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My 720 Resto


720inOlyWa

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I don’t think that I would admit to making that mistake twice, Charlie! In any case, we are never alone in making our mistakes. One of my favorite things to find is a factory mistake that was never caught. Today I discovered that the the gasket on the intake plenum was mangled during manufacturing. It looks like it even could have been leaking, it was so poorly installed. That is a mistake that I will gladly remedy- because it belongs to Mr. Watanabe, and not me!

 

With the intake manifold on, it is pretty much time to pull it off of the engine stand to attend to mounting the flywheel, clutch, and transmission. But before that happens, I need to flip the water intake to the block by 180 and find an engine hose package for the Z24,to replace ‘em all.

 

After that, it will be time to put the Fudgecicle on jack stands in preparation for a heart transplant! Hard to believe it, actually.

 

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I see that we have a simple misunderstanding i geriatric nomenclature. What you call ‘mistakes’ (like leaving off the throw out bearing and yet still mounting the transmission, for example) I call ‘trial runs’. seems like everything I do includes a trial run of some kind. But man, the second time, I‘got it down!

 

Finished, and ready to install. I mean done, done, and done! total cost, including purchase and everything, $1,694.50.  Whew. I need to save up a little energy for the giant engine swap coming up...

 

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These stamped valve covers are pretty notorious for weeping on the firewall side. Oil pools a little bit back there, ya know. Every Z24 that I have cleaned up (all three) was a mess back there. The phillips head screws with the grommet washers get all beat up  by about 1990 and have to be replaced if you are ever going to nix the rear face leak issue. By my experience, most were not replaced just because the heads were mangled. It seems that mostly, I find that the rear screws have the worst heads, so...

 

I have a cast aluminum cover that I picked up somewhere, but it is in pretty rough shape, with some aluminum decomposition and horrific grime levels. I tried to rehab it once, and gave it up for a lost cause. I may have to take another look, now that you bring it up.

 

Despite the weeping issues and the screws that need replacing, I like the stamped and painted covers. They look a little British. I have grown fond of them, over time.

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Grandpa Trucks.


I am 67, going on 23. And so it follows that I am rehabbing my truck as if it was a 57 chev 2door that I bought out of a barn for 60 bucks back in 1965.  Every nut and bolt gets loving attention. And it is such a cool find, that I can hardly deviate from rehabbing it to dead stock, zero time functionality. I realize that everyone brings their own aesthetic bent to messing with vintage japanese iron, and I appreciate that aspect of the Ratsun Forum immensely. But I am no different. I have my own take on what I am doing here. And I think of myself as a pioneer in the ‘Grandpa Truck’ category, which I just invented, here and now.


 


A grandpa truck is a survivor that got the loving attention of some old geezer wrench, like me, as his retirement (unemployment?) project before he croaked. A good grandpa truck isn’t just a stock survivor, it is in unbelievably great mechanical condition, bumper to bumper. I don’t own a barn, but I want some kid to come across this truck someday and to have him- or her- not believe their goddamn good luck. It’s all there. It’s all in perfect working order! For how much? Shit oh dear, ll take it!


 


I am in pretty good health right now, and I plan to get at least another 100k out of my own drive train. And I full expect to enjoy this truck for some years to come. But clearly, this old 720 King Cab is going to outlive me. And it is going to be one fine grandpa truck find when I am gone.

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Wow2! Awesome! I am flattered! I do hope that get something a little from my many trials and errors. And thanks for reading! You KNOW that I can’t wait to turn the key on my new driveline too!  Thanks!

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Wow2! Awesome! I am flattered! I do hope that get something a little from my many trials and errors. And thanks for reading! You KNOW that I can’t wait to turn the key on my new driveline too!  Thanks!

:thumbup:

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I see that we have a simple misunderstanding i geriatric nomenclature. What you call ‘mistakes’ (like leaving off the throw out bearing and yet still mounting the transmission, for example) I call ‘trial runs’. seems like everything I do includes a trial run of some kind. But man, the second time, I‘got it down!

 

Finished, and ready to install. I mean done, done, and done! total cost, including purchase and everything, $1,694.50.  Whew. I need to save up a little energy for the giant engine swap coming up...

