Kylezone's Longbed 521

[izzo]

no i dont

[Laecaon]

I liked your comment. You know, like right after your thing you said in Insomniacs...

[izzo]

I liked your comment. You know, like right after your thing you said in Insomniacs...

[wayno]

I sometimes like playing with photos, like this one.

[Charlie69]

Try a 1/2" spacer under carrier or none.

1" is normally a good call for 4" blocks.
Maybe some 2* wedges on top of your blocks?

I'll try the 1/2" spacer @ the carrier.

If it still vibrates at a 1/2" try 3/4".
4" drop = 1" carrier bearing spacer
3" drop = 3/4" carrier bearing spacer
2" drop = 1/2" carrier bearing spacer
1" drop = 1/4" carrier bearing spacer

After dialing in the spacer you still have vibration it is likely the carrier bearing rubber.

This is only for square cut blocks not tapered blocks. This should keep the stock pinion angle. My suggestion is to get a 720 regular cab and bed 1 piece drive line and shorten it to fit your truck with a five speed out of a 1980 720 or a 1978 - 1979 620.If this is a option you chose PM me and I will provide information and pictures of how to measure your drive line and how to mod your trans mount bracket to fit your long tail 5 speed trans. this mod will work if you go to the automatic swap also.

[Laecaon]

So he has been cleaning the frame up. Its looking better. Assessed what we have, and what we dont.

We have decided to run the Z24 that is on the frame for now. Less things to worry about... But we need to figure out a intake... I was thinking of running D21 throttle body, but I dont really feel comfortable pulling a JY setup... So I am thinking of trying to find a Weber 38/38 outlaw.

So the frame was missing the tranny, the little driveshaft from tranny to transfer case, and tranny and front diff crossmembers.

Hit up the JYs last weeked on 20-50% off, and looked at 3 4x4 720s (2 at Sherwood, one at N Portland). We didnt like any of the trannies, one wouldnt even shift into 5th/Rev. Then we stumbled across a 97 D21 that had a KA in it(N Portland). The tranny shifted like butter, and the plug looked good and no input shaft play. And the engine was already pulled so easy work for us! We tried to grab the Xmembers at the same JY from a 720, but the truck was really low to the ground, and every single bolt was fighting us. I said fuck it. We went back to Sherwood, and pulled the Crossmembers from the better looking frame. Having that electric Impact makes a worlds difference! It doesnt care, it just rips bolts right out. The mini driveshaft piece also came out here...

Only took pics of the Tranny. I would say we need to convert VSS to a cable, but the T-Case has the speedometer cable port.

[kylezone]

ill try to upload some pictures when i get home (jury duity today) but heres the progress sofar:

frame is half in bedliner, tho i need to get the engine off so i can finish the front.
all the little x-members and brush guards / gas tank are in bedliner.

I started doing some body work on the section of bed that we're using to extend it and aparently the sides are SOLID BONDO...fun.... it was litterally at least a quarter inch thick over about a square foot. I got that mostly burnt off and started hammering it more or less into shape.

the transmission is all clean and shiny.

yesterday i started pulling body pannels and anything unneccesary of the truck so i can get started on body work for that. fenders have a couple dents, and so does all the grill trim.

THE TO-DO LIST
-find a carb or something to make it go.
-buy paint
-get a windshield gasket.
-build the bed.
-assemble the frame and get some new hardlines.
-get some taps and new hardware for fenders/etc.
-find some spare time.....

[kylezone]

As promised, pictures

starting to take stuff off that i dont need (it still needs to be driveable for a while to move stuff around)



theirs some rust to clean up, but overall this truck is pretty clean



gerage is packed with datsun stuff... im turning into a hoarder.



the frame, once im done cleaning it up and getting bedliner on the frame, i can really get started on stuff.



heres some of my stockpile







the new bed that I grabbed in Canby, (conveniently enough, i grabed it while i was at the canby show...) its... not in great shape, turns out that it has a HUGE amount of bondo... oh well, ill just hammer it back as close as i can get it.



the little driveshaft between the tranny and transferr case will need to be shortened since the KA tranny is longer.



Im super happy that i finally found one of those wheel well cover things.



and a new passenger door. the old one was rusting out from the inside and had a big dent right on the handle.



