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1973 620 KA24DE build


Volition73

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Quick update...Dropped my block off and had it cleaned up, turns out it's good for a standard rebuild. Machinist even said I would be fine to reuse the pistons/rods...Anyone against that? I am looking at either Sealed Power, ITM or Clegg for my rebuild kit...Anyone wanna weigh in on that as well? Also, how long can you let a rebuild engine sit before you crank it? I can hold off on the rebuild until I'm closer but if it wouldn't hurt it to sit for awhile I wouldn't mind getting it buttoned up either. Also, I looked on Rockauto and they have a pretty good sale on WIX oil filters, they are at $1.39 due to a closeout...Hope everyone stayed safe in the areas the hurricanes hit...More to come!

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There is absolutely no problem reusing the stock pistons and rods.... I think most try to atleast upgrade the rod bolts...

As far as brand not sure ....

As far as rebuild to fire up.... I built my whole motor minus the oil pump shaft... I used a long metal rod ground a tang in it like the oil pump shaft as an oil pump primer.... even though i usued assembly lube, every other week I would spin the pump and rotate the motor.... mine sat for almost 9 months before I was able to fire it... that's why I decided to keep priming the motor... didn't want it to dry out.... but I guess technically that's what the assembly lube is for....

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Best way to prime the oil in a dual cam is to remove the plugs and valve cover. This allows you to spin the motor with no load on any of the bearings and verify your getting oil flow up to the head. 

Crank the motor over until you get oil flowing over all of the valve train and the oil light goes out. 

 

Put it back together and follow your machinists recommended break in procedure. 

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  • 1 year later...

Been away for a good bit but been creeping on other builds...Update...Sold the bike (riding isn't for me)...Moved again and spent a good bit building up my work space...I had have been collecting a bunch of parts and the last shipment from Beebani should be here Friday...With that, I need to address the center link issue since I'm using the 240sx engine...before I order them, can anyone confirm that these are the correct ones from the sticky?

 

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/tmi-990175/overview/

 

If so I'll grab those and a 11/16 drill bit and get after it...

 

I've also been looking into the work it''ll take to get the upper shock mounts from Beebani installed and I've seen some people use spacers to help reinforce that mod...how necessary is that?

 

I've also decided that I'm sticking to the stock KA for now, it's just too much to get the turbo together and I'd rather get this thing rolling...I'll be getting back at it really soon and pics will follow...

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  • 1 month later...

Got a few things over the last few months...

 

Looked at getting a little more room in the cab based on the seats...The bench that came with the truck wasn't stock and was a bit too big. It wouldn't recline at all (stuck in a forward seating position)...Got these from a friend out of a 240sx but they ended up being a too expensive to have refinished locally and I didn't want to take that project on so I ended up with some clean seats out of a 300zx...

 

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Who knows if I made any room but they will look a lot better. If I'm able to, I'll wire up the electric controls on the driver side just for kicks...I pulled a Ford 8.8 out of a local junk yard and spent a little time cutting off the brackets...Looks like it's all stock so it should be a 3.73 LSD based on the codes...A place a few hours away is going to narrow it for me. I plan on taking the stock 620 axle down with the Ford and let them measure it all so I can't mess it up. They'll also order the new axles and have them drilled for the Nissan pattern as well. I'll make a good price list for anyone wanting to look into this..My plan isn't to build something crazy, just to get the LSD and have a wide range of gear ratios. So far the Axle was 130$ (You Pull) and the shop quoted me around $300 to narrow it, put on the larger 9" ends to take care of the C clip issues and to weld the housing to the tubes for strength. They also said I should be able to use the disc brakes from the axle I pulled as well so that's a win.

 

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Found out late in the game I only had one wheel!

 

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After a trip to the hardware store I got it done...I'm sure my neighbors were thrilled...

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RIP discs and misc bracket parts...

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Cleaned it up a little..  

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And didn't feel like painting it so I hit it with PB Blaster and wrapped it up...

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My next issue it to adapt the kit I got from Bee to work with this axle...The stock axle is mild steel throughout and that's fine to weld Bee's kit to it. The Ford center housing happens to be cast iron with mild steel tubes (or so the internet tells me) which makes welding on the 5th link to the hosing pretty much a no go...so here is my idea...

This is the side profile of the parts of the kit that will be welded to the axle..I got lucky that the circular cut fits perfect on the Ford axle tube and since the cage is flat I plan to make some kind of adapter to mount it. I was thinking of some kind of bracket/plate welded to the axle that I could bolt the cage to (another issue is that the Ford is serviced from the rear vs the Datsun being from the front).

 

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In this pic you can see that the cage would be able to be mounted to the axles (I'm no guru but is this going to be an issue? I'm not wicked smart on suspension geometry but I'm just thinking through my options... and open to suggestions...)

 

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This is the kit laid out in the way it should roughly look...The shop that is narrowing the axle is going to weld the brackets to the housing for me and I'll take care of the frame mount welding.

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Now back to the 5th link issue...since I can't weld the link mount to the differential housing I am looking at using the cross member I have from Bee to tie into this stock Ford mount...

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I'm thinking with some ingenuity I can fab up a bracket or mount to use that location to tie it in...

Lastly...My shop was lacking in work bench and tool stuff so I went to work on this...

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Where it'll go.. 

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Before I finished it...

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Mounted a metal brake, drill press and grinder...not too unhappy with it..

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Next is to pull the axle out of the 620 and load it up for a road trip!

Edited by Volition73
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Back at it today, got the 8.8 drained and axles out...I'll take the diff out sometime this weekend...If you look close, there is some pitting on the close up shots...Normal wear and tear or signs of abuse?

