'79 620 daily

[swb"74"620]

http://downundertruckin.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=46849&p=531048#p531048

 

I wanted to put a build up here but couldn't be bothered fucking around with images hosts and all that crap!

[Gary]

fair hey, photobucket is pretty easy though if you ever wanted to

 

yours looks nice :D dash looks great! i want a bench :( gunna go hunting for one for its first big road trip once its mostly done :D

 

where are your engine mounts for your J series? if theyre middle of the block either side, i think L series swaps are easy but if you've got weird looking engine mounts in other places its gunna be tricker. can still be done though :D

[swb"74"620]

Haha yeah ran out and had a look because I havent really been doing anything under the hood as of yet and there on either side of the block,

Haha cheers man! Shes got a combo skin on the back thats growing on me but i have to cut some of it away so that i can get some of those bumber thingos each side for the lights.

Hmm im thinking about ditching the L20s i have and trying something different other than ka24 and sr and all that jazz but i think pretty much all conversions have been done!

Yeah the dash is clean its had like and inch thick of grease and shit on it since the seventies so think that kept it from cracking though it is warped.

Tracking down a bench seat is going too be fun haha, how are you going to go by that?

[Gary]

theres a little place ive been told of :D

 

otherwise probably going to look for different model benches and adapt to suit. or try forums, or the odd datsun wrecker down here. theres a workshop i know that might be able to point me in the right direction

 

could try VG conversions? they look pretty tiny and easy to find about the place. just not DETT's, manifolds and turbos together will be hard to fit width ways im guessing. if you wanted boost, valley supercharger could be win, or single turbo. i think some VG's came single turbo come to think of it

 

KA/SR are alright, could even find an FJ :D those would be easier to get legal id imagine

[swb"74"620]

ohh sounds like you have a secret shop your not telling me about!

Theres a place up here in brissy that sell like most of the 620 parts on ebay but nooo bench seats!

VG ahh yes didnt think of them there pretty big though surely? they look huge in the 300zx bays unless im thinking of the wrong engine haha. (EDIT- Wait did they make them in a straight 4? Don't know much about those engines!)

and yes fj i didnt think of either they go into datsuns a fair bit might go down that track! with a single turbo setup.

[Gary]

no secret really :D randy at nissco down here might know where i could find some bits, hes more into 510's and rallying though i think

 

VG's are a V6 that come either OHC or DOHC, the OHC ones are quite small, the DOHC ones (specially twin turbo) are widddee and tricky to fit into things. single turbo OHC variants (stock) with the right manifolds could be sweet, NA would be good for more grunt to tow/haul stuff about. would be no slouch straight line either, not sure if the OHC ones are that rev-happy though :( and need to fix headgaskets straight up as they're known for them, if you fix em properly they'll never annoy you again though ;) id be keen on one if i wasnt so keen on staying low tech, maybe someday ill make a carbed one! hehe i dont think itd be too hard to fit em either, handsome americans have fit ecotec 3.8's (our commodore engines) in theirs though they're pushrod 6's so theyre not very wide

 

a little more progress;

i got my SR alternators out for a peek today, i pulled one apart to find it was in pretty bad shape, the other one looked alright though. ive removed the pulley from the old alternator and tried to retrofit it to the SR alternator with a little success. i chopped up one of the SR pulleys and used the center of it as a sort of spacer, then drilled out the old halves of the J series pulley and slapped it all together

 

strangely enough, it fits beautifully :blink:

 

the alternator fits the existing bracket spot on;

 

just need to give the steel bush in one of the alternator arms a tap so its flush with the outer edge, and it bolts like it was meant to be there

 

i put it together (not properly, but practically how it'll be) to see how far out the pulley was so i knew how much to compensate for with the bracket but err... it lined up bang on! well, the pic it looks a little off, but with the right bolts in the bracket to straighten the alternator up good, it'll be fine i reckon

 

the belt is plenty tight so it can hold tension (when i make a decent tensioner out of bits of the old SR one heh), could probs do with being a touch shorter but ill leave it if i ever need emergency parts (common sizes = win)

 

the pulley i made would probably work alright if i welded the halves together, faced the bush i made from the old SR pulley then welded that on too, then got it on the lathe to tidy up so i might find some vague sort of balance out of it, but ive got some suitable aluminium stock lying about so im gunna have a crack at making one. if it fails (and its likely heh) ill just go with the steel one instead

 

so thats what ive got planned for tomoz, unless i dont have what i need, in which case ill get started on the cab

[swb"74"620]

D you know if they make sun visors for the 620?

