Daily/Project 521

[eskimoburton]

I decided that it's probably time I started a project thread for the 521 that I picked up about 3 weeks ago.

 

I had some money saved up for a truck and I knew I for sure wanted a 620,521,or a Hardbody,I search craigslist every morning when I get off work around 5am and one day I saw there was a 72 521 in decent condition that was close to me,It was posted for $1500 obo. I called the dude and the next thing I know its 7am and I'm on my way to take a look at it,long story short I got the truck for a $1000.

 

The dude I bought it from said he doesn't know how many miles are on it because his plan for it was to scrap the l16 and put a v8 in it.. I dig the l16 and it runs pretty damn good so ill be keeping it for a while,clean title as well. It's on 4 inch blocks in the rear and im not sure about the front,I assume the torsion bars are cranked down.

 

I had a friend drive it home for me while I followed behind him,it had bad tags at the time. Once I got home I started fixing the little things while I waited for payday.

I'm not sure what the person hit but there isn't frame damage so my plan for now is to fix everything else while I wait for a 521 front end to pop up. All the lights worked except the passenger side high beam so I pulled the grill and head light housing off to inspect why it wasn't working... it was unplugged :sleep:

 

Once payday came I paid a friend to change the kingpins for me because I don't have the tools or space to do something like that,the PO gave me a box of parts which had a kingpin kit in it and since the driver side kingpin was pretty bad I figured I should get that done as soon as possible. I went out an bought wipers as well because it only had one at the time and since I live in Oregon I knew I would need them.

 

I have a lot of plans for the interior but I discovered a pretty bad leak in the front window so that'll be the first thing to get taken care of before worrying about anything else.

 

I'm not sure if I like these or not,I mainly got them so that I couldn't get pulled over for having no side mirrors. This is how it sits as of now until payday again.. I do daily drive it though. :D have some random photos.

My friend enjoys the truck just as much as I do!

 

[datson4life]

Good looking 521, good looking price aswell

[datson4life]

Shaved bedhooks is so 2014, but all else looks good, now ka swap it!

[banzai510(hainz)]

1)his plan for it was to scrap the l16 and put a v8????????its the datsun in them(being broke and lazy and unrealistic)

 

 

700$ would have been better

 

NO on the mirrors!!!!!!!!!

 

KAs are awesome but if you have the above traits in line 1 and dont know all 3 fuctions of a multimeter just keep the Lmotor and drive it EZ to keep running and cheap to maintain.

[wayno]

I would echo Hainz above, unless you have done a conversion before, keep it as it is, or maybe put an L20b in it and drive the shit out of it, the L20b is a bolt in.

Once you have EVERYTHING you need for whatever conversion route you want to take, then take it down and do it.

I live across the river from you in Vancouver, I could likely help you if you need help with something, this truck was still on craigslist yesterday.

I was very unhappy with my L16, I thought the best upgrade I ever made to my 521 was the L20b, the second best upgrade was Dual SUs.

[mrbigtanker]

I would echo Hainz above, unless you have done a conversion before, keep it as it is, or maybe put an L20b in it and drive the shit out of it, the L20b is a bolt in.

Once you have EVERYTHING you need for whatever conversion route you want to take, then take it down and do it.

I live across the river from you in Vancouver, I could likely help you if you need help with something, this truck was still on craigslist yesterday.

I was very unhappy with my L16, I thought the best upgrade I ever made to my 521 was the L20b, the second best upgrade was Dual SUs.

 

Wayno good to have you back.

[eskimoburton]

I'm not sure why the PO hasn't removed the Craigslist Ad,It really doesn't bother me much because I have the title and its in my name now.

 

I won't be pulling the motor for a while,it gets me where I need to go so until it gives me a reason to pull it it'll be staying. My main focus right now is the suspension.. I want something that doesn't use kingpins and won't require a bunch of fabrication. Any suggestions would be awesome!

[banzai510(hainz)]

Nothing wrong with kingpins   if they are still tight.

[DanielC]

Kingpins are a very strong front end setup, and if good they are fine.   The biggest drawback of kingpins is that they need to be lubed every 3,000 miles.

The biggest reason by far, ball joints are used on cars is because they are cheaper to manufacture.  They are not as strong as a kingpin setup.

[eskimoburton]

The kingpins got changed a little less than a week ago but I thought kingpin kits were hard to find?

[banzai510(hainz)]

where you find the kingpins? Then they aint hard to find. If new I wouldnt worry about swaping right now. I would fix the front end.

 

My tought is its just a 521. You cound find one done up later with all mods.

[Rhino13]

Mike Klots aka bluehandsvideo, makes disc brake swaps. I don't remember the other producer, but I think there's one down in Cali also. Mike is actually in the Portland area so that'd be your best bet and there's people on here that have done the swap with pictures and info to give you an idea of what's involved.

 

Also nice score, I've seen the Craigslist ad. Looks like a pretty straight truck and a good base for a cool project.

[eskimoburton]

I'm not worried about swapping the kingpins,I had them changed like 6 days ago but I read somewhere that the kits are hard to find,the only reason I had a kit was because the PO gave me it when I bought the truck. Also I don't want to buy a 521 with stuff already done to it,I'd rather do it myself.

 

Rhino,I actually watched his Kingpin videos and looked at his site,I'll hopefully be doing the disk conversion in a month or so.

[banzai510(hainz)]

if  kingpins done then dont worry about it. just keep the lubed

 

Youll sell this truck before the KingPins  wear out a 2nd time

[JDOM310]

Hi guys I know this is for 521 trucks however I was looking into buying a 520 truck 1968 a guy is selling with. A L18 with transmission Needs a driveshaft how hard would this swap be? Anyone have feed back? Thank you guys

[datson4life]

Should bolt right in, drive shaft lenght depends on the type of transmission

[datson4life]

Ohhhh 520, false alarm, i dont have and answer, but to weld in some chassis engine mounts

[JDOM310]

Oh ok I'll try doing more research was wondering if it would be direct bolt on too easy

[wayno]

No it is not a bolt in, the L block motor mounts are in the middle of the engine, the 520 J13 engine/block mounts are near the front of the engine, you would have to remove the existing motor mounts off the 520, make new mounts for the "L" block, you will also likely have to remove the 520 idler arm and use a 521 idler arm as the 520 one is in the way of the alternator, it's just to big, although I don't know if the 520 had the large idler arm on all years.

If the L18 has the original short 4 speed, you might be able to use that transmission mount, don't know for sure, as I am not sure of the L block clearances.

The L block is a tight fit in the 520, but it can be done.

Oh ok I'll try doing more research was wondering if it would be direct bolt on too easy

[JDOM310]

OK thank you fellas for all that good info