Kev250R

Hey guys, frequent lurker who has gotten quite a lot of help here with my 320 over the past four years or so and thought I'd share some pics from the annual Kingman Fun Run on Route 66. This year was set to be a big event since it's the 100 year anniversary of Route 66. I'm not really a weekend car show guy (I'm more of a Cars & Coffee type of guy) but this was a big deal and it was in a part of Arizona I haven't spent much time in so my GF and a good friend of mine decided to make the trek from So.Cal. to Kingman (about 350 miles). Needless to say my 320 made the trek behind my truck and modified car trailer, although this was the longest trip I've taken my 320 on, though I've spent the past 15 years or so hauling VW's and Quads all over the Southwest with my Silverado and it's sketchy home built trailer which is about the same age as I am. The actual event was a three day drive from Seligman, Az to Topock Gorge with stops at the annual car show in Kingman on Saturday and Oatman on Sunday. We had a few things we wanted to see and do while we were in the area so early on I decided we'd just do the car show on Saturday with the 320 and spend the rest of the weekend attending other events and going other places in my Silverado. As I said I don't take this truck to a lot of car shows (this was the third one it's been to in two years). However whenever I do take it to shows I'm always amazed at how much attention it gets! It's fun talking to people and hearing lots of stories from people who used to own/knew someone who owned/lost their virginity/wants to own a Datsun. For about five hours it was pretty much non-stop people talking to me about the truck. I did take off for half an hour so I could see some of the other cars. The next day at the awards ceremony we won 'Best Mini Truck!' I was stoked (still am actually) as my cars are all drives at best. This was the first award I'd won with my 320 and actually made the weekend a lot of fun! However I couldn't have been there without the help and advice I've gotten from this forum, especially four years ago when I first got the truck and had a lot of issues. So am I now 'Car Show Guy'? Nah, I'd still rather be wrenching or driving my stuff but it was fun and we have another show we're taking it to in August. I got asked if we'll be bringing it back next year...I doubt it, though we may take one of my VW's there. I'll try and post some pics below!

Thanks! That makes sense. I've dealt with other engines previously which required a special tool for install.

Mine has a small 'Check Valve' (for lack of a better term) on top of the Valve Cover which I think is supposed to help to equalize pressures, though I don't think it works. I've not seen a 'traditional' PCV valve on my motor but will take a closer look as I'd like not to have to do this again for a while. Also it appears that my 320 has a J13 engine in it as comparing what I can find on-line what I have more closely resembles a J13 as opposed to an E1 (my engine has a conventional spin-on oil filter as opposed to the cartridge-type the E1 uses). This makes sense as I remember the PO mentioning that it had a later engine installed in it but not going into a lot of detail. Thanks for the help!

Sorry for hijacking the thread but I'm also chasing a chronic oil leak on a '63 320 and I found this information very helpful! My local O'Relliy's was able to get the gaskets for J13 next-day. I've yet to confirm that they fit my engine but if they do, then this will be a huge help! Also, does anyone know if there is a special tool needed for installing the Rear Main Seal and if so, where do I get one?

Hey guys, back to the 320! I got distracted with some other projects so my 320 spent the past couple of months parked next to my house with a non-functioning Distributor. A buddy came by and together we rebuilt the Distributor and properly timed the engine and it now starts, runs and drives well! However I still have no lights (brake, tail, turn, headlights). My truck is positive ground, appears to have most of it's original wiring, most of which is in good condition however while tracing-power with a Meter it seems this Relay (if that's what it is) is bad (see pic) I have 12VDC at the black wire on the right all the time, whether the Ignition is on or off and regardless of whether or not the engine is running. That wire runs to the Starter. Conversely I never have power on the other black wire (goes to the negative post on the battery) nor do I have power on the smaller, ~16 Gauge wire at the front of this Relay. My question is, does it sound like this Relay is bad? If so where would I find a comparable replacement? Doesn't have to be original. Thanks in advance for any help!

Thanks for the suggestion to go with a new unit from Moss, if I can find one which is similar to the one I have now I will probably go that route, then have my existing Generator rebuilt locally to keep as a spare. It looks like there in Santa Ana which is near where I live.

