First 720 project. Low n' Slow - Lots of Pics Beware

[Koin]

Hey all,

I'm new to Ratsun. I've owned a number of Nissans in the past, as well as my mom owning a couple Datsuns growing up.

We had a 280z, and a 620 pickup. Both very memorable cars for me, I loved riding in them. The 620 inspired me to buy a 720 because it was such a tank! I saw it driving around about 6 years ago- it had the same dents and rusty spots. B)

On to the project.

My wife and I recently picked up an 84' 720 KC Z24 2wd 5-speed. It has ~119,000 and we are the 3rd owner. We got it for $1250.













Body:
The body is in great shape. There are a few small cancer spots here and there, but overall there is hardly any dents or rust. The rear bumper and tailgate took a pole in the center, but I removed the bumper and there was no bed damage. I'll just replace the tailgate later and you'd never know! The front also has a similar story, a crease in the center of the bumper and hood. The grill mounts are cracked too. But again, frame and under body are straight, with no damage. I'll just replace said parts and you'd never know! The doors, for the first time ever in my history, actually close easy, and don't sag even the slightest.

Removed Bumper:




Interior:
The interior is pretty well kept. A few small missing items, but no cracks in the dash, and all of the electrical items inside work. I don't even think there are tears in the seats!







Electrical:
Mostly everything works well, however the blinkers don't work. The previous owners mucked around with stereo wiring, splicing into things- I bet that's where the problem is.

Engine/Mechanical:
The motor is in good shape, but needs a lot of little things. I made a run down on the key areas to follow; some have pictures and some don't. I'll fill each area with more pictures as we go.





Carb - Needed to be rebuilt, which I have done. It is currently missing a couple items such as the needle and spring from the anti-dieseling solenoid. The idle fuel mix screw plug was drilled out- I'll need to adjust that. It may or may not need a dash pot as it's missing one. Otherwise things look to be in good shape.

Before:


After:


Ignition - Spark plugs are shot from running rich. Electrical seems to be good on them though and wires look to be in good shape. Everything is NGK :thumbup: .

Front end - Timing cover needs new gaskets, chain guides need to be replaced and I'm guessing the other typical tune up items like water pump etc. as well.

Top end - Valve cover gasket looks newer, valves most likely need an adjustment along with a head re-torque.

Bottom end- Yuck! What a mess it is. Oil pan looks to have had some oozing over time, collecting dirt and nasty stuff. Will need to pressure wash and replace seal with front end job.

Cooling system - Thankfully it doesn't have head gasket issues, and seems to keep temps low really well. The radiator has stayed full the entire time I've had it.

Transmission - Everything looks pretty tight and clean underneath. The forward gears feel about right for the age- click in well but a little slop left to right. The reverse gear does like to complain a little. Going into 3rd before reverse seems to allow it to slide in nice though.

Brakes - REALLY NICE. Touchy with lots of stopping power. SWEET.

Steering - It has power steering, a little slop but overall really smooth and pretty darn good for the age.

Suspension - Seems decent, haven't got to test it out much though. Rides pretty smooth around the block.

Tires - Tons of tread they look close to new.

Tabs - Just renewed :hyper:


                                                      ----------------------------Future Plans---------------------------------
Suspension:
Belltech drop spindles and lowering leaf springs. I'd like to stay away from blocks if I can.
-I'll start with a 3" drop and go from there. The plan is to keep the suspension travel optimized while being lowered. (It's a DD)

 

Drivetrain:

D21 solid axle with LSD. Will need to decide gearing- will need something decent for MPG on the highway.

 

Brakes:

Will look to upgrade fronts to a bigger size and the rear to disc with the D21 swap.

 

Engine:

Will be rocking the Z24 until the motor gives out. Then to decide KA24DET or SR20DET....

Wheels:
Some 17" dished out moons/smoothies/gennies (enough names for them?!). I'd like to make an updated classic look for it.


http://www.autoobsession.com/restorationparts/wheels.html

Tires:

Hankook Ventus HRII H405
215/45R17 87H DSB
http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/findTireDetail.do?ra=searchTiresBySize.do&fl=&tc=HANHH1&c=12&rcz=98058&pc=12852&ar=45&rf=true&rd=17&rc=WASINT&cs=215

Interior:
Paint interior and find replacement parts where paint won't work. Get new seats out of anything that fits. Might do a black or tan or brown interior.

