submmbob Posted January 31, 2017 Report Share Posted January 31, 2017 Hello all I bought a '79 620 last March and have been lurking from time to time and finally decided to join. You have already been a big help w/ info for me just me reading old posts. I've always liked the look of the 620 and found this one for $1K from a guy in Safford, AZ near where I work. I think it can best be described as a 'beater w/ a heater' as to when I got it. (That's a local expression for an older car w/o a heater if you didn't know:) Cosmetically it hasn't changed much, but there has been a lot of mechanical work done. Engine is an earlier L20B which was rebuilt. At the time they stripped the emissions and installed an earlier exhaust manifold w/ the late intake. I found an early L20B truck that was being parted out and grabbed the correct manifolds and the smog pump. It's now running a Weber 32/36 after we pulled the head due to some intake of water last summer and it just got a new clutch. It has 15" white spoke rims, faded tan paint, and a desert interior (beat or just plain missing). I'm starting on improving the driver/vehicle interface. I have a new steering wheel coming and a new shift ball to replace the one w/ a piece of vinyl tube as a thread adapter. I'll try and post a pic after I spend some time figuring out how it works w/ this site. Thanks Bob Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted January 31, 2017 Report Share Posted January 31, 2017 Welcome to Ratsun Bob. Here's a tutorial on how to post pictures here... http://community.ratsun.net/topic/54932-photobucket-ratsun/ ... can't wait to meet her. Quote Link to comment
submmbob Posted February 1, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2017 Well here's the truck. Only picture I have right now. This was taken last spring or summer when I was working in the Broadway storage yard. I volunteer for an organization in Tucson dedicated to the preservation, restoration, and operation of historic streetcars and buses. I kinda bought this truck 'cause I got tired of hauling bus parts around in the back seat of my original and somewhat nice Covair 4dr which I have now sold. The truck was originally purchased in Globe AZ, so when I have it parked in the barn w/ the rest of the collection I call it the 'Arizona historic Datsun':) Bob 2 Quote Link to comment
topgunn0805 Posted March 28, 2017 Report Share Posted March 28, 2017 Which models of the 620s came with a sliding window in the back glass ? The 79 I'm looking into has a rear window but no matter the year of a Datsun 620 I never see a sliding window as an option Quote Link to comment
hobospyder Posted March 28, 2017 Report Share Posted March 28, 2017 Both single and king cab had sliders but you have to make sure you get the right window. Single cab has a smaller one than the king cab does Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted March 28, 2017 Report Share Posted March 28, 2017 Slider rear windows were after market. Quote Link to comment
submmbob Posted April 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2017 Hello all Work and the barn have been keeping me busy. Still haven't installed the tool box I got for the Datsun. In the meantime I noticed a drip from the lower hose and realized I can't get to the clamp w/o moving the fan shroud. Since I found out the fan clutch and water pump are one unit (and my fan clutch is dead), I decided to go ahead and replace it and both hoses at the same time. I worked w/ a student intern at the barn one afternoon on it (he had never replaced a water pump) and we got everything back together fairly easily. Then I started playing automotive jenga w/ the fan thru the grill. Turns out the bolt spacing on the original fan is different from the new clutch. Found a fan later that night from a local FLAPS that we thought would fit, but didn't have time to put it on before I went back to work. The next week I tried putting it on and realized the new fan was too deep. Went back to the store that sold me the pump/clutch and found they had sold me the one for a truck w/ A/C. I guess the guy that sold it to me thought everyone had ac in Arizona:) They returned the unit for the right one even though I had already installed it which was cool. This was just before I had to come up to work again so I still haven't installed the fan or the new pump. Been driving the Corvan for the last couple weeks. So we've been moving a bunch of old buses and streetcars down to our new location (my volunteer work at the bus / trolley barn). The forklift we have used for pulling street cars on temporary track or buses that don't run is less than ideal. So I used the Datsun to pull this across the building on temporary track: This is a Japanese built streetcar circa 1952 that we ran here in Tucson in historic service for 17 years. It weighs about 50K pounds. The reason I was able to do this is why we run heavy things on steel rail. There were a couple of different sizes of track I had to pull it up on however which required some working of the clutch:) Unfortunately, we did not take a pic of the truck chained to the streetcar. Nothing like moving and old Japanese streetcar w/ an old Japanese truck! Quote Link to comment
Draker Posted April 8, 2017 Report Share Posted April 8, 2017 Man that would have been a killer photo op!! Quote Link to comment
submmbob Posted April 9, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2017 Yeah, I was regretting not having one of the guys snap a pic w/ my camera. Not something you are going to do that often! But who knows since I work there. I also moved our 1948 Aerocoach tour bus w/ the Datsun once. 35' and about 20K pounds. So I ordered the window scrapers for the truck last night. There coming on the slow boat from Thailand. I know they are aftermarket, but will be better that what is there now which is pretty much gone after 37 years in the AZ sun. 1 Quote Link to comment
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