In which a 4x4 620 is built

[SandyMush620]

 

No need, will ship USPS flat rate. Picking up a small box after work, should go in the mailbox tomorrow. :)

Thanks. You da man. Hit me up if you need something I may have.

 

A padded envelope may be cheaper yet. :)

[]2eDeYe]

I think the box will be safer lol

[AtomChurch]

Nice build! I am curious how the napZ will hold up with the divorced case. We used to run L20's in the same situation in our 521's but we could never get a headgasket to last more then one trip. Now we use all yota drivetrain and just beef up the datsun frames.

Though this thing is super pretty, so am I wrong to assume it wont see many difficult trails?

[Jester]

Hahahahahaha

[SandyMush620]

Nice build! I am curious how the napZ will hold up with the divorced case. We used to run L20's in the same situation in our 521's but we could never get a headgasket to last more then one trip. Now we use all yota drivetrain and just beef up the datsun frames.

Though this thing is super pretty, so am I wrong to assume it wont see many difficult trails?

 

Thanks.  As much as I like dual-purpose rigs like Redeye's, my intent here is to have a unique and reasonably economical daily driver, which BTW is what led to the decision to go IFS.  It isn't likely to see any off-road use, at least until it's not so pretty, other than necessary duties like property maintenance.  I live beyond the banjos and I'm always finding myself in need of a truck when I'm 40 miles from home, or I would be trying to find a nice 210 or something and really hammer out some MPG.  Plus each winter we get a handful of problem-causing snowfalls and I want to be able to get to work without risking the big truck that I couldn't afford to replace right now.  I didn't really intend to go so far with the bodywork and paint for a work truck, but in the shape it was in, it was nearly as much work to get it presentable as it was to make it nice.

 

Regarding the durability of the Z24 and divorced t-case, I'm pretty good to my stuff, and I think it would hold up well given the limit of where I could take it with IFS and 235's.  I will revisit the powertrain if I ever decide to convert it to a straight axle and expand the usage of the truck, but if the body holds up a while, I'm happy with a stock appearing classic Datsun in an area where you don't see any for weeks at a time. 

[SandyMush620]

Had to get a pic on this page besides the lowrider in Redeye's sig.  :rofl:

 

 

I've been attempting to install the front bumper, but as expected, I can't use the factory brackets with this setup due to a slightly different frame shape and steering box interference.  If I had thought to do this while the radiator was out I may have been able to fab a pad and mod the brackets, but I'm not yanking the rad again.  I will probably make new brackets or mod the old ones to secure the bumper to the radiator support since it's pretty much useless in an impact anyway.  Then once the park lights and the brush guard are installed, the front end will just about be complete.

 

I stuck the grill emblem in place and realized that its absence is what made the truck look incomplete even more than the bumper and lights.  I considered restoring the emblem, but it has a broken stud and I think it would take far too much time to get satisfied with the appearance, so I may order an NOS unit from eBay.  If anyone here has a nice one for sale I would definitely consider that as well.

[Boxcar]

 

Nice build! I am curious how the napZ will hold up with the divorced case. We used to run L20's in the same situation in our 521's but we could never get a headgasket to last more then one trip. Now we use all yota drivetrain and just beef up the datsun frames.

Though this thing is super pretty, so am I wrong to assume it wont see many difficult trails

 

 Wow . You're  not looking to start a fight are you. :ninja:

I've been doing this for a long long time. Never had a head gasket issue with a properly built and maintained L-20. And yes I wheel my rigs. 

 The Zuke conversion has been from the southern tip of Mexico to Alaska. And all parts in between. I always build using divorced cases.  

I'm not sure what that has to do with a head gasket problem any way. :confused:

 As you may already know , I'm not a huge Yota fan....... But I am an old fart who sees very little value in new tech and off road..... :poke:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sandy.... The truck looks good. Keep it up.... :thumbup:

Sorry for Jacking you're thread :crying:

 

 

 

[]2eDeYe]

Lenses are on their way. I may have a decent emblem for that style grille, will have to check though.

