breezenahan Posted March 30, 2020 Report Share Posted March 30, 2020 Hey Everyone. Firstly i want to thank you all for being members of this community, the info that you have all provided all of the years has really helped guide a lot of the decisions made for this truck and will likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future. My father and I are both into cars, and we have always worked on smaller projects together here and there over the past couple of years. He is a wizard in autobody, where i am much more of a performance oriented fella, a match made in heaven if you ask me. He bought a 71 240z for us to restore when i was in college, but he got stir crazy and finished the whole thing up without me putting much work into it during my studies. I own and engine swapped a 240sx with some input from him but it was more of a weekend project for me to keep myself busy. Here is an old photo of those 2 together https://imgur.com/dAFoKvD That being said, we were looking to find a project that we could both have equal work/design input. Something that we could somehow keep a classic feel and make it fast/modern/fun. We both have an affinity to old nissans, so we wanted to do another datsun. The 510 platform was really appealing to us, but we couldn't decide on a coupe/4 door or wagon. When I found this truck for sale, we both knew that we had a winner, just enough in terms of modification potential and unique appeal to keep us excited After some deliberation we found the motor/trans that would work best for us, an s13 Blacktop SR20 The next is a fresh motor mount/suspension/disc brake kit from our very own Jason at Beebani customs. much thanks goes out to him helping us through this process as well as supplying much of the conversion parts for this truck. Only a lunatic would swap this much power into a truck like this without doing a full disc brake/coilover conversion. as we compiled most of the necessary parts. we disassembled the bed/tailgate sandblasted and zinc phosphate coated to get ready for bodywork and paint then did the same with the cab and frame, as well as removed the L20b and auto trans that came with this 620 We chose the name "Black and BlueBird" for a few reasons, one - the truck is a gorgeous powder blue, two - the blacktop SR20 thats going to power it, three - an homage to the bluebird moniker that datsun 510's carried overseas, and finally a nod to our father and son collective, the "Busted Knuckle Garage" where we generate more expletives than running cars. There will be a lot more updates as the whole thing comes together. next steps are mocking up the suspension and putting everything in place for the frame and cab to be sandblasted. then coating the frame/bottom of cab and bed to new england proof it. Then finishing all of the necessary bodywork and painting the car, we are going to stick with the powder blue but add some metallic flake with matte black accents and the white datsun lettering on the tailgate. Then installing all of the necessary brake parts along with the motor and trans (and all supporting modifications), then she gets a fresh tune/wheels and the parts hauler for our busted knuckle garage is complete. 7 Quote Link to comment
Eric Posted March 31, 2020 Report Share Posted March 31, 2020 Nice project, i see you have a flat part on the inside your bed lid, is that factory? Do you have more pictures of it? My truck does not have this this and i would like to make one myself. 1 Quote Link to comment
5t341tH Posted March 31, 2020 Report Share Posted March 31, 2020 awesome project. it's gonna be awesome. can't wait to see the project finished 1 Quote Link to comment
Stoffregen Motorsports Posted March 31, 2020 Report Share Posted March 31, 2020 7 hours ago, Eric said: Nice project, i see you have a flat part on the inside your bed lid, is that factory? Do you have more pictures of it? My truck does not have this this and i would like to make one myself. I've seen them with and without that inner panel on the tailgate, but never questioned if it was original or aftermarket. I did find this though - https://allmusclecarparts.com.au/datsun/1200-sedan-ute/ute-tailgate.html 1 Quote Link to comment
breezenahan Posted April 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2020 19 hours ago, Eric said: Nice project, i see you have a flat part on the inside your bed lid, is that factory? Do you have more pictures of it? My truck does not have this this and i would like to make one myself. I have no clue if it's factory. I'll take some pictures if I can remember next time I am with the truck. Sorry I couldn't be of more help 1 Quote Link to comment
5t341tH Posted April 1, 2020 Report Share Posted April 1, 2020 20 hours ago, Eric said: Nice project, i see you have a flat part on the inside your bed lid, is that factory? Do you have more pictures of it? My truck does not have this this and i would like to make one myself. IIRC, they only came on 79 King cabs 3 Quote Link to comment
