620/KA swap driveline shrunk

[Guest DatsuNoob]

Put the KA in the 620 yesterday for a mock-up and things didnt quite end up like I thought they would. The Frontier KA swap seems like a ratsun first, (atleast I havent seen anything documented on it yet) uncharted territory as Zuum510 says, but I thought I'd ask anyway. When the motor is in, it's nearly all the way against the firewall, and the aft end of the DL is nearly a full inch shy of mating up to the diff. I used a ZX 5 speed, so I was expecting to have no problems with relocation of anything (speedo cable, mounts, DL, etc). A 521 driveline proved to be a couple inches longer, but I must say I feel a little sketchy on using one since they look a bit weak at the tapered, splined section, that mates up to the other half of the driveline. A bit more torque is going to be applied here compared to the stock motor from 1970, so I think that would be the weak point. My question is, does anyone see a problem running a KA against the design of a 521 DL, or should I just go get a 1 piece made? Then instead of changing the pinion angle at the carrier bearing, I'll need to add shims at the rear end, right? Any reccomendations on where to get some driveline work done right for fairly cheap? Any ideas here would be great, thanks.

Edited July 24, 2009 by DatsuNoob

[Guest DatsuNoob]

Still wondering why my driveline length is short now, does anyone have any ideas?

[banzai510(hainz)]

You wish you had the L motor in it . You be rolling still

[Guest DatsuNoob]

Oh Hainz... if only you had the motivation for a KA swap, you'd see how much better they are than those old carbureted antiquities you and those roadster guys cruise around with :lol::lol:, seriously though, my L was a good little motor I just wanted more baseline power and torque to work with, and more access to bolt on goodies. I'm thinking 1 piece DL now, 100-$200 bucks not such a big deal. Gotta expect these kinds of things whenever doing something custom. It'll get done though, it's pretty much my first attempt at a swap this involved. I've only ever swapped in motors that were a direct replacement for the bad one, broke vw 1.8's for unbroke 1.8's. But I have to say this one dropped right in aside from the driveline issue. Looks like it belongs there the way it sits level with the front X-member and clears the steering link perfect.