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My island turquoise 521


rinigado

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with my 620 (not 521 so could be wrong) big metal washer thing went behind the oil seal inside the axle cage away from the bearing. mechanic confirmed and i watched as it came out. both sides was like this

this was in the front hub, but similar idea I guess, just taking up the gap between seal and edge of the bearing

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The rain we've had exposed a leaky seal around the windshield. The rubber is a little old and dried out looking in spots. Is there a good way to repair without replacing the seal, or is it better just to get on with it and install a new seal?

 

p.s. is a Thailand / ebay seal (they're cheap) as effective as a more expensive seal? They're like $18 coming from Bangkok and about $60 coming from US resellers. How much difference in quality is there?

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Is the leak in a lower corner of the windshield?

 

The metal seam there is probably rusted out.

Kind of common to a 521.

 

I'll see if I can find a thread. MKlotz70 did a repair to his 521 with the same leak you have.

 

 

 

Start with this; it's in there somewhere...

 

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/8175-mklotz70-project-mend/page-1

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Is the leak in a lower corner of the windshield?

 

The metal seam there is probably rusted out.

Kind of common to a 521.

 

I'll see if I can find a thread. MKlotz70 did a repair to his 521 with the same leak you have.

 

 

 

Start with this; it's in there somewhere...

 

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/8175-mklotz70-project-mend/page-1

The water is dripping just above the steering wheel. There's rust in the pillar on the side that also needs to be addressed, so might as well listen to you guys and do it right and patch some metal at the same time. In addition to the advice from mrbigtanker, I found some old threads and it seems like most of the thai windshield seals weren't so highly regarded, but also saw some saying the precision stuff wasn't awesome. I did try the local Nissan dealer and the oem part is nla based on the part number in the 521 parts manual. So, still need to decide which reseller to order from.

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If I can find one I will get you hooked up.

all you guys on here are awesome..thanks! I'm still searching too.

 

I spent some time getting other bits and pieces done. I flushed the engine again, but took the drain bolt out of the block this time and used some compressed air while flushing to knock any crud loose. The first bit of water did come out brown and cloudy, but there wasn't really that much crap that came out. At least I don't need to wonder if heat issues are due to crud collecting in the engine. Also pulled the water pump off just to see what state it was in. I'm not the only person to touch the water pump relatively recently it seems. The pump has a stamped metal impeller, and the beginnings of some clumps of rust forming, but not in terrible shape.

 

IMG_0507_zps9py8aknw.jpg

 

I cleaned up the mating surfaces, put on a new gasket, and put it back on. I might still try to order something with a cast impeller to have on hand, since it seems they're getting hard to find too!

 

I went for a drive today, and as I drove, the car started getting hot, and the brakes started tightening up (same thing happened yesterday a bit, but much less pronounced; maybe because today was mostly putting around in city traffic). I thought maybe the rotten exhaust was laying against the brake cable, but everything looked ok. I couldn't figure what it was until I searched and found someone posting on classiczcars that explained the problem. My brake pedal didn't have enough play, so the piston never fully released from the master cylinder...driving through town, every tap on the brakes made the situation worse until the engine started getting hot and there was significant resistance in the brakes. Turns out it was something dumb I did a few days ago; I was missing the little button that contacts the brake switch so put a bolt in there instead, and didn't adjust play in the pedal properly. I pulled the bolt out and stuck some cardboard just as a surface to push the brake pedal switch, and life was good again. Luckily I was close to a Costco, so pulled in there and jury rigged my new brake switch bumper. Turns out Costco mechanics will loan you a wrench if you're friendly, and if you let them hold your membership card.  I have a hunk of delrin that I'll use to turn a little bumper out of in the next few days.

 

And while looking at the state of things under the car, I noticed that my clutch slave return spring has a fancy aftermarket zip tie holding it in position.

 

IMG_0504_zpsigehpouu.jpg

 

The slave cylinder looks mostly right, except it looks like there's no tab where I'd attach the spring. Stuff seems to work well enough at the moment but my biggest problem with the current solution is that I'll likely lose the spring somewhere down the road if that zip tie lets go. 

 

Also the splined end of the rear section of drive shaft seems to have lots of splined surface still exposed just before it goes into the yoke..is that typical? You guys have dealt with old datsun drive trains much more than I have so I thought I'd ask!

 

IMG_0505_zps2lizw5lh.jpg

 

also installed a set of KYB gas a just shocks. The old shocks weren't completely shot, but they weren't far off. The truck's riding much better with the kyb's!

