RidgeRunner

Ah, welcome to my world. Head gasket popped on my '84 last fall. My head gasket set had the same mystery ring... I don't see where it goes. I didn't remove one, so I'll not put that one in. Also, I had the exact same trouble with the tensioner. I bought a wedge on ebay, but it turns up it's the shorter KA24 wedge (despite being billed as for "1980s Nissans"). I didn't catch on until I had the same problem at re-assembly time. It's been kind of sidelined for now, but hopefully I'll get back to it shortly. I need my truck back! http://community.ratsun.net/topic/58044-not-a-question-of-if-but-when-head-gasket-2-qs/

I got one, but it didn't work out too well for me. Not sure if it's user error or what, but oh well. http://www.the510realm.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=14942 See that thread... there's a picture of both wedges... mine's the small one (apparently that's for the Z-motor, vs the bigger one for the L-motor?).

Vehicle was left in neutral, cam sprocket was loosened before inserting the wedge. Not sure if it's a matter of the wedge not going far enough down to begin with, or if it got moved somehow afterwards. Oh well. Started making some headway on gaining access to it. AC stuff is 2/3 removed now, went ahead and pulled the bumper to give easier access to the front, and I got the dizzy out after marking orientation of the rotor.

FACK! Timing chain wedge didn't work too good... tensioner came out of its bore. Front cover has to come off now. :angry:

Yeah, that thought crossed my mind but you're right, that is crimped into the gasket.

Updates... I've been taking my time on this. No big hurry, other than I don't have the use of my truck right now. 1. I bought the Fel-Pro set. What is the little copper ring for? It's in a tiny envelope by itself. I didn't see one on anything I took apart, but that's not to say I didn't miss it somewhere. 2. I plan to reuse the bolts after all. Just going to clean them with a die and go with it. 3. The head has a slight bow to it. It's right on the edge of the allowable tolerance, but since the block (which has the same tolerance spec) appears to be dead flat, I'm tempted to just go with it... just clean it up good and put it back as is. Any thoughts on this?

My 197k mile 720 (Z24) just popped its head gasket from #4 to the coolant passage at the driver's side rear corner of the engine. Big geyser from the tailpipe! I seem to be lucky, I don't see signs of oil-antifreeze blending (but a complete fluid change is a given). I've got it apart (bought a pre-made timing chain wedge via ebay) and have begun cleaning the deck in preparation for re-assembly (still need to clean the head and check for signs of warpage though). 1. Do you think a Fel-Pro gasket set would be good enough? 2. Is head bolt replacement a requirement?

Jaw, meet floor. I think I've found my dream vintage sports car.

That reminds me... somewhere I have a picture of my truck (when it was new-ish) with a fifth wheel camper hooked to it.

I haven't run mine enough since the swap to tell what the mpg is like. Maybe the OP will chime in.

In the midst of unloading ~400lbs of toolbox... which I then dropped (oops). Only a little dent. Truck rode real nice with that weight on it.

Sorry for reviving an older topic... but great write-up and pictorial! I wish I'd found it before installing mine, would've made it easier to follow someone else's stumbling blocks than to figure my way around them myself (bending the fuel line, bending/filing the throttle cable bracket, orientation of the throttle linkage). I see your intake manifold is slightly different than the one on my '84 (larger carb base opening than mine). At the end of the adapter plate closest the engine, I see the manifold protrudes just a hair into the opening of the adapter... on mine, that protrusion was greater (i.e., a little "shelf" there... might be why mine is a bit noisy when opening the secondaries). I'm tempted (when time allows) to pull the manifold and hog it out with a die grinder. Your carb looks different too, I guess that's the electronically controlled one? Mine had a smaller electrical connector with only 2 wires. (anti-dieseling and choke). Perhaps the manifold difference has something to do with that too.

I keep getting steered to this site by various search results, so I figured I'd join up. I have an '84 Nissan 720 that has been in the family since new. It's a bit rough around the edges from being 28+ years old and with 196k miles... so it needs a little TLC. I just threw a Weber carb on it and am trying to get that working right. Fixin' to put a better wheel/tire combo on too (30x9.5 on 15x7 black steelies). Started some paint work, I have some rust repair to do too. Probably cheap out on the rust repair... I'm not building a show truck. I just want it to hold together and look okay from 30 feet away. :thumbup: And I don't want to cry if I scuff it up playing in the woods. Here's an older picture, probably about 5-6 years ago. The bed side rusted more since, and I've wire-wheeled/primered the rust. So now it's really ugly. Recently, I've come across a brush guard for it on craigslist... slightly bent, but I should be able to fix it up. I also took off the crappy step bumper it had and put a tube bumper on that I also found on craigslist. The truck is going to get painted flat forest green. Tailgate is already done, I did the letters in flat black. No pics up right now... I'll post more later.