rsdaumer Posted January 6, 2012 Report Share Posted January 6, 2012 Hey everyone, my name's Russ, currently in the Army stationed in Louisiana and I am new to this forum, but not to the 620. When I was 15 I bought a 78 KC in PA...long story short it was a POS and my father and myself put wayyyyyy too much money into it. It's currently sitting at the house in PA with a rotting frame and slowly rotting body. The engine is pretty decent but needs some valve work as it burns oil pretty bad. Upon returning from deployment, I just purchased a 74 620. I'll get pics up when its daylight tomorrow. Runs great, but needs some electrical work. The headlights only work because the PO bypassed the relays to show that they do indeed work, so I'm going to take the relays to Autozone and get some new ones. Also the brakes are POS and i have to bleed them to try to even get them to work. I would like to do the conversion but it seems to be a little pricey with the kit on ebay, proportioning valve and new MC. Other than that its a great truck. Any advice on mods or anything would be greatly appreciated. I plan on using this as a daily driver to save gas. Quote Link to comment
uieluck Posted January 6, 2012 Report Share Posted January 6, 2012 No pics,, no advice! :lol::lol::lol: Kidding. Good to see another 620 owner, welcome to Ratsun. Quote Link to comment
Radiant-Designer Posted January 6, 2012 Report Share Posted January 6, 2012 The kits expensive, but with some leg work its easy and a lot less. I got my mc here for $25, calipers for a 300zx for $50 and the brackets from beebani. The rest is cheap enough at auto parts store. I plan on doing the rear too so I didn't put a prop valve in. Weber makes it fun, but costs milage. Sway bar is good too. Part out the other truck or keep it for parts. Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted January 6, 2012 Report Share Posted January 6, 2012 welcome Just fix your drum brakes. They stop well when they are in good condition and properly adjusted. 90% of them are not adjusted right, so people complain they don't work good. For the headlights, there is One relay. If you have more than that, someone substantially changed the wiring. Quote Link to comment
rsdaumer Posted January 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2012 thanks for the welcome guys. yeah i plan on adjusting and bleeding the brakes over the weekend. once i get that tackled and the headlights/4 ways working, then i can actually drive it to work and such. few more questions for you datsun guru's...i saw somewhere on here that the rear of a 720 will fit on the 620, is this true? and will a gauge cluster from a 78 or so directly replace the original 74 one? i would like the newer one solely for the white gauge cluster overlays sold on ebay, and when i get the truck the PO gave me two extras, along with a bunch of random parts and the original L18 that apparently had head problems. that does sound a lot cheaper, and a buddy of mine has connections with nissan so he said i can get parts pretty cheap. i would like to do the rears as well, but i have read that that involves some machining and i havent looked into exactly how much. thanks again for all the advice. Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted January 6, 2012 Report Share Posted January 6, 2012 The "rear"? Do you mean the cargo bed? The overlay guy is reportedly working on a set for the earlier gauges. Dunno if the later gauge will interchange electrically but I suspect it would. Quote Link to comment
rsdaumer Posted January 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2012 sorry, meant the differential. i know the gearing up till 79 was 4.88, then i believe it dropped to 4.11? Quote Link to comment
rsdaumer Posted January 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2012 These are the pictures the PO sent me, i'll take better ones tomorrow Quote Link to comment
Rob W. Posted January 6, 2012 Report Share Posted January 6, 2012 Nice ride always love to see a clean 620 welcome to the forum Quote Link to comment
danzo620 Posted January 6, 2012 Report Share Posted January 6, 2012 nice ride man I'm really diggin the color Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted January 6, 2012 Report Share Posted January 6, 2012 wow, is that a stock untorn front seat! Quote Link to comment
rsdaumer Posted January 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2012 wow, is that a stock untorn front seat! Welllllll it is except for the edge of the drivers side, it's tore up pretty well. The GF is good at sewing and crap so I'm gonna see what she can do with it. Quote Link to comment
sedition88 Posted January 6, 2012 Report Share Posted January 6, 2012 Welcome to Ratsun. Good looking truck Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted January 6, 2012 Report Share Posted January 6, 2012 i have read that that involves some machining Machining? sorry, meant the differential. i know the gearing up till 79 was 4.88, then i believe it dropped to 4.11? Most trucks came with 4.375, 78 and 79 could have 4.11. The earlier trucks and probably your 73 came with 4.88 you would have to pull the diff to be sure. Quote Link to comment
rsdaumer Posted January 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2012 2eDeYe' date='06 January 2012 - 09:30 AM' timestamp='1325863843' post='606288']Machining? Most trucks came with 4.375, 78 and 79 could have 4.11. The earlier trucks and probably your 73 came with 4.88 you would have to pull the diff to be sure. Ok thanks. Yeah there's a listing on eBay for rear discs and in the description it says something has to be cut off or machines or something Quote Link to comment
rsdaumer Posted January 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 These are the two relays i was talking about. both were bypassed with wire from the PO. going to take them to autozone tomorrow to see if i can get new ones. Quote Link to comment
Str8_69 Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 Cool 620 man, and welcome.. As far as disc conversion, be aware that beebani's requires 15" or larger wheels. Mklotz does one that will accept 14's. If you do just the fronts you will notice great improvement with the rear drums properly adjusted and functioning well. I did the beebani conversion on my 77, and even though I bought the rear brackets, I never used them. Plus, there's no fussing over the parking brake if you leave the rear stock. My .02 ;) Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 2eDeYe' date='06 January 2012 - 07:30 AM' timestamp='1325863843' post='606288']Machining? Most trucks came with 4.375, 78 and 79 could have 4.11. The earlier trucks and probably your 73 came with 4.88 you would have to pull the diff to be sure. I know Doug says the early 620s had 4.88s but maybe someone swapped his. AFAIK only the J13 520/521 came with 4.88s. All 620 L16 standards were 4.375, L16 autos were 4.625. All L18 and L20B were 4.375 except the '79 4 and 5 speed standards which were 4.11 Quote Link to comment
rsdaumer Posted January 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 hey thanks for all the great info guys. as far as the rear disc conversion, im just gonna stick with the front. i saw mklotz kit and i think thats better for me right now because it doesnt involve getting new rims and tires (the tires on there now are almsot brand new) so it'll be cheaper in the long run. Quote Link to comment
rsdaumer Posted January 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 Here's some pics of the interior. The drivers side is only weak where the cross member goes for the seat. i sanded and roughed both sides up, then sprayed it with some rustoleum bed liner. i did the back of the cab up till right under the window to protect it and to deaden the sound a little bit- dont know how much that'll help, but it was worth a shot. Here's a picture of the engine bay. you can see the wiring mess the PO left me with. gonna try to tackle that this weekend Quote Link to comment
KC Phirus Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 You didn't kill the cancer before spraying it with liner? Quote Link to comment
rsdaumer Posted January 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 I would, but I don't have access to a welder currently. my goal with the liner was to prevent anything else from happening and to clean up the inside. once i get back to PA ill put in new floor pans and do the underside of the bed. i'll hopefully be driving it this weekend! Quote Link to comment
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