powderfinger

Certainly didn't intend to imply that you were doing anything wrong just different that's all. I trust my old Nissan as much as I trust my newer truck and my Nissan has certainly never been to a shop to have someone else work on it. To each his own.

Biggest reason for my comment about not needing to pay someone to do it is, I am sure there are lot of people that are both regular members of this forum and likely the majority of the ones that just jump on once or twice to ask how to fix something that cannot afford to pay a shop to do it. Likely why they are driving a 40 year old truck in the first place. On top of that, if you don't have a mechanic that you know well you are really rolling the dice on whether or not you will get quality work out of them. There is also nothing like the satisfaction of the first start and drive after fixing something like this if you have never done it before. Gives a person confidence to keep it up.

The head gasket is a job that can definitely be done yourself. No need to pay someone $1500 to do it when the truck likely isn't worth too much more than that unless it's in really good shape. It is not a difficult job as long as you do a little reading. Even if you don't have a lot of experience working on vehicles, if you are mechanically inclined and have some common sense you can certainly do it. If you fear the head is warped, always possible since you did say it overheated, you can either buy a machinist straight edge off Amazon and check it yourself or let a machine shop check it it for you.

What he said! My advice is just don't do it. You might make the truck look better (subjective) but it's very possible you will absolutely hate driving it due to lack of power and the truck will end up sitting more than it's driven. As far as the AC is concerned, you are in Idaho so I am guessing you won't need it as much as I do here in NC. I would pull a vacuum on the system to see if there are any leaks and if not, replace the drier since it's cheap, put some oil and freon in it and cross your fingers. Maybe you get lucky. You cannot buy new replacement compressors for these so if the compressor is bad which is very likely, you will either have to replace the entire system which is very expensive and unnecessary or put a compressor from an 86 D21 on it and have custom hoses made since the D21 compressor hose connections are different than the 720. Even if your compressor works it wouldn't surprise me if it fails within the first few months since it's so old. But, who knows, if the system has been sealed the whole time it has sat around maybe you get lucky.

If the compressor on your truck is the same compressor that comes on the 85 720 with the z24 then you can do what I will likely do. I got my AC working for a few weeks then the 40 year old compressor started locking up. I have a spare but being that it is so old and has been sitting open for some time I am guessing that one will suffer the same fate. I will likely use the compressor that came on the 86 D21 with the z24i and make new hoses using the compressor end from D21 hoses and the other end from the 720 hoses. I don't see the need to pay someone to install a completely new system. My AC actually was working very well until the compressor locked up.

I think maybe you need a load leveler for your hoist. You should be able to get it out without cutting anything.

I tried to buy one in Tenn. a few months ago in that exact paint scheme but for whatever reason the guy stopped responding to my messages and a week later the add was gone. I guess he sold it to someone else for whatever reason.

Another even better option would be to sell the truck to me for $1000 and you wouldn't have to spend your time fixing all these little things lol. Think of all the time you would save. :-)

If you are currently running a carburetor I would definitely either swap out that fuel pump or by a pressure regulator to get the pressure down. Don't quote me on this but I believe the z24i fuel pump runs around 22psi and you need more like 3psi for the carb.

You could also look at the ECU under the drivers seat to see if it was originally a z24i. Factory fuel pump relay is also different, bottom right under glove compartment.

Maybe the fender has been replaced at some point. My 86 720 ST came with the antenna embedded in the windshield instead of on the fender.

I also used to ride. My last bike was a Suzuki V-Strom 1000. Haven't rode any in the last 4-5 years. I started noticing how many people are staring at their phones more than they look at the road and decided to stop riding. I can't believe there aren't more car accidents than we currently have in this country. It's amazing to me that some of these people are able to make it to work and back with their phone on the steering wheel scrolling through whatever social media site while driving. Drives me crazy.

We must have very different definitions of what a buddy is.

Your window looks like the factory sliding glass window so a replacement seal should work fine. The one I purchased for mine worked well. I believe the link is in the beginning of this thread somewhere. Edit: it was in the first post of mine https://vintagerubber.com/datsun-720-pick-up-rear-glass-seal-cal-style-extended-king-cab-1980-1986/

I can't see the pic

If it was me I would fix the head gasket and drive it.

If you have a program on Mac that allows you to take a screenshot, especially if it allows you to draw a box around whatever you want to capture you can use that. That's how I typically post pictures. I use the Windows snipping tool and just draw the box around the image I want to capture, the snipping tool copies that image, and then I simply paste into my post like below.

Sounds like your head gasket may be blown between cylinders 3 and 4. Same place mine was blown when i bought the engine years ago. Head gasket is not a difficult job on these trucks. Although, didn't you mention you can still drive it? With a blown head gasket between two cylinders like that you should be able to crank it and move it but it should run really bad.

If seriously considering getting one now is definitely a better time than ever. With so many quality printers coming out now at really good prices for what you get. When I first started 3D printing years ago it took many hours of troubleshooting then modifying then rinse and repeat before my, admittedly cheap, printer would print with good quality. Even then it was very slow. Now you can get one from a company like Bambu Labs that just simply works for as low as $250 if you don't need a large print bed and only want to print with a single color. I now own the P1S from Bambu Labs with the AMS unit for doing up to 4 colors and I love it.

I went through this when converting my z24i to a weber. Since your truck is the z24i, if I remember correctly the ECU senses the crank angle sensor and as long as it is getting a signal from that it grounds the fuel pump relay so the fuel pump will come on. (Don't hold me to this, it's been a while since I went through the wiring diagram). Because of this if you convert to carb and ditch the crank angle sensor for a standard vacuum advance distributor from a carb engine you will need to ground the fuel pump relay yourself. Otherwise the fuel pump will not run, it may come on for a second when you first turn the key but it won't run long. Best to do this through an oil pressure switch for safety. I have heard these z24i engines will run fine with a carb if you leave the stock crank angle sensor. Something about the ECU going into some sort of default mode. If the crank angle sensor is still there then the fuel pump should work fine as is unless the relay went bad and someone did some questionable "fixes" to get it running.

Here you go Mike.

Curious if anyone here has ever used one of these. I didn't even know it existed until I ran a search for weber 32/36 EFI conversion. Not something I was planning, just an option I didn't know was out there. Page doesn't say how much fuel pressure is required but it does have a built in regulator. Guessing at a minimum it requires the 22 or so psi the z24i uses. Likely more. https://www.demon-tweeks.com/us/webcon-retroject-efi-conversion-for-32-36-dgv-38-dgas-carburettors-webatb400/

Have fun getting in and out of those seats in a 4x4!

You can put the rodeo seats on the 720 seat bases and then the height is not a problem. I am 6'2.5" and I don't have any issues at all.

Yep, and I always tell everyone if you have an 86 720 always enter the 85 model year when searching for parts otherwise you are likely to get D21 parts. Of course that wouldn't work for z24i trucks if ordering anything FI related. I just learned a year or so ago that using 85 720 doesn't always work, actually even using 720 doesn't always work lol. In order to get the correct U-joints for the middle and rear drive shaft I had to order the ones that fit the 86 D21. Also I "think" the trucks made in the Tennessee plant may have had different U-joints than trucks made elsewhere. This applies to 86 model only I believe.