'Mighty Mouse' 320 Pickup Gets a New Motor & Upgrades

1962-1965 Datsun L320 and NL320 forums - The truck that started it all in the US. All 320-specific topics and discussion can be found here.
deerio
Posts: 92
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2014 11:43 pm
Car: '63 L320
Location: Seattle, WA

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Oooh I never knew a replacement matchbox module cost that much! Might have to reconsider my own plans and follow along with yours!


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difrangia
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:01 am
Car: 1978 Datsun 620 'Longbed', 1964 NL320, 1961 FIAT 500D, 1964 Type 113 Beetle, 79 Ford Festiva
Location: Oklahoma

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Deerio,
The module that I was referring to that runs $100+ is the remote that mounts away from the distributor. I never priced the matchbox module. They might be less as there were more of them used, I think. Can't beat the GM module @ <$20. The non-matchbox dizy is harder to come by. Only used around 1978 on the L-Series engines, I think, again.
Steve

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difrangia
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:01 am
Car: 1978 Datsun 620 'Longbed', 1964 NL320, 1961 FIAT 500D, 1964 Type 113 Beetle, 79 Ford Festiva
Location: Oklahoma

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Been a while since last post but been doing a lot of yard/garden work and sewing up loose ends on the E1. Got about 1 1/2 hours of run-in on it and cleared up several minor coolant/oil leaks. Can't find any unwanted noises. It sure is a lot easier to tend to the little stuff on the stand instead of in the pickup. Got the rocker cover finished up this weekend and the upper PCV hose finished. Here's a couple of photos.

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I got the raw measurements between the air filter housing and the port in the rocker cover and went to the parts store and rummaged through the moulded heater hoses and found something with enough of the right bends to cut up and make the hose. I did the same on the lower hose that connects the rear tappet cover port and the hole that I tapped in the intake manifold under the carb that the PCV valve screws into. Here's the two elbows that I cut out of the moulded hose that will make the upper hose and the little connector that I lathed up to connect them:

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Assembled it all and zip tied the hoses and heat shrunk it all together:

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Getting ready to attack the engine room and get it ready for the new engine. Gathering up the stuff to change to disc brakes while he's in major surgery. Stay tuned.



Steve

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difrangia
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:01 am
Car: 1978 Datsun 620 'Longbed', 1964 NL320, 1961 FIAT 500D, 1964 Type 113 Beetle, 79 Ford Festiva
Location: Oklahoma

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Whew !! It's been a month and a half since the last update. Several other projects, gardening, and lots of grass mowing, and a mini-vacation have eaten up chunks of the spare time. Over a week or two in June I got the salvagable paintwork in the engineroom cleaned up by smearing on gobs of elbow grease. Other than the engine, I'm going for a survivor appearance for the little Sport Truck. I decided that about a third of the paint needed to be redone or touched up. I do want to leave a fair amount of patina and some of the re-painted areas will receive a little weathering before the engine goes back in. All of the frame forward of the trany rear corssmember will be painted chassis black. So about three weeks ago he got moved to the carport for some more scraping, Gunk-Gelling, pressure washing, sandblasting, etching primer, and paint. oK, here's some photos:

This is after the initial hand cleaning

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After blasting areas that I decided would get paint.

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Etching primer in the areas that will get original red (mixed to match by spectragraph scan) or chassis black.

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And finally the paint.

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All of the little primer spots and some of the remaining blemishes will be touched up with an airbrush. The new red paint will get the glaze broken and I might do some light gray airbrush fogging to blend the old and new paint. I know, It might have been easier to paint the whole compartment, but that's not the look I want. Over the past week or so I've skinned off the front brakes down to bare spindles and have it all about 75% cleaned up. The suspension will get primed and chassis black. Then he'll go back inside to get front disc brakes, new master cylinders (dual circuit brakes), and all new brake plumbing. Then we'll just about be ready to marry up the engine and the little pickup again.
Steve

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difrangia
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:01 am
Car: 1978 Datsun 620 'Longbed', 1964 NL320, 1961 FIAT 500D, 1964 Type 113 Beetle, 79 Ford Festiva
Location: Oklahoma

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Forging on ahead; keeping this project rolling. Over the last week I've hiked the Mouse up, removed the front hubs & brakes, scraped & scrubbed, Gunk-Gelled, pressure washed, sand blasted, primed, & chassis blacked the front suspension and lower forward frame.

