My Datsun Hardbody....

[nerdistmonk]

moved to infamous nissan.

[nerdistmonk]

Right now im working towards putting a datsun 720's (z22) distributor into the truck and go back to the magnetically activated method of ignition the 81' datsun came with, thus eliminating the computer on my truck and making me a happy man

[Raggleflaggle]

first time i've see anything like this. something new every day!

[yellowdatsun]

Why the heck would you get rid of the fuel injection? EFI will *always* run better than a carb, as long as the parts are working. Plus they have better low end grunt, and run better when cold. I go the other way, and convert carbed Datsuns to run EFI, because it's sooo much better.

[nerdistmonk]

Because the efi sucked, it was first gen tech, and considering the injectors were bad on my truck (thus couldnt drive it) and they cost $300 a piece, oh and 2 of the sensors were bad theres another $120.......thats a few good reasons, and the truck drives great with the carb on it, i just need to redo my gaskets as they arnt sealing.

 

 

Basically: $400ish dollars to fix the efi...whoopy

or $320 and never worry about any of this electronic nonsense again.

[mattyhacks71]

I agree with the change to carb'd! My 91 mazda has efi and its gutless

Cool build, Ill be watching!

[nerdistmonk]

Thats what i nicknamed the truck when i first got it was "the gutless wonder" (which apparently was a name well earned as i wasnt the first to call the truck this).

 

i got the z24 engine (now minus the I... ;)   )

 

 

I got so much i got to do to it, i tried my carb gaskets with a dry install and they leak so i got to redo those babies, and i got to drop the gas tank to reroute my lines (im putting a mechanical fuel pump in)

I need to spin the carb 180 degrees so it faces the right direction and then finally i can put the z22 datsun ignition in.

 

 

and i did test the truck with power pulled to the computer it seemed like it was ready to run other than me needing the ignition, my gauges came on and such so thats good.

[yellowdatsun]

You coulda fixed it with junk yard parts for about $100.

 

As for "never messing with it again", carbs always need work. It may run fine right now, but it will need cleaning and adjusting as time goes on. I had a 720 with the Z24, and the carb, and I frickin hated it. What I would have given to have efi on that truck.........

[nerdistmonk]

You talk like there's just hundreds of datsuns and nissans sitting in the scrap yards, well in my area there is precisely 1 nissan truck in 3 counties, ive called every scrap yard around here, I had to get these datsun distributor parts from california! The main reason for that being datsuns/nissans are imported and usually the highest concentrations of them will be near their port of origin (washington state)

 

and besides comparing an actual nissan/datsun carb with a weber is unfair, those nissan carbs give mechanics nightmares to this very day.

 

Theres no point in throwing out the "for $100" liner, thats just a baseless assumption, it cost me $110 just to get a dist and spindle, our scrap yards in this area check part values via the internet and if a injector is worth $300 new expect to pay $150 each or so for them (then again some of the junkyards around here charge more than what the item is for new at rockauto)

 

 

Anyways point is you dont put used injectors in a truck (injectors are a "perishable" part much like fuses, lightbulbs and the such), your asking for failure, and if they are too expensive to buy new, that renders them obsolete.

 

 

With that being said this is a thread chronicling my work ive done to my truck, this is turning into a CD vs Vinyl debate, the guys who own datsuns want EFI....and the guys who have nissans want the old datsun stuff, its all personal choice and opinion, im sure theres a datsun or two on here that bypasses all of that and put a chevy engine in their truck :)

[KA620KC]

You talk like there's just hundreds of datsuns and nissans sitting in the scrap yards, well in my area there is precisely 1 nissan truck in 3 counties, ive called every scrap yard around here, I had to get these datsun distributor parts from california! The main reason for that being datsuns/nissans are imported and usually the highest concentrations of them will be near their port of arrival (washington state)

 

and besides comparing an actual nissan/datsun carb with a weber is unfair, those nissan carbs give mechanics nightmares to this very day.

 

Theres no point in throwing out the "for $100" liner, thats just a baseless assumption, it cost me $110 just to get a dist and spindle, our scrap yards in this area check part values via the internet and if a injector is worth $300 new expect to pay $150 each or so for them (then again some of the junkyards around here charge more than what the item is for new at rockauto)

 

 

Anyways point is you dont put used injectors in a truck (injectors are a "perishable" part much like fuses, lightbulbs and the such), your asking for failure, and if they are too expensive to buy new, that renders them obsolete.

 

 

With that being said this is a thread chronicling my work ive done to my truck, this is turning into a CD vs Vinyl debate, the guys who own datsuns want EFI....and the guys who have nissans want the old datsun stuff, its all personal choice and opinion, im sure theres a datsun or two on here that bypasses all of that and put a chevy engine in their truck :)

Amen.....Well said

[nerdistmonk]

Amen.....Well said

 

Around here nissans were never popular, this is toyota country in my area, None of the auto parts stores carry anything outside of a coil or a dist cap for my truck, all my parts come from 3 main locations:

 

*Rockauto (ive bought a whole truck almost from these guys)

*Ebay/Junk Dealers (the part always ends up coming from the west coast, but then again so did my truck which arrived in olympia, wa i believe, i still got all the original paperwork + receipts and port papers)

*Local hardware store....(dont ask how many times a major repair ended up needing parts from the hardware store because the part either isnt made anymore or nissan wanted $122 for a bracket or something)

 

I replaced the exhaust on the truck because the old one was _gone_ simply put (thanks to the malfunctioning efi the muffler exploded like a shrapnel grenade), i bought scrap pipe off of summitracing and cobbled together a new exhaust + new muffler using the pipe and jb weld marine grade, i insulated the joints of the cobbled pipe with household aluminum foil + stainless steel zipties (and crush clamps to join the pipe)

 

I needed a stronger return spring on my carb so the throttle wouldnt stick, i didnt have one on hand so i used 5 standard office rubberbands, now the throttle is responsive and springs right back into place.

