Hi Folks,

As a way of introduction I’m Li’l Truckie. A recently new member and moderator, a true honor, to the NiCo Forum Team. I currently have six Datsun 320, that’s probably five too many, but the wife still loves me. So here is the quick rundown:

1962, white, without original engine. Pretty much for parts and totally dismantled . Previous owner(s) lost interest when they realized the original transmission would not mate up to the J13 engine.

1963, white, E-1 engine, just not original one, runs. Converter to alternator/negative ground. Starts and runs, but needs a little help stopping.

1964, bamboo tan, original E-1 engine, runs. Current focus of the fleet.

1965 (1), red (originally white), rebuilt engine (~$1200 parts and labor), column shift, runs. A very rusty bed and typical rust around the cab mounting point. Yeah, these two do not add up. A pretty good cab, but rusted bed, hmmm….

1965 (2), red, floor shift, E-1 MK-III engine, runs. Pretty sure this was park ranger truck back in the day. Rust free bed, but somehow the rockers have rusted away. Flawless mechanics; starts quicker than an $85K Nissan GTR! All new or rebuilt brakes and hydraulics. Can make the long trips with no problems (just don’t ask how long).

1965 (3), red, floor shift, E-1 MK-IV engine, runs. End of the line PL-320 as it sits on a frame with the 520 spare tire chain bracket and not the swing arm type spare tire holder. I am the third owner as this 320 lived its first 50 years in Lewistown, MT with the previous two owners. Still has the dealer sticker on the tailgate. It has original interior seat upholstery (just shot), that I am using the pattern and measurements for other 320 interior projects.

As you can see my expertise is with the 320, as through headaches, heartaches, wrong parts, returns, no returns accepted, and occasionally the correct part, I have learned quite a bit of what works and does not work on the 320s. I have a good handle on where to source, mend, or fabricate just about any and I mean any, part for the little 320, but still looking for some help.

In the next day or two, I will publish a list of upcoming topics, issues, and discoveries. In the meantime if you any questions or comments please share them here in the 320 Forum. I will do my best to answer any questions, with answers linked to applicable part numbers, compatible part numbers, where to buy, and websites so you can find your own parts before heading to the parts store.

Thanks

Li’l Truckie

We need some help can we take the shifter off the column and do a floor shifter for a 1963 datsun 320 also is there a number to call u at my man has a lot of questions and he isn't computer savy

can we take the shifter off the column and do a floor shifter

Yes, but this can be complicated with the transmission you chose. Pretty much everything from the backplate to rear axle will have to be modified or changed out. So sourcing items/parts can get expensive for a 320.

Check your PM for my number

andy

here's the link to the Running on a Budget that list an extensive breakdown for swapping out the transmission-, about 3/4 of the way down on page one where you see the green 320 with the cut up transmission tunnel - no this is not factory, I do not care what this guy thought.

running-on-a-budget-63-pl-320-t586738.html

Andy

Datsun320,

Just checking to see if you were able to open the PM?

Andy

I am new on this so I have to find the PM....LOL. THANK YOU so u actually have to change tranny.....

datsun320,

Thanks for the call. We'll have you on the road in no time. Again, don't worry about parts. They are available from one of several sources.

v/r
Andy

THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!

Hi Li'l Truckie and the rest of the gang. Just signed up to this site today....lots of good info. I'm going by Customjohn and been working on my 65 l320. I'm not a computer guy so I hope this even reaches you! I,ve done a lot of mods to my truck and just painted it. Now I'm having trouble finding all the window rubber, felts, door rubber and such (I understand the wing window rubber is just about impossible to get). Can the next generation of truck wing window rubber be modified to fit? If you know of any suppliers for these pieces I would appreciate getting their info. Thanxs!

CustomJohn,

Welcome aboard. We are small eclectic bunch here to help in the Datsun 320 Forum. So you have come to the right place to find more info on some hard to get parts. I'm also sure, like 100%, other folks and I would love to see your modification and compare our notes/mods to yours!

