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1973 Green Weenie


GRpufnstuf

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Oh the "ish" part of fit great-ish has to do with 4 things.

 

1. Instructions say they should be mounted 180 from how I've done them. They won't fit a 620 that way because the adjuster lever on the frame is too deep, this would cause the gold portion of the bars to essentially lengthen the bars 1.5-2.5" (approx)hen they bottomed against the adjuster

As I'm writing this it occurs to me that this may be on purpose. I have read the D21 bars are longer, maybe this is a semi elegant way of taking up that extra space to fit multiple trucks.

Oh! . AND the gold barrel won't fit over the transmission crossmember on a 620 mounted this direction.

 

2. When mounted backwards like I've done, the gold parts interfere with stock exhaust manifolds. I had to remove almost 3 inches from my factory L16 2-1 pipe. The stamped piece not the manifold itself. I didn't like doing it.

 

3. These bars are slightly shorter than stock which leaves the possibility for them to back out of the lower control arm (LCA) about half way. I installed shims in the rear adjusters to take up the space.

 

4. And finally the splined areas on the new bars are a little longer than the factory stuff. There is a gap at the front from the LCA to the first part of the gold colored adjuster. If that adjuster moves out of the gold barrel toward the LCA it will start to wear badly for the small amount of rotation it has. I'm going to have a couple spacers made that I can slip in or clamp on to the gap just to keep things working nice.

 

The end....for now

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I will get some exhaust pix when I get to the shop tomorrow. I'll try hard to get before and after.

 

I'm ordering the last few bits I need to do the front brakes.

 

I was going to dig into the 3rd member swap this afternoon, but realize now that I should go ahead and do a full rear brake job and axle seals while I'm in there. So that's on hold until I can get my mitts on all the parts for the full brake job and the diff.

 

Then... The transmission. Still looking for that elusive 1980 720 bell housing to do the late model short 5spd swap.

If I get all this brake and diff stuff done before I get one located I may just use a ZX tranny and call it good.

And I'm actually thinks that a 1 PC driveshaft would be a nice upgrade from the 2pc unit. The suspension doesn't have nearly the travel it used to so there isn't really a need for the 2pc. Unless I'm mistaken about why it's there in the first place.

 

Need to read up on the Fox body V8 shaft length and mating. Maybe that makes the ZX swap more attractive. And of course if I'm doing that then I may as well do it at the same time I do the brakes all around and the 3rd member.... See how it goes?

 

I'm getting tired just thinking about it!

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No crossmember mods required when mounted the "reverse" direction.

 

Mounting them the way the 720 directions ask would require extensive crossmember and adjuster lever mods.

 

I should mention that there was an older set of drawings in the instruction envelope that came with these bars. The older drawing showed them mounted as I have them but didn't say what vehicle it was for. I think I posted a pic of both in my torsion thread and here.

 

I don't actually think they are mounted backwards. And I'm starting to suspect they are the 620 design repurposed for 720 and D21 installation.

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Haven't replaced the filler rubber yet. Still need to I think but I haven't gotten in there and really checked things out.

 

I really like this gas tank, it fits well and is well made. Once I have this lil hustler "reliable" it'll make a great road trip truck.

 

The speedo is still wrong. The replacement I put in broke immediately. I inspected the original and it wasn't broken, the piece that was flopping around was a paper sticker around the needle spindle.

 

I need to order a new cable and put my purple gear in along with the original speedo and all should be fine. And yes ;) I'll be adding LED dash lights while I'm in there...

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Hey Farmer, I've thought about your rig and wondered what you had for suspension (if any :P )

These bars start out pretty close to stock diameter and spring rate. Then get much higher on the secondary spring.

BUT the instructions say DO NOT run them on the secondary all the time.

You'd have to have an inch of 'soft' travel if you used these per instructions.

 

Alternately, there is supposed to be a larger 24mm bar in early 720s. That would be firmer straight away and the rising spring rate would have a steeper curve I think. I've seen and measured the 24 bars but haven't had a chance to grab a set so I'm not sure about the length for a 620

 

PS. Farmer Joe, lowered cars are stupid ;)

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Exhausting...

 

So I got my exhaust tightened up. The exhaust guy wanted to use a smaller diameter to get between Trans and torsion bar. I wasn't thrilled but I ok'd it.

