AlliedPerformance

No sweat Wayno! Im trying to "add lightness" where I can.

Its a fairly standard design. The radius rod uses a ball joint like an inner tie rod at the front and a clevis at the rear. The lower control arm uses a 3/4" heim joint at the inner pivot and a chrysler full size ball joint at the outer end. The upper arm, which im still building, will have a chrysler ball joint and two 1/2" heims. The lower arm and radius rod are made from chromoly tube.

Last week I got after the truck again. Still in the mock-up phase but at least im making headway! I media blasted the cab, installed the driveshaft adapter and front driveshaft, fabricated most of the electric the reverser mount and x-member, and started building the front suspension. I ran all the numbers on the front end and have designed a geometry that should work well while untilizing the original lower pick up points and hardbody spindle. I also designed some aluminum spacers that allow a 3/4" heim joint to be used in the original lower control arm mount after cutting out the bushing sleeve. They're the stepped pieces in the pic. If anyone would be interested in those I could turn some more. I'll post more pictures later..

Now I'm not usually one to talk a guy out of a oddball car project, but I really don't get the appeal of a flathead in a Datsun. Having just finished building a '23 Ford hotrod with an $11k H&H flathead in it I will tell you they sound and look great but are heavy turds and make very little horsepower, even with tons of $$ in them. I honestly could never justify putting a flathead in anything with a hood. Although.. it would be fun to take a 521 to shows and watch the Ford guys curse the thing...

There is a steadily declining demand for engine machine work. Modern auto repair has become strictly remove and replace. If a motor spins a bearing, you throw it in the trash and get a new pre-assembled shortblock. Valves leak? Throw the heads in the scrap bin and install new factory built heads. I'm sure most of their graduates are involved in motorsport because that is the only area where there is a demand for an automotive machinist. That's a relatively small market. How many companies actually hire automotive machinists? The only automotive machinists I know that are worth a damn are self-employed and the ones that stay busy are certainly perfectionists. Yes, they build 98% race engines. Automotive machine work requires great attention to detail, so does anything if you actually want to be good at it I think. If thats your dream, go for it and make it reality! Just don't be brainwashed by the tech schools telling you about "Highly lucrative" career opportunities like you're going to walk out their doors and into Roush-Yates making $70k a year. I've just seen way too many "Fabricators" from WyoTech and "Technicians" from UTI get a harsh wake up call when their dreams are crushed by the reality of the motorsport/auto industry. For better or worse, your skill and determination far outweigh your diploma.

If only I was independently wealthy I could close the doors and work on my toys all the time! The Datsun is on the back burner as usual but I was able to make a little progress. I picked up hardbody brakes and spindles for the front and got the frame and rear axle epoxy painted. Turns out the hardbody spindles use a very common upper and lower balljoint taper and also happen to use the same taper at the tie rods as the Miata rack Im using. The removable steering arms means I can set what ever ackerman I want, nice! Unfortunately with the wheels I bought the scrub radius will be more than I would like but I think it will be OK. Also, I got the pieces back from the machinist for the reverse gear. There's a lot of work ahead but I'm still shooting for having it done around late February-March. If you guys like diggers maybe you'll like this? I was thinking about getting that same steering wheel for the Datsun. It's a shot-peened bare aluminum sprint car wheel.

Eric - Yes, I build them. That's a 142" Kent Fuller style. I designed the chassis in Solidworks and do all the fabrication in house other than the axle and motor plates which are CNC water jet cut locally. It's all chromoly and the upper and lower rails are each bent from a single length of tube, no cut and splice like many I've seen. I've been wanting one for myself but I know better than to start a new project before the Datsun is completed! Feel free to call, my number is on the first page of the thread. I am planning on running the stock clutch plates with two diaphragm springs. I'm doing that for increased weight at the pedal since the linkage has such a large mechanical advantage. I know theres several sturdier aftermarket clutches for the R1 too so that's an option if need be.

