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just got my first datsun 720 dual cab. need some tips for the rebuild. (unsure of year)


btd19m

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okay so i am new to this and this is my first datsun 720. not sure where to start with it its mostly okay but has a few problems i need to sort out and it badly needs rustwork and a full respray. i plan to completely rebuild it over the next few months and would like some help with this. i love the red and am not sure if its the stock color. the bars in the back are from the old owner they can be removed as far as i can tell. the only problem i have is i can not seem to find a vin plate. theirs 3 plates under the hood and 2 plates on the drivers door. i know it has problems with various parts of the motor but it runs and idles fine and will hold 110km/h for any amount of time (the old owner drove it 3000km to here when he brought it up at 110km/h most of the way(this was a month ago). one thing i don't like is the car does a fuel filter every few weeks and the distributor cap is vented so it lets water into the distributor and causes all kinds of problems. before it was brought up here it was used as a transport car at a vet clinic. its never towed apart from one time 2 weeks ago when i had to rescue a friends trailer. its a 5 speed straight 6 2 wheel drive as far as i know. it starts first turn every time and does not stall or run rich and is getting 24.1km per 3L of fuel. idle is around 1150 cold from memory and around 1200 warm. i went to the wrecker and got a brand new set of lights ($65) its regoed until the end of the year so ive got till then to make sure its in the best shape. everything looks and feels fine and ive had no problems until i lost my keys a few weeks ago and sadly i ended up figureing out my friend by mistake took my keys overseas. the same key fits the fuel cap the fuel cap cover the doors the glove box and the ignitio. i live on a dirt road hence the mud all over it.

 

 

 

big problems at the moment 

 

vented distributor cap lets in water

broken lights at the back (have new ones)

dont have keys and it will for some reason start with anything that looks remotely like a key.

both back doors will lock and not unlock when closed firmly 

surface rust on they tray

tray latches will randomly Release and the tray will fall down when driving (normaly has a peace of fencing wire or bale twine holding it up)

is wired for spotlights but they were ripped off the bar in a small crash and the front bar is held on with tape and stuffed with rags (i plan to install a 42 inch light bar instead of replacing the lightforce 240 spotlights)

the mounts for the bar are damaged and the owner basically just put 5mm screws through the plastic mount's and screwed it to a plate and then screwed the plate to the body

every time it rains the car acts like theres water in the fuel. problem is caused by the vented distributor cap but unable to find a cap without the vent for this model

minor problems

 

needs some paint

has a 5 pin trailer plug that earths 99% of the time and makes the rear lights super dim (is getting a new trailer plug in 2 weeks)

the bars in the back are not properly bolted down so they rattle and sway and bang a bit (plan to remove them unless they came with the car or something)

front bar is quite banged up and there are a few minor dents on the body

still has the radio the car rolled of the production line with

has no clear vin plate as far as i can see.

exhaust seems shorter then it should be

tires are from 2009 and are okay but they are a little bit harder then i would personally like

 

 

good points

 

it has the books for services every 3000km for the first 10 years and after for every 5000km after that. diff oil was done every service and the lines were bleed to make sure there was no air in the lines. (breaks and clutch) 

just had a wheel alignment and will be getting a service in 2 weeks time

will be replacing the tires and possibly the rims as well in the next month

has a brand new washer bottle and 2 services ago had the slave and master cylinder as well as the break cylinder? replaced.

has relatively new shocks and coils (2013) 

clutch was done in 2013 

just had the brake pedal replaced a month or less ago as well as a new park brake sensor (old one flattened the battery as it did not turn off even after the park brake was releced 

not sure if the 3rd cylinder is power steering or brake fluid (assuming brakes as it says use dot 4 break fluid on the lid)

 

 

photos 

 

(album on imgur)

 

http://imgur.com/a/Y0hFm#7

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 its a 5 speed straight 6 2 wheel drive as far as i know.

 

 

8wwVKHcb.jpg

 

It's a 4 cylinder. According to the one engine tag an L18. The engine size is stamped on the block just below the head behind the dip stick handle. There is also a VIN number stamped into the top of the frame just forward of the driver's side (Australia) engine mount and behind the alternator. It's likely rusty so use a wire brush.

