bxadook

Yep mike! This is just a 1980 L20b motor I picked up that came with a 5 speed transmission. I did not take care of this motor, I have only had it for a few days. Actually felt how this motor pulled before it was removed from the truck it came from and it actually felt stronger than my 1978 motor! This got me super excited as it felt like it was a win-win. Now I am just a little bit bummed. I will see what I can do to clean everything up, and dissect the head and block today.

I am sorry hainz but curiosity got the best of me, and I think I ended up making the right choice. In the donor motor I found: https://photos.app.goo.gl/bhWbyR5PhYoJGQKR7 Video of sludge coming from water pump. I sent this to my brother via text if you are wondering about the speech. Pitting in the water pump? Sorry I cleaned up the sludge when I took this photo. Latte coolant / oil coming up through the valves? It had a square port manifold gasket, yet where the exhaust flows it is round. Is this normal? My 1978 L20b did not look like this at all! Its almost like a portion of the head was eaten away by acidic exhaust? Every exhaust port looks similar. https://photos.app.goo.gl/FECdEJJwobVE9Ba68 The exhaust ports are all shit. The intakes actually have a portion at the 6 o'clock position(gravity dependent I guess) where it is eaten away. Is the EGR bad? Is it recirculating too much acidic crank case gas? Was it the coolant leak into the oil worsening the pH of the motor? The gasket in question. This is the intake manifold. My 1978 motor was clean - you could see the manifold metal. Here is the 1980 motor coated in a black tar. The coolant ports on the head for the intake manifold also appeared to be clogged. Half of one of the intake ports on the manifold was completely blocked off with crap. I am pulling the head off tomorrow. Will make sure to set the motor to TDC before I do so. Super curious as to what I am going to find, I suspect there will be a blown head gasket. This is so cool, learning a lot. All I wanted is the transmission. I hope it is in good shape. Have new seals coming in this weekend, and clutch coming in next week. If the block ends up being crap I will turn it into a table or something. This head appears to be totally ruined.

To be determined what I will end up doing. I appreciate the point you were trying to make. For sure it would be easier to just swap in the KA if I wanted just power. I also want to learn, and the L20b seems like an easy/relatively cheap to platform to learn how to do this type of work. The end goal here is continued learning more so than actual power gains. Will likely end up getting a different platform/car when this goal changes. For all I know, the motor will end up sitting, when I impulsively buy a KA. (I impulse bought this 5-speed + L20b)

Got my 5 speed! Fuel pump looks new! Got a chance to ride around in the truck it came from and it felt like it had more power than my current L20b. It wouldn't idle, which is the same problem that my truck had. He said he replaced the fuel pump, so that leaves the carbeurator as the issue. It has an ATK reman sticker. I do not know the mileage. It did come from a 1980 720. The bolt was to the left of the center of the tranny, so I knew it would work for my truck! Gonna be fun to tear this lil guy down. Sorry Mike, I did not put the fram on it!!! I am not dead set on doing a KA swap currently as I am having a ton of fun already. Maybe when my truck feels old... lol. With the new carb and this little side project I think a KA swap is off the table for now. I can daily my truck. The truck is so much fun to drive.

I’m already aware my rear tire is too large. Probably going to downsize to 15x9 in the future. This is already an L20b and right now I’d just be swapping the 5-speed into this truck. my current exhaust manifold is a round-port which doesn’t fit any of the aftermarket headers on the market today. Would love to rebuild the new motor from the ground up and eventually swap it in. Was reading that DCOE setups just guzzle gas and don’t net power without port matching the intake and exhaust. Would love to upgrade internals but just don’t know where to find them.

Thanks for the help guys! i reconnected the coolant line and tried to clean up the engine bay. Pics to come soon. I just sourced an l20b with a 5-speed from a Datsun 720 for $350. Going to take a look at it tomorrow. Would be fun to swap the trans out and maybe rebuild the motor. I currently don’t know the year of the source truck but presumably because it’s an l20b the tranny should just swap over no issues?? related question: what’s the best source for performance oriented parts for an l20b? money will soon be a non-issue for me. No girlfriend. Just the truck and I soon to be in Colorado. Taking a nice hospital job.

