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A 521 in Massachusetts


Crashtd420

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Trying not to, but damn I am sick of working on it, all I want is to be driving it again.

It's now been a little over 12 year since it was my daily and I had to park it. I've spent the last 4 and a half years doing the restoration....

I would rather be driving, maintaining and upgrading instead of just working on it...

The quick joy rides help ease the pain but it's not enough..

I have heat in the garage so as long as the outside temp is around 60 or so I can get the garage warm enough to make it work...

 

Well if it’s been that long another few months won’t kill you. Don’t be like me do it all OCD and then let patience kill it for you. My biggest problem.

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Well i got the first spray out done.... so far so good...... didn't bother with a pic.... same as the last pic just black...

I'll take finish pic later....

 

On a side not I decided to do this today......

 

20180419_125120.jpg

 

A little early but because it was so close to being ready I decided today was the day..... Just so happens today is the 8 year anniversary of my son passing during birth... So I figure it would be a nice tribute.....

( no need to comment, but thanks to those who wanted to..)

 

Also applied for vanity plates while I was there.....

I came up with RNH Garage  for my engine plate because of my family's initials.... so I decided on. "RNH521".....

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Congrats on the registration! Now all you have to do is get it put together and drive it. You are so close!

Ya a little out of order.... the registration is just extra motivation.... luckily all the mechanical and eletrical is complete... hoping to get a sticker by the end of the month....

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You went to a Mass RMV. God bless you. :)

Ya it was horrible.... I think it took me 45minutes just to get a number to sit and wait...... I think i was there over 2 hours... if this date wasn't so important I would have made my insurance company do it.....

 

Got the second coat of paint done....

Took some pics but the camera was actually picking up the fumes and the air....

 

20180419_181811.jpg

 

The other pics were worse.... I'll take more when its done....

I need to metal prep the other side of things tomorrow morning... then Friday afternoon and sat morning I'll coat the fronts of everything....

Sunday will be the flat black top coat on the fenders doors and dash.....

Bumpers and a couple small parts will get a semi gloss top coat of por15..

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Ya a little out of order.... the registration is just extra motivation.... luckily all the mechanical and eletrical is complete... hoping to get a sticker by the end of the month....

I started the registratoin on my 520 the day I bought it.  I have kept the registration current every year.  This way when i am ready to drive it all I have to do is get insurance and go on the DMV website and enter the insurance information and drive.

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My situation was a bit messed up, since I bought it across the border in NH. I had to convince the previous owner to give me his previous registration such that MA would title it, but NH just prints it out on a piece of paper. It's not official looking at all. MA only requires a bill of sale, and the PO's previous registration on vehicles older than 1980. I tried to get him to put a lower price on the BoS, but he wouldn't, so I had to pay sales tax on the full amount. 

 

I'm actually surprised that the MA RMV didn't make a big stink about anything. I bent over to receive the title fee and taxes, but now the truck is officially mine, and it has a title now, which it didn't before. (NH isn't a title state on old vehicles.)

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My situation was a bit messed up, since I bought it across the border in NH. I had to convince the previous owner to give me his previous registration such that MA would title it, but NH just prints it out on a piece of paper. It's not official looking at all. MA only requires a bill of sale, and the PO's previous registration on vehicles older than 1980. I tried to get him to put a lower price on the BoS, but he wouldn't, so I had to pay sales tax on the full amount.

 

I'm actually surprised that the MA RMV didn't make a big stink about anything. I bent over to receive the title fee and taxes, but now the truck is officially mine, and it has a title now, which it didn't before. (NH isn't a title state on old vehicles.)

I got lucky with all that..... mine was previously titled and registered in my name in Cali so I had a title and previous reg..... when i came to mass back in 2005 i had to take it off the road because it was starting become unreliable... i was smart enough at that time to have a mass title issued...

So for me I only had to pay the registration fee, the only hassle was waiting in line....

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Well this was an interesting couple days...

Dash and bumpers and brackets all seem to come out good, so those are done....

 

Had a couple things go wrong but was able to correct and move on... luckily with the paint being a single stage I can wet sand inbetween sprays.... which I think I'm gonna have to do to my fenders, maybe part of the doors.. then one final coat probably Tuesday and those will be done... if I'm really not happy with the finish I can wet sand while they are on the truck, then mask off and respray.....

