Red's 520

[damen_red]

There is hope yet! I pulled the lifter in front of that last one, this is what it looks like:

 

 

Peering through the opening, the lifter guide actually seems OK, it was really hard to get my phone to focus on the hole, this is the best I have:

 

 

And trying to get an even tougher shot, this is peering down the pushrod hole to the cam lobe underneath(all the way at the bottom of the picture), it is most definitely rusted, but as I turn the crank, the other sides of the cam lobe are still shiny, maybe a cam grind would clean everything up?

 

 

Looks like no matter what, that block is coming out and having some work done, now if I could only get my engine lift out from under that pile of junk in my shed!

 

It's still a mystery to me how this rust/corrosion got there, still trying to do an F/A, hopefully not to find a crack in the block, but the machine shop should be able to tell me that.

 

DR

[damen_red]

I'm thinking I need to start a new thread, "New 520 owner" seems a little misleading after 2 years...

 

DR

[Crashtd420]

I'm thinking I need to start a new thread, "New 520 owner" seems a little misleading after 2 years...

 

DR

Keep the thread going just change the title.....

[damen_red]

Well, still picking away at this one, found a good block from up in the LA area, but it had a bad distributor gear on the camshaft, so I pulled out the one from my existing block, and I see this:

 

 

 

There's a LOT of deep, crusty oxidation, can't seem to find a reliable source for a replacement, anyone out there have a better looking j13 cam? I know some places can build up the lobes and regrind them, and I'm not opposed to that either, anyone have a recommendation for that as well? BTW, in case anyone is interested, you absolutely can pull the camshaft out without pulling the engine, only thing I had to get creative with was breaking the crank shaft pulley bolt loose but was able to sneak in an impact socket with an impact swivel. Other crazy thoughts are possibly replacing the distributor with an electronic one and reusing the camshaft with the broken drive gear, anyone ever done that?

[damen_red]

Ok, back at it again, I decided to finally commit to my project after 4 years and went down to the DMV to sort the title! After 5 hours of line waiting over two days, I got my paperwork in order and paid tax and registration, only thing left to do is get the weight certified(tax reasons) and VIN verified. Of course I am missing the chassis ID plate that they would normally use as the VIN, but was able to use some steel wool on the passenger side frame to uncover the stamp there and thankfully it matches the title. Will be a shame to give up the original title, it's an actual "pink" slip from 1970, but it makes the paperwork so much easier and it's not like it would add that much value, the truck is pretty rusted out!

 

Now, since I need to at least get it moving on and off a trailer, I decided to finally finish up that brake job I started over a year ago and ordered new drums from RockAuto, did that on Saturday, with little trouble other than the rear drums fitting really, really tight. I may take the suggestion from other threads and shave off a little of the shoe to get some clearance so they at least don't burn up while on my first drive.

 

I also had picked up a supposed running engine from another forum member in the Long Beach area, back in March, so I spent yesterday removing and replacing that, it was a record for me because it is typically months to years from removal to replacement. Really happy to finally start putting things back together and it is starting to feel like a vehicle again, things left now are the radiator and seat rails, I am messaging another forum member here that has these things, but not without their issues, but really hoping to work this out soon and get it at least driving and stopping!

[damen_red]

Also, I would like to look in to replacing the transmission mount, mine is OK, but I can't seem to find a replacement anywhere for this exact part, I seem to remember reading a post about retrofitting one from a 521, but most of my search hits have to do with swapping to a 5 speed, does anyone recall being able to swap to a suitable mount while retaining the 4 speed? Thanks!

[Crashtd420]

19 hours ago, damen_red said:

Also, I would like to look in to replacing the transmission mount, mine is OK, but I can't seem to find a replacement anywhere for this exact part, I seem to remember reading a post about retrofitting one from a 521, but most of my search hits have to do with swapping to a 5 speed, does anyone recall being able to swap to a suitable mount while retaining the 4 speed? Thanks!

 

Does yours look like this ?

 

 

If so they are hard to find new, the ones I have seen were close to $100/$150...

 

You can change to the later 620/720 mount... $20 just about anywhere...

 

You have make a new metal bracket though....

I know redeye here makes a transmission mount when putting in the later 5spds. you would have to contact him to see if it would work .... I know it fits the mount but i do not know if it could be used for the older 4spds, it is slotted to move the rubber mount forward and back but if I remember right the height was a little different too.... if you cant fabricate it yourself maybe he could help you out.... 

 

Edit.... just realized this was the 520 section, so you probably have the J motor so I may or may not be completely wrong with my comment.... 

