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1982 Datsun 720 restoration project


tarah

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I'll be on here to look for parts mostly; it's hard to find parts on island. I'll give some updates too as we fix her up.

 

Just recently picked up my baby, a 1982 720 for $350. Was sitting for a long time but in running condition w/ some rust.

 

Pics just after pick up:

 

UnkdlJUl.jpg

XREiIDKl.jpg

 

Coolant leak causing an overheating problem. Threw some sealer in for a quick fix. Coolant reservoir is destroyed and needs replacing.

 

One wheel was so old that it popped during a test drive. Found some new wheels and polished up the rims.

 

QkXsdXQl.jpg

 

Just replacing the wheels made it look 10 times better.

 

Lots of rust. Most was just surface rust, but the bed had some holes that had to be punched out, sanded down and welded up. The fuel tank was right up by the top edge of the rust; tried to keep the welding to a minimum.

ItewfiWm.jpg   jiHq2l1m.jpg

wAQLcPum.jpg   RazUOlum.jpg

 

Then moving on to fixing up the rest with bondo.

 

Right rear:

VeauJ3Cm.jpg   IHZFEOUm.jpg

Dh3HB5Sl.jpg

8kuWLgEl.jpg

 

Left rear:

 

J2kyBFpm.jpg   mEIPP2Jm.jpg

Pzesxwyl.jpg?1

 

Roof (forgot to take a before picture):

 

puGlcj6l.jpg

 

Hood:

 

oyHgh1Gm.jpg   dPsLZPMm.jpg

w7FIrUal.jpg

 

Now we're fixing up the rear bumper and other body parts. All the body work left is grinding off the paint and priming her up. She's gonna be ivory white when we're done.

 

That's all the work we've got so far.

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Thanks for the advice! Definitely an issue I'm gonna try tackle first. Been letting it rest while we took care of the body work. Also replaced some of the internals but nothing major so far. Replaced the fan belt, thermostat, and threw some temporary fixes on the carb. Want to replace all the vac lines too.

The ignition switch is damaged right now so it's a screwdriver start, and the door locks are nonfunctional as well. Was gonna see if I could source from another car but I'll probably end up just purchasing new parts.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Body all worked on now, pretty much all we have to do is paint her up

 

Cg7yaIGm.jpg  R0w9i1ym.jpg

 

Weeks worth of grinding, sanding, bondo, and body filler.

 

Ybfm3zll.jpg

 

OrPCqaYl.jpg

 

Just picked up a Weber 38 too, been having some trouble with the choke on the stock carb.

 

3qMrXMtl.jpg?2

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Looks really good! You'll enjoy the Weber, the stock carb seems fun... until you upgrade.

 

Thanks, I'm looking forward to getting the Weber in

 

Looks like you mastered rust repair.  Nice truck.

 

Thanks, I'm happy with how it turned out. Can't wait to get a fresh coat of paint on it

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Really impressed how clean it's looking! Gives me hope for my beater lol
[edit] Let us know how the install of the Weber 38 goes, it seems a 32/36 swap is more common for the 720 but a 38/38 would give more fuel and power. Here's to hoping it's as straightforward as swapping in a 32/36

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The Webers are affected by altitude.  I run them on all my Datsun & Nissan trucks. 

 

Thanks for the heads up, I won't be taking it into the mountains anytime soon though so it shouldn't be much of a problem

 

Wow, what a bloody improvement!

Really impressed how clean it's looking! Gives me hope for my beater lol

[edit] Let us know how the install of the Weber 38 goes, it seems a 32/36 swap is more common for the 720 but a 38/38 would give more fuel and power. Here's to hoping it's as straightforward as swapping in a 32/36

 

Thanks, and I'm hoping it's an easy swap but I'll let you know when I get around to installing it

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Just finished painting her up, came out whiter than I expected but I like how it turned out. Sprayed on some black for the bumpers, gives it a nice contrast.

 

Sealed up the patio for paint prep:

 

uFK7tfJm.jpg  WWHMrpFm.jpg

 

Got pretty windy and rainy outside but the plastic held up and did it's job.

 

yN4nG8Ol.jpg?1

 

IlXBd6vm.jpg  LRAERSWm.jpg  y3q2GT5m.jpg

 

Thinking of accenting the "DATSUN" on the tailgate as well. Not sure where the right tail light lens went... hopefully it turns up soon haha.

