Pounding Rox Truck Shop Posted February 27 Report Share Posted February 27 Hi! Still too new to post pics but I def will. Last year I traded my 2004 Xterra for a barn find '70 521 that was a resto started in the late 70s but never finished. It was a frame up resto as the cab was stripped bare along with it and the box removed to have the frame powder coated. All the hardware was new and painted. 3 out of 4 brakes are brand new. The motor was swapped to a L20B and the transmission looks like it was gone through. That's when the story takes a turn. I am guessing the owner died before finishing the brakes, maybe around 1979. From there the family gathered up all the parts they could find and sent the truck to the boneyard where it was intercepted by a guy who stopped a lot of vehicles from being crushed. It sat in his barn until my buddy found it last year. The dash, doors and windshield went missing over the years but the truck is in very restorable shape. A 1965 dash came with it along with doors that won't work. The L20b runs with brake clean down the carb. Almost all the fixings to put it together came with it. The original owner must have loved this truck. Back to my buddy, he tried selling it but no one would come through so he traded me for my Xterra which I was trying to sell at the time. A little about me, I am another Nissan nut. I grew up in a 610. I am mostly a truck guy having owned and currently owning 720s and many D21s. So it seems like fate this 521 landed in my barn. The truck is a blank slate. It has a couple needs that I am working on. Rocker panels, which I now have. Cab corner, which I have on the way. I am hoping to have a windshield for it soon. It's clean otherwise and I'd like to get it into primer before I do anything else to it. I did get the 4th brake corner out together. So, what does it want to be? I am hanging back till it talks to me. It can't be original because of the engine and dash but a clean stocker perhaps? Maybe some wide slots and a little drop? I am undecided. For now I am just tracking down missing parts. Pics soon! Quote Link to comment
KELMO Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 Welcome to the circus. It should be said that this is a forum for assholes who just happen to all own Datsuns. If you keep that in mind, you'll do fine. I am not sure what the threshold is for being able to post pics but sometimes a moderator will add to your post count thus allowing pic posting. 2 Quote Link to comment
Pounding Rox Truck Shop Posted February 28 Author Report Share Posted February 28 Sounds good. I'll def get pics up, it will impress how much work has been done... and is still to be done. Quote Link to comment
NC85ST Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 Welcome. My first thought was, why does a less than 10 year old truck need to be restored, then I saw you’re in NY. Quote Link to comment
Pounding Rox Truck Shop Posted February 28 Author Report Share Posted February 28 I think we may never know the answer to that. The rocker panel on the driver side is telling but the rest is rust free. Since it was L20b swapped and came with many repeat parts it started me thinking that the owner was trying to build the truck he wanted. The l20b was never run until I got it so who even knows if that is stock. Every brake line and fuel line was removed painted and tagged. I bet if he hadn't died the cab would have gone out for a full resto since none of the body is bolted down. Here's a couple videos of the truck. I am grabbing the windshield this weekend and I have a cab corner coming from Cali. I bought the rockers from Redux Garage as well. 3 Quote Link to comment
Pounding Rox Truck Shop Posted February 29 Author Report Share Posted February 29 Latest update. 3 Quote Link to comment
NC85ST Posted February 29 Report Share Posted February 29 Great starting point. Looks like an early ‘70, judging by the round side marker lights. I see the previous owner did the same thing I did when I put an l20b in my ‘70, he used the l16 rocker cover. 1 Quote Link to comment
Stoffregen Motorsports Posted February 29 Report Share Posted February 29 Very cool truck. I'm partial to whitewalls and hubcaps, but the LC wheels look good too. Quote Link to comment
