Loren O's '72 521 -Found this out in the woods.

[Loren O]

I picked up my block & pistons at the Canby NAPA machine shop yesterday,to get them out of thier way,& also so I can paint the block before reassemblimg it. The reground crank the supplier sent is in spec,but the thrust is at the far end of the range,so the guys at the machine shop are trying to get a better one. I measures at 6, in a range of up to 7,the guys at the machine shop like to see them between 2-4. They said it's useable but,they're trying for a better one anyway.

My new pistons showed up & they're the same "dished" style as the ones we took out,so that's cool.

[Loren O]

So,i'm looking for input here from a few of you that drive these trucks daily. A fellow Ratsuner has an ad up for a 620 automatic,& related parts. I will either be swapping in a 5 speed ,or maybe this automatic,if do-able & it wouldn't make the truck a slug to drive. Only reason i'm considering the automatic is that my wife doesn't drive a manual transmission. She commutes in her big damn gas guzzling '93 1500 Suburban (when it's not in the shop,that is. ). We've been half-heartedly looking for a small car,with an automatic for her for awhile. She said I could find her a Datsun,since she knows I won't even consider looking at something like a newer Honda. Anyway, if my 521 had the automatic in it,she could drive that from time to time. If not,maybe I'll just buy the automatic stuff for a future project Datsun for her.

[KlassicMotion]

Could you actually get her to drive it even if it were an automatic?  Going from a Suburban to a 521 might be kind of scary to some.  What kind of traffic does she drive in?  If it's lackadaisical traffic, just teach her how to drive the manual.  If it's rush hour type traffic, do you really want your wife in a 521 with all the inattentive idiots around?  After all, the older Datsuns are just tin cans.

[Loren O]

Good point! Back when I bought my goon,she said it was a death trap,& that she wouldn't ride in it. Then the economy tanked,& I got laid off. I lost my then daily driver ( a 2000 turbo Beetle ),& the goon became our family car for several years. When our last baby was born,we no longer all fit in it,& she had just gotten her liscense,so she bought the Suburban. She has had to drive her sisters newer Corolla alot though,since we've had to have the Suburban towed to the shop 4 or 5 times. Apparently the previous owner had been pretty hard on the drivetrain. Anyway,she's used to smaller cars now too. Maybe the 521 isn't for her though. I might just get the automatic stuff for another Datsun project for her at a later time.

[DanielC]

My opinion, unless you go with a L-20 in front of the automatic, a 521, will pretty much needs a fan, blowing backwards, to get away from it's own exhaust.

 

I am not willing to crash test a bunch of 521 trucks, but I think a 521, with the frame under it probably would do better in a crash than a lot of 1970 era small cars.  Or at least protect the occupants in side of it.  Yes, I do know a 521 has a solid steerting column, but the steering gear is inside the frame, and it would be pretty hard to push the steering column in to the cab, without pushing the frame and the cab the same relative distance.

 

I have been daily driving Ratsun, this truck http://community.ratsun.net/topic/30606-my-ratsun-datsun-521/

 since August.   To be honest, it is quite a switch from my previous daily driver, a 1996 Ford Aerostar to the 521.  Lets be honest, you have to be aware of the differences.  Before you even start the 521 you need to know there is no neutral safety switch.  You need to know what a manual choke is, and how to use it in different conditions.  You need to let the 521 warm up a little while before you even can move, and drive in traffic safely.  I am lucky, I can most of the time, drive down a off a hill while my 521 is still warming up, with very little traffic to get annoyed that I do not like to thrash cold motors.  In my thread, I start daily driving Ratsun oin page 13.  I have driven Ratsun 2751 miles since August, 2013.

[Loren O]

Thanks Daniel! This truck will pull daily driver status whether it gets the automatic,or not. The only question there is will I be the only one driving it,or will she drive it part time also. The engine that is going into it is an L20, with a peanut head ,& a weber carb. That should be plenty of power with a manual transmission,but with the automatic...eh,I don't know.

[DanielC]

I have not had a L-20 Datsun, but I did have a L-18, long time ago. 

 

I have noticed the L-16 took some Leanring to drive.  At first it seemed gutless, then I got more used to having it rev.  When I first got it on the road, but after a little time driving it, it started to get easier for the secondary on the stock Hitachi carb to open.  Maybe it was me learning to not expect the secondary to open below 2500 rpm. 

One thing I have noticed about a stock engine and transmission 521 is the huge gap between 2nd and 3rd gear.  The 521 I drove several years ago had a five speed, and the gear ratio gap was much better, through all the gears, but the five speed also had a 3.3 first gear ration a stock 4 speed had a 3.6 gear ratio.

I would suggest leaving your truck a manual, and teach your wife, (or maybe have a third party) teach your wife to drive a manual transmission.  A 521 with a L-20 should be pretty easy to learn to drive a clutch.  It should be geared low enough that you could let the clutch out pretty much at an idle, and then give it gas, and get away with it.

 

An automatic does have the advantage of torque multiplication when stopped, but the early Nissan (Datsun) automatics were only three speeds, as far as I know.   They probably have some pretty big gaps in the gear ratios, and if the RPM falls too much on a shift, the smaller L-engine just falls flat on its face.

[Loren O]

thank's Daniel ,& klassic Motion ! that's some good solid advice there. So far it seems like 2 out of 2 suggest against the automatic going into this truck. That gives me the excuse to buy her a Datsun of her own,maybe put the automatic in that. I wish I'd kept all the automatic stuff from my goon,instead of scrapping it when we did the L20,& 5 speed swap in it. This deal on the automatic,& related parts is just too good to pass up though,so I'll probably at least buy them anyway. It would be interesting to know what Wayno 's opinion is on this too,being that he's had so many of these trucks.