 

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Are you sure you want to install this master piece and get it dirty?  LOL

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This morning, before the sun could creep above the roofline of our house, I moved the patient onto the operating table and gave him a thorough bathing, like you do before any major surgery.

 

I have cut the deal with a day jobber mechanic to come in a few days to help me begin the engine swap in earnest. That gives me a nice little bit of time to put the Fudgecicle back up on ramps and jacks and begin to drain fluids and remove bits. We are pretty busy until sunday, but perhaps then, the operation will begin.

 

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Day three of jacking, blocking and disassembly. Time to take a break to re-read the engine removal section, just to make sure that frame crossmember at the rear trans mount comes out. (If I recall right, it does. Time to read.)  I worked on this engine extensively over the past year or so, so things are pretty clean on the top side, a lot greasier and nastier when it comes time to pull the speedo cable. Depending on my mood, I work topsides or underneath. I quit when I get frustrated, bored, or tired of it. I don’t accomplish much quickly, but I am relentless, day to day relentless. The bed is filling up with parts rather quickly. No turning back now.

 

Pulling the battery, I am pleased to see that my de-rusting and rehab on the battery tray is holding up nicely. Cool. Just about time to lose the hood.

 

Onward.

 

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Like all HF buys, they were cheap... but satisfactory. I am careful to back them up, of course. They are a couple of years old now, so they are showing some age. But hey, they were cheap.

 

Engine lift has been secured. I am pretty much ready to go, after a couple of days delay.

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...And so in the interim, all sorts of meaningless bullshit has transpired. You know, the stuff that keeps us away from our important Ratsun work, like slow draining showers and skirmishes with the city over our street maintenance. Days of good weather were squandered on these derailments. Now it is beginning to rain regularly and my engine has not yet been yanked and swapped out. Today is another day when the accomplishments will be small due to rain delays. We have had several deluges this morning already. From here, we all know that it gets rainier and colder, so I am beginning to feel the heat- or lack thereof.

 

Under the detached hood, the engine is wrapped in 2,000 lb. rated towing straps, ready to lift. I still need to take the starter motor connections off and detach the coolant connection to the manifold before I remove the engine mounts, but then it is ready to lift out. I suppose I will have to drop the front end by removing the ramps first, to help the engine package clear the grille.

 

Many thanks to Phixius for the loan of his HF engine lift. A real godsend. At the first opportunity, I am going to put it to work. Later today?.....

 

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Sun break?!?  Hurry man, get on it!

 

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I am doing this by myself, so my usual slow motion progress gets even a bit slower as heavy things that could crush my head come into play. There is always something, right? In this case, it was a few somethings. ‘Oh yeah, I have to pop off the shift lever. Ugh, forgot about that. Oh yeah, the slave cylinder. Hah, how could I forget about that?!?‘ It seems to go on and on, but I think I have everything unhooked now. Yeah, you are probably right: there is still something...

 

I will use the bottle jack and a chunk of 6 by 6 to raise the wheels gently off of the ramps and then I will gingerly remove them while Mary stabilizes the patient. Carefully, carefully, I will lower it to the 2 by 10s before re-applying the jack stands, cranking the wheels to the left to move that tie rod forward. Block everything, re-attach the lift, tension the straps slightly, place a rolling floor jack under the tranny, remove front engine mounts... and git to liftin‘.

 

Sound like a plan to you? 

 

Oh yeah... I better make a plywood air-con radiator protector before I go and start yanking that engine forward. See, there‘s always something.

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The radiator came out a while ago. But the air con radiator? Nah, I aint removing that damn thing. Seriously? I would have to get the remote crew out here to discharge the freon, etc. because it sure as hell isn’t going to drive to them at this stage.

 

It (the air-con radiator) is forward enough that I think I can get the engine out while leaving it alone. Besides, it is tucked up there so far that the engine better not have to come that far forward to get lifted out. Having said that, mine has a small munch in it where someone slid the engine into it before. That is why I figured a 1/4 inch thick plywood shield would be wise. You can‘t ding the backside of this radiator with the cooling system radiator in place, so someone had to make that munch while changing out the engine- something I had suspected for a while.

 

Hmmmm, let‘s see here.... the 85 Service Manual... in the engine removal section... doesn’t say to remove the air-con radiator, as far as I can see...

 

You are messin‘ wid me, aint you wayno?...

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