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glutin ( Glutton ) for punishment 720 restoration......


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 Just picked up a pretty nice little 84 720 Kc 4x4 in Vernonia Oregon yesterday.

 

 The Good:

 

The truck is really straight  , paint is ok , Int is 7 out of 10 .  Rebuilt motor , tranny , t-case , rear axle , new tires , brakes clutch . Over $7000 in recent receipts !!!!!!!!!! 12'000 miles post rebuild.

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 The bad:

 

3" body lift , water in fuel ( 1 year old  oxygenated fuel in tank ) 1 small rust through spot in driver side lower bed valence , bent front bumper .

 

The just plain odd:

 

Dog leg 5 speed. Rebuilt mind you,  but still an odd choice for a 4x4 truck.... 4" flair's , rear only . never any on the front...... 

and the price..... Traded a 10' Zodiac and a 15hp Evinrude  ( 1985 ) straight across........

 

 The plan:

 

I'm first going to restore the truck back to it's original  configuration by loosing the body lift and flairs.

Patch panel the spot on the bed.

New paint .( Factory navy blue )

Re upholster the factory bucket seats.

And I may do an LZ conversion to the motor. I haven't decided on that option yet.

 This build is for my loving and very patient wife. She has always had a deep seated love affair with the 720 4x4's.   

 

 The PO let the truck sit for a prolonged period of time with non treated fuel in the tank .

He then decided to fire it up . without first draining the tank !!!!!!!!

Needless to say he drew who knows how much water through the fuel system and engine before  it fired.

I'm guessing a bunch.

He sed it took 5 min.of constant cranking to fire up.

The water washed by the rings and into the crank case as the oil is slightly clouded .

 Needless to say I towed it back to Astoria From Vernonia rather than driving it. Pays to have a tow bar.....

I'll post pics as soon as I can figure out why the pic tab has started locking up.

I'm sure it's just me....

 Any way , should be a fairly easy build. I'm excited to have a nice little 720 in the stable.

If any one wants the 3" body lift with all of the skirts let me know. I'd be more than willing to swap them out for something I can use.

 I could use a nice clean front bumper.

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Look for glutin (sic) free 720s.... they're out there.

 

By '84 the 4 speeds was dropped and only five speeds were available. Must have broken it and the only thing handy was a later '80-'82 optional A10 transmission. Not a great choice but it will work for now.

 

Water in the oil could be a blown head gasket (I know rebuilt) but I also don't trust PO's either. Who knows who or how it was 'rebuilt'? Maybe the head was warped and not checked? If you didn't start this truck how do you know how well it runs? Or if it runs? If you can't start and drive it, it's a big chance.

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I've started a number of these vehicles on starter fluid and ancient fuel. I would do some serious investigation into other causes of your problems before officially confirming the diagnosis.

 

Have you changed the oil and gas and tested the engine? Run a compression test and verified blow by on the rings?

 

Gas washes cylinders clean of oil and removes lubrication when an engine floods. It is hard to imagine water doing this and getting in to the oil just via the carb.

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 I love you guys. Glutton would have been better but that's just life and poor spelling.

 And by the way:

Never sed I didn't run the truck. Just sed that I didn't drive it home.... 

Engine ran great.

Good oil pressure , no ticks or knocks .

 

Drained tank today . Got lots of water and old gas......

 

 I suspect washed rings as there was no sign of glycol in the oil once drained. And the water in fuel problem.

 

 HOWEVER the head may not have been re-torqued after break in so a leaking  head gasket would be something to look for if it continues to milk the oil.

We shall se.... Thanks for the advice.

 

The tranny still freaks me out. The drive train is very clean . No road grime , grease , oil tracks dirt etc.

Everything looks like it was freshly hot tanked , painted and installed.

 I just don't understand why anyone would go to all of the trouble for a dogleg.

Oh well , if life didn't have it's little mysteries it wouldn't be any fun.

 

I'll fire the engine tomorrow and let you guys know how that part of this little project works out.

 

 I have ( after researching ) decided that an LZ conversion is out. I just don't see the advantage.

I'm leaning more towards a KA swap at this point. It will all depend on the NZ's ability to pull the truck around.

 

Have a good night guys .

 

  

  

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

 Ok . Progress: 

Tore the top end of the engine down ( just in case ) 

Found a cheap , but not blown head gasket.

It would have soon though as the exhaust side head bolts had stretched.

And a low buck timing set .

 The head was flat as was the block deck.

 Replaced both gasket and timing set with new .

Runs pretty damn well now....

At least it does  now that the ( very clogged cat ) was removed.

 

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Decided to scrap the original bed in lieu of an 85 full fleet side that I located in Ellensburg Wa last weekend. $150.

 The stock bed was hiding some rather ugly crap under the aftermarket flairs that were hanging on the rears.

Poorly cut fenders and a bit ( he,ha ) of rust.

 

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I did manage to remove the 3" lift kit from the truck so it sits stock in all it's glory....

 

If any one wants it  just let me know. I don't recommend it though.

 

 I brought the truck home to free up some space in the shop for the new bed renovation.

The plan now is to finish the bed completely then bring the truck back to the shop for cab work and paint.

Marry the 2 at that point and then move on to some mods.

 Now that I have figured out how to post pics again. ( Thanks 2D ) I'll get some new pics of the truck and progress and post them up. 

 

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The one glaring problem I have noticed: Long , long , did I say LONGGGGGGG gears. I was shocked ........!

 

 

I'm not sure yet If I will re gear the axle and front diff or replace both with Dana's .

 

 An SAS conversion is definitely on the table now.

 

Luckily I have done a few in the past and have the parts in house to do the job if I decide to go that rout. 

 

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(Click the pic to see the build)

 

 If I do decide to go with the Dana swap I will be running a super 30 high steer  front ,  a 44 high pinion rear ( 4:27 gearing ) and a twin stick Dana 20 T-case.

 

I have a set that were built up at 50" for a build that never went any where.

 

These would leave me with a stock width and ( close ) to stock height  truck. Something I desire....

 

 The nice thing about this option is that the axles were prepped for a SPOA datsun / Nissan swap . The conversion would be a no brainer.

The bad thing is that I was kind of looking forward to a simple stock Nissan 720 in the family..... and a quick turn around. 

 

Life is always throwing curve balls at me....

 

What is your best advice? 

I haven't researched the gear swap yet , If feasible it would be the easiest way to go. 

Just not sure of the parts availability.

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Front diff is an r180. Rear axle is a c200. Many ratios exist for both, just depends on what you want. I'm pretty sure you can use r200 gears in your rear axle. You're likely 4.11 right now.

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 Thanks for the info Locklief . I'll start looking around for options once I get to that point.

I should have worked on the bed yesterday but it was probably the last good riding day of the year....

I couldn't waist it.

 

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There will be plenty of time this winter....

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 Bed swap complete .

The old bed was in worse shape than I thought. The front was shot .

 The 85 was a fairly straight forward swap . The tail lights had to be converted though.

The 84 is a 4 wire system vs the 3 wire for the 85. 

I just pulled the guts from the 84 tail lights , installed them in the 85 lenses with amber bulbs behind the back up lights.

Then added the 84 back up lights to the custom bumper.

 Sorry for the dark pics. It was raining cats and frogs.

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  • 2 weeks later...

 Took the truck on it's first road trip over the weekend . 

Drove it back to Vernonia to see the kid.

Had a blast . Truck ran and drove flawlessly.

 

 Funny. I'm not a stock builder , in fact it took me hours just to get the vacuum  and fuel system correct.

I generally build hot rods of some kind.

This build is an extreme departure for me.

I was shocked how quiet and smooth the little truck drives.

I guess I'm getting old. I kind of like it....

I guess that flow master sitting in the shop will be going back on the shelf.....

As will the axles and T-case.

 I think I will be leaving this truck stock.

I may re gear it. ( If needed ) . But I will wait until I swap out the dogleg for a standard short truck  5 speed.

 

 I have to thank Mike ( King Rat ) for some advice I found that he had posted concerning the NZ24.

I will not be altering the stock smog equipment under the hood of this truck.

I don't have a bunch of experience with this engine. ( More of an L series guy ).

So my first inclination was to strip this thing and try to get more top end out of it.

NOT GONNA DO IT...... It's a pretty torquey little motor the way it is.

 Reminds me of a diesel.

 

 The next big trip will be to BC Canada to pick up the 1978 Okanagan Camper for the truck.

These things are getting hard to find.( Import campers ).

I'v been searching all over the west coast. This is the nicest one I have found.

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 The guy who owns it is pretty cool and did a nice job updating the interior.

That trip won't happen until Early December. 

I have to get the belly mounts done for the truck and add a few brake in miles before the trip.

 Once we get back the truck and camper will be in for  body and paint restoration.

The rig should be ready for springer fishing on the Deschutes this year..... HOOOOOOO HAAAAAA.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

 Well. I couldn't find a camper for the 720 that had no issues.... 

So , like a normal gear head. And staying true to form , I decided to build one.

 I'm using 1x1 and 1x2 .065 steel tubing. .030 aluminum skin and .25 mahogany panels for the interior.

The entire unit will be insulated with R-Tech ridged insulation.

 Projected weight is just under 1000 lbs.

 

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 If you look real hard you can see the new front axle sitting on the deck behind the camper.

 

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 Just a few shots of the project. 

The plan is to convert the 720 into a proper expedition rig.

I'll keep you posted. 

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Dana Super 30 x 50" on a coil sprung front suspension. Rear will be a 44 or the stock rear  ( if I can get 4:27 gears for it ) with a divorced Dana 20 T-case.

I plan to keep the stock width as I like the looks of the truck with no flairs.

 The running gear was all prepped but not used while building my last Datsun build. We ended up going 58" on that one. I'll be running LSD's at both ends.

This all depends on the truck, and it's ability to handle the camper in semi stock condition.

I only plan to build the truck to handle the camper in mild off road conditions . She won't be a rock crawler or an articulating beast. Almost no lift....

 I have actually done this before, all be it a few years ago.......

 

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Slimmer days....
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 No walk through, just a slide in camper.

Yea, I have ton's of pics. 

I guess I should change the name of this thread to the Rat House build......

I drew up the plan on Dec 16th

Started the build on Dec 27th.

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