So I've been trolling here long enough

[love_my_gt]

 

I know we all like pics so I figured i'd throw one in first then give a little info after that.

I've been around for a while now. Just taking it all in. I'm not really one to jump and and say "HEY! Here's my build thread" when it's only in planning. But I think now that I've bought most of the bits to get this thing going I should probably introduce myself and my truck properly.

 

I'm Shane. I was given a really decent condition (body wise) '77 620 short bed a couple years back. It was/ is just plain worn out. It's got over 200,000 mi on it. When I got it I was not sure which direction to go with it so it sat. I then decided I wanted to do a ka swap. I started buying parts for this and now here we are. This honestly is a bad time to start a build thread as I'm getting ready to have a knee surgery and will be out of commission for a while thus halting my build again. I have as of current done nothing to the truck except clean it out. It's pretty rust free, but not perfect. Has the l20b and 5 speed in it currently.

 

Now on to the other pics...

 

and on to the parts cars/ donors...

['70 521 L16]

wlecome! the truck looks pretty nice. too bad about the seat though. how long has it been sitting? the tires look like they're sunk in pretty deep. keep us updated. it's always refreshing to see datsuns elswhere than the west coast lol.

[love_my_gt]

the tires are flat, but not sunk in. It has been sitting for probably 20 years. I know thats a life time for these trucks, but it'll work out in the end. I moved it to my house a couple years back, before that it was sitting the the previous owners house in a much more rust inducing environment.

[love_my_gt]

So I'm curious... 110+ views and one reply... you all have no opinion on the truck of the build ideas? lol. I've been trolling around here long enough to know thats not true.

[Slixon]

Oh jeez, you're right. Lower it, some good looking rims and till the fenders for a tight fit. That KA is a good start.

[Ron1200]

Your comment made me Log-on from work to comment. :P

 

Welcome to Ratsun. You did a good job intro-ing yourself and describing your intentions for that fine truck. And you included many Pics.

 

Don't know why the lack of comments... As you probably know, we are not short of opinions here. :)

 

Good luck with your build.

[fisch]

Welcome! So now you have me curious about how much of the parts cars are going to transfer to the truck!

[love_my_gt]

If everything goes as planned I'll be transferring the engine, tranny, ecu, and 3/4 of the suspension bits. I'll be fabricating strut mounts so that I can run 240sx based coil overs. Can anyone say fully adjustable ride height. I will be swapping the hubs and whatnot over as well. The 5 lug conversion will open me up to a world of greater rim options.

 

Granted these are the pipe dreams as it were. But Once I get laid up from my knee surgery then I'll have about 13 weeks on my back to contemplate the plan and modify as needed. I'll also have my schematics by then so I can play with the frame in auto cad a bit...

[Zfighter76]

I'll be fabricating strut mounts so that I can run 240sx based coil overs.

 

same plans here but with 280z setup. maybe i can steal some idears from ya or vise versa. i was thinking about drilling out the spot welds that hold the 280z strut towers in place and welding them onto the inner fenders. maybe itll work that way for the 240sx struts also.

[Rhapakatui]

same plans here but with 280z setup. maybe i can steal some idears from ya or vise versa. i was thinking about drilling out the spot welds that hold the 280z strut towers in place and welding them onto the inner fenders. maybe itll work that way for the 240sx struts also.

 

My mom suggested the same thing for my build as an easy option for strut mounts. I considered it, but the truck cab is very weak compared to a unibody car and I decided the frame should take that force directly.

 

I'm completely redesigning the front end of the frame to mount all of the j30/s14 suspension parts...

 

Oh, and welcome to ratsun.

[Project Bandwagon]

im working on a similar project as well. im kind of doing mine in stages. stage one was installing the ka and making it run. that part is done.

ive got the bucket seats swapped in too, although the steering wheel needs to be shortened to be comfortable

 

next project is swapping out the rear end. i dropped the entire rear subframe from my parts car, dropped the rear on the truck and just set it under the truck for now. the rear is about 7 inches wider on the s13 bodystyle, but i think its gonna look good, with some flares ;)

 

swapping over the front suspension scares me. i'll be interested to see what you boys come up with up there lol. not many threads on anyone doing the same thing now.

 

eventually i'll have to get some pics of my rustbucket up on ratsun too

[datzenmike]

same plans here but with 280z setup. maybe i can steal some idears from ya or vise versa. i was thinking about drilling out the spot welds that hold the 280z strut towers in place and welding them onto the inner fenders. maybe itll work that way for the 240sx struts also.

 

This will tear the front end and cab off the frame. Specially if the body is rusty around the cab mount areas. It's only supported by 6 bolts whereas the cars are monocoque design with the frame and body as one. The strut towers should be welded to the frame somehow.

[I'm BLUE]

This will tear the front end and cab off the frame. Specially if the body is rusty around the cab mount areas. It's only supported by 6 bolts whereas the cars are monocoque design with the frame and body as one. The strut towers should be welded to the frame somehow.

Yup yup

Whoops ! I thought he was talking about doing this to his 280Z with 240sx.strut towers

[love_my_gt]

I'll be fabricating brackets/strut towers off the frame...