 

Exterior:

Some type of deep green / forest green paint.

Remove trim pieces.

New hood.

New front bumper in black.

Smooth style bed with new tailgate- might need to transfer my roll pan over.

Bang out front lip or get new one.

4x4 fenders and maybe paint match body. If these don't work out I'll probably roll the fenders some.

[Spoona_Jay21]

YAY! another Newcomer! i've noticed alot of new 720's in the works in the last few months. just the same hope to see some epic progress!

 

all this 720 love recently makes me want one now..... crap....

[red76datsun]

Welcome to ratsun! Sounds like a good vehicle. Another dato saved!

[flatcat19]

2 people replied and not a single request for pics?

 

N00bs. This is not NICO. 

Get with the picures!

[Koin]

2 people replied and not a single request for pics?

 

N00bs. This is not NICO. 

Get with the picures!

I know I can't believe it took 3 posts!  :thumbup: Haha I'm at work, so when I get home around 7pm PST I'll post them up for you guys.

[Koin]

Welcome to ratsun! Sounds like a good vehicle. Another dato saved!

Heck yeah, no way I could let this little gem rust away- the seller was really cool though. I wasn't sure if I wanted it when I first looked at it due to the issues it had. But the owner let me take home his Chilton and assess the problems (as I've never worked on a carb before). He took the ad down for two weeks while I got everything together to buy it- towing, extra expenses, all that. He said it looked like I was going to treat it right and had the skill to fix it up so he waited to sell it to me- which was pretty cool you don't see that much anymore.

 

Oh, and I picked it up for $1250- not bad considering it's overall condition and the fact it may only take about 200 bucks to get it all fixed up with absolutely no leaks, all gaskets done, and basically just a perfect running truck.

[Koin]

YAY! another Newcomer! i've noticed alot of new 720's in the works in the last few months. just the same hope to see some epic progress!

 

all this 720 love recently makes me want one now..... crap....

Yeah it does seem like a lot of them are circulating around, I had tons to choose from when I was looking. This truck is a perfect fixer upper so I too hope to get some quick progress on it considering I don't have to throw much cash at it, and I've been getting tons of OT at work to pay for it all.

 

Guess it never hurts to have a couple tanks around- if you find one cheap do it!

[Koin]

Going to do some quick edits so you all don't get dizzy turning your heads around, but- pics are incoming! -Done.  B)

[Koin]

Got a lot done on the truck today. Found out the fuel shut off solenoid (anti dieseling solenoid) was not working (had my wife turn the key while I listened for the click), so I put in a new one and ran the black wire to a ground point as the old one was a one wire. Worked like a charm!

 

After that I checked all my vacuum lines, put on a bunch of new hose clamps, and put the intake tub back on.

 

Started it up, and could instantly tell I solved the issue- main bank wasn't getting fuel and the old owners just removed the needle when the solenoid went out instead of replacing it. I got it idled down and tried to rev it up and it wanted to stumble.

 

So next I hooked up the timing gun and found it was off. Once I got it set it purred like a kitten!

 

Took it in for an oil change and now shes even happier.

 

 

Last night I replaced the spark plugs with a full NGK copper set. I removed the intake plugs and found out they were some other off brand. Looks like they were just getting cheap on maintenance. The exhaust side was NGK.

 

I also replaced all of the parking lights as they were out.

 

 

Now all of the lights work- even the work light under the hood.  :thumbup:

 

 

In the end, the moral of the story is keep it OG and always, always perform the necessary blood ritual:

[jesusno2]

Wow you got the SUPER BLUE interior too! Lol nissan didnt bother to do much contrast with their interior design its all just blue with more blue and some terrible fake wood grain.

[Koin]

Wow you got the SUPER BLUE interior too! Lol nissan didnt bother to do much contrast with their interior design its all just blue with more blue and some terrible fake wood grain.

LOL yeah it's way more blue than I'm cool with. That wood grain though- I don't know how anyone thought that looked good. I mean I know they took some crazy stuff back then but damn that's tacky.