350 in a 620

[Ron1200]

If I was doing one I'd get a V6. Maybe a Vortec 4.3? Four barrel, five speed Still a bit heavy but it fits, and good power.?

 

It's been done - on the cheap - to the tune of 387Hp & 430 Lb Ft with a Chevy 4.3 V6 in a 71 Datsun 240z.

 

 

Just lern't how to post vids... FTW  :thumbup:

 

Edit: The dyno run starts at 5:45.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

I know this is just my opinion, but the GM 4.3 V6 is one of the last engines I would ever willingly swap into something. They are more than 3/4's the weight of a SBC and they have no where near the power potential for the dollars spent. The Vortec 4.3 has some benefits over the TBI, but still definitely not my first choice.

 

One way to look at the mini truck as a viable platform for a SBC is it's starting weight. It weighs almost nothing, so adding a SBC would bring it up to average pony car weight. You can work around the suspension problems and if you're good at fab, you can surely make it fit without too much compromise. Just about the only problem I see is with the rear end of the truck. The diff won't hold up and the tires would be smoking all the time. You could swap in a stronger axle, but you'd have to do something about the suspension to get any traction.

[cr83]

I know this is just my opinion, but the GM 4.3 V6 is one of the last engines I would ever willingly swap into something. They are more than 3/4's the weight of a SBC and they have no where near the power potential for the dollars spent. The Vortec 4.3 has some benefits over the TBI, but still definitely not my first choice.

 

One way to look at the mini truck as a viable platform for a SBC is it's starting weight. It weighs almost nothing, so adding a SBC would bring it up to average pony car weight. You can work around the suspension problems and if you're good at fab, you can surely make it fit without too much compromise. Just about the only problem I see is with the rear end of the truck. The diff won't hold up and the tires would be smoking all the time. You could swap in a stronger axle, but you'd have to do something about the suspension to get any traction.

Plus the 4.3 sounds like shit

[datzenmike]

I meant it more for fit. Any V6 will do, preferably Nissan.

[Sastis]

And I again refer back to this statement above!!!

 

I had a 1965 Chevy Nova, it had a built Chevy 350 block in it, that engine had to have had at least a 12 to 1 compression ratio, if I let off the gas pedal in first or second gear the back tires would bark from just the compression, in the rain the back wheels would just stop turning and turn idle speed(car was dangerous to drive in the rain unless you knew how to drive it), this engine was so powerful that I could put the front bumper against a wall, run the rpms up to 1200/1300rpms and let out the clutch, get the rear wheels spinning, let off the gas pedal and get out of the car, and we could all watch the rear wheels spin at an idle with no one in the car, that was way too much engine for that car.

It was the funnest car I have ever owned, it only had front brakes as one time I must have hit the gas pedal to hard and the engine shifted and pinched the rear brake line between the header and the frame, I just deleted the rear brakes, it made it easier to hold the car in one place while burning out(win/win).

This car drove great in a straight line, not so good on mountain roads, it was alright on curves, but I wasn't going to go very fast on them as I could have broke the back tires loose and put the car in the ditch so easily, so it was my fun car, to bad the engine destroyed the car, it was only a couple years before the whole cab started flexing, the doors were creaking, the wipers would come on all by themselves and I could not shut them off because they were already off, but I figured out that if I hit another gear hard they would usually turn off.

To change some of the spark plugs I had to get a socket with a 6 point end, put the socket on the plug by prying the engine over an eighth inch, then using a wrench just loosen the spark plug, then remove the socket and then turn the spark plug with the tips of my fingers till it fell out onto the ground, then reverse to install said spark plug.

 

As I said, IT WAS THE FUNNEST CAR I HAVE EVER OWNED, my sister only rode with me once ever, all she said was it would be nicer if I could shift smoother, I never did get that good at shifting smoothly, the car just jerked around even when driving at an even rpm, my car reminded me of the old steam locomotives on how they started out moving, when they started out the wheels spun, so did my cars wheels.

best story ever, made me laugh so hard I have rice up in my nose. Thanks.....

[flatcat19]

VG30/33E.

[Rhino13]

There is a vg30de with 5 speed on Craigslist right now...

[wayno]

best story ever, made me laugh so hard I have rice up in my nose. Thanks.....

 

Everything I said was the truth, the car was awesome for a 20 year old to own, it was jacked up so high in the rear to clear the wide tires in the back that it looked like a funny car, when you first got in it it felt like you were going to fall forward against the windshield, it was that high in the back, I put around 10 inch shackles on the rear and then added 3 inch extensions to the hijacker air shocks.

