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New Dude with 720


El Barto

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Howdy. Just aquired a 1980 720 King Cab 3 speed Automatic the other week. I've been following this forum since then to pick up info and lurk on others' photos. Really stoked to see so many other Datsuns out there that are in good shape. Love this little pick up thus far. I've owned several 1980's Japanese pickups but I'm really stoked on this one. I'm the 2nd owner and this thing is in really good shape! 78,000 original miles, rust isn't that bad and it has a new paint job.

 

I installed a new water pump last Sunday with the help of my friend. The old water pump was on the way out, the bearing inside was sounding kinda gnarly.. Upon the advice of almost EVERYONE I've read through on this and other forums, I went ahead and purchased a new Weber 32/36 carb. Going to install it next week hopefully. The only real issue I have is what I think are the ball joints. Or perhaps the tie rods? It squeaks really bad when I'm driving around and turning, like a rusty door handle that needs some WD-40. I've looked underneath and put some grease in some necessary places but it's not really made a difference. I reckon I should replace them, altough I'm not sure. Any suggestions?

 

I'll put up some more pics soon. I went ahead and ditched the camper shell and hood spoiler thingy. Looks much better already.

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Good to see your fixing a 80 720 best of both worlds i would say.

Why are you switching carbs?  Is it running bad,, cuz if the stock carb is running right a Weber can't compete ( without fiddling)  with the all weather drivabilty .  IMO

 I see no pictures either

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Good to see your fixing a 80 720 best of both worlds i would say.

Why are you switching carbs?  Is it running bad,, cuz if the stock carb is running right a Weber can't compete ( without fiddling)  with the all weather drivabilty .  IMO

 I see no pictures either

 

@bananahamuck Carb isn't running bad. You think the stock carb is better than a new Weber 32/36?

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When running right the stock Hitachi is the best. Good on mileage, performance and emissions. All around it has great drive ability and is easy to live with but it is quite complex. If running well I would leave it and keep on truckin' The Weber is a little more performance oriented and can get close to the same mileage with adjustments. It is a little harder to drive with and not as smooth. The 32/36 is a very simple carb.

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Nice looking truck. :thumbup:

 

And personally I think the stock Hitachi carburetor is rubbish! When it is working properly it is good, but GOOD LUCK getting it there! Mine was still fubared and ran like a bucket of crap AFTER being rebuilt by a professional ex old school Nissan mechanic per the previous owner. And tuned and re-tuned by myself and a carb specialist uncle of my wife's. I wasted a lot of money on that POS before I gave up and bought a Weber. And the Hitachi  is getting difficult to get parts for. I could not find a rebuild kit, and parts stores wanted $500 for a reman, no thanks! A Weber is way better in my opinion, easier to work on and lots of parts available for them. Not mention a slight increase in power.

 

And the squeaking is more than likely the ball joints. If they are making noise, they are on the way out. Since they are bolt in it is an easy DIY job. Most parts stores can get them.

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I love that color!

Are you uploading them from a phone or camera?

 

@justin berni  Thanks! I'm stoked on the color too. Was thinking about maybe adding a retro turquoise strip down the side eventually. Maybe... The picture is just  a quick snap from my iPhone. I'll take some proper pics with my Canon sometime this week and put up a bunch of pics, engine, interior, etc...

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When running right the stock Hitachi is the best. Good on mileage, performance and emissions. All around it has great drive ability and is easy to live with but it is quite complex. If running well I would leave it and keep on truckin' The Weber is a little more performance oriented and can get close to the same mileage with adjustments. It is a little harder to drive with and not as smooth. The 32/36 is a very simple carb.

So you think I should leave it alone? Whoa... All that i've read thus far said to just tear out the original carb and put in the Weber. i've read that it can be tricky to get it adjusted right sometimes.. But now i'm wondering if I should mess with it at all? I'm not looking for some super performance carb, just a little more power would be nice. it accelerates slow (which i'm not too worried about) but I would like a little more power when going up hills, at red lights in traffic, etc...

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Nice looking truck. :thumbup:

 

And personally I think the stock Hitachi carburetor is rubbish! When it is working properly it is good, but GOOD LUCK getting it there! Mine was still fubared and ran like a bucket of crap AFTER being rebuilt by a professional ex old school Nissan mechanic per the previous owner. And tuned and re-tuned by myself and a carb specialist uncle of my wife's. I wasted a lot of money on that POS before I gave up and bought a Weber. And the Hitachi  is getting difficult to get parts for. I could not find a rebuild kit, and parts stores wanted $500 for a reman, no thanks! A Weber is way better in my opinion, easier to work on and lots of parts available for them. Not mention a slight increase in power.

 

And the squeaking is more than likely the ball joints. If they are making noise, they are on the way out. Since they are bolt in it is an easy DIY job. Most parts stores can get them.

