1966 datsun 520 kingcab project, act 2

[Spoona_Jay21]

This thing better have a magazine spot when it's "done" lol

 

LOVE the progress, probably one of my favorite trucks on Ratsun

[wayno]

Thankyou, I doubt it will ever be magazine worthy.

Everytime I get one thing done, I think of two more things I want to do, so this could be a long project, it's already a long project, already over 2 years and I just finally got it on the road.

Tires will be soon, and a new exhaust also, then I will daily it for a while to work out all the bugs, and at the same time I will start sound deadening the cab, I made great progress on that this weekend, before I had a lot of interior noise from the cab touching the  fuel tank, and the frame somewhere, I isolated the one stock fuel tank I am using now, and removed the one I was using that the cab was sitting on, it is much quieter now. 

I will need to notch the frame over the rear axle also, to get rid of the rake, and to get it moar loar  :lol: , I bought some 4 and 6 inch pipe to do just that, but the 4" is to small, and the 6" is to big, I need to find some 5" that I don't have to buy 20 feet of, as I have been informed it is special order.

[Eagle_Adam]

lookn good wayno!!!! 

[wayno]

I started out looking like this today after sanding the primer off.

 

 

I will take some more photos after I finish up today.

[wayno]

I'll do more tomorrow if it doesn't rain.

 

 

I am not very good at this, I have to keep doing the same places over and over.

[DeviousPsycho620]

looks Good To Me Man. Keep It Up.

[Charlie69]

Looking good Wayno, keep at it.

[wayno]

I did the exhaust earlier today, I think it is way better now, took it for a drive and it's much quieter now, and it didn't hit the ground this time, and smoother all around.

 

After I finished.

 

 

I have lots of room under there, before the carrier cross member was 2 inches off the ground, it's the same height as the frame rails now, so I have lots of room now, which I will be needing when I put the lower profile tires on, it's going to drop at least another 2 inches with the new tires.

[wayno]

I put new wheels and tires on yesterday, kinda strange looking, but they don't rub anymore.

I might have to raise it some for now, all that effort to get it ready for the new lower profile tires, and now my new home made exhaust is a half inch off the ground, I am going to have to think of some other way to route the it.

This is as high as I can get this exhaust.

The back is going to be an issue also when I lower it.

[wayno]

I had to figure out today why I had no brake lights or turn signals, I figured because I did such a good job isolating the cab/box from the frame trying to cut down on the cab noise, that I might have needed an extra ground back there for them to work, so I got my test light out and started checking everything, everything was good, power to all the rear lights, WTF is going on here I thought, it turned out that every filament in all the rear bulbs was broken except one park light.

 

Has anyone ever heard of such a thing before?

[wayno]

I had to do something about the exhaust today, this is the way it was.

This is what I did to fix it, there wasn't enough room to pipe the exhaust above the cross members unless I made room, so that is what I did, I made room, I raised the floor board about 1 1/2 inches.

 

This is what it looks like now, even though it looks like good clearance, speed bumps are a bitch.

 

 

 

This is with the front wheels sitting on a 3 1/2 inch blocks, it is level.

So basically if I want the truck to be level, not raked, I will have to lower the rear 3 1/2 inches, well that is 1 1/2 to 2 inches into the frame.

This is the way it sits now, the front has no issues with suspension travel, but the rear is bottoming out all the time, which is likely how I busted all my taillight bulb filiments.

[mrbigtanker]

Talk about low,looks like you need to C-notch the rear.

[wayno]

Talk about low,looks like you need to C-notch the rear.

 

Yea, I need to find a 5" piece of pipe, the 4" piece I have is to small, and the 6" piece is to big, but 5" is special order.

You ever try to special order a foot long piece of pipe, they look at you like :hmm:. 

I will figure something out eventually, maybe a piece of square tube that I can mount a bump stop in.

I actually don't like cutting frames, I am not a good enough welder to be welding on the frames themselves.

[Spoona_Jay21]

looks good man! lovin the progress on her

[Farmer Joe]

my my, this looks cool!

 

i dont think a pipe notch is going to be enough for what youre lookin..

 

honestly, a small step notch would be easier to install and reinforce when your installing it.

 

i think if you could get the bottom of the notch 1in above the top of the frame, youd be set.

[wayno]

my my, this looks cool!

 

i dont think a pipe notch is going to be enough for what youre lookin..

 

honestly, a small step notch would be easier to install and reinforce when your installing it.

 

i think if you could get the bottom of the notch 1in above the top of the frame, youd be set.

