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My Dragon Datsun 521


DanielC

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This Sunday late morning I started out cleaning some windshield wiper motors and brackets.  One bracket had a lot of oil and grease on it.   I cleaned it with solvent, just like dirty engine parts.

BracketClean1.JPG

 

The motors and brackets after cleaning.

BracketsandMotors.JPG

The motors after cleaning.

3Motors.JPG

 

The wiper motors on the left is a different style than the other two motors.  Is it missing a cover on the wire connection to the motor?

3Motors2.JPG

 

 

This evening, I worked on the motors, and tested them.  first, lets start with a page out of the Nissan 521 service manual.

WiperMotor.jpeg

The diagram may be a little confusing.  This is a brief explanation of how the wiper motor, and washer motor are wired.

Both the wiper, and the washer motor have battery plus applied to both motors any time the key is on.   When you twist the wiper knob, it grounds the washer motor, and it runs.   Likewise, when you pull the wiper knob, that grounds the wiper motor, and it runs.  If you pull the wiper knob two clicks, that grounds a high speed winding in the wiper motor, and it runs faster.  Ground either motor, they run.  

The wiper motor also has a switch that can ground the motor, most of the time.  This switch is opened when the wiper motor is in the park position.  When you turn the wipers off, they continue to run, until the wipers reach the park position, then the wiper motor stops.

 

Motor testing, on a bench.

This is the wiper motor plug.  Four wires in the plug, one black wire outside the plug.   The wire colors on the plug are blue with a red stripe, blue with a white stripe, blue no stripe, and yellow.MotorWires1.JPG

 

Remember, the motor always gets power when the key is on.

Connect battery positive to the blue with a red stripe wire.

B+toMotor.JPG

 

Connect battery negative to the blue wire.  The motor should run continuously on slow speed.  If you move the battery negative wire to the blue with a white stripe wire in the plug, the motor should run faster, continuously.

B-toMotor.JPG

 

Connect battery negative to the black wire by the motor plug, and then short the blue with a white stripe terminal in the plug to the yellow wire terminal in the plug.   The motor should run to the park position.   If it does not run, either the motor is already in the park position, or the switch contacts are dirty.  Run the motor briefly with the battery negative wire in the plug to check if the motor was already in park position.

MotorGround.JPG

 

This is the motor ground switch.  It has a set of contacts in it, they can get dirty.  That was the case with this motor.

MotorGroundSwitch.JPG

 

This is a piece of 400 grit sandpaper in between the contacts of the ground switch on the wiper motor.  I pulled it through the contacts about twice to clean the contacts, and then the motor parked itself normally.

MGSclean.JPG

Edited by DanielC
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I previously mentioned that the front hood bumpers for a 521 are no longer available.  This is a solution for that problem, using hood bumpers from a late model Ford car or truck.  They has a M6-1.0 thread.

FordHoodBump1.JPG

 

Ford has them screwed onto these parts.

FordHoodBump2.JPG

 

But I ended up just using washers and nuts.

M6-1Nuts.JPG

 

I drilled these holes in the top of the radiator core support.

LfHoodBumpHole.JPG

 

This is the Ford hood bumper in the hole on the right side of the core support.

RtHoodBumpHole.JPG

 

This is the underside of that hood bumper.  I ended up using a nylon insert lock nut on the bottom of the mounting surface, because I could tighten the top nut by holding the hood bumper.

FordHoodBump4.JPG

 

The end of the Ford hood bumper bolt stuck down into the space occupied by the headlights, so I trimmed this much off the end of the bolt.

FordHoodBump0.JPG

 

By screwing the two nuts on the hood bumper up and down you can adjust the height of the front of the hood.   You want to adjust the height of the hood to gently rest on the bumpers, lightly.  If you position the bumpers too high against the hood, it makes the hood difficult to close, and put too much tension on the hood catch, making releasing the hood difficult, and a lot of pull is needed on the hood release cable.   The center hood catch with the cone shaped pin is also adjustable, and if it is too tight, again the hood release is difficult.

 

 

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The windshield wiper motor in Dragon ran on only slow speed, and the bracket and steel parts of the motor were rusty, and also had 50 years of dirt and crud on them.

