The 1984 4x4 720KC - The red workhorse

[Draker]

I've had this truck for over a year and really haven't done much to it other than general maintenance. I've had plans for it but really haven't had a chance to get to work on it.

 

Last year I was working on buying a house and I knew I was going to need a truck to do some heavy lifting. I found this truck on craigslist for $850. At the time it had 136k on it all original. Came with all major maintenance records and even the original sales contract. It was a truck kept in the family so basically a one owner. Looked to me well taken care of mechanically. Cosmetically, it could use some work. It's got some rust here and there. Smells like a leaky datsun in the cab.

 

Since I've owned it I ripped out all the interior and deep cleaned the original carpet which is in good shape, just filthy. I've installed the back half of the carpet but left the front out since I am battling some water leaks and rust issues. I'm saving up for a decent welder to patch up some holes in the floor. As for the water leaks.. I'm not positive but I think it's coming from the windshield.

 

I never planned on making a build thread for this truck.. but I've been working on it here and there so I figured I would post the progress. On to the pics!

 

 

 

 

Looks like someone got a little loose while offroad. Fender is bent up a little bit too.

 

Man, that seat is so worn out..

 

[Draker]

As of recently I've made a few changes..

 

Got tired of looking at blank spots.

 

Filled it with this:

 

Now I know how long it takes me to drive somewhere in this slow truck.. lol

 

Gonna go from this:

 

to this:

 

and will eventually look something like this:

 

But right now, it looks like this:

I've got some deep cleaning to do since these things have been slowing rotting away in the junk yard.

[dat77sun]

looks good man, check out my 84 4x4 build thread

[Draker]

Here are a couple more pics just for good measure.

 

View of crappy driver seat... and test fitting the new seat.

The milk crate is what keeps the drivers seat from fully reclining. Also holds all the roadside tools and supplies.

Sunroof.. Previous owner sealed it shut because the latch broke and it would leak. So glue started leaking so I ripped it all out and now a tie down holds the sunroof closed until I can find a freaking latch handle. The good news is it doesn't leak with the tie down.

Some rust in the bed.

The lineup!

The DD.

And lastly, the garage queen.

[Draker]

Got to work today... UPS delivers this. Thought to myself.. I didn't order anything?

 

Open it up.. then dig in and im like "mail order beer?"

 

Nope, PS pump from Adam!

[Eagle_Adam]

did you every get it installed? 

[Draker]

Sadly, no. I've still got it though. I'm going to tear into it soon to track down a mis-fire at idle. Already replaced plugs, wires, cap, rotor..

 

Compression test coming soon. *Fingers crossed*

 

did you every get it installed? 

[Draker]

Hit the yard today to grab this:
 
 
 
Been trying to stop the rust.. a little at a time. 80 grit DA, then some rust dissolver, grease/wax remover, prime.

[I'm BLUE]

Sadly, no. I've still got it though. I'm going to tear into it soon to track down a mis-fire at idle. Already replaced plugs, wires, cap, rotor..

 

Compression test coming soon. *Fingers crossed*

 

Hope that compression test comes out good :thumbup:

 

intake/vacuum hose/air intake boot leaks by chance ?

 

 

How did I not see this thread til now !

[Draker]

Hope that compression test comes out good :thumbup:

 

intake/vacuum hose/air intake boot leaks by chance ?

 

 

How did I not see this thread til now !

It's very possible! I just need to tear into it and see what's going on.

 

I don't update this thread that often.. This is just my parts runner/yard work truck. Oh yeah, body work guinea pig too.

[Draker]

Spent pretty much all day working on the 720..

 

First thing first.. compression test.

 

165, 160, 165, 160. Perfect = 171, poor 128 or below. I'd say she's got a clean bill of health! Woo hoo!

 

Second, adjust valves.. to my surprise all valves adjusted correctly and no adjustment needed. Woo hoo! (again)

 

Third, while I've got the valve cover off went ahead and re-torqued the head bolts.

 

Fourth, time to finally address my timing issues I had since I bought it. Appears the oil pump is off by a tooth causing the distributor to be clocked all the way to one side and still unable to get the timing set correctly. I pulled the oil pump and re-aligned it. Put distributor back on and set the timing and adjusted idle speed.

