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dat 521 J13 turbo project


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Hi guys. This is my first datto Its a 66ish 521 tray back. I'm about two weeks into my build and everything is pulled down to the bare chassis. Had some serious mud and surface rust as it lived on a farm for 30+ years. Acid or caustic dipping all components and repainting. Ive got the engine pulled down too. I was wanting to drop in a Chevy LS1 v8 in but I'll save that for later. At the moment I'm researching parts availability. What I need is forged conrods for the j13 as I'm just going to turbo the original 1300 for now. Ive got a new Garrett gt1742 turbo for it with a .48 front and rear a/r. Any suggestions for part sourcing. I'm going to use A12 forged pistons. Looking for 14+psi boost. Wanting 150-200hp.

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I think you are asking A LOT of a J13 engine.  Can it be done, possibly.  Will it live, maybe.

 

Will the J13 even put out enough exhaust to run the turbo?  I know, once the turbo spools up, it will feed itself, but will the J13 flow enough gas to get to that point? 

 

I think you would be better off with a L 16-18-20B.   As least they are not a bad copy of a 1950's British engine.

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Welcome :)

 

Your likely asking to much out of that little engine.

Parts are kinda hard to find in the USA, although they did use them in forklifts over here.

Not many performance parts were made for this engine, but you had engines not available over here that will almost if not bolt in, like the J15/J16 which is a minor upgrade, but an upgrade none the less.

If your looking for a significant power upgrade that will not require major firewall/tunnel modifications(hacking), I would suggest a turbo rotatory or something else that is lighter/smaller than the LS1, good luck with your build, do you have any photos of your little 66?

Hi guys. This is my first datto Its a 66ish 521 tray back. I'm about two weeks into my build and everything is pulled down to the bare chassis. Had some serious mud and surface rust as it lived on a farm for 30+ years. Acid or caustic dipping all components and repainting. Ive got the engine pulled down too. I was wanting to drop in a Chevy LS1 v8 in but I'll save that for later. At the moment I'm researching parts availability. What I need is forged conrods for the j13 as I'm just going to turbo the original 1300 for now. Ive got a new Garrett gt1742 turbo for it with a .48 front and rear a/r. Any suggestions for part sourcing. I'm going to use A12 forged pistons. Looking for 14+psi boost. Wanting 150-200hp.

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  • 2 months later...

i do think it could be done. as far as spool up i could have used the supercharger sitting in my shed until spool up as it has a clutched drive pulley or a number of other ways such as introducing a air jet in the turbine housing etc. anyway i picked up a l20b for $150 just a few miles up the road. at the moment its stripped down and ready to build to suit 15+ psi and I'm fabricating a turbo manifold for it. i agree the the l series definitely seem a lot stronger but performance parts do not seem to be any easier to find for the 20 as far as low comp forged pistons go. whats wrong with the old fj?? i haven't figured out how to post pics yet but when i do i will throw some up.

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also i tracked the vin number down and the 521 is a 68. the guy i bought it off had it for 30 odd years and still thought it was a 66 1200. it was only when i showed him the vin code that he found out it wasn't. 

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i do think it could be done. as far as spool up i could have used the supercharger sitting in my shed until spool up as it has a clutched drive pulley or a number of other ways such as introducing a air jet in the turbine housing etc. anyway i picked up a l20b for $150 just a few miles up the road. at the moment its stripped down and ready to build to suit 15+ psi and I'm fabricating a turbo manifold for it. i agree the the l series definitely seem a lot stronger but performance parts do not seem to be any easier to find for the 20 as far as low comp forged pistons go. whats wrong with the old fj?? i haven't figured out how to post pics yet but when i do i will throw some up.

Nothing is wrong witht he old FJ, I have one in my truck and its hard to get parts and so forth. L20 sounds like a better choice in my book.

 

Get some pics up.

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IMAG1047_zps9151845f.jpgIMAG1046_zps464609f5.jpgIMAG1036_zpsb523ceda.jpg

 

These are older pics a few days after i got it. so far i've stripped it, sandblasted the chassis and reassembled it up to the chassis pic stage again. each suspension piece has been blasted and painted. I've also been working on my supercharger install on my vw T4 workvan so I've been a bit distracted plus bub no 2 is on its way. i'll post more pics soon.

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Yep you have a 521, if it was the 68, it likely came with a J13, if you look close at the radiator mount on the core support you see that is sits on a sheet metal pedestal that has been made to move it towards the engine to get it closer to the fan blades on the J13, this sheet metal can be removed to make about 4 more inches of room in the engine compartment, once removed you can see the 4 mount holes for the L block radiator they had planned for in the future, you need to cut that sheet metal off the core support, do not cut it out of the core support.

Interesting looking front turn signal, can't say I ever seen one that looks like that before, it looks narrower, and it definitely sticks out farther, I have seen the 2 tone before, but not one that looks like that.

You truck looks really good, doesn't look like it has a lot of rust, your likely going to want to change out the rear gearing unless your building this for the drag strip, as 488 gears are.............well they are 488 gears, they are good for hauling a lot of weight, but unless you like running the engine up to 6000rpms+ and holding it there, you are not going to be getting anywhere quickly except the end of the quarter mile. :lol:

55/60mph is 4000rpms with 488 gears.

