New 720 Owner

[CharlieW]

Hi guys, I am Charles. I recently aqcuired an 82ish standard cab 720. It has 50,000 give or take on the speedo...original miles. Picked it up for $500. It is currently all stock except for the addition of a camper shell. It is oxidized doo-doo brown. There have been some rust spots on the bedside that were repaired and primed by the previous owner.....I am the second owner. At the moment, it runs like crap, but I found an interesting write-up on the exact problem I am having here...

http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Datsun-and-Nissan-Pickup-Fuel-Pump-Relay-What-the-Haynes-Automotive-Repair-Manual-Wont-Tell-You

 

The first plan of attack was to replace ALL of the vacuum lines.....all 5000 feet. Then I replaced the fuel filter.....then the lines from the tank to the pump and filter...Still no difference. Once I check on said relay and repair if necessary, I plan on deleting all vacuum emissions lines that I can. I also plan on plugging the ports on the exhaust manifold, where the metal tubes go up to the air cleaner. I want the engine bay to be clean...and I am a little OCD about that kinda thing. Next is to remove the camper shell and sell it off. I drained all of the FRESH fuel out of the tank the other day and it was a seriously nasty orange color. Keyword....FRESH... which leads me to the main project of deleting the fuel tank underbody and mounting a 'keg style' fuel cell in the front of the bed.

 

I will have the lowering blocks for the rear springs this weekend as they were just taken off of a toyota pickup, and as soon as it is mobile enough to drive, I will bring it to work so I can crank on the torsion bars to get the front down. The plan is to be murdered out flat black. Don't know if that plan will hold up, but so far that is the skin of choice. I also plan on fitting cragar 'dog dish' wheels. One of the most important things I wanna do is swap from the rectangular headlights and grille to the older round style. I will need any pointers that ya'll have to offer, and let me know what you think about the project. I will get pics up as soon as the camera works!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sealik]

Hi guys, I am Charles. I recently aqcuired an 82ish standard cab 720. It has 50,000 give or take on the speedo...original miles. Picked it up for $500. It is currently all stock except for the addition of a camper shell. It is oxidized doo-doo brown. There have been some rust spots on the bedside that were repaired and primed by the previous owner.....I am the second owner. At the moment, it runs like crap, but I found an interesting write-up on the exact problem I am having here...

http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Datsun-and-Nissan-Pickup-Fuel-Pump-Relay-What-the-Haynes-Automotive-Repair-Manual-Wont-Tell-You

 

The first plan of attack was to replace ALL of the vacuum lines.....all 5000 feet. Then I replaced the fuel filter.....then the lines from the tank to the pump and filter...Still no difference. Once I check on said relay and repair if necessary, I plan on deleting all vacuum emissions lines that I can. I also plan on plugging the ports on the exhaust manifold, where the metal tubes go up to the air cleaner. I want the engine bay to be clean...and I am a little OCD about that kinda thing. Next is to remove the camper shell and sell it off. I drained all of the FRESH fuel out of the tank the other day and it was a seriously nasty orange color. Keyword....FRESH... which leads me to the main project of deleting the fuel tank underbody and mounting a 'keg style' fuel cell in the front of the bed.

 

I will have the lowering blocks for the rear springs this weekend as they were just taken off of a toyota pickup, and as soon as it is mobile enough to drive, I will bring it to work so I can crank on the torsion bars to get the front down. The plan is to be murdered out flat black. Don't know if that plan will hold up, but so far that is the skin of choice. I also plan on fitting cragar 'dog dish' wheels. One of the most important things I wanna do is swap from the rectangular headlights and grille to the older round style. I will need any pointers that ya'll have to offer, and let me know what you think about the project. I will get pics up as soon as the camera works!

 

 

What's the engine doing.....running like?

Unscrew the bottom of the fuel pump, there is a filter in there. Clean up and or replace. Nissan still carries them.

Remove the inlet and return lines by the starter....blow them out from the fuel pump location. There is a 12 mill nut on the front of your carb...(inlet fuel line)...remove and check the round filter, probably loaded with crud.

[CharlieW]

Man that is some awesome info...I have yet to buy a manual....funds at work just aren't cutting it, but I will definitely get on that tonight, but it will have to be late. We are doing VBS at church every night this week.....thank goodness today is the last day of fighting 20 1st graders.

