Just bought a 521

[Crashtd420]

There is a difference.....

It's hard to explain but I think the angle of the tie rod end are opposite.... If you compare them side by side you'll see it..... 

I know you cant swap them either,  because I was lucky enough to get a right in the left box.... so I had 2 rights and they would only go on the right side.... 

 

[Crashtd420]

This may not even help but you can see the difference.....

This first pick is just reference,  if you look at the back side of the tierod you'll see they are both parallel to each other....

 

 

Those were what I bought,... these were what came off my truck....

Notice the back of the tierod, the left side is parallel  but the right side is angled forward.....

 

 

I'm not sure how to tell left or right from just looking at 1, but it should be pretty obvious if you hold it up to the one on your truck..... 

[mainer311]

Yeah I see it. They’re mirror images of each other.

 

So tonight I got the remainder of the parts. The left tie rod is an ACDelco brand, and low and behold looks just like the one I got in a Moog box, so now they match! And they are sure enough opposites of each other, so I have a L and R. The center rod came in a Moog box labeled DS846, but upon closer inspection is says “Three 5” and was made in Japan.

 

If it wasn’t a high of 20 here all weekend, I might try to tackle it, but the truck is up for the winter and I have plenty of time.

[Charlie69]

555 brand made Moog parts for Datsuns.

[thisismatt]

I don't think you are guaranteed any particular brand in Moog boxes these days...

[mainer311]

I guess not. Both Amazon and Rock Auto have screwed me in the past though, so you never know.

[thisismatt]

Try eBay with pictures of actual item you will receive

[mainer311]

Finally got down to business with the steering this afternoon. Goal was to just remove all the old stuff for now. Figures that everything went perfectly fine until I got to the last ball joint under the steering gearbox. Never have I ever come across a ball joint stud that would just not let go. I ended up cutting the stud under the ball, removed the pitman arm (luckily that came right off), and put the whole thing in my bench vise. I had to put a cheater bar on the vice and the stud finally let go with a huge kaboom. 

 

 

 

 

I believe that all of the parts are original, so 48 years or so. The ball joints were surprisingly still holding up, but their movement is chunky, for lack of a better term.

 

So now I have a dilemma. I’m looking at the oil pump and oil pan, and think I should just spruce all that stuff up while the steering is out of the way. Would like to put the higher volume pump in, and restore the pan. Also have coolant dripping somewhere, and believe it’s coming from the heater hose.

Edited January 27, 2019 by mainer311

[datzenmike]

Take that 4 bolt cross member off and the pan will come down easier. The oil pump you can get at anytime. 

[wayno]

Keep in mind that 40 something years old and they get tweaked over the years, I removed that cross member today the Mike mentioned and them bolts didn't all come out easy, the 2 lower ones did, but I had to lightly pound out the 3rd one using a cheater bar in the hole below it, once I got the bolt out of that side I looked at how well the holes lined up, it was off at least an eighth inch, like the bar needed to be an eighth inch longer, and the 3rd bolt didn't go in easy either, the tension rod was in the way for me to get it lined up perfect, so I went to the back side and used the cheater bar there and I got it right away, the issue is the bolt shaft is larger than the threads on the bolt, you can get the threaded part in hole, but then you have to get the hole lined up perfect to get the bolt to slide in the rest of the way and the bolt shaft is in the way to see how close you are, so I used the other hole to align it the best I could with the cheater bar.

I changed out my oil pan because a past owner had installed a oil temp sensor/sender in the oil pan, and it was weeping oil out of the welded area, I was not using the oil temp anyway, so better oil pan and gasket.

Has anyone ever noticed that Nissan gasket sets have way better gaskets, the ones I get at the auto parts stores are either cork or this rubber material, while the Nissan gasket was a very firm pressed type fiber board, it fit perfect and it was not squishy.

 

Oh yea, I forgot to mention that when I come to a stubborn tie rod I hammer the side of the hole the tie rod is in, both sides if I can get to it, that and the pressure the fork is putting on it it usually pops out, the hardest thing I ever tried to get apart was the pitman arm off the steering gear, when that let go I was lucky none of the equipment hit me as it came off like a shot gun and stuff flew everywhere.

Edited January 28, 2019 by wayno

[mainer311]

Yeah, I have a pickle fork and two different size ball joint pullers and nothing was working. The larger puller sucked that pitman off though, and I was a bit shocked. I had one hell of a time removing the one on my roadster.