[Rocket Dog]

thank's Daniel ,& klassic Motion ! that's some good solid advice there. So far it seems like 2 out of 2 suggest against the automatic going into this truck. That gives me the excuse to buy her a Datsun of her own,maybe put the automatic in that. I wish I'd kept all the automatic stuff from my goon,instead of scrapping it when we did the L20,& 5 speed swap in it. This deal on the automatic,& related parts is just too good to pass up though,so I'll probably at least buy them anyway. It would be interesting to know what Wayno 's opinion is on this too,being that he's had so many of these trucks.

 

That's always how it starts.  Soon you'll have a garage full of Datsun parts for "future projects".  To make two trucks, I probably bought the equivalent in parts of 4.5 trucks. 

[Loren O]

It's good to hear from you Rocket Dog! Yeah,i know how that "pile of parts" thing goes,i already have one for both my 521,& my goon. I also have a.transmission& some other parts for my '63 Riviera,over at my mother-in-laws place.

Luckily( or maybe UN -luckily,as I may decide later when I want the automatic in another car) there was also another Fellow Ratsuner interested in the automatic stuff. I went ahead &messaged the member who posted the add,that I would pass since he also had another buyer,but to let me know if that falls through.

[dr.feltersnatch]

Dont go auto you will regret it. They fuckin suck. There is a reason you dont see many autos left on the road. Unless you only drive 35 mph, then by all means go ahead. But if you actually want to enjoy your truck I would stay away from them.

[Loren O]

I ended up passing on getting that automatic,so now I'm back to running the stock 4 speed until I can find an extension housing to repair the one on my 5 speed that got flattened & cracked when the guy I got it from dropped it, or a different 5 speed.

[Loren O]

I picked up my crankshaft & other parts at the Canby NAPA machine shop today. They should have the head done soon. I'm looking forward to putting this engine together.

[Loren O]

I stopped in at the Canby NAPA machine.shop on my way home tonight. They were working on my head. It was just coming out from being cleaned. One of the guys was working on my valves,doing a valve grind. He gave me one of the old brass intake valve seats,& showed me how hammered out the seat was. They're putting in new steel valve seats,so the head probably won't be.ready until monday.

I'm getting anxious to get to work on reassembly,& installing it into the 521. I want to have it running,driving ,& lowered in time for the Canby show. I may need some help getting all the suspension stuff done,but I already have most of the parts. I still need shocks,& all the brake & clutch hydralic parts that I'm going to replace. Still looking into swapping in a 620 power booster & dual circuit master cylinder.

Here's a pic of that valve seat. I couldn't take any pics at the machine shop ,because my phone battery was too low. Hopefully next visit.

[Loren O]

I should be getting my block back from the machine shop today, I had them resurface it,& put in new freeze plugs while it was there. Everything else is ready fornreassembly. I just need to paint the block,& clear coat all the non-painted parts so they don't get all pitted & stained looking again. I can hardly wait to get to work on reassembling this engine!

[mrbigtanker]

Keep it up,good job. :thumbup: :thumbup:

[datson4life]

Good stuff

[Loren O]

Thanks! It feels like my build is going too slow,especially compared to some of the other projects& build threads that I follow on here. My block didn't come back from the macine shop today, I had hope that it would,but they're real busy there & being an employee,my project is a little less of a priority than costomers projects. Considering how much less it cost me,& that I know that they've done awesome work on mine when they had time,I'm definately not complaining!! I have no doubt it will be worth the wait!

Once the engine is reassembled,I still have to get my truck moved over to my friends garage,then scramble to get it installed,so he can get to work on his project truck,(a '63 chevy c10 short-wide,I'm a little jealous.) . I still need to go through the clutch &.brake hydraulics. I'm still planning on swapping in the 620 power booster & dual circuit brake master cylinder. If any of you have advice on that,I'd love to have your input. I'm keeping the drum brakes because I bought the really cool slot mags from Taadj,& I think they really help make the old school look I'm going for with this truck. I also need to get the 720 4x4 springs,2 inch lowering blocks installed,& the front adjusted to match.

As long as this truck is on the road in time for Canby,I'll be happy.

[wayno]

Lots of time left, you can get a lot done in 3 months. :)

[Loren O]

Well,the block came back from the machine shop tuesday. The hang up was that our driver misunderstood what the machine shop told him to tell me. They told him they needed me to send them my timing cover to finish the block. He assumed "cover" meant valve cover. I kept thinking " why the hell do they need my valve cover to finish resurfacing the block. I finally stopped in & they told me what they needed. I had the timing cover bead blasted while it was there. I'm thinking of having the valve cover done too,since it has some pretty major areas of pitting that I have yet to be able to sand out. All the natural metal parts will be finished with a high temp clear coat for engines,& the block will be given a coat of engine primer coat,then painted a turqoise blue,also an engine paint all of which we sell at NAPA. Reassembly should begin soon, I hope.

[Loren O]

I haven't updated this in awhile. Things have been busy, & the engine for this truck has been on hold until after my friends wedding. I'm using his garage. I had some time, so I went up & cleaned up my 521. I washed it, used rubbing compound, & waxed it. I also finally got to apply the " Datsun " rocker panel stripe kit I bought 6 months or so ago. Here's some pics. The first one is a before pic.

[Loren O]

[Loren O]

Stupid new photo bucket app isn't letting me post multiple pic's.

[Loren O]

Here's a pic of the truck after the work I did today.

[wayno]

It clean up good!  :thumbup:

The stripe kit looks good also.