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2Wheel-Lee's 1975 Datsun 620


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Hey man, I get all your concerns, and they are legit,

But I can tell you this,with all BH's parts mocked up, all but stress bars, his system is so bitchin, the way it works, together as a complete system, he's tested and made all the correct adjustments, so the track width is factory, and once the hubs are either drilled or you run what they have, pattern wize, it's perfect, my advantage is that I built wheels with custom offset to take adv. of space available, also setting the wheel right up on inner fender without contact, so a little harder with porsche wheels that have a great positive offset. I ran a set of those on an S10 years ago, and ran 1-1/2" spacers. But it is possible. So if it's a moblle thing make some or buy some wheel rack that will be able to move your truck around, but the wait is well worth it.

On BH's that is.

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I drilled and machined down the axel on the rear of my 520

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I am using the stock drums on the rear, due to the studs sticking through the face of the backing plate I drilled out the drum slightly. 

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The front end I used some Toyota Pickup hubs and rotors (because i had them) with these little adapters machined up and locktited on, the pickup hub and bearings fit perfectly. After getting the parts machined i realised the stock 520 outside wheel bearing fits the Toyota hub. 

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I need to fab a bracket for the Toyota calliper, but I am pretending thats not on the list of jobs to do at the moment. 

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Looks good finney! How are you drilling those? Are you using a steel template as a drill guide? 

 

You could make some brake caliper adapters like these ones from Silvermine (made by Krecs). Yeah, I had first received to driver's side adapters. 

 

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In the middle of trying to work on my Datsun, I'm also still trying to move residences. I'm mostly in the new place, but I still haven't moved everything out of my old place. I'll say time is a premium, being a widower with 4-year-old twins. Yeah, building this Datsun is terrible timing, but it's fun. 

 

So anyhow, I finally found some old long-lost photos. This is my very first vehicle and my first Datsun 620 that I bought from a friend with the front end wrecked. I was proud that I replaced the entire core support and fenderwells myself, along with the necessary engine work to make it run. The guy ran into the back of a gardener's truck. Those are 14" Western Bullet wheels shod with 185/60-14 tires. I learn a lot working on that truck. This was about 1986/87.

 

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And this was my last mini-truck. 

 

The picture with the one girl was for a "Minis Only" 1990 calendar. The model, Lynda Sobek later had a boob job done. Unfortunately for her, she was murdered by a photographer a couple years later. 

 

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Back in the late 80s/early 90s, RG Canning shows were very popular back then. This was taken next to the Long Beach Convention center for the RGC program. 

 

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And if this may look familiar, and you're an old hip-hop fan...

 

This was just one of  the many systems that was in this truck. The loudest was a wall of twelve 12"s with 4000 watts of power. It was second highest overall SPL in the unlimited class at the very first IASCA finals. 

 

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  • 2 months later...

I've been a little slow making progress, but I have been making some. As I noted above, I decided to abandon the kingpins. After much consideration of options, I decided to go with Beebani's adjustable upper arms and his custom lower arms to go along with drop spindles. I also went with a set of Beebani's disc adapters to allow me to go with oversized discs.

While most sensible people would have then just used the Z 4-piston calipers, I already have a new set of Wilwood calipers, so I'm making some adapters.

 

I wish I could say that I was whipping them up on a mill or CNC, but I don't have either. But I do have a 4-1/2" angle grinder and a drill press. You may laugh, but wait until they're done (before you laugh). I like to consider myself more of a craftsman than a machinist. 

 

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What's that peeking behind the back wheel? Yes, I made my own adapters for those as well. I originally tried to use some that a guy here makes, but he initially gave me some bad information that led me to use the wrong discs, which I had machined for the 5-bolt Porsche pattern. I never could get the answer from him what were the correct discs for his adapters, so I merely abandoned that effort and found it easier to make my own. 

 

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While I had a bunch of stuff apart, I decided to remove the rear housing, clean it, replace the leaky pinion seal, and put a fresh coat of paint on it. 

 

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Beebani suspension parts getting primed. I'm not as concerned with this finish, as later on down the road, I hope to take the truck apart and powdercoat most everything. 

 

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This is with the old king pin setup, but this may be my target ride height. Yes, the finish on these wheels don't match the one I have shown in the back. I will polish them before wrapping them with tires. 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

It's slow going, but I'm making progress. 

 

I finally have the front disc brake adapters done. With the 11" discs, thanks to Beebani's disc adapters, I could have gone with 300Z calipers, but I already had these Wilwoods, so I wanted to make them work.  

 

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The hardware is not fully correct or tightened, which is why the bolts aren't all the way into the silver nuts. 

 

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I'm also going with Wilwood combination parking brake calipers. I had previously bought some adapters, but I was given wrong information as to which discs they were to go with, so I had the discs drilled for a Porsche pattern, so I didn't want to give up on them. Besides, the adapters didn't really fit very well if I lowered the vehicle. I absolutely need a parking brake, and most of those who've installed the Isuzu calipers never connect the parking brake. One of the reasons is that the cable doesn't fit well. The other is that the mechanism doesn't clear the frame if the truck is lowered a bunch. I plan on doing a mild C-notch, so I need clearance. 

 

This is where both the front and rear adapters started their lives. 6" x 1/2" angle aluminum

Thankfully, Harbor Freight cutoff wheels are cheap. 

 

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Yes, I used a hole saw to cut the center hole in the 1/2" aluminum. 

