Valentine

[skyblue]

Lowered her today!

 

 

 

Went with some 3in. blocks in the rear and re-indexed the torsion bars 1 spline.

 

measured the stock height.

 

took out adjusting bolt in rear.

 

then loosened front nut at LCA, but didn't take it all the way out.

 

marked the original position of bar

 

tapped out bar by banging on loose nut in front.

 

lifted front wheel in order to reinstall bar 1 spline counterclockwise

 

re-indexed bar. sorry for drunk pic.

 

and voila!

 

removed bumpstops in rear and front cause there wasn't much clearance with them on.

 

small trick i learned from blackdeth666 for the front, bought some rubber plugs from hardware store, cut them down and epoxied them to the LCA.

 

measured the lowered height. ended up lowering front 3.6 in.

 

have about 1.5" of clearance up front. And it rides a lot better than i expected. It's pretty nasty on pot holes, but i'll just have to avoid them. I'm very happy with the results. and it was soo easy. I think i'll go 1in. more in the rear, but for now this will do just fine.

:D :D :D: hyper::hyper:

[wayno]

You can get another couple inches if you bought a set of Mikes Z'd front LCAs for the 320/520/521/early 620 series trucks.

Here is a link to his thread about it, I have a set in my NL320 I bought from him, and he is in the process of making them right now, I have paid for a set for my other L320 project.

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/12070-lower-control-arm-z-mklotz70/

It's a good deal for what you get, you can drop it 2 inches minimum, and keep the stock ride, or you can go even lower than you have now.

[skyblue]

I've actually contacted mike a while ago about those. I just gotta find a spare set of LCA's. I did find a 521 with the LCA's still on it at a PnP a couple of weeks ago. but i didn't have the tools at with me to get em off. I gotta go back there before they crush it. I would really like have mike's Z'd LCA.

[Hurley]

Lowered her today!

 

 

 

Went with some 3in. blocks in the rear and re-indexed the torsion bars 1 spline.

 

measured the stock height.

 

took out adjusting bolt in rear.

 

then loosened front nut at LCA, but didn't take it all the way out.

 

marked the original position of bar

 

tapped out bar by banging on loose nut in front.

 

lifted front wheel in order to reinstall bar 1 spline counterclockwise

 

re-indexed bar. sorry for drunk pic.

 

and voila!

 

removed bumpstops in rear and front cause there wasn't much clearance with them on.

 

small trick i learned from blackdeth666 for the front, bought some rubber plugs from hardware store, cut them down and epoxied them to the LCA.

 

measured the lowered height. ended up lowering front 3.6 in.

 

have about 1.5" of clearance up front. And it rides a lot better than i expected. It's pretty nasty on pot holes, but i'll just have to avoid them. I'm very happy with the results. and it was soo easy. I think i'll go 1in. more in the rear, but for now this will do just fine.

:D:D:D:hyper::hyper:

 

Looks nice!

[mrbigtanker]

Wow looking good.I want to drop mine even more now.

[skyblue]

thanks guys.

 

mrbigtanker you should it's soo easy. and cheap. do eeet!

[Busta Nut]

Wow looking good.I want to drop mine even more now.

 

Drop that shit!!!

[Busta Nut]

Sup dude!! Thought I'd throw up the pics I took! Look freakin' sweet!!

[skyblue]

oh man these look sick. :thumbup: thx.

[skyblue]

and a few dayish time pics after a thorough wash and cleaning.

[hardslammed]

Clean man.... I don't wanna be a dick but that back bumper gotta go!

 

You got yourself a mad clean truck man

[skyblue]

Thanks

 

i know. that was my plan when i got it. but it's gonna be a pain in the ass to remove it cause it's welded to the frame. i've just been putting it off. it's kinda growing on me tho. i like the industrial look of it. and it's not the ugliest 521 rear bumper out there,IMO.

[lil89ram50]

you need some wheels man. those tuck way too far into the body lol.

[skyblue]

you need some wheels man. those tuck way too far into the body lol.

 

haha. i like that look. but i did get a set of S/T wheels. just gotta go pick em in Oregon.

['70 521 L16]

looks good the way it is. ................_{not that you couldn't get a bumper and some wheels too though...}

[jon521]

i like your wheels and tires! looks like youve got a bit of a rake there, huh? maybe pull a leaf?

[skyblue]

looks good the way it is. ................_{not that you couldn't get a bumper and some wheels too though...}

 

haha. i would love some bumperettes but those don't seem easy to come by.

