New World Datsuns...

Well I have had this truck for years now, and have done nothing with it, recently I tried selling it, I have not heard from the guy that said he was going to buy it in around a month now, so I have decided to do what I planned to do to it when I bought it, kingcab it.
I have been working on it for 3 days now(part time), I did it in such a way that I could stop and scrap the idea, but yesterday I went past the line of no return, I am committed now.
This is what I started with.







It's kinda cramped where I am working.











Today I put the top skin on, I had two tops, one from an L320 I got from Tana, the other a 411 wagon top I bought from Greg, I tried both and ended up using the wagon top, I believe it will be less work making it look stock looking.

Are you stretching the frame to keep the bed stock length?

DRIVEN wrote:Are you stretching the frame to keep the bed stock length?

No, for now I will shorten the box by 15 inches, I also have to deal with the fuel tank mount as it mounts to the front underside of the box which is being cut off, I will likely mount it to the frame now so if I change it to a modified stepside box, I will not have to deal with the tank again.

I like the idea of the stretched cab but I think you might find the proportions are going to be pretty goofy if the bed gets bobbed ahead of the axle. Maybe have someone do some photoshop renderings before you make a final decision?

DRIVEN wrote:I like the idea of the stretched cab but I think you might find the proportions are going to be pretty goofy if the bed gets bobbed ahead of the axle. Maybe have someone do some photoshop renderings before you make a final decision?

That's the way Datsun did them, here is a 521 double cab.

I might know tomorrow what it is going to look like, as I am going to have to set the box on the frame to figure out the tank, as there isn't enough room for it between the cab and the rear axle.
Here is what I did today, I shortened the box, it was rotten the first foot anyway, so the worst of it is gone now, I still have to put a new piece of metal in the front as the one that was there was dented and rusted.





It's kinda funny how I removed the box and how I will install it, I lifted the whole truck, took the bolts out that were holding the box to the frame, then I used stands to hold the box up and I lowered the truck, I will raise the truck to put the box back into position, I can do all of it myself this way.

I would suspect that that double cab is related to the G521 long wheel base. Those are quick to spot with 5 bed hooks instead of 4.

Looks like you're making great progress. Can't wait to see how this one turns out. You're getting pretty good at stretching those roofs.

I never had a wagon roof to work with before, at least one that was the correct width, this 411 wagon roof was the proper width for the 320, but not for a 520/521, I have had this stuff saved for years, I am now going use this stuff, sell it, or scrap it, I thought this truck was sold.
I am not going to stretch this frame, I don't want to deal with that.

I was wondering what that roof panel was from. Looks like a really good profile match.

Well I messed around with mounting the box today, but first I had to raise the rear of the cab, as the box would not set low enough for the body lines to align, so I raised the rear of the cab around 1/2 inch, maybe slightly more, as it has likely sagged over the last 54 years, I added to the interior cab mounts only.
Once the rear of the cab was raised I mounted the box, I used 720 mount bolts with pads, the front mounts were cut out when the box was shortened, the second set of front mounts was hitting the frame because it raises to clear the rear axle, I suppose if I had lengthened the cab 13 inches instead of 15 inches, it would have cleared the frame, I cut off the bottom 3 inches and saved them in case I want to shorten them slightly and re-weld them back on and make front mounts for the box on the frame, it has 6 bolts holding it on right now.
I also need to mount the fuel tank, I stuck it under the bed and moved it around in several positions, it would not fit under the bed in front of the axle in any position, so then I tried fitting a 720 kingcab tank, it was just to big, also when I tested the fuel tank sender, it would not work properly, it showed full when empty, the 521 tank sender showed the same thing, the 320 tank sender worked properly, so the 320 tank it is.
So I have thought about where to mount the 320 tank, I am considering cutting a hole in the bed between the fender wells exactly the size of the bottom half of the tank, I can then mount the tank to the bed from the top, but it will not be low enough to use the stock filler hole on the side of the bed, I believe I could raise it and fill the stock hole, that's just more body work, or I may just have the filler inside the bed and delete the stock filler hole.
I still need to fill the front panel in the box also, but I want everything figured out before I do that,

Any chance of fitting a fuel cell between the rails at the rear?

DRIVEN wrote:Any chance of fitting a fuel cell between the rails at the rear?

That is where the spare tire goes, and it is going to stay there.
If I put it in the front of the box as I described, I can make a cover for it between the fender wells, either way I believe it will have a bed cover to hide all of it as it still has the side hooks, I still have not given up on the narrowed/shortened stepside box either.

I forgot the photo.

Gotcha. Didn't know about the bed cover.

OK, so I cut the hole for the tank in the bed for the fuel tank, I have plenty of room to lower the truck which I am planning to do, not a lot of room, but enough for my planned 3 to 4 inch drop.
Here is the hole.



Here is the tank in the hole.

Here are a couple photos of the side, if I were to cut the high points out, I could lower the tank another 3/8ths of an inch, not sure it is worth the effort, it looks good this way.



Here is a photo of the underside, that is 7 inches between the tank and the 3rd member(pumpkin), and it is 9 inches between the driveline and the tank bottom.

I didn't actually work that much on the truck today, I sorted a couple drawers of parts this morning, that took a while.

Here it is with the filler tube on the tank, this is just so I can plumb it and move the truck when I want to.

I am likely done for today, I will go out and look at it, but my wrist hurts and need to take a shower, tomorrow I have a couple jobs cleaning gutters, then I will figure out what to do after I plumb the fuel line and wire the gauge.
I had to fill the tank with water to cut the neck off shorter, now it has to dry out.

I wonder, this truck is positive ground, if I put a matchbox on it and wired it positive ground, would it work or is it like a radio, where the housing ground for the antenna, or dist. housing screws it up.

I skinned the driver side opening today, I figured out that the 320 door is wedge shaped instead of the same height from front to back like the 520/521, this created an issue on the top edge, so once the bottom 3/4s was tacked into place, I had to cut the top of 1/4 off and angle it so it would fit properly then tack weld it back on, I will likely have to do the same thing on the other side, I was trying to cut up only one 320 door to skin both sides.
Next is the window or skin the other side then do the windows, I am trying to make it look like it is stock this way, at least on the outside.





I am trying to decide what to do on front of the window, I believe I will box in that 3/4 inch front edge, then weld the rear window channel to that so it is the same on all 3 sides that show, like the other kingcabs I have I have wanted to make the window go up and down, but I never followed thru on that, I have the electrical setup to make them go up and down, this might be the one that gets it.



I still have to do the trim on the inside so that it looks proper, and it will continue all the way around so if I want I could add a door type seal to at least 3 sides.

OK, I came up with an idea, it's always a pain to clean up tack welds in corners like when I would weld the window tracks in position for the rear windows, I just came up with an idea, once the window hole is square, I am thinking about drilling the window tracks in the back, then when I put them in position, I can screw them in using the holes to position them, and then I could spot weld them in, then when I put the felt in it will cover the spot welds(or screws if I decide to just use them), and it will be clean on both the inside and outside, mostly the outside.

I worked on the driver side rear window this evening.
So I made the filler piece for the front pillar.



The next thing is what I had to fix, around the door there is a pinched piece of metal that we put the door seal on to, well I forgot to leave that 5/8ths piece of metal on there when I made my cut, so I had to weld it back on after I finally got it to fit, what screw up that was, it took me over an hour to fix.
Next I fitted the window channel on the front and top.







I will do the rear channel tomorrow as I am not going to clean a tile roof in the pouring rain and wind, I am scheduled to do that job now Friday/Saturday as the guy will not be home Thursday.
I hope to not screw up so much on the passenger side.

Boy you jumped in head first. Lots of progress being made, looking good.

I guess I'm going to have to look at this in person to see how the rear windows are fitted. Is it going to Canby?