 

Both of these repairs have held up for sometime without issue. FYI the brand new dist cap and rotor i got for the 1981 distributor were sitting on a shelf at a warehouse for 17 years.....these parts have so much dust on them, that also means they arnt making new ones. (I will be saving the old cap + rotor just in case)

 

Datsuns and nissan hardbody's are both getting up there in years, the parts are drying up fast, and if it wasnt for communities like this they would be condemned to the parking garage in the sky, I appreciate the help i get from everyone here (especially datzenmike thankyou bro.)

 

Anyways i will continued to keep you all updated here and on certain other nissan based forums, i will starting on the big stuff on monday.

[nerdistmonk]

Sorry for double post, but anyways i do have a quick question to anyone who can answer:

 

Do i need a fuel pump spacer for the mechanical fuel pump im about to put on the z24 engine?

(The z22 shows it had a spacer)

 

If so i guess i will have to turn that metal cover into a spacer if needed.

[HRH]

I love EFI, but the early TBI system is fairly antiquated.  Had it not worked well on my chump truck, I would have yarded it off for a Weber carb.  The point is valid, EFI does work through multiple conditions better than a carb.  HOWEVER, if we're talking the end of the world, a carburetor is always a safer bet as a carb will always run at the expense of refinement, whereas a computer breaks, you need a new computer, or even better, the skills to fix it, which 99% of people don't have.  A carb is pretty simple to fix.  I've run both and I can make a 32/36 work great on any Datsun, as easily as fuel injection.

 

That said, my 510 will still likely be fuel injected with the second go round.  A newer fuel injection setup though, not the 80s 200sx efi, though it is effective.  Or maybe I'll run dual Webers.   :)  There are pros and cons to both.  I'm surprised at the lack of options where you are, as junk hardbodies are fairly plentiful in Washington state.  But then, trying to find Z24i parts was even a challenge here.  Only one of the pull and saves had what I needed.

 

For the record, you have to have Datsun on the front and back to make it a Datsun hardbody.  Like mine. :D

[nerdistmonk]

I like carburetors, i dont like having a computer control my truck, 90% of the breakdowns i see people have with the hardbody is always a sensor/computer issue, if those sensors wernt there, they would be driving their truck

[Fast720]

Hi

I would turn the engine until the lobe that move's the pump arm is at it's highest spot ( highest meaning closest to the pump arm) and then hold the pump up in place with the arm depressed against the lobe , and if it's not touching flush on the side of the engine you will need a spacer.

This will show you also how thick the spacer will need to be.

I hope this helps

Fast720

[nerdistmonk]

ok ill try that, if i have to i can make that metal cover into a spacer

[tjyak50]

Big fan of carbs too.

Funny how so many drag cars only use carbs.

And tons of light aircraft.

 

And tons of us who enjoy the brotherhood of mechanical devices, for whatever that means.

 

That said, DD=EFI.

Nice build.

[nerdistmonk]

Tomorrow is D-Day for the truck, it either comes back essentially a datsun 720 or im walking lol.

 

Ill snap plenty of pictures. As for it saying datsun on the front/back, sadly that wont happen since the tailgate has NISSAN on it in embossed lettering.

 

but one has to remember nissan = datsun, and the datsuns of the 80s always said "datsun manufactured by nissan" on them.

 

 

If i ever get some big money saved up ill try to get a datsun 520, i will end up having to drive to the west coast to get one though.

 

 

The more i work on this truck, the less it resembles anything that nissan nor datsun ever did..lol, excuse me are rubberbands a standard option on this model year? hehe

[nerdistmonk]

...The project may still have hope yet, i was missing a metal collar that goes on the dist, so maybe this will work.

 

Anyways ill keep everyone posted.

[nerdistmonk]

Got my manual choke installed

[nerdistmonk]

Gave it a wash today, havent been able to complete my project since i still need the pedalstal that goes to distributor. sigh.

[collision and customs]

It's clean. I have a 87 too. SE V6. I'm going to do bigtime mods on it. It already has a 95 Pathfinder nose, a 98 hood and 87 Pathfinder bedsides and a 95 interior swap

[nerdistmonk]

Its starting to get rust underneith of it (not real bad but still), it had rust preventative coating put on it in 1986 when it was bought, but it isnt holding up after 27 years, i blasted the bottom of the truck with rust reformer, but i doubt that will hold up very long. I guess next year ill have to strip the truck down to the frame and refurb it all.

[collision and customs]

I wanna get my 79 KC done before I go any farther

[datzenmike]

Damn, so busy I slipped up. I pulled my Z24 and it doesn't have a pedestal. The Z series dizzy bolts directly to the timing cover.

 

To recap you have a Z24i you want to convert to carb and regular distributor. You have a Z22 distributor but it doesn't fit? Your picture you sent is missing and the three or more messages are getting hard to find and re read to get straight.

 

Maybe start a post on what you have and what you've done so it's all in one place and it can be sorted out. Doug assures me that a Z22 dizzy will fit the Z24 so there is likely something simple missing.