Here's a quick break down on your parts list

Window rubber - check eBay for front and rear glass rubber seal. Also your local HotRod shop might be able to help with a generic seal that they can cut and vulcanize for you.
Door Rubber - I'll post this in a little bit, but I have gone through 3 failures before finding, what I call, the perfect door seal. The stuff on eBay is not what you want and I'll show you why. Your local commercial upholster supplier might have something close too. But a heads up that they might have two prices - a bulk buy price and say a less than 100ft price.
For the door fuzzy strip and door glass felt - again check out you commercial upholstery supplier - they should be able to square you away - if not, let me know and I can get you the correct fuzzy with clips and the door glass channel felt.

Quarter glass - yeah sorry, good luck here. Also I do not know what other Datsun or other make is the closest to what we need or if "close" is really that close and worth your time and money.

Lastly if you could copy paste your thread over to the Datsun VIN Registry that would be great as that is usually where folks introduce themselves. I'd move it over, but I do not have those "DatsunMan" powers.

Again welcome aboard.
Li'l Truckie

Welcome Customjohn

First I would ask you your approximate location.
We have been trying to have wingwindow seals made for a long time, someday it will happen.
I can place an order for windshield and rear window rubber(good quality), but they cost me quite a bit to have made, the last time I paid a tiny bit over $100.00 for each seal, and then still had to have them shipped to me, I was selling them for $135.00 shipped, they did not sell fast, so all you can do then is take a chance with what is on ebay, and hope it don't crack within a year, if I had over a 20 seal order that over half were already sold, I would place an order, but I have not bought any from the guy in a couple years now, they might be more now.
The door seals I use are, part #1120A223 from McMaster-carr.
I use roadster(311 series) window channel felt sold by "rallye enterprizes", part#802-24, it works great, but it takes 2 orders to do one L320 truck.
The 1984 Mazda wingwindow seals/gaskets are close, but they need to be stretched from top to bottom, and the rear part of the frame needs to be modified or some other means need to be found to attach the gasket, as it is not connected, the Mazda connects the rear different than the other 2 sides, I do have some extra 320 wingwindow gaskets, but they are far from nice, but one can't be to picky if they have nothing to start with.
Here is a thread on Ratsun about the 320 wing window gaskets, I show how the Mazda gaskets are different, the photos start on page 2 I believe, I am "Wayno" on Ratsun.
http://community.ratsun.net/topic/36990 ... ers/page-6

Customjohn wrote:Hi Li'l Truckie and the rest of the gang. Just signed up to this site today....lots of good info. I'm going by Customjohn and been working on my 65 l320. I'm not a computer guy so I hope this even reaches you! I,ve done a lot of mods to my truck and just painted it. Now I'm having trouble finding all the window rubber, felts, door rubber and such (I understand the wing window rubber is just about impossible to get). Can the next generation of truck wing window rubber be modified to fit? If you know of any suppliers for these pieces I would appreciate getting their info. Thanxs!

Hey Li'l Truckie, thanks again for the info. Been busy with others things so haven't been online. I will post my vin # as well as a couple pics after Thanksgiving as well as get serious tracking those parts you mentioned. By the way, i'm in the Sacramento Calif area. Been working off and on on this little truck. A lot of mods. Narrowed and shortened chevy stepside bed, recessed headlights, and running lights, fabricated my own front and rear bumpers as well as grill. Nice to talk to someone else that has one of these!!! Talk to you soon and have a great Thanksgiving! Custom John

CustomJohn,

You and me both. Been remodeling the kitchen and family room so Thanksgiving dinner was on the coffee table and couch. Hope to finish up drywall and stringing RG6 cable through the house this weekend, paint Mon/Tue, with new cabinets (stacked up in the living room) going in Thu/Fri.

v/r
Andy

Hi Andy,

First off thank you for sharing your deep knowledge on everything 320. I've got a '62 with a J15 and stock 4 on the column.

Even though I'm running a J15 it has the stock 320 Hitachi distributor. I've been reading through all your posts on 320 distributors and found correct points on eBay but can't find the correct rotor. I'm wondering if in the long run it might make sense to just purchase a J15 distributor since parts are readily available. AutoZone sells a rebuilt Cardone Reman Distributor, number 31-600 which looks close. The only thing I worry about is fitting up the mounting bracket. Do you think that distributor might work or do you know of what that will?

Thanks again!
Moses
Tucson AZ

TusconL320,

Rotors - yes, that's correct. It's been a while, 5-6 months, since the two vendors from Thailand have posted any up for sale.

Let me see if I can PM you.

