beubank Posted December 4, 2007 Report Share Posted December 4, 2007 hey guys, new to the forum I just picked up a 66 520 that I am going to do something with, its almost rust free and I havent decided if I wanna make it a mild custom or restore it. I also got a 79 620 in the deal,,,,rusted out badly, that I was gonna scrap. the question is... Will the front a-arms from the 620 fit the 520 to get disc brakes and ball joints instead of kingpins? thanks brad Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted December 4, 2007 Report Share Posted December 4, 2007 Sorry, no. Everyone with a '77 or older truck wishes. You could mount the 520 onto the '79 frame if the '79 isn't a King Cab or Long Box. No one could tell without looking under neath. Disc brakes, EI distributor, choice of L20B motor, internally regulated alternator, ball joints, 5 spds were available on the '79s. Quote Link to comment
beubank Posted December 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2007 sorry i posted this in the wrong section anyway, I might clip the frame before scraping and change either the crossmembers or the front rails,,,,,,will the 5sp fit the 520 with the stcok motor? it looks as if the l20 wouldnt fit in the 520 bay without major work,,,,,,,I am trying to decide if I want this to be a major project modern running gear or just a cool old truck and keep it original Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted December 4, 2007 Report Share Posted December 4, 2007 By all means keep it a 520, they are cool. Original is fine but old and often just plain difficult. I like to mix'n match running gear. I had an L20B in a 521 and it fit right in, no prob. the L20B is roughly 2/3" taller than an L16 and that's about 'it for fit.' Newer, more torque, 5spd, up graded ignition, alternator... who could blame you? The 5spd is longer than the 520's 4 spd. You maybe able to put the shorter front drive shaft from the '79 two piece, in to make up the difference. Keep the '79 tranny mount parts and have them welded in or cut the frame behind this point. BTW the rear end is a 4.11 on the '79s. Quote Link to comment
beubank Posted December 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2007 but if i am going to the trouble of putting in the l20 i might as well put in a k24 or something like that...lol...there lies the dilemma. Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted December 4, 2007 Report Share Posted December 4, 2007 Well the cylinder spacing for the L16 all the way up to the KA24E is the same. So except that the KA water pump might be longer front to back, I don't think the KA would be that much longer. The driver's side would only have the exhaust manifold, so lots of room for the one piece steering column. The pass side would be full but it's been done on the 620 frame before. Quote Link to comment
beubank Posted December 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 how rare is a 66 2- headlight 520? Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted December 5, 2007 Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 Will the front a-arms from the 620 fit the 520 to get disc brakes and ball joints instead of kingpins? No, but if you have custom a-arms built you can use the disc brake/ball joint stuff. Body swap like Mike said is the cheapest way though... Quote Link to comment
Icehouse Posted December 5, 2007 Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 Any pics of the trucks? You should fill out your location in your "user CP" It's just nice to know where there may be 620 parts :D Quote Link to comment
pucancakes Posted December 5, 2007 Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 where u located beubank? Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted December 5, 2007 Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 how rare is a 66 2- headlight 520? are you talking about 2 per side or 2 total? 2 per side is a bit more common...they showed up on the '67 & '68 (I'm pretty sure. The '66 is the only one to have the singles. The frame swap is definitely more bang for the buck. There are options for discs on the front, but none right now that are as good as the ball joints. I'd double check the track width before jumping on the frame swap. The disc 620 is a bit wider. Quote Link to comment
beubank Posted December 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 I am in Tennessee,close to nashville. I have bought the trucks but havent picked em up yet,,,,,,,the 79 is a king cab....thinkn bout changing the front susp to s10,and the have the rear axles drilled to 5 lug to match. I wil have some good parts from the 79, but very few. The body is rusted as bad as I have ver seen any vehicle, motor and tranny are good, and there may be some good interior parts and such. It only has 2 lights total, I read on other sites that 65 was the only year for 2 lights, and 66 changed to 4, but this is a 66 with 2. I will post pics when I get em home Quote Link to comment
SHADY280 Posted December 5, 2007 Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 beubank, what im doing is swaping the top a-arm mounts froma 79, and then using all its nice stuff. just cut the old stuff off your current frame, then cut the frame very carefully away from your old towers, and weld em back on. no body swap needed. im doing the ass-backwards way tho. all i had was the front portion, so im making it work. nice part about having the spare frame is, you can restore the 79 frame and running gear really nicely, and still drive the 520 and see what it like!! Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted December 5, 2007 Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 the '65 - '66 confusion is caused by when it was built and when it was titled. It may have been built in late '65, but they were basically all '66s. I've had 2 '66s and they both had the singles. '65 was the last year of the 320. Quote Link to comment
beubank Posted December 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 i think the MFG date was 3-66, but it might be 3-65,,the title says 66 on it,,,i read somewhere that the practice back then was if a truck didnt sell, they would move it to the next year how similar are 520 and 620 frames? cab mounts,ect, of course its a king cab truck, so it would have to be shortened Quote Link to comment
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