demo243 Posted September 6, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2019 4 hours ago, Trophy24 said: Nice progress on the truck! Thanks! Wish it was moving faster... but time is hard to come by. Hoping to spend some good time on it this weekend and post more! Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted September 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2019 More dash progress! Initial bends 20190906_191652 by devon M, on Flickr 20190906_192820 by devon M, on Flickr A little bit harder this time....I forgot that on the dash for the 510, which was only half the width... I made a few cuts first so the bends were actually pretty short.... bending the full length was pretty tough. I am using .05" aluminum for reference. I wasnt able to get as sharp of a bend this time, but I actually think it will be better and closer reflect a "stock" dash. Taped together for test fits--- 20190907_175136 by devon M, on Flickr 20190907_175124 by devon M, on Flickr 20190907_175140 by devon M, on Flickr Its a little wavy... but not bad for a garage build... hoping some matte black and gauges will help hide that. Fully folded and epoxying together 20190907_170219 by devon M, on Flickr 1 Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted September 9, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2019 Teaser Shots! 20190908_194721 by devon M, on Flickr 20190908_184820 by devon M, on Flickr A few more little tweaks to make.... not perfect... should be a 1/4" narrower... but it will work... painting it matte black tomorrow and then onto the next bits. 2 Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted September 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2019 A few more updates Painting Gauges in - I've since added a oil temp gauge in the open hole--- still need to create a harness for them Picked up a few adapters to try and run this... but I dont think I will... the tap handle is to thin and not stiff enough... Obligatory jack stands photo - measuring for the driveshaft and working on the brakes 1 Quote Link to comment
BrothersGarage Posted September 20, 2019 Report Share Posted September 20, 2019 I like the new fuel gauge spot moved over to the top left. New dash lookin' good. Hows the reach on the tap handle? 1 Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted September 21, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2019 20 hours ago, BrothersGarage said: I like the new fuel gauge spot moved over to the top left. New dash lookin' good. Hows the reach on the tap handle? Thanks! The reach is good. Its mounted to an Ebay short throw with a ~3" extension... but it's just not solid enough.... probably gonna just run the bike grip shifter I got with the truck. 1 Quote Link to comment
Lockleaf Posted September 21, 2019 Report Share Posted September 21, 2019 Drill a hole down through the center then run a metal rod through it. Weld a new nut to the bottom of the rod and mount it with that. 2 Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted September 22, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2019 4 hours ago, Lockleaf said: Drill a hole down through the center then run a metal rod through it. Weld a new nut to the bottom of the rod and mount it with that. That's a good idea... but won't work the handle itself is thinner then the threads. It bumps out at the bottom to fit the tap. I had it lying around and for 8 bucks I figured it was worth trying.... now I have the adapters anyway so I'll keep my eyes open for one of those sapporo samurai handles or something else cool 1 Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted September 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2019 So spent a lot of time on the truck this weekend... but feel like I got nothing done.... Started at 6 on Friday and worked till about 11:30, then started again at 11-Noon on Saturday and worked till 11:30 again, then again on Sunday started about Noon and worked till 5.... We'll start on a good note though - New Driveshaft! Used Montrose Machine in Wakefield, they had it turned around in 2 days, for a good chunk less then driveshaftshop.com which was alos going to be 3-4 weeks. 20190927_180305 by devon M, on Flickr 20190927_180259 by devon M, on Flickr Got the driveshaft mounted up Friday evening. No photos though... needed some longer bolts... but got some 10.9 40mm bolts with shoulder and trimmed them down to ~35mm and they worked perfect--- might have to do the same on the 510; it has some 12.? socket heads, but I dont think they have a shoulder... can't remember. Friday night I got to work on the dash/gauges and building a wiring harness... As the saying goes... you get what you pay for.... These JEGS gauges are fine... but the Speedhuts are sooo much nicer because of their wiring harness... Start of the harness... 