Newb - JeffreyDale's 82 720 4x4 Trail Rig

[JeffreyDale]

Picked It Up 9-9-10 $500 82 Datsun 720 4x4 4 Spd, SCSB Only Needed A Head Gasket (trying to do this now, notice as i say trying!, Please help on other thread, HAHA) but still drove it home, a lil smokey at first, but cleared up, and ran like a top, will even smokes the tires up (those 31x10.5's, needless to say i was IMPRESSED)

 

So Got The motor apart, repainting intierior black (bad blue job now) and repainting the exterior to a nicer olive drab) also a few more off road lights.

 

 

 

[Pumpkn210]

Nice, love the flapper cap!

[datzenmike]

Love the HD, NRA stickers and camo seat covers. What no CSA flag?

 

 

Don't drive it an over heat that aluminum head.

[]2eDeYe]

Nice...can't wait to see some pic's of it in the woods :D

[lil89ram50]

this was a members on here? cant remember who's tho.....

[izzo]

good god that thing is ugly, i love it :D

 

Head gaskets really aren't that bad on those man, BE PATIENT, take your time. Get er done, it will be very rewarding

[JeffreyDale]

thanks guys! ill get more pics and what not when i get er done

[JeffreyDale]

Got the head almost done. shes all back togther, mostly. waiting on the parts store to get the intake gasket in.

 

But does no one have 4x4's here? all i keep seein is lowered rigs. im hopein to get the truck done tomorrow night, engine done, interior finished, yadda yadda yadda. I wanna take her on her maiden voyage at the mud pitts this weekend, but i need to see if i can acquire a trailer first.... fingers crossed!

[JeffreyDale]

hey more questions!

 

what in the engine bay can i delete? i wanna remove all that i can. more room, less nonsense.... ya know. it had a/c but the condensor is gone. gonna rip out the rest of the a/c, but i think i saw the compressor on the drivers side bottom? can i pull it and get a belt from a no a/c truck? did they have them, or does anyone know the size? or is that belt a/c alone? (theres 3 belts i think, and i apologize for not lookin into depth more, but i was sitting here thinkin about it)

 

and im also pullin the air intake to run a snorkel. bad idea?

 

about half of the vaccum lines are plugged, what all can i plug? all the rest of them?

 

can i pull the fuel pump thing off the front pass. side of the motor?

 

it has Power Steering, does anyone wanna swap out for manual steering? how easy is this if i yank one from a yard? i hear theres a few 720's at the local junker.

 

THANKS AGAIN!

 

-JeffreyDale

[izzo]

hey more questions!

 

what in the engine bay can i delete? i wanna remove all that i can. more room, less nonsense.... ya know. it had a/c but the condensor is gone. gonna rip out the rest of the a/c, but i think i saw the compressor on the drivers side bottom? can i pull it and get a belt from a no a/c truck? did they have them, or does anyone know the size? or is that belt a/c alone? (theres 3 belts i think, and i apologize for not lookin into depth more, but i was sitting here thinkin about it)

 

and im also pullin the air intake to run a snorkel. bad idea?

 

about half of the vaccum lines are plugged, what all can i plug? all the rest of them?

 

can i pull the fuel pump thing off the front pass. side of the motor?

 

it has Power Steering, does anyone wanna swap out for manual steering? how easy is this if i yank one from a yard? i hear theres a few 720's at the local junker.

 

THANKS AGAIN!

 

-JeffreyDale

 

 

Remove all of it, just leave your brake booster hooked up, the PCV, and the vaccum advance. You need a fuel pump i dont suggest removing that.

 

Power steering, just remove the pump and lines. I broke my power steering high pressure line on my 85 4x4 and it drove around fine, just had no power steering. Becomes a bitch in the woods trying to turn around on a small trail!

 

 

Snorkels are fine, you can run one. They sell one for the weber if you have one of those on there.

 

If you remove the AC pump, just get an 82 non ac alt belt for your truck, IIRC that ran the alt and water pump off the crank pulley.

[JeffreyDale]

Remove all of it, just leave your brake booster hooked up, the PCV, and the vaccum advance. You need a fuel pump i dont suggest removing that.

 

Power steering, just remove the pump and lines. I broke my power steering high pressure line on my 85 4x4 and it drove around fine, just had no power steering. Becomes a bitch in the woods trying to turn around on a small trail!

 

 

Snorkels are fine, you can run one. They sell one for the weber if you have one of those on there.