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That is fine, there is lots of shaft inside, if it was an issue the truck would likely vibrate like crazy.

You probably don't even need the spring, but if your worried, find another spring and connect it to the one that is there for a really long spring between the two of them and deletye the zip tie.

It sure looks oily down there.

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a new problem (maybe) showed itself.. the battery making sizzling noises. Voltage when off is just over 12 volts, and a bit over 13.5 volts after running (ran for about 10 minutes with headlights on). Maybe just a battery getting old? It's a costco battery, no idea how old it is. The battery is damp on top generally, so assuming its somehow slowly leaking.

 

I didn't do the regulator test in the L16 fsm yet, running at higher rpms and measuring from alternator A terminal (fig EE-63). I'll check that tomorrow (had no time to deal with it tonight).

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I got some new shoes

 

IMG_0511_zpsa1jy8slf.jpg

 

I'll clean them up some this weekend hopefully, then swap the tires from the old wheels.

 

I also ended up with a new battery yesterday and I'll be swapping the old chargings bits for a 90 amp maxima alternator. I was hoping to put off exhaust until I got some other work done, but in the trip to pick up the battery, my old exhaust decided to part ways with me. Straight pipes are loud! I'll be copying some of DanielC's work that he posted replacing the exhaust once some bends from in from mandrel-bends.com; 

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I bought a proper 521 slave from RockAuto, CENTRIC brand, that had the spring eyelet on it.

the po apparently had the clutch master take a shit on him shortly before he sold the truck, so he replaced the clutch master, then had to replace the slave after that as well. If it wasn't basically new and it were in need of an update, I'd do exactly the same; it looks like all the ones listed by rockauto have the spring perch. But I'll likey steal one of the ideas here and hook the spring to something more solid, or to another spring that's hooked to something more solid.

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the po apparently had the clutch master take a shit on him shortly before he sold the truck, so he replaced the clutch master, then had to replace the slave after that as well. If it wasn't basically new and it were in need of an update, I'd do exactly the same; it looks like all the ones listed by rockauto have the spring perch. But I'll likey steal one of the ideas here and hook the spring to something more solid, or to another spring that's hooked to something more solid.

 

I got a dorman from RockAuto a week or so ago and it came with the spring holder.   $20 and nothing to worry about. 

 

And seeing how wet your slave area is with oil makes me feel better about how much less wet mine is.  Any idea where yours is leaking?

 

32712684072_2c783da416.jpg

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I got a dorman from RockAuto a week or so ago and it came with the spring holder.   $20 and nothing to worry about. 

 

And seeing how wet your slave area is with oil makes me feel better about how much less wet mine is.  Any idea where yours is leaking?

 

32712684072_2c783da416.jpg

dunno yet where all the oil is coming from. still need to get under there and clean things up and try to find the mouth of the mighty river. We're supposed to get a massive rain storm here today and into tomorrow; once that's done I'll hopefully spend some time under the truck seeing what's what. It's wet across a wide area, from up around the ahem, fram, oil filter to the oil pressure switch all the way back to my slave cylinder. So, maybe a couple of places are a problem. 

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got some time this afternoon to start on exhaust. I was going to order from Columbia River Mandrel Bends, but found a place down here on socal called Performance Tube Bending in Irwindale that has a good stock of mandrel bends at good prices, so drove over there on Friday and picked up a handful of bends. 

 

There have been a few LOUD backfires. Better tune this truck up to cut down on backfires I guess!

 

IMG_0519_zpsgula7xsa.jpg

 

one stud joining exhaust manifold to exhaust collector was replaced with something that had a nut on both sides. As soon as I got the threads loose, the bolt/stud shifted sideways. Turns out someone in the past drilled a hole and a half. The metal off to one side of the hold is fairly thin now.

 

IMG_0524_zps672xxxvj.jpg

 

There's enough material there to still hold a bolt, but not ideal.

 

The stud on the bottom/middle of the flange started out well enough, but tightend up after a few turns, and got that soft feeling halfway through a turn. So, one drilled out hole that's a mess, and one broken stud still stuck in the end of the manifold. Ugh.

 

IMG_0535_zpsp5hkelxt.jpg

 

The third stud also felt pretty tight after removing the nut about halfway and after the other two, I might just be paranoid, but the stud didn't look straight to me when under the truck. I soaked the shit out of these with pb blaster, but didn't use heat. I also doused all the other manifold bolds in pb blaster before wrapping up, in case I'm pulling the manifold off tomorrow.