I've noticed that. In the past I've had good luck with using a generic one which attaches with a sort of zip tie which passes-through the fins of the radiator and attaches on the other side. For now though I'm going to run the stock fan, no shroud. I ran my 320 for probably 30 minutes last night, mostly idling with a few laps around my neighborhood and it seemed to stay nice and cool. Real-world driving will be the real test, but thanks to a bum Generator and some ignition issues I'm a couple of weeks away from that.

That's a good idea about a fan guard. I've thought about adding a fan shroud as well but I'm going to wait and see if one is needed first. It was $500 to have the Radiator re-cored. The shop I went to is one of the last in my area to do such work and they seem to be busy! When I went to pick my finished Radiator up there were three or four others which were waiting to be repaired or rebuilt.

Thanks guys, I took the 320 for a quick drive around the block yesterday (I still don't have any working lights and I was limited on time so a longer drive will have to wait) but it ran for about 10 minutes and stayed nice and cool. Also Reverse is back! I used it a couple of times moving it from my garage and eventually over to it's new spot next to my house and it engaged smoothly, didn't grind and stayed in gear. All things it didn't do before I tightened the linkages.

So I finally got my rebuilt radiator back from the radiator shop (Tom's Radiator Shop in Orange, CA). Randy down there did a great job, the Radiator looks good. It's been upgraded to a three-row and he spent some time banging-out a lot of dents from the top and bottom tanks. Even stayed late so I could pick it up after I stayed later at work then I expected which was cool and meant I could re-install it last night which was a huge help. I only took one pic before I installed it. I didn't have a lot of time to work on the truck last night but was focused on getting the radiator re-installed, filled and bled. Once I did that I set the truck back on the ground, cleaned all the crap I've been setting in the bed out and surprisingly it fired right up! I need to move it out of my garage for a while so later today I'll get to do a quick road test to see how it runs with the newly re-built Radiator and to see if my tightening all the gear linkages a couple of weeks ago solved my problem with Reverse.

Maybe so, I'm actually trying to learn more of the trucks history from the guy I bought it from. It sounds like it was a ranch truck in Montana for at least part (if not most) of it's life so I doubt it ever saw much salt, which helped to save it for sure!

My 320 lived most of it's life in Montana, then Kansas for a few years; I had it shipped to me from Kansas and despite what the truck may think, it's (eventually) going to spend most of it's time outdoors, thus my desire to apply POR-15 to the exposed parts of the frame. I'm lucky though, despite living most of it's life in cold country, the actual rust repair I need to make is very minimal.

You're not wrong it is expensive, however I used it previously on an old Falcon I used to have and it worked pretty well, which is why I went with it for my 320. POR-15 Doesn't like to be left sitting around once it's been opened so this time I bought a six-pack of small (4oz) cans which should be enough to cover what I need to right now and if there is any left over (doubtful) it should keep better then if I tried to re-seal a gallon can. For what I'm doing with my 320 I will probably pull the bed to save me the hassle of having to apply it while laying under the truck but I'm not planning on pulling the cab off the frame so blasting isn't an option at this time. Like you said, it's all about encapsulating the rust to prevent it from spreading. Thankfully my 320 has minimal rust so I'm trying to keep it that way.

Not much progress to report, last week was my long week at work (70 hours) so other then installing a clamp-on mirror to the driver's-side drip rail (which I already hate) and playing around with the the electrical in an effort to get the brake lights working, I didn't do much on my 320. This week I should get the radiator back from being re-cored then I plan-on re-installing which should allow me to get the 320 off my lift and out of my garage so I can road test and see if the newly-refreshed radiator solved my running hot issue and I can see if tightening the gear linkages was the fix to reverse. I also picked-up some POR15 and metal prep spray so I can help preserve the metal on my 320, however that may wait until the summer when it's too hot here to do much heavy work.

Yes, that's exactly what the shop is doing, in addition to replacing a very clogged core with a slightly larger one. I'm hoping to have it back by Weds or Thurs, I'll post pics when I get it. What's funny is that Radiator cap on eBay looks just like the one my '93 Toyota T100 uses!