 

The smaller pipe is stock size and after taking it for a spin I feel like I got a little bit of my low end oomph back. Of course the drive to the exhaust shop with an open 'header' was torque free so I may be imagining things.

 

Anyway, seat ignite pants it feels better and sounds good again.

 

I will be thinking and planning a different system down the road. Something a little cleaner and less cobbled together looking.

 

Pix

 

The cut stock 2-1 pipe

AB8D065C-06A0-4B97-AB15-FEFD69C41F27_zps

I welded up the folded flanges just in case the exhaust guy was dumb (he wasn't)

 

The new pipe(s)

95ED7403-440B-4913-814A-D8F016748995_zps

 

0F9502AB-4120-4006-8EC4-1E4B30046754_zps

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That didn't turn out too bad...

 

Bet they coulda used the larger pipe the whole way, but who's to argue if it's sealed up and goin...

 

I think I see what you mean about the splines up at the front on the adjusters.

 

I was still thinking about finding those 24mm bars, but I forgot what year to look for.

 

I kinda just wanna do the dual rate bars and run em with the adjusters a little closer to see how it is...

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OH yeah, I was trying to slap the matchbox in and rushed it. I cleaned up the housing but didn't really inspect the dizz.

 

It didn't want to fire once I had it in. I got a couple pops but nothing positive. I ran out of time and had to move the truck so I'm back on the stock points setup.

 

Bright side... I took the time to dial in my timing and it's running better than ever on the stock parts.

 

I found an article or 2 on how to test the matchbox and generally go over the whole setup. I've got the matchbox diz on the bench right now for a good going over.

 

I'll take another stab at it as time allows.

 

Today was Lamaz class and then house hunting with the wife. No time for Datsun fun. Even had to miss the Angelo's meet in Anaheim. I used to live 3 doors away from that joint! I wonder if the wait staff still roller skates..?

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Yo! I've got an ad up in the classified section...

 

http://community.ratsun.net/classifieds/item/2755-wtb-620-drive-shaft-front-half/

 

I just need a drive shaft for my 5speed install. I'm under the impression that I can use to late model short shaft from a long tail 4spd.

Even if that isn't true I'd like to have a shaft to get modified before I do the swap to minimize down time.

 

Anyone have one for sale?

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Those belts went in crazy fast. I think I was done in 35 min. Of course my seats made it easy. If you have a bench you'll probably want to pull it out for easy access.

 

I think I'd order different belt catches next time around, these are a little tough to get to the release button. Otherwise they work great!

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After the seat belts went in I started assembling my disc brake kit...

 

New Timken bearings going in

CBFF858D-F5EC-4A18-9C9B-DD1DBDFA022C_zps

 

I ordered the bearings and seals from RockAuto. All the bearing numbers matched what came out of the hubs so I got that going for me ;)

C034E424-0126-46C9-8D64-10627ECF328F_zps

 

New rotors, I couldn't find Japanese made, these are China

39E8B565-0427-47A3-B624-5DAAF2D679D0_zps

 

I used the High temp paint I had around. Fortunately Buick Engine blue is similar to my Datsun 104

81BE3329-F29A-4225-89B1-71E3D2EC31F5_zps

 

More assembly

0D0DCC09-8632-4057-800C-83E05F98BE22_zps

 

And more

0C121D7A-E0A6-4E4C-B068-6F1DF328B332_zps

 

That's all I got done for now. Plenty more to get done before I can even consider trying to install my new front disc setup. But it feels good to get started

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Did you take any pics of your seat frames before you bolted down the 914 seats? Just curious. A lot of folks have referred to using Beebani or custom UCAs to convert  kingpin trucks to balljoints but I don't recall seeing a good pictorial on what this setup looks like. Looking forward to seeing how yours goes on.

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No seat frame pix yet. They still need to come out and get an addition bracket and possibly the front hinge so they flip forward. Plus paint

 

And I'm still hopeful I can get another set made up and tack welded so I can get them TIG'd up by 91hrdbdy. I think his kind offer still stands but I haven't had time to get out to his place to drink Busch beers and do some bead blasting and welding.

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Spindles are just '79 620 stockers for now.

 

 

 

What a second....  Did I miss something?   You have a '73 with king pin right?  What are you doing to put on the '79 ball joint spindles?......  I just let a set go because I was told I couldn't do anything with them....

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