Jump to content

521 Rescue


nukeday

Recommended Posts

After digging through the box of wiring, I'm faced with two different styles of fuse box. One matches the 521 wiring diagram, the other one looks like a 520? The box on the right has a bus bar with 2 & 4 leads, the one on the left has 3 & 3.

 

There is really no way to tell which box should be in my truck until I split the harness that has been cut. Hope to do that tomorrow. The box in the harness is the one I intend to use, but we'll see what I discover. Most everything on this truck seems to be '69.

 

297_9780.jpg

 

Cleaned up the wiring with a bit of Windex:

 

297_9781.jpg

 

I'll drop the whole box into some lemon juice to clean it up after I pull the wiring off.

 

Oh, and...(My wife officially called me 'nuts' tonight...)

 

297_9779.jpg

Link to comment
  • Replies 270
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Sweet Nuke! I applaud you for trying to bring this one back from the brink! You are a man obssessed, and I can relate. But unlike me you are out there doing something about it and I am just trolling the internet about anything Datsun!

 

Great spacing on the sun rays. Once you get everything sprayed, you can get a liner brush and some enamel (black or red would rock) and essentially you just outline with the edge of everything with the liner brush. That cleans everything up real nice.

 

Rock!

Link to comment

Thank Fisch! It took me way too long to get it right. The Ratsun rat was easy, I took the little logo and blew it up and printed it. Then I did the old 'graph paper' transfer, and blew it up about 1.8:1. Then I had to figure out what reliefs to leave in the cardboard so I'd be left with a stencil. It's pretty big, about 18" high.

 

The sun was a lot more challenging. The template is my son's sit and spin, lol. Then I did a center mark, calculated the circumference and divided by 16. Took a little piece of string, measured out my 1/16th length and then moved and marked it around the outside of the cardboard. Then I completed the perimiter to center lines and darkened each 'ray' I intended to paint. It's still not quite right, but it should look ok from 10 ft.

 

As for bringing it back from the brink, we usually name our cars, and I've named this one after myself. TODD - Tired Old Derelict Datsun. hahaha...

 

sdsurf - Thanks! I'll look at the harness in a bit. I finally bought some flux and heatshrink tube, so once I figure it out I should be able to patch it in.

Edited by nukeday
Link to comment

If you have the covers that came with the fuse boxes, they list the items fused by the lugs. This just might help pick the right one to install. The right one looks similar to my 411 so I would guess it is correct for the 521. When you install it, a little trick. The buss bars on the bottom are very close to the mounting steel. Cut a piece of thin but rigid plastic the size of the fuse box and punch mounting holes in it. Bolt between the fuse box and the steel, no worries about stray bits of wire or condensed moisture shorting to ground.

Link to comment

Mike RL411 / sdsurf - Would you be so kind as to list wire colors for me? My harness is not badly hacked, but after looking over the 520 and the 521 wiring diagrams, I'm not finding this 2/4 split.

 

I'm going out shortly to ID the existing wires and their locations. I'll try to post a drawing or diagram or something once I find all the chopped wires. I'm going to need some help to get this right!

 

Thanks for the tip MikeRL411, I'll see what I can dig up for a protective plate.

Link to comment

I've done up a drawing of the wiring coming from the firewall, and the loose/chopped wiring I found along the firewall (behind the engine) and along the passenger fender. If someone out there could ID the input side wiring (at the 2/4 split) that would be extremely helpful.

 

521hackedwiring.jpg

 

Here is the fuse box I have on hand, sdsurf indicated his '70 has a 2/4 split vice 3/3. Anyone else have input on this?

 

521SpareFuseBox1.jpg

 

Thank you! It just started hailing, so I guess I get to work inside on stuff. I painted the red on the hood this morning and just got it under cover in the nick of time... :)

Link to comment

I was using the diagram for the L521, it looks like the PL521 is correct. I stripped the correct wiring colors from a torn up harness, and tinned the ends in preparation for installation. Not sure how much I need of each color, so I will probably end up doing a couple of them over.

 

Here's what I believe needs to happen, there is a bit of confusion on the white/blue vs. blue/white wire. I'll just have to get the meter out and wring it all out before I start soldering stuff in.

 

521fuseblockfromPL521Diagram_jpeg.jpg

 

There is a little paper card inside the fuse box lid, but it's sort of faded and difficult to read.

 

The hood is drying, can't wait to pull off the mask:D

Link to comment

Got most of the harness extensions in for termination at the fuse box. Discovered that one of my 'green' wires is actually Green/Blue. I put a Green/Black piece in as an extension.

