1977 SR20DET 620 "Black and BlueBird"

[breezenahan]

Got the turbo! It's somewhat more used than initially thought but it should clean up nicely. 

 

I do have another question in addition to the LSD, we want to get the steering box rebuilt or replaced and are looking for somewhere relatively local to Massachusetts to get it done. Does anyone have any recommendations or ideas that might be able to tackle that? Or are there other options that may be possible? 

 

Thanks all! 

[5t341tH]

13 hours ago, breezenahan said:

Got the turbo! It's somewhat more used than initially thought but it should clean up nicely. 

 

I do have another question in addition to the LSD, we want to get the steering box rebuilt or replaced and are looking for somewhere relatively local to Massachusetts to get it done. Does anyone have any recommendations or ideas that might be able to tackle that? Or are there other options that may be possible? 

 

Thanks all! 

You can go the option I did with my 620. I used a 3.7 rear end lsd out of japan.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

23 hours ago, breezenahan said:

Got the turbo! It's somewhat more used than initially thought but it should clean up nicely. 

 

I do have another question in addition to the LSD, we want to get the steering box rebuilt or replaced and are looking for somewhere relatively local to Massachusetts to get it done. Does anyone have any recommendations or ideas that might be able to tackle that? Or are there other options that may be possible? 

 

Thanks all! 

I send all of my steering boxes to https://redheadsteeringgears.com/  for rebuilding.

[breezenahan]

12 hours ago, 5t341tH said:

You can go the option I did with my 620. I used a 3.7 rear end lsd out of japan.

What did you get it out of and how? I don't think I can find a unicorn d21 with an lsd in a junkyard and I sure as hell don't want a phantom grip messing everything up, but I don't know the right avenues to source limited slip gearing from overseas and wouldn't know what to look for if I did. 

 

2 hours ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

I send all of my steering boxes to https://redheadsteeringgears.com/  for rebuilding.

Thank you for the recommendation! 

[djpapo]

breezenahan can you please help me out i need to know the exact size you used for the front and rear coilovers please thank you

Edited July 3, 2020 by djpapo

[breezenahan]

On 7/3/2020 at 4:44 AM, djpapo said:

breezenahan can you please help me out i need to know the exact size you used for the front and rear coilovers please thank you

the coilovers are DS401's front and rear with 9ht450 springs in the front and 250 in the rear

[breezenahan]

looking for some more info yet again, we are trying to figure out the transmission mount to use with the SR trans and Beebani's crossmember, we had purchased the mount for the trucks transmission because the sr mount's studs dont align with the slots in the crossmember, but the trans mount for the truck also doesnt fit. anyone have the info to point me in the right direction?

 

TLDR: what do i need to buy or do to be able to mount my SR transmission on this trans crossmember? 

[]2eDeYe]

Have you tried using the stock SR mount? 

 

You can PM BEEBANI here, he should get back to you shortly

[breezenahan]

We've tried emailing him to no avail. We have tried the stock Sr mount but it has a channel that the crossmember is designed to sit in from the factory, but the beebani crossmember won't sit inside that channel. It's like we are missing something in between. 

[]2eDeYe]

I let him know you are looking for him. 🙂

[breezenahan]

okay so a ton of small stuff happened on the truck in the last few months, namely the braking system was finished, a lot of nifty fab and small work went into it, but first i'm going to show the photos that explain my trans crossmember mounting problem a little bit better.

here is the bottom of the stock SR mount, see how the studs are recessed? not going to work with the flat of the x-member.

 

Edit: in the correct mount is an aftermarket solid sr20 mount that does not have a channel. It's now on order. 

 

 

here is the 620 mount compared to the slot spacing of the crossmember

 

 

 

Okay now onto the fun stuff.

rear brake calipers and rotors mounted after replacing the bearings/seals on the axles

 

 

Rear brake lines bent, tee'd and ran to the appropriate brackets that we threw together. Ain't too pretty but they will work great.

 

The emergency brake cable needed to be extended, and with the removal of the backing plate to accommodate the new rotors, the mounting location for the cable housing was also removed. we braised on an extension cable and i fabbed up these tube brackets to allow the e-brake to be able to sit in a spot that is close to stock but allow the cable to gradually curve upwards to reach its final destination at the caliper. one mounting hole on the bracket has a spacer attached to allow the bracket to sit flush, as it uses the axle studs to mount, which also holds the disc brake conversion bracket.

 

these brackets took a lot more effort than i was anticipating but i'm happy with how they turned out, all things considered. they work great and after a coat of black paint they look pretty good too. More pictures of everything more completely assembled to come.

 

We were able to source a 3.7 LSD out of a japanese taxi and thats currently on a ship in the middle of the ocean, so we will let you know how that whole situation goes when we get working on that. The Motor is done, we didn't do the work on it, the timing just didnt work out, we had so much to do on the chassis that if we wanted this to come together in a timely manner then it wasn't an option. We are still going to have to source a turbo manifold, alternator relocation bracket,  wiring harness (we are going to get a wiring specialties Power FC D Jetro compatible harness, to match the ECU we chose), and likely many other things to get the truck to the right state. 

 

sorry about the pause in updates, we have been getting work done every saturday, this is just a tedious process and making sure everything is right takes time. I think the goal is to have the whole thing together by the end of the year. Body work on the cab is next.

[]2eDeYe]

Nice progress 😄

[Minitruckin_Dina]

Awesome to see so many people here from Mass.  I live out in western ma, springfield to be exact. I just picked up a 73' 620, Just gotta wait to finish my 00 S10 that I am currently doing the bodywork to and finishing up the air bag suspension. I so wish i was closer to more people into the min truck scene. my wife has a 99 S10 that is bagged that we picked up from Lakeville MA about 2 months ago. 