20190925_204936 by devon M, on Flickr Saturday spent a bunch of time messing around with lots of random small things... and finished the dash wiring harness 20190927_233856 by devon M, on Flickr 20190928_175353 by devon M, on Flickr Ran out of light on Saturday, but didnt want to quit... so pulled a blasphemous move.... Kicked the 510 out of the garage and pushed the 620 in! 20190929_194337 by devon M, on Flickr 20190928_183447 by devon M, on Flickr Sunday was mostly a bummer.... the dash harness was finished... and started hooking it all up... and thats where the issues began.... basically spent the day chasing wiring issues.... the harness appeared to be pretty complete.. but has definitely been hacked before... Plus the headlight switch seems to be going out too.... blew out a fuse in the fuse box... and that about ended my day.. still having issues with the gauge lights and headlights/tailights --- head lights and high beams turn on... but tail lights dont work.... Im gonna pick up a few spare fuses tomorrow... but seriously thinking about re-wiring the truck... For the amount of time I spent on the wiring this weekend I could be half way through a re-wire.... Its the old issue of to much shit being removed and now a lot of redundant/useless wiring just kicking around... the swap doesnt help things either... but I havent even gotten to that wiring yet... On the topic of the swap wiring .... I dont know if this truck ever ran... its got a can am box set up... but seems some questionable wiring. Going to pull it all apart and start fresh there..... which makes me think even harder about just going to a new wiring harness..... Anyway... a good photo for the send off... was messing around on my phone and came up with this--- 20190924_230906 by devon M, on Flickr 2 Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted October 1, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2019 Well Screw It! I'm ripping out all the wiring and redoing it. I replaced the burnt out fuse I had issues with and charged the battery up. Went out and messed around with it a little bit last night and still having issues with the dash lights, and now I have no tail lights... indicators work though... Could I fix it? Sure its probably only a few wires away from being ok... but its still old wiring and its still messy.... and I am hoping for this truck to be a turn key driver. Fresh wiring is definitely a good step toward that. I did the re-wire in the 510 and while it was a pain I feel like it did clean up a lot of things... and I really like the modern fuse box and the ability to relocate it. I went ahead an ordered the same American Autowire Highway 15 kit I used last time on the 510. It isn't the cheapest kit, but definitely one of the cleaner ones, and even though I won't use most the switches, I will use the headlight switch, and some of their connectors. Its a bit of an extra cost that I wasn't planning on putting into this truck... and will offset some of the other plans further down the road as well... but I think it will be worth it. I think I am going to mount the fuse panel, along with the Can AM box on the passenger side kick panel. I picked up the T3 ones and that should be a nice mounting point. ---- On another note... tired of climbing around the old ratty Datsun steering wheel so I ordered a 14" wood with black chrome one and a Boss adapter with Nissan horn button. I was looking for a Datsun one... but the extra time and cost wasn't worth it... Nissan is close enough. 1 Quote Link to comment
banzai510(hainz) Posted October 1, 2019 Report Share Posted October 1, 2019 (edited) I wouldn't rip out all the wireing If made in England Lucas electric then yes Edited October 1, 2019 by banzai510(hainz) Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted October 1, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2019 3 minutes ago, banzai510(hainz) said: I wouldn't rip out all the wireing If made in England Lucas electric then yes Its kind of an all or nothing deal for me.... I don't want to keep chasing down issues or have to hack things back together. There are already some missing wires... and a lot of the connectors are literally falling apart... I know its not the "purist" way of doing it... but I already did away with the stock dash so it goes along with the plan of updating things... ___________________ Been doing some digging and the only major issue I forsee if the tail/stop/direction lights... I want to get rid of the stock 620 light switch and use the American Autowire one connected to a relay set up for the head lights --- similar to how I wired up my 510 (I'll dig up that diagram later) --- the rears might be a bit tougher though as the turn signals use the same wiring? I plan to keep the stock 620 stalk for high beams and turn signals--- although I will be looking for a replacement there too since mine is pretty beat up... I guess to simplify things I could split the tailights up... but that wouldn't be ideal... I do plan on running a 3rd brake light up in the window inside the cab, but it sounds like it will be easier to tap into the brake switch at the pedal for that... Hmmm gotta do some more digging. 2 Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted October 2, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2019 The other big question is... white or red for the auxiliary gauges.... I don't think I can change the speedo and tach since they appear to be sealed units.... but all the other gauges use a replaceable bulb, which come stock with white LEDs. I was a bit worried about the whites being to bright so I grabbed a spare red bulb I had lying around and threw it in one of the gauges.... hmmm.... Sorry for the crappy photos... phone wouldnt take a good one in the semi dark garage. 