That would be cool.

Also how would you go about converting it from uni body into is it mono body?

(Sorry for the questions I cant find no info on the net, haha)

[Gary]

sun visors as in the interior ones? or the ones that look like golf hats that sorta cover the top of the windscreen? could probs make the latter, or adapt from a similar car :D

 

not sure what you mean by uni/mono body, if you mean like commodore utes how the tub is attached to the cab with no gap? its cos they're usually monocoque (not the tonners/traybacks, theyre still body on frame), the structural bit of the car is integrated with the panel/body like cars are. our utes are body on frame, which means we've got a separate chassis, the cab and tub just bolt onto it. its not so difficult to weld the cab and tub together, there'd be a certain way to do it though, not just two strips of 1.6mm sheet welded over the gap :D

 

more progress,

got some machining done today, probably my first real job for the lathe. bought it a while ago for a job i never really got around to heh

 

started chopping out what i needed from some stock, faced both sides, cut down one end, then drilled the center bore. was having a little fun making a slight taper on one of the faces cos i havent done it before. i wasnt very good at it heh

 

then i broke it, one of the bolts that holds the tool post on the carriage stripped, lucky i had some spare high tensile ones kickin around, so modified to fit the slots in the carriage and shortened it a touch and i was back in action. bored the other end to suit the retaining nut, gave it a quick test fit, all was good

 

i got up to cutting the V bit for the belt, but was getting late and i was being noisy :( ill finish tomoz if i can figure out a good way to do it

[Gary]

progress;

i had a go at cutting the groove for the belt in the new pulley today, was a bit tricky cos it had to match the profile of the belt. i managed it i think, maybe. i didnt stuff it up like i thought i was going to, just need to see if its going to grip the belt and not make noise etc

 

 

its a little underdriven cos its bigger than the original pulley, but 80A and all im driving is lights, fan, and very basic stez, i'll be right. a quick pic of it installed;

 

ive messed about with the alternator bracket so it suits the factory SR bolt, needed a little more bracing, almost finished with the tensioner which i should get done tomoz, then its done minus wiring which ill do once the cab is back on i think

[NCRmtrsprts510]

Sweetass lathing job dude so sick!

[Calvin 520]

Dang, now that's some engineering there! Nice work!:thumbup:

[swb"74"620]

Apparently somebody did a vg30 single cam into one?

And the rover v8, I might go down one of those lines.

Or stay with the trusty j15 haha

[Gary]

thanks chaps :D

 

a few people down here have done VG's into 510s, one chap dared a quadcam one with success. wouldnt surprise me if someone had done a single cam to 620 before :D a well sorted L series with a nice cam, some more compression and some nice carbs and exhaust would be fun in the ute though, still weighs less than a tonne i think. thats my plan :D i could do all manner of conversions but i reckon SR20DET's or VG's or LS2's or whatev detract from what makes the ute so coool. just me though heh

 

some more progress, finished the tensioner arrangement today, which is about all ill do to it alternator wise for a while, should really get cracking on the cab already

 

i had some spare 4mm sheet floating around so ive tried to extend the factory bracket for the tensioner so it looks sorta half decent (trying to impress roadworthy people so they dont crack it at me)

 

i sorta finished it, then realised the tensioner arrangement doesnt work cos ive made it fit on backwards :( so i drilled a hole in the bolt and used a split pin (i dunno why, but i wanted the bolt removable for later) and now it works good! :D ill get a fresh belt, one slightly smaller so ill have some more adjustment

 

tomoz its cab time. ill cut out most of the sills and see the full extent of how bad it is, then maybe make start making some replacement bits so theyre ready to go in

[swb"74"620]

F*** you got some metal skills mate,

haha yeah ive got an L20 out of a sss bluebird im trying to sell.

