71 Datsun 521

[Twisted Minis]

2.5 inches.

 

Sorry I did not take pictures of that part. I have done this so many times that I just go and go until the end of the day and then take pictures.

[Twisted Minis]

can you send me a sticker too?:D lol

 

Hey I got your email. But I got a trojan virus last night, and I can't get any of my emails to reply. So, I am working on your arms this weekend, and will ship Monday or Tuesday.

[Twisted Minis]

Cell phone pics, because my computer is bringing the suck.

[kansascity1]

Looks good on the ground. I really wish I could talk my wife into letting me BD mine.

[Twisted Minis]

Okay I finally got a bunch of pictures off of my camera.

 

Heres Jerome in the truck.

New front crossmember because the Toyota frame is longer and I couldn't fit the stock one back in. Too bulky.

Laid out with the front sheetmetal in place.

And shock mounts.

[Cuts metal like mad]

HEY! Those motor mounts are badass! Would they work on a non bagged truck?! I've got a 69 521 now that I'd like to do an L motor in... Also how much?

[Twisted Minis]

Yeah they would work on anything. They are meant for puttin a Datsun motor in a narrowed Toyota frame, so they probably wouldn't fit yout application. But I could make somethign similar thats more universal.

[Twisted Minis]

Finished up the front suspension. Put it together for the last time, ran the brake lines, cotter pins, paint, etc.

Modified the radiator hoses.

[menotknow]

Looks great Seth. Those shock mounts look sweet!

 

It's amazing what a bit of paint will do to some steelies too. Looks surprisingly comfortable for the owner.

[menotknow]

Just looking again, perfect fit between the rails for that starter! Tucks those rims in quite nicely indeed. Nice work as always.

[Twisted Minis]

[peanut2425]

Hey Seth! What happened to you being a fan of stock hood? Or was it at the request of the customer, or was there just not enough room for stock hood?

Don't get me wrong I like it and the vents at the back do it wonders, but you just can't beat factory sheet :)

[peanut2425]

Just lookin at the pictures at the top of the page and I can see that the front part of the motor sticks out heaps so it was probably neccessary.

 

Would it have been too much work and cost the customer too much to drop the engine down far enough to fit? How far is the bell housing from the ground at the moment? After dropping the engine as far as possible in mine, the bell housing is on the ground and and some major work has to be done to the sump to retain oil capacity. And even then the front part of the L motor was a forefinger width away from hitting the bonnet. You probly would have run in to problems with clearence of the oil filter too. So the cowl probably would have been the better option if you wanted it to make it to that show next week. :D

[fisch]

You are a bad, bad man Twisted! I freakin LOVE it! Way to retain the top sheet metal center valley of the hood! Such a hallmark of the 521.

[blueridgespeed]

(on knees humbly) -that's some fine work! Your suspension and engine mount fabrication is impressive enough, but the hood mod is GREAT!

 

I'm a fan of stock hoods, but if there's a clearance issue, that's a fine solution.

 

On my car, we just did the oil pan and pickup to gain some ground clearance but keep the engine as low as possible. The VG30 mocked under the 510 stock hood is TIGHT. There's only so far you can go. I love the stance on that truck!

[]2eDeYe]

Badass work man :cool:

[Twisted Minis]

Thanks guys. I am really all about a stock hood, but it just wasnt happening with this truck. The Toyota frame has longer control arms than the Datsun, which is great for geometry and travel, but required the frame to be pretty narrow to tuck the wheels. That said, the starter, clutch slave, and the exhaust manifold are about 1/4" away from the frame. In order to get themotor lower, I would have had to build an exhaust manifold from scratch to shift the motor over to the DS and drop it about 1". I then would have to modify the drag link and oil pan to clear eachother, and the ground. And even at that point, the motor would have been about 1.5" above the hood.

 

The cowl is as small as it can be. Theres 1/4" between the valve cover and the hood. I like it though, its growing on me.

[Twisted Minis]

Also the hood in your 620 doesnt drop down an inch from the fenders. This whole hood gets lower in the middle. It sucks, lol. I pondered about getting a stock hood on for a long time, with no avail. Also some of the mods needed where not int he ownders budget. But it is supposed to come back for an L20 swap in about a year or so, which means it could get a custom header and all that jazz then.

[peanut2425]

I thought there would be heaps of dramas with it, o well Looks great for now but he'll have to start saving so you can do all that stuff when he comes in again for the L20 :thumbup:

 

How much more have you got to do on this thing? Looks like you only got a couple more things on that list

[Cuts metal like mad]

WOW! The L20 will be a challenge... its more than a 1/4" taller than an L16. Bold moves man!

[Twisted Minis]

I hear its like 3/4" taller.

 

Theres not much left. Got to do some little stuff tomorrow to get it running and driving, after that it needs the bed built, and I still have to finish the corner transitions of the floor and seal it all up. Also have to run the exhaust back out past the cab and maybe out the side.

[Twisted Minis]

Oh yeah pics. Hood is metal finished.

 

Also built a new intake to fit under the hood.

[Icehouse]

Dude your an artist!! Love the hood... Well actually all of it :D

[peanut2425]

wow, that hood is starting to look pretty appealing, looks great with the original lines running up the centre and with the datsun badge, nearly looks like it was meant to be there. Do you think you could chuck up some pics of how you done the steering with those heims? And you are right the 620 does have a nice hump in the middles of the bonnet for the front of the motor to stick up.

[Twisted Minis]

Yeah my trucks hood is reaised in the center too.

 

I will try to remember to take pictures of the steering tomorrow. Its kind of hard to do underhood pictures because I lost that built in hood prop when doing the cowl hood.