I have cleaned up three other wiper motors, and brackets, the intent is to paint the brackets, and the steel parts of the wiper motors, but I have not done that yet.   At first, I planned to do the painting, then swap a painted bracket and motor into Dragon.  I am pretty sure if the motor is bolted to the bracket, the fuse box needs to be unbolted from the cowl.  Then I thought unbolting the wiper motor from the bracket will allow the two parts to move around enough to be removed without having to remove the fuse box.

 

I unbolted the wiper motor bracket from the cowl, this is one of wiper motor bracket bolts.BracketBolt1.JPG

The second wiper motor bracket bolt.

BracketBolt2.JPG

The third wiper motor bracket bolt.

BracketBolt3.JPG

 

With the wiper motor bracket unbolted from the cowl, you can get to all three of the bolts that hold the wiper motor to the bracket.

BracketMotorHoles.JPG

Then I was able to remove the wiper motor, and bracket without having to remove the fuse box.

I had just got done figuring out how to test wiper motors on a bench, without all the wiring and switch, and tested the wiper motor removed from Dragon.  Both speeds worked fine. 

 

A lot of electrical problems in 50 year old Datsuns are caused by bad grounds, and poor connections, due to the connections oxidizing, and losing connection.  Bad grounds are commonly caused by a poor connection at the ground. 

 

I took a small flat stick, and stuck a piece of 400 grit sandpaper to it.

MotorPlugClean.JPG

 

and sanded the terminals inside the plug for the wiper motor.

MotorPlugClean2.JPG

 

I set the motor, with the cleaned plug back on the cowl of Dragon, then slid it behind the fuse box, without the bracket, plugged the plug into the harness connector, and the black ground wire, and the motor worked with both speeds in the truck.MotorOnCowl.JPG

 

This is the motor Bracket

MotorBracket.JPG

 

This is the motor bracket, on the wiper motor.BracketOnMotor.JPG

 

Then I slid the motor, with the loose bracket behind the fuse box.

BracketedMotorIn.JPG

 

Then I put the bolts that hold the wiper motor to the bracket.

MotorBolt1.JPG

 

MotorBolt2.JPG

 

Put the third bolt in the wiper motor through the bracket, and tighten them.

MotorBolt3.JPG

 

I had a new one of these, I put it on the door of Dragon. 

ArmRest.JPG

 

I put this, 

RtEmblem.JPG

 

And this on Dragon.  Never mind Dragon has a L-18 engine.

LfEmblem.JPG

 

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Here are the washers and clip that hold the windshield wiper linkage to the motor crank.

WashersClip.JPG

 

In the last few days, I took three wiper motors and brackets apart, cleaned them, sprayed primer and paint on them.  The center bracket was rusted and pitted, and I sandblasted it.  The other two I cleaned with a Nylox rotary brush on a drill.

WBrackets.JPG

 

This is one of the wiper motors ready for primer.

WiperMotor1.JPG

 

The brackets have been primed.

PrimedBrackets.JPG

 

Next to the primed brackets, primed motors.

PrimedMotors.JPG

 

I painted the motors and brackets, and put them back together.  One of them went into Dragon, one went in to Ratsun, one is waiting for another one of my 521 trucks.

 

I removed the dirty and rusted wiper motor from Dragon.  But because of the proximity of the wiper motor to the fuse box, it is a very good idea to disconnect the negative battery cable first.  Disconnecting the negative battery is a good idea when doing electrical work on any car.   But if you have a modern car, you will need to drive it a while before you can go through an emissions check.   This is not an problem with a 50 year old Datsun.

B-DisCon.JPG

 

Unplug the wiper motor.

WipeUnplug.JPG

 

Remove the clip and washers wiper linkage from the motor crank.

WashersClip2.JPG

 

There are some steps missing. I also removed and replaced the wiper motor in Ratsun, I probably will have more pictures there, when I do that post, later.

 

I was able to use the original rubber wiper motor bracket grommets on the painted bracket I was putting back in Dragon.

BracketMount.JPG

 

another viewBracketMount2.JPG

 

I set the painted motor and bracket on the cowl,

MotorOnCowl2.JPG

 

Then I bolted the motor bracket to the cowl.

BracketBolted.JPG

 

Then I plugged the motor in.

WipePlugged.JPG

 

Then I tested the motor.  No picture.

 

I found a usable grommet (boot) for the motor shaft out of these, and put one in.

WipeCabGrommet.JPG

 

I had to reach outside and lift the wipers slightly to get the linkage to line up with the motor crank.

