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1968 Datsun 520 SD22 diesel build


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cool.gifHeres how it all began........

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The old smokey j13

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All shined up.

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After looking for about year for a motor and drivetrain for this truck I finally found the perfect engine a sd22 diesel in a 1981 Datsun 720.

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The cab off for the fitting sd22...

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The motor mounts we had to make.

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The fitting of the engine and transmission

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The sd22 in the truck with the cab installed.

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Wow was that a tight fit.

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Looks great. Where is the radiator going?

 

I notched out the the front core support about an inch now I have the radiator in with the fan from the j13 I will take a picture in the tomorrow.

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That is one of the problems I have with the L20B is the radiator. I have a radiator out of a prelude that I am modding in.

 

I will post some pictures next week in my build thread.

 

That diesel should really pull that little truck well. Nice work, please keep us posted.

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Did you know that the 720 diesel never was offered with an automatic? Only a 5 spd and was never in the 4X4?

 

Did you know that the diesel bell housing will fit the Roadster motor? allowing the FS5W71B 5 speed to be swapped on?? Some mixing and matching of clutch arms and bearing collars are needed but it's do able. Bet you didn't! :o

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Did you know that the diesel bell housing will fit the Roadster motor? allowing the FS5W71B 5 speed to be swapped on?? Some mixing and matching of clutch arms and bearing collars are needed but it's do able. Bet you didn't! :o

Wow you should write a book! How do you know all this stuff?

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Did you know that the diesel bell housing will fit the Roadster motor? allowing the FS5W71B 5 speed to be swapped on?? Some mixing and matching of clutch arms and bearing collars are needed but it's do able. Bet you didn't! :o

Wow you should write a book! How do you know all this stuff?

In this case, he learned it from me. A roadster guy in Vancouver, BC figured it out.

 

The other question roadster folks are wondering is if the SD22 3-main/SD25 5-main cranks will fit the R16 3-main/5-main blocks for a stroker.

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  • 1 month later...

I sick of working on mechanical stuff so I turned my attention to the interior.<div>Heres a few pics</div><div>004.jpg</div><div>003.jpg</div><div>005.jpg</div><div>007.jpg</div><div>007-1.jpg</div><div>009.jpg</div><div>011.jpg</div><div>016.jpg</div><div>The seats are from a dodge of some kind I still have to figure out  the the wiring for the power seats. the carpet is out of a 720. </div>

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I like this build! diesels are an awesome engine because they run on oil for energy. Now, on a side note, diesels aren't as efficient in a normally aspirated configuration. Therefore an exhaust driven blower, as time and money permits, will be a welcomed boost in performance. Remember, if you don't like the guy behind you just smoke them out!!! :lol: By the way, do I spy a speaker-boom set behind those seats?

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I like this build! diesels are an awesome engine because they run on oil for energy. Now, on a side note, diesels aren't as efficient in a normally aspirated configuration. Therefore an exhaust driven blower, as time and money permits, will be a welcomed boost in performance. Remember, if you don't like the guy behind you just smoke them out!!! :lol: By the way, do I spy a speaker-boom set behind those seats?

 

Ya, them are my amps and x overs behind the seats I am going to build a sub box that fit where the package tray is and I am going to be putting a set of components in the door.

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In this case, he learned it from me. A roadster guy in Vancouver, BC figured it out.

 

The other question roadster folks are wondering is if the SD22 3-main/SD25 5-main cranks will fit the R16 3-main/5-main blocks for a stroker.

 

Good question. The LD28 crank fits the L28 motor that can't be coincidence.

 

 

Now, on a side note, diesels aren't as efficient in a normally aspirated configuration. Therefore an exhaust driven blower, as time and money permits, will be a welcomed boost in performance.

 

Not sure what you mean. A n/a diesel is way more efficient than a n/a gas engine. A turbo diesel will definitely make way more power than a n/a diesel.