20191001_175413 by devon M, on Flickr 20191001_175417 by devon M, on Flickr 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted October 2, 2019 Report Share Posted October 2, 2019 I like the red.... trucks coming along.... 1 Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted October 5, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2019 On 8/13/2019 at 10:07 PM, demo243 said: 1978-datsun-620-regular-cab-shortbed-texas-truck-rebuilt-motor-new-clutch-1 by devon M, on Flickr Questions to follow... in another post. So came across something very interesting... the truck in the photo above... IS MY TRUCK! - I was looking at the photo going.... those mirrors are the same, that bumper is the same, those wheels are the same, it looks like the maroon seat is the same... Then I found a copy of the old for sale ad and sure enough there was a VIN posted and it is the same. Looks like it was down in Texas at some point, and the paint looked to be in much better shape, and looks to have had a good clean L series engine in it. Its actually pretty sad... The bed and tail gate are so beat up now... and at somepoint some started to paint it teal... Anyway here are some more photos from the add. 1978-datsun-620-regular-cab-shortbed-texas-truck-rebuilt-motor-new-clutch-7 by devon M, on Flickr 1978-datsun-620-regular-cab-shortbed-texas-truck-rebuilt-motor-new-clutch-8 by devon M, on Flickr 1978-datsun-620-regular-cab-shortbed-texas-truck-rebuilt-motor-new-clutch-2 by devon M, on Flickr 1978-datsun-620-regular-cab-shortbed-texas-truck-rebuilt-motor-new-clutch-5 by devon M, on Flickr Still trying to find a date of the for sale ad.... Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted October 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2019 (edited) Decided to go red for Aux gauges--- the speed and tach will still be white, but I think the red will help tone it down. 20191003_183354 by devon M, on Flickr Also picked up a new steering wheel for it once its running 20191003_183746 by devon M, on Flickr 20191003_190156 by devon M, on Flickr Since I decided to rewire it, figured I would upgrade the headlights too--- H4 upgrade for the outer lights, and ambers for the inners. going to wire the ambers on a separate switch to run as fogs. Highs and lows will be on the outer lights. 20191005_140513 by devon M, on Flickr 20191006_181123 by devon M, on Flickr If you look closely you'll see I through some Hella Supertones in there as well.... these cars/trucks are small... so if someone is messing up while driving I want them to know! 20191006_181128 by devon M, on Flickr I was then gonna start working on the wiring... but got side tracked by the nasty "insulation" that was put on the floor.... So I ripped it out.... and bugger these floors are rough..... haven't looked at the back half yet. Driverside- 20191006_164851 by devon M, on Flickr Pass side 20191006_164903 by devon M, on Flickr Then I took the leap! No turning back now. 20191006_172614 by devon M, on Flickr Pulled the wiring harness... and it feels great! While there might not be anything "wrong" with it... although there is... this stuff is so old... and will be much cleaner once redone. 20191006_181142 by devon M, on Flickr Engine compartment cleaned out --- only thing left is the KA engine harness and a few sensor wires 20191006_181114 by devon M, on Flickr Here is the plan for the new fuse box and can am board. ECU will I think be on the firewall. 20191006_185800 by devon M, on Flickr 20191006_181850 by devon M, on Flickr Edited October 7, 2019 by demo243 2 Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted October 21, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2019 Been working a bunch on the truck. Didn't get to do much last weekend, but hustled this weekend. Got all the "truck" wiring done- 20191020_185128 by devon M, on Flickr 20191020_185135 by devon M, on Flickr Still need to wire up the can-am box and make sure the engine harness is properly connected. This is what your bench should look like when rewiring a Datsun ..... datsun wiring diagram.... universal diagram... individual install instructions (gauges,etc...) ... and in my case KA can am box diagram.... 20191020_214810 by devon M, on Flickr 20191020_214804 by devon M, on Flickr But not all is well..... Pushed the truck back into the garage tonight and noticed a wet spot on the drive way..... 20191020_185158 by devon M, on Flickr .... turns out something gave way in the driver rear brake.... I suspect it is the wheel cylinder.... hoping I can fix it easily. As much as I want to do full disc brakes on the truck it is money I didnt want to spend yet... proof it is the rear brake leaking... 