 

I only have 1 inch of space between the box bottom and frame, I really don't want to cut the box floor, seems kinda stupid as I say that, as I have cut the shit out of the box making the truck into what it is.

You are correct, if I want it level, I am going to need more than a "C" notch, I was thinking about raising the front a little to allow me to just "C" notch the rear, but that would be going backwards, I will think about it for a while, and decide what to do.

[devilsbullet]

exactly what kind of pipe are you looking for wayno? its possible that my dads shop has a piece of the right material in the right diameter hangin out on their scrap wall.

[wayno]

exactly what kind of pipe are you looking for wayno? its possible that my dads shop has a piece of the right material in the right diameter hangin out on their scrap wall.

 

I would be looking for a 5 inch ID/OD piece of pipe with about an eighth to 3/16 inch wall, but I believe I am going to have to go a different route with this project.

[Raggleflaggle]

i know! too much awesome stuff on here to see it all.

[wayno]

OK, this weekend I got some work done on the 520, I know it is hot, as the neighbor thinks I am crazy, but I would rather be hot, sweaty, and dirty, rather than cold, wet, and dirty.

I build my projects with whatever I have around, rather than buying pre-made stuff if possible.

I use flux-core wire, I do 99% of my welding outside, and it's just easier to deal with, it may not look pretty, but it's not going anywhere.

So this is what I started with Saturday.

This is another piece of frame.

I made this on Saturday, it is the passenger side.

I am not sure if I am going to close the ends yet, but likely in the end I will.

This is the passenger side from the back side, I did everything else today(Sunday).

This is the drivers side.

 

 

This is what I had to cut out of the inside of the box, pass side.

And the drivers side.

It is back on it's wheels again, I now have lots of front and back suspension, I actually raised the front a couple inches last week because it was always bottoming out in the rear, and it was raked to much for my liking.

Now all I need to figure out is the front mount on the rear leafs, they are always dragging, once I fix that, it will be dropped 2 inches in the front again(where it was), and the rear will be dropped about 3/4 inches.

[Spoona_Jay21]

glad too finally see more progress on it! looks good man!

 

just smooth out a few things and it will look even better =P

[Farmer Joe]

right on wayne!

 

that will probably do ya from here on out.

 

youre almost going to have to recess the front leaf spring perches into the frame if you wanna go lower now...

 

this is the same problem i have now.. i scrape and drag on the leafs so much, ive broken 2 in that spot.

 

i wanna see how this turns out!

[wayno]

right on wayne!

 

that will probably do ya from here on out.

 

youre almost going to have to recess the front leaf spring perches into the frame if you wanna go lower now...

 

this is the same problem i have now.. i scrape and drag on the leafs so much, ive broken 2 in that spot.

 

i wanna see how this turns out!

 

I have this issue also, I was considering moving the leafs to the inside of the frame like the old heavy duty chevy trucks way back(they had theres on the outside of the frame), but I have not thought about it enough yet.

I am 2 inches off the ground at the perches, I can shave the bottom of them, but that is just a band-aid, I need a permanent fix, I will think about recessing the mounts into the frame, I can add more support to the top of the frame their as well, I have went this far, I might as well.

I still need to put the 4X4 leafs on this truck also, when I do that, I suspect that I will have to take at least 1 inch of drop blocks out, as if I don't, the leaf perches will be resting on the ground just sitting in my driveway.

The reasons I put low profile tires on this was to stop hitting the fenders when making turns, the other reason was to keep enough clearance in case I have a flat tire, well ATM the clearance is a fail, if I get a flat, it will rest on the frame somewhere on all 4 corners, so I will have to use bigger rims with even lower profile tires( :(), or figure something else out, I already have ideas for the front clearance issue, but the back is..............

What did you do about the lower shock mounts in the rear, they hang really low on mine, as low as the perches, I have 4 inches of blocks in the back.

[Farmer Joe]

mines much lower..

 

 

ignore that shock... lol

 

[wayno]

If you get a flat, that will just hit the ground, you do that trying to make room for the shock?

I am likely going to start looking for a shorter rear shock in the near future, I will post what I find, I modified my front end LCA to accept a datsun roadster type shock, but that is a stud/stud type shock, and I am running a 720 frame.

Basically what I am going to try to do is put 4 stock datsun 14" rims without tires on the truck and be able to roll it without hitting any part of the frame or suspension on level ground while being as low as possible, that way I will be legal I believe.

Even if I recess the rear leaf mounts, my lower rear shock mount is the same height off the ground, which will not work, if I get a flat on the freeway, the shock mount will hit the ground, and I could possibly be out of control.

 

Did your truck ever move with that shock mount?