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I like these kind of projects also, I found a convertable 520 in redmond oregon(I have a pic. somewhere), it was/is a good after market job with a visor, I got the tape measure out, and I could see no way to get the SD22 engine in it, the engine is 26" long from bellhousing to the fan, as I recall there was only 25" to 26" in the engine compartment from firewall to radiator mount surface. Did you locate the transmission shifter hole farther back, or did you mate a nissan 720 short shaft 5 speed to the diesel casing and use the stock 520 shifter hole? Datsun/nissan parts are so interchangable, you can also get the L20B case off a 1980 720, a short shaft 5 speed out of a 1985 nissan two wheel drive regular cab 720( you need the speedo drive), mate the l20B casing to the napz 5 speed transmission, and bolt it in to any L block datsun 521. What did you do about the heater core? Was there be any room in the back of the engine for the hoses, or were they routed somewhere else?

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In this case, he learned it from me. A roadster guy in Vancouver, BC figured it out.

 

This is Mr. Peters' Roadster bell with just the bolt pattern trimmed off.

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This is the bell from an SD motor that I brought to Canby:

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This is the SD bell with the Roadster bolt pattern on top.

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One or two minor misplaced holes. The rest are bang on though maybe the wrong size. Critical engine alignment dowel holes are there.

 

Pete I owe you the 62mm cover plate still, haven't forgotten.

 

.

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<br>I like these kind of projects also, I found a convertable 520 in redmond oregon(I have a pic. somewhere), it was/is a good after market job with a visor, I got the tape measure out, and I could see no way to get the SD22 engine in it, the engine is 26" long from bellhousing to the fan, as I recall there was only 25" to 26" in the engine compartment from firewall to radiator mount surface. Did you locate the transmission shifter hole farther back, or did you mate a nissan 720 short shaft 5 speed to the diesel casing and use the stock 520 shifter hole? Datsun/nissan parts are so interchangable, you can also get the L20B case off a 1980 720, a short shaft 5 speed out of a 1985 nissan two wheel drive regular cab 720( you need the speedo drive), mate the l20B casing to the napz 5 speed transmission, and bolt it in to any L block datsun 521. What did you do about the heater core? Was there be any room in the back of the engine for the hoses, or were they routed somewhere else?

 

I used the the stock transmission from the 720 donor truck and the shifter came up trough the floor  just at the back of the stock hole.

 

I had to notch the rad support about a inch to get the radiator and mechanical fan from the j 13 to fit. I am going to have to have the the inlet and outlet positions changed on the radiator or have a custom one built.

 

The heater core won't be problem I just have to put some 90 degree hose adapters on.

 

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These are the pictures of the 520 convertible I refered to earlier, it was a good conversion and even had a visor(rivits above the windshield are the mount) which is in the front seat, the truck was a bit beat up, and only had a salvage/towing paper work, no title. That fan is close on your project, you don't need cowling when it is that close, when I put the diesel in my 69 521 I had to trim the fan blades(stock diesel fan) shorter because the lower radiator outlet was in the way, but the J13 radiator worked fine without modifacation. Ok, you need to do some hunting around for the other style of diesel thermostat housing, they made at least three differant ones, you have the one that points the most foreward, say 7 pm(usa), there is another one that points to 8 pm(usa), and another to 9 pm, don't know all the places the later one went to, never seen one in the usa except on the sd22 engine I had shipped here, I have all three, I will try to get a picture of all three together tomarrow afternoon. I think that the 8 pm one will work for you, also the J13 thremostat housing will also bolt to the diesel engine and it points another way(can't remember, I think more up, but the right derection, but it has a smaller hose size, but the J13 housing is the same size as the upper radiator outlet. I cut my heater core inlet and outlet tubes shorter and used heater hoses with 90 degree bends in them and connected them to the stock hoses by the firewall, but I had to connect them before I put the heater housing in position, would have been a problem if either of them leaked, would have had to pull it all back out. I have bolted a diesel transmission to a U20 roadster engine, the only problem I had was you had to take pilot bearing out, the hole in the crank wasn't big enough in the U20 to have a pilot bearing, the hole was the right size without it. Hmmm, no pilot bearing, I think that is a bad idea, I think some machine work would be needed, custom parts suck!

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