jakebson

The rest of the bolts came out easily, just that one pictured would not. There were 3 with a 10mm hex and around 10 bolts with an 8mm hex. The one 10mm bolt remaining in the picture just kept spinning continuously. I did try to gently pry on it with a flat blade. I was afraid to put much pressure on it though, because I did not want to damage anything in case I couldn't get it out.

Dropped the pan on my 87 D21 today to change the fluid and replace the filter. One of 3 larger bolts on the filter just spins and won't come out. The filter didn't look very bad so I put everything back together and topped the fluid off. I want to know how to address so that I can service it again soon and actually change the filter. Including a pic of the bolt in question. The fluid was not looking great and I don't know the service history of the truck. It shifts pretty well, but it revs a little high on the first shift or 2 from 1st to 2nd after starting. A little rougher than normal, but not a major jerk or anything. Is that normal behavior for this transmission? Thanks, Jake

Cleaning up pretty well. Been driving it daily for the last few weeks. The voltage regulator on the alternator was bad, so I had to pull the one out of my 720 to check if it kept everything above 14v instead of bouncing around from 12.5 all the way up to 17 something. That took care of that issue. Need to go through the suspension and get some exhaust work done. Going to address a few cosmetic issues over the next few weeks also.

Got a new clutch, throwout bearing, and flywheel wrapped up today. Had an extra set of hands wrestling the transmission out and back in. Went pretty well for my first time changing a clutch. Driving well. Thanks again for all the help and suggestions. Jake

Yes it has been converted to a carb. Much of the TBI was missing when I got it and I had pretty much everything on hand to build it as a z24. It has coils, distributor, oil pump drive spindle and fuel pump from a salvaged 720. It now has a Weber 32/36.

Getting this thing running pretty well. I ended up putting a jumper on the fuse relay and was able to get a constant 12v to the fuel pump from the original harness by doing that. It is a little difficult to start and tries to stall a bit until the engine runs for a few minutes. Like it's not getting enough fuel and too much air, but after the temp starts to move off of Cold it runs well. The electric choke is working, but I'm going to try and dial it in a little better and see if that helps. Couldn't find any vacuum leaks either, but I am going to check again along with the fuel pressure to make sure I don't have any obstructions or kinks.. The battery charging light is illuminating, but really dim. Put all new battery cables and belts inand the battery reads over 14v while running. Going to keep hunting that issue down. Got the brakes working better, but there is still a bit of air in the lines. Going to bleed them again. Really enjoying getting this thing up and running. It's cleaning up pretty well too... just don't look inside at the dash that is disintegrating along with some other plastic pieces haha.

Thanks Mike, the fuel relay is under the hood on the D21. I dealt with the relay issues above on my 720 and you helped me sort those out. I believe the relay on the d21 is good, that's why I was wondering if the ECU may have something to do with it on this one or if just a bad wire somewhere. I did run a wire from a constant 12v from under the hood from one of the throttle body harnesses and the truck didn't die like it was running from the original fuel pump harness. Hopefully I'm explaining this well.

Couple of questions/issues now that have the engine running. I dropped the fuel tank and and got it cleaned out. It was a nasty mess. I got a complete fuel pump unit, removed the pump and installed a fuel line in place of it to the same height as where the screen was sitting at the bottom of the unit. Tested it on the ground next to the truck and everything worked great. Reinstalled the tank and all new soft lines. Wired into the existing harness with the 720 pump (and external filter) mounted to the frame right behind the cab using the same positive and ground that went to the in tank pump. Problem is I'm not getting constant 12 volts. Is this likely as simple as a bad connection somewhere? Does the ECU communicate anything to the fuel pump that I need to bypass? It runs for a bit but then acts fuel starved. The fuel gauge is operating now along with the gas light. 2nd, flushed and bled the brakes until I had nice clear fluid and a firm pedal. When I start the truck it is soft and firms up rarely. Is an issue with a vacuum leak or the brake booster? I stole a brake booster line off of a newer D21 at a yard, a different shape and maybe slightly longer, would that affect it? How do I check that?

I did what Hainz suggested with unbolting the slave cylinder and it still started. Ordered the clutch kit and hoping to start tackling it next weekend. I'll let you all know if I have any questions. Thanks again for all the help everyone.

It's Alive!! I decided last week that I was going to dive into this thing and start putting it back together while I was trying to figure out things with my 720. Was able to get this going while I am waiting on the clutch kit for the 720. Most all of the emissions sensors were missing along with parts off the throttle body. After reading here and a few other places I realized I had close to everything to rebuild this as a z24 instead of the z24i. It was way more cost effective for me to try and see if the truck is going to be a runner. I know that the TBI system may be a nicer option, but this simplified things for me a lot. They make an adapter for the intake now so I did not need to get one of those. I had grabbed a distrubutor, oil pump spindle, both coils, fuel pump, and the y split fuel line to the carb from a salvage yard. I got that along with a handful of other things just to have as extras for my 720 since it's the only one I have seen at the salvage yard. All new gaskets, hoses, belts, timing chain tensioner. I temporarily wired up the ignition and rigged a fuel can with a line from the can with a filter to the pump, pump to the y fuel line, then to the carb with a return line to the can. Turned on the ignition, listened to the fuel pump prime and then tried to start it. Fired right up and kept running. After a few minutes it started smoking heavily. Let it keep running to get up to operating temp. The smoke was still heavy, but after a few minutes was starting to ease. Left it running and would rev it up for around 20 minutes and it had stopped smoking. Couldn't really drive it yet, because the brakes need to be bled and the trans and power steering need to be flushed. I did back it down my driveway and drive back up it very slowly just to check if everything was rolling. After I warmed it up I went ahead and checked the compression 1 - 150 psi 2- 148 psi 3 - 149 psi 4 -149 psi Got the timing set to 3 degreest BTDC A few questions: 1. Is it Ok for the coils to share the same 12v hot wire? I have everything temporarily wired for now and it ran fine, but want to get it more permanent. 2. There is not a lot of room to mount the coils. is it ok to mount them horizontal? I know in the 720 they are kind of on an angle. 3. I'm needing to drop the tank and get the fuel delivery sorted. Was thinking I would disable the pump and mount the 720 pump on the frame rail just like they are normally. I need to figure out a way to make a pickup line, any ideas on that? I thought I would just run some hose down the structure of the old fuel pump with a fitting and sock filter on the end. Just have the bottom sitting at the same height as the in tank pump. I am open to ideas and suggestions on that. Is it

There was no play in the push rod when I checked. The boot around the clutch fork deteriorated and was getting in the way a small amount. I took that out and then the push rod had the small amount of play that Wayno mentioned. Unfortunately it did not fix the issue. It did create a small improvement. I was able to move the truck closer to 3000 RPM, but it is still not able to be driven. Maybe that contributed to the demise of the clutch.

I'll mess with it today, just to confirm.

Just the pedal and slave cylinder function are working as they should. The truck is still not drivable.

The clutch pedal feels normal. Doesn't stick or have any issues. I bled the slave cylinder again and everything appears to be in working order.

Rock Auto has several Clutch kits to choose from. Is it ok to get one through them? Any certain brand that is better than the others?