1971 PL521

[wayno]

swap in a nissan diesel from a diesel 720, that should make the hill climbing easier and be able to pull the extra weight down the hiway pretty easily

 

 

No "Z chopper", they are only 61hp(SD22), and 70hp(SD25), that is the main reason mine is not a 4X4 today other than me not liking how high it was.

 

I was of the opinion that the engine(SD25) didn't have enough power to move the truck down the hiway without being floored, it does fine as it is now, but I am not winning any races, fact is people that know me think I drive to fast, as once I get it up to speed, I keep it there if at all possible.

 

When you raise the truck, it is up in the wind, so it takes more power to move it the same speed as a lower truck.

[The Birdman]

This is my experience with the L16 block, I used to hangglide, therefore I would drive up logging roads every weekend, I found the L16 engine did not have the power to drive up the roads at a crawl, either I had to drive up fast, keeping the rpms up, or I was not going to make it up the hill, PERIOD.

The L16 just doesn't have the torque, it really was embarrassing to have to transfer hanggliders off my rig because my truck won't make it up the hill.

It only happened once, by the next weekend of flying it had an L20b/5 speed in it, and it would go up the hill in second gear at a crawl, the L16 wouldn't even go up that hill in first at a crawl.

Now that being said, you have a 4X4, and likely you have a low range, so that would fix your hill climbing issues to a point, but on the hiway you are not going to be passing anyone on any upgrades, fact is I was floored most the time going 70mph with my 4 spd.

If your into revving your engine at 4000rpms+ all the time, it might have enough horsepower to keep it going down the freeway at a decent pace most the time(hills and head winds???), but I am not into the high rpm thing.

You are moving more weight than a normal 521, and it sits higher than a normal 521, I would suggest focusing on a L20b minimum.

 

Wayno, you convinced me. I did a few online searches, went through the Recycler and several local papers, went to all the local parts stores in search of an L20B long block and finally found one! I was quite surprised to see the wide range of prices out there but found one at an online rebuilder that offered to waive a $75 residential delivery charge, did not require a core exchange or core charge, and offered a warranty for $695 delivered from Oklahoma, and with no sales tax! So I've got my engine stand out, the hoist, and will yank the existing block out tomorrow so I can prep the engine compartment for the new engine and get the pressure washer into the places it couldn't reach the other day. So I'll take a few pics as i go and post progress when I can. Thanks again for the great suggestions and encouragement!

 

* Oh BTW, I forgot to tell you I used to fly Hang gliders myself years ago when I was in the Army, that's where I got my nickname "The Birdman", and as a sort of funny side note, at the time I was driving my 1966 L520 pick-up, but never had the problems climbing the mountain in El Paso to carry the kites up to Ranger peak, and that truck had the little 1300 engine in it at the time! 3 kites, all 175 squares or bigger in a 2wd, screamed all the way up everytime! Of course I understand this 521 with the 4wd is heavier and taller, so I don't have a problem going bigger in displacement. I quit flying when I got out after finding out in CA you had to have liability insurance, and a lot of other requirements that we didn't need in Texas, but I couldn't shake the name!

[wayno]

Wayno, you convinced me. I did a few online searches, went through the Recycler and several local papers, went to all the local parts stores in search of an L20B long block and finally found one! I was quite surprised to see the wide range of prices out there but found one at an online rebuilder that offered to waive a $75 residential delivery charge, did not require a core exchange or core charge, and offered a warranty for $695 delivered from Oklahoma, and with no sales tax! So I've got my engine stand out, the hoist, and will yank the existing block out tomorrow so I can prep the engine compartment for the new engine and get the pressure washer into the places it couldn't reach the other day. So I'll take a few pics as i go and post progress when I can. Thanks again for the great suggestions and encouragement!