I might clean up the J and make it like this :D

 

http://www.google.co...%26tbs%3Disch:1

 

(Go to fourth picture)

[Gary]

thick stuff is a lot easier to work with than thin stuff :( i cant see that pic, is it the J series out of that black jap 620? with the tub welded to the cab and all hectic lookin?

 

i wouldnt say theres a lot to be had out of the J series unless you're particularly fond of it, L series would be a better base while still keeping it low tech. up to you though :D

 

like the cab :( heh i got stuck into that today, i had a better look at some of the spots that need attention, the sills werent as bad as i thought, ill replace most of them anyway. ive only got to chopping out the drivers side sill, both major rust holes were masked with builders foam and bog, most of which came out easy, the rest i got with the torch :D im going to try split the steel at the seam and chop close to the bend at the top of the sill, might make welding in the replacement a little easier

 

the back of the sills (inner bit) are rusted out at each cab mount, so will repair a fair section of those too. this is how all of my cab mounts are (cept front ones, theyre fine-ish)

 

also had lots of pop-rivets near the rear window and a couple down on either side of the back of the cab, they werent holding anything in, i was lightly confused as to why they were there. had fun with them and the stainless wirewheel ive got on one of my angle grinder though :D looked cool watching them melt away. few more holes to plug!

 

im pretty keen on removing the tool mounts on the floor, considering i dont have the original tools anymore. ill make a place for them under the tub or something one day

[Gary]

little more progress over the last couple days;

 

i have been working on it :D just not updating

 

ive removed the interior (well, the dash and steering column, and pedal box) so i can fix the firewall rust first. well, not really firewall, theres a fair hole just below the cowl. ive chopped that out and made some replacement sections ready to go in. the plan was to fix that first so the new dash could go in, so i could sort out wiring and fit the headunit

 

a few light bits of rust and a couple holes in the little bailey channel thing on the firewall, nothing serious

 

now though i can see the the floor could do with some POR15 lovin (that glisten stuff is doing alright so far by the way), so ill get to repairing steel first then worry about putting the interior back together. after a good brush up and a good blast of compressed air (and the contraction of every 1900's disease given i copped a few facefuls of the dust - my stupidity :D), i can see the full extent of the floor rust, fair bit needs cutting out

 

something cool i found in behind the dash when i removed it, two old tickets to amaroo park raceway which was in NSW :cool: was closed down in 1998 and is now a housing estate :( i wouldve made the effort to revisit it someday if it was still around

 

also got me some of this! bluebird 5 speed, ive got a flywheel from my 510's L20, so all i needs is a clutch kit and i wont be far off a ready-and-waiting L series swap. later, of course, but cool that its there and waiting :D

 

long weekend ahead, i had planned on attending a desert crossing with a mate in his pathfinder but pretty sure he's still in the UK :\ so lots of time to be spending on this fandangled cab of mine. hopefully get through lots

[Braden]

somebody correct me if im wrong but doesnt he want a flywheel from a truck, not a car, he needs the 225mm wheel :huh:

[Gary]

dunno, ill measure it when i go and get it :)

 

more progress;

fair bit done over the weekend, kinda using the fact im procrastinating (in not working on the sills) to my favour, and working on anything that catches my eye at the time :D so got more work done on little things than i did on the only real reason i pulled the cab :angel:

 

started out removing more stuff from the interior so i could reach the large rust hole near the cowl, got some plates in there ready for more welding. i went nuts with the diegrinder chewing out rust in a few places, then went about welding up some holes here and there in the firewall used to fix the carpet down, and one where a choke cable was retrofitted, which was kinda weird cos instead of using the factory location, a hole was punched in the old dash just beneath the glovebox :huh: probs found itself too short one day or something. welded up the holes in the back where random rivets were, need some cutting back and that'll be done, also removed the clips to hold the rod that drops the spare wheel i think. also chopped out the rest of the drivers side sill, and had a peek at the back of it and chopped out some more rust. the chunk that came out of it was considerable

