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Safe to assume 1983 Nissan Sunrader 18' has 720 chassis?


unitfive

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I just brought a 1983 Nissan 5 speed manual Sunrader 18' with a Z24 that is in poor running condition.  It drives like a boat going through choppy water because the steering wheel has play.  The Z24 engine is covered with oil and it will not reverse when put into reverse gear.   I don't think it will pass smog in current condition.

 

My plan is to get it back in good running condition before trying to restore the interior.   I want to replace the transmission so I can at least have the reverse gear.   How can I be sure that I have a 720 chassis so I can start ordering repair parts?

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Yes. The engine tag, located under the passenger side hood hinge on the inner fender, will ( or should) begin with the letter E. The E identifies it as a Cab Chassis option that is sold without a box for commercial purposes. It will have dual rear wheels. 4.375 axle and only with an FS5W71B  5 speed.

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DSCN7493.jpg

 

Memories!

 

I guess there were single and dual rear wheel options. ENL 720WTUFA The W denotes dual rear wheels. The H-190 4.375 was on the single and the C-200 on the dual... makes perfect sense. I don't have info on the 4.625 ratio but that too make more sense.

.

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The dually axle can also be fitted with 4.11 gears as the later 720 4X4 came with 4.11 gears with a C200 rear axle, the gear sets are interchangeable, but I have never heard of a cab/chassis with 4.11 geared dually axle, by the way I did confirm this at the Nissan dealer several years ago when I wanted to make the 720 diesel a dually, but I needed better gearing than my dually axles had, so I asked and they said 4.11 ring&pinions were all they had, so I had the adapters made, I am turning 3.3 gears in that truck.

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Since it is a Z24 you will want to do all the basic stuff (NGK plugs, cap, rotor, replace engine coolant, oil with good zinc content, NAPA Gold/wix filter, manifold gaskets won't hurt, check for a clogged cat, and an air filter) and make sure your Hitachi runs good. You will want to retorque your head bolts and adjust the valve lash (0.012 in on feeler gauge). If you adjust the first half of the valves, then put the cover back on and warm it up again you can get a slightly more accurate reading, although most of the time just warming it up once is sufficient.

 

Head bolts video;

 

Valve lash video;

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Yes. The engine tag, located under the passenger side hood hinge on the inner fender, will ( or should) begin with the letter E. The E identifies it as a Cab Chassis option that is sold without a box for commercial purposes. It will have dual rear wheels. 4.375 axle and only with an FS5W71B  5 speed.

 

Thanks!  Mine has:

 

EN720

ENL720WTUF A 57

Z24(S) 2389

FS5W71B CA43

 

I'm an official 720 owner now.   CA43 = 4.375 axle?   I can't seem to find any information on the "Z24 (S)" engine.  Is it just a regular Z24?

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Since it is a Z24 you will want to do all the basic stuff (NGK plugs, cap, rotor, replace engine coolant, oil with good zinc content, NAPA Gold/wix filter, manifold gaskets won't hurt, check for a clogged cat, and an air filter) and make sure your Hitachi runs good. You will want to retorque your head bolts and adjust the valve lash (0.012 in on feeler gauge). If you adjust the first half of the valves, then put the cover back on and warm it up again you can get a slightly more accurate reading, although most of the time just warming it up once is sufficient.

 

Head bolts video;

 

Valve lash video;

 

 

Thank you for the helpful advice.   Any suggestion on where to finding another FS5W71B transmission?  

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Thanks!  Mine has:

 

EN720

ENL720WTUF A 57

Z24(S) 2389

FS5W71B CA43

 

I'm an official 720 owner now.   CA43 = 4.375 axle?   I can't seem to find any information on the "Z24 (S)" engine.  Is it just a regular Z24?

 

The 'S' just means carburetor. There were later Z24i engines with the ' i ' meaning throttle body fuel injection.

 

Five speed? check local wrecking yards for a 720 2wd. Post a want ad in our classifieds. The only thing you need do is measure your transmission length as there were two different ones. They are 31.5" or 26" long.

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As far as I know all cab/chassis trucks had long shafts, I actually thought all cab/chassis trucks had the long frame/chassis(kingcab/longbox frames), only the later 2wd regular cab/short box trucks had shortshafts and the 4wd of course, but I never heard of a 4wd cab/chassis either.

Did they make a cab/chassis with a short frame in the USA?

Did they make a kingcab/chassis version in the USA?

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I tried to take a measurement yesterday and got roughly 29" so I will need to check my measurement again.   

 

Finding a long shaft FS5W71B almost impossible since I can't even locate a FS5W71B rebuild kit, but there are plenty of kits for the FS5W71A and FS5W71C.   There is another posting saying the FS5W71C's reverse gear kit will work on FS5W71B.   I'm thinking replacing my existing transmission's reverse with FS5W71C's parts might be an option worth considering instead of waiting for a FS5W71B to show up in the market.

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It will measure out to 26 or 31 inches, you measure from where the transmission bolts onto the engine to the end of the tail shaft, the drive line collar may cover some of the tail shaft, so I believe you likely have a long shaft, it would be fairly hard to make a 26 inch transmission measure out to 29 inches, but I suppose it is possible.

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If you measure from the end of the transmission tail to the outer edge of the front you are running up a slope and this will measure more than the actual length. If the transmission is out, stand it up on some 2x4s and set a straight edge across the tail end. Measure down vertically to the front and it will be either 26" and a C hair, or 31.5"

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