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How I Learned 'Bout Short Early Datsun 720 Cabs...


TheEddie

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...and looooong late "NISSAN" 720 cabs. 

 

In a word, "oops".  Expensively.

 

Along about 198485-ish, I bought a 1982 Datsun long wheelbase 720-D off the company I was working for at the time; their first foray (and mine) into diesel vehicles.  It had a Rawson-Koenig service body on it, which twisted on bumps separately from the cab.  I liked working out of a service body, rilly liked the diesel (which nobody else did), and when it came up time (early for cheaply for the company) to off it, I pounced.

 

It needed typical work-truck body work, and since it had a service body and was going to be a personal vehicle, the service body hadda go, to be replaced with a later 720 bed--you know, the stylin' one with a smooth, convex shape to the sides at the top, double-walled gem B) that Nissan was using after the name change (from "Datsun" to "Nissan").

 

I f-i-n-a-l-l-y sold off the service body (at loss), and f-i-n-a-l-l-y found THE cool long bed; remember, the 720 was still being built then, i.e., a current truck, and the bed's price reflected that (high-dollar).  Remember, too, that there was no internet in those days (I guess Al Gore hadn't invented it yet :angel: ), cell phones were as big as your ol' ladie's purse and carried the same way, and Windows for computers hadn't yet become common--it was all DOS, and the 8x10 CRT screens lettering was amber-colored--in other words, very little information available.   "Lounge Lizard Larry" was huge.

 

It never even occurred to me to get a tape measure; anybody could see it was a Long Bed, late 720--heck, it even said so on the tailgate.  Awright!  I FINALLY FOUND ONE!  YAY!

 

Long way of setting the stage for "lack of information", willlingly blindfolded.

 

I bought the long bed (ouch). 

 

I arranged with my boss to use the shop Friday night; they had an overhead electric hoist; possible lost Friedday night partying. 

 

I had the salvage yard drop it off at the shop that Friday during the day.  The shop guys kept and eye on it for me while I was out in the field.  Needless to say, I couldn't wait for that day to get over, even moreso that Friedday normally.  Yeehaw, remember to breathe!

 

I drove the chassis-cab to the shop. 

 

I raised the new bed in the air.

 

I positioned chassis cab for a straight-down body dump, wheel openings lined up with tires/wheels.

 

And this is where I made my mistake: I grabbed my camera and a cold beer from the cooler in the cab, and had a pre-victory cold one, snapping pictures while the body was in the air, savoring the moment (and the beer)--Counted my chickens before they hatched; also know as pre-victory gloating.  I am SO cool, and one fine day everybody will know it.  An 8-ft. box is an 8-foot box, right?

 

I eased the bed onto the frame.  WITH WHEELS CENTERED IN THE WHEEL WELLS, THERE WAS ABOUT A 3-INCH GAP BETWEEN THE BACK OF THE CAB AND THE FRONT OF THE BED!!!   HUH?  WHA?!

 

And so I learned:  Nissan had seized the opportunity to lengthen the cab of the new "NISSAN" 720 by about 3-4 inches from the old "DATSUN", i.e., changing the wheel opening position lengthwise by that same amount.

 

Needless to say, the ride was not pimpworthy with that huge gap; I hadda sell that uncool bed (mumble-mumble snivel-whine-moan) and find another long bed, an ol'-style long box; the corner bar made a fortune offa me that night; and I'm still whinin' 'bout it 25-ish years later...WAAAAAAAH.

 

Eddie

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Yep, us Americans need more legroom, so the cab was lengthened, and the box was shortened, actually I believe the the larger cabs were made in the USA, and the shorter cabs in Japan.

That was an expensive lesson, as the truck was new, even though it was used, only the kingcab stayed the same, fact is, except for the fuel tank, you can bolt on a kingcab cab/box to your frame if you cut off the front box mounts, but you would need a kingcab fuel tank also.

I would bet that no one you knew would make the same mistake after that, you became the Nissan expert, there were other changes also, do you know what they were?

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