 

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This one shows the pitting pretty well...

 

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Looks good here...

 

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Got the brake parts off as well, gonna need a puller to get the bearings out though...next I'll get the diff out and clean the hell out of the housing...

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There is probably no reason why you couldnt leave the front mount of the 5th link (i assume you are talking about the top control link) centered on the chassis mount end and modify the link to be a vee shape, kind of like a triangled 4 link but with a single front chassis mount. The rear two legs can then have mounts welded to the tubes. It will essentially be the same geometry wise. You want the front mount to be the rose joint so it wont bind. 

Or you can just offset the top link to one side, keep as close to the centre as you can. Ensure top link is parrallel to the car axis when viewed from above. 

 

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Used a backyard method to get the differential out...Might have involved a ratchet strap and an engine picker...I'm looking for signs that someone has been in here before...The marking on the cover mating surface looks like someone might have changed the fluid before but there are some markings on the bearing race seats (tech term correct?) ....see pics...

 

The scratches and pry marks in this one..

 

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The weird paint color markings here..

 

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The marks on the bearing race seats...hard to see but it is there..

 

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and the other side...

 

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Hey it is a 3.73!

 

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Also, if you use the link for an 8.8 tear down/rebuild please watch the whole series he put out (3 or so videos) because he admits to making a few mistakes in the first video, so watch them all if you are going down this path!

 

 

Edited by Volition73
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8 minutes ago, Str8jacket said:

There is probably no reason why you couldnt leave the front mount of the 5th link (i assume you are talking about the top control link) centered on the chassis mount end and modify the link to be a vee shape, kind of like a triangled 4 link but with a single front chassis mount. The rear two legs can then have mounts welded to the tubes. It will essentially be the same geometry wise. You want the front mount to be the rose joint so it wont bind. 

Or you can just offset the top link to one side, keep as close to the centre as you can. Ensure top link is parrallel to the car axis when viewed from above. 

 

You are correct, the 5th meaning the top control link...I'll try the link on one side and close to center like you mention...I think I'll have the room...Thanks!

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24 minutes ago, Volition73 said:

You are correct, the 5th meaning the top control link...I'll try the link on one side and close to center like you mention...I think I'll have the room...Thanks!

Mount it on the RHS. Can you make the front mount on the top link adjustable? Are your lower links parrallel to the ground when looking from the side?

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  • 4 months later...

Been a bit as usual, but here is the latest...

 

I got a shop in Kissimme FL to address the axle issues...I took the 620's axle and the 8.8 housing I sourced to them (pretty long drive that I'm glad I'm done with) so I couldn't mess up the measurements. They narrowed the 8.8 to match the 620's stock setup, slapped some late big ford flanges on (which eliminates the C clip issue with the 8.8), ordered and assembled 31 spline Strange Axles for me that are drilled to match the 6 lug pattern and fabricated all of the odds and ends I got to tie the Watts kit together. Now I'll just need to get the differential ordered and I'll have a local shop install it since I don't want to mess that up either. I'm working on finding a dual caliper setup so I can plumb a standalone hydraulic hand brake in. If you are in the area or want to deal with shipping, which  they can do, I highly recommend TRZ Motorsports. The owner took a bunch of time going over my build and plans and honestly took my box of issues and turned it into a nearly bolt in solution. He had the guys there weld the custom top/center mount they fabricated onto the axle housing (I didn't think that was possible with the different metal types but they were able to) and even adapted the entire kit I got to fit the 8.8 axle. I'll even be able to service the differential with the way they adapted the rear cage (it's removable). All in all I'm blown away and I cannot wait to get this installed. Next is to get it all installed and have the drive shaft made which a local shop is going to do..thankfully they aren't several hours away this time. Pics below...

 

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  • 6 months later...

Work took a huge chunk of time away but I'm back at it...Got the engine/trans out and bed off..I'll get the cab off in a few days...Been cleaning the engine bay  and tore down a spare L28 block taking up some much needed floor space. I'll take that and the KA to the machine shop with some other parts to get cleaned up. A buddy is working on an MR2 and ordered a black top engine (hella JDM) and we're taking that as well. Once the cab is off I'll start in on the frame and suspension...

 

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I'm kinda stuck on two items, so if you wanna weigh in I'd appreciate some insight...

 

First, are the rear brakes...I could use the stock Ford 8.8 disk/drum setup, but I'm having trouble sourcing a rotor to fit and be 6x5.5 lug patter..I seen this on another forum but I'm not sure I want this option...

 

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The other option is I get a kit from WilWood and with that kit I'll have to drill my rotors to match since they will be blank...I'm ok with this option if I can't find an easy OEM rotor for the other option...

 

The next issue is the gearing for the rear end and the LSD type...I've been looking into clutch types since they can be swapped out and "tuned" so to speak, the idea for the truck is to be streetable but be decent in autocross and other events if I have the chance to make a meet. I"m not concerned with high speed or really stretching the engine out to high end. I picked the KA for it's  low end torque and I'd like to keep it in the realm of fast acceleration vs high top speed. I'm not sure I'd wanna go above 120 in it anyway lol...So if you can speak to gear ratios and wheel size I'd like some pointers..I'd even swap the 18in titan rims out for some custom wheels if it meant a better setup. This thing has kinda developed into more than just a KA swap and I'd like to do it as "right"as I can.

 

I'll have a few things I won't need from the original 620 stuff, smaller parts here and there..Like some electrical, drive shaft, wheels, spare tire/rim...Stuff like that so if you are looking for that let me know, otherwise I'll put it up for sale when it's all gathered up...

 

Hope everyone is doing well during this covid crap

 

 

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