'79 620 daily

[rollinlow]

hey awesome build, im also putting 720 front disc brakes on my 620,

what other parts do i need off a 720 for the brakes to work?

cheers

[Gary]

i compared 620 and 720 upper arms to find they were pretty much the same, 620's have little stops in them but geometry wise they looked same. balljoints were the same top and bottom too

 

so just the complete hub really. the caliper soft lines reach the chassis where it turns into a hard line

 

im not sure how they go with brake balance, i havent done it yet :( lots of threads on that here though :)

[Gary]

progress;

spent a lot of this week assin about with my compressor which has decided to develop a problem. yesterday and today have been messin about though and got a little more done

 

ive found that working and/or concerning myself with more than one aspect at a time can burn me out. my simple little mind doesnt like it very much, i tend to lose motivation if im concentrating on a couple problems at once. might help anyone struggling with motivation themselves ;) shits back to normal though having solved a few dramas here and there, hopefully compressor is back and singing tomoz so i can tidy up some panel work

 

i got into making the lower bits for the rear cab mounts, its a little different to the stock design (i couldve spent lots of time duplicating them, but unnecessary i think), instead of matching the profile ive made the bits from thicker steel instead

 

also welded a bit more of the cab together;

 

tomoz hitting parts professionals see if they can find me some fresh cab mounts. mine are old, cracked, rusty bits all up and down em, and one is mysteriously missing

[Gary]

progress;

 

parts professionals couldnt help out with cab bushes :( the closest option was to get into some weird lookin rubber mounts used for stuff like radiators. they've got studs cast into them, with them heated and removed id be left with a good chunk of rubber of which to modify to suit my cab/chassis. not overly keen on that idea, so im going to revert to an idea i was toying with for one of my other cars; casting urethane. it was the reason i bought the lathe ive got funnily enough :lol: the trick will be to machine some moulds to the right sizes, then using some stuff i got (shore hardness 60A i think, i can get considerably softer and cool colours too :D), make my own damn bushes. see how it goes i spose, need me some aluminium

 

whats holding me up at the mo is my damn compressor. its got a belt slipping/chattering problem that ive been trying to figure out. hopefully not much longer till i get fixed and working so i can get more work into the cab

 

today went for a drive to meet another avid 620 owner :D hes got one hes been messing with for years, has a 60's chev stepside style rear tub he made which looks pretty sweet, hes painted it up nice too. oh and err... had a built 350 chev innit :thumbup: wasnt that tight a fit really, steering was a bit close but otherwise it looked great! he showed me where it would twist the chassis bad enough for the rear pillars to bend at the floor and roof! was cool lookin though, id never actually seen a complete early 620 in the flesh before today. awesome lookin things :D the reason i swung round was i got some info from someone handsome on ozdat who said he might have some parts i might purchase from one of his parts utes. so i got some of this;

 

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D not that big a fan of the newer grille, stoked i found an earlier one! complete with headlight bezels and nasty cobwebs. i noticed from his parts 620 his had a bit of trim at the front of the bonnet. my bonnet looks the same, but doesnt have any holes innit for this bit of trim... not that i cant make holes dont get me wrong, just thought it'd have em :D must be a late year thing

 

and a spare stockie cos mine was missing, needs some work

 

tomoz workin more on compressor to get it working. ive got a feeling it'll end in a visit to my engine rebuilder

[swb"74"620]

I have a chrome strip that goes on my bonnet!

Should be sexy when I get all the effing paint off.

Yeah I have an older grill also. Not keen on them at all the later one looks keeps cool.