 

The distributor cap shouldn't have an opening in it although dampness can get in in rainy weather. For that distributor buy a pair of Nitrile disposable synthetic rubber gloves the para medics and doctors use. Poke very small holes in the finger tips. Remove the nipples from the plug wire ends and push through the finger tips, put the nipples back on and insert into the distributor cap. When done, roll the rest of the glove down over the distributor like a condom. Good for one winter driving season of dry distributor.   

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any idea how to get keys cut. its been sitting there for a week now as the keys are lost overseas and its on a quarter tank and without they keys its almost impossible to put fuel in. local locksmith is an hour away and he did not know if he could make up keys to suit. hoping the mobile locksmith the panel beater suggested can make one but its not looking good. one problem that i will lose rego for is the fact you don't actually need a key in it to have it running you can turn the car on and remove the key. that is not legal here anymore. i tightened the tailgate and took it for a test drive but the tailgate dropped after about an hour. and now its go a really weird scraping noise below the drivers foot bed. no idea what it is. is there anything on that list i should focus on first? i have a new distributor cap in the mail just need to wait. until then the workshop billed me 11$ and they just siliconed up a hole in the middle of the cap. i have new lights but ive noticed the wires for the old lights are a bit of a problem the wires hang around 10 to 12 cm below the rear bar and i have no real way of sorting them out yet. i bought a full set of brand new lights and they have the full harness. the bars in the back are bolted into the tray and im unsure if they are bolted any deeper. but they need to go asap. they are quite loose after the 3000km drive here. before that the car did at most a 5 km trip 10 or 20 times a day at the vet's. i have had a look around and the only tire place here does 235/60/R14 and they dont have 225/65R14's that are on the rear. the frount is okay it has 185/65/R14's would adding wider tires on the thicker tires on the back make a difference?. also should i replace the battery after the trailer plug is done? the battery is going flat every time its driven for more then an hour or so. i know its the trailer plug earthing but for the minute i cant do anything about that.

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uploading a ton of related photos and i have work today and will be able to take as many more as needed. (im a networking tech who is doing work for a vet in a small town) upload will take a few minutes 

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also what is the air pump hookup on the tailgate for? the first owner said it may have had air shocks but was unsure? (quite a few cars did here until and some after 1999) i have no idea but its just something im wondering about 

 

EEAlmop.jpg

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theres 20cm+ of lose wire shoved up in the rear of the bar that im unsure of its for the lights i know that but it runs to the trailer plug and from there back to the frount. my trailer has running lights on the sides hooked into the headlights so theres about 11 wires in the back of the 5 pin trailer plug and the wires run from a few places 2 from the dash cluster 2 from the steering and 4 from the brake and turning lights on the rear. 

LqWpFIZ.jpg

 

this is the trailer plug ill get some shots of the under body later. don't have ramps apart from a car trailer at the moment 

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79qIuon.jpgtrailer plug (factory fitted it seems) ill get the plates off the doors asap as well theres 2 drivers side and theres 2 on the back door drivers side i think they are they tray plates (cars need a plate for the cab and tray here after 1960)

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im am wondering if the leaf springs are okay. it was on the service from around 4 months ago. they put shocks/coils $1150  it was sagging in the rear after they put a pallet in the back (i feel horrible for the car) and had new springs put in a week or two later. ive noticed the scraping sound under the pedals happens when the car takes a bump or pothole its worse on the driveway then anywhere else the entire body scrapes in the middle. im unsure if this is normal for it to ride so low? i have 7 other cars including 2 classics from 1977 in almost new states. the classics have minor issues with the drive way (the top crests at about 18% then flattens out). as far as i can tell its about 2 inches lower then stock. it has stock everything on it so maybe sagging springs or something i really dont know. 

 

any help would be great

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got photos and measurements and got the motor problem it had a stuck starter motor (rusted in the on position) fixed it now and it makes a sweet sound at the rear. thinking off replacing the extractors i have a set of an old 1977 v8 i had on my 4 cylinder landcruser fj45 made an amazing rumble from front to back. its sitting at a ride height of 18cm front and back (7 inches) and the shocks are so far okay. they have  more give then i thought (about 2 inches of give each leaf and the front has about 3 inches of give) it is not a nissan or datsun motor as well. at least i dont think it is. its a random set of 12 letters printed on the piston covers. the motor has no numbers anywhere. the car is due for a service in under 2000km so it will have that done. 

 

i will upload some videos and some photos of the underbody and the motor up close and a few other things right now 

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nissian OHC 

 

thats the only thing on the motor was not random letters or numbers it was coated in grease in places. 

