mklotz70 NL320

[510er]

I dont think you should ever cover it in real paint! i like the weathered patina look of it. To many shiny cars around!

[LeDevil]

Pretty nice pin striping Mike the truck looks good and the weathered red looks ALOT better then the White :lol:

[LAYEDOUTB2K]

definitely looks better in red. the snow here has made my 2 tone paint a little more distinct. now its not just the roof and bed thats white.

[mklotz70]

I like the patina as well. It won't be getting shiny paint this year! Maybe rear discs and a 3.89 diff....but no shiny :)

[motavated]

I really like this pic. I think your daughter took this one!!!!

[Farmer Joe]

amazing! simply amazing work you have done on this truck!! the kind of time and craftsmanship you put into this thing i could only wish for on my 620!!

 

very nice!! can wait to see what else youll do to it!!

[mklotz70]

I really like this pic. I think your daughter took this one!!!!

http://th05.deviantart.com/fs33/300W/i/2008/302/b/b/Datsun_light_by_Mend30012.jpg

 

I took a couple similar, but according to the link addy, it's hers :) She's got some really nice stuff!

 

 

 

Farmer......Thanks. It's not near as nice up close, but it does get attention when I take it out :)

[xyzalvarez]

:)

nice truck...!

[pklotz70]

I thought this was a funny picture. To me the NL looks like a wave runner.......

 

[Bleach]

Cutting up an NL! :lol:

[mklotz70]

Is there a date on that.....he started that at least a year ago. That's cool he's hacking it up.....makes mine worth more!! :)

 

Let me know if you find a recent one. I'd love to see his progress....especially since I'm not making any! :(

[mklotz70]

....hhhmmm.....choices :)

 

 

 

 

Not sure if it will even happen......but Michael made me such a sweet deal!!!! :)

[Pacific coast Datsun]

The Roadster motor may be an easier fit & dual's on an NL..wow!

[mklotz70]

We've seen the hood on an NL before and it looks awesome.....but I've never seen a roadster motor in one. I just think it would be such a cool swap! The mtr is a '64....so it could have been a "hop up" when the rig was new. I love the nostalgia factor!! Gonna take some work and it won't be much of a gain in any area other than the cool area :)

[tdaaj]

i think you should go for it mike, that would be so awesome. of course i'm not going to copy you this time.

[fisch]

Is the roadster hood a direct swap Mike? I've seen it on a 320 before and always wondered.

 

Hmmmm I vote for the roadster motor. It will look dead sexy in there. That finned valvecover, yummy! I appreciate you putting all this hard work into it so I can buy it from you some day!:D:D (I can dream, right!)

[mklotz70]

nope....not even close. The scoop itself is nearly as long as my entire hood :)

 

I wish you would hurry up and buy it so I can skip all the work and play with the tools more :)

[fisch]

^^ It is all a part of my master plan. After all if I bought it now, I'd miss out on all the upgrades you're sure to do to it!!!;)

 

Course the reverse it the price will keep going up... But that's OK. When I hit it big enough to buy it, price won't be an object!

[mklotz70]

The dolly is left over from a vg30 I had on it. The frame stub ought to make the mock up of motor mounts and such a lot easier :) The frame stub laid right onto the motor mounts on the dolly. I'll see about tack welding the two together tonight. Having the hoist in the shop sure was nice!!!

 

 

 

 

[mklotz70]

So, I did get out to the shop for a couple of min....long enough to weld the frame to the dolly and set the motor on it. I leveled the frame up on the dolly. Front to rear is pretty close. Left to right can be done with plywood or cardboard under the tires. My floor has a high point at the seam so if I park the dolly on one side or the other, the level will change anyway.

 

 

 

 

This hoist is so sweet!!! With an eng hoist, I'd have to try to fit the dolly in between the legs of it. It's wide open with this setup!

 

 

 

 

So, as I figured, the exh is hitting the cross member. I can clearance the frame with some thick walled pipe, but I think the exh mani would have to get modded anyway......so I guess I'll start modding the mani and see if I can leave the frame alone.