The car got around 7mpg, less when when I raced it, I had to just run the rpms up to 1200/1300rpms on the line then drop the clutch when the guys arms dropped, let the car catch up with the wheels then give it the pedal as it would take it without burning out again, at about the 1/8th mile I was going just about as fast as I could go, but the car I was racing was so far behind that they could not catch up before I got to the quarter mile line, I did lose one race(the last one), the guy came off the line almost as fast as I did, he past me just before the quarter mile line, he would not lift his hood.

I had such a strong pressure plate(clutch cover) that I kept breaking the clutch assembly arm between the engine and the frame, after I got a real job and didn't go down and cruise the gut every night I put a normal clutch cover on it so I didn't have to drive around all the time without a clutch.

I actually broke the input shaft on my Muncie 4 speed and was using a Borg Warner T10 when the clutch pedal was broke all the time, that transmission was built like a tank, I later sold that one for a lot of money after the Muncie was fixed.

I almost wrecked that car so many times when driving up a hill in the rain, the back wheels would start spinning in 4th gear and the back of the car would start drifting, but all I could do was let off the pedal a little till I felt the wheels grab again and it would straighten out.

You just cannot make this shit up, the car accelerated like a 2 stoke motorcycle on dry ground, I could get it into any hole/space between cars when entering the hiway from a dead stop, but the engine wasted it, it was one of them uni-body Nova's that didn't have a real frame, I wish I knew then what I know now, I could have saved it, but I sold the body to some guy, and put the engine into a Chevelle but it was never like that Nova, too heavy of a car, wrong rear gears. 

[flatcat19]

There is a vg30de with 5 speed on Craigslist right now...

Much bigger than a single cam variant.

 

There is a guy in Beaverton with a VG-DE swapped 510.

He says he'd never do it again if that answers any questions.

 

That motor is so tight in there. No room to do anything.

[Sastis]

Everything I said was the truth, the car was awesome for a 20 year old to own, it was jacked up so high in the rear to clear the wide tires in the back that it looked like a funny car, when you first got in it it felt like you were going to fall forward against the windshield, it was that high in the back, I put around 10 inch shackles on the rear and then added 3 inch extensions to the hijacker air shocks.

The car got around 7mpg, less when when I raced it, I had to just run the rpms up to 1200/1300rpms on the line then drop the clutch when the guys arms dropped, let the car catch up with the wheels then give it the pedal as it would take it without burning out again, at about the 1/8th mile I was going just about as fast as I could go, but the car I was racing was so far behind that they could not catch up before I got to the quarter mile line, I did lose one race(the last one), the guy came off the line almost as fast as I did, he past me just before the quarter mile line, he would not lift his hood.

I had such a strong pressure plate(clutch cover) that I kept breaking the clutch assembly arm between the engine and the frame, after I got a real job and didn't go down and cruise the gut every night I put a normal clutch cover on it so I didn't have to drive around all the time without a clutch.

I actually broke the input shaft on my Muncie 4 speed and was using a Borg Warner T10 when the clutch pedal was broke all the time, that transmission was built like a tank, I later sold that one for a lot of money after the Muncie was fixed.

I almost wrecked that car so many times when driving up a hill in the rain, the back wheels would start spinning in 4th gear and the back of the car would start drifting, but all I could do was let off the pedal a little till I felt the wheels grab again and it would straighten out.

You just cannot make this shit up, the car accelerated like a 2 stoke motorcycle on dry ground, I could get it into any hole/space between cars when entering the hiway from a dead stop, but the engine wasted it, it was one of them uni-body Nova's that didn't have a real frame, I wish I knew then what I know now, I could have saved it, but I sold the body to some guy, and put the engine into a Chevelle but it was never like that Nova, too heavy of a car, wrong rear gears.

 

I never doubt if it was Ture or not, I was merely saying that is very beautiful (memories) that you share with us. Kinda memories you tell your kids, best story ever! Please tell me you got pictures wayno. Thanks for sharing!

[datzenmike]

Much bigger than a single cam variant.

 

There is a guy in Beaverton with a VG-DE swapped 510.

He says he'd never do it again if that answers any questions.

 

That motor is so tight in there. No room to do anything.

 

620 doesn't have strut towers in the way.

 

 

... but it does have torsion bars underneath.

[wayno]

I never doubt if it was Ture or not, I was merely saying that is very beautiful (memories) that you share with us. Kinda memories you tell your kids, best story ever! Please tell me you got pictures wayno. Thanks for sharing!