 

521HarnessextensionforFuseBox.jpg

 

Unmasked the hood. It's goofed up at the top a bit, but otherwise I'm satisfied. Cost me $4 for the paint and another $3 for the blue tape.

 

297_9791.jpg

Link to comment

OK, so I have been so close to this wiring thing that I painted myself into a corner. I sort of forgot that the ignition switch is in the cab. :blink:

I'd been trying to figure out why I had more wires than I was supposed to. I had convinced myself that everything coming through the firewall plug was fused. Pretty amateur mistake, and I'm supposed to be an 'electronics' guy.

 

A HUGE thank you to MKlotz for snapping and sending me photos of Paula's fuse panel. Between those photos, the drawing, a couple of old harnesses, and what I actually have in the truck to work with, I've got it sorted out. Now all I have to do is wire it up.

 

That's all I did today. By 5pm I was so tangled up it was ridiculous. Mike straightened me out. This forum is awesome, I've got an army of really cool, knowledgeable people to bounce ideas off of. One day, I hope to contribute something besides a lot of photobucket pics...

 

I'm stoked to have some stickers coming that match the hood, it's impetus to put the back window in...lol..

 

Thanks for putting up with my prolific posting, and checking in on my progress. :o

Edited by nukeday
Link to comment

I pulled the hood today to put the fuse block in and got distracted. Or OCD, or something. I didn't want to put the box in a crappy looking spot, so I decided to clean up the rust a bit and maybe spray it with undercoat or something. Hahaha...right. :blink: Removed the wiper motor, and motor from the bracket, pulled the coil and the fuel shutoff valve and got busy on the whole tray.

 

297_9799.jpg

 

The fuse block tray has several holes right through, the plan is to spray the whole works with rubber undercoat and use black RTV to fill the holes. It's not a show truck. It's barely a truck, actually. :mellow:

 

297_9800.jpg

 

The rust converter says it takes an hour before you can reapply a second coat, but it was cool enough today that I let it sit a couple of hours. While it was drying, I got busy with the grinder...

 

297_9798.jpg

 

Then I pulled the vent screen while the first coat of rust converter was drying on the floor. Hmmm, Oregon sure is green....:lol: Had my own HO train diorama going on in there...

 

298_9806.jpg

 

Straightened the vanes on the vent thing, and painted everything up with rust converter.

 

298_9807.jpg

 

298_9805.jpg

 

298_9804.jpg

 

I didn't cut out the toe panel, 'cuz honestly, I've never done anything this severe to a rig. I'm not sure what type of bend I'll need to put in the new piece, so I left most of the toe panel to help me align whatever goes in there. I'll cut up about 3 inches when I've got a piece that fits.

 

Finally, here's the hood that came off. I PB Blasted the little sheetmetal screws that hold the chrome trim on. It's in good shape. The hood, not so much.

 

298_9802.jpg

 

298_9801.jpg

 

If the weather holds, I'll rubber coat the tray area tomorrow and put the fuse box in.

Link to comment

The tray above the firewall where the fusebox goes is near identical to the 411. I just caulked the extra holes. To keep the fusebox above the waterline, I glued square cabinet cushions to the bottom to elevate it...works like a charm.

 

I'll try to post some pics later when I get home.

 

Once you start looking, you'll see that the wiring diagrams for the '60's Dattos are all almost identical. Long-term plan is to replace the entire 40yo mess with a EZ Wiring harness w/ ATC fusebox.

Edited by ppeters914
Link to comment

Get some JBQuick 5 min metal epoxy. Fill the holes with that instead of the RTV!! You'll be able to paint over it later. Use a rattail file to get the paint out of the hole....sandpaper to take it down to metal around the hole. Put the JB weld on. Then you can grind it flat/smooth and paint over it.

 

I'd hesitate to use the rubberised undercoating......if you change your mind later, that stuff is a nightmare to remove!!! You could do it to the floorboards...no prob, but not to the fuse block shelf. Most of that stuff is flammable...you don't want it in the eng bay :)

Link to comment

....oh...as for the toe board....if you don't want to do a bend....just do another flat piece butted up again the one you're going to put in. You'll just have a hard angle instead a soft bend. You can always do the bend by clamping the sheet metal between two pieces of angle iron or two 2x4's. Just get it close and tweak it once you've tack welded the bottom piece in.

Link to comment

Pete - I'd appreciate pics of your fuse block, I had planned to put a piece of plastic underneath. Stand off's are probably better.

 

Jester - You've no idea! I don't have a clue how to weld, if you'd actually come and help me out, I'd be thrilled.

