zenndog Posted August 15, 2009 Report Share Posted August 15, 2009 (edited) The quick story:I have had this truck for about a year and a half. I bought it on e-bay and I think I over paid but who knows? That is the past now. I love the truck and was driving it to work every day until I moved to Santa Cruz in December. The big problem:Truck always starts but the motor is tired. Leaks a lot of oil. Oil leaks behind fan and spays all over. Has gotten worse. The big solution:I have an L20b that I bought for a wagon that never came through but I don't have the time/energy to do that swap. I could rebuild the one in it but it may be toast, hard to find parts, ect. Most important down side, taking the truck out of service for possibly long time while engine is rebuilt. Solution, Ratsun! Picked this up from a fellow Ratsunner in Sacramento, nice guy. A J13 motor with all the trim taken out of his 520pu. My truck has a J13 in it now. Thanks again and nice to meet you Ricardo. Couple of smaller things like the heater/air vent assembly rebuild and remove the SUNROOF:mad:. The sunroof may be the first because it leaks and I am so, so sick of it. Heater is halfway done, just need to reassemble and install the vent assembly, heater works great but outside air cannot be turned off. When I first bought the truck the brakes didn't work, heres the rebuild thread: http://forum.ratsun.net/showthread.php?t=3950 Here is the heater/vent thread http://forum.ratsun.net/showthread.php?t=14226 Here was a thread on replacing the window crank http://forum.ratsun.net/showthread.php?t=4483 The speedometer doesn't work either but I picked up a gauge cluster from a Ratsunner in Freemont, so thet will be coming up as well. I am going down to LA for a week, taking the J13 with me so we will see if I make any progress. Here are a couple of pics of the truck Here is a picture of the engine compartment before I started driving the car, I had just cleaned it up. Actually, I think I did more cleaning after this, oh well. I will get some current pics up soon. One thing I am looking forward to is cleaning up the engine compartment. I would love to relocate the battery. Some other detail oriented changes will be coming with switching the motors. Here is a question, leave OG 4spd trans with column shift, or put in 4 spd with the motor from 520? Edited August 15, 2009 by zenndog Quote Link to comment
woodside4032 Posted August 15, 2009 Report Share Posted August 15, 2009 Why did people find it so necessary to hack in these sunroofs :mad:. Was it a seventies thing or what? Removing mine is on my short list as well. Tite truck though Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted August 15, 2009 Report Share Posted August 15, 2009 my .02 ....the column shift is cool, but if you're driving in traffic everyday....it's a royal PITA! That's a bit reason I'm going auto in mine :) So...if it's just a toy...column.. If you're going to drive the heck out of it...floor! :) Great write ups!! Quote Link to comment
zenndog Posted August 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2009 (edited) Yeah, I thought about auto as well, keep the original shifter but make it work an auto trans. I have seen hot rods like that. I think I might have to do the floor, but I will see. A small hole in the floor can always be patched, especially if done in a clean way. I almost bought an H20 for it, complete with the propane carb and everything. But I was nervous about weather or not it would have bolted in. I am much more comfortable with the J13, I don't have the resources to take on an engine swap type project but I can take something apart, clean it, and bolt it back together all day. my .02 ....the column shift is cool, but if you're driving in traffic everyday....it's a royal PITA! That's a bit reason I'm going auto in mine :) So...if it's just a toy...column.. If you're going to drive the heck out of it...floor! :) Great write ups!! Edited August 15, 2009 by zenndog Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted August 15, 2009 Report Share Posted August 15, 2009 I'm putting the auto behind the G15 and it's going to be major work to make it fit. The L series engines are the same length as the G15, but they don't look as classy. You'll be fine with the J13, you just can't put an auto behind it. As for the hole in the floor......the trans tunnels bolt in....see if you can find one from a floor shift(1965) model. They've got a fairly good bump in them. It will take more than just a hole in your floor board to make the floor shift fit in you column shift model. Quote Link to comment
zenndog Posted August 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2009 Thank you for the info, it will probably stay a column shift then. I will post and see if I can find a 65 floor shift parts truck. I wonder if a 520 floor would be similar? And you said the tunnel is screwed in? I never noticed that but I guess I haven't pulled out the carpet ever. We learn something all the time but I will be a little embarrassed to have missed that one!:o Haven't seen my truck in two months. But I am bringing it love in the form of a working speedo and a new better running motor. Hopefully I will get some stuff done on it while I am in LA. Quote Link to comment
zenndog Posted August 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 I ended up working on a paying job during my week in LA. No time to work on my truck, no time to go check out the 510 wagon for possible trade. Generally no fun with cars at all. I took the replacement motor down and got it tucked away. I forgot to take down the replacement speedo with me, so nothing got done on my truck at all besides a couple 20 mile jaunts on the freeway. The truck did start right away after being parked two months, so thats always nice. Sorry for the boring update, but here is the bright side. One of my oldest friends who is a computer programmer is flying up to have beer with me in his personal plane. And I mean flying it himself. Bastard. Anyways, he is coming up this Friday and I am flying back to LA with him for labor day weekend. My children will be with their mom and I will have two days to wrench a little. So I should have some updates soon. Quote Link to comment
zenndog Posted August 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 Here is the replacement engine Quote Link to comment
zenndog Posted September 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 Working speedo installed, so great to have a speedo again. Air vent reassembled and installed. I bought a top from a donor L320 to eliminate the sunroof but it was not packaged well so Fed Ex bought it instead of me but I am a little disappointed because I was hoping to not have to fab a panel but now I will just have to fabricate it because I am not going to waste time trying to get another used roof panel. I have a bunch of pics to upload to photobucket. Quote Link to comment
zenndog Posted September 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Here is a thread on replacing the speedo http://forum.ratsun.net/showthread.php?t=15542 Heater/defrost vent thread update coming soon. Quote Link to comment
zenndog Posted October 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2009 I added some pics to the heater/vent restore thread http://forum.ratsun.net/showthread.php?t=14226 If anyone has a truck or early car that has the duct which attaches the vent to the heater please post a picture. Thanks Quote Link to comment
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