Jalj47 Posted April 4, 2020 Report Share Posted April 4, 2020 Im doing a similar project as far and truck and engine wise. But I was wonder what you guys did for the wiring harness. Did you guys buy one specially made to fit an Sr20 in to 620 pickup or did you guys delete stuff off an original Sr20 harness. I have the original wiring harness but have no idea how to go about it. Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted April 4, 2020 Report Share Posted April 4, 2020 8 hours ago, Jalj47 said: Im doing a similar project as far and truck and engine wise. But I was wonder what you guys did for the wiring harness. Did you guys buy one specially made to fit an Sr20 in to 620 pickup or did you guys delete stuff off an original Sr20 harness. I have the original wiring harness but have no idea how to go about it. The CanAm boxed make it easy. Use the stock sr20 engine harness. Keeps it separate from the truck harness - used this on my ka swap 2 Quote Link to comment
5t341tH Posted April 4, 2020 Report Share Posted April 4, 2020 12 hours ago, Jalj47 said: Im doing a similar project as far and truck and engine wise. But I was wonder what you guys did for the wiring harness. Did you guys buy one specially made to fit an Sr20 in to 620 pickup or did you guys delete stuff off an original Sr20 harness. I have the original wiring harness but have no idea how to go about it. I went with wiring specialties wiring harness for the sr20 to datsun. It's definitely worth its weight. everything just clicks into place https://www.dropbox.com/s/ka691r5ard3bpr3/1584147841600.MP4?dl=0 Quote Link to comment
Eric Posted April 12, 2020 Report Share Posted April 12, 2020 On 4/4/2020 at 8:28 AM, Jalj47 said: Im doing a similar project as far and truck and engine wise. But I was wonder what you guys did for the wiring harness. Did you guys buy one specially made to fit an Sr20 in to 620 pickup or did you guys delete stuff off an original Sr20 harness. I have the original wiring harness but have no idea how to go about it. Just use the sr20 wiring harness, this is what you need: Quote Link to comment
breezenahan Posted April 14, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2020 thanks everyone for your input. we havent got the motor back from the engine builder yet so we havent dug into which harness we are going to use and why. some updates on progress made over the last few weeks We found this manual from 75 in the back behind the seat, it has already proven useful for a lot of the switch removal from the dash and suspension disassembly. Speaking of the dash, that came out too, along with everything else in the cab so it could be send to get sandblasted the heater core and shifter came out after this photo Had a small disagreement with the lower control arm bolts that needed some serrated persuasion to be removed but we were able to remove the front suspension along with all of the lines affixed to the frame Next steps are to start mocking up the performance suspension parts for the fronts, welding them in place and then moving on to the rear disassembly and mock up. Hope everyone is staying safe and keeping busy. As a side note, we have a lot of leftover suspension parts, and a whole L20/auto trans that we have no use for. if anyone in the boston area wants anything that came off of the truck that wont be used in the upgraded suspension kit or with the new engine, let me know and we can figure something out 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted April 14, 2020 Report Share Posted April 14, 2020 Didnt realise your were semi local.... There are a few of us up this way.... I'm out In central Massachusetts with a 521.... Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted April 14, 2020 Report Share Posted April 14, 2020 3 hours ago, Crashtd420 said: Didnt realise your were semi local.... There are a few of us up this way.... I'm out In central Massachusetts with a 521.... Hot damn another local Ratsuner! Didnt realize this till crash posted it. Im just up north in Topsfield. Excited to see this truck in person! A few of us got together for Japanese day at the Larz Anderson museum last year. And if we ever get to do anything again... i usually try to get to one of their cars and coffees too. I'd offer my local help... but looks like you have a bigger garage and plenty of fab skills! Keep us posted! Quote Link to comment
breezenahan Posted April 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2020 2 hours ago, demo243 said: I'd offer my local help... but looks like you have a bigger garage and plenty of fab skills! Keep us posted! glad to hear the community is as strong as it is up here. we are located in gloucester. as far as our fab skills, you guys have only been able to see us tear stuff apart, nothing about putting it together yet!! i think we can manage with what we bring to the table though. looking forward to talking shop once all of the projects are finished and its safe for everyone to leave their caves. 2 Quote Link to comment