I'm wondering if in the long run it might make sense to just purchase a J15 distributor since parts are readily available. AutoZone sells a rebuilt Cardone Reman Distributor, number 31-600 which looks close.

This should come with a single bolt bracket. If not the D406 distributor bracket may work. In the long run parts are more readily available for this remanufactured distributor.

Andy

If it comes with the single bolt bracket and it fits my motor I'll likely go for it.

I also came the Hot Spark HS45D4 Distributor that looks like the same style rotor, same style hold down clamp and drive gear. It's listed for an MG and Austin of the same era and I know there's cross over between early Datsuns and early British motors. I emailed the Hot Spark people asking for a schematic with measurements to see if it's a contender:

I also came the Hot Spark HS45D4 Distributor that looks like the same style rotor, same style hold down clamp and drive gear. It's listed for an MG and Austin of the same era and I know there's cross over between early Datsuns and early British motors. I emailed the Hot Spark people asking for a schematic with measurements to see if it's a contender

Okay, a word of caution.......

So yes the early Hitachi D406 and the Queen of Darkness Lucas 45D are somewhat compatible but from my experience not a direct swap.....

When the E1 motor is at 15 degrees B-TDC the Hitachi D406 rotor points to the hour hand position of 1:30 to 2:30. So upper right. When I pulled my D406 and put in the Petronix electronic distributor the rotor pointed back to the 10:00 position. Yes, the engine is still at 15 degrees B-TDC. I messed with the plug wires some and rotated the distributor but could not get it to run smoothly.

So the only option I see for now is to pull the distributor drive cog and rotate it clockwise to rotate the Petronix rotor to the generally same position 2:30 as the Hitachi D406. Yes, the distributor drive cog is threaded so you can do this with the engine in the truck. Bolt is a 5/16 with 24 pitch thread. You better MAKE SURE you get a big gubber washer to go on this bolt! I played around with a motor I overhauled/disassembled and YES the distributor drive cog can fall into the oil pan. The washer should prevent this. Also remember your motor is 50+ years old and there is probably a lot of sludge in that distributor drive cog threaded whole so if you do go this route pull the drive cog out immediately, remove the 5/16 bolt, and clean out the whole before you start trying to place it in the correct position for the new distributor. If I remember correctly the drive cog rotates to the left/counter-clock, yes just double check, so you see the issue of the 5/16 bolt and the rotation of the drive cog for removal. That's right, if the 5/16 bolt is not tight and you keep pulling the distributor drive cog in and out to get it in the correct position it may come loose/unthreaded and go "klink" down into your oil pan.

No idea how much the AutoZone distributor is but if it is not a direct replacement for the J13 I would look else where too. MossMotor and VictoriaBritish sell the Lucas Type D45 and an Electronic ignition distributor, so check these prices first, I think $99 for the points/rotor D45 and I believe I paid $219 for the Petronix that I have not messed with for a while. Also NAPA does sell a direct replacement/remanufactured distributor for the J13/520, so I would hope for this one you do not have to adjust the distributor drive cog.

Oh, and the Lucas rotor DOES NOT WORK. The little alignment tabs inside the rotor are 180 degrees different.

So with this info you can see why I just stay with the D406 and rebuild them. Let me know what you would like to do. I can help you rebuild this one to as good as new.

One last piece of info - What is your 320 - positive ground (generator) or negative ground (alternator)? Should not make a difference if you are going with points/rotor, but if you go with an electronic ignition it DOES MATTER.

v/r
Andy

Holy Moly Any thank you! You're knowledge on everything L320 runs DEEP.

My 320 is neg ground which I found out the hard way when I first bought the truck. It wasn't running/driving and didn't have a battery. I ready that 320s were pos. ground so I hooked it up pos ground and burned out the coil.

Staying with the D46 might make most sense as I'm new to old school distributors and points and don't feel confident doing modifications. Also I found on eBay the correct points and have the original cap and rotor which seem fine.

If you can help me rebuild mine to good as new that'd be AMAZING! Quick question, do you know if the D46 condenser is readily available at the local parts store?

No problem.

Negative ground, sound like you have an alternator then. But yes, positive ground with generator from the factory.

Yes, parts store should have a condenser that is 22-24 mfd (microfarads). I thinks this is the right mfd. Its in the manual, but you'll have to dig for it. Question is whether or not it is the correct small size that fits in the distributor.

