73' 620 to a 720 suspension & 5 lug

[wicked620]

Hi i was wondering if anyone has successfully done a 5 lug conversion on a early datsun 620?  I already have a ford 9" with 5 lugs in the rear but need to convert to 5 lug up front.  I've read later 720's can convert over to the 89-95 toyota 2wd 5 lug hubs and was wondering what would be required to make this work on my truck?  I already have disks from a later model 620.  Would it be easy to convert a 620 to a 720 suspension to make this work?  Thanks.

[71-521]

there was a set of adapters on ebay a couple of days ago....
might be hard to find the right offset though....
[quote]http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Datsun-W ... enameZWDVW[/quote]

[wicked620]

Thanks alot for the quick reply!  I will definitely contact that company on ebay.  It will definitely be a challenge to find a descent looking offset.  Atleast I have two different offsets on my mustangs to swap on and get an idea.  I would like to run a 17x9 tire in the rear and maybe a 17x8 up front if it will clear.  Need all the traction on I get with the new sbc 383.

Garrett

[mklotz70]

There's a guy on the nwde forum that went by Taco521 I believe....he had wilwood hubs and rotors on the front of his 521.  He didn't put them there and he never got around to pulling them to tell me which bearings/bearing adapters were used.  If you know a machine shop, you can have bearing adapters made to fit up other hubs.  I'm hoping to be doing a set soon, but it will be for 6 lug hubs.  The bearings in the 6 lug Hardbody hubs were used in a bunch of other rigs.  You might check the hubs on chev LUVs and some of the other rigs in the scrap yard that had 5 lug.  You're looking for an inner/outer bearing setup that has a larger diameter than your spindle.  Once you find them....provided they're not a lot deeper.....you can have a stepped adapter made.  That type of adapter is pretty common on old ford/chevy conversions to disc.  Somewhere in the 20+ pages of the disc brake thread on nwde is a pic of the prototype I had done in aluminum.  It will give you a good idea of what you need.

[71-521]

It was on page 2:
http://www.nwde.org/extras/forum/forum_ ... =2005&PN=2

[img]http://www.nwde.org/uploads/brgadpt2sm.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.nwde.org/uploads/brgadpt3sm.jpg[/img]

[mklotz70]

Sweet.  If you really want to impress me, find the thread with Taco's pics!   lol

If/when I do the adapters, I will remove the ring at the base of the spindle rather than try to make the adapter go over it.  That way the adapter will be much thicker where the seal rides.

[71-521]

Piece of cake!
Brake conversion pics:
http://www.nwde.org/extras/forum/forum_ ... D=2571&KW=
and here's the one with pics of his truck:
http://www.nwde.org/extras/forum/forum_ ... D=2554&KW=
and more with pics of his engine bay for his V6 swap:
http://www.nwde.org/extras/forum/forum_ ... D=2534&KW=
page 2...

just used the on-site search...
it actually worked!:shock:

[mklotz70]

LOL!!  That's awesome!  You da' man!!


oh...I used the site search eng earlier today too and it worked!  I was very pleasantly surprised!!!

[1963 NL 320]

Great tip.  Much better than funky thick wheel adapters.  I guess I should ask you guys if you have ever seen a balljoint  front end put on a 320.  I once did a 720 to early 620 swap by welding the towers on the 620 frame.  That was back when you could get the towers new from Nissan, and the 720/620 frames were not that different.  It was on an old offroad race truck that was going to do the last race at Riverside before the turned it into houses and such...

 

Dave

[mklotz70]

You could do the same thing to the 320.  The suspension is basically the same as the 521/620 drum setups.  The frame is 3" narrower, but the arms are the same length.

If I decide to do balljoints on my NL, you'll see a conversion fairly soon.    If you read that disc brake thread on nwde, you'll find info about the balljoint conversion we were doing on a buddy's 521.  We built the custom upper arms but he didn't have much money with no job.  Now he has plenty of money and no time   Oh well...one of these days we'll get it done.

[1963 NL 320]

Mike I am planing to do a ball joint on my 65.  It is very unoriginal anyway.  Right now I am buildind a new garage, but when it is complete I plan to get going on the 65.  I would love to put that turbo diesel 2.5 L that nissan makes in Spain in it, but I cant seem to find one short of overseas.  Thought they would sell it in Canada, but no luck.

Dave

[wicked620]

Cool I will have to find that article.  Wilwoods would be sweet in the future!  Im sure it would costa little over a $1,000 for 13" rotors.  I'm running a similar setup on my 84 mustang with Bear 13's up front and 12" in the rear.  Fantastic braking!  My truck is going to be a little scary with the stopping especially with the new sbc 383 stroker! 

[mklotz70]

If you're going to go with ball joints...and you're going to be doing custom upper/lower control arms....you could pretty much put any spindle you want on.  Even a Toyota spindle with 5 lug hubs.  I would imagine that if you stick with spindles from a similarly sized truck, the ackerman will be pretty close.  I don't know if the Toy's have front or rear steer...something else to keep in mind.