Pounding Rox Truck Shop Posted February 29 Author Report Share Posted February 29 24 minutes ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said: Very cool truck. I'm partial to whitewalls and hubcaps, but the LC wheels look good too. I am keeping the dish hub cabs. I like them. Thinking of having the wheels widened at some point. 1 Quote Link to comment
mainer311 Posted February 29 Report Share Posted February 29 I have a set of those replacement rockers as well. I'm curious to see how well the install goes. Mine are sitting in a box in my garage in the event that I ever need them. I do have some holes on the bottom of both of mine. 1 Quote Link to comment
banzai510(hainz) Posted February 29 Report Share Posted February 29 dont ruin those hoses hard to get 521 heater hoses. those are nice ones the radiator I got a OPL and it leaked brand new out of the box, then installed a Champion and worked not leaks. Both made in China looked the same to me but Champion seems to be better 510/521 rads. use a 1/2 spacer to keep of off the top of core support 1 Quote Link to comment
Pounding Rox Truck Shop Posted February 29 Author Report Share Posted February 29 I am going to take my time and do the mechanics right. Those hoses are brand new back in the late 70s. Quote Link to comment
KELMO Posted March 1 Report Share Posted March 1 The gasket in the second video (I'm slowly but surely trying to catch up) looks like it could be an EGR/Emissions type thing. Nissan water hoses back in the day had that braiding stuff on them factory and replacement parts. I'm not one of the 521 experts around here, I'm just trying to be one. Quote Link to comment
Pounding Rox Truck Shop Posted March 1 Author Report Share Posted March 1 I welcome any insight. I have owned many 80s and 90s Nissans but this is my first 70s. It's neat to see how Nissan went from 521 tech to D21 tech. Quote Link to comment
mainer311 Posted March 2 Report Share Posted March 2 (edited) 7 hours ago, Pounding Rox Truck Shop said: It's neat to see how Nissan went from 521 tech to D21 tech. A lot of it is the same! I had a ‘93 2WD D21. I miss it dearly. Edited March 2 by mainer311 Quote Link to comment
Pounding Rox Truck Shop Posted March 2 Author Report Share Posted March 2 9 hours ago, mainer311 said: A lot of it is the same! I had a ‘93 2WD D21. I miss it dearly. When I got my 95 2wd D21 I said it would be the closest I ever got to the 620 I always wanted. Years later this 521 falls into my lap. The universe provides. Quote Link to comment
Pounding Rox Truck Shop Posted March 2 Author Report Share Posted March 2 Update: cab corner from Cali arrived in a box yesterday. Quote Link to comment
Stoffregen Motorsports Posted March 2 Report Share Posted March 2 Only LL Cool J can call it Cali, and even then, he sounds like a douche saying it. 1 Quote Link to comment
mainer311 Posted March 2 Report Share Posted March 2 I call it Cali. Personally I wish it would just break off and fall into the ocean. 1 Quote Link to comment
Socalman Posted March 2 Report Share Posted March 2 1 hour ago, mainer311 said: I call it Cali. Personally I wish it would just break off and fall into the ocean. But if we have a warning before hand, we might all end up in Massachusetts! lol….I was just there last year to watch a NASCAR race at New Hampshire. I really wished someone would have warned me about visiting Provincetown. Geez! 2 1 Quote Link to comment
Pounding Rox Truck Shop Posted March 2 Author Report Share Posted March 2 Sorry, Butthole, USA. Got a nice windshield from a local yard today. I was told it had been in their inventory since the late 70s. We will never know but what if it was the windshield that went missing when my truck was hauled to the scales but then intercepted. Probably not but it's neat to think about. 1 Quote Link to comment
NC85ST Posted March 3 Report Share Posted March 3 You actually found a windshield for that truck in your area? Amazing! I don’t think any of the yards around here have anything older than 10 years old. Way to go! 1 Quote Link to comment
Pounding Rox Truck Shop Posted March 3 Author Report Share Posted March 3 34 minutes ago, NC85ST said: You actually found a windshield for that truck in your area? Amazing! I don’t think any of the yards around here have anything older than 10 years old. Way to go! As shocked as you are! 1 Quote Link to comment
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