 

Fifth, Pulled a retard and left the socket wrench on the crank pulley when I fired the truck up.. Found the wrench laying on the ground.. no biggie except when I went to put it back on the crank bolt and it was missing. I almost shit my pants while crying.. except for I looked on the ground again and I found the crank bolt laying on the ground.. I thought for sure I sheered the bolt off in the crank. What I actually did was just remove it with style. So, since the bolt was out I grabbed the crank pulley and was able to pull it off by hand. Then ran to the store to buy a front timing cover seal it. Replaced the leaking front crank seal, and replaced the oil pump gasket. Got a bunch of other gaskets for whenever I yank the Z24 out for cleaning and more gasket replacements.

 

Looks like the wrench damaged the front diff breather hard line.. I'll cut it shorter and lengthen the soft line that goes to it.. Other than that everything seems good.

 

Still idles a bit rough.. and appears to have low vacuum. But I've smoke tested the system.. no obvious leaks. I still need to replace the vacuum lines with new just to ensure no leaks. I used to have pretty significant back fires between shifts which are much better since the timing is actually set correctly. Next is to patch the massive hole in the exhaust which I have been putting off forever. Will try to fit that in tomorrow sometime...

 

 

Sorry no pics.. just imagine dirty hands, oil, old gaskets.. pile of ripped gloves.

[I'm BLUE]

Woot ! on the compression that's boss.

 

Got quite a bit done on the workhorse I see :thumbup:

[Draker]

I was pretty stoked about the compression numbers. The truck is running really well, but still would like to smooth out the idle a bit. Can't complain too much though.

[Draker]

Lowered the truck today...

 

[Draker]

Temporarily.......  lol

 

 

[Draker]

I've been working on installing intermittent wipers on the truck. Ran into an issue with a plug that had extra pins.. the whole time I thought it was the wiper plug but turns out it was actually for the turn signals. Old plug had 3 wires on a 4 pin plug. New one had 6 wires in a 6 pin plug.

 

After finding out that the wipers were actually plug and play (harness had the extra wire for the wiper amp already), I found the turn signals weren't working. The plug with the extra pins was for the turn signals. Out of the 6 wires, 3 of them were the same as the other connector so I just connected them together. I didn't want to spice any connectors in so I depinned the old connector and crimped the wire into the spade connectors and taped then up. That way, if I ever need to go back.. or a future owner needs to replace the switch they can simply switch right back. (Future owner, you can thank me later.)

 

 

 

After that, everything worked just fine. Here is the end result:

[Draker]

Also, I finally got my stereo working.. Woo hoo!

[Draker]

Anyone that is interested in doing this mod, I've got another switch, amp, and harness for sale. $60.

 

Will list in classifieds sooner or later.

[izzo]

Lol. I left the socket on once and started it. About shit my

Pants lol. Went rkgright back in tho.

[Draker]

Lol. I left the socket on once and started it. About shit my

Pants lol. Went rkgright back in tho.

 

Yeah, I was in full on pray mode that it didn't snap off in the crank. lol

[Draker]

Decided to get serious about rust removal.. and also get my learn on before I start on some other cars. It went from this:

 

To this:

Lots and lots of work went into this. First sanded it all down with 80 grit. Got rid of a lot of the rust.. but there was a lot of rust still on the panel. I switched to 40 grit to start stripping the hard rust off. You would think you'd be done but the metal still showed pitting and discoloration. So then I put rust desolver on the panel and scrubbed the F out of it with a wire brush and wire wheel.

Then I bought a new toy and did this:

 

 

After a little tug and pull.. filler, sand, filler, sand, and 4 light sprays of etching primer it looks like this:


Next step high build primer and guide coat and some blocking. At least that's how I think it goes...

[Eagle_Adam]

came out good!!! i hate body work, even more than electrical work 

[Draker]

Yeah, it takes forevvvvvvvvvvvvvverrrrrr!!  It's okay though. I got's air.

[Draker]

Paint, sand, paint, sand... oops too far, more paint... now at what I hope to be a final sand until I get some color on the hood. Pics in a few after this last sanding.

[Draker]