Hello, I'm new. 1969 521 in San Diego

[gtphreak1]

Hello I'm Marshall,

I live in San Diego and I recently re-acquired my old 1969 521 that I sold back in 1999 when I left for the Army... my dad finally agreed to give it back to me after keeping it safe for me this whole time; he used to hate the thing but, eventually fell in love with it.

It had a 1300 I swapped in an 1800 and spun a rod bearing while smacking it with a 50 shot of NOS at a street race in Clairemont back in 97, I replaced that with a built L20 in 1999 and it's been a workhorse for my dad doing 1/8th Mi bracket racing. I plan on sticking with the L20 for now but I'm also considering the potential ROI for doing a swap to an SR20, VG30 & even a VK45.

In the mean time I'm looking to finally ditch the scary 4wheel drum brakes, lose the SU's in favor of EFI and replace the spider gear spitting stock differential with a Ford 9" and maybe putting a T-5 box behind it instead of the dogleg 5spd that's in there now.
I'm sure I'll have loads of questions along the way and I look forward to conversations with all of you about our projects and passion for these cars/trucks.

Cheers!
-Marshall

[datzenmike]

There's a large 521 following over on http://community.ratsun.net/forum/44-521/ including front disc brake conversions by Mklotz70 and BEEBANI. You can even ditch the king pins for custom ball joints. I think there is a coil spring conversion to get rid of the torsion bars.... something that would make a VG or VK swap a lot easier.

[Byron510]

Having not followed the engine swaps in the truck very closely, do the torsion bars get in the way of the transmission down low?

I thought the torsion bars would be an advantage as there are no shock/spring towers giving plenty of room for those wide late model cylinder heads and exhaust manifolds in a "V" configuration, 6 or 8 cylinder.

Byron

[gtphreak1]

There's a large 521 following over on http://community.ratsun.net/forum/44-521/ including front disc brake conversions by Mklotz70 and BEEBANI. You can even ditch the king pins for custom ball joints. I think there is a coil spring conversion to get rid of the torsion bars.... something that would make a VG or VK swap a lot easier.

Thanks Datzenmike for the good intel on those other sites! the VG Swap is more likely to happen, rather then the VK swap idea which is pure pipe dream.

Cheers!
-Marshall

[gtphreak1]

Having not followed the engine swaps in the truck very closely, do the torsion bars get in the way of the transmission down low?

I thought the torsion bars would be an advantage as there are no shock/spring towers giving plenty of room for those wide late model cylinder heads and exhaust manifolds in a "V" configuration, 6 or 8 cylinder.

Byron

I haven't made enough measurements or read enough about other people's swaps to make up my mind yet on how crazy I want to go. I also no longer want something that is a drag strip only car. This thing is going to be driven semi daily but still subjected to very "spirited driving" & an occasional flogging down an 1/8th Mi.

I feel like as rad as a VK would be, I haven't been able to find info on anyone having done it before and while I'm all about breaking new ground, my space, time and abilities are going to keep the in the dream realm.

-Slightly off topic but, read your posts about the EFI manifold you are making and if you're still taking orders, please let me know how to order/put a deposit down on one.

Cheers!
-Marshall

[Byron510]

It's funny, since purchasing an old Armada simply for its functionality- and the fact that is was still a Nissan - I have come to respect what that 317hp/387lbft of torque is capable of. That truck is big, the appitimy of a gas guzzler icon SUV. But I'm telling you it gets that 6000 lbs+ truck up and going toot sweet! I am very positive that it can out accelerate the Bronze off the line and hold it at bay well into the "I'm going to loose my licence" point. That said, the motor looks pretty huge, and having worked on and driven a 521, man that would a squeeze- even with the rad out back (which I'm not adversed to).

The L series EFI intake manifolds are generating more interest that I had expected. I only cast 5 of them, maybe I'll need to do more! I'm thinking fall at the earliest at this point. I'll keep that thread updated.

And I hope your inspired to get your rig going as well, I'll look forward to seeing photos here on the Realm. We need more 521's and pick ups in general.


Byron

[gtphreak1]

I need to figure out how to post video and pics for sure. My favorite thing about this truck is that I got it for free in 1995 after I blew the C4 in my SBF powered 65 Ranchero. It was sitting at the end of my friends parents driveway and they said if I could make it go it was mine... a carb kit some chemtool and basic auto shop knowledge gleaned from books stolen from my HS library (they cancelled trade programs in favor of college prep courses), I got that truck barely running; running enough to get it a block away to my dads house, to really start the adventure with the 521. I'll post up more specs, pics and time slips for my currently running shoestring budget built street/strip 521. I'm guessing there's a paddock or readers rides section for that; I need to lurk/poke around more on my own. I'm serious as a heart attack, if anyone flakes on buying one of those manifolds, I will send you money within minutes.

Also, I'm pretty sure that I read posts of yours about your original build on some Datsun site back in the late 90's because I remember a reading about a guy adapting a 200sx system to his Lseries... by that time, my Ranchero was back in action & I settled on a set of SU's on my L20.

[Byron510]

That quite likely could have been me.
I took that car, a '70 wagon, to Shasta in 2000 - had a blast.
The same car took a a trip across one of the wider parts of North America, from the Pacific NW to Newfoundland in a very round about fashion in 1999, covering just under 13k miles in 4 months - with the original L16 and a late ZX 5spd and a good friend. It was a blast.

It was fitting that the car left my possession in 2001 with an LZ22 EFI, 280ZX struts, threaded collars, camber plates and lowering blocks in the rear. It still sported the cutains installed for the cross continental adventure. It looked good, drove well and I did do the EFI conversion including the motor swap for under $500 at the time (of course I had the manifold and could fabricatemachine the plenum). Basically I gutted a $100 S110 200SX for the bottom end and EFI electrics, fuel pump and misc parts, added a U67 head with hardened valve seats installed and a shadbolt cam and a gasket set, then built the rest.

If you saw the EFI in a red 510 wagon, it was likely mine. I believe it was the first EFI manifold that I'd made to actually run and drive in a Datsun.

Byron

[gtphreak1]

It was definitely your posts I had been reading then, if I hadn't sold my 521i would have copied your setup. I'll get some pics and videos up soon.

cheers!
Marshall