zachreini Posted December 30, 2017 Report Share Posted December 30, 2017 What's up everyone! Been posting about my project in the 520 thread, so I thought I'd make an official project thread about it. Here's my 1966 520, located in Denver. Currently working on gutting the interior to repaint/sound deaden/bed liner everything. Lots of holes to plug up. Also notice this botched accelerator cable, anyone have any leads to a new pedal assembly and cable? My coworker is reupholstering the bench seat for me. Got this vintage patch to sew into it. A nice little detail. Thanks for checking it out, and for everyone that's helped me so far. 3 Quote Link to comment
Charlie69 Posted December 30, 2017 Report Share Posted December 30, 2017 You can find replacement throttle cables on ebay. ebay will become very useful when searching for parts. I have had to bend some of my 520 521 gas pedals a little in order to get full throttle after installing new carpet andpad. Nice little truck. That is the correct year bed on your truck. The gas door shape gives it away. Quote Link to comment
datsunrides Posted December 31, 2017 Report Share Posted December 31, 2017 Interesting, it has the square gas door but does not have the fill plug in the tunnel for the top loader style trans. Are the wheel wells in the bed square or tapered? 1 Quote Link to comment
zachreini Posted January 1, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 The wheel wells are square. 1 Quote Link to comment
Charlie69 Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 Interesting, it has the square gas door but does not have the fill plug in the tunnel for the top loader style trans. Are the wheel wells in the bed square or tapered? All of the 66 520 Datsuns I have looked at have not had a fill hole for the top loader trans. One 65 did have. The wheel wells on the 65 66 520 bed are square. Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 My 1966 520 had the access hole, as the transmission has a dipstick. 1 Quote Link to comment
zachreini Posted January 28, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2018 Here's a listing for that turn signal switch I cleaned. Thinking of going a different route so its up for grabs for much cheaper than other listings on eBay https://www.ebay.com/itm/152883953190?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649 1 Quote Link to comment
zachreini Posted March 6, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2018 Been a long time since my last post. Too cold/snowy/windy here in Denver with no garage to work on the truck. Got some stuff in the mail and was able to get some things done today. Ordered this carpet for an '80 Nissan truck, will need some modifications to fit. I'll update on how good/bad it is when I get around to install. Also, Olive the pug is testing it out. Crucial shifter knob mod. Also sanded/vacuumed/wire brushed the floor to get ready to fix the holes and seal it. Here's the finished seat after reupholstery, looks damn good! Finally, working on painting some of the dash components. Hope you all enjoy this slow progress! 3 Quote Link to comment
datsunrides Posted March 6, 2018 Report Share Posted March 6, 2018 Any progress is good progress! 2 Quote Link to comment
Charlie69 Posted March 6, 2018 Report Share Posted March 6, 2018 The seat and the dash are beautiful. I like the 50/60s fibe with the diamond tuck in the seat. The embroidered Datsun patch is a classy addition. It looks like your puppy approves of the carpet! Nice work keep it up. All the small things you can do during the winter is great for when you can work on the big things in the summer. It is all progress!. Now if you could only get the truck into your living room to work on it. LOL Years ago when I was into Harleys, my living room was my garage when I did not actually have one. It was nice to use the living room for the garage because of the AC in the summers. 1 Quote Link to comment
zachreini Posted March 19, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 Took advantage of the momentary window of nice weather (Spring? On time? Whodathunk?) Repainted the interior. Waiting to do the doors cause they need some repair. Got the carpet in. As you can see, I had to glue in some patches to make it work. Not the cleanest, but then again this whole truck is like polishing a turd lol. DIY or die. Got finished and "covered" just in time for some spring hail/sleet. The windshield has a little leak, so I had to protect my handy work. Also installed some new mirrors and hood pins, considering doing an engine swap with my tax return. Hopefully my girlfriend doesn't kill me lol. 3 Quote Link to comment
datsunrides Posted March 19, 2018 Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 Looking good! 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 19, 2018 Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 DIY or die.. Much more satisfying even if not perfect... Jealous of those brackets holding the carpet . Never even seen then for sale.. I absolutely love the seat too.... 3 Quote Link to comment
