from using it to push start a tractor or some other implement, but the bumper is straight. Just one more item on the "to-do" list. I would love to do a motor swap but it just runs too good to justify. It's showing 75k on the clock and judging by the condition I have no reason to doubt it's accuracy, I suppose it could be 175k but there really is very little wear on the truck, relatively speaking. I probably won't do much else to the truck besides fixing the rocker, front fender, wire wheel and undercoat the bottom side. I was thinking about maybe some bedliner but I'm not sure about that yet, what do you guys recommend? I guess if I do the rocker and find a fender I could have some paint mixed and get enough to do the bed as well. I went and looked under the hood after reading datzen mike's post and it looks like it might have had a 5 on the paint code that has worn off..... thanks again for the kind words Quote Link to comment
justin 620 Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 That looks more like a 6 to me... Quote Link to comment
Smitty Posted January 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 That looks more like a 6 to me... as in 646? Quote Link to comment
justin 620 Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 as in 646? Ohhhh, never mind then. I thought you were talking about the last number. But when I look at the numbers again closely, the first number does look a lot more like a 5 then a six, only cause the top is flat, and 6's don;t usually have a flat top. Haha Quote Link to comment
Jayden71 Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 Nice lil truck :cool: Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 I went and looked under the hood after reading datzen mike's post and it looks like it might have had a 5 on the paint code that has worn off..... Yep the 5 wore off. Gotta be careful with the cleaning agents around those stickers. I almost erased mine with purple power. :lol: Quote Link to comment
TheCiscoKid Posted January 8, 2011 Report Share Posted January 8, 2011 are those titan 18's in one of the first pictures? bad assery for sure Quote Link to comment
1lo620 Posted January 9, 2011 Report Share Posted January 9, 2011 That is a nice little 521.....but i am diggin on the bus in the back ground of one of the photos....I want to see a better picture of that....!!!! Quote Link to comment
Smitty Posted January 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 are those titan 18's in one of the first pictures? bad assery for sure yep, thanks That is a nice little 521.....but i am diggin on the bus in the back ground of one of the photos....I want to see a better picture of that....!!!! '61 double-door panel. Still working on it but thanks Quote Link to comment
banzai510(hainz) Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 I like the VW and the 521. Im not a truck guy myself but I too have a 521 I daily drive. Its straight but rusting slowly. Goal is just to keep it running long as possible and keep the cost down. Not going to fix it up but get lots of comment(Dont see to many of those anymore!) get a electronic ignition was the best upgrade I ever done. olddatsuns.com Quote Link to comment
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