Oh boy so I learned a lot about my truck since the last post but here is my progress! I'm lovin' the lil rake and stance it has. Yes I will tidy up the coolant line and get that fuel line choked up on the fitting 🙂 D21 Drop spindles with D21 hubs D21 4WD 2 piston caliper conversion in the front. Power stop calipers for 4WD D21, and Brembo vented rotors for a 4WD D21. The existing hard brake lines running from the caliper will NOT work with this conversion and you need to run a banjo bolt with crush washers with the proper brake hose for the caliper. KYB Gas-a-just shock absorbers. New ball joints, tie rods, and center link. Wheel Vintique Rallye's 15x8 running a 215/65/r15 in the front and 15x10 with a 255/60/r15 in the rear. Need to run a hubcentric 100mm to 108mm adapter to make this work. Wanted to run a smaller stretched tire in the rear, but my tire shop wouldn't let me. Will look to run something other than this big ass tire in the future, but for now it will do. Got it off the stand - and it wouldn't idle so I replaced the stock Hitachi with a Weber 32/36 DGEV - and yes I will plug in that electric choke. I was having issues getting it to stay, but in this hot AZ weather it starts just fine without it for now. Will delete that coolant line running to the manifold eventually as well. Took pictures of the EGR delete. Yeah it's janky with JB weld, but this is a shit box. Have a few things to tidy up but just needed to share and update since the last post. Thanks for everyone's past and present help. The search function has been absolutely vital in this build!

So guys, I am basically done with the D21 4wd 2 piston caliper disc brake upgrade for the front. Pics will come later. It took me about a month and a half. Was anticipating driving the truck to get an alignment and had issues. I attempted to drive the truck out of the garage. It starts, but I have to give the truck gas to start it consistently. Had the same problem two months ago, but once everything was warmed up the truck would start no problem. Once started I have to give it gas to keep the truck running. It also sounds like it is running rough while I am giving it gas, and while putting it in gear. It feels like I have to give it a lot more gas to get the truck to move as well. I was worried it was my new hub bearings, but the wheels still spin freely. Needless to say, I got the truck 10 yards out of the garage and got freaked out. I suspect I have a vacuum leak or a fuel issue related to the work I did, as well as letting the truck sit for a little while and letting everything dry up. 😞 Please gods help me! Ben

edited

So I am in the process of upgrading the front suspension and I received two balljoints from Rockauto, the MOOG 9045 balljoints. They are both different. One clearly isn't made for this truck and has made me skeptical that the other will fit. The one that I thought would fit sits in the lower control arm like so. I haven't torqued it down fully but really not liking how this is sitting in the control arm. Is this a normal gap? The above diagram seems to indicate that is gap is normal but would like an opinion on this. Edited post for photos. If that didn't work: https://photos.google.com/search/_tra_/photo/AF1QipMz5ZRba11CQS3C9eTN4mNmuE9BlJKZqqF2OJSF https://photos.google.com/search/_tra_/photo/AF1QipMJMcbx1Q3aQsVz1LF7MMxGABudUl4yxCXZtsPO Ben

How long were your studs and what size did you change them to? ben

Hey everyone, So I replaced my valve cover gasket and that has appeared to fix the leak. Today, I learned that a garage opened up in my apartment complex which has suddenly opened a big juicy can of worms for me. In the next month I want to replace the brakes and do a suspension overhaul. The overall goal is to make the truck safer and to prepare it for an eventual motor swap. My L20b is still running strong. Planning on doing the D21 disc brake conversion, and converting the rear brakes to disc later as well. Front suspension parts list: Front upper and lower bushings Strut bushings Sway bar bushings Ball joints Struts Sway bar link Tie rods Brake conversion parts list: D21 2wd truck hubs and dust shields D21 or pathfinder 4x4 calipers with mounting brackets D21 rotors Bell-tech D21 drop spindles Are there any issues with this list or glaring things that I am missing? Any recommendations? I am not planning on doing anything big, like a coilover suspension or Willwood brakes just yet because there is a high likelihood I will break or fuck up something as I am learning. My apologies if it seems as if I do not know what I am doing, because it is true. Any advice would be helpful. Ben

So I found a leak in the valve cover, where mike was expecting it and I have a valve cover gasket that is arriving today. Will see if this is the solitary leak! Is there anything I should check in the engine head when I pull the valve cover off? Ben

Interesting. I saw the Troy Ermish starters when googling everything and it was pretty enticing. The price tag was steep! It's pretty tough to justify really nice stuff right now given this is my first car that will need maintenance and its highly likely that I will mess something up. I bought an AC Delco reman and so far 5/5 starts, including multiple cold starts in 30 degree weather. Thanks for everyone's help! Next projects in no particular order are chasing down the oil leak, floor pan replacement, full suspension rebuild and D21 disc brake conversion in the front and rear. On a tough ICU and inpatient month so time is limited. Ben

Confirmed starter works on testing. Likely the solenoid. I’m not going to lie, already ordered my replacement starter. gonna keep the old one and if the replacement breaks I’ll replace the solenoid and use this one.