[mainer311]

Well, add a new fuel pump to the list. Noticed a lot of sludge below it. Drained the oil in prep for the pan removal and it smells like gas. At least the truck is away for the winter. 

 

Also noticed a drop of coolant at the bottom of the transmission plate. Heater hoses were both dry. Where else could that even come from? I watched the oil drain and didn’t see any coolant in it, so that’s good. 

[sondat]

What about the frost plugs? There is one between engine and transmission, could it be leaking?

[datzenmike]

You would have to pull the transmission and engine apart to check the core plugs. better check everything else first. The intake has coolant flowing from the head into them. If the manifold gasket is bad or bolts loose it can drip out ad run down hill along the seam between the head and the block to the back. Worse the head gasket may have failed anywhere near the back and done the same thing.

[mainer311]

There’s a freeze plug on the back of the block. That’s not what I wanted to hear. Where is it, behind the flywheel?

 

I just went out and had another look. Definitely something dripping on the driver side block under the manifold. I wonder if the bolts worked their way loose. I’ll check that before anything. Can’t do much until the pan goes back on.

 

Edited January 28, 2019 by mainer311

[Crashtd420]

Its definitely behind the flywheel....

 

 

Hopefully it's just the intake manifold gasket..... 

[mainer311]

I love freeze plugs. They rot from the inside out.

[datzenmike]

 

The core plug at the rear isn't going to leak at the front. This is now more likely the thermostat housing or cover. Maybe the top rad hose is loose, the temp gauge sender, possibly the by-pass hose.... all these are on or around the thermostat housing.

 

 

Always keeping good quality antifreeze coolant and distilled water in the cooling system goes a long way to preventing the core plugs from rusting. They're usually not a problem on 50 year old engines.

[mainer311]

I see some evidence of coolant on the gasket near the front runner of the intake manifold. It's never leaked before, so I think the screws may be backing off, or the gasket is relaxing. I just replaced it last year when I pulled the manifold for EGR removal.

[datzenmike]

Fan will blow water droplets to the rear. Check hose clamps, housing and cover, the TVV  you removed, the by pass hose clamp and fitting (including the one by the carburetor base) and the temp sender.

[mainer311]

Didn't realize fuel pump parts were so damn hard to find. I was able to locate a diaphragm and seals for the Kyosan Denki pump, but not the Nikki, and they aren't interchangeable. I ended up buying a generic pump and hope to scavenge it for the parts, otherwise I'll just put the whole thing in. 

 

Also ordered an oil pan gasket, fuel pump spacer and gaskets, and a high volume oil pump and gasket. 

[mainer311]

Crossmember and pan are both off. No real drama there. There’s at least a 1/2” of sludge in the bottom of the pan, so that’ll get cleaned and repainted.

I sprayed carb cleaner up into the trans plate and it’s coming out green, so I may be pulling the trans. Will probably end up doing seals and a new clutch while everything is apart. This snowballed pretty quickly.

 

[d.p]

You do all that on jack stands?   And I read the drama is getting the pan cover + gasket back on?  Could be wrong though. 

Edited January 30, 2019 by d.p

[banzai510(hainz)]

intake exhaust bolts maybe come loose. My 510 I dont run a water line as it has sidedrafts and use pipe plugs in head so it dont leak water but I loose bolts and exhaust washers often enough to keep a stash. I assuem over time with all the intake comming on/off the holes got biogger and looser fitting. Threads are stretched out. One can use the steel threaded inserts if they just wear out

Use brass core plugs if possible. I had a motor that was a Gold Star rebuld from Japan and used steel. It was bad when I put the motor in. rusted from inside out. Liuck it was EZ to get to when I installed motor.

Fuel pump diaprame may save a small leak and thats why the gas smell in oil.

Amazon had a Spectre or some like that fuel pump for 510s(521 same) that look stock for cheap but Imsure its made in China.

I had a made in Mexico pumps with the gold stamped cover and they seem to work OK, plus they dont have the vent hole which gets that oil cake under eath it(but they look tacky) I like the stock Jap pumps myself as it looks better.

 

That tie rod  you have looks just liike my ac delco version that was made in Korea on the box.they dont have grease fittings and use a Nyloc. They seem just fine

Edited January 30, 2019 by banzai510(hainz)

[mainer311]

36 minutes ago, d.p said:

You do all that on jack stands?   And I read the drama is getting the pan cover + gasket back on?  Could be wrong though. 

 

I’ll be using RTV, so it should be fine. Typically I spray gaskets with copper spray, which acts as a temporary adhesive to keep them in place.