Wagmandu

The engine i have in the truck must have been out of a 200sx, i had it shipped on a pallet from a junk yard in mitchigan for $400 they thought it was a 2.2 but it is a 2.0, sio i got a bit of a rebate after the fact! But this engine has the 4 plug head & "matchbox" distributor so i went with those parts instead of the 8 plug which was originally on the truck. Thanks for the help tho i will be putting a new coil on it shortly along w replacing some clips. I should post some pics sometime, the truck is starting to be a badass!

i am running a bit different of a setup, i have a 81 720 4x4 which had the 8 spark plug setup & i have switched it over to the 4 spark plug "matchbox" setup. It starts & runs fine until it gets warm than it starts sputtering during acceleration and won't restart. my suburban has done this in the past and a new distributor solved the problem & runs like a champ! & for $110 it is worth the reliabliitly over a 30+ yr old distributor. Going to get a new coil soon tho, always helps & could very well be the issue.

I know this is an old post but i am having a similar issue w my truck. i am thinking thedizzy is bad, new one is in the mail. Rock auto has an a-1 cardone rebuild for $110!

Nice ride!

Good luck tho! finally have mine back on the road after years of fixing stuff! http://www.rockauto.com and http://www.nissanpartszone.com/1981-nissan-720-pickup-parts.html have been my good friends. I just picked up a starter for $30 and an alternator for $20!

What i did tho was where the ground connects to the engine instead of it attaching to the intake manifold attach it directly to the starter, so both the red and the black large cables end up on the starter, that will solve the starting while hot problem because the path is direct to the battery instead of going thru the engine & the thin lines. My truck all the original ground wires were rotted out so i had to replace them all.

Looked at it i actually bolted it to the lower bolt, so it wouldnt be so close to the positive wire. Sometimes it will do the same thing for me still, but this just means the battery cables need to be sanded a bit to get a good connection to the battery, usually after it sits for the winter. Hope this helps!

I had the same issue with my 81 720, i have owned it since 1997 so been thru alot of issues with it! This one had me stumped for quite sime time but turns out to be an easy fix. I bought a longer grounding cable slightly longer than the positive one that goes to the starter. I attached the grounding bolt to the top bolt on the starter that attaches it to the transmission. Make new grounding cables with slightly bigger wires that connect batt to engine batt to body & body to engine. Problem solved for the ast 5 yrs!

Thanks for the help! Yeah I originally ordered a z22 but was actually a z20, It was listed wrong at the wreckers. So to keep me from sending it back they knocked $100 off. Being a low mileage engine and it being on hand i installed it. Eventually i'll put a fully rebuilt z22 in it now that i have it out of the truck and can take my time building it. So as far as i can tell with the 8 plug by actually following which plug the rotor fires when, the exhaust side fires after the intake side. So they are not actually firing at the same time. My dads friend years ago said the exhaust side fires when the exhaust valve is open, as the burnt fuel moves out of the chamber. But it sounds like they changed up the "frankendizzy" a few times in its short production run. Id prefer it if they both fired at the same time tho! I guess what i had read, but cant remember where is that the vaccuum advance on the 8 plug only advances 6 degrees since it is trying to burn a lean mixture, and the 4 plug vaccuum advances it 12 deg since its burning a mixture with more "fresh" air and fuel. I guess I'm just trying to figure out the better part to use in the end. I appreciate the feedback! Must be time for a microbrew and some wrenching!

Oh, and not to mention the parts for the 4 plug are about 1/3 the price!

Thanks Guys! That was EXACTLY what i needed to know! I had gotten the motor from a wrecker in mitchigan for 350 shipped! It only has 72000 mi and looks like it had been sitting in their lot for years! It runs but i want the 4 plug distributor since after some research on these blogs i learned the 8 plug only advances 6 degrees during acceleration to due crazy ass EGR setup( correct me please if i am wrong) i've owned the ratsun for 12 yrs+ now and it always accelerated like a tired mule and bogged out when stepping on the gas. So i am hoping the 4 plug, with 12 degrees of advance, the egr eliminated and eventually a weber carb might actually liven up the old truck! http://www.car-part.com/ This is the best search engines of wreckers i have found so far found lots of datsun parts i thought i would never find, easy format, supposedly thousands of wreckers are on here and everyone i have called has been Great to deal with. But the shipping fees may get you. http://community.ratsun.net/index.php?app=gallery&module=images&section=viewimage&img=2247

Hi Everyone! I'm new to this forum so good to meet others who mess with these things also. I Put a z20 in my truck which originally had a z22. I have it in and running on the 8 plug distributor, but only on the outer 4 spark plug wires since the z20 only has 4 plug holes. I have the 4 spark plug distributor and shaft that connects it to the oil pump from the z20. The question is the wires going to the control box on the distributor itself the 8 plug has 3 wires and the 4 plug has 2. Anyone know which ones to plug in by chance? I'll probably have a beer and mess around with it this weekend, but don"t want to fry the electricals! Thanks