[SandyMush620]

 

 

Sandy.... The truck looks good. Keep it up.... :thumbup:

Sorry for Jacking you're thread :crying:

 

 

 

Thanks B.  And it's all good.  A little discussion in a thread never hurt anything.  :)

 

Lenses are on their way. I may have a decent emblem for that style grille, will have to check though.

 

Awesome, thanks.  Wish I had said something before you shipped out the lenses.  I think I will post a list of things I intend to buy soon.

 

 

I have to go fix the water supply for the goats, but I will be back to post some new pics in a bit.

[]2eDeYe]

The one I have is in sad shape, sorry. :)

 

Pics of goats? :lol:

[SandyMush620]

Lol, I'll see what I can do.

[SandyMush620]

My goats.  We have eleven Pygmies including four new kids in the last few months.  They are just groundskeepers; we don't eat them or milk them. 

 

 

 

 

[SandyMush620]

Ok, so the factory front bumper brackets were a no-go, so I fabbed a bracket to hold the center of the bumper.  I bolted it to the core support with the center valance bolt and to the bumper with a regular hex bolt until I can get a bumper bolt.  Not that the hex bolt is all that noticable, but a bumper bolt will blend in well.  Lots of pics, but no one's complained about that yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since I was working by myself as usual, I taped up the edges of the bumper and some of the sheetmetal to avoid damage.

 

Here are some pics with and without the bumper guards.  I'm sure opinions vary on them, but I like the way they look.  If I install the grill guard (after I cut about 4 inches out of it) I will have to remove them. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SandyMush620]

Forgot to mention that I had to massage the Taiwanese bumper so that it had the same amount of curve in each end.  One end was almost straight where the center bar connects to the end piece and it caused a gap between it and the core support.  I used a fancy jig (special tool # DAT-trbl69) which consists of a tree root and wooden block to put a little bend in it.   Worked well.  Said jig is visible in a few pics in the last post.

 

There's a plating operation a couple of hours away in TN that can straighten and rechrome my factory bumper.  I may take it out there someday to see what it would cost.

[]2eDeYe]

Cute lawn mowers :D

 

 

After playing with 620 bumpers a bit, I don't think a single one of them is straight and they all have to be molded to each individual truck :lol:

[Spoona_Jay21]

for once i like the bumper guards. they look good!

[SandyMush620]

Got this in the mail today:

 

 

Thanks again Redeye.  I'll put them to good use once the weather is cooperative. 

 

I will also be putting a couple hundred bucks into new taillights, grill emblem, mirrors, gas door bumpers, hood bumpers, etc. online soon.

[Spoona_Jay21]

I have a perfect early grille if your interested. it doesn't have the trim rings but there is no cracks or broken bits,

[SandyMush620]

I have a perfect early grille if your interested. it doesn't have the trim rings but there is no cracks or broken bits,

 

How hard is it to get ahold of the trim rings?  I think I read that they are specific to each hole.  Is that right? 

[]2eDeYe]

They are specific. I have been collecting them :)

 

Not sure if I have a complete set though. 

[SandyMush620]

Ok, so not exactly falling out of trees.  Still, PM me Jay and let me know what you have in mind.

[Jester]

Actually there are only two rings. Drivers low beam in the same as passengers hi beam, and vise versa.

[ggzilla]

I would remove the pan and plastigauge each rod. $5 and a little time.

[SandyMush620]

I would remove the pan and plastigauge each rod. $5 and a little time.

 

Yeah, except the front diff and axle would have to come back out.  Not a huge deal but would be the fourth time.  I may do that down the road but I'm over the engine for a little while.

[SandyMush620]

Finally got the park lamps in and the stickers scraped off the windshield.

 

 

 

 

 

I forgot to set the grill emblem in place, so again it looks a little plain, but it's getting there.  I also took another look at the mirrors on my parts truck.  They are OE Nissan mirrors.  Do they look like original 620 mirrors?  They might look okay with some black paint.

 

 

 

 

 

I am also looking at this set (or similar) on eBay.  I'm usually not big on chrome, but with the chrome bumper and antenna, and the stainless trim around the side markers, chrome mirrors may look good.  Any opinions?