[rollinlow]

i compared 620 and 720 upper arms to find they were pretty much the same, 620's have little stops in them but geometry wise they looked same. balljoints were the same top and bottom too

 

so just the complete hub really. the caliper soft lines reach the chassis where it turns into a hard line

 

im not sure how they go with brake balance, i havent done it yet :( lots of threads on that here though :)

 

I mounted mine up, had to change some of the steering bits but was a piece of piss :)

cheeeeeers

[Gary]

nice one, thanks :) nice to know no big dramas ahead

 

progress;

spent this week dissembling and peeking about my stupid compressor. all appears fine :( on the upside a mate said i could pinch his compressor until mines fixed so i picked that up today :D

 

during the week ive been working on making moulds for one of the cab mount bushes, i finished making it today and got to pouring the urethane in to see if it works, ive got an hour or two to wait now till i can demould and suss it. pretty sure the stuff ive got has spoiled thanks to a dodgy lid for the tub of part A :( see how it goes though, hopefully i can at least demould it. wasnt shore 60A in the end, was harder at 85. ill get softer stuff soon, as mentioned i think my current stuff is gawnnn. this one is the top middle bush;

 

tomoz ill get more into the cab now that ive got a compressor to use again :)

[Gary]

well, it works! i sort of forgot about mould release though so i messed this one up quite good to try get it out. and the mould i made was a touch too big, and the bottom edge should have been radiused, aaand ill try make some kind of release mechanism so i dont hurt the bush when i need to remove it... need to make another one

 

85A is too hard for this kind of bush though, ill try get under 60 when i hit dalchem again soon

 

ignore the irregularities inside, and how rough it looks. the next mould will hopefully solve all of that

 

tried again using silicon lubricant as a release agent, kinda works. my next one looks good but still hard to get out so ive modified the mould with an idea, will see if it works tomoz

 

tomorrow planning on visiting some places for more urethane, aluminium stock, and some moulded carpets too

[Gary]

progress;

 

yesterday i went for a spin and got me some fresh carpet from knox. i got it for a 720 cos they didnt list 620's,

but its all good suits it anywho. i got it in black plush pile, you can get it in loop or classic loop and in all sorts of colours if anyone was interested

 

also hit dalchem on the way home for some more urethane. after poking about i decided on shore 40A, which is pretty soft but should still be tuff enough not to split or anything. see how it goes when im using em. i also picked up some proper mould release which came recommended (wasnt cheap though) and some hectic colour too while i was there

 

today i tried out an idea i had for a better mould, but it didnt work so i got thinking and made something else instead;

 

so with a fresh mould i gave it a shot today, and tried out the mould release and some colour (came out pretty cool, consistent colour rather than having it opaque)

 

aand result :D

 

it works! cab mount bushes for me! getting some more aluminium tomorrow and ill get into making the moulds for the other 5

[copydat]

:thumbup: Gary! Well done mate........ Well done!

 

My uncle has a lathe in his workshop he inherited, both of us don't know how to use it! After seeing you at work, I wanna have a crack!

 

Awesome thread man.

 

Cheers,

copyDat

 

 

[Calvin 520]

:thumbup:Un friggin believeable man! Good job. Making your own stuff like that is just so cool!

[Gary]

heh thanks chaps :blush:

 

big heavy machine tools are cooool :lol: mines not big, or heavy really. i'll have a real one someday

 

should have a crack at it geordie :D they take a bit of patience till you get familiar with moving the carriage about smoothly but other than that its fair easy

[Pacific coast Datsun]

I like that you made new cab bushings & the new carpet looks very plush :D

[Gary]

thanks :D should warm up the interior a little

 

progress;

ive been working on the moulds the last couple days, finished them today and put them to use tonight

 

i wanna know if they're good but gotta wait till tomoz :(

[goes2fast]

thanks :D should warm up the interior a little

 

progress;

ive been working on the moulds the last couple days, finished them today and put them to use tonight

 

i wanna know if they're good but gotta wait till tomoz :(

 

If these work out well, you should offer them for sale, both in Australia, and the US. There are a lot of us that need new cab mounts I'm sure. When I pull my cab off to clean and paint my frame, I would like to replace the cab mounts. :cool:

[Gary]

i might wait till they're in the ute and working just so i know 40A is alright for them. its pretty soft, which is good for comfort but im not sure how strong they are, whether they'll split or not i mean. pretty sure it'll be fine though cos urethane is generally pretty tuff. if they work out good i'll make some more no probs, ratsun specia pri :lol:

 

i popped em out this morning and they all look alright for a first go. i was mixing individual batches last night and it shows now that they're set :huh: they're all different shades of green and one is quite a bit harder than the others cos i put 2g too much part B so to fix that i'll mix a big lot and pour them all at once. and a little more carefully too

 

will get into the cab this weekend now that this is done, finally

[polishcuz]

where in knox did you get the carpet from?

