New to me 720

[Zappej]

Hello

 

My name is Justin just traded my 1992 miata with hail damage for this 1985 Nissan 720 KC! she has about 192k on the motor but runs fine, a little bed damage from someone doing a hit and run last winter on the PO other then that she is pretty clean for a 29 year old truck. Have some plans for it nothing too wild; 3 inch drop and refresh the suspension, put a carb, header, catback  maybe a cam, new paint at some point, some newer rims and get a sound system of some sort in her. I want to make her fun and still be practical to haul supplies and tow my fishing boat  

[datzenmike]

First the concerns.... The Z24 motor is known for blowing the head gasket at every 100K. The FSN recommends re-torquing the head bolts every tune up or at least once a year. Easy to do yourself.

 

Cold engine, let sit over night. Loosen only one bolt at a time and immediately torque to 60 ft lbs. Any order you like front to back, left to right, any way you choose, but only one bolt is to be loose at any one time. That's it.

 

 

Other than that, replace all transmission and differential fluids. The transmission should be done every 30K or 3-5 years which ever comes first. The last three owners probably did not keep the maintenance up so you should. Drain is at bottom of tranny or diff, Fill plug is half way up the driver's side on trans and half way up the back side of the diff. The drain bungs have a magnet on them to collect chips and filings. Take note and wipe them clean for the next time. A black paste is normal. Chunks are not.

 

GL-4 80w90 gear oil. (4 1/4 US pints / 2 liters) do NOT use GL-5 in the transmission. GL-5 rated gear oils will erode your synchro rings. If you do not have GL-4 what ever you use must be marked 'GL-4 compatible' or 'yellow metal safe'. Don't listen to the head behind the counter, he doesn't know any better.

 

GL-5 for the differential about 2 3/4 US pints or 1 1/4 liters. 90w is fine for Montana.

 

If you don't know the age of the anti freeze coolant get rid of it now. The best protection for your head gasket, rad, water pump and all the hoses is to run quality coolant in it.

 

Grease the steering and suspension ball joints. Yeah I know you're going to replace them so why bother? Well procrastination for one and this also allows you to inspect for unknown damage and familiarize yourself with everything.

 

If the U joints have fittings, grease them now too.

 

Brake fluid lasts about 3 + years and should be replaced. DOT fluid absorbs water which corrodes delicate brake parts.

 

 

 

Better to have a running truck than a truck with new paint and tires that's sitting.

[JoeCool]

Good looking truck, and welcome aboard!

[Zappej]

Thanks datzenmike, I should have put that it is getting all new fluids but that is a must for any new to me car but i did not know about the head gasket that will go on this weekends fix list. also thank you for the hints on the fluids It saves me a lot of headaches!

[720inOlyWa]

I wondered about re-torquing those head bolts! Thanks! when I took my head off to replace the gasket, the rear bolts were only torqued to about 20lbs and I wondered to myself if that was the reason the gasket blew. I made a mental note to re-torque every once in a while. Thanks for the advice!

[datzenmike]

Aluminum head expands 2x what the block does and this causes a shearing action inside the gasket. Keeping the head clamped to the block prevents it blowing out.