 

We welded up most of the bed holes already but I'm looking for a good drop in bedliner. Anyone know of a good direct/almost direct drop in liner? Maybe from a certain hardbody year. Looking for some protection for the single wall when things roll around on the inside.

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Damn nice work! The black accents look good on the white.

Damn dude. That came about quickly. Very nice...

 

Always been a fan of the 720s

Beautiful truck, making me wanna get to the body work and stuff on my 84. Keep it up! Lemme know how that 38 works out just put a weber on min yesterday, loving it so far.

 

Thanks! Congrats on your weber install. I've heard really good things about them - I'll let you know how it goes for sure.

 

 

Thanks for the link! Those decals are great but a little pricey, think I'll just go at it with some tape and spray then see how it goes haha.

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These a a little cheaper.  His letters are not as thin as the ones shown on the yellow truck.

 

http://www.datsunminitruckin.com/620-tailgate-datsun-decals_topic49.html

 

Rusty is a good man to deal with.

 

He runs Datsun Mini Truckin Forum  DMT for short.

Wow those are really nice, I like that style. Thanks for showing me, I'll contact him to ask about it

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Gave her a nice little 2" drop and threw on the wheels the other day.

 

iwK7KmWm.jpg  ZoOyGrsm.jpg

 

The u-bolts were made for a 3" drop and were way too long. Cut the extra off so it wouldn't catch on anything.

 

kXYNzJnm.jpg  Mlr28tgm.jpg

 

Cranked down the torsion bars for the front. Bolts took some penetrating oil to break free.

 

QWOE6jNm.jpg

 

Took it out for a test drive but it was pulling to the right, had to jack up again and adjust the tie rods. Now she's rolling nice and straight again.

 

Here's some updated pics:

 

fzopRaGl.jpg?2

 

fqyr14Ml.jpg

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Still haven't found the right taillight lens and don't think it's gonna show up anytime soon... want to buy a replacement but it's a hard part to source.

 

CRodLvAm.jpg

 

I did contact tdaaj to see if he has one lying around, hopefully I can grab one soon.

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  • 3 months later...

Long time no post, new updates:

 

Finally got around to putting the Weber 38 on about a month ago. Everything was pretty straightforward; adapter plates matched up perfectly. The main compatibility problem we had was that the throttle cable was on the opposite side. Re-routing it was pretty simple.

 

Old carburetor:

FFjO0Cvm.jpg

 

Adapter plates on:

v9WVIoem.jpg

 

Ran into a huge problem while installing the plates: stupidly over-tightened the nut and the plate cracked. Was gonna scrap it, but decided to just Epoxy + Permatex it and see what happens. So far it's holding up great; no vacuum leaks while driving.

 

Cracked plate:

hyuaowil.jpg

 

Epoxy & adapter plate:

GQpte5fl.jpg

 

Weber 38 on the intake manifold:

JagMLuFl.jpg

You can see some of the Permatex peeking out from the sides of the plate. Ugly, but holding up great. Ended up wrapping the fuel line at a weird angle to connect to the fuel pump. The fuel line we bought for it was too short so it kinked. We had to buy a longer one and looped it around once.

 

Throttle cable issue: For the stock Hitachi carb, the cable pulled the throttle lever left, but the Weber needed a right pull. We put the metal holder that came with the Weber on the right side and shaved it down so the cable would fit.

 

Metal holder:

Y4UofRum.jpg

 

Shaving:

lXcGu52m.jpg

 

Fit:

nOuUxwTm.jpg

 

Final fit:

1DGS4PTm.jpg

 

Final product:

nJjZyhhl.jpg

 

Took a while to adjust and get the idle speed right. At first, we were having issues with the idle staying really high, then dropping randomly. Thought it was a vacuum leak at first, but checked all the lines and everything was either sealed up or connected (aside from the air filter, didn't have a vacuum line to connect that to the valve cover). Turns out the problem was with the throttle lever - it wasn't returning fully to the idle position. So we threw together a return spring with a spring that was laying around and another one of the metal holders from the Weber box:

 

S8YrkF7l.jpg

 

After that it worked great. Runs great and sounds a lot different than the Hitachi. Seems like the low end torque got a little boost, but surprisingly the high end torque feels like it dropped out... maybe something to do with the air/fuel mixture, not sure. Still, runs much better than the Hitachi.

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