 

* Oh BTW, I forgot to tell you I used to fly Hang gliders myself years ago when I was in the Army, that's where I got my nickname "The Birdman", and as a sort of funny side note, at the time I was driving my 1966 L520 pick-up, but never had the problems climbing the mountain in El Paso to carry the kites up to Ranger peak, and that truck had the little 1300 engine in it at the time! 3 kites, all 175 squares or bigger in a 2wd, screamed all the way up everytime! Of course I understand this 521 with the 4wd is heavier and taller, so I don't have a problem going bigger in displacement. I quit flying when I got out after finding out in CA you had to have liability insurance, and a lot of other requirements that we didn't need in Texas, but I couldn't shake the name!

 

 

My truck would go up the hill if I kept my speed up, but everyone else would drive up slow, so if I got behind anyone, it was over with, I had to either stop on a level spot for a while till they got far enough ahead, or not have anyone ahead of me to start with, it was unacceptable that I had to unload my friends hangglider so he could get up the hill to fly, so I bought an L20b with dogleg 5 speed and put it in the truck, never had an issue after that day about getting up the hill.

The L16 doesn't have the torque the L20b has, and except for a few instances, the L20b has been adequate for all my needs, I have been in situations where a driveway has been so steep that I had to make a run at it to get out with my trailer, that is why I have been trying to come up with a way to use a transfer case to give me a low range to get out of places like that, but the transfer case hangs so low that it would cause issues, so I have not done anything yet on that front.

What head does your long block come with?

Does it have square exhaust ports or round ones?

If it has round, you will need to find an exhaust manifold to fit your needs, do your homework on this issue, I hope for you they are square exhaust ports, it will make things much simpler.

What kind of kites/hanggliders did you fly?

Moyes, Willswing,

This was what I was flying when I quit, a "ridged wing", it was a french glider called a "IXBO", mine was highly modified, like most my datsuns, I can't seem to leave them alone. :lol:

[The Birdman]

From what I saw on the spec sheets of most of the places i looked, the 1980 long blocks were equipped with round exhaust which I thought would be ok because i was going to find a set of coated headers for it, and i think Datsunparts in Rancho Cucamonga have them, but I'll look again. I'm not sure which head number it will come with, but I had a question for the guy on the phone about something I noticed on the web page to find the right engine, and it listed a 4x2 or a 4x4 option. I asked the guy what the difference was, he couldn't tell me, Do you know? I asked for the 4x4 option, only because It was still a gas engine and I am putting it in a 4wd truck, go figure!

 

As to the kite I flew, I don't remember who made it, but it was a delta/ sail wing (No reinforcement in the sail) floater style with the old school leg loops. No wheels on the trapeze, no cocoon harness, no radio, no chute, just me and my old cassette player with headphones and "Dark side of the moon" playing! We'd sit on the top of the mountain, drinking beer, and when the streamer on the front of the kite started flowing backwards we flicked our bottlecaps into the wind to see how they flew and how long they kept flying! When the time was right, RUN RUN RUN, PUSH PUSH PUSH! That was back in the late 70's - early 80's! We trained in plastic swing seats with adapted seat belts on the local bunny hills, but they had cactus everywhere so we had incentive not to crash!

[wayno]

1980 blocks have round ex. ports, so it sounds like you have the exhaust covered with the purchase of a header.

I don't have any idea about the differance between the L block 4X4 engine and the 2wd engine, the oilpan is differant for sure, and the engine mount brackets are differant, but these have nothing to do with the actual block.

It will likely be a W58 head on your block, and in the big scheme, there is nothing wrong with that head, as 99% of us would never push the engine far/hard enough to actually need a differant head.

 

I actually didn't fly regularly till 1986, even though I learned in august of 1979 on a seagull glider, it sounds like you quit before I even flew anywhere except cape kawanda in oregon.

I also remember the good old days of flying without a parachute or helmet with my radio, I still have 4 types of harnesses, a swing seat, a stirup, a cacoon, and a pod harness, my big thing was talking on the phone while flying, and relaying messages to the other flyers from their wives/girlfriends over the radio, as I seemed to be the only one that would answer the phone, and the significant others knew it, being self employed does have drawbacks.

