Charlie69's 66 520 Build

[Charlie69]

At least you have some self control, I brought home another one, but this one should be a fast build, once I get the titles, I hope to have it on the road inside a month.

I thought you did not need another truck!  When was it you said that Wayno 2 or 3 trucks ago?  I am so confused!

[wayno]

Yea, Justin wrecked that 85 720 of his and I bought it for parts, but then I checked the frame, and it doesn't seem to be hurt, and it starts and seems to run fine, I have that 1970 521 cab in the back yard, the plan is to drop the 521 cab on the regular cab 720 frame, measure it and decide if it will get a stock box or a stepside box.

It has a Z24 motor/engine, it likely has more oomph than the LZ23, so I was considering using it as the work truck for a while, then decide if I will keep it or not.

I see this as a way of using these two big parts I have in my yard, which is a step towards using all these extra parts I have around here.

[Charlie69]

Wayno you are a lot like me.

1 can not pass up a good deal

2 cannot scrap a good frame

3 enjoy putting different model parts together

 

Wayno 1 have a 1980 720 standard cab and I am considering putting the chassis under my 520, having problem with the steering gear box being in the way of my AC/ compressor. 

 

Would you please do a write up on how you put the 521 cab on the 720 chassis.  I am not concerned with all the little thins as much as the actual mounting of the cab.  I would appreciate it.

[wayno]

There is not that much to it Charlie, the 521 is easier than the 520, as the front 2 body mounts under the radiator match up perfectly on the 521, they center the front wheels in the fender wells, at least they do on the 521.

The big hole in the front is the mount hole I use for the 521.

The smaller hole towards the rear is the one I used for the 520, it worked fine when I used that hole on the 1980 Datsun 720 4X4 kingcab frame when I briefly had the 520 cab on it, it didn't work so good on the 1986 Nissan 720 kingcab frame, seems that I need that hole about 1 inch farther back, that is something I have been fighting this whole time with the 520, the cab/body always creeping forward on the frame, and the valve cover is almost touching the firewall again.

When I first put the 521 kingcab 4X4 together I wasn't worried about keeping it low.

Since I wasn't worried about keeping it low, I made these body mount adapters, as the mount holes on the cab were about 1 to 2 inches off.

 

See how I used the 720 mount bolts, they cannot turn inside this mount, so I only needed one wrench to tighten them.

But I welded it anyway because it would push the bolt out of the hole or gravity would let it drop out, The other bolt was kinda a pain, as I did have to get 2 wrenches on it.

When I put the 521 kingcab onto a 2wd frame, I made shorter mounts with the holes offset the same, but I drilled access holes to get the bolts in the adapter, and I welded them in so they would not turn, here is a couple photos of them in position on the truck, see the hole for the bolt to go up into the adapter.

You can see how the bottom longer bolt is a stock 720 mount bolt with the big top, this was a pain to get it in there and tightened, if I did it again, I would weld a nut in the adapter and use a big washer and regular long bolt, I had to tighten the nut with a wrench from the side threw the adapter hole in the side, it wasn't easy, and it took forever.

When it was loose, I think I was able to turn that main bolt from the bottom, but after it got tighter, I had to tighten it from above.

On my 520 project I just drilled new holes in the cab floor, I got tired of trying to do it the right way, I just did it the easy way, and so far it seems to be alright.

If you wanted to do it right, you would need another set of frame mounts/arms, then what you do is cut the ends off the existing frame mounts/arms, then set the cab on the frame at the height you want it above the frame using shims, now connect all the hardware on the mount extension(rubber isolaters, ect), then put it in position and mount it to the cab body, now once everything is where it is supposed to be with the proper thickness isolators, ect, position the frame mount extensions where you want them and tack them to the cut off extensions, then take everything apart, lift the cab, and then weld them in position, then drop the cab back into position and bolt it down without the spacers you had to hold the cab where you originally wanted it and you should be good to go.