zachreini Posted April 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2018 Did some more work on the engine bay. Cleaned and scraped off a bunch of dirt and grime that caked on over 50 years. Someone painted the block electric blue, but some of the original dark teal started to show through. Committed some blasphemy and painted the valve cover yellow (i did the same thing on my honda acty) trying my hardest to make this Datto a Honda lol. Changed out the screws to some fresh shiny ones too. Ordered the MGB Header from Pierce manifolds and it would have hit the fuel pump, so I welded in some bends (very poorly) to make it fit. Took three tries but I made it work. Please excuse the shitty welds lol I'm very out of practice. Will probably get some header wrap to cover up my botched work and provide some sort of heat barrier. Enjoy! 4 Quote Link to comment
zachreini Posted April 13, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2018 Did some work and finally finished the header. I wrapped them up cause they are really close to the fuel pump despite all my efforts. Cleaned up really nice so I got excited and mocked up the new weber carb and intake! Looks really awesome. Gotta run the fuel and vacuum line as well as the choke and throttle. Also converting it to the manual choke, so I took the carb off and found my oil cap so took some pics of that. Enjoy! 3 Quote Link to comment
zachreini Posted August 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2018 I realized I haven't posted in a while so here's a little update on my truck. Finished the wiring, just need to mount the new fuse box underneath the dashboard, which is all repainted and assembled into the cab. Decided to roll with the bright color theme of the engine bay and got these new distributor wires. Had to relocate the coil a little on the firewall to make it all work, cleans it up a little bit though. I couldn't get the replacement mechanical fuel pump to work, so I plumbed up a small electric pump (which actually came with the truck when I bought it) and installed it with a U-bolt to the steering column. Going to make a plate to put over the old fuel pump mount when I can get some time to delete the pump. I guess my efforts modifying the exhaust header were in vain but oh well. Thought it was interesting to see the progress side by side with this older pic of the engine bay. Started on the body work. Sanded and wire wheeled some surface rush off of the lip of the bed, primered it to prevent more rust. Stripped off all the old paint and thick bondo from the hood and primed it black until I can finish the job. Had 5 colors underneath it all and a 1/2 of bondo in one spot near the front emblem. Kinda think I will leave it black lol 2 Quote Link to comment
zachreini Posted September 4, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2019 (edited) Wow I just checked and its been over a year since I updated this build. I finally moved into a house with a garage so that's where its been on jackstands for about 5 months. I've made a lot of headway with the engine bay after I pulled the engine out which I'm currently rebuilding (final assembly later this week!) I stripped out the old paint and fixed some minor rust spots and gave it a new coat of paint (rattle can) with a 2 part clear. I also cleaned off all of the dirt and grime from sitting in a field for 10 years and painted the subframe, sway bar, and stabilizer bars. Starting to redo the clutch and brake lines. New hardware all around. Doing a bit of a wire tuck. Also installed the Silvermine Motors big brake kit! Replaced the bushings for the sway bar and stabilizer bars. Also got new outer tie rods and inner tie rod ends. Hopefully will update this more frequently. Not bad for spray paint and HOURS of wire wheel work. Edited September 4, 2019 by zachreini 7 Quote Link to comment
mrbigtanker Posted September 5, 2019 Report Share Posted September 5, 2019 Wow man I really love it. Keep up the good work. Your bringing back my motivation. 2 Quote Link to comment
Charlie69 Posted September 5, 2019 Report Share Posted September 5, 2019 That is some nice work there. If I buy you a round trip ticket would you come down and work on one of my trucks? 2 Quote Link to comment
zachreini Posted September 5, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2019 30 minutes ago, Charlie69 said: That is some nice work there. If I buy you a round trip ticket would you come down and work on one of my trucks? Sounds fun to me! I’m always learning, I could probably learn a thing or two from you. Thanks everyone for the support 2 Quote Link to comment
zachreini Posted September 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2019 Looking back on the old pics of my engine...it was atrocious. Here are some pics after the "fresh" rebuild. Basically just new water/oil pumps, new gaskets/seals, and piston rings. Couldn't find the correct size of main and rod bearings so I just reused them *shrug* If it blows up, just another excuse to swap it. Thanks for looking! 3 Quote Link to comment
BrothersGarage Posted September 10, 2019 Report Share Posted September 10, 2019 Really 'clean' work! Totally digging this build thread 1 Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted September 10, 2019 Report Share Posted September 10, 2019 That engine bay is gonna be nice. B) 1 Quote Link to comment
zachreini Posted September 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2019 Thanks for all the positive feedback! Feels good to have the ball rolling a little bit on this. I got excited and wanted to temporarily mount the engine in the bay to see how it looks. Looks great! Now I can run the new brake lines and not run into anything, as well as figure out the wiring and new battery placement. 6 Quote Link to comment
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