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Surge L320 progress


SurgeL320

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Part 1

 

These are the steps needed to do the right hand swap for those interested in it. This is one of those modifications that serve no real purpose other than its cool factor. Now keep in mind that everything on the bottom end of the steering colum past the firewall is interchangeable with little work, but everything past it and inside the cab will take some work to do so.

 

First > unbolt all the steering stuff to the front wheels , idler arms, tie rod bushings, etc.

 

Second > remove steering wheel, unbolt steering colum under dash, disconnect wires . Now go on and unbolt the colum from the chasis,

you WILL have to remove the idler arm together with the box and colum, you will remove the idler arm after its out.

 

 

Third > Flip all steering components 180 Degrees. That means the wormgear in the box must be removed and inserted in the opposite end. The Idler arms must ALL be removed and turn 180 degrees aswell.

 

 

Fourth > Redrill and bolt on the steering box to the chasis. This is easy as the datsun engineers designed these parts to be used on both ends. you will also need to open up a new colum hole on the firewall ,its already prestamped which makes it easy

 

This is the steering box bracket , you will drill one new hole on the box where the drill bit is, notice the tab is already there

IMG_1679.jpg

 

And mount the bracket and line up a new hole. it will look like this after its drilled

IMG_1684.jpg\

 

This allows it to bolt on perfect and strong , this is where you better hope you aligned the colum hole on the firewall.

IMG_1688.jpg

It clears the battery bracket fine.

 

Fifth > flip and install all the steering components . If you forget to them 180* it will turn the opposite way.

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Part 2

 

The right hand swap get tricky inside the cab. Nothing really lines up on the dash

 

IMG_1695-1.jpg

notice the column notch on the dash intrument panel. The glove box side doesnt have it . There is no way to get away with this.

 

IMG_1693.jpg

You also cant just swap the instrument panel face with the glove box , there are a couple of mouting holes for the light and key hole .

 

 

The only thing to do is cut and weld them on the opposite sides

IMG_1704.jpg

 

But be careful, try to keep it in a bracket form so that all the holes and screw holes go accordingly with each other. This makes it easier if you do . notice the cut and alignment

IMG_1710-1.jpg

 

IMG_1711.jpg

 

I did not get a clear pic but only the backing to the gauge face and glove box need to be cut and welded. The glove box and instrument panel face bolt on to that. The gauge face is aluminum and will need grinded at the top to fit is new place. same with the glove box

 

IMG_1714.jpg

 

 

 

 

When its ready to be welded there is a gap towards the center on both pieces because of a contour shape that doesnt match up . It will have to be filled , this weld WILL show after installation so do a good job.

IMG_1708.jpg

 

IMG_1718.jpg

 

 

I still have to clean up the welds but overall it bolts on good.It will need to have the column to the firewall mount moved also. do that after its all done.

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It's good to know that the steering box swaps over by flipping it 180. How hard was it to swap the wormgear ?

 

The box is capped on one side , flip it around and your good. Trying to wiggle it out and putting it back together took me about 2 hours . it has to be "just right" .

 

Theres a car show in 2 weeks that im trying to get it to.

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oh man....i am trying to figure out my nl320.... nice thread and good luck.... have you talked color yet?... matching the engine?

 

 

any ways, still a nice build.

 

Thanks man I like your NL too. I like the baby blue paint but I want it metalic but thats the last step.

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Cool.

Any pics of the worm gear flip in the steering box? Did you cut it off and re-weld it? In the 521's, the worm gear and steering shaft are one piece.

 

I like the idea of creating a RHD, but I've owned one before....so I got that out of my system years ago :) Still an interesting mod :)

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Cool.

Any pics of the worm gear flip in the steering box? Did you cut it off and re-weld it? In the 521's, the worm gear and steering shaft are one piece.

 

I like the idea of creating a RHD, but I've owned one before....so I got that out of my system years ago :) Still an interesting mod :)

 

No pics but the steering shaft and worm gear are one piece so there is no modding to this. Just uncap the opposite end turn and wiggle it out the opposite end that has shaft sticking out. Its pretty easy but like i said before it has to be just right as the tolerance is minimal , also centering the worm gear in the box while trying to hook it up to the idler arm can be difficult.

 

Any tips on driving right side? It feels akward just sitting in it , like i cant see much

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I had to pull the worm gear and reinstall when I shortened the column in my wife's 521......so I know the pain your talking about :)

 

The 620 box won't work...it's closed on the end. The capped box can be flipped, but by my reckoning, it will steer backwards. I'm missing something. Is the pitman arm point the other direction now? When the box is flipped, the vertical shaft moves from one side of the worm gear to the other....and that's whats causing the prob in my head.

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it will steer backwards. Is the pitman arm point the other direction now? When the box is flipped, the vertical shaft moves from one side of the worm gear to the other.

 

HA! Good thing you mentioned this because at first when i set it up i turned it to the right and the wheels went left :lol: . I turned the pitman arm backwards so its on the opposite side towards the radiator .All the components clear everything except the torsion bars. I forgot what , but something hits the torsion bars so i bent the torsion bars around it a little and it holds fine. Most trucks out have screwed up torsion bars anyway . Ill post pics later

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I shortened it 3.5" to have more room.

 

.....hhhmmm..... If your tierods aren't online with the crosslink, i'm thinking the your toe in will change radically when driving and turning, but hopefully I'm wrong.

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I shortened it 3.5" to have more room.

 

.....hhhmmm..... If your tierods aren't online with the crosslink, i'm thinking the your toe in will change radically when driving and turning, but hopefully I'm wrong.

 

Ok i forgot to mention on this ill have to make a tierod shaft , the rod that adjust to connect left and right idler arms , 4" longer . Just get a rod and thread the ends to make the male ends to connect to the female on the tierods. GOOD EYE ,but there is no toe in

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  • 4 weeks later...

I picked up a master cylinder from a Z for the disc brake swap from the junkyard. On the side there is a stamp that read something like "part modified with oversize bore, replace with over size piston" . Its a 3/4 bore but i have not measured it myself yet. Ive never seen this before, have you ?

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I have a wiring question. My key switch is labeled S- B- Ig- The S=Starter B=fusebox Ig= fusebox . I dont have a 320 wiring diagram but im guessing the IG should lead to the coil, correct? if not then it would have 2 wires leading to the fusebox according to the newer manual . I dont know weather its positive or negative on the coil . Does anyone have a diagram for this or know why it doesnt crank

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You should be able to find the wiring on my sight olddatsuns.com

 

the B is for battery and should be the constant 12volts from the battery via a lug on the fuse box....iirc.

 

Use a test light to test that you have 12v at the back of the switch and that it is also on the S term when you turn the key to start. If you have both of those, use the test light to check that you have the 12v start signal at the little wire on the starter. If you do it should crank. If you do and it doesn't then it's either the connection to he start or the solenoid on the starter. If you don't have the signal it's a wiring prob.

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I couldn't quite read it all on the phone....the IG goes back to the fuse box to power all the switched electrical stuff.

 

So...B(batt) is constant hot coming in... IG is switched hot going back....S goes straight to the starter.

 

Hope that helps.

 

from my site...

 

http://www.olddatsuns.com/data/dat-320.pdf

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