 

Mike - After some thought on the undercoating, I agree with you. I also found some spot putty in one of my bins, so I think I'll try to use that instead of RTV. I don't plan to restore this truck, and I don't have a fraction of your skill, experience or tools. Lol, just gonna' get it put together enough to drive without it leaking water inside. Thank you for the insight on the toe board, makes perfect sense.

 

So, here's today's effort.

 

It was a family affair. My wife finally agreed to help me hold the back glass in while I pulled the rope. Trouble is, she's double jointed, and just doesn't have much strength in her hands. My 10 year old was photographer, and both the little one's came out to give advice and supervise. It took waaaay longer than it should have, and I tore up one corner of the gasket. :( It's in, and I think it will be okay, but I won't know until I actually give it a bath and a road test.

 

298_9809.jpg

 

298_9812.jpg

 

298_9834.jpg

 

300_0010.jpg

 

300_0039.jpg

 

Spent most of the day at the Unemployment Office and Department of Human Services. Fun. There is a hiccup in my unemployment and it's looking like I might go 3 to 4 weeks with no income. Could get a bit dicey.

 

Anyway, in between trips to every handout agency in the city, here's the other tidbits I painted. I didn't have anything close to tan, so I used some metallic gold on the cowl vent. Not sure I like it, but it looked ok when I set it back in place. Bought a can of tan for the fuse tray and hit the wiper motor bracket. Not the right color, but it's better than gold.

 

300_0040.jpg

 

300_0042.jpg

Edited by nukeday
Link to comment

Great job on the gasket.....seriously! Paula and I tore the heck out of hers when we put the slider in. I've got a brand new gasket for it now, for when it gets final paint. Her's looks like a complete mess and it doesn't leak....so good job!! :)

 

Good luck with the financial battle!

Link to comment

Thanks Mike :D

 

I forgot to post the wiring diagram, just in case it might be helpful for someone else. It appears that there was a fuse box change '69/70. The wiring in my truck matches the '69 style, and therefore I'm using the 3/3 split box. Here's the drawing:

 

521FuseBlockfromHarness_jpeg.jpg

 

It started raining, so I probably won't do much until it lets up. Rattle can paint is sketchy enough without adding 'rain affects'...

Link to comment

Well PacCoast got me thinking that I might could shine some bits with Mother's and some steel wool. And someone here was looking to buy a 1200 but was unhappy about the wiper motor being painted. I realized from reading these threads that I'd inadvertently painted my wiper motor with rust converter :eek:

 

This whole exercise is quite silly since I don't even know if the motor works, BUT it was fun. The cover is pitted pretty badly, and I don't know of any way to correct that other than a proper polishing at a machine shop. I really don't have much to work with besides my brains and what's on hand at the moment, so I used the 'fine' wire wheel, some 00 steel wool and Mother's and just decided to see what would happen.

 

So here it is, before:

 

wiperbefore1.jpg

 

And after:

 

300_0045.jpg

 

300_0048.jpg

 

300_0046.jpg

 

More job searching tomorrow, and maybe some paint on the firewall tray...

Link to comment

I was thinking last night about all the crap that had fallen in through the vent screen, and decided to try to put something else in there to block all the needles and stuff. I had some plastic window screen and baling wire, so I fashioned a 'frame' from the wire and cut a piece of window screen to fit. The idea is that the frame thing will hold the screen in. Then I selectively RTV'd about 8 points along the frame. Looks OK, but I don't think it's strong enough to last very long. We'll see.

 

300_0049.jpg

 

300_0050.jpg

 

300_0054.jpg

 

300_0055.jpg

 

I spot putty'd several holes in the firewall and started masking to paint the tray. Looks like it might rain, so I covered the cab with a blue tarp.

 

300_0051.jpg

 

300_0052.jpg

 

300_0053.jpg

 

Quite the day, blue tarps and baling wire in the same day? I think I'm earning my 'ratsun' title. :D Have plans for a Valentine's dinner tonight, nothing planned for tomorrow (intentionally). Hope you all enjoy your weekend!

Link to comment

nice touch on the fuse block. As for ur floor board, I recommend against any putty. Unless you plan on doin a good coat of something underneath the panel. Putty will absorb any water and hold it there. An epoxy of some kind is best. I recently sandblasted my floor board ( still need to get those pics up) and I found plenty of holes that had been eaten thru. I was recommended JBweld from a friend, but i have access to some high strength 2 part epoxy thats typically used as an adhesive that should do just fine. Tho putting something underneath the holes to prevent whatever you use from fallin thru is a good idea.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.