My 1971 521

[d.p]

Duly noted.  Took a break on the engine and started on some 720 4x4 leaf springs.  

 

I got them from a yard and instead of taking them apart the yard just cut the shackles in half.  Now I am fighting one bolt which won’t come loose cause it spins the other side.   anyone got a tip on how to break this fucker loose?  Used impact on the other 3 and they came off. 

 

And do the bolts come out the backside?  I read that inside my 521 shackles so these need to come out but how?  Just hammer them out?

 

 

 

[Charlie69]

cut the nut and bolt off with a cut off disc anapply heat and beat the bolt out wit a a punch and a big fucking hammer.

[d.p]

6 hours ago, banzai510(hainz) said:

I have the same size stacks as you call them(airhorns)  I wouldn't waist you money on them unless its a bling thing your worried about.

You have a short Mikuni manifold and you can run longer ones and maybe run short sock of some kind.

 

I would go find a misc bolt that threads into the airfilter housing then get some bolts and drill a safety wire hole in them so you can run the filters.

be honest my 44s I had I couldn't run filters and just ran them like that

 

save this NSC 581  clutch kit for 200mm flywheel buy2

https://www.datsunparts.com/Clutch

 

 

Yo is the same clutch + flywheel but for less $$$??

 

 https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F233202857988

[mainer311]

Yes, Exedy and Daikin are the same company. I just put an Exedy clutch kit in my truck when I did the rebuild and the quality seemed really good. Only

problem I had was that the guide bushing was a tad too tight after I pressed it in and I had to hone it out a little bit. I got mine from RockAuto, so I’m not sure if it’s the “heavy duty” pressure plate or

not.

 

Just a note about datsunparts.com: they have a lot of great stuff, but the prices can be a little high, and their shipping costs are nuts. They do go out of their way to remake NLA parts though, and can be a great resource. 

[banzai510(hainz)]

NSC581 is the heavy plate  otherwise the $80-90 range Exedy is just a stock 350KG unit but fits.

[d.p]

Thanks.

 

Its hot as shit here so not going to work on the truck until lit cools off but just looking over the motor I have some questions.

 

The crank pulley has a shit ton of marks/notches all around it and not sure why that is?  With the motor at TDC it points to the first small notch below.  Why are they 2 big ones to the right of it?  

 

 

 

 

Lash cold on #1 is .008 and .010 respectively.  

 

Cam sprocket lines up like so at TDC and it lines up with the 2 on the inner circle of the cam sprocket. V notch is directly under the oblong grove at this point  

 

 

 

 

Apparently this is the information sheet for the cam in there now:

 

 

Oil pump spindle lines up like so:

 

 

 

Having said all that should I have a couple questions?

 

1. Should I mark the pulley where it points now as TDC?  I don't know what my plan with this motor is after I take the head off but I just don't know enough about building or rebuilding engines to know what I should do prior to taking it apart.    I did buy the "How to rebuild your Nissan OHSC..." book but it hasn't shown up yet.

2. Does the position of the oil spindle mean anything at this point?  Other than its not at 11:25 when the motor is at TDC #1.    

3. I measured the head height and its comes in right under 4", does that leave any room to shave it if needed?

 

Edited July 16, 2019 by d.p

[DanielC]

On the crank pulley, some body may have added extra marks to it.  There are many different timing marks set ups used on various L-engines, one of the common ones is a single pointer on the alternator side of the engine, and a pulley with a thick mark at TDC, and smaller marks at 20, 15, 10, 5 degrees before TDC, and one mark at 5 after TDC.

TDC is a reference to piston motion, but is measured by crankshaft position.   The absolute best way to check it is when the head is off the engine, using a dial indicator on the piston, and finding the point in crank rotation that the piston is as high as it goes, and not moving.  On some four cylinder engines, you can actually feel when the engine goes through TDC, because two cylinders are at TDC, and the other two are at BDC, and when turning the crank pulley by hand you can feel the momentary drop in friction as the pistons at at this point.  If the camshaft is in the engine and being turned, the cam and valve friction may mask the friction change caused by the pistons at TDC and BDC.  

 

1.  check TDC with the head off.

 

2.  Position of the oil pump spindle is not important, however the distributor is limited by only being able to fit the spindle one way, and when a spark plug fires, the cap rotor must be pointing at a spark plug wire terminal in the cap. 