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I got the bearing adapters and mid-80's disc hubs on today. They'll get blasted, painted, & new bearings & seals when the Mouse is back inside within the next week. I've acquired new rotors, calipers, hoses, etc to finish up the disc convert.

The Mouse is back on his own four skinny legs now. Whoopee !!!

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Li'l Truckie
Posts: 555
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2014 9:28 am
Car: 3 x '65 PL 320
1 x '64 PL 320
1 x '63 PL 320
1 x '62 PL 320 - parts :(
1 x '60 PLG-222
and many more Datsuns from 48hp to over 500hp
Location: Leavenworth, KS

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wow Steve, very impressive. Would you mind sharing your media blast set up with us? It looks like you made quick work with the engine compartment and suspension. I'm in the market for a good set up.

Andy

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difrangia
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:01 am
Car: 1978 Datsun 620 'Longbed', 1964 NL320, 1961 FIAT 500D, 1964 Type 113 Beetle, 79 Ford Festiva
Location: Oklahoma

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i borrowed the small blaster unit from a co-worker. Looks like this with a different brand sticker on it:

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The one that I used had a 'Speed-Aire' sticker. I have seen them with Sears Craftsman stickers. It holds 60 pounds of sand or other media. I did the engine compartment in one setting and the lower frame and outer suspension in another. Each time I put about 20 pounds of fine sand media in it and didn't use it all either time. It worked pretty good for smaller areas like I was working on. If I were doing a whole frame, it would have taken a long time. I had about 35-50 minutes in each blast session. Here is a link to one available online:

http://www.aircompressorsdirect.com/Cam ... /p158.html

I'm thinking that one might find one for a little less with a little looking around.

I'm thinking of acquiring one of these:

http://tinyurl.com/q2sytoj

It holds 30 pounds of media which would be plenty for a job the size that I had to do. Also has a strap and can be slung over the shoulder.

Steve

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difrangia
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:01 am
Car: 1978 Datsun 620 'Longbed', 1964 NL320, 1961 FIAT 500D, 1964 Type 113 Beetle, 79 Ford Festiva
Location: Oklahoma

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I should have included in last post that this blaster is not a very large unit. The canister is about 20" tall and 9-10" square. Very easy to lug around squatting or sitting under the truck fender.

Steve

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difrangia
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:01 am
Car: 1978 Datsun 620 'Longbed', 1964 NL320, 1961 FIAT 500D, 1964 Type 113 Beetle, 79 Ford Festiva
Location: Oklahoma

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Well now, been about a month since the last update on Mighty Mouse. A number of projects have been vying for time but I've been trying to keep the pressure on ol' Mighty Mouse and make progress on getting him back on the road an among the living. I've collected up the last bits for the disc front brake convert and been working on the basic groundwork for putting all the pieces in. I got the master cylinders mounted couple weeks ago and got down to needing to seal up the hole in the firewall where the steering column comes through so I can do all the plumbing needed for the brakes. I've always known this seal as the 'mast jacket'.

The original parts to close up this area have not been available for decades and I've seen several ways on this and other forums to git it done. After a bit of study, here is what I came up with:

Here's the parts laid out on the bench:

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Retaining strap in place:

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I cut the seal from polyethylene foam. This was just a piece of poly foam that came as packing on something that I had ordered online. A person could use their imiganation and utilize a number of items available for the seal. What I used is commonly used for packing and can be found under the name 'Polyplank' on the internet. Here's the seal in place on the firewall:

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I made full size printouts of the patterns for the parts and contact cemented them to the raw materials and cut them out. Here are acouple of photos of the seal fabrication:

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Here's the finished product:

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And finally the CAD drawing that I worked up to fab the parts from. If you print this out and scale it to attain the correct size pr the 1-3 inch scale on the drawing, you have a pattern to make your own.

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Steve

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waynosworld
Posts: 232
Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2015 11:10 pm

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Good job, I use thick rubber scraps from the local hardware store when I do this, although I have never done it to a 320 yet.
This particular one I put the column in after the seal was installed, normally I have to use a two piece mount like you made.
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By the way, this is a 720 column in a 1966 Datsun 520.