Been making some slow progress. I sold a truck this week and against my better judgement I've been putting all the profit into the Datsun. I picked up an EFI R1 engine if I decide I want EFI over the Hilborn mechanical injection. The EFI would be a bit easier to tune with a turbo... Either way it's a turnkey motor so I'll save the time of building a motor as I was initially planning. Still waiting on the machinist to finish the driveline parts but we have a good solution drafted up now. Most of my free time has been spent stripping and smoothing the exterior panels. Sorry to all the patina lovers! I got some 16x8 wheels and threw on some tires I had at the shop to test fit. I ordered a Wilwood tandem master cylinder and fittings for the brake system, most the heim joints for the front end, a bunch of fittings for the fuel system, an aluminum radiator, and steering column and wheel. I'd really like to get some time to go to the junk yard and look around at spindles as the setup I was planning on getting has been discontinued. I have all the stock wiring, front suspension parts, 4-spd transmission parts, and brake parts that Id give free to anyone who is actually going to use it. Im ditching all the original mechanical pieces save for the rear axle so let me know, I'd be happy to help.

Super clean build! Just skimmed through, now Im going back for the details! Did you narrow the Toyota rear end?

Haven't had much time for the Datsun lately. Been through a couple different carrier bearings to find one that works. The reverse gear parts are with the machinist and the water jetter now. I'll post some pics when I get them back. Decided to go ahead and do the body work and put a new front end in all at once rather than later down the road. I found some time to pull the truck completely apart the other night. Im planning on having everything completed by the end of winter, sooner would be better though! This week I'll be molding the dash/gauge panel inserts and prepping the body if I can find some time. And one of the reasons the Datsun hasn't been getting much attention. Just finishing up on the frame got it welded and off the jig last week. It will be on the backburner for a bit which should free some time up for my truck. Don't mind the acetone ride height gauge up front lol.

Man if I knew a KA went in that easily.. What wheels are those? Looks fun!

1700lbs is pretty light but I'd like it to be less. The actual number was more like 1630lbs but the motor is not 100% complete, no fuel. Had all the parts I took off in the bed, was about 60% rear weight! Im thinking I can lose some weight when I go to the r&p steering and new front suspension. The Datsun engineers were obviously paying attention to weight when they designed it. I love the hole-punched body mounts. The reverse setup is basically a starter motor with a ring gear attached to the three-piece driveshaft at the carrier bearing. Still working out the details on the gear reduction. I need something with good power and I don't want a 20lb starter and 1ft diameter ring gear. I have yet to hear a good thing about the Quaife reverser box, never really considered it an option. Should have all the pieces for the driveshaft and reverse by next week. Bob3, that's one sweet truck! A customer was raving about your miata/truck the other day when he saw my 520. I'm in Colorado Springs, in Motor City. Call me whenever you want to cruise by. I am typically there 10am-8pm. Brandon (719)641-9976 BTW - For any Colorado guys the U Pull and Pay in Colorado Springs has a 76 pickup that just came in. Also have a 510 wagon thats almost 100% complete.

Connisuer311 - Of course, the more the merrier! I would for sure need to have finished one before I could recommend it to a customer though. PM me if you would like to discuss further. Wayno - Agreed! My plan is to focus on getting the motor and driveline completely done first. The second phase will likely involve a entirely new front end design with a rack and pinion using readily available circle track hubs, spindles, shocks, and coils with custom arms. The small motor gives a lot of freedom for good geometry. I'll likely keep the rear simple. Leafs and a c-notch. It's too easy to dream up something beyond what my time and finances will allow!

Thanks fellas! You all bring up good points. It's not going to be a stump puller thats for sure! It'll make more peak torque than the J13 but at more than double the rpm. Bikes have a primary gear reduction between the crank and clutch which helps by making a reasonably short 1st gear. If you plot the ratios as speed vs. rpm it does look very odd in car terms. This is not a swap I would consider "practical" for a street pick-up. However, I have a good amount of experience with bike engined cars from dirt-track racing and I'll tell you a 1000lb car with an R1 motor needs very little rpm to get rolling with a ~3.75:1 rear gear. Im looking for 1600lbs and a 4.88:1 in the 520. I'll get some progress this week after hours hopefully. For now, here's a shot of one of my R1 gear sets And the 520 sitting on the bump stops