 

Edited June 23, 2020 by Crashtd420

[damen_red]

Thanks for including pictures to clarify! Yes, mine is the stock mount for the J engine and 4-speed(your first picture). This is kind of what I was hoping, that someone has figured out how to use the $20 mount for the 520, my metal fabricating skills are terrible, but that bracket looks simple enough, maybe in the future, once I am on the road, it would be a worthwhile endeavor, I am just eyeing all the rubber and anticipating that once it is moving under it's own power some things will start to give!

[Crashtd420]

4 hours ago, damen_red said:

Thanks for including pictures to clarify! Yes, mine is the stock mount for the J engine and 4-speed(your first picture). This is kind of what I was hoping, that someone has figured out how to use the $20 mount for the 520, my metal fabricating skills are terrible, but that bracket looks simple enough, maybe in the future, once I am on the road, it would be a worthwhile endeavor, I am just eyeing all the rubber and anticipating that once it is moving under it's own power some things will start to give!

There are a few here who have made home made brackets.... myself included.... 

Basically what I did was assemble things with the old original mount...

Then removed the metal mount, bolted the new $20 rubber mount to the transmission... cut, splice weld, you get the idea.... you get something like this...

 

Not the prettiest but its stong... 

 

 

 

 

[zed1]

damen_red,

Please post a photo of your old transmission mount, I want to see exactly what part you need.

Thanks,

Keith

[Crashtd420]

This should be it....

 

No longer available throughout that sight so I didn't post a link....

[zed1]

Consider having your old mount Re-Vulcanized. Then & Now (http://www.then-now-auto.com/) have assisted several Datsun/Nissan owners with their projects.

Keith

Edited June 24, 2020 by zed1

[damen_red]

Sorry, it took me a while to upload an image, but to be sure, here is the mount in question, not broken, but rather squishy and difficult to remove because of how it needs to "slide" out, which is the only reason I'm thinking about replacing it. 

 

 

 

[Charlie69]

Clean it up and check rubber for being broken if not run it or have it rebuilt by the company posted above.

[damen_red]

Drivetrain is in, just cleaned it up as best I could and bolted it back up. Got the clutch hydraulics working, I bought a clutch master from Rockauto for a 521 as read in another forum, but didn't feel like rerouting the hydraulic line, so I took the old, dry one apart and it looked pretty good inside. I figure it just went dry because the flex line had cracked and leaked, so someone hit the clutch and the pedal never came back up. It took some effort to get the piston to come back out, but after a good cleaning, I bled it and hooked it back up, I now get good clutch pressure, at least enough to disengage the clutch, if it's a leaker I have a new one to install. I have kind of a common theme here in just using the existing parts to get going because until I get everything back in to a running state I don't know what condition anything is in. Except for the brakes, those are 100% new.

 

So going with my aforementioned theme, I have been having some difficulty in getting my radiator repaired, I have taken it to two different places, both of which refused to even hot tank it suggesting a complete rebuild(which there are no tanks available) or a full custom radiator, both of which at this point don't makes sense because there are dozens of things left to do to get it running, a 3 row custom radiator is a luxury at this point! Here is what it looked like when I pulled it.

 

 

 

The system was bone dry and hard to tell exactly what went wrong, but I am sure this is what put the truck out of commission back in 1996. So, while I figure out where to get a "good" radiator from, I decide to try to work this one over at least enough to fill the system and roll it on and off a trailer. I start by removing the shroud and filling it up with Evaporust and letting it sit for a few days.

 

 

Putting liquid in it for the first time, it becomes clear exactly where the break is, it looks like the soldered seam for the top cover has split, probably from an overheating event. Here's a better angle with the seam cleaned, the split is about 8 inches long.

 

 

After much Youtubeing I determine that I am going to attempt to reflow the solder myself, I have done some plumbing and PCB rework, and being an Engineer I am generally curious about how these these things work and am fueled by someone telling me that it can't be done. I hit the seam with a MAPP gas torch and see the solder bubble up, so I know it's not brazed.

 

 

I grab some acid flux and solid core solder and clean the joint as best I can with a wire wheel. The attempt was a disaster and i was unable to get enough clean area to sweat the joint cleanly and the solder just kept falling through the crack. After a few attempts I get frustrated and decide to go all in and remove the cover completely, besides, the system overheated somehow and I am suspecting the rods are mostly plugged up, so I torch the heck out of it and successfully remove the top, mostly without damaging anything. I did notice that the top is made of copper and the flanges have now bent out from the copious amount of heat. I am afraid to try and bend them back because the copper is soft. This is what it looks like inside.

 

 

 

 

 

Fascinating. Looks like a radiator hose tension spring had corroded and gotten sucked into the radiator, surprisingly most of the rods are clear, only two were clogged 100%. I cleared those out and scrubbed the holy heck out of everything including the top. Here's what they look like now.

 

 

 

 

So, I wish there was a happy end to this story, but it being a holiday that's all the time I had to work at it.