breezenahan Posted May 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2020 okay so some more updates from the past couple of weeks Chopping up the old suspension mounting points what it took to get the old bushings out welded on the new strut mounts and pressed in the new bushings mocking up the LCA's for welding on the bracket on the other side of the frame which brings us to the end of the work on the front suspension, we assembled the coilovers and put it together, but it left us with a big question mark instead of the gratification we were looking for. Our spindles are clearly not the correct ones. we purchased them out of a wrecked D21 on ebay, which is what we were supposed to get, the years lined up and the geometry worked great for these control arms. but the spindles don't have the ability to interface with our steering like the ones from jasons photos that he sent us. Our question is what are these from? We want to make sure we avoid this situation when we buy our next set. Also if anyone has any leads on spindles let me know, the only ones I can find new are 2" drop spindles and I don't think we need that with the coilovers. here are the ones we got and here is what we need 2 Quote Link to comment
breezenahan Posted May 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2020 we also got the cab back from sandblasting and we are making some progress on the bodywork. it's times like this that make me really appreciate my father's love of bodywork. the less i have to do with the cosmetics the better the results will be. bottom of the floors painted got to working on the roof as well 2 Quote Link to comment
FrankRizzo Posted May 5, 2020 Report Share Posted May 5, 2020 I just went thru this last month. It's near the bottom of page 11 of my thread: https://ratsun.net/topic/68704-74-cactus-green/page/11/ Hope that helps... . 1 Quote Link to comment
breezenahan Posted May 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2020 Certainly shows me that I don't have everything I need. I found a listing on ebay that has a good photo of the missing knuckle in question. Now I gotta find one for each side. https://imgur.com/a/z8jhbl4 Edit: mission accomplished on a snowy day at a local junkyard. Now onto the rear suspension Quote Link to comment
breezenahan Posted May 18, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2020 okay so there is some more things to update on First of all the cab has been primed and is pretty much ready to go onto the car and have final bodywork and paint done We also finished the rear suspension mock up and final welding. The photos are of all of the crossmembers tacked in place but I promise, they are much more than that now, so don't worry. I have a sunburn from my time behind the trigger so I hope this brings some joy to you to make it worth it. the frame is off to the sandblaster and the bottom of the bed will be painted while it is out. My sx needs a new flywheel so that gets the garage this weekend but there should be some more movement on this in the coming weeks. 4 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted May 18, 2020 Report Share Posted May 18, 2020 Looking good... What did you end up choosing for coilovers and spring rates? I just did my fronts on my 521 with the single adjustable qa1 and 400lb 7" springs.... very happy with the ride... I am waiting to do the rear till next winter ... need more money for parts... Quote Link to comment
breezenahan Posted May 18, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2020 33 minutes ago, Crashtd420 said: Looking good... What did you end up choosing for coilovers and spring rates? I just did my fronts on my 521 with the single adjustable qa1 and 400lb 7" springs.... very happy with the ride... I am waiting to do the rear till next winter ... need more money for parts... based on jason's suggestion, we did Qa1 ds401 coilovers with 9ht450 springs for the front and 9ht250 for the rear 1 Quote Link to comment
breezenahan Posted May 19, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2020 quick addendum to the previous post- we already got the frame and rear end back from the sandblaster, 1 day....can you believe it? look at this thing. 4 Quote Link to comment
Ianbw86 Posted May 28, 2020 Report Share Posted May 28, 2020 Which blue paint code is that? Quote Link to comment
5t341tH Posted May 29, 2020 Report Share Posted May 29, 2020 amazing work. I wish I had those skills 1 Quote Link to comment
breezenahan Posted May 31, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2020 On 5/28/2020 at 2:21 AM, Ianbw86 said: Which blue paint code is that? lots of work to catch up on- below are photos showing the painting and reassembling of tyhe suspension/steering and frame thanks for the support everyone! as far as our skills/abilities, we just have the means to get all of this work done. I'm sure anyone here reading these posts is far more qualified and capable than my father and I, but we appreciate all of the love and positive feedback regardless 🙂 going to pick up the turbo tomorrow, a gt2860rs "Disco Potato" getting a pretty good deal on a lightly used one for just under $400 question for all of the vets out there, if we are looking to convert our diff to LSD what is our best option? thanks fam. heres some photos of the other nissans hanging around the driveway, just because. 8 1 Quote Link to comment
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