 

So, 2 things that aren't good on the current exhaust manifold. Would it be better to drill out the stud, drill oversize and use bolts? Get that ragged hold welded and re-tap holes? shop for another manifold?

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so, got some time today to get back at the truck. I pulled the exhaust manifold off and also found that a bracket that mounts from the back of the AC compressor over to the block, which was fastened via one of the manifold bolts, looks to have broken off the nut and some length of the stud it was fastened to. Probably from vibration over years of use. There's a lot of weight hanging off the side of the head, with the smog pump attached to the ac compressor, attached to various points including this manifold stud. I'm thinking of removing smog parts (pump, hoses, etc) to lighten/clean things up and simplify the space around the engine.

 

bracket holding ac compressor goes over to the motor like this:

IMG_0605_zps9tvekytc.jpg

 

and this stud is a bit shorter than it should be:

IMG_0607_zpshysiwjzh.jpg

 

 

Looking in the parts manual, there are 3 separate part numbers for manifold studs for drawing 1C, all for m8x1.25 studs (manifold yoke, manifold and manifold slinger parts). Is there any difference to be aware of between these part numbers?

 

Also, the intake was held on by bolts on my head, where the parts manual shows studs in drawing 1C. If I'm getting some replacement stud(s), seems like it'd be simple to just replace the bolts with fresh studs at that time. Is it possible bolts were originally used there, or someone replaced studs at some point?

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  • 7 months later...

It's been a while since I got time to work on the 521, but finally getting back to it. Last time I looked, the exhaust had given up the ghost, so I figured before I pull the motor to redo gaskets and seals, I'd sort out exhaust issues. I gave up looking for a stock manifold (I know..rust/lasts forever/quiet/awesomer) and drove over to top end performance to pick up a shorty header. Simple! 
 
5ZgNyUV.jpg
 
except for the torsion rods. crap!
 
LOUF1mA.jpg
 
Not wanting to give up on my 200 dollar investment, I printed a handful of snap-together plastic tube sections (2" diameter, 3" CLR) and mocked up what I'd need to get around the torsion bars. I also had to cut a bit off the collector section
 
aTWVNxN.jpg
 
mostly it ended up being 3 sections of 67 degree bends pieced together (with one extra inch of straight tube thrown in to drop the bottom flange a bit lower for clearance) 
 
4HoF196.jpg
 
cuts were done in a little band saw, with a cutting guide copied from icengineworks design
 
lTCzymk.jpg
 
tacked together, it looked like this 
 
yoZzFTv.jpg
 
it fits, and I can even snake it down into place without disconnecting anything else
 
Tl1o4CX.jpg
 
next up, I made a down (more horizontal than down) pipe with a flex joint, and a fancy v-band clamp to connect up to the header
 
9mdIfAL.jpg


 
here it is in place under the truck
 
RFKfgcq.jpg
 
I should have bought two v band clamps, but didn't really think that through, so had to make up a pair of 2 bolt flanges to hook up to the rest of the exhaust tube. I worked backwards from whatever gasket would fit 2" exhaust and was available at my nearby laps

hOnNyZc.jpg
 
used a couple chunks of scrap 1/2" steel (could have gone thinner, but that's what was around)
 
PIget9M.jpg
 
2" hole getting made
 
0FbhtuL.jpg
 
and then a couple of bolt holes 
 
pGGUKMZ.jpg
 
sanded and ready to use
 
eJqZt9i.jpg
 
like this
 
cBgYL5N.jpg
 
one side I left the tube a little shy inside the flange, and on the other mating piece I let the tube protrude a bit. Easier to hold it in place until I get a bolt through this way.
 
bolted up: 
 
6dKqW3o.jpg


 
this piece runs across the truck and back to the muffler
 
d145h3O.jpg
 
needed some hangers, so made up some parts to use a set of Jegs hi temp snap grommets
 
m3kJ7Cq.jpg
 
with grommet connecting to a little bent bracket through the original exhaust hanger points on the frame
 
jcxJBMu.jpg00tfd01.jpg
 
and back by the tailpipe
 
kZGP3XF.jpg
 
last section of pipe up and over the axle
 
Us1ccf5.jpg
 
need to hit most of it with some hi temp paint, but otherwise, it's done
 
v602Ctk.jpg

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