 

3.  the head height should be more than 4 inches.  DatzenMike, or Hainz may come back soon with with stock measurement.

[d.p]

I only have the one pointer on the alt side, nothing on the drivers side.  Reading the internet it seems like L20bs had the pointer and the saw tooth, but not mine.  I am pretty sure its at TDC #1 right now so I can mark the pulley, take it apart and hope for the best. 

[banzai510(hainz)]

When can put the front cover back on then then put the piston at top then look at the pointer.

 

but to me it looks like a typical L16 timming set up where you have 5AFTC then the BIG mark is Zero then +5 ,+10 +15 +20 +25..  Menas he put the poiner and got a L16 crank pulley and put it on a L20 front cover. which is OK.

The far notch could be a for a sawtooth timming plate which might be on the drivers side. but Im winging it here

 

 

Too me that oil distributor spindal is OFF . You should have seen f rotor lined up on number 1 plug wire. 

Shit maybe he put the motor together wrong. Or a wrong timming mount was used but simple fix here.

 

 

 

remember you put the crank to Zero going clockwise then look where the cam timming thru the sprocket. I seen people line up the sprocket first then look at the crank. That's wrong. Crank determines the timming reference

 

 

put to TDC and put the dist back in and see where its at?  Maybe it was fine and made to run this way.

 

I think this motor is fine.Its up to you if you want to strip it down. But good learing tool.

PS remember when bolting the smaller bolts it don't take much torq esp in aluminum so don't strip or break a bolt. These are not US made cast iron stuff.

Edited July 18, 2019 by banzai510(hainz)

[Charlie69]

Is this on TDC on the compression stroke?

[d.p]

18 hours ago, banzai510(hainz) said:

When can put the front cover back on then then put the piston at top then look at the pointer.

 

but to me it looks like a typical L16 timming set up where you have 5AFTC then the BIG mark is Zero then +5 ,+10 +15 +20 +25..  Menas he put the poiner and got a L16 crank pulley and put it on a L20 front cover. which is OK.

The far notch could be a for a sawtooth timming plate which might be on the drivers side. but Im winging it here

 

Too me that oil distributor spindal is OFF . You should have seen f rotor lined up on number 1 plug wire. 

Shit maybe he put the motor together wrong. Or a wrong timming mount was used but simple fix here.

 

remember you put the crank to Zero going clockwise then look where the cam timming thru the sprocket. I seen people line up the sprocket first then look at the crank. That's wrong. Crank determines the timming reference

 

put to TDC and put the dist back in and see where its at?  Maybe it was fine and made to run this way.

 

I think this motor is fine.Its up to you if you want to strip it down. But good learing tool.

PS remember when bolting the smaller bolts it don't take much torq esp in aluminum so don't strip or break a bolt. These are not US made cast iron stuff.

 

 

Front cover is still on.  You sure?  I read somewhere (think it was DanielC) that  said'the notch to the left side of the big notch is 5 degrees AFTER TDC.  The other notches to the right are 5, 10, 15, and 20 degrees BEFORE TDC."  Also at TDC#1 the V notch on the cam sprocket is directly under the oblong hole on the cam tower.  So from what I understand it is at ZERO? There is no saw tooth on the drivers side but there is a hole for it. 

 

This is what the crank pulley looks like with all the notches...it has 2 big notches really close together and then 4 smaller ones spread apart in equal distances then some more sprinkled around it. .  

 

 

With the dizzy back on and at TDC#1 the rotor points to a wire, whether that is or was #1 I have no idea but it lines up.  

 

 

 

And this is what the timing pointer/crank looks like at that same position:

 

 

And the sprocket/cam gear:

 

 

And this is what the cam looks like 2/10 on #1:

 

 

I am at the very least going to take the head off and freshen up what I can.  Whether or not it turns into a complete rebuild remains to be seen.  

 

4 hours ago, Charlie69 said:

Is this on TDC on the compression stroke?

 

 Yeah TDC on the compression stroke, put my finger over #1 and when it blows out I know its on the compression stroke.  

 

Can someone tell me if the deck can be shaved at all being under 4"? 

 

 

Edited July 18, 2019 by d.p

[Crashtd420]

You could take more off the head but I doubt you need to ..... even it you had them freshen up the surface they would probably only take .001 off because it's already flat..... it was probably milled before to raise compression on the motor..... 

 

 

[banzai510(hainz)]

Yes the BIG notch is Zero. Like I said before      -5 degree after then Zero then +5 +10 ,15 ,20

on your photo of the crank looks like between 5 an 10 deg. So I don't know how it could be perfect on the cam sprocket. when one has to set it to Zero on crank first going clock wise go up to zero in crank then look at the cam sprocket.

 

compression stoke is EZ to figure out. Look that #2 lobe and when its nearing 9 going to 10 oclosk that the compression strok. One can do this by looking thru the oil cap. Look thru there see where its at then go to the Crank and dial to Zero.

 

 

True zero one should use a dial gauge and remark the crank pulley but for us folk is close enough.

 

as for the distributor photo, where its at that would be number 1 plug wire, and go 3 4 2 for the rest counter clockwise. thats it. I don't know why yopur spindal is  off so much for your rotor to come out correct on that plug wire. your going to have to save this photo and reclock the oil pump this way for your distributor to work right.

 

On prvious photos I seen of the distributor and timming plate and looks OK. I don't know why the dist spindal is clocked so far off at TDC but the rotor is pointing right at a plug wire.  Maybe you just got to far past the a certain point then whent right to the 90deg plug wire.

 

You can try to install per the book and my vid and reinstall the dist just for fun to figure this ou by dropping the pump and looking for the spindalmark and reinstall and see what happens

Edited July 19, 2019 by banzai510(hainz)

[d.p]

Pointer pointing at the BIG notch or close enough to it...the V notch on the cam sprocket is just to the right of oblong hole. 

 

 

 

Dizzy plate isn't flipped but it is all the way advanced:

 

 

As far as the spindle goes I clocked my oil pump on my L16 to get my match box dizzy pointing at a wire and its nowhere near 11:25 and it runs great.  So how much does oil spindle direction really matter other than making sure I put it back in the same spot?  

Edited July 19, 2019 by d.p

[d.p]

1 hour ago, Crashtd420 said:

You could take more off the head but I doubt you need to ..... even it you had them freshen up the surface they would probably only take .001 off because it's already flat..... it was probably milled before to raise compression on the motor..... 

 

 

Thanks Crash.    

 

 

[Crashtd420]

14 minutes ago, d.p said:

 

 

 

Ok at that BIG notch or close enough to it...the notch on the cam sprocket is just to the right of oblong hole:

 

 

 

Dizzy plate isn't flipped but it is all the way advanced:

 

 

As far as the spindle goes I clocked my oil pump on my L16 to get the dizzy pointing at a wire and its nowhere near 11:25 and it runs great. So how much does oil spindle direction really matter?  

That pointer may have gotten bent or something..... I would find tdc by checking the piston and then adjust the pointer to the crank pulley.....

With your timing light being adjustable you can just watch that tdc mark and add the timing to the light.... and just ignore the rest of those marks....

I'm not sure but you might be able to use the saw tooth pointer and pulley off your spare L16.... if the diameters are the same that should work....

 

And as far as the oil spindle.... the 11:25 is only correct if all the parts are correct...

What you did on you L16 is correct because I don't think the distributor is correct for the pedestal..... 

[Crashtd420]

Oh and that little that the cam is off is probably because the head was milled.... 

You might think about setting the cam timing later with a degree wheel and/or with dial indicators.... 

There are also cam tower shims ....

Not sure at what point those are needed or if degreeing the cam can correct that error....

 

[wayno]

You have to look at it this way, just because you have your truck running, at least good enough for you doesn't mean it is set up properly, and no one else will be able to make heads or tails out of it the way you have it set up, but it runs so it is good enough.

I had my cam off on all my engines for years because of the way I set it up, it ran fine or it seemed to, but once I Dmike posted a photo of a correct timed cam and I looked at my engine right next to the computer and seen it was wrong, so then I pulled the valve covers off all my L block engines and seen they were all wrong, I fixed all of them and the work truck knocked/pinged something terrible afterwards, I had to re-curve the distributor to get it set up properly and not to knock/ping, guess what, all my engines have more power now.

Each one of your notches is likely 5 degrees like in the photo below, like mine on my J15 engine which the pulley is 6" across, all 4 stroke engines with that size pulley will be exactly the same as they are all the same like the saw tooth in the photo shows.

