MasTacos Posted February 21, 2014 Report Share Posted February 21, 2014 New member here. I own a 1976 620 (well, at least it started life as a 620, I'm the second owner) that's been converted to a Baja racer. I've raced it in the NORRA (National Off-Road Racing Assn) Series and it's performed extremely well. I thought you all might like some of these pics. Here's what they started with... a bit of a fixer-upper After doing some work on it... ..It was ready to race. This is the first Mexican 1000 (Race from Ensenada to La Paz in Baja California, Mexico I bought it right after the first time it raced, put some additional work into it and raced it in the 2013 NORRA Mexican 500. It was a brutal race over some sections but the truck held up extremely well (we were passing $500k race trucks that had broken) and we finished 7th in class (out of 13) and 13th overall (out of 25) in my inaugural race! Getting ready to, hopefully, run the next 1000 miler in May but there's a long list of stuff to do and less and less time to do it. We did rebuild the lower control arms after breaking one in a wash at ~50MPH (I strongly advise against doing that under any circumstances). The new control arms are on the right, the stock ones are on the left, you can see where we welded it back together. I also had the leaf-springs re-arced and had a new shackle put on in the back to make the truck a bit taller and potentially fit larger wheels to it. It's an ongoing project and to a non-mechanically-inclined person like me, it presents an awesome challenge! Hope you enjoyed Paul 5 Quote Link to comment
dat77sun Posted February 21, 2014 Report Share Posted February 21, 2014 wow, ive seen pics of this thing before, glad to finally see it here! Quote Link to comment
Aibast Posted February 21, 2014 Report Share Posted February 21, 2014 Cool truck - to bad I couldn't do this to my truck in here. Funny NORRA - in estonian it means Norway. Quote Link to comment
tdaaj Posted February 21, 2014 Report Share Posted February 21, 2014 Very nice, need to see more like this. What engine are you running, trans and rear gears too? Can we get an interior shot? And welcome to the sight. Quote Link to comment
MasTacos Posted February 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2014 Engine I believe is an Nissan L18 version that came from a different donor (can anyone ID it for certain?) Older pic of the interior before I added the Nav system (now in a housing on the passenger's side dash) and the radio under the dash. I'll get some newer pics of the interior this weekend. Current project is dropping the rear-end out and adding the Limited Slip that I got from Phantom Grip for the H190 axle. Ideally I'd like to try to get a larger Ring & Pinion gear in there than the current 4.375 but I'm striking out so far. Quote Link to comment
Farmer Joe Posted February 21, 2014 Report Share Posted February 21, 2014 this is a trick setup! as for the rear axle, the WD21/pathfinder rear axle might work for ya. its a 233mm ringgear compared to the stock 190mm. every h233 ive seen has been a factory LSD also. they have the link bars in the pathfinders tho, so youll have to clean the axle up and weld on a pair of leaf pads. drive shaft will have to be modded as well for the new flange. they come with 411 and 462 gearing from the factory also. Quote Link to comment
GRpufnstuf Posted February 22, 2014 Report Share Posted February 22, 2014 Wow, I love it! Great work and congrats on a strong finish in your first race. Quote Link to comment
Cpl620 Posted February 22, 2014 Report Share Posted February 22, 2014 Sweet truck. I love the design of the frame in this thing. Looks like a lot of fun. Quote Link to comment
Jester Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 Good looking truck man! I like what you did with the control arms. I was thinking of doing the same thing myself. I want to go the other direction in altitude, but still wanted something stiffer. What class do you run in? Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 Looks like an L18 engine from a 1974 620. Quote Link to comment
JoeCool Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 That is too cool! Quote Link to comment
Llittle_Llama Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 Damn this thing looks good!!!! Quote Link to comment
mikeanike99 Posted February 24, 2014 Report Share Posted February 24, 2014 im so jealous..... Quote Link to comment
MasTacos Posted February 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2014 Good looking truck man! I like what you did with the control arms. I was thinking of doing the same thing myself. I want to go the other direction in altitude, but still wanted something stiffer. What class do you run in? Sorry for the delay, I've been prepping to go run a pit at the SF250. I run in a vintage class 7 (Under 2.0L engine, rear leaf-spring) with NORRA. After the last race though, I'm convinced that this truck could run in more than just historical races with a few changes (like those control arms). I've got a LSD from Phantom Grip coming which I think will def help improve the traction in the back and I'm thinking of buying the 5.4 Ring and Pinion from 4x4 parts to go with it. Right now it's a cost/time calculation if I'm going to make the May NORRA race, there's not a lot left to do with the truck but there's def some pricey stuff needed. Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted February 26, 2014 Report Share Posted February 26, 2014 Excellent truck, those front control arms are trick stuff. Nicely done. I'd love to have a 620 built like this. :cool: Any shots of the front suspension from below or without a wheel on? Quote Link to comment
MasTacos Posted February 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Excellent truck, those front control arms are trick stuff. Nicely done. I'd love to have a 620 built like this. :cool: Any shots of the front suspension from below or without a wheel on? Here you go. They were made by Fantelli Racing Products (Hence the "FRP") in San Diego. We'd pretty well hammered the old control arm and I think we may have bent the steering ball joint so they fab'ed up these "Trophy Datsun" control arms to make sure we never break/bend one again. If you're really interested, I can ask if they'd make another set. 1 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 I think that we are more interested in the spindle connection itself, what spindle did you use, and how is it connected, what does the kingpin look like if it actually has one. Here you go. They were made by Fantelli Racing Products (Hence the "FRP") in San Diego. We'd pretty well hammered the old control arm and I think we may have bent the steering ball joint so they fab'ed up these "Trophy Datsun" control arms to make sure we never break/bend one again. If you're really interested, I can ask if they'd make another set. Quote Link to comment
Farmer Posted February 28, 2014 Report Share Posted February 28, 2014 This is awesome Quote Link to comment
NissanNut Posted March 2, 2014 Report Share Posted March 2, 2014 Awesome truck!! Glad you posted the suspension pictures. The block on the right side show say L18 or L16 or L20. Its right above the starter. Or it could be on the other side I cant remember. Quote Link to comment
Jester Posted March 3, 2014 Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 Well the head is from an L series anyway. Look on the passenger side of the block between cylinders 3 and 4 right where the head bolts to the block and see what number/ letter configuration is there. It should say either L16, L18 or L20B. If there is no numbers there, then they are on the other side and is most likely a Z series engine with a L series head. Also, if you look on the cylinder head, between number 2 and 3 spark plugs, you will see the model of cylinder head on your engine. All info that will help when you need to purchase new parts. Quote Link to comment
MasTacos Posted March 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 Thanks guys, Just returned from Baja so I'm still trying to sort myself out and I appreciate the pointer on where to get the ID for the engine. I'm planning on starting prepping the truck in earnest for the upcoming NORRA Mexican 1000 in May and I'll post pics as I get them. First step is dropping the rear end out and installing the Limited Slip I got from Phantom Grip with possibly a new Ring & Pinon. I know they're decidedly not Datsuns but I thought I'd post a couple of pics I got from the race (I worked in a pit out on the lakebed at Laguna Del Diablo) of the Trophy Trucks coming past. They're unlimited engine/unlimited suspension vehicles which can run at speeds in excess of 120mph and are quite awesome to see/hear when they come past. Quote Link to comment
mikeanike99 Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 I want I want!! Quote Link to comment
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