[Gary]

knox auto carpets :)

 

http://www.knoxautocarpets.com.au/

[budsaipan]

I'm in for cab mounts whenever you're ready!

[works510]

updates?! :D

[Gary]

:(

 

not a lot on the ute. ive been itchin to get it going already, but ive got a holdup

 

i worked a little more on the cab and made some of the middle mounts

bought some POR15 for the floor

 

the hold up is my compressor, need it going to get more work into it

 

i got a mates one to use for a while, but i broke it when servicing it (brass drain thing at the bottom was seized and i broke it trying to remove) and its a weird thread/size so i need to make a plug, which means i need to learn how to cut thread on my lathe. which ill get to, but ive been messing about a little more with my compressor and pretty sure my dramas are cos of the motor, now with no belts attached to it, it vibrates heaps and flips the house breaker. so ive spent a while on that;

ive pulled all the heads on the pump to check the reed valves

poked about with the no load valve and the check valve, they were good

got fresh matched belts

dropped the pump's sump to find no chunk (ah yeah, rapper)

filled it with fresh stuff

modified the mount for the motor on the tank so it now has a tensioner arrangement for the belts

now pulled the motor apart to find one of the circlips holding the bearing in place was mashed, so replaced that bearing and circlip

desoldered the main power supply to the stators as they were green (corroded for some weird reason) cut wiring back and resoldered it

dissembled the bit on top that all the power leads and caps screw onto

 

then ran out of time today to get it back together nice, so ill cross fingers and hope the friggin thing works tomorrow! heh

[polishcuz]

Thank you for the info about the carpet just wanted to ask you a couple more questions. Where did u get your POR 15 from and how much did you pay ? Would u also be willing to sell cab mounts? Cheers help really appreciated

[Gary]

i got the stuff for the floor at distinctive signs in hoppers, its on old geelong rd (heading toward city, its the service lane just after the second set of lights, not far past totaltools, first place as you enter the lane). i was keen on a litre of the stuff but the lady said id only need half that, something to consider :D its not too cheap

 

i dont mind making more cab mounts and selling, as soon as i know 40A is alright to use in mine. im not sure if the 620 ones will be alright for 520's though

 

progress;

compressors are fixed! kinda. ill get tearin tomoz

[Gary]

update;

 

been messin about today, i finished the middle mounts for the cab, did a bit more welding on the cab, almost ready for the mounts to be welded in, ill get the sill back in once they're good, then its onto the other side

 

also welded in the top of the rear mount, looks very close to the original position which is a plus heh

 

got into the valance too, trimmed the sections i already had cut out, then tacked them in, trimmed it again and welded it. needs finishing

 

as a side note, it appears my compressor is beyond fucked, decided im giving in until i reach an epiphany, or until i buy a petrol one so i can have air power in the ute when its goin again

 

tomoz will work on getting the middle mount and the bottom of the rear mount welded in

[goes2fast]

Looks like you are building those cab mounts really heavy duty to last, going to keep your truck for a long time, like me? I wish I was progressing as fast as you are, I don't have the serious rust issues you do, just a lot of surface rust. One of the previous owners evidently lived on a gravel road, and all the paint on the lower cab was beat off, and surface rust resulted. Their fix was to just paint over it with a rattle can, so I have to strip all the paint, then clean off all the rust and re-prime, too much work for an old fart like me! :cool: