My 1969 Datsun 521 kingcab diesel

[wayno]

It has a 3.5 LSD in it right now, I don't really like the LSD in the winter(wet season) as if I give it too much pedal making a left turn it breaks loose and the back end trys coming around, I have been putting off putting my normal 3.5 gearset in hoping to find a 3.3, but I have been looking/hoping for a while now, I have found a couple of them but the owners do not want to sell, I offered $200.00 to a guy in the Sea/Tac area and I would pull it, but that guy didn't take the offer, he said later that he understood why I wanted it after driving the truck.

[DRIVEN]

Not sure how rare they are but I could use one in that range too.

[wayno]

As far as I know the 3.3 only came on the 720 with the mileage package which had the Z20S and 3.3 gears in the rear, I have only found 1 of them in a wrecking yard all the years I have been looking.
If you are looking for 3.5 gears they are everywhere, I see them in the early hardbodies with H190s all the time, just look on the door tag near the bottom, I seen a couple 3.5 gears and one 4.3(4wd) the other day, first time I have been there in a long time.

[wayno]

I found this at the wrecking yard today, I was thinking about trying to use this as a reservoir for this truck, my thinking is to put it on the shelf above the brake master/clutch master, but I will have to plug the hole on the bottom and get a fitting for the side.
The draw back is that the side fitting hole is half way up the container, it really needs to pull off the bottom of the container but there is not that much room on the shelf, I am thinking about it and trying to make it work.
All the over flow containers I have looked at so far are too big to fit on the shelf except this home made one.

[wayno]

That radiator over flow container didn't work out, it is on the shelf.
So I have been driving this for a couple years now with the turbocharger, at least it seems like it, today my piping blew apart twice, it appears the ABS I am using is getting soft and warping at the turbo exit going to the engine intake, I didn't really think it got that hot in that area, but I guess it does, the biggest issue is that the 90 degree elbow has a lip about 1 inch in from the end, this 1 inch area was collapsing from the pressure of the clamp holding the rubber tubing on, so the tighter the clamp the farther it would slide towards the end and come off.
When I got home I removed most the lip with my bench grinder and sanded it smooth leaving a little bump where the lip was to help hold the rubber tubing on, then I slid the rubber tube at least 2 inches onto the ABS and clamped it down, I hope it lasts a while.
I don't know where to go to buy 2 3/8 inch ID aluminum elbows and I don't know how to weld aluminum either, I suppose they make rubber hoses with different sized ends that I could make work, but the last reducer was expensive and I do not like a lot of rubber hose as I have seen it collapse.
I took this truck up to Jrocks shop meet last Sunday, it ran flawlessly, I even stopped by my friends house on the way home(first time ever) and let him drive this one also as he has a diesel also, he drove the 720 turbo diesel the week before, now he wants to turbocharge his, his most memorable comment was "we are already doing 70mph" and we were still on the on ramp to the freeway, he likes my 521 way better than the 720 but it has just as much power, it just has more throughout the whole RPM range while the 521 kingcab comes on like a 2 stroke motorcycle, after 2000rpms you get pushed into the seat, so the power is way more noticeable/dramatic, I like it better also.
I was telling him that we may not be able to get the same result with his SD22 engine, there are no cheap 1985/86 Subaru XT turbos out there, and all the ebay auctions say "will fit 1985/86 Subaru XT", that makes me think they are not truly a real Subie turbo, it is just a turbo that will fit/bolt on.

[DRIVEN]

I bet @Laecaon might have some sources for aluminum elbows.

[wayno]

But I don't know how to weld aluminum, I can use rubber elbows and 3 inch aluminum tubing from my parted out hang gliders, that would likely be the easiest, there are a few on ebay right now but they don't specify ID or OD which makes a difference.
By the way I goofed, I need 2 3/8ths inch ID not 3 inch like I mentioned in my last post.

[Laecaon]

Most would use Silicone, not rubber, elbows. But Rubber should work fine. Aluminum pipe is the way to go though, at minimum use the pipe where you can and rubber/silicone where you cant. Its always good to flange your pipes too so the boost cant blow any hoses apart.

For what I assume your low boost application is, I dont think you need super sophisticated piping. I am actually against using rubber or silicone in any elbows and should only be used in straight adapter applications. This is mainly due to the transitions as they disrupt air flow. A bend also disrupts airflow, so having a bend and couplers at the same point is super disruptive. Which is just totally anti what a engine is; get air in, get air out.

[wayno]

I have been using silicone made for turbo applications(2 elbows), my piping on the 521 is ABS pipe which appears to have got hot and warped a little right where it connects to the turbocharger, it's been on there since I put this together, so it is not stinking hot, just hot enough to warp the end of the pipe, but that may be due to engine compartment heat rather than turbo heat, keep in mind that where the ABS is warping is where the clamp was on the last inch of the pipe and that clamp is tight, now it is a couple inches farther on the pipe as I removed the lip.
I see almost 15psi when going thru the gears, but on the freeway I normally run 4psi to 6psi on level ground cruising and up to 10psi when I hit a steep hill, it kept blowing apart when going thru the gears.
I made this stuff up not knowing if it was even going to work when I did it, I suppose it might be time to think about an upgrade.
The 720 is way more complicated as it has an inter-cooler, 4 different materials in that piping, rubber, silicone, ABS, and aluminum, it has come apart several times over the years, both truck engines have seen over 20psi in the past, but I have the waste gate adjusted to not go over 15psi on the 720, I think not over 12/13psi in the 521 kingcab.
This blowing apart has not been an issue with the 521 kingcab till yesterday.