 

Sorry no pics, I'll start posting as the parts go back on... no room to get good pics...

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Pic of the bumpers and brackets...

 

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The setup I have to hold the doors...

 

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I was spraying the upper part of the inside of the door flat black like the outside.... I had previously masked only the lower part, but I decided to wet sand a few spots on the outside so now i just wanna spray what you see exposed.....

 

And my fuckup .... not really sure...

For the hell of it i tried a 2nd coat after the first coat did this....

 

20180423_173723.jpg

 

It got better but was still visible... I'm hoping after wet sanding and one more coat it will look good enough... anything will be better than that....

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Well a lot of wet sanding and it's starting to look like this....

 

20180424_171416.jpg

 

I was just using 600 grit but that was taking to long...

Grabbed some 220 and 320 grit and got a little more agressive with it....

It's taking longer than I want but I've almost got one fender sanded.. I wasn't sure how aggressive I could get so now that I know I can get the rest done...

Hoping to be back on track by the weekend...

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Well i didnt get as far as I wanted but got a good amount done.....

 

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Fenders and door are on both sides, I installed the strikers, and door lock assembley.. handles are working inside and out but I lost the clips to hold the locks in place..... I was able to find them later on but it was too late to install the lock cylinders ...

 

Also put the hood emblem on and the fender emblems....

 

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I decided not to put the numbers on, i don't want the backing plate that it was printed on.... gonna try to trim out just the numbers or re print it with just the numbers...

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Got some more done today....

Adjusted the fenders and the hood...

Now It closes better... but I think i need to adjust it down a little now...

 

20180430_171344.jpg

 

Also tried to mount the release handle to the interior... realized it's not correct.... drilled 2 new holes In the bracket and now it is.... yes I forgot a pic..... I was to busy trying to get things done ...

 

Got the dash partially installed.....

 

20180430_171357.jpg

 

I'm missing all kinds of clips to secure the gauges and dash top...

 

I was able to make all the heater doors open and close.... i use an old bike cable for the bottom door.. also used a choke cable to open and close a coolant valve under the hood, mounted the pull to the dash, near the vent lever....

 

20180430_171408.jpg

 

Still a lot of little stuff to do to get to the inspection station..

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Getting closer.... got almost everything done on the outside....

 

Got the rear bumpers on.... front bumper is on but only has one bolt.... only had time to get my wife to hold it in place for me quick while dinner was cooking... I'll bolt that down today, along with getting the headlights in...

 

I'll take a bunch of pics when I get it outside to follow all this up.... can't get good pics right now... no room....

 

Doors are done for the most part....

Got mirrors handles and locks...

Don't need side window for a sticker... those will go in later....

 

20180502_221929.jpg

 

Last thing on the outside is gonna be some visable reverse light.... I had put the fog lights under the bed to illuminate when I back up but during the day you can not really see them...

 

I think the only thing left on the inside ( to get a sticker, there is plenty more to do) are the seatbelts and just a little more electrical....

 

Then there is this problem....

My left blinker and I believe the illumination light for the gas gauge keep loosing ground...

 

20180503_060126.jpg

 

Basically the lower section of copper... I had thought it was grounded through the rivit so I filled it in with a little solder and it worked... came back later and it didn't, I'm gonna try connecting a direct ground wire .

 

And in the process the threaded end of my Speedo cable separated from the main cable... I think i can fix it atleast enough to make it work for now.....

 

Assembly has been fun... I realized I did not take enough pics when I took this apart....

Hoping to get a sticker by Monday....

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And I found this extremely coincidental to the fact the datsun is almost on the road.

At the machine shop I work at I get uniforms so I don't have to wash my dirty work cloths at home...

Well today I had something scratching me from inside my shirt.... usually it's a metal chip or something.... to my surprise this was stuck to the inside of my shirt..

 

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Gonna stick it under the carpet as a good luck charm....

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I was able to get the cluster fixed.... once I supplied a solid ground the lights came on ...

Not the prettiest fix but functional and it will never be seen.....

 

20180503_150700.jpg

 

And i was able to repair my speedo cable by crimping the end back on, simple enough.. i also got the inner door handle bolted on, front bumper bolted down, and the headlights in and working....

Now I need to figure out how to aim the lights... yes I know the little screw but what are you aiming for. Time for a Google search.....

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