521 trucks are kinda rare over there, I seriously doubt you will find a rear box for it, but you found an L20b just down the road, so maybe you will find a box also, have fun with you build.  :thumbup:

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yep they do seem to be quite rare over here. no one knows what it is. in one of my other posts I mentioned that I had contacted a Datsun specialist wreckers /salvage yard and they had no idea what a 521 is. the 620 and 720's are everywhere here. where I picked up the l20b they had a couple l series 5 speed boxes. my diff gears are 4.625 but I won't be doing much highway driving just a sunday driver... with the current wheels that puts me at 3900rpm in 4 th gear at 60mph then ive got the overdrive 5th. plus im going with taller wheels. im sure there is a bit of rust hiding under the paint the last owner had a very weak go at restoring it and reprayed it. I was going to just paint strip it as I have started on the bonnet took all of two minutes to do that but also thinking of getting it soda blasted see what the budget allows. just going with the l20 has saved me $2000 straight up on the cost of a sr20 or the like.

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  • 3 months later...

I don't know that much about turbos but I have seen people turbocharge the Honda Ruckus 49cc engine on you tube and that is really cool . I too have the J13 and it is guttless, you can not go fast or stop fast so if you want a turbo or two u better get some disc brakes as well.

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  • 2 months later...

not gone, just busy. I have been thinking about air bagging the car to get a nice low look, i dont think i'll have enough travel if i adjust or reset the torsion bars and use blocks in the rear. quick question tho. has anyone ever tried to flip the knuckle spindle around top to bottom correcting the spindle of course and then shim the tension rod to correct or adjust camber. with the right bushings it looks like it should work no worries and give a 1.5" drop with no loss of travel. 

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have gone with an L20B and a 5S5W71B 5 SPEED. I'm rebuilding the engine to suit a Garrett T25 Turbo, pics are just my dummy engine im using to get it sitting right, for the conversion I had to cut off original chassis engine mounts move them back a few inches and put them on a 35 degree to suit the 200b mounts the engine came with although they needed some alteration and used the original J13 rubber isolator mounts. the gearbox mount is a simple fix just using the original tranny mount for the J series box and shortening it 2". Engine goodies: Weber dgms 38, forged pistons (still tracking these down either L28 or custom pistons up to 88mm bore), the rest of the bottom end is forged as stock but race prepped, Copper head gasket, arp main, rod and head studs/bolts, custom 38mm long runner turbo manifold, modified and p&p intake manifold, Peanut chamber head with extensive port matching and mirror polishing, HD valve springs (TBA), 3" stainless straight through (no cat of coarse) dump and exhaust exiting just behind the driver door. cab is on to check shifter position but will come off to be soda blasted, panel and paint. I'm undecided on colour but I was thinking ford "gotta have it green"
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Forget this idea about flipping the spindle, the only way it could possibly work is to cut the ends off and put them on the other end, if your going to do that, then why not just cut 2 inches out from above the kingpin connection, and add it below the kingpin connection.

Here would be another idea already perfected, drop arms like the ones Mike makes, here is a link to his thread about them.

https://www.google.com/url?q=http://community.ratsun.net/topic/43421-320-zd-lower-control-arm-2-drop-250-shipping/&sa=U&ei=8F_pVPf9KIWQyATlmoDAAw&ved=0CAgQFjAB&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNFi7DKj7emSritOue8ikgHxGgc6HA

I once seen photos of someone that did what you said about flipping the spindle assembly, it was a complete failure, and the guy that bought the truck had to find another set of spindles, as they were destroyed, there is a thread with photos on Ratsun, but I have no idea where it is.

not gone, just busy. I have been thinking about air bagging the car to get a nice low look, i dont think i'll have enough travel if i adjust or reset the torsion bars and use blocks in the rear. quick question tho. has anyone ever tried to flip the knuckle spindle around top to bottom correcting the spindle of course and then shim the tension rod to correct or adjust camber. with the right bushings it looks like it should work no worries and give a 1.5" drop with no loss of travel. 

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IMAG1165_zps970c26f8.jpg

 

this is dummied up. the fulcrum pin remains at the bottom and the top remains bolt in bushing. The ends are different sizes but thats mainly due to the lower eye having a steel bushing pressed in to the eye . if i press a bronze or steel bush in the top eye to match the fulcrum pin and use a smaller rubber or poly bush for the top bolt it will fit and almost match what the factory did.

 

I can definitely believe that if the fulcrum pin and bolt were swapped from top to bottom it would last about about a mile before getting destroyed and breaking the eyes out as all the weight is on the bottom and the top is just for alignment/camber. 

 

I have popped out the king pin and and rotated the spindle assembly to to keep all the steering oem.spec.

 

the local authorities and engineers here would never mod plate the drop spindles shown in that link (no offense, they are just very particular and do not like welded suspension or brake components that aren't like that from factory). I'd have to fabricate lower control arms from scratch and get an engineer to test it.. if im going that far i'll just throw in some air bags front and rear.

 

when i do it it will look completely standard to all except you guys.

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