20191020_185215 by devon M, on Flickr Dat.. Ass... with one side on a jack stand hahahaha 20191020_214903 by devon M, on Flickr Getting there---- engine bay 20191020_214842 by devon M, on Flickr How it sits in the garage for now... Its been kinda nice being able to store stuff in the bed... but also is anoying cause I need to put the truck in the garage every night and the 510 ends up outside in driveway under a cover.... that should change soon 4 Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted November 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2019 Bumped to the second page... been kinda busy so sneaking work in when I can... winter is nearly upon us here in the northeast... which is a huge bummer... hoping to get it running soon do I can drive it a bit before the salt flies Anyway... Re did the rear brakes. Brake pedal is still a bit soft though... hoping the master isn't bad... Also took this shot - guess I'll ne trimming these bump stops... Fabbed up some quick crude mounts for the ECU... not pretty but they will work Added a fan override switch and a real fancy sound system Then got to work on the CanAm board- got it mostly wired- al though still a few questions... Does the ecu bup need a separate inline fuse? Or is that built into the board? Since I don't have the stock 620 fuse panel... I cant use the old coil wire... based on the 510 diagram it looks like the black and white went to both the coil and the resistor tab on the ignition switch so I ran the key power wire to that tab... Still need to ground the ECU.. and hope the rest of the wires are correct... harness wasnt in the best shape and had been previously cut near the blue connector... tried to chase a few wires down and it looks like they spliced in later in the harness... so I used the ones that were already cut... I have these three spare connectors... that I have traced back to see what they do yet I also still need to figure out how to wire the o2 sensor in since I cant seem to find that pigtail... picked up a one wire sensor... but not sure if I need a 3 wire sensor... Also have this plug open in the engine bay... should something be plugged into this? Besides those questions I think the truck is pretty much wired up! Almost time to drop the battery in and test it all.... well gotta put the dash in first. Might have to make another kick panel to cover all this... Then fill it with oil and coolant ... crank it for oil pressure... and hope it fires! 1 Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted November 10, 2019 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2019 (edited) More Progress!!! Got the dash in an hooked up! Could have left a couple leads a little bit longer.... unfortunately... but made it work, was just a little trickier to hook everything up then I hoped. Happy with the result though! Still need to bolt it in tight, but have a few more things to work on and figured there was a good chance I might have to take it off again so I left it loose. 20191110_162517 by devon M, on Flickr 20191110_162510 by devon M, on Flickr Also hooked up the O2 sensor and the last little bits on the CanAm box. Had to make a few adjustments on where things connected, but figured it out. I never did run a direct ground from the ECU to the chasis?1?!? not sure if this is needed... but didn't want to cut anything else. Then cranked for oil pressure... and tried to fire it! .... but ran into trouble.... You could hear it fire, but it wouldnt run and then I would have to let it sit for a few minutes before I could try again.... Click the image for link to video 20191110_150318_1 by devon M, on Flickr Figured out the Key Pwer on the CanAm board was getting power under cranking... but not under ignition. Spliced it into the ignition tab on the ignition switch and that solved that... but still couldnt get it to run... Then I gave it some gas on starting... and it went!!!! but still wouldn't hold idle... had to keep giving it gas to keep it alive... Click the image for link to video 20191110_151245_1 by devon M, on Flickr Ended up adjusting the pedal stop to set the idle... I dont think this is correct... but it worked for now... .It looks like there might be an adjustable screw on the throttle pulley at the intake that I can mess with so I think I am going to try that.... but for now it RUNS! Click the image for link to video 20191110_151728_1 by devon M, on Flickr Still got a bunch of work to do though... Brakes are still soft... air is getting in somewhere, and I have new discs and pads to install up front. My turn signals aren't wired up correct... they work fine in the front, but the way I connected them to the hazard/brakes lights didnt work... either turn signal activates both sides- hazards work fine - and when you step on the brakes it cancels the turn signal... which is backwards, it should cancel the brake light to that particular side and let the signal override it. I tried to hook the tach up to the ECU output... but it didnt work.. I had heard that this is a problem on the KAs so I just need to hook it up to the coil - Also need to check the reverse switch... I out a new one in... but maybe didnt wire it right since the reverse lights arent working... lastly I need to deal with the thermostat... didnt seem to want to open... same issue I had on the 510 swap too when I pulled the heated core... ultimately i still blame this on poor placement by nissan... being the the thermostat is before the engine so the heat needs to back track to the thermostat to open it... if it is moved to the upper rad hose the water pump forces the hot coolant toward the thermostat so it is more likely to consistently and accurately open... I dont really want to put an inline thermostat in... cause draining this radiator is going to be a pain in the ass... but I think it will ultimately be the right call.... we'll see... Next up is get an alignment and then I need to get it registered so I can drive it to the exhaust shop and get the exhaust