 

Your photo has what appears to be 2 big notches, one is likely a couple degrees ATDC, the other is TDC, then you have 5, 10 15, 20,  the last one appears to be around 35 degrees BTDC, maybe that is the mark that you should see it reach when revved higher than a certain RPM when the vacuum advance line is connected, I do not know for sure.

As for the cam it depends on which way you turned the crank on where the cam will be when the crank pulley shows TDC, your pointer doesn't look bent.

 

Everything I have read makes me say don't pull the engine apart unless you are positive it needs rebuilt, I would not waste the money, it was pulled because of an upgrade, sounds to me like the guy wanted more power than even a built L20b could give him, it very well could be a very low mileage engine, maybe he could not get them carbs dialed in, there are a lot of reasons it could have been pulled, with them carbs and that cam maybe the only way it could be driven is like a race car, and it was easier to deal with it by installing something with way more power that was stock, so it could be driven normally instead of having to rev it way up to get it off the line.

 

Personally I would make an engine run stand and start it up and get it running decently, and if everything went well I would install it in the truck, but I would put a stock cam in it and use dual SUs as I have not got the patients to try and tune a set of them carbs, but that is me and I have fun making engine stands.

[banzai510(hainz)]

Timming Looks good to me.

the distributor thing can be figured out later.  be honest he might have just stuck it in there  close to a plug wire then turn the distributor to run. and maybe it didn't run good cause he ran out of timming and then said Fuck it Im going to put a modern motor in there cause IM RICH with money to spend to instead of figure out a simple proplem.(Maybe ) remember how many 521 were on here before all they needed was a new carb and they pull the motor(KA/SR swap and they are never seen again on ratsun.(went to junk yard)

 

 

  Hold up that timming plate looks CUT!!!!!!!!! he moded something here. Let others see what they think.  It might be correct for this set up.

 

 

[d.p]

Timing plate isn't cut, its just the angle of picture I think.  

 

Regardless I got no idea what is what on this engine so I figure the only way to find out is take it apart and put it back together.  

Edited July 19, 2019 by d.p

[wayno]

Sure it is cut, this is what it is supposed to look like.

[d.p]

It is cut, but how the hell could you see that?  I didn't even see it until you said something and I went back and looked.   Looks like PO ran out of adjustment?  So just gave himself some more?

 

[banzai510(hainz)]

HE made it work with mismatched parts

 

Im guessing here. I bet its a Chinese distributor(Hotspark Brand I think).  what looks like a Pertronix distributor with a red module. Its a Generic distributor so I think this is it . But with variations of Datsun L motor distributors It comes with a timming plate but not a front cover mount which can vary.

 

he made it work.

 

 

I haven't tried one

https://www.hot-spark.com/1-Hitachi-Distributors.htm

Edited July 20, 2019 by banzai510(hainz)

[d.p]

1 hour ago, banzai510(hainz) said:

HE made it work with mismatched parts

 

Im guessing here. I bet its a Chinese distributor(Hotspark Brand I think).  what looks like a Pertronix distributor with a red module. Its a Generic distributor so I think this is it . But with variations of Datsun L motor distributors It comes with a timming plate but not a front cover mount which can vary.

 

he made it work.

 

I haven't tried one

https://www.hot-spark.com/1-Hitachi-Distributors.htm

 

Typical Ratsun fashion so he must have been a member here.  I could always use my el dizzy + plate and mount with this motor.  

Edited July 20, 2019 by d.p

[datzenmike]

Nissan distributor case will have 22100-????? number stamped into it. Have a look and get back. I can let you know what it's from.

 

Drive spindle doesn't really matter as long as you can set the timing. Rather than cutting the distributor plate he could have moved the spindle one tooth and this would move the rotor position back where he could have made a proper adjustment.

 

Uncut L series heads for the 4 cylinder are 4.248" so unless the valve cover surface was faced also that's 0.28" or 7.112mm!!!!!!!!!! This removes over 40cc from a 45.2cc combustion chamber so that can't be right. I measured a spare head in the same place and it's 4.230"but must have been shaved because there are cam tower shims on it. Never noticed this before. I measured a shim and 0.015" and that's pretty close to 2.248".

 

We didn't get U60 heads here so maybe different in thickness??