Tonight i was pretty tired so I didn't get a whole lot done, but i got started on some body work and random stuff. I took the headlights apart and started painting the housings (they were pretty rusty and ugly)





I hammered out all the dents and twists in the valace and got a coat of primer on it. theirs some little pitted spots from rock chips, but i think ill just hit it with bedliner before paint so im not too concerned about them showing through.



a little bit with the passenger fender, it had a small dent and some previous bondo spots that i never quite finished from like 2 years ago lol. overall though its in great shape.



and Dranor gave me a 521 guage cluster that he randomly had lying around. and its in better shape than my current one.



also I finally got a chance to run down to Corvallis and grab the transmissions i abandoned in a basement lol. one appears to be a longtail 5 speed from a 280zx and the other is a dogleg 5-speed from a 77 200sx. the drain plugs on both look pretty clean, just a small amout of metal filings, no chunks. and the fluid looked halfway decent when i drained them for transport. the Dogleg might be up for sale in the neer future if anyone is interested. and probably the other one too.

[wayno]

The long one looks like a 4 speed to me, it has that plate on the top of the tail housing in front of the shifter.
The photo below is of the plate held on by 6 bolts that is on the 4 speeds.

[kylezone]

It could very well be, i was told they were both 5 speeds but it didnt come with a shift lever. i might have one lying around to check it with, but im going to assume your right.

[Eagle_Adam]

I have a shift lever you can borrow

[kylezone]

i suppose i could just use the one in the dogleg now that i think about it lol.

[Ni10]

yes Ni10 i notice a little vibration, i think i need to shim the blocks a bit to prevent axle wrap.

Jayden71 and I had a chat about the vibrations. It turns out, my lowering blocks were in backwards.

Make sure that the blocks have the tall side to the front, OR the rearend noses upward.

[kylezone]

the blocks I got are just square. tho....i dont think its going to be much of a problem anymore.

[jayden71]

yes Ni10 i notice a little vibration, i think i need to shim the blocks a bit to prevent axle wrap.

Jayden71 and I had a chat about the vibrations. It turns out, my lowering blocks were in backwards.

Make sure that the blocks have the tall side to the front, OR the rearend noses upward.

[Ni10]

the blocks I got are just square. tho....i dont think its going to be much of a problem anymore.

update plez.

squared blocks ? Measure to be sure or a square. There should be a 2 degree angle or 1/8" differ-ants from front to the back or visa versa.

[Laecaon]

Truck doesnt even have blocks right now...

[kylezone]

the longtail is infact a 4 speed. good call wayno.

Update:

the frame is all cleaned up and bedlined.

the cab got pulled, thanks to Jake and Derek for your help!!


this thing is seriously light!! and it still has the glass in it.






i put a cup brush on my angle grinder and cleaned everything, and pulled as much rust as i could out of the seams. than i soaked the seams in rust converter.


than primer.

than bedliner.


so much better!

Overall the cab is pretty surprisingly rust free! the rockers are super solid. i havnt found a single hole, and really all i found was a bit of pitting under where the fender attaches.



aaaaaannd than theirs the bed......





and thats after a couple hours with a torch and a couple of hammers and burning bondo off.... yikes...

underneeth is not as bad as i thought. its 100% coverd in surface rust, but its only a little pitted and nont really cancerous. and it turnes out the bed was originally painted rusty red, so its not as bad as it looks.





but i think with a heck of a lot of bondo and tlc it will work


the other side looks like its pretty good tho, so thats reassureing.



getting some stuff in primer. the valance and passenger fender are prettymuch ready for paint. the cab is well on its way. the doors need to get taken apart and primed but they dont need much if any bodywork.



and i got started on the complete bed too. just lots of little nicks and dings, but its not in bad shape.


also I ordered paint. Its single stage acrylic enamel, the color is called "celery green metalic"






and my windsield gasket showed up. I cant wait to have a new windshield! mine has been crackd since i got the truck and its delaminated in a couple spots and scratched and chipped, you can hardly see anything in the sun.


Next on the list is to get all the bodywork finished up, and start getting mounts figured out for the cab. once thats on I can start worrying about the bed. and Im trying to get quotes on shortening the drive-line from the tranny to the transferr case. i got a quote for $120 =( bit more than i was hoping, if anyone knows a good drive line shop let me know. but i may end up trying to shorten it myself... but that scares me.

anyway its moving right along. Ill have to hustle to get it done before school starts. but it is a "little husler" so that only seems appropriate.

[wayno]

So, is this is a 720 frame?
If it's a 720 frame, is it a regular or a kingcab frame?
Are you using the KA tranny, or the 720 tranny?

[izzo]

king cab frame

and hory fucking thread update batman!! Lol.. love it. Keep going, want moar pics. I'll read tomorrow. just looked at pics tonight