Jon's 521 L20b 5 speeed

[jon521]

Is that a Ratsun salute i see in the background??

 

 

haha that or some freshman pickin his nose

[jon521]

painted the oil pan today, installed oil pickup tube from the L16, and a few other small things and i brought my valve cover home for the weekend to buff and poslish. i think im going to go with my alternater from my L16. My issue now is that i dont know what im going to use as a radiator. The radiator i was using with my L16 was patched, and i was told by the shop that it was only temporary and they recomended getting it recored ($300) or getting a new because it was only flowing at about 7 pounds or so. so i dont really want to use that one, so i got a 620 rad from a buddy, but its not wide enough to reach the mounts on my 521. I will do some looking around on here what others have used as rads on their L20b 521s, but if anyone has an suggestions let me know! Thanks!

 

 

[izzo]

its not wide enough? if thats the case you can just use some flat 1" metal, cut to length, drill holes in the flat bar etc. to make it work. or weld some tabs on the front valance then bolt the rad to that.

[wayno]

Just find a good used one, or have yours fixed/recored, or put two pieces of 1 inch flat bar across/between the stock 521 radiator mounting holes and then drill holes for the 620 radiator you got from your friend in the proper places on the bars, and mount that radiator.

[wayno]

its not wide enough? if thats the case you can just use some flat 1" metal, cut to length, drill holes in the flat bar etc. to make it work. or weld some tabs on the front valance then bolt the rad to that.

 

 

You freaking beat me by seconds. :lol: :lol:

[jon521]

that second idea would work pretty good! and wouldnt be too messy. i definetly do not have the money to recore one right now :/

[jon521]

i wasnt able to get the engine in on friday like i had hoped, but its slowly getting there. the plan is to get the new clutch and flywheel on the L20b, new throwout bearing in the trans, then set the trans in, set the L20b in, bolt it down, then bolt the trans to the engine, then tack together the mount using Daniel's method with the square tubing, pull out the mount, weld it up, and hopefully go driving :)

 

im looking at getting these :) i think they would look great with the all black engine and red engine bay

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Red-7mm-Solid-Core-Plug-Wire-with-Straight-Rajah-Ends,5966.html?parentDisplayId=8491

[datzenmike]

 

 

so i guess my question is do i need a voltage regulator? or is there any way to tell what this is from? i know its hard to tell without know what year this is from, but i thought id ask. i havent searched around here at all yet, so im going to go do that now.

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

Does it have a number stamped into the case?

[jon521]

Does it have a number stamped into the case?

 

yes KL 79

[banzai510(hainz)]

620 rads dont fit cause of the lower inlet will hit the alternator. find another 510 or 521 rad should be tons of them out there used in back of some ones house. I got like 3 of them.

 

the alternator? Look on your passenger side by the fuse box you see a metal cun up under there with a block white connector? If yes then you have a external alternator installed.

what that alternator your friend gave you come off ?

 

Hopefull you got the correct Clutch kit for. other wise youll be putting alo of work and find this L20b needs to be pulled out again.

 

The fan clutch stays with the pump. You should have researched this better.

 

 

Those hand made spark plug wires ends are junk in my opinion and get pulled off.

NGK NE 64 are the best and take alot of abuse

[jon521]

620 rads dont fit cause of the lower inlet will hit the alternator. find another 510 or 521 rad should be tons of them out there used in back of some ones house. I got like 3 of them.

 

the alternator? Look on your passenger side by the fuse box you see a metal cun up under there with a block white connector? If yes then you have a external alternator installed.

what that alternator your friend gave you come off ?

 

Hopefull you got the correct Clutch kit for. other wise youll be putting alo of work and find this L20b needs to be pulled out again.

 

The fan clutch stays with the pump. You should have researched this better.

 

 

Those hand made spark plug wires ends are junk in my opinion and get pulled off.

NGK NE 64 are the best and take alot of abuse

 

i got the right clutch kit. i did research it. yes my L16 is externally regulated. and if you would have read this you would have read that i said that my friend said he didnt know what year of 620 it was off of. i will be getting the right fan for the pulley from someone else. thanks for your opinion on the plug wires. i am definetly getting red wires, not sure what yet tho.