I have actually thrown my chute to save my life, so I was glad I had it.

[The Birdman]

Lol, I had one instance where i caught a thermal that took me into the incoming flight path of El Paso International airport, and had a close encounter with a commercial airliner! I saw it coming in the distance and managed to get as far away as possible, but still caught turbulence of the port wingtip at a distance of just over 1000 ft and it rattled the crap right out of my poop-chute! If I wasn't able to put the leading edge pointed into it, it would have ripped the sail right off! God heard me and i made it back to the landing site and the guys were all talking about how close it looked from the ground! I told them how close it felt from the air! I actually saw faces in the windows! Sure would have liked it better if we had chutes back then! But I kept flying for another year until i finished my service.

[The Birdman]

Had a few days out of the loop helping my Daughter and son in law move into housing in San Diego, got back to the truck yesterday. Pulled the L16 block out, disconnected and moved aside the engine compartment wiring harness out of the way, and getting set to look over the trans for ID numbers, frame numbers, and any other clues for future reference. Clean out the engine bay, and look for issues not seen yet. I'm thinking of replacing the glass fuse block to mini's and moving the relays and electrical to a more central location on the firewall or in that area, any suggestions? I'll post pics tomorrow.

[The Birdman]

[wayno]

The center link looks bent, but the whole steering system looks strange, guess I would need to see it complete to understand how it works, as I can't figure out why you have a functioning idler anymore.

[The Birdman]

I knew the linkage was bent, but the last pic shows just how bad it is. i wonder how big the rock was that caused that!!

[The Birdman]

Was the stock frame a boxed style or is this part of the conversion? The motor mount brackets look like they were welded back a few inches to accommodate the drivetrain. I haven't seen any stamped numbers on the frame as others have pointed out there would be on the pass side.

[wayno]

The motor mount position looks stock to me, but I really can't tell for sure.

The idler arm has been relocated a bit lower, and a shaft goes from the idler arm to the driverside wheel to control the steering, and then another arm goes to the passenger wheel from the driverside wheel, and it is all controlled by the pitman arm shaft going to the idler arm like the stock center link.

It won't steer very well with the center link bent like that, you need to make it perfectly strait, otherwise it will bend again.

 

All the 521 frames were boxed, from front to rear, they don't bend easily.

[The Birdman]

The motor mount position looks stock to me, but I really can't tell for sure.

The idler arm has been relocated a bit lower, and a shaft goes from the idler arm to the driverside wheel to control the steering, and then another arm goes to the passenger wheel from the driverside wheel, and it is all controlled by the pitman arm shaft going to the idler arm like the stock center link.

It won't steer very well with the center link bent like that, you need to make it perfectly strait, otherwise it will bend again.

 

All the 521 frames were boxed, from front to rear, they don't bend easily.

 

It wont steer at all! Just getting it into the driveway I had to physically turn the front wheels to get them pointed in the right direction so it would push easier! Should i try to straighten it out or just replace it?

[wayno]

It wont steer at all! Just getting it into the driveway I had to physically turn the front wheels to get them pointed in the right direction so it would push easier! Should i try to straighten it out or just replace it?

 

 

I would try to straighten it first, if the truck is moving, it will likely steer easily without bending the center link, but when sitting still there is a lot of pressure put on the rod when trying to turn it right with the steering wheel, and that is when it will bend.

I had a custom center link made when I put power steering on my 521 work truck, the center link I had made was a lot beefier.

 

I kinda feel bad about your 210 head now, I see it is for sale.

[The Birdman]

Yeah, it is what it is! I'm hoping someone is needing a head sometime soon! I don't regret the choice to go bigger, I wish I had not taken it in as soon as I did!

[The Birdman]

I'll pull the center link out tomorrow. You think a sleeve might help keep it from bending after straightening?

