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New 320 engine swap thought


zeke5551

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I've been looking for a good swap engine for my 65  NL. I just picked up a low milage 2002 VW Jetta TDI for the engine. It's 2" shorter than the stock engine. I've had a few TDIs, they are pretty impressive. The next issue is choosing a good transmission. I'm still stuck on an auto trans. My wife has bad knees and I'd like her to be able to drive this truck comfortibly. Anybody used a auto in a 320? I'd be curious what has to be done to the floor and frame. Still looking for a door window for the NL, thanks

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Whatever you end up doing in the engine room and transmission, you'll need to up the rear axle ratio; With the original 60hp and 4.88 axle, these critters would climb a tree if they could get a grip on the bark. Unless you're a professional circus daredevil, Also give serious consideration on upgrading brakes and suspension. Personally I wouldn't want to be in one of these pickups over 50mph with stock brakes and suspension amplified by their tiny footprint.

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There are a lot of trans conversion kits out there. The TDIs end up in Suzuki Samaris, Toyota PUs, and even Cherokees. They run the correct direction. They have adapters for Toyota, Chevy, Datsun and Suzuki transmissions. I plan on putting 720 brakes on the front, but don't know what to do about the rear end. Is there anything narrow enough that will fit? Thanks

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25 minutes ago, zeke5551 said:

I don't know what to do about the rear end. Is there anything narrow enough that will fit? Thanks

 

Many 1960's & 70's Datsun third members fit right in with changing out of the axle spider gears and the roadsters are about 3:89 ratio compared to the 320's 4:88 ratio. There are others more knowledgable on this subject here than I am. 

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I'll assume your 320 has an H-190. The H-190 came in 3.364, 3.5454, 3.700, 3.889, 4.11, 4.375, 4.625 and 4.875...... take your pick.

 

The axle splines have to fit the side gears. The H-190 in the 320 used a 13 spline axle/side gear. Generally cars were 23 spline and trucks were 29 spline. The side gears can be removed by first removing the bearing caps and lifting the crown gear out. Remove the bolts and separate the crown gear from the housing. Now the lock pin can be driven out and the pinion mate shaft removed. Now the side and spider gears can be rotated out of the housing. Exchange the side gears and assembly is the reverse.

 

Mark bearings so that they go back in the same position. Most early H-190s had aluminum housings. Later were steel and much stronger. Put your 13 spline side gears into a later and stronger 3.70 or 3.889 third member   

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Earlier? 411s, I don't know much about earlier. Steve ]2eDeYe on hear has a black 411? What eve he has probably has one. The 510, 810 and Maxima wagons did, and the '82 '83 S110 200sx and the '84 S12 200sx.

 

What's wrong with your '65 NL? Isn't it an H-190???

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How do i tell if my 320 has a H-190 rear end, I'm going to want to use as tall gears as I can find with the diesel. What car/truck should I be looking to get a center section from? I've decieded to run a Suuki 5 speed out of a Tracker. I have a low milage one and the Suzuki trans adapters are easy and cheeper than most anything else.

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1 hour ago, zeke5551 said:

How do i tell if my 320 has a H-190 rear end, I'm going to want to use as tall gears as I can find with the diesel. What car/truck should I be looking to get a center section from? I've decieded to run a Suuki 5 speed out of a Tracker. I have a low milage one and the Suzuki trans adapters are easy and cheeper than most anything else.

 

Do the rear drums have a screw holding them on?

 

If they do you likely have a stock H190 rear axle, I do not know anything at all about the engine you are planning to use, but if it has torque like the LD20 diesel then you can likely turn 3.5 gears(easy to find) as I sent a set to a guy with an NL320/LD20 and after he installed them I asked if he could get it moving and he said they were great, I sent the modified dropout/gearset with 320 side gears to him saying it was not my fault if the engine did not have the torque to turn them gears.

 

I have 3.3 gears in my 521 kingcab SD25 turbodiesel now(I wish I had something around 3.0 gears), it easily turns the 3.3 gears, but it puts out about 120hp now instead of 71hp, it has a lot of torque although not as dramatic of a change as the gain in HP, I have no idea what the engine you have has for HP or torque, at 3000rpms I am doing 80mph+ running P205/70 R14 tires, so smaller tires will raise your RPMs, I did 3800/3900rpms once and I was doing over a hundred MPH, but 4000rpms is redline for my SD25 engine.

 

The 3.5 gears can be found in the Hardbody trucks with H190 axles, the 3.3 gears are in the 720  mileage option with the Z20 engine, but they are very hard to find, it took me 10 years to find 2 of them, how close is the width of the rear axle in the 2002 VW Jetta TDI, is it a solid axle?

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