 

car does not have any vin plate or tray plate does not have anything but the basic 720 plate and the australian standards plate. the aircon is cold and heats up fast its really over hot and bitterly cold at the moment. (will post a video in a minute uploading the starter problem before and after the new starter motor. also have a video of the air con its quite loud but that may just be me. im used to a quite soft aircon

 

used a key from my landcruser fj45 to start the motor (same problem it always had. key slot fits nearly anything like a key. doors are the same key but you do need the key to open them. fuel cap is the same key but is welded in place on the inside and will only take the key. no way to try and get in and put fuel in (its under 1/7 of a tank right now) even when sitting there idleing for 10 minutes (started first turn of the key within around half a second) it used less then the needle will show fuel wise. it has a 60L tank. so im extremely happy with that. and from Melbourne to Brisbane and halfway back to Sydney (around 3400km) it used about 85L of fuel. (about 3km in a gallon so if my math is right 13km to the gallon or 8.07 miles to the gallon) (family car (1977 ss torana gets less then half a gallon to 1 mile so its a huge change) 

 

the back door lock on the drivers side is jammed or broken  the door is unlocked but the handle wont let go. it seems like the lock is still completely in the lock position and the button at the top is in the unlock position. 

 

heres a photo of the ride height its on flat ground and the tape measure was pressed hard to the ground. 

0ME8qPi.jpg

 

this chain bothers me a lot it catches on things when driving from time to time.

 

1lVcgtP.jpg

 

the wiring in the back of the rear bar

 

WJ5s0lN.jpg

 

 

the hanging wires on the tail lights

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9xqQB5B.jpg

all the doors are free of rust or any kind of plate as well

FX7PkJY.jpg

 

battery is from around 2002/3 (not sure if it matters)

2dGLtVq.jpg

 

this is stamped on the body in at least 3 places in the motor bay 

 

WQU1zLZ.jpg

 

also the second set of lights dont work as there wired to the spotlight switch witch has been removed after the lights were snapped off

 

3GIZ77c.jpg

 

this is/was how the front bar was held on after the small crash 

 

iAFL7ET.jpg

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the last service was done at 410,000 its booked in for next week at 419,000 (service was due at 420,000 looking at the sticker on the windshield)

 

aaH15PU.jpg

6Y6xXf9.jpgthe key info is not printed in the glove box. so im still unable to get keys cut they said something about using a gel to mold a new key but its pretty costly

 

fxqISll.jpg

 

the leaf springs and some kind of spacers in the tray 

 

qwspvwN.jpgktrnErI.jpgfv7zNEM.jpg

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this is under the tray (black line is the brake lines?)

 

jdmEgb2.jpg

 

got 22 minutes on the last vudeo upload of after the replacement starter motor install but ill put the first 2 up now 

 

both of these are before the replacement 

 

https://youtu.be/XosM7F96qZA

 

https://youtu.be/0mpckfNt-HM

 

i did two videos after one of witch is one with a small problem ive had since day one (it puffs white smoke. a lot of it)

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8wwVKHcb.jpg

 

It's a 4 cylinder. According to the one engine tag an L18. The engine size is stamped on the block just below the head behind the dip stick handle. There is also a VIN number stamped into the top of the frame just forward of the driver's side (Australia) engine mount and behind the alternator. It's likely rusty so use a wire brush.

 

The distributor cap shouldn't have an opening in it although dampness can get in in rainy weather. For that distributor buy a pair of Nitrile disposable synthetic rubber gloves the para medics and doctors use. Poke very small holes in the finger tips. Remove the nipples from the plug wire ends and push through the finger tips, put the nipples back on and insert into the distributor cap. When done, roll the rest of the glove down over the distributor like a condom. Good for one winter driving season of dry distributor.   

can you please rename the thread as i cant. ive been trying everything i can think of and i think the admins have to. im doing a full rebuild. in fact was getting the car looked over for full end to end bare metal rust work and respray. its not to shabby so far. by any chance do you have the color codes? and im doing what we call fish oiling. its getting a 5 coat. it rust proofs from the salt air around here. now i have no idea what undercoat or what steps to use. i have a clear coat from a 1977 model muscle car i plan on using the rest of. and i do want it done properly. most of the cars ive see repainted or helped with have had bare metal resprays every 3 or 4 years. 

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