NL 320 Daily Driver

[NLButcher]

Sorry I haven't posted before.

I was wondering if I am the only one driving my NL320 daily?

[Draker]

16 minutes ago, NLButcher said:

Sorry I haven't posted before.

I was wondering if I am the only one driving my NL320 daily?

 

Daily driver? Probably so. Good for you though, got a picture?

[320 Newb]

Post pics and tell us more! Mine's not an NL but I drive it a handful of miles almost every day.

 

Have you made any mods to make it a more reliable daily?

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

I sold my '65 L320 about 8 years ago, but up until that time, I drove mine daily. I even commuted in it for a while. One of my regular commutes was over 100 miles each way, and while I did get tired of hearing the buzzing engine, the truck itself was fine.

[NLButcher]

[NLButcher]

We call it Boro because it's a patchwork of parts and it's blue.

The hood, grill and passenger front fender are from another Datsun. I spray painted to match the truck.

The wheels are from a chevy that I had in a shed and they fit nicely. The wiper blades are IH scout and fit like a glove. Mirrors, hubcaps and 3" lowering blocks are from Speedway Motors.

Under the hood it has an electric fuel pump and an unmarked alternator everything else is stock. It runs smooth and quiet and pretty good on gas.

Slow to get moving and scary to stop. You get used to it. Just like the 4 on the tree.

 

[320 Newb]

great looking truck

[Draker]

damn fine example!

[difrangia]

Great looking truk. If you're driving it every day, check into Mike 'Blue Hands' front disc conversion. Stops a lot better.

 

http://www.bluehandsinc.com/320520521620-disc-brake-kit.html

 

 

Edited February 11, 2021 by difrangia

[NLButcher]

[NLButcher]

Thank you for the kind words 

I'm lucky my commute isn't far. It's about 10 to 15 miles away depending on the route. I'm able to use local roads, no highway driving. In the next year or so I would like to get started on another build with a judson supercharger, Mr blue hands disc conversion and roadster rear. A vintage speed build that should move and stop with modern cars.

But until I get that build going here's another couple of pics from Wednesday at the docks near my job site and this morning in the snow.

[difrangia]

Getting the little feller up into condition to keep up with modern traffic requirements is one thing. The rear axle up-gearing is one project that I want to do sometime in the future on our 320. I've got the discs and a little more horsepower. What I see as the real challenge is keeping out of the way of the disconnected 'other drivers' out there. Any of that sheetmetal and trim stuff on an NL aft of the windshield is irreplacable. Too many critters out there on the phone or otherwise in 'La La Land' while driving and monstrous windshield posts and other safety oriented design features render smaller modes of transportation such as 320's and motorcycles almost invisible. I know I've been run over a few times; like this one in 2006. Kid in daddy's car ran a stop sign in front of me. Took a year and $12.5K to put that one back into shape. Got another one even better than that; lost a right foot in a 1999 crash with a Lincoln Town Car and me on a motor scooter. I've become a very defensive driver !!

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Steve, you scared me. I thought that was a new crash. Phew...

[NLButcher]

 

Boro should be called Burro. I had to use it like a truck this week. He carried a bit of scaffold with an inch and a half of daylight between the bump stops! A glorious piece of Japanese engineering.  

[difrangia]

Your Bug's a rag-top. neat. I also have a 64 with rag-top sunroof; and an NL. You have good tastes in machinery, my man !! 

 

That's a heck of a nice survivor NL !!

[NLButcher]

The bug is a euro-build 60 so it has semaphores and a 36hp. I put a judson supercharger and a handful of speed parts from the era on it to keep up in modern traffic. It now sports 55hp!! It's also a driver. I cart my family around in the summer months in it.

 

The NL is a fun driver! It would be hard restoration. It has a lot of filler and rust It was used hard at some point the bed is beat up inside. It took hours to pound out the wheel wells so the tires wouldn't scrape

 

I like your cars difrngia. I would love to bomb around on a vespa again.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Rover too! Mine is a bit older than yours.

 

[NLButcher]

That's my pals 130 TDI he picked it up this summer from a small island near Madagascar called Mayotte. It must be a dry climate because there was no rust on it.

After driving it I am sold on them they are great trucks! I think I would like to do one after the NL build. I would love to do a 90 with a 606 mercedes  conversion.

[NLButcher]

[difrangia]

Watz the story on that red NL ??

 

[NLButcher]

I posted then I had to do some work. 

 This is the NL I'm thinking of A. Restoration B. hot rod ,drift, Kansai C. Sell it on. I have had it for two years now and its sitting outside. It has three major issues A. no title(lock down makes it hard to get to a Wyoming DMV) B. cracked block C. rust in rockers and wheel wells.It is in better shape than the blue one in restorability. I also have a crushed NL I would like to make into a shop sofa. They should probably be deferent threads?

[stevecar]

Ted and I checked out that red one 3 years ago in Bonney Lake. The guy had three NLs and one was crushed by a tree. If the blue one in your pictures is the blue one with the green hood and bullet hole, you did a very good job making it look better. We came close to buying them, but didn't really want to deal with 3 trucks and the price was a little high for us in that condition.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Rust is a killer. I have passed on many projects because of rust. I love to do the repairs, but I also need to make money on them and sometimes there is not enough return. If you know how to do the repairs, and you don't need to make money, they can be supremely rewarding projects.

 

On the MBZ diesel - I took one out of an FJ60 a few years back and installed an LS. The truck wouldn't get out of it's own way. That was the first of many FJ LS swaps for me. They are now my bread and butter.

[NLButcher]

Yes the blue truck had a green hood and fender. I first tried to buy it at the Lemay Lucky car auction in 2013 but was out bid. Then one day I found the add on craigslist and it was the same truck! The fellow in Bonney Lake was great he even delivered all three trucks to my driveway. I had the blue trucks engine running and driving for less money than new tires for my BMW.(I sold the BMW) The biggest purchase was the new exhaust. I was able to pull all of the parts I needed from the crushed truck except the clutch slave cylinder. I ordered the closest I could find and milled out the wings to fit.

 

I left the bullet hole in the firewall. I was lucky it didn't hit the heater. The hood and fender I striped and fixed the rust holes.(very thin metal on these cars)then had the paint shop mix me a cheap can($30) of Nissan blue and he gave me some small tint cans so I could get the color as close to a match as I could. I painted them in my driveway.

 

With a little hammer and dolly work I think we can make her right!

 

W

[stevecar]

Ted and I were also at the Lemay auction. Someday we should meet and I can tell you some stories about that. You did a nice job on that truck.