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1966 datsun 520 kingcab project, act 2


wayno

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I mounted the cab today, at least temporarly, I now know the clearances, took a few Oics. of the engine and radiator areas, the rad. has to be 1 to 2 inches lower than it is in the oics. here, but that is not going to be a problem, the fan clears the front of the radiator by about 1 inch. I will be running the stock L20b clutch fan and I did have to trim the lip that sticks out on the firewall around the valve cover, the engine is as close as about 3/8 of an inch from the firewall in a couple of places.

 

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The clearance of the transfer case is less than an eighth inch on both sides, the cab is as low as I can get it without cutting on it.

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Looks tight Wayno. Lets hope ther eis not much torque twist. I can not quite tell from the pictures but can you change the side bracket mounting to pull the radiator more forward. Also check a 620 radiator I believe they are taller might save you from having to lower it.

 

What I was suggesting on the heater core tubes is too cut the rolled bead out of the pipes bend up a piece of 5/8" tubing and then sweat the mew piece to the old heater tube. This what I will be trying if I can not get anything else to work.

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Hey Charlie, as you can see in the photos:lol:, if you weld/sweat anything other than a strait peice on the end of the core tubes, you will not be able to remove the core from the heater box, as it is removed threw the front by pulling it strait out. But if the tubes are cut about an inch to inch and a half you can slide/force a heater hose with a 90 degree bend on, and squeeze the hose threw the gap created by the mount legs between the firewall and the heater box itself on the inside of the cab. The 720 hoses are clamped on the inside of the cab and routed out the firewall. I did something like this on my 69 KC project except it made the 90 degree turn after it went threw the firewall, I cut the tubes on that one about an inch.

 

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I am talking of the 720 heater box on mine. I totally understand what you are talking about using the stock fresh are inlet. I am still figuring that out on my 520 with the 720 heater box & AC.

 

Here in AZ ac is just as important as a good heater.

 

Your build is moving along nicely Wayno.

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The cab is on the frame, I am not to happy about how high it is, I was cranking on the torsion bar ajustment a finaly realized that it was sitting/pinned on the bumper/stopper. What would happen if I cut that part that the rubber bumper is connected to back a couple inches? Will stuff start binding? I would like the truck to be LOWER. The radiator is in it's new home/position, it is really low, but it is centered on the fan, in the future I will have one made about 4 to 5 inches taller. I also put in the steering column, it is actually temporary i think, if i find a tilt wheel I will replace this one with it, the reason i brought this up is i made a firewall barrier out of a 1/8" rubber sheet material and used the stock mount and method, i think it will work.:unsure: wayno

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi there Ratsuners, I have been trying to work on the project at least a hour everyday, I gutted the interior and the 520 wiring harness, and then installed the 1980 720 wiring harness, I basicly have the engine bay wired except for the headlights and wiper motor. The interior wiring is done except for the instrument cluster and the heater motor which just needs a power wire, I am having some clearance issues with the heater hoses, but i will figure it out. Tonight I piped the clutch M/C after I replaced it with a 521 clutch M/C after about a half hour of bleeding with no success with the original, I now have a functional clutch. :D I think I am going to concentrate on the brakes over the next few days. wayno

 

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I now have brakes, the stock master brake cylinder was good, the stock master clutch cylinder was not, so I put a 521 clutch M/C in it, but I might try to rebuild the stock one later. I will probably try to start it in the next couple days, but I have to fill the tranny with gear lube first. I don't need idiot lights to start it, do I? I guess it is time to change the 520 wiper motor out to a 521 wiper motor so when I wire it i will have fast, slow, and intermitant modes as well as off like the 720 has.

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I started the truck today, it ran fine after plugging a few vacuum leaks, then I put the radiator hoses on, filled it with water and warmed it up, it even sounded better after I put a muffler on it. :lol: Can't drive it yet though, no shifter, the holes are differant in the 520, it's always going to be something, isn't it. :D

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Hi there ratsun folk, I work a little on it everyday, or at least I try. Today I put the shifter in after cutting the tunnel for clearance, and I put the 521 wiper motor in and wired it, now I have all the modes a 720 has, fast, slow, intermiant, and off. Tomarrow I will attack the heater box, I bought the short hoses I needed today. I'll post Oics. of my modified box as i put it together. wayno

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I installed the dash today, and then wired the instrument cluster, but did not turn anything on as I have not connected the turn signal indicators, ect. I just couldn't do it Charlies way, to much work. I wired the dash lights to be on when the ign. is on, and I used a stand alone bulb for the brights indicator, so what took me a couple days last time took about an hour and a half this time.:D I hope it works when I turn on the ign.:unsure: :lol: :lol: wayno

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  • 3 weeks later...