WiperGrab.JPG

 

and then I put the wiper linkage on the motor crank.

WipeLinkageOn.JPG

 

and then I put the washers and clip that hold the wiper linkage on the motor crank.

WipeWashClips.JPG

 

 

 

Edited by DanielC
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This has always been in Dragon, but not hooked up, until today.

DragRooBag.JPG

 

The reason it was not hooked up is the parts for the squirter were misplaced, and finally got all my squirter parts together.  Notice two broken squirter bases.  I recommend you leave then on the hood if you repaint the hood.

SquirtParts.JPG

 

The hood currently on Dragon is from another 521 I have.  The squirter base had only one of the two nozzles, I put one of the extra nozzles on it.

Drag2Squirter.JPG

 

Last week, I got some 1/4 vinyl hoes from Ace Hardware.  Today I ran that from the Kangaroo wash fluid bag to the repaired squirter base in the hood on Dragon.

DragWashHose2.JPG

 

DragWashHose1.JPG

 

Then I filled the bag, and then adjusted where the wash fluid hits the windshield.

DragonWashAim.JPG

 

I had to get this tap to clean the threads on some of the squirter bases, it is a #8-36 tap.

8-36Tap.JPG

 

The front tires on Dragon I picked up more than ten years ago.  They were on a rear axle I bought.   The wheels are two different 620 wheels, and are rusty.

Also more than a decade ago, I painted a bunch of wheels, and have them in storage.  Here is a pair of wheels I am going to get tires for, and put them on Dragon.DragWhiteWheels.JPG

 

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The CDI box is an Archer Kit, from Radio Shack.  It uses the stock points for a trigger, stock coil and ballast resistor.  It will easily make about a 1/2 inch fat blue spark.  It pretty much eliminates point wear due to excessive current.

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On 6/20/2020 at 11:22 PM, DanielC said:

This has always been in Dragon, but not hooked up, until today.

DragRooBag.JPG

 

The reason it was not hooked up is the parts for the squirter were misplaced, and finally got all my squirter parts together.  Notice two broken squirter bases.  I recommend you leave then on the hood if you repaint the hood.

SquirtParts.JPG

 

The hood currently on Dragon is from another 521 I have.  The squirter base had only one of the two nozzles, I put one of the extra nozzles on it.

Drag2Squirter.JPG

 

Last week, I got some 1/4 vinyl hoes from Ace Hardware.  Today I ran that from the Kangaroo wash fluid bag to the repaired squirter base in the hood on Dragon.

DragWashHose2.JPG

 

DragWashHose1.JPG

 

Then I filled the bag, and then adjusted where the wash fluid hits the windshield.

DragonWashAim.JPG

 

I had to get this tap to clean the threads on some of the squirter bases, it is a #8-36 tap.

8-36Tap.JPG

 

The front tires on Dragon I picked up more than ten years ago.  They were on a rear axle I bought.   The wheels are two different 620 wheels, and are rusty.

Also more than a decade ago, I painted a bunch of wheels, and have them in storage.  Here is a pair of wheels I am going to get tires for, and put them on Dragon.DragWhiteWheels.JPG

 

 I need a washer squirter

 

 

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On 6/21/2020 at 8:33 AM, DanielC said:

The CDI box is an Archer Kit, from Radio Shack.  It uses the stock points for a trigger, stock coil and ballast resistor.  It will easily make about a 1/2 inch fat blue spark.  It pretty much eliminates point wear due to excessive current.

 

Identical to the Mark Ten CDI I had in '69 and later on my new '70 Dart.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is the old right front tire that was on Dragon.

OldRtFrTire.JPG

 

The old left tire.OldLfFrTire.JPG

 

About ten years ago, I painted a bunch of wheels, these are two stock 521 wheels that were painted.

DragWhiteWheels.JPG

 

I have a few old hub caps with some rust on them. I chose these two that looked the best.

HubCap1.JPG

 

This is a closer look at one of them

HubCap4.JPG

 

This is a polish that I actually heard about on an episode of Jay Leno's garage.   I like it.

HubCap5.JPG

 

I used part od an old sock to apply the polish.

HubCap6.JPG

 

Same hub cap, two pictures above.

HubCap7.JPG

 

Last week I got some new tires mounted on the wheels I previously painted.  Right side.

NewRtFrTire.JPG

Left side.

NewLfFrTire.JPG

Edited by DanielC
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