mnementh666 Posted September 4, 2021 Report Share Posted September 4, 2021 Well it's been a dozen years or so, but it's finally time to get her at least drivable. She ran when I parked, so first steps will be the obligatory oil and coolant change, and cap/rotor/plugs. Anyone have any tips or things to watch out for? 4 Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted September 4, 2021 Report Share Posted September 4, 2021 Be sure to run a 50/50 antifreeze water mixture. As water goes in and is constantly added to, the dissolved minerals collect like the inside of an electric kettle. Always use distilled water. Check and top up transmission (GL-4) and differential (GL-5) Brakes last the longest when they are used. Sitting that long they may spring leaks shortly after you start using them. Hoses rot from the inside out so they may look fine. Give them a squeeze, if soft, replace them. 2 Quote Link to comment
Charlie69 Posted September 4, 2021 Report Share Posted September 4, 2021 Clean the gas tank first! 2 Quote Link to comment
mnementh666 Posted September 4, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2021 9 hours ago, datzenmike said: Be sure to run a 50/50 antifreeze water mixture. As water goes in and is constantly added to, the dissolved minerals collect like the inside of an electric kettle. Always use distilled water. Check and top up transmission (GL-4) and differential (GL-5) Brakes last the longest when they are used. Sitting that long they may spring leaks shortly after you start using them. Hoses rot from the inside out so they may look fine. Give them a squeeze, if soft, replace them. Going to go pick up the antifreeze today, and do the D&R (assuming the damn drain plug comes out without breaking). Good call on the brake bits. I'll start smashing the pedal to see how that goes, and I'll flush the system before any road tests. But that stage is still a long way off. Got tires and other stuff to buy first, I'd imagine those tires are rotten to the core by now. 3 hours ago, Charlie69 said: Clean the gas tank first! Good call. I guess that implies removal. Is the filler hose readily available? Thanks guys for the input 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted September 4, 2021 Report Share Posted September 4, 2021 39 minutes ago, mnementh666 said: Going to go pick up the antifreeze today, and do the D&R (assuming the damn drain plug comes out without breaking). Good call on the brake bits. I'll start smashing the pedal to see how that goes, and I'll flush the system before any road tests. But that stage is still a long way off. Got tires and other stuff to buy first, I'd imagine those tires are rotten to the core by now. Good call. I guess that implies removal. Is the filler hose readily available? Thanks guys for the input On the gas tank there is a drain.... Also there is a trap door in the bed... remove that and you can remove the sending unit.... that will allow you to have a look inside.... I would only remove it if the inside looks bad.... 2 Quote Link to comment
Charlie69 Posted September 4, 2021 Report Share Posted September 4, 2021 (edited) Yes the filler hose has hose clamps. Edited September 4, 2021 by Charlie69 Quote Link to comment
mnementh666 Posted September 4, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2021 2 hours ago, Charlie69 said: Yes the filler hose has hose clamps. Nice, thanks for that. 1 Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted September 4, 2021 Report Share Posted September 4, 2021 Tires were indoors out of sun and weather? If so, probably alright for sorting this out. Wouldn't keep them for highway use. Quote Link to comment
paradime Posted September 4, 2021 Report Share Posted September 4, 2021 I'm with Mike on that one. Also, take the plugs out and turn the crank pulley by hand a few times to make sure none of the valves are stuck. A friend gave me a goon with a blown engine, so I bought an L16 that had been sitting for about 10yrs. I made the mistake of turning it over with the starter to circulate the oil and PING! Goodby #3 exhaust valve. One step forward, five steps back. Quote Link to comment
mnementh666 Posted September 5, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2021 On 9/4/2021 at 11:18 AM, paradime said: I'm with Mike on that one. Also, take the plugs out and turn the crank pulley by hand a few times to make sure none of the valves are stuck. A friend gave me a goon with a blown engine, so I bought an L16 that had been sitting for about 10yrs. I made the mistake of turning it over with the starter to circulate the oil and PING! Goodby #3 exhaust valve. One step forward, five steps back. Ouch that sucks. 😞 On 9/4/2021 at 11:12 AM, datzenmike said: Tires were indoors out of sun and weather? If so, probably alright for sorting this out. Wouldn't keep them for highway use. Hahahaha... No. It was outside. And I drove the truck for a couple years before parking it. And they were used tires when I got them. So for the sake of safety I'm going to replace them before it goes anywhere. Quote Link to comment
mnementh666 Posted September 5, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2021 Well I pulled the sender from the tank... Eventually. What a pain. Anyway I think a new sender is in order, it was rusted/oxidized all to hell. The tank didn't look terrible, and was surprisingly empty. I guess I emptied the tank when I parked it. So that's cool. New plugs/cap/rotor, oil changed and coolant changed. Turned it over by hand a couple times, then spun it sans plugs for a while to get the oil and fuel flowing. Hooked it all up, and she started up! Sweet! Now I just gotta decide where to go from here. I think I will end up yanking the engine/trans and setting it aside. And start in on cleaning up the Mongolian cluster of wiring, and cleaning the engine bay. 2 Quote Link to comment
