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81 720 AWD WRX drivetrain


KurMot

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Here’s the quick run down on what I’ve got so far 

Started with an 81 Datsun 720 diesel,

ZjKQg80.jpgcouldn’t get it running and after doing tons of research (not actually very much) found that there’s virtually no parts available for that truck

I had fallen in love with the truck and wanted to use it as a daily driver, snowboarding and getting around 

Figured the best thing to do would be a body swap onto a modern drivetrain 

in comes the 2004 Subaru WRX

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Stripped the car down to this point

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Within a few days had the truck cab fitting where I wanted it. It looked great but was only sitting on wood blocks and straps holding it together. Now started the long journey of mounting it to this chassis. 

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Now I had completely removed the structure of the WRX chassis and needed to strengthen it up, so I built an 8 point roll cage out of 1-3/4” DOM tubing

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Once the cage was fully welded I got the cowl all sorted out

I learnt that there’s is a tremendous amount of work in tying both the inner and outer cowls in

The hood is much longer on the Subaru than the truck so I was going to have to stretch it. As soon as I knew that I would be stretching it for sure I was going to try to emulate the Hakotoro Sunny truck and get the grill shape to look like the Hakosuka GTR

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I really like the shape of the grill so far, and as far as the rust on the rest of the truck I thought that if I was to cut it all off and do a wide body like the Group B rally cars of the 80’s that’s be the simplest 

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I built a side skirt out that that same DOM tubing and the rear bumper 

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Shortened the box by about 7”. It’s now wider than it is long, hahahaha 

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that’s where I am up to date, please let me know what you think so far 

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wholly shit how am I the first one to comment on this! this thing is going to be crazy! you are saving this old rusty truck and saving the good bits and your widebody setup looks like it eliminates most of the rusty areas, very innovative.. cant wait to see this thing in driving shape. 

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I've always wondered when someone would do a WRX drivetrain swap. This is awesome. Keep up the good work! If you wouldn't mind showing some of the tools your using for the fab work that would be awesome too, since now you've got me considering this at some point!

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  • 2 months later...
On 2/7/2022 at 12:05 PM, ECS620 said:

I've always wondered when someone would do a WRX drivetrain swap. This is awesome. Keep up the good work! If you wouldn't mind showing some of the tools your using for the fab work that would be awesome too, since now you've got me considering this at some point!

Hey so as far as the tools, I’ve borrowed an 18” sheet metal Brake from a friend and I bought a little Magnum plasma torch. Other than that I’m using a Miller 250 mig welder and a shit ton of cutting discs, and I started using 36 grit sanding pads to grind and put the swirly marks on the metal. No fancy tools just lotsa hours. 

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I’ve got it sprayed with a smoked clear coat. Putting all the interior parts together, covering the rear seat MDF with speaker carpet and I had to build a splice plate that took the Datsun defrost vents and attached them to the Subaru dash

https://i.imgur.com/zz2SxA0.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/pDBDJQ3.jpg

sorting out the headlights was challenging cause all my new lights are LED. Had to use 4 relays up front for the headlights and then solder in resistors on all 4 corners for the signal lights. I’ll take more pics here soon. Just taking it apart again cause I need to paint a few more places, inside doors and tailgate 

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