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AZhitman
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Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2002 2:04 am
Car: 58 L210, 63 Bluebird RHD, 64 NL320, 65 SPL310, 66 411 RHD, 67 WRL411, 68 510 SR20, 75 280Z RB25, 77 620 SR20, 79 B310, 90 S13, 92 SE-R, 92 Silvia Qs, 98 S14.
Location: Surprise, Arizona
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This is SO totally my favorite thread on the site right now. :)

D, I am so damn excited to start on my NL - it's a lot less daunting after seeing yours coming along.

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Li'l Truckie
Posts: 555
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2014 9:28 am
Car: 3 x '65 PL 320
1 x '64 PL 320
1 x '63 PL 320
1 x '62 PL 320 - parts :(
1 x '60 PLG-222
and many more Datsuns from 48hp to over 500hp
Location: Leavenworth, KS

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Thanks Steve, this is great and sure beats trying to replicate the OE type rubber boot that can only go on with the steering components totally disassembled and removed. Time to put the son to work on modifying your work for the column shift.

Andy

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difrangia
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:01 am
Car: 1978 Datsun 620 'Longbed', 1964 NL320, 1961 FIAT 500D, 1964 Type 113 Beetle, 79 Ford Festiva
Location: Oklahoma

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Thanks, guys,
Yeah, wouldn't be a big chore to add the smaller cutout for the shift rod and extend the lower piece on column shift trucks. I'm sure that there would be other materials that would work as well and maybe even better than the Polyplank that I used. If someone comes up with an alternate material, let us all know.

I'm on to running the brake lines for the disc brakes now. I'll have pics for another a post later in the week. When the brakes are on and I get some jetting work done on the E1 on the cart, the motor can go back in. The Weber is dumping too much gas for the little 1200cc. If anyone has jetting specs for this, let me know.

Steve

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difrangia
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:01 am
Car: 1978 Datsun 620 'Longbed', 1964 NL320, 1961 FIAT 500D, 1964 Type 113 Beetle, 79 Ford Festiva
Location: Oklahoma

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Pics of front disc brake convert items for the 320. In the process of gluing this stuff on Mighty Mouse.

This is the BlueHandskit stuff for one side missing the bearing adapters which are already on the truck spindles.

[imghttp://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag157/sdefrange/Datsun/Datsun%201200%20Sport%20Truck/E1%20Rebuild/Build%20Up/Front%20Disc%20Brake%20Install/New%20Master%20Cylinders_zpslot6olu0.jpg][/img]

Hubs to carry the discs; little blurry, camera wobble?; I'll blame it on the second-first martini:

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New masters from late 70's 620 installed.

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The adapter parts are from Mike K at BlueHandsInc. Super quality and very gracious and helpful guy. Chek out his website with great support including videos:

http://www.bluehandsinc.com/

More pics as the install progresses.

steve

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difrangia
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:01 am
Car: 1978 Datsun 620 'Longbed', 1964 NL320, 1961 FIAT 500D, 1964 Type 113 Beetle, 79 Ford Festiva
Location: Oklahoma

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Man, blew that one on the photo links. Here they are:

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http://www.bluehandsinc.com/

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waynosworld
Posts: 232
Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2015 11:10 pm

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Mike is a great guy, I have two 320s with is brake kits on them, I also have his drop arms on them.

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difrangia
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:01 am
Car: 1978 Datsun 620 'Longbed', 1964 NL320, 1961 FIAT 500D, 1964 Type 113 Beetle, 79 Ford Festiva
Location: Oklahoma

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Right, Wayno. I acquired my disc kit from another 320 owner in Washington and, although it had never been installed, it was missing a couple of minor pieces. Mike helped me figure out the couple of pieces that I needed and supplied them. Super helpful guy and very talented fabricator.

Steve

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difrangia
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:01 am
Car: 1978 Datsun 620 'Longbed', 1964 NL320, 1961 FIAT 500D, 1964 Type 113 Beetle, 79 Ford Festiva
Location: Oklahoma

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I'm a recovering 'Gearhead' and Scotch Blue is my tape.