[CharlieW]

What do you think about swapping over to the round style headlights and grille?

[Sealik]

What do you think about swapping over to the round style headlights and grille?

 

 

There has been a few people talking about this......I kinda like my 720(s) just the way they are. :D

Maybe if I had some more idle time.....but something else, that's of more mechanical importance always seems to rear its ugly head. :unsure:

[datzenmike]

The 720 is 'boxy' and perfectly suited for square headlights. It will look awkward with round ones. Also the plugs won't work on round lights. I swapped a 720 wire harness into my round eyes 620 and the headlights did not work. I had to switch the wires around because the common power is in a different position in the plug.

[sinner720st]

clean engine bays are a must have. im working on getting mine clean... Basically if you drop a weber or similar carb in then you can ditch the charcoal canister and all the vacuum lines. now i dont even have power steering because it was leaking and the bay is way cleaner

(this is an old pic but its a start

 

oh and i want to see some of your pics..... NOW

[wayno]

LOL, isn't it funny about the headlights, I put a 720 diesel wiring harness into my 521KC and had the same problem, took about 15 min. to figure it out, but I knew it was coming, the kid down the street never figured it out on his. I also smoked two wiper delay units getting the 521 wiper motor working properly, the wires are all the right colors except one, but none of the matching wires connect to each other except the ground.:lol: I think that the 720 will look strange with round headlights, but thats my opinion.:mellow: Have you guys ever noticed that no two datsun/nissan 720s are ever put together the same, does anyone know how many differant power steering pumps/reserviors there are? wayno

[CharlieW]

So, a quick update from the weekend....I was tackling the running rough issue......I found a drycracked fuel supply line right at the front of the carb.....replaced.....The two lines down by the starter looked great, but I replaced them just for good measure...found another dried up vacuum line....even after I thought I replaced all of them before.....replaced it....cleaned out the filter at the bottom of the fuel pump.....cleaned out the filter at the front of the carb.....even though they both looked decent.... Now it idles like a champ....CHAMP....but under acceleration, it skips and bucks like its not getting enough fuel. I might add that I checked and resoldered the fuel pump relay that is on the passenger kick panel.

 

Also, what if we forget our password to this website? I can't find a way to get it, because I want to log on this forum on my mobile....any ideas?

 

Dont mind that last comment......I figured out my password...lol...back to the rough running.

[CharlieW]

OK...more from last night.....drained the remaining 'fresh' fuel from the tank and its a funky brownish orange color....dad told me that it should still burn though. He said I might add a bottle of rubbing alcohol. I took all of the fuel lines off from the tank to the filter, filter to the pump, pump to the chassis lines....all were drycracked, although the cracks were barely visible, and replaced them. Replaced the fuel filter....again....

I soaked the two tubes at the front of the exhaust manifold with rust penetrant, because underneath the rust buildup I think there used to be nuts there, lol. The plan of attack is to take those tubes out and plug those holes. Then run duct from the hole left in the aircleaner over to fresh air....that should help out a bit once I delete all emissions garbage.

[elmerfudpucker]

Here is an idea what it looks like when you delete all the excess crap!

 

[CharlieW]

elmer,

What kind of exhaust do you have? Reason I ask is because I was reading somewhere else on this forum and someone was saying that it would run a lot more rich if you deleted all of the vacuum garbage, so I would need a much better intake and exhaust system to accomodate.....tell me what you think.

My truck didn't come with power steering either...lol...so the engine bay is already starting to be clean...I will be pulling the compressor off tonight...got all the lines off last night. most of those were cut previously, and someone had already taken out the condenser.

Oh, and what is that big chrome circular piece just in front of the carburetor, beside the front of the valve cover.

Nevermind that last statement...I realize now thats the fuel pump....just threw me off a little considering mine is on the framerail down by the rear wheel lol

[CharlieW]

Oh, and if anyone has one of those filters for the bottom of the electric fuel pump to spare, I would love to replace mine....seems as though my local dealership is having a hard time getting one. Nevermind...got one to be here at 3:00 today from advance auto parts.....AWESOME!

[John Baker]

What do you think about swapping over to the round style headlights and grille?

 

Hey all, new guy checking in. I was reading your idea for headlights......I like the '85-'88 Maxima headlight swap, not a mindblowing difference, but something subtile. Something that probably only other Nissan/Datsun guys would realize.

[CharlieW]

Not sure if I wanna do all of the cuttin and welding required to get those maxima headlights to fit....I just found two guys via google that did it and they had to take the jigsaw to the sheetmetal to get it done.....The running issue has occupied all of my time so far though.

[John Baker]

Not sure if I wanna do all of the cuttin and welding required to get those maxima headlights to fit....I just found two guys via google that did it and they had to take the jigsaw to the sheetmetal to get it done.....The running issue has occupied all of my time so far though.

 

IIRC, the one-piece units from the mid-80's Caprice will fit also. Those might be easier to find if you're a junkyard hunter like me.

[CharlieW]

Any friend of a junkyard is a friend of mine...lol No kiddin, there are a ton of caprice's in the junkyards around here....I mean as soon as it gets a set of 24"shoes and a lift kit, it gets wrecked....imagine that.

 

 

[CharlieW]

Also looking at replacing the ignition coils....they look like standard GM units....can I use accel GM coils, or is there something else I need?

[CharlieW]

eW » Sat Aug 07, 2010 9:29 pm ok... where do I start? so I get up this morning and slip outside to go get some fuel. get back and I put about five gallons of fresh fuel mixed with a half bottle of seafoam. I figured the tune up yesterday did the trick... walk around the truck and got the ignition and it idles great, but still runs like crap under a load. so back to the drawing board. in the meantime, I made a new coolant jug from an oil tank on a moped...works great Running through my head is the fact that the little truck has all new fuel lines, vacuum ines, and a fresh tune up...all new filters,etc. So my next thought is that all the emissions garbage is so old that some of it may be bad. So I go ahead and delete all the vacuum lines and emissions equipment. After that's done I head back to the key switch to see if it made a difference. I hit the switch once again and...NOTHING happens...not even a click. I go back out under the Hood..extremely frustrated... and notice a wire going to the positive terminal on the battery that's been spliced into. The tape is frayed so I start to fix it. When I grabbed the wiring I heard the ignition dinger go off...so I thought that wire may have been the ignition switch feed or something. So I go grab my soldering iron and heatshrink to fix my problem. When I get back, I tug on the wire a ittle bit and the positive battery terminal comes right off the post. It was broken in 2 places. The only thing holding it to the battery was the rubber cover that goes over it. So, I put a new positive battery terminal on it and fixed the broken wire and voila....truck runs like a champ. My assumption is that the battery wasn't getting a good enough connection to produce enough fire to the coils when the engine wass under a load.....go figure.

[CharlieW]

 

 

 

 

[izzo]

power steering? what the f... is that?

[elmerfudpucker]

Yep mine does run rich, I have a header but I have not had the funds to get it put on yet. Your electrical will be a bit more stable is you als hook up a better ground wire from you neg on the battery then to the head then to the frame.

[1982 Datsun 720]

what year is your Datsun? and what size motor? i have a 1982 Datsun 2.2L 4-cylender and i'm running straight pipes right behind the cab, it gives it a nice rumble but isn't to loud where you will get pulled over for it i'm running about 175HP and the motor i have max's out at about 375HP lots to go tword but stock the motor had 105HP so i've managed to add about 70HP to mine, taking the muffler off added about 15 more by its self and i haven't noticed any change in the mileage im getting in it, i have it lowered 3 inches front and back and it does look good also adding 17" rims and low profile tires makes in look even better

[CharlieW]

So, I just picked up the 2" lowering blocks last night....hope that will be as low as I want to go....would hate to do the job twice, but oh well....these are the days of our lives.

[CharlieW]

Guys....I am a little puzzled....ok so I started the lowering process Monday night. I will put up pictures tonight, but I did the passenger side Monday night.....only two jacks and no jackstands so yeah...all I can do is one side at a time...lol. My kids get in the way of me finishing both sides Monday night, so I decide to do the drivers side last night. It seems as though the driver side is a little higher than the passenger side. I used 2" blocks on both sides and the suspension looks almost identical on both sides, but when you look at the truck from the rear....it just looks funny. I will be driving it to work tomorrow, so I will get a better idea of what it looks like on a flat surface because my driveway is a little sloped on one side. Its funny because the driveway is sloped very little, but enough so that the way the truck is parked it should be lower on the driver side, but it looks perfectly level from the rear. Oh well....any ideas would be awesome, but I will park it on flat ground tomorrow and see what it looks like.