 

 

 

 

 

Believe it or not, it's already low enough to clear the hood. It has to go forward some. Getting the mani out of the way will let it sit straight up and move over to the driver's side some. I'm pretty sure I've figured out the shifter mod too :)

 

Edited March 2, 2009 by mklotz70

[mklotz70]

Looking at that last pic makes me think I'd better round up some torsion bars to put in there....not sure if the slave cyl will clear! Not looking to do coilovers just yet.

[fisch]

Run that exhaust through the fender well like a 411sss! (Kidding, I know you don't want to cut up that fender well!) So at this moment are you thinking you should have gone with the L-motor? Would it be easier?

 

But you my friend aren't one to take the easy road. THere is something so classy about the roadster motor. It is closer to the era and so, so damn sexy! Especially when you pair it with that hood scoop!

[mklotz70]

I can run it through the fender...how do you want it? It's your NL... j/k! :) Actually, the L motor would have given me a lot more power, but it's a good bit taller and since it tilts to the pass side, it would have been harder to fit.....you'll see when I get to that point. The G15 should nestle into the firewall rather nicely :)

 

Heck...this is era!!! It's a '64 motor going in a '64 NL! This could have been done when it was a baby!!! That's a BIG reason I went for it over the NL......the rest of the reason was the sex appeal!!!! It's sexiness will be exceeded only by that of it's owner!!! :)

[mklotz70]

So, I'm still not committed to putting this motor in the NL, but I would like to get it mounted up to the dolly and fire it up.

 

 

 

One of the many reasons I hate doing eng/trans work!!! My lathe never took a piss on the floor!! :mad:

 

 

 

I was out looking at something else, when I noticed the motor mounts were still on the 520 frame stub I have. I kept this for mocking up the control arm mods....so I guess I don't need the eng mounts on it :) The angle for the motor mounts looked like the angle I need for the G15.

 

 

 

Lifted the mtr back up to get the exhaust out of the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't fire up the plasma cutter much....but dang is it nice to have!!! It's icing on the cake to be able to run the cables out the back door for quick jobs!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't realize that the frame horn was a good bit longer than the 320 horn....it would have made cutting it off the 520 frame so much easier!!! I had to clean up what was left from a hacked A14 install attempt on the 320 frame. That's an L16 motor mount globbed onto the frame. The original horn was cut out because the oil filter needed to go right there. The part I was concerned with was the position of the bolts. Looks like I can reference the front edge of the mount.

 

 

 

 

 

Now to get the horn to the right length so the bolts are in the correct place. I needed to cut of about 3/4". I used the cut off wheel to knock most of it off. Figured I'd put it in the mill to clean up the rest. Since I have a round column mill, I can't raise lower the head without losing my settings. I did not have enough quill travel to touch the cutter to the bed and still raise up high enough to make the cut. So, I used a 1-2-3(1"x2"x3") block for a reference. I touched the cutter to the block so I knew I was exactly 3" above the bed. I zeroed the quill reading. I knew I needed the part to be cut at 3.300"...so I just ran the quill up .300" from there and zereod it again. Now, I could start cutting metal off and when I got down to zero, I'd be done.

 

 

 

 

Once I figured out how to hold it in place, I got the measurements just right and tacked it to the frame.

 

 

 

 

So, the mounts line up angle-wise now. Motor is still too high. The frame horn on the driver's side is right in the way of the exh. I'd have to make something creative to get the clearance for the exh. For now, I'm tempted to just tack the mounts in place and fire it up. If it's got problems....I'm done. Heck....I may be done and sell it even if it runs great!!

 

 

 

 

 

Not sure what I was looking at before when I said it sat low enough alread.....it doesn't. There's still tons of clearance to the pan. Looks okay around the steering column. The big hold up would be the D-side and the exh interference with the frame horn. Looks nice sitting there. Can't argue that it's one sexy engine!! Now if it had fuel injection and a 4spd auto behind it.....I'd make it work!!!! :) Just not sure I'm gaining enough for the effort.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 4, 2009 by mklotz70

[]2eDeYe]

If all else fails, a rear axle and some steering and you'll have a sweet go cart :D