bilzbobaggins Posted September 6, 2021 Report Share Posted September 6, 2021 6 hours ago, mnementh666 said: Well I pulled the sender from the tank... Eventually. What a pain. Anyway I think a new sender is in order, it was rusted/oxidized all to hell. The tank didn't look terrible, and was surprisingly empty. I guess I emptied the tank when I parked it. So that's cool. New plugs/cap/rotor, oil changed and coolant changed. Turned it over by hand a couple times, then spun it sans plugs for a while to get the oil and fuel flowing. Hooked it all up, and she started up! Sweet! Now I just gotta decide where to go from here. I think I will end up yanking the engine/trans and setting it aside. And start in on cleaning up the Mongolian cluster of wiring, and cleaning the engine bay. If you buy a sending unit, let me know which one you get please. There are a lot on ebay and amazon that claim they will fit but folks say they wont. Some say they do. I have never found a definitive answer to this. Would be swell to have a fuel gauge again. 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted September 6, 2021 Report Share Posted September 6, 2021 5 hours ago, bilzbobaggins said: If you buy a sending unit, let me know which one you get please. There are a lot on ebay and amazon that claim they will fit but folks say they wont. Some say they do. I have never found a definitive answer to this. Would be swell to have a fuel gauge again. Second this comment.... I have not found a proper one either.. I got lucky and my old sender still worked.... Mostly it's the float arm that's wrong, the sender worked and you can bend the arm but that's a pain too.... I could only get empty or full to read correctly not both.... Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted September 6, 2021 Report Share Posted September 6, 2021 I actually think this one would work correctly, the arm looks proper to me but again I'm not 100% sure and I wasn't willing to spend the money on a guess.... the one difference I see which I dont thing would matter is the sender seems to have a vent attached.... https://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-JAPAN-FUEL-GAUGE-TANK-SENDING-UNIT-For-DATSUN-521-PICKUP-TRUCK-/184455100243?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted September 6, 2021 Report Share Posted September 6, 2021 Dont buy ones that look like this ... they definitely dont fit properly... Quote Link to comment
mnementh666 Posted September 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2021 3 hours ago, Crashtd420 said: I actually think this one would work correctly, the arm looks proper to me but again I'm not 100% sure and I wasn't willing to spend the money on a guess.... the one difference I see which I dont thing would matter is the sender seems to have a vent attached.... https://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-JAPAN-FUEL-GAUGE-TANK-SENDING-UNIT-For-DATSUN-521-PICKUP-TRUCK-/184455100243?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0 So this looks pretty much exactly like the one I have currently. I'm not spending that much though, I think I'd rather try to fabricobble an aftermarket setup somehow. 3 hours ago, Crashtd420 said: Dont buy ones that look like this ... they definitely dont fit properly... I swear I just saw a service manual picture that showed this as an EVAP system sender, but now I'm not finding that picture. weird. Well, the instrument panel lights, turn signals, wipers, heater fan all have no power. Aftermarket gauges and headlights are working. Yay for electrical gremlins. Definitely time for a wiring redo. *sigh* Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted September 6, 2021 Report Share Posted September 6, 2021 It's always good to check the parts visually and compare vs trusting a website saying they fit.... Quote Link to comment
mnementh666 Posted September 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2021 In case anyone is curious, or just for my own records... Sender: Float arm is approx 7.25" long. I didn't measure the float drop, but about 7 ⅞" from mount flange to bottom of tank. The sender hole in tank is about 1.615"/41mm dia. Lockring outer dia 2.78"/71mm Sender flange OD 2.56"/65mm It looks like adapting to SAE 5 bolt pattern might be feasible, and utilize whatever gauge to match sender ohms. 3 Quote Link to comment
Charlie69 Posted September 7, 2021 Report Share Posted September 7, 2021 The 521 is a 90 ohm gauge and sender that works on about 9 volts DC. On the back of the cluster is a small rectangular box that vibrates and drops the voltage to the temp and the fuel gauge to about 9 volts DC. The little silver boxes do go out so before you spen a bunch of time and money test the voltage going in and coming out. 1 1 Quote Link to comment
mnementh666 Posted September 25, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2021 (edited) Well I started getting things situated to pull the motor. Had to pull the clutch master and tear it apart and clean it up, the valve was stuck open. That was fun. Anyone want a cleaned up oem fuse block? I think I'm going to completely redo the wiring. I found out the head is a rectangle port w53, so that's cool. The block is unknown if z20 or l20b, the id pad has been sanded off for some reason. And I need to helicoil an intake bolt. 😞 Edited September 25, 2021 by mnementh666 1 Quote Link to comment
Charlie69 Posted September 26, 2021 Report Share Posted September 26, 2021 On 9/6/2021 at 4:26 AM, Crashtd420 said: I actually think this one would work correctly, the arm looks proper to me but again I'm not 100% sure and I wasn't willing to spend the money on a guess.... the one difference I see which I dont thing would matter is the sender seems to have a vent attached.... https://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-JAPAN-FUEL-GAUGE-TANK-SENDING-UNIT-For-DATSUN-521-PICKUP-TRUCK-/184455100243?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0 That looks like the one for my 66 520. Quote Link to comment
mnementh666 Posted October 1, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2021 (edited) Got a universal sender in today, and much as I expected the mounting shouldn't be too much of an issue. A Stewart Warner gauge to read the sender as well. sender Pictures of old factory sender and new sender. One shot of the new with the old lock ring on top. I'll probably Dremel notches into the metal to match the lock tabs on the tank, rather than modify the tank itself. Then Tek screws to secure. That's the plan, anyway. Edited October 1, 2021 by mnementh666 3 Quote Link to comment
mnementh666 Posted April 3, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2022 Well I haven't given up or anything. Just family and job are taking precedent. I said F it and bought a full wiring harness, and I'm stripping the wiring out. Trying to plan out how the harness will adapt to the factory switches and stuff. Yoinked the engine, playing with stripping the paint. Might just get done aircraft stripper and go nuts, and repaint the bay. Bought some sound blocker panels, going to try to apply those to the firewall and doors, see if I can tame the volume level while it's running. Bunch of stuff on the agenda, just need to find time and motivation. Oh, and discovered the frame vin from the donor frame up front. Heh. 2 Quote Link to comment
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