[skyblue]

i like your wheels and tires! looks like youve got a bit of a rake there, huh? maybe pull a leaf?

 

just a little bit. :P not a fan of pulling leaves cause i still want to be able to haul stuff.

[Figbuck]

Sky, nice ride, your doing a great job cleaning it up. Nice pics. The one of the shadow on the road is freakin' artwork. It's too easy if you have a garage and time to work on these trucks, but to do it while it is your daily driver or driving it you know isn't as easy. Lucky to have a buddy with a shop. I used to have friends in San Anselmo and have good memories blasting out Sir Francis Drake an up in Point Reyes. Lucky boy you are. I had a buddy that lived way back up in the hills next to the Open Space in Novato. Used to get him and go to the races at Sears. Great back roads in Marin. :cool:

 

I'm glad somebody else beat me to loose the bumper. I ran a tube type bumper with a tow ball on my 521 and it saved my ass a couple times when I got rear ended. Literally. If you have to cut it off maybe you can hook up with somebody that can snap a set of old skool hot rod style nerf bars on there or something that looks like the bumperettes. I bought my 521 new and the stock bumperettes were toast in two weeks. I was to young and stupid to know that you couldbeat them with a hammer and fix them... so I tossed them.

 

I'd be afraid to not have a back bumper of some sort, because when ever I did, I backed into something. But that sucker is fugly and must cost two miles a gallon to haul around.

 

You got to get a headliner too. I insulated my roof with fiberglass pipe lagging and put the stock headliner back in. It was one of the best things I ever thought to do. It's gets hot in Marin County in the summer... your going to get baked! It looks like you have the desire to get this truck sorted out. Good job, good luck too.

[skyblue]

Sky, nice ride, your doing a great job cleaning it up. Nice pics. The one of the shadow on the road is freakin' artwork. It's too easy if you have a garage and time to work on these trucks, but to do it while it is your daily driver or driving it you know isn't as easy. Lucky to have a buddy with a shop. I used to have friends in San Anselmo and have good memories blasting out Sir Francis Drake an up in Point Reyes. Lucky boy you are. I had a buddy that lived way back up in the hills next to the Open Space in Novato. Used to get him and go to the races at Sears. Great back roads in Marin. :cool:

 

I'm glad somebody else beat me to loose the bumper. I ran a tube type bumper with a tow ball on my 521 and it saved my ass a couple times when I got rear ended. Literally. If you have to cut it off maybe you can hook up with somebody that can snap a set of old skool hot rod style nerf bars on there or something that looks like the bumperettes. I bought my 521 new and the stock bumperettes were toast in two weeks. I was to young and stupid to know that you couldbeat them with a hammer and fix them... so I tossed them.

 

I'd be afraid to not have a back bumper of some sort, because when ever I did, I backed into something. But that sucker is fugly and must cost two miles a gallon to haul around.

 

You got to get a headliner too. I insulated my roof with fiberglass pipe lagging and put the stock headliner back in. It was one of the best things I ever thought to do. It's gets hot in Marin County in the summer... your going to get baked! It looks like you have the desire to get this truck sorted out. Good job, good luck too.

 

thanks. yea it's been a challenge, but i finally have it in good shape. no where near perfect but pretty good for a 40 year old truck. yea i like the marin back roads too. point reyes is awesome in summer.

 

i'm still not sure what i want to do about the rear bumper. but i do know it's ugly and want to put something else. Just the other day i was discussing it with my buddy and we both thought about trying to see how a stock 510 rear bumper would look. but like you i'm also afraid to not have a rear bumper. so for now im just gonna leave it.

 

well the headliner is there are you just suggesting to insulate it for hot days? it does get hot but i've already been through one summer and it didn't bother me too much. but thanks for the tip. :thumbup:

[mrbigtanker]

So first of i love your truck but i agree the rear bumper is something to think about.Its not ugly but to me it just dont look right.Also how low is your back i just dropped mine 4 inchs and the front im converting over to coilovers.Im probably going with Fox shocks.Check out my new brakes on my post.Loooking good ..

[mrbigtanker]

Why also do you have to live so far all the cool trucks are not in the Southbay i guess.haha

[skyblue]

Thanks. I lowered the rear 3 inches. i would like to go 1 more but for now its good for me. Coilovers are something i want to do also, but i dont have a welder or a garage so i'll have to wait.

 

haha. i know.

[mrbigtanker]

haha. i would love some bumperettes but those don't seem easy to come by.

check ebay there is a guy in in thailand that is selling a set i dont know if there nos or repo's but check them out.

[hardslammed]

South bay? I'm In la