I didn't do it this way because I don't always think everything out properly and make mistakes, it's easy to make another mount adapter if I make a mistake, not so easy to fix if I cut the mount off wrong and have to weld it back on and then cut it correctly the second time, plus I didn't think of doing it that way the first time

[Charlie69]

I like how you showed how you did it.  Then described an alternative way of doing the same thing.  Wayno, I do not think that you are any different than me.  I have made a lot of mistakes on my 520.  Some had to be redone some worked ok but after doing them I thought a of a better way of doing things.  That is why we call it custom fab work.

 

Wayno you have saved me a lot of work and also guided me out of some problems with your knowledge and for that I thank you. 

[wayno]

I didn't think of extending the cab frame mounts until I seen Lawrence do it to his diesel 521 when he switched over to a 720 frame, my 521 diesel build convinced him to do it also, but we all have our own ways of doing things, but his dad gets involved in his projects, so it always takes twice as long. :lol:

As an example, I told Lawrence that I would help him change out his rear gears in his 521 diesel, but for me to help it would have to be done at my house, not his, my excuse was that I had all the equipment to do it easy without having to use jack stands and such, we will just use my air jacks and air tools, after it was done which took about an hour, I told him the real reason, that it would take all day if his dad got involved, we had a laugh about that.

It's not that his dad is hard to work with, he just has to do everything the hard(right???) way, when I do a gearset change, I just loosen the e-brake handle and pull the axle out as far as the e-brake cable will let me, his dad removes the e-brake cables completely from the frame, greases the bearings, changes the brakes, when I remove the driveline, I check the u-joints to make sure they seem good, his dad just replaces them, Lawrence just wanted better gearing, not a total rebuild.

[Charlie69]

Sounds like Lawrence's dad and I see eye to eye.  It is a problem I have everything that was old on my 520 will be new or rebuilt.

 

I spent a day cutting up a 77 620 chassis.  The reason it took so long was I was saving all the cab mounts and cross members then I had to cut the cab mounts off a 1978 chassis because the previous owner hacked them up with a cutting torch.  we then took the cab mounts from the 77 chassis and put them on the 78 chassis. 

 

All the cross members from the 77 620 chassis will go onto my stock 520 chassis.  The hardest par of all this is getting the parts off the salvaged frame in good enough condition to reuse on other projects.

[Charlie69]

Thank you Datzenmike for moving the posts I do appreciate it.

[wayno]

You have issues like I have, I have to save everything in case I need to use it, and then by the time I need it, I cannot find it, I put it in a safe place so I would not lose it. :lol:

I have 20 5 gallon buckets of frame parts, mount parts, suspension parts front and rear, small pieces of metal that I might need in the future, a bucket of metric nuts and bolts, a bucket of SAE nuts and bolts, a bucket of large nuts and bolts, a couple buckets of tow bar adapters that bolt on to several vehicles, a bucket of carbs, do you see where this is going, and this is stuff that will fit into 5 gallon buckets, and the stuff that will not fit into a bucket goes in the shed or the back bedroom.

 

Don't let this happen to you. 

This is Lawrence in he 1970 Datsun 521 diesel dually cruising the gut in Vancouver.

He is the one that got me into diesels, so I blame him for my addiction.

[Charlie69]

Your are not "ADDICTED" you are "DRIVEN" :rofl:

 

Where do you get your

[wayno]

I just copied it from somewhere, saved it to my computer, then transferred it to my picasa account, I copied a new one today that I never seen before, I have a lot of them.

Your are not "ADDICTED" you are "DRIVEN" :rofl:

 

Where do you get your

[gene knight]

man wayno i wish you could come down here and help me and charlie get our hoardingness inventory in a condition like you have posted cuz it looks like you got room to walk around in the storage shed. you should see my garage and back yarstorage shed, i have no room to breath let alone work in my areas.

[wayno]

Until a few days ago I could not walk around in my garage either Gene, but I bought some equipment and had to get it threw there, so I cleaned up the garage and the area for the equipment.

Them photos of the shed are old, the first one is when I had just finished it, the second one was likely a year ago.

I just bought a used 10X12 shed, built a 2 foot pedestal for it to sit on because I wanted it to be higher so I didn't have to bend over while walking around in it.