[wayno]

I'll pull the center link out tomorrow. You think a sleeve might help keep it from bending after straightening?

 

 

I would say yes it would likely help.

This is the center link I had made(bright silver), the lower rod was the stock center link in the photo below, and it was bent and straightened, and has never bent again since using it as the rod from the pitman arm to the custom center link with the tierod connection on the passenger side.

Originally I made a double shaft/rod center link, it was like a ladder under there, a total jury rigged setup, and it lasted just long enough for the custom one I had made to arrive, one week after I received the custom one, my home made one totally fell apart, that was a real close one, I actually made it home before it fell out. :huh:

I would try to make do with the one you have, as it cost me a small fortune to have that custom one made, insanely expensive, I don't use that shop anymore, but they would make what others would not.

[The Birdman]

That is a beefy piece! I'll give it a whack tomorrow. i'll have to rig up the big bench vise for it or take it to my muffler guy to put it on his pipe bender.

[wayno]

That is a beefy piece! I'll give it a whack tomorrow. i'll have to rig up the big bench vise for it or take it to my muffler guy to put it on his pipe bender.

 

You don't need to take it anywhere, it will likely unbend easily, that is why it is bent in the first place, they bend easy.

Just do the best you can to straighten it and put a sleeve over it, hopefully you can find a sleeve that fits snugly.

[The Birdman]

Well, today was supposed to be a great day taking delivery of the Longblock L20B I bought, it came at around 10:30AM, got it in the back yard, unwrapped it and was really surprised to see how complete the engine was for buying a rebuilt longblock! It came with Valve cover, oil pan, intake and exhaust manifolds, carb all plumbed, fuel pump, fuel rails, pulleys, fan, motor mounts and brackets, flywheel, clutch....just a lot more than I expected from buying a "LONGBLOCK" in the normal sense of the term based on past purchases! But heres where it goes sour! They sent me an L16 instead of an L20B!! Gotta wait another week or more now, and that sucks!

[wayno]

So what did they say?

What are they going to do about it?

What head casting is it?

[The Birdman]

They are sending the L20B (so they say) asap to get here by next week. I'm losing confidence in these guys, I asked the guy on the phone what the engine they were sending was equipped with since the L16 they sent had so much on it I wasn't expecting and he wouldn't say! Isn't it funny how once a company gets your dough the attitude changes! I asked if someone could at least take a picture since I sent them pics showing the wrong engine was sent, he said he didn't have a camera. We'll see what comes next week! It'll give me more time to finish the prep for installation.

[wayno]

It is quite likely he didn't see the first one either till you sent a photo of it, it's likely he is just a guy in front of a computer.

I am thinking these are not rebuilt engines, as the photo of the first one looks like a cleaned up engine, and that is why it had everything on it.

I ask again, what head casting is the head on that L16?

[The Birdman]

I thought I put those numbers in the last post, sorry, I forgot to. The block has a "210" casting on it and the head has the same "210", (both my block and head have the same "210" numbers except the block they sent has the 210 on the R-side, mine has it on the L-side.) I had the same thought when i unwrapped it because it looked cleaned but still not what I was expecting. I do think the block and head were rebuilt from a yanked engine and the remainder of parts were put back on the entire assembly which would explain why the rest of the parts on it were looking like they were overlooked somewhat. When I think of a "REBUILT LONGBLOCK" I envision the block and head bolted together with nothing else, not even an oil pan!

 

I did notice the engine they sent had a different Distributer than the one I have, and it has what I think you guys call a "Matchbox" wired to it hanging down. That's an electronic dizzy right?

[wayno]

I have never seen a rebuilt engine like the one you received, but I suppose that doesn't mean it wasn't rebuilt.

Every rebuilt longblock I ever bought came with very little, no dist, no fuel pump, no intake/exhaust, no flywheel/clutch assembly, no carb, ect.

It looks like a used engine from a wrecking yard that has been cleaned up to me.

What exactly did they say they were selling you?