pope_face

Hahaha, yeah it is addictive... I have to warn you though, this is all still just a possibility. Fortunately I have a daily so I can afford to take my time with the Dat... I've got a couple things I want to change with the body though, if I do go through with the airbags... I want to do a KA swap as well, but I've got the 521, and from what I know the engine bay is slightly smaller than a 620. I know it can be done, it's just a matter of how much space I'll have left over to fiddle with the suspension and steering. Edit: BTW, I don't think I told you I like the caddy tails on the S10... I was considering doing the same with my Dat, but I figured the lights would be a little too small...

Alright, so the final word on rear suspension seems to be four-link... If I go through with this, then I probably won't bother with anything else. I don't mind doing some calculations to sort out the setup, but I'll likely need some help with more details before I really start getting into it. For the front I'd like to have a slightly lowered drive height, but I want to be able to lift it as well. I don't mind a bit of negative camber when it's layed out, but I don't want any camber if it's lifted above the drive height... Jason: What kind of front suspension are you using? It was mentioned above that you're using one from a 720... is that the one, or is it something totally different? I suppose now I've got more concerns about the front suspension than the rear... The engine bay isn't very big as it is, and I'd like to swap the engine. I don't want to find out that my steering or suspension or engine or frame or anything interferes with anything else... There's a lot to cram under the hood, and not a lot of space to do it in... Kansascity: Now THAT is how much lift I want in the back... care to share a bit more about your setup? Does it lay out all the way? And do you have any pics of the inside of the bed and the frame/rear suspension work?

Thanks for all the replys... Alright, well it looks like if it's going to be done, it'll be done right. I'm keen on getting it done, but as usual it's only the cost that may be a concern... I'll see how much the engine and all runs me first before I commit... kansascity: Thanks for the link to airedout's setup... it looks fairly straight-forward, providing I can get all the measurements. Maybe I'll cheat and ask him... As for notching the bed... I'd probably go with something similar to a body drop, but not quite the same... I like how the Honda pickups have the lockable storage built into the bed. It might be the way to go... I might even be able to move my gas tank up high enough like that, as well as hide the air tank and all. Jason: The whole pope face ordeal is a long story from back when I was an idiot in high school... my real name's Fil. I'm curious as to a couple other things though... With the four-link setup in the rear, does the axle pivot as it moves up and down to adjust for driveshaft angle, or does it stay in one spot? Or does the angle not really change? Also, how much would an airbag setup in the front affect camber? Is there only a small range of heights that will give the proper camber, or is there some way it can be done to get a full range of motion?

4Runner... Looks pretty cool... I was considering something similar with my truck, but figured it would be too much work to join the bed and cab, plus make the cap, reinforce the body, etc...

I've got a 521, but it seems more people have information about the 620's, so I'll make do with what I can get... I'm going from a J13 to a KA... I'll be running it through an auto transmission though, so I can't get too carried away. I'm aiming more for torque... I don't expect to need too much top-end power. To be completely honest, I have no idea what a four-link system is... time to check out wikipedia I guess... EDIT: Wow... ok, well I know what that is... It's a pretty basic design, but getting details sorted out would be the tricky bit...

Redeye: Thanks for the pics... looks pretty straightforward... I was expecting something a lot more complex than that... As for the wiring diagram pictures I promised... I'm still trying to get those for the FAQ... I spent a good couple hours yesterday trying to install the drivers for the scanner, but for some reason I can't get the computer to connect to it. I'll keep trying though...

Not south of the border, but interesting none-the-less... Downtown Vancouver, penthouse suite, on the water, 9,000 square feet... $18,000,000... Or an insanely large house in Abbotsford (farmland area), on an acreage (no idea how big), 45,000 square feet (not a typo)... $10,000,000... I can't remember if it was exactly $10,000,000, but it was somewhere in that area... I have no idea what I'd do if I had 45,000 square feet though...

Hahaha, thanks... It would be nice to be able to lay the truck out, and I agree with going all the way if you're going to do something, but the main reason I'm against hacking into the frame is because I'll have to cut into the bed as well... I'd like to be able to keep the bed somewhat usable... Then again, if it's only a couple inches, it's not that bad... I just don't want to have to take out half of the bed space in order to be able to drop the truck an extra couple inches... The one other thing is the fact that I'll need a frame inspection if I go this route... Then again, the insurance people tell me I need one anyways if I'm going to swap the engine, so I could kill two birds with one stone... Does anyone know how much the frame needs to be brought up in order to completely lay the truck out, assuming stock wheel size and minimal axle to frame clearance? I'd like to be able to have it sitting on the ground, but I wouldn't actually drive it unless it was at least a couple inches off the ground... ok maybe an inch...

