wakemaniac Posted March 9, 2018 Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 (edited) Hi everyone ! I have been owner of a 1969 521 and a 1968 520 for almost 2 years now. I am from Quebec Canada and those 520's are getting pretty rare with our winters up here ! I initially bought an abandoned project in september 2015. It was the 1969 521 with a chevy small block. Was going to complete it, but changed my mind when I found the 520 more complete, original and with papers ! 1969 521 : http://i.imgur.com/xwU85zz.jpg Here is the 1968 520. Bought it from a 80 year old guy in novembre 2016. He was the second owner since 1969 !!! Truck was stored since 1989 in barn. 1968 520 : Frame and box are roted out on 520. Doing a frame swap from the 521. Had to grind off custom small block supports and reweld the originals from the 520's frame. Trans x-member had to be swapped to because they torched the hell out of it to fit TH350 tranny http://i.imgur.com/VM8ZAeH.jpg http://i.imgur.com/BETtEzd.jpg http://i.imgur.com/Jfgv9Ph.jpg The result. Got new brakes hydraulics, shocks, bushings, etc. for the front end. Working on rear end now. http://i.imgur.com/v27kdDa.jpg Parts truck in background... Old 520 frame and box and guttered 521 cab http://i.imgur.com/YJuP9zD.jpg I started working on the J13 two weeks ago. It fired up last winter and had good compression. Got stuff for it as well. Complete ignition, gasket kit, water pump, etc. http://i.imgur.com/Dry7pSf.jpg http://i.imgur.com/NmtdEje.jpg http://i.imgur.com/loMy6GM.jpg http://i.imgur.com/jqElHV4.jpg I'll post more pics of the build pretty soon. Cheers, Edited February 19 by wakemaniac 3 Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted March 9, 2018 Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 Welcome to Ratsun. It's really nice to see such fine relatively stock examples.... and from so far north too! I had a '72 that was about 5 years old and every year I would rivitt patches on the cab. The salt and winters in southern Ontario was terrible. The '68 is so straight. 2 Quote Link to comment
wakemaniac Posted March 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 Welcome to Ratsun. It's really nice to see such fine relatively stock examples.... and from so far north too! I had a '72 that was about 5 years old and every year I would rivitt patches on the cab. The salt and winters in southern Ontario was terrible. The '68 is so straight. Thanks ! The old J13 fired up last winter after changing the points. Compression between 125-140psi. Will post more details of the build soon ! 1 Quote Link to comment
Charlie69 Posted March 9, 2018 Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 Great finds congrats! Take measurments before doing the frame swap. The 521 is approximately 5" longer from the firewall to the radiator support frame. If the 521 bed is good just swap the beds. 1 Quote Link to comment
wakemaniac Posted March 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 Great finds congrats! Take measurments before doing the frame swap. The 521 is approximately 5" longer from the firewall to the radiator support frame. If the 521 bed is good just swap the beds. Thanks ! Indeed, I am planning to have the 520 cab and 521 box on the 521 frame. The only difference between the 2 frames was the nose supports that had to be welded back about 2''. Frame length is the same though. 1 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted March 10, 2018 Report Share Posted March 10, 2018 Before you start thinking about moving cab parts around(specifically the doors), they are the same except for the door locks/jams(what holds the door shut), if they have the same lock mechanism then you can swap them, but if they do not have the same lock mechanism then they will not interchange as the locks are in totally different places, since yours is a 68 it might have the same locks as your 69, maybe. I brought this up because your 69 appears to have nice doors, and the 68 doors are not as nice. 1 Quote Link to comment
wakemaniac Posted March 10, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2018 Before you start thinking about moving cab parts around(specifically the doors), they are the same except for the door locks/jams(what holds the door shut), if they have the same lock mechanism then you can swap them, but if they do not have the same lock mechanism then they will not interchange as the locks are in totally different places, since yours is a 68 it might have the same locks as your 69, maybe. I brought this up because your 69 appears to have nice doors, and the 68 doors are not as nice. Will look into it since the 521's are in better shape !! I was going to use them on the 520 cab. I'll let u know ! 1 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted March 10, 2018 Report Share Posted March 10, 2018 That is the first thing I thought of after seeing the photos, maybe you will get lucky, I do not recall when the change was made, either the door lock mechanisms are the same or they are not, 68 is the year the 521 was introduced, maybe the door lock mechanisms were changed to the type the 521 used by then. I see you added photos to your first post, normally I would not have noticed but I scrolled back to look at something and noticed them, just make a new post to add more photos, then we will not miss any new ones. I like the 521s myself, more engine compartment room, the 520 engine compartment is almost 4 inches shorter, it is difficult to fit anything in there except the smaller J block, I like more room even though I wedged an L block into my 1966 520 kingcab ute I made, I like legroom also. 1 Quote Link to comment
Charlie69 Posted March 10, 2018 Report Share Posted March 10, 2018 Stand a 521 and a 520 fender on the door end and compare lengths. Please take pictures notin length difference please. Same with the 521 & 520 hoods. 1 Quote Link to comment
mikec4193 Posted March 10, 2018 Report Share Posted March 10, 2018 Hey Wakemaniac Wow....someone from the "great white North"...I am in the middle of upstate NY (Albany NY area)....congrats on the project so far...looks like you gotta handle on it for sure...I will be following along on this one.... MikeC 2 Quote Link to comment