[jon521]

i think im going to rename this swap "slowest moving project ever." I wish i could spend a whole day working on it. i would get so much more done. today i got the trans mount cut to fit the 3"x1" square tubing i have, got the L16 exhaust manifold off to remove the smog rail that runs along the top of the manifold, got the oil pickup tube and oil pan on, and painted a few things. not much but feels like alot compared to the rest of the week. tomorrow i will drill out the holes on the trans mount to fit the 5 speed. i picked up some of that black plactic conduit to make the wiring in the engine bay look a little better. its SLOWLY coming along......

 

In my writing class, we are supposed write a narritive/descriptive essay (only a 3-5 pager :) ) but im doing my paper on my engine and trans swap, but i had to make up the end of it cuz i made it in the paper to were i was driving it haha it inspired me a bit.

[H5WAGON]

Have fun on that exhaust mani...:P Damn those are a bitch.

[jon521]

for sure! i cut the tubes on the rail and got two of the nuts with an impact, but the other two i had to heat with a torch and hammer a smaller socket on. im just going to get some brass plugs to fill the holes.

[H5WAGON]

The plugs I used were allen head...thread in flush.

[jon521]

oh i see that now. they look good. i went to Ace, Baxters, and Lowes and nonw of which could get me the right plugs....i was assuming its a metric though, but i dont know exactly what thread pitch it is. All the places told me they didnt have much for metric

 

also, how long did that paint last on that manifold? i was going to paint mine but i heard the paint will just crack even with high heat paint

[yello620]

Jon, i got plugs for those manifold tubes at Napa several years ago. And I also painted my manifold with high heat black paint, it doesnt look perfect forever, but it still looked acceptable three years later and looked way better than a rusty manifold.

[jon521]

alright i will give them a try! thanks

 

and thanks for your input on the manifold, i think i might paint it now!

[DanielC]

I do not know about the exhaust manifold plugs, but most the other pipe fittings on L engines are BSP (British Standard Pipe)

[jon521]

I do not know about the exhaust manifold plugs, but most the other pipe fittings on L engines are BSP (British Standard Pipe)

 

 

Good to know! After going to the places i said earlier telling them it was metric, my brother suggested it may just be a standard pipe thread. i didt (and still dont) know what thread it is, but im going to a place tomorrow called fluid connectors and they are supposed to have a bunch of brass plugs so i hopefully will find what im looking for there

[H5WAGON]

I found some at Parkrose hardware in Portland its a 14mm x 1.5 thread.

 

I also used high temp paint........:cool:

Rustoleum High Heat 2000.....I used the primer and the black....8 bucks a can but worth it.

 

I also ground down the unused mounts for the hot air tube,,,stuff and the little nubs on the manifold cylinders 1 and 4

[jon521]

I found some at Parkrose hardware in Portland its a 14mm x 1.5 thread.

 

I also used high temp paint........:cool:

Rustoleum High Heat 2000.....I used the primer and the black....8 bucks a can but worth it.

 

I also ground down the unused mounts for the hot air tube,,,stuff and the little nubs on the manifold cylinders 1 and 4

 

 

Thanks! I will be headed to the hardware store soon! i have some Rustoleum High Heat stuff, i think its good up 1200 deg?

[jon521]

i started tacking up the trans mount today, and drilling the holes for the mount to the crossmember.

 

once everything is tacked onto the square tubing, i will be able to bolt that onto the cross member, then set the engine and transmission in, witht the other half the trans mount on the trans, and everything should line up how it is supposed to be. tack that together, unbolt from the crossmember, and reweld! will post pictures of the mount once tacked and welded

[wayno]

Be sure to get photos of every step on the fabrication of the tranny mount, you can put it into the "how to" section.

[jon521]

well got the trans mount TACKED together enough so tomorrow i can set the trans in and finishing tacking the mount.

 

here it is on the crossmember

 

here is my ghetto fab(ulous) trans mount

 

i added the 2 plates to the top of the mount so that it will bolt to the top of the cross member as well