Alright, airbags are not my forte, so I'm going to ask a couple stupid questions... I'd like to have the adjustable suspension on my truck. I know I could go coilovers, but I'd rather be able to adjust it as I go, rather than having to fiddle with it. Airbags sound pretty appealing to me, and as far as I know they're legal up here. It'd be nice to drop the truck completely to the ground, but I don't want to cut and weld the frame or hack into the bed to get the clearance for the axle. I'd also rather not have to exchange out too many suspension components either. So... If I use the replacement struts, could I use the stock (or equivilant) leaf springs that are on the truck, or would I have to fab up the rear suspension? Could I also remove most of the leafs from the pack and go like that, or would that make the suspension too soft/springy/bouncy/whatever? Would doing the fronts be more or less the same as replacing a normal strut, or would it require some fab work? I'm assuming I'd need lines, a compressor, a tank, controls, etc, along with the struts, but mounting those isn't really an issue... I'm just curious as to how difficult the actual strut replacement would be...

Actually... up here, $3200 would probably be reasonable, depending on the condition of the hydraulics... One piston can cost upwards of a couple grand, let alone hoses, controls, pump, etc... It's pretty neat, but I don't really see the point... I think unless he had a diesel or a larger displacement engine in there it wouldn't be worth it to have a dump bed on the truck... The bed itself doesn't even really look reinforced... Now what would be cool was if the hydraulics went the other way and pushed down... then you could hop over traffic... :D

Bah, if I lived closer I would've taken the whole thing... Funny how that is, I don't see that many up here, and down there you guys are giving them away... =P Actually... are there any parts you'd be willing to send up this way, or is it too much hassle to take them off/pack up/etc?

Hahaha, lucky guy Mike... I'd be flipping out myself if that happened to me... Just out of curiosity, why did you have to fiddle with the insurance? Was there no insurance at all on the car, or did you just not want to deal with having to tell them it was someone else's car?

Don't mean to sound like an ass... but actually, he said that he used an 80's gas tank (and sender) with a 620 gauge, and it worked... so it follows that you could use an 80's gauge with an older sender. So you can pretty much use any of the gauges with any of the senders. Use the values that Mike posted... I don't think you'll get any different values otherwise. If there really was a difference between years, then there probably was a difference between models as well (different gas tank shapes?), and I don't think there's many people around with 610's. If you absolutely want to know for sure, get a multimeter and check it. They're a great investment if you're planning on doing ANY electrical work. I bought one for $20 and it works great... my only concern is that I didn't buy a better one right off the bat.

Is it hard to swap the later column into the 521? Or is it a fairly basic swap-and-go? Will this affect the difficulty in doing an engine swap, or should there be no difference? And finally, do I have to swap over to power steering, or can I keep it manual?

That airdam does look pretty sweet... As for the body work, it looks like you're getting pretty close to being done. You still have to sort out the window seal, correct? Anything else you're missing? BTW, cute kid... :D

I think he was referring to the actual gauge itself, rather than the sender... It is good to know, however. I'm considering replacing the gauges in my truck, and if I do, I'll need to track down the proper replacement.

Well that's something you don't hear everyday... Mike, any idea on the uses of the fully alloyed and hypo-utectic pistons? Is one set more commonly used as a turbo piston, or a race piston, etc? Do you have any idea on the relative cost between the three choices above? And finally (most importantly) are they available for the engines we use? :D

It's pretty mild here compared to what some of you are saying... It was snowing pretty hard all weekend though, and yesterday there were some heavy rains... It was nowhere near what happened last year though. Even so, I'm glad I've got a four-by... it was a hell of a lot easier getting around in that.

Four cars for $1,500? Nice... if only I lived in Iowa... and had the space...

No idea on whether or not it is a Toyota, but it appears to have rear fender flares... I don't think the early Datsuns did, at least not the 520's and newer...

Thanks Mike, that makes a lot of sense... I have a few older ('70's, '80's) auto books, so I look through them sometimes for clarification, so I remember reading a bit about fluid couplings and all... fortunately they still apply to the Datsun...

Alright... I'm picking a lot here, and I know what overdrive specifies, but can anyone tell me what locking the torque convertor actually does?

Redeye: You mentioned that the link isn't updated very often anymore... isn't that ideally what we're after? The less a forum/thread has to be updated, the more information is already available... it'll take a lot of work for the first couple months, but after that it can be left alone because there'll be little new information. I know that there's always new things to learn, but we're talking about cars that are in the 25-40 year old range... most of what can be learnt already has been.

Could be... That seems to be the most likely possibility. What is the actual definition of an overdrive? Is it a gear ratio that's lower than 1:1? It seems to me that most transmissions end in a 1:1 ratio... And while I'm on the topic of gear ratios... I was considering buying an ex-military vehicle at one point, and the thing had a "cross-country" gear... it was stupidly low, something like 7.35:1... The thing was pretty light and had a really low center of gravity, and apparently could climb some stupidly steep hills...

Speaking of sight glasses... I work with heavy machinery, and not all the machines have fuel gauges, and none have hydraulic oil pressure gauges... I've had to check fuel and oil levels by eyeballing them through the filler caps or sight glasses...