No Charlie, there are no updates, I have not done anything to it for a while as I am trying to keep the 521 work truck moving, I put a 520 dash top in it saterday, while the dash was out I fixed the wiper drive assembly, it almost fell apart, I replaced the heater fan itself, not the motor, it lost a fin and was out of balance, on high it would shake the whole cab. I replaced the temp/fuel gauge power supply, and I retightened the whole steering gear assembly, as I had to turn the steering wheel a quarter turn before anything would happen. While I was under there I lubed all the zert fittings. And while all this is going on, I am trying to get this ready to put back together for the final painting.

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  • 1 month later...

I needed a differant oilpan since I have taken the 520 KC shell/body off the 720 4X4 frame and put it on the lengthened 520 frame, so I bought an engine for the oilpan from a ratsun member, I actually bought another one yesterday from another ratsun member so now I have two, :blink: but anyway, i pulled the engine apart to see what was wrong with it cause that is just what I do, no I am not on meth, I just have to see why it quit. this is what I found, I really didn't think these engines had enough power to do this to themselves. It has a compression problem I think. :lol:

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  • 4 months later...

Well, it has been a while, I made a driveline today and am going to install it.

This is what I started with, both are the same size, the long one is what I am going to use, and the other one is what was pulled from fatcats sisters truck, and it's useless at the u-joint end.

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Now the right length, just needs welding.

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Not the prettist weld, but it will do.

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BTW, I have been working on the truck, actually got a lot done over the months that have gone by, I have connected the box to the cab, totally boxed it in, it took days of welding and measuring, and drilling and spot welding, and a whole lot of tweeking, it's not done yet.

 

 

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love the work my ka 4x4 is up for sale i threatened to extend the cab and bob the bed if it dose not sell

 

interested in the work? you would have it done in a 1/16th of the time it would take me

 

I can help you get it going, you have a mig welder? You will also need a cab complete from the windshield/stick shift hole back, and another 521 top(just the very top), and a set of 521 doors, the hard part is mating it before the welding(spot welding), but in the long run your going to have to do the work, as I have to much going on myself. As I said, I can get you going, it takes about 4 hours to get it ready to mate. I think the hardest part is the interior stuff, the rest is aim, close your eyes, pull the trigger breifly, open your eyes, and move to the next spot, you do not actually weld sheet metal, and you have to have a mig, gas is not necessary, but is nicer looking. BTW, I am not a welder by profession, I am a back yard hack, if I screw it up, I cut it out and do it again, the top of the first kingcab had to be done twice, looked like a newbie did it from reading a book, trouble was the newbie(me) was dyslexic.:lol:

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have an engine installed and running, fuel tank is in and functions, clutch and brakes also work now, tranny is filled with gear lube and shifter is installed, it will move under its own power. Still need to figure out if i have the proper coil, I think I smoked an accell one already, wiring needs some work now.

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  • 4 months later...

The cab is sitting on it's new frame now, between yesterday and today, I got it on there with the engine in position, the valve cover is less than a 1/16 of an inch away from the firewall, I think I am going to have to loosen all the mount bolts and try to force the cab back a 1/8 of an inch.

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I just figured out that I don't have the room for dual SUs, the brake master is in the way, so I guess I am going to have to use a weber downdraft carb, I really don't like downdrafts, but I have not got a choice at the moment, and I have the weber on another engine that does run, I will try to start it tomarrow maybe, still have to pipe from the fuel line to the carb, maybe all that is on the other engine, so I can just transfer everything

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The tilt steering is also in, there is a big gap between the cover and the dash, not sure what/if I am going to do anything about it yet, when the buckets go in the truck, I will be sitting father back, I put a longshaft in this one, so the shifter is father back, so maybe the steering will compliment all the rest of it.

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