 

@joecool  Thanks man! I was following all your posts since you have a 1980 as well. You've done a lot of work to yours and it looks great I think..

 

I reckon I will install some new ball joints, upper and lower, and do it myself. I've seen a few tutorials on here and I think i can tackle it. Can't wait for it to stop squeaking! Driving me nuts...

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@bananahamuck Carb isn't running bad. You think the stock carb is better than a new Weber 32/36?

 

I believe so yes,, now if it develops problems you can pretty much throw it away as like Datzenmike said ,, it is very complicated carb,, and getting another good carb is all but impossible as rebuilders are a dying breed. Unlike the Weber that can be dissasembled and cleaned on the car in a parking lot,  if need be.

  I would keep the Weber for sure ,, as it is a good investment for the future, but i wouldn't take off a good running Hitachi.

 

Truck looks gooooood

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Try greasing the ball joints first. If the front end is 'tight' and steers fine then grease. If the noise doesn't stop it might be the rubber bushings on the A arms, sway bar, shocks, tension rods. Inspect them for wear or looseness.

 

 

Have someone climb on the front bumper and bounce it up and down while you look and listen underneath.

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Don't throw away that hood spoiler thingy, I'll buy it from you if you don't want it as long as it's not broken/cracked.

 

The truck looks good, and keep in mind that it's an eighty and has an L20b, so power wise your going to be limited, it is after all a heavy truck.

I like the dual SUs myself, one of the top 5 upgrades I ever made on my 521.

 

Take care of your datsun truck, and it will take care of you, I have only been towed home once in a Datsun truck, and that was because I had a car transmission in it, I have had a cop tell me he was going to call a tow truck, I told him I would get it going, he said it had to be out of the road, so I used the starter to get it off the road, he left, and I had it running in 5 minutes.

Datsuns will get you home every time if you keep fuel, oil and water in them, one time I even pumped the fuel pump by hand with a screw driver to fill the bowls up because it didn't have enough throw anymore, then I would start it and drive it for a couple miles, then remove the valve cover and fill the bowls again and get another couple miles, I did that for 20 miles, but the last hill I could not get up, by the time I would get it started the light would turn red and it would run out of fuel, I tried for half an hour to get threw that signal, either traffic or the light would foil me, I gave up and coasted to a parking lot at the bottom of the hill, walked home and got an electric fuel pump and rode my bike back, installed it and drove it home, I did make it home without a tow, but it took hours.

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Wow. That thing looks great!

If you do decide to run the Hitachi for a while and it starts to run funny, before you blame the carb, check all those vacuum lines. I unsuccessfully chased a vacuum leak a while back until I realized I could spend like 10 or 15 bucks and switch out all of my vacuum line. Put some fresh rubber on and it made a world of difference. No 'carb' trouble since.

Welcome!

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Wow. Thanks for all the input y'all! I really appreciate it. Well, I went home after work and snapped a few pics on my iPhone. Not the best quality but here's a few more of my new ride.

IMG_3825_zpsf78552b8.jpgIMG_3833_zpsc481eee3.jpgIMG_3824_zpsb0c4c7f7.jpgIMG_3826_zps960849a6.jpgIMG_3828_zpsc9d9ccaa.jpgIMG_3829_zps1503424f.jpgIMG_3831_zps20f28d26.jpgIMG_3832_zpsfe6ec25a.jpg

IMG_3834_zpsdec7e23b.jpgIMG_3830_zpsfb2212fc.jpgIMG_3827_zps8dc92e9b.jpg

 

I put on the Baja seat covers just cause it's hotter than Hell here in Texas. The original vinyl seats are still pretty much mint underneath.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Your 720 looks great, El Barto!

My truck is a 1985 version of yours, minus the shell and plus the 5 speed manual. Same color, too. My Odo read 60,521 when I bought it last October. I consider it to be one of the great scores of my lifetime. 

 

I had a hard time getting my Hitachi- which had obviously been replaced at some point- to really work well under all driving conditions. I know that they work fine, because they were delivered that way, but it was beyond me to sort it out to perfection. Maybe it was going TU too. In any case, I have been here before and the decision was pretty easy for me: Weber time.

 

I had to play with the idle mixture screw a bit, and had to relocate the idle return spring, but all of my balky running issues have gone away now with the Weber. And I am getting about 265 miles on a ten gallon fill (Plus, unleaded). I don’t know if or how much it improved the power as I only drove my truck home eight miles before I tore it all down. But it seems to have a lot of power now, for sure. It is so fun to drive now that I look for excuses to go anywhere in it.

 

I am intrigued by the comments about the weight of this truck. Is it really a lot lighter than my 1976 620 was? It moves up through the gears with real authority, giving one the sensation that it is still a pretty light truck with a bunch of low end power. I realize that it has 800 cc more displacement and perhaps that compensates for the King Cab and double bed, but the horsepower isn’t rated at much more than my 620 was. (And she was a real beast too...)

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