I got the rest of the lines made for the front and engine room this afternoon. Pics before & after of the master cylinder area:

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Big-A improvement, seems to me. Much less complicated plumbing. I'll add a mechanical switch on the pedal for brakes. Also planning a LED third light. I've done some ad-libing and improvising on the brake plumbing. If it works out OK, I'll share the crazy ideas later. I'm trying to pick up a little steam and get the Mouse ready for the motore re-install. Miles to go before I sleep

Steve

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difrangia
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:01 am
Car: 1978 Datsun 620 'Longbed', 1964 NL320, 1961 FIAT 500D, 1964 Type 113 Beetle, 79 Ford Festiva
Location: Oklahoma

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OK now, work is grinding ahead on the 320. Seems like a slow-grind usually. Thought I was about through in the engineroom and ready to get on the front disc install, then realized I still needed to address the rubber inner fender skirts or dust shields that help keep road grime under the fender and out of the engine and underhood goodies. I was able to salvage about 80% of the original left shield and started developing a pattern from it several says ago. What I had was about to explode with seveal big tears so I stapled it back into near original flat configuration using plastic film (tech name for freezer baggies). Then I digitized the outline and holes and developed a CAD drawing.

I wanted to work this into a full-size PDF so that other owners could print out a template and make a set for their truk. The skirt takes a 12" X 24" piece of material, so I determined that it'd take four 8 1/2 X 11 printer pages pasted together to get the final template. Here's what the beat up original skirt, the template, and the Re-Pop skirt look like:

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Here's the Re-Pop skirt fit-up on the right side:

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And on the left side:

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I used 1/16" neoprene to make up the trial skirt and I'm quite pleased with it. Neoprene is good to 200-220F. Thsi might be pushing it on underhood temperatures. Santoprene goes to 300F and is a good bit more expensive. Have we any rubber/plastic people who might be able to suggest a good affordable material to make these from?

If you are lucky enough to have all the original punched tabs for mounting the skirt (I'm lucky) the holes should line up. If the tabs are gone, use a # 6 or #8 screw and washer to attach the skirt.

OK, member Conner has helped me with hosting the PDF file which is printable so anyone here could make their own template and then skirts. Thanks Conner. You should be able to get the PDF pattern here:

http://www.mydatsun320.com/hosted/320Fe ... mplate.pdf

OK, if anyone else tries this at home, show us your work here.

steve

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difrangia
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:01 am
Car: 1978 Datsun 620 'Longbed', 1964 NL320, 1961 FIAT 500D, 1964 Type 113 Beetle, 79 Ford Festiva
Location: Oklahoma

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I forgot to include that a couple of clippings with a pair of scissors when the skirt is insatalled at the horn bracket and steering box in the front and the shifter belcrank bracket at the left rear (US trucks) will be needed to custom fit to the individual truck. This allows the same pattern to work for both sides. Maybe another little snick at the rear battery tray gusset. Go for it.

steve

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AZhitman
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Car: 58 L210, 63 Bluebird RHD, 64 NL320, 65 SPL310, 66 411 RHD, 67 WRL411, 68 510 SR20, 75 280Z RB25, 77 620 SR20, 79 B310, 90 S13, 92 SE-R, 92 Silvia Qs, 98 S14.
Location: Surprise, Arizona
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Steve, I can host it on the server if you'd like (might save Conner some bandwidth costs as well).

http://www.datsun320.com/320FenderSkirtTemplate.pdf

I typically keep a roll of nitrile rubber in my shop for making gaskets, seals, flaps, and such. I think it would work great for this application.
http://www.rubbercal.com/sheet-rubber/n ... k-60a.html

The piece you used looks like EPDM, which will work for now, but is less resistant to automotive fluids and heat. It'll start cracking in a few years (almost like the "checking" you see on an old tire) as the plasticizers offgass from the material.

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difrangia
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:01 am
Car: 1978 Datsun 620 'Longbed', 1964 NL320, 1961 FIAT 500D, 1964 Type 113 Beetle, 79 Ford Festiva
Location: Oklahoma

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I've been on high center for a bit on the 'Mighty Mouse' endeavor. The season is changing from late Summer to Fall big time lately and I've had a number of other issues like getting the a few house items done for the weather change coming up. The semi-daily driver 64 Bug has had a couple of items needing fixing with one or two left to do. Had to get an arbor built and bout half dozen Kiwi plants set out. Still yet I've sneaked in some little things that needed to be out of the way on the 320 to get ready for the front disc install. Had to cut off the front shock mounts and fab a couple of new ones to fit the later shocks on. I'm not a welder and have never owned a machine, so I've been waiting for a competent welder to cruise over to my shop and stick the mounts and the little brake hose anchor clips on. Had a 'Mission Accomplished' on that yesterday evening. So, this morning I chipped the slag off and cleaned the areas up, got some paint on, and mounted the shocks and caliper adapters. Looks something like this:

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Here's some of the shots of the shock mount fab with the old and new mounts side-by-side for comparison. I used a slice of 1 1/2" square tubing with 1/8" wall thickness which gave the proper distance between the legs of the bracket for the Monroe 32206 shocks. These should be proper for 520 up to who knows what Datsun/Nissan 2WD pickup. Also made a bushing to reduce the bolt size of the shock eye from 1/2" to 3/8". Included is a photo of a dimensioned drawing for the shock brackets:

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Seems that I've been informed that for the 320, if the front suspension is torn down and you have access to 520 lower suspension arms, they can be switched out to use the 32206 shocks without having to change the mounts. Should have more disc install photos in the next week or so. When the brakes are on & bled and the rubber inner fender skirting is on, gonna be ablut time to put the E1 back in where it belongs.

A special thanks to Mike @ bluehandsinc.com for developing the disc update kit. Highly recommended to put these vintage pickups more driveworthy.


Steve

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difrangia
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Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:01 am
Car: 1978 Datsun 620 'Longbed', 1964 NL320, 1961 FIAT 500D, 1964 Type 113 Beetle, 79 Ford Festiva
Location: Oklahoma

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Whopee !! I got an extra hour today to work on the Sport Truck courtesy of DST time change. I got the front bearings packed, the hubs on, the calipers loose mounted, and the inner rubber fender skirting on:

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Looks like it's about down to finalizing the brake plumbing and a couple more minor items and I won't have much of an excuse for not putting the motor back in. Think I'll go back out and run it a little on the stand to sew up a knock-out weekend.

Steve

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waynosworld
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:lolling: It's funny how running an engine on a test stand can make one feel better, but it does. :lolling:

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AZhitman
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Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2002 2:04 am
Car: 58 L210, 63 Bluebird RHD, 64 NL320, 65 SPL310, 66 411 RHD, 67 WRL411, 68 510 SR20, 75 280Z RB25, 77 620 SR20, 79 B310, 90 S13, 92 SE-R, 92 Silvia Qs, 98 S14.
Location: Surprise, Arizona
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Steve, still my favorite thread. :)

What's the coating on the calipers?

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difrangia
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:01 am
Car: 1978 Datsun 620 'Longbed', 1964 NL320, 1961 FIAT 500D, 1964 Type 113 Beetle, 79 Ford Festiva
Location: Oklahoma

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Yeah, Wayno, I have about three hours on the E1 now and have found all the little leaks and re-jetted the carb and countless other little things have been taken care of that is many times easier than in the vehicle. It's so neat to run on the cart that I almost hate to hide it away in the pickup.....NOT !!

AZ, the calipers had that finish on them when they came from RockAuto. They're rebuilts. I'd guess that it's cad coating. They sure look neat though.

Steve

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difrangia
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:01 am
Car: 1978 Datsun 620 'Longbed', 1964 NL320, 1961 FIAT 500D, 1964 Type 113 Beetle, 79 Ford Festiva
Location: Oklahoma

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Cad plating as in cadmium. I'm no plated finish expert so it could be something else. Just guessing cadmium.
Steve

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Li'l Truckie
Posts: 555
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2014 9:28 am
Car: 3 x '65 PL 320
1 x '64 PL 320
1 x '63 PL 320
1 x '62 PL 320 - parts :(
1 x '60 PLG-222
and many more Datsuns from 48hp to over 500hp
Location: Leavenworth, KS

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Steve,

Great update and thanks for the info, seriously good stuff. I see you stayed with the 6 lug hub. I was wondering if you were staying with this or updating to the more common 5 lug hub with all of the other updates.

Andy

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difrangia
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:01 am
Car: 1978 Datsun 620 'Longbed', 1964 NL320, 1961 FIAT 500D, 1964 Type 113 Beetle, 79 Ford Festiva
Location: Oklahoma

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Yeah, Truckie, Mike's disc conversion kit uses the mid 80's hubs, discs, & rotors and I just stayed with that for now. I plan on using the wheels and 520 hubcaps that I have now. I have three decent original 320 hubcaps and if I can round up one more, I might have them straightened up and re-plated. Who knows what might develop down the road?

Steve

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waynosworld
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Here is one of them offset starters on ebay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DATSUN-320-PICK ... vA&vxp=mtr


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