Then I used so old interior house doors someone had given me for the front.

man wayno i wish you could come down here and help me and charlie get our hoardingness inventory in a condition like you have posted cuz it looks like you got room to walk around in the storage shed. you should see my garage and back yarstorage shed, i have no room to breath let alone work in my areas.

This is what I bought, a tire machine and tire balancer.  :)

 

[Charlie69]

Nice Wayno!  You know you will be doing all of Mike Klotz's tires now.  LOL

[mklotz70]

Nice!!! Just like the ones I used to use in base hobby shop in MT......'84-'85?

 

I spend the entire day there on the weekends......work all day....nothing to eat....when I finished, I'd pound down an orange crush.  It was the only time I drank them and the only thing I wanted at the time. lol

[Bronzit]

Looks like I'll have to go to Wayno's house for all my Datsun needs. 

Tires included. 

[Charlie69]

Looks like I'll have to go to Wayno's house for all my Datsun needs. 

Tires included. 

Two of the best people you could get to know Mike Klotz and Wayno!  They are solid people.

[mklotz70]

I'm a lot more squishy than solid these days :)

[hobospyder]

Nice!!! Just like the ones I used to use in base hobby shop in MT......'84-'85?

 

I spend the entire day there on the weekends......work all day....nothing to eat....when I finished, I'd pound down an orange crush.  It was the only time I drank them and the only thing I wanted at the time. lol

they still have the same machines, even if the hobby shop has moved and new ones made.

[wayno]

Hey Charlie, it was just pointed out to me that we could maybe have used the red/yellow line wire coming off the headlight switch to supply power to are dash lights, they would not be adjustable, but they would come on when the lights are turned on, that is the power to the actual running lights, and they do use a ground to work.

[Charlie69]

I had ingrown toe nail surgery on both of my big toes last Thursday.  I hope to be able to get shoes on tomorrow.  Had 2 more cortisone injections a week a go.  They are not working to well. 

[hacked521]

Hope the pain gets taken care of soon Charlie.

[Charlie69]

Hacked it is good to here from you.  I hope all is well with you and your family.  Please tell your mom and dad hi for me.  Is there a Mrs. Hacked yet?  Are there any Mini Hacked yet? LOL

 

God to see you are still alive.  You are welcome here at any time Hacked.

[Charlie69]

Small update Gene Knight came over today and we raised the radiator 3/4" and moved it forward a 1/2" so now my 2 12" fans clear the steering gear box and the water pump pulley.  I have only 1/8" clearance on the water pump pulley and the fan.

 

 

 

[720inOlyWa]

I didn't think of extending the cab frame mounts until I seen Lawrence do it to his diesel 521 when he switched over to a 720 frame, my 521 diesel build convinced him to do it also, but we all have our own ways of doing things, but his dad gets involved in his projects, so it always takes twice as long. :lol:

As an example, I told Lawrence that I would help him change out his rear gears in his 521 diesel, but for me to help it would have to be done at my house, not his, my excuse was that I had all the equipment to do it easy without having to use jack stands and such, we will just use my air jacks and air tools, after it was done which took about an hour, I told him the real reason, that it would take all day if his dad got involved, we had a laugh about that.

It's not that his dad is hard to work with, he just has to do everything the hard(right???) way, when I do a gearset change, I just loosen the e-brake handle and pull the axle out as far as the e-brake cable will let me, his dad removes the e-brake cables completely from the frame, greases the bearings, changes the brakes, when I remove the driveline, I check the u-joints to make sure they seem good, his dad just replaces them, Lawrence just wanted better gearing, not a total rebuild.

My best friends dad was this way. Pedantic doesn’t even begin to describe him. And he was an inveterate tinkerer and inventor, too! It took him 10 years to build his own special design one man mountaineering tent. He was interested in Honeybees, so you didn’t dare mention them around him for fear of being ‘trapped‘.

 

Old Dan died a few years back and now we all miss those 2  hour lectures on how to do things the (right???) very long way. But  know what you mean, too. Many was the times that I just took the drill, or screwdriver, or whatever out of his hands and just got to it. I loved the guy for his many idiosyncracies.