Hey all, recently purchased a 71 datsun 521 pick up
with the L16. Problem, previous owner blew the head gasket. Now I've done a couple of head gasket replacements before but all on new cars. So pardon me if this comes across as a stupid problem but I want to make sure I'm doing this right before I break somthing. how do you get the fan actuator? off do i use a puller? and what its the white fluid that is in there?

I am not sure why you need to remove the fan to change the headgasket.
How I change a headgasket is to turn it to TDC with the rotor pointing at #1 plug wire, disconnect the hoses connected to the head and intake, disconnect the plug wires, remove the intake and disconnect the exhaust, remove the valve cover, take a 1X2X18" piece of wood and jam it between the timing chain inside the timing chain cover, remove the cam sprocket making sure to either mark the chain and sprocket so you know how it goes back on, or zip tie the chain to the sprocket before removing it, remove the headbolts and the two small 10mm bolts on the front of the head, and then remove the head.
Clean up the head and block, and put it back together the way you took it apart.