 

I was a kid with a fun toy, unfortunately there are no photos of that vehicle, I traded a 1969 Triumph spitfire for it, and beat the shit out of it for a couple years(late 70s), the thing was fast, if I rode the clutch briefly instead of dumping it the car would go down the road with the front tires locked, I could even do quarter mile burnouts in 3 gears, but I would not be really moving very fast, as I would hold it back with the front brakes, I went thru a few sets of tires in that couple years, turned the drive line out of it once, was lucky it didn't hit anyone as it flew out the side, but I never got in a wreck with it.

I could remove the transmission, change the clutch disc/cover out, and put it back together in less than 2 hours I did it so many times, I even put an automatic in it for a couple weeks, but didn't like it and went back to the 4 speed.

I did a lot of stupid shit when I was a kid, I even took up hanggliding in my mid 20s, flew them for over 20 years.

This is me

This is me heading east over Banks Lake in Eastern Washington at around 9000 feet

This is me being towed behind an ultralight over the Dog Mountain Launch where others are setting up their gliders so they can fly.

I always thought this would make a good magazine cover, that is Mt Rainier in the background. 

I have hundreds of hanggiding photos.

[DaBlist]

Didn't expect to see those when I clicked here. They'd make a great thread though

[wayno]

Didn't expect to see those when I clicked here. They'd make a great thread though

 

The original poster of this thread is long gone, I thought I would put my own twist on the thread, when wayno was a kid thread.

It was interesting to be me when I was young, I honestly didn't think I was going to make it to 30 years old, guess I don't know shit as I am 60 now. :lol:

[distributorguy]

You will burn in hell if you put a v8 in a 620!...............but this is ok.

 

I'll likely burn in hell anyway for building the Bonneville truck.  AT this point, I have a mediocre body (been repaired many times) and a spare engine/trans as well as the skills to fabricate and fit it all in place in short order.  I figure the steep diff in a 620 lends itself to the rpm range of a 302 Chebby.  Its not a crazy torque motor.  It does weight more, but I have corner scales available to get the balance correct so it handles well - just like in the race truck.  And I have everything I need to fit power steering if I so choose.  This would just be a fun parts runner, not a cannonball run candidate.  A loaner for all those folks who ask me to help move them or who need to borrow a truck.  Build it to be drivable, not a 12:1 racer, although that Nova/Chevy II story is one of the last V8 transplants I just finished.  If he had put the right diff in the car, it would have been more drivable.  

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Yeah, your body is mediocre. If you look anything like your dog, you're in trouble.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Definitely Wayno's story is one of the best. It should be bookmarked or pinned or whatever you call it.

[distributorguy]

LOL!!!  I'm in better shape than the damn dogs right now.  2 major surgeries in 2 months.  Poor bastards are in rough shape.  The truck is a pile of pieces, and in better shape than they are!

Its a shame to see the 620 sitting like a pile of junk, and utilizing the parts I have lying around seems like a good way to bring it back to life.  Even if its a stupid idea.  I've done worse...

[wayno]

I'll likely burn in hell anyway for building the Bonneville truck.  AT this point, I have a mediocre body (been repaired many times) and a spare engine/trans as well as the skills to fabricate and fit it all in place in short order.  I figure the steep diff in a 620 lends itself to the rpm range of a 302 Chebby.  Its not a crazy torque motor.  It does weight more, but I have corner scales available to get the balance correct so it handles well - just like in the race truck.  And I have everything I need to fit power steering if I so choose.  This would just be a fun parts runner, not a cannonball run candidate.  A loaner for all those folks who ask me to help move them or who need to borrow a truck.  Build it to be drivable, not a 12:1 racer, although that Nova/Chevy II story is one of the last V8 transplants I just finished.  If he had put the right diff in the car, it would have been more drivable.  

 

It would not have been as fun of a car with a different gear ratio in the rear, I said that I put the engine in a Chevelle, it wasn't near as fun of a car with 3.08s or whatever gears I had in the rear of that car, it would go a lot faster on the hiway than the Nova/Chevyll could without ringing the engine out, I suspect it had 4.11s or something like that in the rear, fun car, it was a rocket off the line.

[distributorguy]

The one I just built has a 3.07 diff, but with a 700R4's steep first gear, it acts like a 3.73 diff in 1st.  There are ways to make it work and feel more stable at speed.  

[Rushnracin]

Hooker headers used to make a complete kit for the swap. I had a 73-620 with a 3.8 it used the same fiberglass firewall. This made small block with th350 easy. Came with motor and trans mounts. V6 kit had headers too

[datzenmike]

I know of this kit. It used to have a Hot Rod? mag write up on David Murphy's old site.. http://www.davidcmurphy.com/olddat//620620.htm