[jtinluvr]

I am pretty sure any turbo for a Subaru EA82T motor would work. As best I know, the XT 4cyl turbo motor was no different than the ones in the GL/GL10/Brat. One way to make sure it would be the same is there should be an A/R # somewhere on the turbo, usually on the compressor housing. That might open your search up a little bit. I have used muffler tubing and mandrel bends on a couple turbo systems I have done just because while I can somewhat weld aluminum, I am much better with steel. After I am finished I went to a local fabricator to have them bead roll the ends so the hoses don’t blow off. I also did one where I just made it from pvc then took it to a guy to fab it from aluminum since the guy wanted a polished finish.

[wayno]

I am likely going to use what I have till it gives up, but I will keep my eye open for better parts that will work, there is not a lot of room in my engine compartment and what I have hangs in the air, so whatever I use cannot be big or heavy as it has to move with the engine without touching anything else, I have 6061 T6 aluminum tubing the correct size, but I have never seen bends of the same type as all hang glider tubing is straight, if it is bent it is garbage/scrap.
I also was looking on ebay last night and found 2 3/8" turbo type 90 degree elbows(silicone), but they do not specify if it is ID or OD, this is kinda important to me, and I cannot ask the seller as ebay has changed something and I cannot sign in anymore, so I buy as a guest, but again I cannot ask questions.
As for the turbocharger it is kinda hard to see anything with it installed, I think I found a plate, but it is in a bad spot, and I don't see good at all anymore, and the young guy that wants his engine turbocharged can see way better than me and could not find anything when he looked at it either, I will try to look at it again tomorrow.

[wayno]

I changed out the turbo piping today, I got rid of that ABS stuff and used 2 turbo elbows and hangglider frame tubing, it appears to have worked out great but I have not test drove it yet.



I had to remove the large front brake reservoir.



I replaced it with a smaller round taller one.



Then I got to it and cut the tubing, installed the fitting for throttle control and the boost gauge in the rear tube.



It's all done now unless there is an issue, I will test drive it in a little while.

[wayno]

I found a 3.3 gearset(pumpkin) for this truck, I will pull the 3.5 LSD out in the next few weeks and put this 3.3 in the truck, I have been looking for one of these for years, it cost me over $130.00 to get it out of that yard.
It is a tight one too, it has 1/16th inch play in the pinion flange.

[Laecaon]

Are you going to keep the LSD with the 3.3?

[wayno]

The 3.3 is going to stay open, if I do not like the results like it burning the inside tire out all the time instead if it accelerating, I will put the LSD back in it, I had an open 3.5 gearset in it before the 3.5 LSD and I was somewhat happy, but then I found the LSD and thought that would be better, but I almost lost control a few times trying to make a fast left turn in traffic when it was raining, the LSD lost the cool factor after that.
There are a few other things I need to do to this truck, the box is falling apart on the underside, the beams going across the bottom of the bed that take any weight put in the box are separating from the bottom of the bed(spot welded from the factory), I think I am going to put carriage bolts(domed tops) on all the ends of the beams to stop the rattling/vibrating I am hearing, I can lift the bed up just in back of the cab on the drivers side almost 4 inches, nothing is holding the bed down in that area anymore, and there are only 4 bolts holding that box on, it is time to fix the issue before the other spot welds fail.

[DRIVEN]

I found a 3.3 gearset(pumpkin) for this truck, I will pull the 3.5 LSD out in the next few weeks and put this 3.3 in the truck, I have been looking for one of these for years, it cost me over $130.00 to get it out of that yard.
It is a tight one too, it has 1/16th inch play in the pinion flange.

Man, I'd love love something in that range for my car. Just haven't made it a priority to look. Truthfully, it's been close to a year since I've even been in a yard.

[wayno]

I used to go to the PNP yards at least every couple weeks, now I go there maybe 3 or 4 times a year.

[wayno]

I went back today and pulled the speedo drive I forgot to grab out of that transmission so my speedo will read correctly, that was another $12.00, but where am I going to find another one, especially a yellow one.

[wayno]

I got the bed all clamped down now, I used 8 carriage bolts and thick washers on all the loose cross beams, it was kinda a pain as I could not drill but one hole up thru the bottom, I had to measure from that first bolt to drill all the other holes from the top, I was off an 8th inch on one which I re-drilled and the bolt head covered the 1/16th inch hole I drilled in the wrong place.
Keep in mind that the cross beams only had maybe a half inch of metal hanging to the side, not enough to drill a hole thru to clamp them together, so I drilled beside the beam and used the thick washers to catch the lip of the beams, it doesn't rattle/vibrate anymore, I need to paint the carriage bolt heads red now before they rust.
I also changed out the rear gears, I don't really like doing that job because it involves removing the brake lines from the wheel cylinders so I can pull the axles out around 4 inches, but this time I used some very small balsa wood to keep the brake lines from leaking fluid, it worked great, one pump on each side with a stick pinned between the seat and the brake pedal had them bled.
I pulled the speedo drive out of the transmission and it wasn't the same as the one for this 3.3 gearset(yellow), it is black and way longer, I put the black one back in and test drove the truck, it's not rattling as bad, the rear gears make no noise, and when I went past the radar speed sign on a road near me my speedo showed 30mph and the sign said I was going 28mph, but things have changed, at 60mph on the speedo I am turning 2000rpms, at 70mph on the speedo I am just over 2500rpms.
A photo of the speedo gears, I need a yellow one that looks like the black one or change over to a long shaft 5spd, it appears the short shafts have a long speedo drive gear, being it has a custom driveline I will leave it as it is, all 2wd kingcabs came with long shafts.

[Laecaon]

Can you swap just the gear? I think they are held in just by a roll pin.