 

If you remove the AC pump, just get an 82 non ac alt belt for your truck, IIRC that ran the alt and water pump off the crank pulley.

 

thanks. theres a feul block off plate, and then some bracket, or hunk of metal that someone called the fuel pump block, or something. i think the p/s pump attaches to it. just makin sure.

[OneFreakyMF]

be nice to that front end ... i have broken almost EVERYTHING in the front of mine and parts are not easy to come by for the '80-82 720's. at least not in my neck of the woods and thats why my ugly ole girl is being treated to 3/4 ton full size axles!!

 

 

pulling all the smog crap off and a 38 weber really opened up my z22!! welding up the rear end works wonders too!!! have fun ....

[JeffreyDale]

be nice to that front end ... i have broken almost EVERYTHING in the front of mine and parts are not easy to come by for the '80-82 720's. at least not in my neck of the woods and thats why my ugly ole girl is being treated to 3/4 ton full size axles!!

 

pulling all the smog crap off and a 38 weber really opened up my z22!! welding up the rear end works wonders too!!! have fun ....

 

 

Thanks boss. just took my gal out for her inugeral run... CRAP. WAAAAY under powered, and the ol lady blew the clutch out... we got about 30min of run time, but when she got warmed up, she wouldnt stay runnin, less you throttle the peddal, then i havent got the snorkel on yet, and she sucked water twice.

 

so now i gotta figure out when and how to do the clutch, then strip the rest out of the motor, and hope i can keep her runnin, and give her a little umph!

[max2004]

Nice truck!!

Yes, I agree, not nuff 4X4's here . . .

Mine sometimes stalls once warmed up too.

I have removed most crap from under the hood, and everywhere else.

Had to re&re the transfer case support(rusted-see photos) so I sucked it up 3"

to match the cab lift. Muffler too low now.

Hoping to have her ready for the hunt this year.

Once I weld a tow coupler on, it's off to the bush to try 'er out.

 

Go here to vew the project::

http://members.shaw.ca/cubit/vehicles/84nissan/84nissan.html

[JeffreyDale]

Nice truck!!

Yes, I agree, not nuff 4X4's here . . .

Mine sometimes stalls once warmed up too.

I have removed most crap from under the hood, and everywhere else.

Had to re&re the transfer case support(rusted-see photos) so I sucked it up 3"

to match the cab lift. Muffler too low now.

Hoping to have her ready for the hunt this year.

Once I weld a tow coupler on, it's off to the bush to try 'er out.

 

 

wow. thats a lot of work! lil too much for my plate. hahaha. like the way you document it though, and its turnin out good.

[OneFreakyMF]

Thanks boss. just took my gal out for her inugeral run... CRAP. WAAAAY under powered, and the ol lady blew the clutch out... we got about 30min of run time, but when she got warmed up, she wouldnt stay runnin, less you throttle the peddal, then i havent got the snorkel on yet, and she sucked water twice.

 

so now i gotta figure out when and how to do the clutch, then strip the rest out of the motor, and hope i can keep her runnin, and give her a little umph!

 

i cant imagine that the standard cab would be much different than the extended cab as far as the clutch goes .... i just replaced mine earlier this year. my advice ... pull the exhaust, front driveline, and diff. its still a pain in the ass but it can be done by your lonesome. as far as the stalling out... probably something to do with the thermal vacuum valve or emissions. find yourself a Weber carb and pull all the emissions crap if you can get away with it in your area. we dont have emissions testing up here. not that it matters really ... my girl is a trailer queen now anyways. everything i have done to my lil truck has been on a serious budget! to date i only have about $1500 into this project so a great toy can be had without running yourself into the poor house! good luck man!!

[JeffreyDale]

well more fixes, but MORE problems....

 

First, i thought the clutch was dead, cause she just wouldnt go, and you could here it burnin.... but someone told me i could get water in there, and it would slip real bad. i WAS in deeeep water, so i thought ok. was playing with the truck today, clutch was perfect, even went out and laid a 4.5foot burnout on my driveway! i was veeerrryyy!!!!!! happy i got the truck runnin perfect, no weird idle, no stallin, idel at about 1100, more on that later...

 

then as she was getting nice and warmed up (took her on the road for about 1/2 mile, burnout in the driveway, and just ideling. then the clutch started going. so i shut her down, gave her a few hours, clutch is back. didnt go much anywhere, just let her idle, then the clutch killed out.... wtf?!?! why does it only go when shes warm? is it the clutch or something else? she doesnt leak a thing, and the PO just put in a new slave cylinder.

 

also, now the truck is smoking pretty bad im thinking a bad A/F mixture. she does run great, but thats cause i rigged it. i have no idea were the vaccum lines go, there a mess. i tried pullin em all off, but she wont run. i kept the one on the brakes, and a line from the front bottom of the carb at the mainfold goin to the distributer, i have about 6 lines plugged, and the 3 way one on top of the water neck? i think? is all open.

 

also the butterfly valve on the top of the carb is attached to nothin in the back. i dont know what its supposed to look like back there, so i have it sitting JUST barely open, and nit moving. The PO has springs attached to the throttle to the valve cover, so its a mess.

 

anyway i can get a diagram of the throttle linkage and or vaccum lines?

 

i just put a new section of feul line and that was the last straw. i dont wanna spend a dime more on this thing, so cheap/free fixes are best. i knew money was needed to be spent cause i got it messed up, and you gotta spend money when ya trail it (things break, i know) but i cant get it to run right at all. we only had it out for about 30 min, and i wanna play with it trouble free at least once. otherwise someone come buy it :)

 

-JeffreyDale

[max2004]

Just took these pics a moment ago, hope it helps.

Go here to DL em::

http://24.67.179.189:7003/test/84_720_carb.rar

[izzo]

Not sure what setup you are running on your motor, but throw a weber on there! Get rid of all the extra junk. Pic below...

 

As for the clutch, i dont know. mine would slip a little when it got warm too. I replaced it, never did it again.

 

 

 

[JeffreyDale]

Thanks guys.

 

well after some harpin from the ole lady, truck now has power steering again.

 

runs pretty smooth, smokes a little bit, but not bad at all now, kinda unnoticable

 

clutch only slips when warm, hopein it was oil from the rear main... no such luck. gonna need a new clutch, and im thinkin about sayin screw it and sell it.

 

i know, im a quitter, but this is truck number 26, so i dont care anymore :) plus i kinda wanna get a fullsize rig like a ramcharger or sommin. i also have a race truck im redoing, have a dead 06 ford that needs a tranny, an 05 ford sputtering now (i hate fords, im a dodge guy through and through) plus my cummins needs new batteries, and a new front seal. so i might just hold off on a trail rig, and maybe fix some trucks and buy a new trailer (lookin for a 40'+ Goosenck)

 

so well see unless someone knows a place to get a cheap truck, and maybe even someone to do it for me. im runnin outta time and space.

[Cuts metal like mad]

Quiting after 20 posts in? That must be some kind of record or something.

[JeffreyDale]

haha. well, i just dunno. i really like the truck. ive almost always had full size rigs, and i REALLY like the mobility and light weight of this lil datsun. well see how the next few weeks go. im gettin a new job, and if the money comes in like its supposed to, ill keep it. i would have to fab up a solid front axle though. thinkin ima get rid of the fords too, so thatll help the situation. im real indesisive, so itll prop. stay for a few more months at least. i havent yet got attached to her

[sinner720st]

cool truck, i think the power gain of a weber would be awesome. mine has a weber cam header and head porting. plenty of power... as for the straight axle swap, just weld some shackle perches on, use a set of rear leaf springs, or something good and soft, throw a dana 44 or jeep dana 30 (i personally know they would be strong enough) or keep it six lug and use an 84 toyota front end..

[Cuts metal like mad]

cool truck, i think the power gain of a weber would be awesome. mine has a weber cam header and head porting. plenty of power... as for the straight axle swap, just weld some shackle perches on, use a set of rear leaf springs, or something good and soft, throw a dana 44 or jeep dana 30 (i personally know they would be strong enough) or keep it six lug and use an 84 toyota front end..

 

Birfields in the youta axle aren't know for their longevity. Yes they can be beefed, and be every bit as stout as a dana 60, but its not cheap. Dana 44 knuckles are a fairly easy and cheap to mod to a yota, and make it quite stout. All depends on the kind of wheeling a guy is gonna do.

 

Far as power, its comparable to a yota of the same vintage, so really a gear swap would help. A lot.

[max2004]

Hey Bud, how did the head gasket replacement go?

Mine just went, but I'll have to wait till spring to do it.

Any tips or things I should watch for?

 

These micro trucks are a gas in the bush.

Too bad I'm not taking it on this years main hunt.

Everybody was looking foward to seeing it.

 

I would take that truck off your hands in a second if you were closer.

 

Doesn't take much space to store 'em . . .

 

later