captain720 Posted February 4, 2018 Report Share Posted February 4, 2018 Sorry for the lack of updates. Body work and chasing rust is just a pain. Currently trying to make a pair of brackets for the rodeo seats a snagged, I got a 97 and the front bolts up directly, but the back is about 3/4" short, so I need to make some brackets. Also need to chase down some battery gremlins, as I recently tested the open circuit and got a reading of a whole 8 volts! I'm guessing the grounds are just corroded, but is there any other common electrical issues in these trucks I should look for??Maybe you can just take a piece of 1/4 inch flat bar and drill two holes in it then put bolts and nuts on for your seat bracket. 1 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted February 5, 2018 Report Share Posted February 5, 2018 I would just drill a new hole where it is needed and put a big washer on the underside. 2 Quote Link to comment
ClumsyBird Posted March 13, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2018 Had one of those moments today where you wonder, "why would I ever do that?". I just cut some wires in the cab going to the ECU while using a flap disk to prep the floorboards for welding, you know, the ones sort of tucked underneath those plastic covers that say "nissan" on em, inside of the door frame. Well anyways, I did it on both sides and cut maybe a third of all the wires in the harness. I should be fine soldering almost all the wires back together, except for one, its black and its the largest wire of the bunch, on the drivers side, and when the wire was cut it revealed two cores, one inner copper core, with a smaller white insulation material, and on the outside of that, it was encased by a bunch of smaller wires, maybe nickel coated, and on the outside of the smaller wires was the black insulation, and there lies the problem, thats impossible to solder a that secondary layer of wire as it doesn't have a core. Are the outer wires to provide protection against noise?? If so, is it necessary? Or can I just solder the main core and wrap it in foil and tape it up? Do i need to just find another harness somewhere (Good luck)? Oddly enough the car still runs and all the headlights and turn signals work, so I didn't cut the tickle wire or something. And all the dash lights work (I think). I mean I could drive it if it had seats and a solid floor, but it kind of scares me jumping on the road with so many damaged wires, I mean I probably cut 8 in all( 5 drivers side, 3 on passengers). Its a simple truck, I'm surprised I even have an ECU, so I'm just unsure what all these wires that I cut do (did). Any help from anybody is welcome 1 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted March 13, 2018 Report Share Posted March 13, 2018 You sure that one is not the antenna wire for the radio/stereo. 1 Quote Link to comment
bottomwatcher Posted March 13, 2018 Report Share Posted March 13, 2018 We have all done something like this so don't feel bad. Shielded cable can be repaired if a splice fittings are available to good as new but maybe not nessesary in this case. Get a wiring diagram tracing stuff through a loom is a pia. 2 Quote Link to comment
ClumsyBird Posted March 23, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2018 The holes in my cab are going to be too hard to fix sadly, I can't think of a good way to fix all the corrosion. Fortunately the truck runs though. So I'm in the talks to pickup another 85 4x4, check it out https://oregoncoast.craigslist.org/cto/d/1985-nissan-4x4-pickup/6537287067.html. I'm going to pick it up sometime next week for 200 bucks. Have any of you guys seen a paintjob like that? It's way too complex to be DYI and I doubt somebody would pay a professional to put a patterned paintjob on a truck like this. Is it a special package of some sort? I'm clueless and haven't found any online that look like that 1 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted March 23, 2018 Report Share Posted March 23, 2018 That is a stock type paint job by Nissan, it might be an ST version. 1 Quote Link to comment
MaxChlan Posted March 23, 2018 Report Share Posted March 23, 2018 I do not think it is paint, it is more like a decal. My truck has something similar going on with the stripes, but they are for sure decals, as some portions have peeled away significantly. Nissan probably had a few different decal packages; it was the 80's, after all! :rofl: 2 Quote Link to comment
captain720 Posted March 23, 2018 Report Share Posted March 23, 2018 Sport truck says ST in huge letters on the side I think 1 Quote Link to comment
Toxicrain Posted March 24, 2018 Report Share Posted March 24, 2018 Yea that looks like a dealership decal package or something. ST does have the decal on corners of bed Cant go wrong for $250 though! 1 Quote Link to comment
Charlie69 Posted March 25, 2018 Report Share Posted March 25, 2018 This is my 85 ST. Quote Link to comment
ClumsyBird Posted March 26, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2018 Picked that other truck today, 150xxx miles on it when the motor blew 6 months ago, it has sat since. Rear tires wouldn't budge when we tried to move it, had to disconnect the driveline then it moved fine. I'm thinking the clutch hasn't been disengaged and the motor seized. Good thing I already have a running engine. This one comes with alot of extra features my first doesn't: tachometer, oil pressure gauge, battery gauge, temp gauge, wood trim, locking glovebox, nice fiberglass canopy, sliding rear glass, everything expect the clock! Transmission and tranfercase seem fine, we'll see when it's running. Also came with an extra transfer case (maybe works?) and some odds and ends. She's got some body damage though, both fenders, and the front bumper, tailgate is donezo. Luckily I can take them off of my other truck. Also. issues with the front headlights/ blinkers. And she has auto hubs (Good or bad thing? My other one has manual) She has some spotted rust