wakemaniac Posted March 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2018 Thanks guys ! Next time I go in the shed i'll pull out and measure 520-521 fenders ! I need a transmission mount and cant find an original one anywhere... Will a 620 one be easy to fit on the original bracket that bolts into the X-member ? Will it be bolt-on on the transmission side ? Saw some posts with 5 speed swap...didnt look like too much work to fit ...will look into it more this week... Worked on motor this weekend : 1 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted March 12, 2018 Report Share Posted March 12, 2018 You have a photo of your old transmission mount? 1 Quote Link to comment
wakemaniac Posted March 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2018 You have a photo of your old transmission mount? Mine was that style (rubber bushing finished...I just kept the bracket that bolt on the x-member) : Replacement im thinking : 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 12, 2018 Report Share Posted March 12, 2018 Something doesn't look right with your mount... but that transmission mount is hard to find... i modified my rear 521 mount which was like what you had to use the newer 620 mount.... trying to find a pic.... 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 12, 2018 Report Share Posted March 12, 2018 This was my stock setup... and the rubber mount was bad... I bolted this in place just so I knew where the transmission should be... I bolted the new style mount to the transmission and cut the metal bracket to fit under it.. then made a pad for it to sit on.... 2 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted March 12, 2018 Report Share Posted March 12, 2018 His mount looks to be welded solid. I actually have a couple used transmission mounts like your old one, but your likely better off making one like Crash did, and I am pretty sure that his user name is not based on the effects of the new mount he made. 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 12, 2018 Report Share Posted March 12, 2018 His mount looks to be welded solid. I actually have a couple used transmission mounts like your old one, but your likely better off making one like Crash did, and I am pretty sure that his user name is not based on the effects of the new mount he made. Ya I had a bad past with cars.. doing better with that... and I'm sure a prettier bracket can be made, i tend to over do it reinforcing things. I'd rather ugly and strong... 2 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted March 12, 2018 Report Share Posted March 12, 2018 Ya I had a bad past with cars.. doing better with that... and I'm sure a prettier bracket can be made, i tend to over do it reinforcing things. I'd rather ugly and strong... I meant his original mount when I said it was welded together, it looks to be solid, I was not talking about your mount which looks great. 2 Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted March 13, 2018 Report Share Posted March 13, 2018 I think the L521 was introduced in October '68 making it a '69 model year and came with the previous L520's J13 engine. A year later in '70, the engine was upgraded to the L16 making it a PL521 1 Quote Link to comment
wakemaniac Posted March 13, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2018 Sorry, took the pic on Google. Its not actually my mount but the same style. Will build something like Crashtd420 with 620 part ! Thanks for the infos !!! 1 Quote Link to comment
wakemaniac Posted December 23, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2019 Little update here ! I'll try to poste more often.... Things are getting closer to drop the cab on the frame. Worked on it a few hours here and there throught the year (not easy to get me time with two young kids lol). Did inner rockers repair (amazing how the outside rocker panel are in good shape considering the rest), 2 front cab mounts and seat reinforcement braquets replaced and front pans redone. Its my first floor job...maybe not perfect but at least I didnt pay someone do have it done ! The floors were redone in 1979 according to the news paper I found under de thin sheet metal used to patch. Drilled the rivets out and it was a good pan template to have new ones done but with thicker gauge metal : Passenger inner rocker repair : What driver's side looked under the 1979 repair : New pans tacked in : Epoxy primed : Now working on the headlights wells...before priming everything. Thinking of bedliner for the engine bay....once done i'll finally have the cab sitting on frame !! Anybody knows something about those wheels ? Original D21's ? Got them for 100$. 3 Quote Link to comment
wakemaniac Posted December 23, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2019 Fired up the J13 yesterday too, just to make sure it was still running lol 2 Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted December 23, 2019 Report Share Posted December 23, 2019 Mine was just to top up the battery. 1 Quote Link to comment
wakemaniac Posted January 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2020 Well, I guess I found my wheel setup ! 15 x 8 Epsilon Raguna D-Froce JDM wheels. Off an imported Pajero here in Quebec Canada (rare wheels around here). Needs a bit of work...corosion on lips caused by lead and powder coat needed on the faces, but for about 400$ USD could'nt pass... Looking for stencils to reproduce wrinting in them. 2 Quote Link to comment
MattSheldon Posted January 15, 2020 Report Share Posted January 15, 2020 18 minutes ago, wakemaniac said: Well, I guess I found my wheel setup ! 15 x 8 Epsilon Raguna D-Froce JDM wheels. Off an imported Pajero here in Quebec Canada (rare wheels around here). Needs a bit of work...corosion on lips caused by lead and powder coat needed on the faces, but for about 400$ USD could'nt pass... Looking for stencils to reproduce wrinting in them. That is such a score! One of my all time favorite 6 lug wheels The writing is more than likely laser etched. If you have the centers re anodized, they should either offer the service or know someone that can. 1 Quote Link to comment
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