 

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This is my 12" horizontal multi-material surfacing machine. My dad made this at least 40 years ago out of an old washing machine motor. It's one of my favorite tools. 

 

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With the more powerful brakes and new custom Beebani adjustable upper control arms, it was a must to replace the 7/16" upper bolts with 1/2" bolts. I was surprised that these were originally SAE instead of metric. The engine is still in place, so I had to drill out the holes from the suspension side. I was surprised that this was harder than expected, as the nuts must have been hardened. Many of the drill bits I had - even new ones - wouldn't touch it. Even when starting with smaller bits. I got out my Craftsman set that I generally reserve for more other jobs cut right through the nuts no problem. I also used a large 1/2" and at least 1/2" horsepower drill that was also 40 plus years old. It's a brute. If something grabs, I'm going for a ride. Though if a 1/2" bit caught and I had a good grip on the drill, it would have easily snapped (been there, done that).

 

I also used this drill with a 1" bit to enlarge the area where the nut sits. Fortunately, this steel was much softer. Otherwise, I was sure I was going for a ride, if the bit caught. 

 

New 1/2" grade 8 nuts and bolts.

 

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Pressing in the new lower inner front bushings. 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm making progress....slowly but surely. 

 

I figured I'd start getting the wheels ready for when I get the front suspension assembled and the Hardbody hubs back from the machine shop. 

I took the wheels to my local polishing shop. I haven't been there since about 1987 when I had my last set of wheels polished. Somewhat surprising that they're still there after all these years. I thought they handled all aspects of the wheel finishing...they don't. They don't remove the paint/anodizing, but referred me to another place. I took the wheels 25 miles to the shop that could remove the anodizing, but right after I got there, they said that they can remove the anodizing, but they can't remove the paint. Sigh...25 miles back home....

 

I bought a can of stripper and started at it. The black pair of wheels were refinished by the previous owner, but the silver set has the original primer and paint. The black paint came off fairly easy. The silver paint and primer is a PITA! I've probably applied the stripper at least 6-7 times. Last night, I got another stripper that's a little better, but still slow. Once I'm done with this, back to the anodizing remover...

 

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Yes, my little girl was upset that I got her drawing wet. 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

After stripping the wheels, I had to take them to a shop to have the anodizing removed before having them polished. I just picked them up from the polishers and had some 205/45-16 tires installed. Sorry I don't have a complete picture of them all. It was getting dark when I was unloading them, and I had to tend to my kids. But here's a teaser shot. 

 

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I forgot I had this picture in my phone from a couple months ago. This was spotted on the 91 freeway in Bellflower (southern area of Los Angeles). Pretty cool that someone is doing something with these Zs. 

 

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Thanks Ron! Me too...I consider them as the gold standard for custom 620s.

 

After a long wait, I finally got my Hardbody hubs back from being machined:

- Redrilled to Porsche 5x130 bolt pattern

- Hub area turned to fit wheel bore

- Outer circumference turned to clear the brake caliper.

 

Now that I finally have the hubs, I can start making more meaningful progress to get the truck driving again.  

 

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  • 2 months later...

I've been working on a few projects, so the 620 has mostly taken the back burner (like you read so often here). Though I've still found some time to work in it here and there. Well, one of the new projects is a Samurai. One of the things I did on that was convert it to power steering. From what I learned doing that, power steering will likely be on my must-have list for the 620. Though that's a long ways from now. 

 

Anyhow, one of my objectives with the rear disc brake conversion was to have a fully functioning parking brake, Most of the kits and adapters don't really work well. The Isuzu caliper that many use put the brake cable in a nearly unusable location (though I have seen one completed that seemed marginally ok). Moreover, the Isuzu caliper doesn't clear the frame on trucks that are very low, and especially not one where the rear axle can travel into a C-notch. The ones available for the Wilwood calilper also put it in a bad location. So as shown above, I made my own. I'm very happy that I finally have the calipers installed, cables hooked up and working, and lines plumbed (albeit loosely for the moment). The parking cables are OE type cables from rockauto. The front is also coming together pretty soon, and this thing may actually be driveable soon. So long as I don't get too distracted. 

 

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  • 2 months later...

I really need to get better at my updates...as slow as progress is. Apparently, I haven't taken any pictures of the front suspension. The Beebani upper and lower control arms have been modified a bit to achieve 1.5 degrees of negative camber. It's been challenging getting the clearance needed to clear the coilovers. I still think I'll eventually need to go with stiffer springs, since I'm using such a short travel shock. Right now I have 550s. 

 

Doing the toe adjustment was a little challenging with the vehicle this low. As it is, both tape measures barely clear various areas by only 1/8". My toe plates...if you will...are attached via 10/24" threaded rod through the holes in the rotors. Hey, it works!

 

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The truck has been on jack stands for nearly a year, but I'm thinking that I may actually drive it out of the garage this weekend. Then after doing a 1.6 engine swap in my Samurai, I'll be looking at putting this in the 620. 

 

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Finally on the ground. I've been using the bed for storage, so there will be a couple hundred pounds coming out. I've made a few changes to my suspension plans, so after the new engine is in place, I'll sort out the ride height. And while the bed is off modifying the fuel tank, I'll notch the rear frame for a bit more travel. Currently, the front has about 1.5" of travel....until the front lower cross member hits the ground. I will look into raising that up later. 

 

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