too, but the undercarriage looks good and the cab mounts are golden, best of all, no holes in the floor! I think between my two trucks I might just have one good one, it's just an issue with titles. I have the first one with a clean title and bill of sale, however this one doesn't even have a title (although I have a bill of sale). So I'm trying to figure out which frame I should use etc etc in order to spend the least amount of time and energy at the DMV and come out with the best truck. I'll take more photos tomorrow when I get into it. Luckily it's spring break and I have no work this week. Wrenchin time! Any suggestions are welcome and will be considered 1 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted March 26, 2018 Report Share Posted March 26, 2018 So you want to use the silver cab and the white front end off your truck with a title, correct? You are going to have an issue with getting rid of what you don't want, as you need a title to get rid of any body part or frame/chassis. PM me 1 Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted March 26, 2018 Report Share Posted March 26, 2018 Blown engine is likely the head gasket. So it may just be a rusty cylinder. Why not just put it in neutral or trans case in neutral? 1 Quote Link to comment
captain720 Posted March 26, 2018 Report Share Posted March 26, 2018 Auto hubs are terrible 1 Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted March 26, 2018 Report Share Posted March 26, 2018 But should spin with the trans in neutral. Disc brakes can take a good tug to get spinning through the rust build up. 1 Quote Link to comment
ClumsyBird Posted March 26, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2018 Both the transfer case and transmission were in neutral as I remember. The disc brakes spun fine, if anything it would have been the drum brakes in the rear that were giving me trouble. It seems the issue is further down the line though, seeing as the wheels spun once the drive shaft was disengaged 1 Quote Link to comment
ClumsyBird Posted March 26, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2018 And it looks like I will be converting to manual hubs then haha 1 Quote Link to comment
captain720 Posted March 26, 2018 Report Share Posted March 26, 2018 Auto hubs Neve engage when you need them randomly disengage when you are stuck, and they will eventually just explode leaving you very very stuck. Also you have to roll back to disengage them when you are done with 4wd 1 Quote Link to comment
ClumsyBird Posted March 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2018 Got the fenders and hoods taken off both the trucks and I am preparing for the cab swap thursday. Any tips or anything I should watch out for? I am swapping the cab off the silver one to the white one, and disposing off the white cab and the silver bed. Also plan to put the newlyfound powersteering pump off the silver to the white. 1 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted March 27, 2018 Report Share Posted March 27, 2018 The power steering column needs to go with the power steering gear, they are a set, the non power steering column is different, at least it is different on the 2wd trucks. Also your white trucks dash needs to go into the silver cab. 2 Quote Link to comment
ClumsyBird Posted March 31, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2018 Got the white one stripped finally, getting the wiring harness out was the hardest part by far. I actually plan to use the wiring harness out of the silver truck, and use this harness for repairs/splices. Alot more care will need to be taken when I remove the silver cab. I was shocked at just how many electrical connectors this little truck has. It helps that the two trucks are virtually identical but there are a few differences I'm not sure how to account for with the wiring, the silver one has oil pressure and battery gauges, the tachometer, the door chime, and power steering. Is there anything I need to know when I attempt to install these systems on my white frame? I Below I included a photo of the truck right after we kicked the cab off, we decided to cut the front portion of the cab off with a torch to prevent the cab from knocking the engine as we flopped her over. We did this because we lacked a crane or enough manpower to lift the cab straight off the mounts and over the engine. 1 Quote Link to comment
ClumsyBird Posted March 31, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2018 Also, if you guys need any spare parts there is a fair chance I likely have some. PM me if you are looking for something 1 Quote Link to comment
ClumsyBird Posted April 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2018 Finally got the cab off the silver truck and onto the white one. Didn't get anything reconnected yet as I'm still trying to get everything in order. Didn't get a photo of the finished product either as I was running around trying to find bushings before we set the cab down. Almost very single cab mount bushing between these two trucks was shot, I think 2 are reusable. No auto parts stores sell them either... any ideas on how to replace them? I couldn't reuse them even if I tried, they all disintegrated. I was thinking about using cut up pieces of tire maybe? In addition to that, my silver truck has an extra ECU looking device under the passenger seat, no clue what that does. And on that same wiring harness (the one of the silver truck), it has an extra plug that goes in the alternator, my alternator from my white truck doesn't have a place to plug in that connector. Why would that be? What does that do? The alternator with the extra plug (off the silver truck) is oem, the one on the white truck is not. Quote Link to comment
Lockleaf Posted April 15, 2018 Report Share Posted April 15, 2018 Pics would help identify the extra unit you speak of, but my guess is its aftermarket. Try the dealership for the cab mount bushings. 1 Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.