 

then sorta lost interest in the sills/floor, started paying attention to my dash. figured out where ill put the headdeck, and how the climate control bits are gunna sit in. then sorted out and cleaned the headlight/choke/washer buttons. the choke cable looked factory, but was in the wrong place, and didnt have its nut thing that held it on. so i put it where it belongs, and made a new nut thing. also thought itd be sweet if i put all my guages in and the clock i found. cracked lenses for all of em, but i kinda like it how it is :fu:

[Gary]

(too many images to a post :()

 

then thought id be wise to put the glovebox together so the lid wouldnt keep flopping about while trying to move it. which was cool till i found the glovebox is made from high density paper, stapled together at the folds! worked good for 31 years dont get me wrong, but i thought itd be better if it were steel, so i traced it out and duplicated the old one in some fresh(ish) 1mm sheet

 

just had to see if it works good, it does :thumbup:

 

tomoz hitting my local parts professionals for some cool stuff, maybe some new headlights, see what they have

[Gary]

more progress! this week gone was messed up pretty good, had a funeral :( so next to nothing done all week while that was sorted. till this weekend anyway, got some stuff done

 

i cut this out, ready to be duplicated

 

also picked up some new headlights, was expecting maybe 40-50 clams each, they were $10.30 or something :w00t: these ones are semi sealed beams, for some reason i got both pairs with H4's and seperate parkers (which were blue, straight out of the box :(). so my highbeams are gunna boil eyeballs maybe. was thinking of yellow inners cos the outers can take care of all the headlightness im going to need, but undecided

 

finally got proper stuck into the cab. im fixing it one side at a time, cos ill forget the profile of the sills i need to match etc. chopped out both cab mounts on drivers side, and tacked in fresh sections for the rear. also chopped out more of the sills and rusty bits

 

 

got to work on the sills, first one i made was a fail. was wavy as (basically bashed the profile in with a small hammer). so that was set aside, clearly i had to think of a better way to do it, without the use of considerably large and expensive presses. i tried out a poor mans way of doing it to see how it went;

[Gary]

win! not perfect but suits nicely :D then got to improving the ghettoish way of doing it so it bent a little cleaner;

 

to make some of this;

 

ive made them so they need trimming, i didnt want to fall short and waste sheet. so they'll probably get trimmed tomorrow to suit, then i dunno what i'll do next. maybe make the top and bottom sections of the cab mounts, or maybe make that chassis section i cut out. see how it goes

[swb"74"620]

oh very nicely done!

[Gary]

thanks :D

 

little more progress over the last couple days;

finished off the alternator swap, just needs wiring when the cab is back on

 

im not sure how the heater control panel attaches to the dash, guessing it used to be part of a bigger bit of plastic or something. had to fix that little problem, i got a touch lazy and just screwed it into the dash, works good though :D

 

was sick of tripping over my new headunit too so decided to get that in today, i made a quick box for it so the rear rubber thing locates properly, and it sits reasonably straight without fouling the middle screw where it attaches to the firewall

 

i was poking around for more roadworthy bits and remembered the front valance had problems, well the parker light/indicator things did anyway. inside one was mouldy, the other one rusted out pretty good... the valance itself had rusted around one of them too. i could probably save them and keep it factory and i might yet, but im keen now on shaving them instead. id just need to work out replacement front indicators so if i get any bright ideas on that, i think i will shave em

[swb"74"620]

How much are 620's worth in aus?

Are they rare, Getting rare, not so rare?

Would like to know if i got mine for a reasonable price lol.

[Gary]

its tricky to say

 

tubs are hard to find, lwb are a touch tricker to find, decent runners with alright bodies are reasonably hard to find. but you really need to find someone that appreciates them for what they are and is willing to pay for its rarity. the old adage that its worth what someone will pay rings true

 

i was happy to pay what i paid, but one with a decent body and good engine, with something cool like good condition interior or 5 hook tub or KC or something i reckon would go for similar money to 510's down here, id guess at 2.5-4k maybe. immaculate ones or full resto's, or some hectic conversion done would obviously be more, just like 510's. some SR20DET 510's go for like 15-20k!