Okay, just checked - 20-24 mfd, see page 59. Pretty much the condenser is just double the line voltage - ie 12 volts therefore 20-24 mfd.

PM if you can, if not here's my everything Datsun email. - [email protected]

v/r
Andy

Keep in mind that he has a J15 with a 320 distributor, 320 distributors are infinitely adjustable, while all the others are only adjustable a limited amount.
I was thinking on the other forum, that he should get a J13/J15 distributor for his J15, but he doesn't have all the mount hardware for that distributor, and it doesn't come with it, the 320 mount hardware doesn't fit the J13/J15 distributor, so right now he is just trying to find something that will work, as the 320 tune-up parts are hard to come by these days.

The rebuilt J15 distributor came in and unfortunately it didn't come with the hold down clamp so I returned it. I've been searching high and low for a J13 or J15 dizzy hold down clamp but no luck.

I found the right 320 points, condenser, and distributor cap so I'm just going to focus on tuning up the stock distributor for the time being.

Is there anything I need to do to tune up the vacuum advance?

Thanks again everyone!

Go to car-part.com and search for an early (pre-mid-68) 520 (with the J13 engine) distributor. I see one on there in Erie, CO for $45. Call and ask if they include the mounting bracket, since that's what you want. That plus the Cardone rebuilt dizzy and your problem is solved for around $100, which isn't too terrible.

Personally I would love to be able to design/fabricate a mounting bracket that allows the J13 distributor to mount straight onto the E1 engine. That would allow us to switch to a much more readily available rebuilt J13 distributor for which points, rotors, and caps still are available without molesting the original stock E1 distributor. The tricky thing is, as noted above, the E1 dizzy rotates 360 degrees because its mounting plate is a simple clamp with two bolt holes. The J13 dizzy (I have one) doesn't have an obvious place to mount such a clamp and instead connects to its mounting plates using a screw that goes into the distributor body. So I have envisioned a single plate hybrid mount for the J13 distributor that has the countersunk mounting hole for the screw into the J13 dizzy and has slotted screw holes that allow it to rotate on the E1 engine block bolts something close to 180 degrees. I'm not sure if that would be enough rotation or not. I also don't know how thick the hybrid bracket would need to be to allow the J13 dizzy to seat down just the right amount into the E1 engine block either. If anyone has one out of their truck and is willing to send me their original E1 mounting bracket so I can take some measurements (mine is on my engine and I'd rather not pull it if I don't have to) I can try to start figuring out what a hybrid bracket would have to look like to mate to the E1 engine and the J13 distributor. Let me know. I would send it right back after getting its dimensions.

Also feel free to let me know your thoughts on this idea, let me know if I'm crazy for thinking about this, or otherwise put in your two cents.

All you really need is a E1 style bracket with a smaller hole in the center to fit the J series shaft, height wise if the bracket is the same thickness as the E1 mount bracket, it should work fine.

It's not likely that one can copy the E1 bracket though, as it has a bolt thru it with eyes, so another way will have to be thought of, maybe a couple tangs with holes in them that are bent up at a 90 degree angle, but I am sure if enough thought were put into it the bracket could be made exactly the way they made the stock E1 bracket, Mike finds places to do that kind of stuff after the plates are cut.

Nice. Thanks, Wayno. That picture is very helpful.

I wrote this article today about making a matchbox distributor to replace the 320 distributor on an E1/J13 engine, I am not a writer, it is fairly easy to do, but you need to have a negative ground truck.
http://www.nwdatsuns.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1415

So, it appears I cannot edit my post above for some reason, so I will add this, I successfully made a positive ground electronic ignition for my 1963 Datsun L320/E1 engine with the stock generator today using a MG Midget distributor that had a Crane XR3000 electronic ignition optically triggered system in it, I used the MG Midget distributor with the stock 320 mount bracket on it, the distributor bolts right in and is 360 degree adjustable, the wiring is really strange, but it works great, and it is a bolt in, I did an update to the link in my last post.
There are 2 Midget/Triumph 1500 used optical trigger distributors on Ebay right now with everything needed I believe to do this to your E1 engine and keep the stock positive ground charging system, this will also work on the J13/J15 series engines, but they can easily use the matchbox distributor since they are negative ground.