 

Great work so far on this. Where did you guys get the SR from? This is the motor and trans I want to put in my 620. 

 

 

[breezenahan]

On 8/5/2020 at 8:05 PM, Minitruckin_Dina said:

Awesome to see so many people here from Mass.  I live out in western ma, springfield to be exact. I just picked up a 73' 620, Just gotta wait to finish my 00 S10 that I am currently doing the bodywork to and finishing up the air bag suspension. I so wish i was closer to more people into the min truck scene. my wife has a 99 S10 that is bagged that we picked up from Lakeville MA about 2 months ago. 

 

Great work so far on this. Where did you guys get the SR from? This is the motor and trans I want to put in my 620. 

 

 

we got the SR from a guy in CT who blew it up. it needed a rebuild and we got it for cheap. just keep an eye out on craigslist and FB marketplace and one will pop up.

 

we actually placed the motor in the frame this past weekend.

 this last image shows the first stages of the next to-do on the truck, pulling the pitman and idler arms and taking them to a machine shop so we can install the tapered inserts to flip the center link and clear the motor.

 

there is a huge list of "and then whats" that we have to address as well

recieving and installing LSD

exhaust

intercooler piping

wheel and tire choice

body work and flare mockup

interior (dropped of the bench at a custom upholstery spot, will provide updates)

clutch pedal and fluidics

brake booster and master cylinder

and i'm sure a lot more. one bite at a time

 

[]2eDeYe]

Nice progress 😄

[EDM620]

At the pace you're going you just might have it done before end of the year - coming together very nicely!

 

Curious - 3rd last photo I see you've run the fuel lines on the outside of the frame behind the front wheel. Why did you run them there?

[breezenahan]

On 8/21/2020 at 6:10 PM, EDM620 said:

At the pace you're going you just might have it done before end of the year - coming together very nicely!

 

Curious - 3rd last photo I see you've run the fuel lines on the outside of the frame behind the front wheel. Why did you run them there?

 

based off of the photos from when we disassembled the truck, that is where they were run originally, theres some good photos in the first post that show this.

thanks for the kudos :)

[5t341tH]

Build looks amazing. Sorry I didn’t reply with the lsd info but it looks like you got it

[EDM620]

On 8/25/2020 at 10:24 AM, breezenahan said:

that is where they were run originally,

You are 100% correct on that, I also checked pics from my teardowns and indeed that's where they were run on the 620. Nissan relocated them on the 720 and moved them up on top of the frame, hence my question.

[Valvebounce]

Have you test fitted the body on the frame with the motor and gearbox on the chassis? It makes a lot less extra work to hang it so that the firewall and tunnel dont need modifications. 

I notched my sump to clear the drag link, and I've got it low enough that bell housing is just tucked under fire wall flange. Any further back and the plenum (jdm S14 sr20) would have fouled on the clutch slave. (Rhd car)  also means I can run the factory heater. 

[breezenahan]

On 9/4/2020 at 7:23 PM, Valvebounce said:

Have you test fitted the body on the frame with the motor and gearbox on the chassis? It makes a lot less extra work to hang it so that the firewall and tunnel dont need modifications. 

I notched my sump to clear the drag link, and I've got it low enough that bell housing is just tucked under fire wall flange. Any further back and the plenum (jdm S14 sr20) would have fouled on the clutch slave. (Rhd car)  also means I can run the factory heater. 

we will be putting the cab over the motor, if any adjustment is necessary we will make it without cutting the firewall or the tunnel, i think the way we have the motor sitting right now should be pretty close to where we need it to be. as far as the drag link, it looks like our mounts hold the motor a bit farther forward, but we are close to clearing the pan as is, some gentle massaging should clear it with some room to spare.

sorry for the lack of posts but I've been too busy working, both at my job and on multiple vehicles and side projects (including a 2jz, but this isnt the place for that).

some updates-

notched some of one of the torsion bar crossmembers to get better clearance with our trans. also built a small spacer to space up the transmission for better driveline alignment.

 

body work on the cab is finished, we should have the bay and interior painted this weekend.

 

we got some new wheels that we have some refinishing plans for (15x10)

 

 

here is the big thing that i've been working  on. the steering column flange gasket, which as far as I know is class A unobtanium , cannot be looking like this in our truck

 

We removed it and I used my skills (i.e. expensive equipment that does all of the hard work for me) at my work to get a 2d file to get the geometry and dimensions, then import it into solidworks to build up a 3d file (with the help of one of my mechanical engineer coworkers) to be 3D printed with a flexible material, that closely resembles rubber's mechanical properties.

 

We should be printing it tomorrow. gonna be really cool to have something like this because of some reverse engineering. Will show you the part when it is finished.

Edited September 24, 2020 by breezenahan

[sebpv]

If you succeed, I will gladly buy one from you (should the price be reasonable haha)

 

Also, I suggest beefing up the collar to prevent failure later on. Unless of course that new material behaves differently 

Edited September 24, 2020 by sebpv

[breezenahan]

13 hours ago, sebpv said:

If you succeed, I will gladly buy one from you (should the price be reasonable haha)

 

Also, I suggest beefing up the collar to prevent failure later on. Unless of course that new material behaves differently 

it might need to go through some design revisions. since I am using work stuff I dont know how the ethics would work as far as selling them. I might buy some of my own material to print them but we will see. A beefy collar is on the list but I want to see how it works/fits with the current geometry.

[demo243]

On 9/24/2020 at 5:52 PM, breezenahan said:

 

we got some new wheels that we have some refinishing plans for (15x10)

 

 

 

I almost picked up the same wheels shortly after I got my truck! Excited to see how they look on yours. Truck looks to be coming along nicely!

[breezenahan]

 

 

 

turned a corner... everythings gonna start to come together shortly