work done.... Need to get the lights figured out if there is any hope of registering it in Mass... but in order to register it in CT I need to drive it to a shop there to get the vin verified... bugger... Edited November 10, 2019 by demo243 Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted November 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2019 Just making some notes and thoughts.... I think my Idle/Start issue may be related to the IACV - saw a thread over on the realm mentioning that IACV issues can be over come by "cracking the throttle old school style" which is exactly what I have done. For my turn signal issues... I wonder if power is back feeding through the hazard switch and activating both sides instead of just one. If I remember correctly I think I tied the turn signal out put and the hazard out put for each side together and then connected them to the frame harness that runs back. Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted November 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2019 Ends up I have a parasitic draw on the truck as well... went out to unplug the hazard switch and see how the signals worked... but unfortunately the battery was dead... Short term solution will be to install a circuit breaker on the positive battery cable - same as I have on the 510 - so that I can disconnect the battery. Was planning on doing this anyway since I like being able to disconnect the battery when its not being driven for a while... although I guess this messes with the ECU and potentially the speedo/odometer... hmm just thought of that... We'll see... Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted November 11, 2019 Report Share Posted November 11, 2019 Pull one of the battery cables off and place a test lamp between. Should light if there is a draw. Pull fuses one at a time till the light goes out. The draw is on the last circuit fuse that was pulled. 2 Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted November 12, 2019 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2019 (edited) 12 minutes ago, datzenmike said: Pull one of the battery cables off and place a test lamp between. Should light if there is a draw. Pull fuses one at a time till the light goes out. The draw is on the last circuit fuse that was pulled. been meaning to do it on the 510... and now Ill have to do it here. Edited November 12, 2019 by demo243 Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted November 18, 2019 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2019 Got a little more work done this weekend. Did the parasitic draw test and its not coming from the fuse panels... I think its related to the alternator. When I unplugged it the light dimmed--- didnt go out but dimmed --- and both the 510 and the truck are set up the same way so it would make sense. Need to do some more digging... Also unplugged the hazard switch, and the rear signals both still flash when either the left or right is selected, so its not back tracking through that, I am thinking maybe all the way back to the brake switch as when you choose a signal (left or right, or hazard) and stem on the brakes its not canceling and the indicators are coming up solid... need to go back and look at how I connected them all together... must have spliced something pre turn signal switch I think... Added in a circuit breaker on the main battery cable - there was a mega fuse already there, but I prefer to be able to easily kill power to the whole vehicle. Also added some new super fancy $7 floormats --- picked up some door mats from lowes for $7 each and trimmed em down. Not too bad... and hides the gross floors. 20191117_115626 by devon M, on Flickr 20191117_115637 by devon M, on Flickr Then got to work on the brakes.... still having trouble with them... bleed everything--- both front and rear master, front load sensing valve, front brakes, rear brakes, rear load sensing and center load sensing... still soft... did it again and same thing. A double pump stiffens the pedal up which leads me to believe there is still air trapped in the system somewhere.... they still seem to work, but not very confidence inspiring.... And then it began to snow--- well actually started snow about when I started the brakes... so did that all through the snow... 20191117_141803 by devon M, on Flickr 20191117_143535 by devon M, on Flickr Need to get these brakes sorted... and then I can get it to get aligned and then exhaust work done... 1 Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted November 23, 2019 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2019 Got a few minutes to mess around... Still cant figure out what's going with the rear lights... I think there is an issue with the turn signal switch... seems like the brake cancel isn't functioning.... Brakes are still soft... but they will lock up at least 2 of the wheels.. so could just be how they are. I am running a 15/16 master in my 510 without a booster so thats the comparison... Still have something ticking on the left side of the engine. Kind of an intermittent electrical tick... bummer I'll try and get a video up later.... Didtn get to figure out the issue with reverse lights or plate light... or tach ... still lots to figure out 2 Quote Link to comment
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