Well I'm back again. This time with a 1960 Datsun plg221. I bought this with the full intent of restomodding it. Now that i have it and have learned the rarity and condition of it I'm a tad conflicted tearing into it. However, as parts have been unobtainium I find myself accepting the fact that running is better than rotting...
Enging is a whopping 48hp. From what i can find its called an A1. This is #509 So far I've been able to get her running, but only with the choke on. I broke the OEM hitachi distributor cap. Was able to find a replacement on ebay, but it was hundreds of dollars and in Vietnam so F that... i found a similar no name one online and took a gamble and it paid off. OEM mechanical fuel pump gone and blocked off. Badass aftermarket 60s electric fuel pump dead. Had to break down and buy a low pressure lawn mower pump from Amazon.
You might still be able to get parts for the engine or at least rebuild some of them. The engine was used in other Datsun models of the time. I’m aware there are sites that list interchangeability with other old Datsun engines.
I had a 1965 Datsun pickup with the "Cameo" bed that was sort of part of the cab. here's one just like it but in better shape. paid $500.00 for it around 1985, mine was a 4 speed column shift.slammed the brakes one time and blew out the master cylinder, after it sat for a while I sold it for $300.00. easy $10,000 truck now. the frame on the 65 is a minaiture version of my 73 truck. they also built station wagons on this truck chassis also had a 73 pickup, 72 240Z, and a 72 510 wagon
Cool little truck but man, it is tiny! I'm guessing there won't be any plans for a 392 hemi swap. Lol
Mine is a 4 on the tree. Took me a while to figure out reverse. Thanks YouTube, i never would've gotten that. Truck is TINY!!! 58" wide overall. Engine is 18" long. Mazda Miata just happens to be 59" wide (pay attention class)
my mums GRHS first car was a datsun 1200 deluxe.a 4 door with an unkillable motor.learned to drive in that car great engines and better quality than nissans we have now.
49ratfink, about the master cylinder.. mines failed also. Leaks out the pushrod. Yet another piece i can't find. I just ordered a universal AFCO unit. I'll report back once that comes in.
45 in the US when it was new? wow...that is scarce. Not quite as scarce as that fellow's 58 Toyopet, but I can see it would be hard to decide what to do with it. they're not scarce because everyone wanted them, apparently Miata plan sounds like fun, but they have struts that go up pretty far into the body...
Question for the gurus, what would cause a blinker to light but not flash? My front driver light blinks, but the front passenger just stays lit and doesnt flash
not enough load, meaning one or more bulbs is not getting proper ground (usual) or a bulb is burned out or wiring bad. But look for grounds first...you can even try connecting a wire from a good ground (battery) to the metal sleeve of the bulb, and see if it starts working magically
Electrical has been a nightmare. Wires twisted together with no tape. Bare wires under the dash. Wire running from the key switch into the engine bay just to be grounded on the fender. Aftermarket ammeter wired backwards. Tail lights missing and replaced with single wire signal-stat marker lights. (No brake or signals) Ballast resistor with spade terminals accept the guy didnt have the spades so he just fed the wire through the hole and twisted it. 2 NGK sparkplugs and 2 autolite sparkplugs. Sparkplug wires held together with electrical tape ... so much more haha
I did not know! That would probably explain why the ammeter is reading backwards haha. Its currently running negative ground, and reading 14v at the battery. I have zero experience with positive ground. I wonder what cluster fawk i have going now
Sorry man, but if that ride would be worth restoring in the condition its in, with everything missing or bad, and is worth $5K -$6K (or more), someone else would own it. If that is the case, it may be worth putting out a few ads, to find the restorer guy. Low production number doesn't always add up to being valuable. You still need to find that guy that wants it and has to money to buy it. If you really want to restomod what is left of it, go for it, and don't be concerned. The other option is, you could always not make any modifications that can't easily be undone, and save what you took off the truck for the next restorer to have, after he buys it from you. Set the cab/bed on the Mazda Chassis, keep the original for the restorer guy.
My new master cylinder came in today. I can't believe how smoothly everything went. All i had to do to make it fit was ream the holes out a tad, and adapt the pushrod.
Many Japanese auto engines of that era were basically copies of British engines. That Datsun engine is a copy of the B-series Austin and is identical to the motors found in MGAs and MGBs. The Datsun versions are usually smaller in displacement. They were used up thru the 70s so finding parts or even bolting in a more powerful 1800 MGB engine would be a piece of cake. I'm not sure what HP the Datsun engine in that truck has, but MGBs are in the 95 HP range and can make more. Cams, intakes, exhaust manifolds, SU carbs, distributors will mostly interchange. That "rare" distributor cap is about $12 from Moss, for example. https://mossmotors.com/mga-039-distributor https://mossmotors.com/150-040-supercharger-system
old Datsuns have an incredible following. Datsun did not start importing in large numbers until 1967 when the 510 came out, even then it was just 60,000 units. I bet under 1,500 of these 62 trucks were imported this 1960 sold for $25,000.00 a few years back.
Your carb is probably something uniquely Japanese but you could swap on some SUs or get a manifold for a downdraft 2bbl Weber DGV or side draft DCOE. Headers for an MG may or may not work because they'll fit the engine but may not clear steering or chassis components.
One last caveat,. Before you rush off to but a bunch of mg parts based on my replies, check with the ratsun forum. Some of the engine parts I know will work, but I'm only about 50% sure on others since I don't do much work on old Datsuns.
The first thing i noticed with the first photo of the engine was the lifting hook on top of the valve cover. Your missing one and they are exactly the same as on my 1947 / 1953 Austin A40s.
After looking there really is no space for any type of side draft setup. Im stuck going vertical. I really need help finding a new accelerator pump for this thing. Im pretty sure this is why it was parked decades ago. I found a post in another forum from years ago, and it had to be about this exact truck. I just cant verify because all the pics are now gone. But the info lines up exactly with this truck. Anyways... they were looking for an accelerator pump then... If anyone could help I'd be greatly appreciative. The carb is a Hitachi single barrel. VAA28 1A
If it uses the cup type, you might be able to find a cup for the accelerator pump from dimensions, or if it's a leather one that's riveted/staked in place, some patient fiddling might be able to fix it. if it's a diaphragm, maybe you could make or modify one from another car? pictures would of course help point you in the right direction, we're guessing blind on internal carb parts
I'll try and get pics, just had it apart again earlier today. I have an accelerator pump from a Carter WO i was hoping i could steal the seal from. Its just barely to big, coming in at 5/8". I cant tell if the bad one is really brittle rubber or really brittle leather. Half of it was in pieces in the bottom of the bowl. Best description i can give without pics is that the one i have looks like a stromberg one without the bend at the top.
I did some math. Im probably wrong but from what im finding is one size smaller than 5/8 would be about a 15mm replacement cup. What are the odds of finding that locally on memorial day haha
Oh man thats probably the one haha I noticed mine has a spring in it like this one. So it probably was rubber
The Jalopy Journal