 

My question to the forum is, has anyone ever done or considered purchasing one of those 100$ aluminum L series 520/521 radiators and then just having the correct inlet and outlet tubes welded/brazed on? It seems like a simple solution to us J-series guys that have no readily available replacements.

 

Anyways, the saga will continue, I want to get my blasting cabinet running again so I can really clean that top piece, but may just wire-wheel it and see if it'll stick. Either way I learned something about these old radiators, also maybe with the money I save I could get an acetylene torch, I think the MAPP gas is contaminating the solder joint, most of the videos I saw used an oxy/acetylene torch.

[Charlie69]

I have a 510 SR swap aluminum radiator, shroud and 2 12" electric fans in my 520 but I have an L20B automatic, customized radiator support and custom firewall and trans tunnel in it also.

 

The same radiator comes in a KA swao version that has the Inlet and outlets on the passenger side of the radiator.

 

You could take your radiator to Mexico and have it done. 

[damen_red]

I wish I was familiar enough with TJ, but I don’t go down there often enough to even know where to go. At any rate, I took a deep breath today and after lots of scrubbing and brass wire wheeling I made my first attempt at radiator repair!

 

 

 

Not sure I would have paid anyone to do such a crappy job, but it at least holds water, don’t know if it holds pressure yet, though. The flux washed off and the joint is mostly smooth, it was hard to get a “perfect” flow.

 

Does the fan shroud normally sit like this?

 

 

Here it is installed, tomorrow I’ll try to fill it up.

 

 

Edited July 19, 2020 by damen_red

[damen_red]

Well, had a bit of time to sort out a few little things today and it runs!

 

First was getting the cooling system buttoned up, I filled it up with water and it of course leaked, the thermostat housing was the culprit and I figured out that according to the book, there are 2 gaskets for that, I just had the one, took it off and used some Permatex, while it was curing I decided to look at the fuel system. The carb that was on the engine I bought had a slightly different throttle linkage setup than what I had, so I decided to just swap my carb back over, doing so I took the 3 carbs I have and tried to match as closely as I could get to the book as far as choke/linkage/fuel inlet goes and I think I got it.

 

The fuel system was next since I had the carb on now, I used a mixture again of what came on the motor, namely the fuel pump, and what I had on the truck, I liked the old glass bowl fuel filter and cleaned out that as best I could, but put another generic filter inline to catch anything should the old spring and sock type filter decide to let go. The last part of the truck I had not yet explored was the fuel tank, fully expecting that to be a rusty nightmare like the rest of the truck, I opened up the inspection hole and lo and behold it was clean as a whistle! All the zinc coating was intact and looked as if someone had completely drained it before mothballing it for 25 years, what a relief!

 

I skipped ahead a little bit because I ran the truck at first with just a gas canister as the tank, everything is connected as normal, ran it again tonight and it looks like at least for the near term the cooling system is holding pressure. I am afraid to run it for very long because the dash gauges are not working so I have no idea what my water temp/oil pressure is, but those are mostly just idiot lights so I would like to order some accurate gauges and put them in before running it any more.

 

One concern is oil pressure, for one I am getting some smoking after running a few minutes, I checked inside the valve cover and don't really see much oil movement, is this normal? It looks wet, but I'm not seeing any noticeable amount of oil flowing anywhere, shouldn't I see lots of oil squirting everywhere?

 

I also am looking at the electrical, things are coming back one by one as I fix bad connections and grounds, kind of mad at myself, I was tired and in a hurry and I broke one of the tabs on the cluster bezel, this truck doesn't need any more broken parts!

 

Here's a video of one of the first starts, it ran fast until I realized the throttle linkage was just a tad short for some unknown reason, after I disconnected it, I could adjust the idle and it ran fairly smooth.

 

 

 

 

[damen_red]

Worked on a few things these last couple of months, the clutch gave out immediately after getting it moving, so I put in the new parts I had already bought. I was resistant at first because I would have to reroute the clutch master hard line, but I spent a weekend doing that and it holds pressure and doesn't leak, so that's good. I decided last weekend to tackle some electrical gremlins as it appears nothing in the cab works. Some rodent damage under the hood and the fuse block was black and corroded, probably from said rodents making a nest up in there for a while. So I decided to pull the block and see how much I could rejuvenate it, this is what it looks like now after a couple runs in my ultrasonic cleaner with simple green.

 

 

Wish I would've gotten a before picture, but you can kind of see it in the upper left hand side here:

 

 

I don't think this will solve many problems, but it's a good place to start! The ground strap I had on this engine went to the drivers side mount, it didn't look original, so I was wondering if anyone had reference for the original location of the chassis ground? I would like to clean that up next and make sure I have a good ground before tackling anything else.