I purchased this vehicle in February 2013. It wasn’t the best suited vehicle but was used as my daily driver for the better part of a year. In that time it delivered a lot of pizza’s and although I would like to have called it reliable it certainly acted like a Nancy at times. It suffered a minor front end collision, one of which was driver error but was patched together and remained a work horse for the better part of 4 years until it went under the knife. At this point the motor would foul plugs daily, my cylinder 4 valve was punching itself into the head and my transmission bearings were toast. Up until the time to tear down I had a vision of what I wanted and had collected the parts to make it happen. The end goal is to have a reliable, workhorse with a bit of character.

The truck is a 1971 Datsun 521, I was told it lived most of it’s life as a farm truck. It was used as a marker for a crop spraying operation and was spray painted red to spot easily. It has alot of character but more importantly it is relatively rust free for it’s age. The truck came from the factory with a 1.6 litre L16 motor and a 4-speed transmission. They are geared relatively low and with a 4″ drop it rides surprising well and is very predictable. I purchased a Datsun 620, it comes from the factory with a 2.0 L20B motor and is a relatively easy swap to carry out. I also purchased a donor Datsun 521 to use for front end parts and to have spares, because to be honest it’s getting very difficult to find these trucks nowadays. The rims I have decided to use are rally racing rims off an older 4×4 GM truck. I went with 195/50/15 all around. I purchased a Walbro 32/36 carb and rebuilt it along with upgrading the motor to electronic ignition. Along with that I did some scheduled maintenance as I had access and reliability was in mind. I used UPOL tintable bedliner for the bed and floor of the cab and was very happy with the results.

 

This was a rewarding project, but it’s far from done. The first motor had low compression and the second motor continues to pop valve rocker seats. Along with that my “new” transmission also has shot bearings and there is an issue with the clutch engagement assembly. The brakes are also extremely sketchy. I am required to pump 5 times to build strong and predictable pressure. On the bright side I did get to go for a spirited drive and it was a sensor overload and a glimpse of what I can expect.

When get everything up to a standard I will take some videos and continue to update.
You can also follow some other projects I tackle through instagram @donedreamin.