Newish 720 owner here

[Smyrna720]

Did you sand the dash and primer it before you painted it??

 

Oh yes. I filled the big scratches and low spots with glazing putty, shot it with high build primer to hide the sanding scratches and then shot the color. All out of a can.

[Skulptr]

If you would have gotten the tracks from a 96+ rodeo, you would have been fine.

 

 

Can you post pictures of this roll pan?

[Smyrna720]

If you would have gotten the tracks from a 96+ rodeo, you would have been fine.

 

 

Can you post pictures of this roll pan?

 

Ahhhh, I got them from a 93.

 

The roll pan is pictured. It's that long black thing up there.

[Skulptr]

the roll pan goes behind the stock bumper? mine doesnt have one either then, i've got some wierd twisted chaos of a bumper on mine. its getting ripped off though soon for a custom bumper, built by yours truly lol

[Smyrna720]

the roll pan goes behind the stock bumper? mine doesnt have one either then, i've got some wierd twisted chaos of a bumper on mine. its getting ripped off though soon for a custom bumper, built by yours truly lol

 

It does, and it's a factory thing. Mine doesn't have on right now because I'd say either someone took it off to put the bumper that's on it now, or it didn't come from the factory with one because its a factory bumper. I dunno.

 

How it should look with the proper bumper.

 

 

No bumper.

 

 

You get the idea.

[Smyrna720]

Well, I didn't hardly get anything done this weekend, but at least I did get my junkyard plugs and wires in. I was getting a miss, and couldn't figure where. This is kind of what got me going on it. It ended up being a bad wire on the exhaust side. Now fixed. Also got a vacuum gauge and got the carb adjusted.

 

 

I really need to adjust the valves and retorque the head bolts. That's next on the engine list I guess.

 

I also fixed the driver side door hinge. Talk about a motherfucker. Pull the cowl. Check. Pull the grille out. Check.

Break 6 of the 9 bolts that hold the fucking fender on. Check.

 

Ugh. Luckily I rape everything I work on in the junkyard for hardware, so I had plenty on hand. Serriously, I just unbolt shit and take the bolts. People don't care because, oh, I needed that seat anyways, now I don't have do do any work. Win-win. Anyways, here's how I did it.

 

 

 

Pulled the hinge apart. Drilled the TOP two holes to 5/16ths exactly, because I was using a 5/16ths bolt. For the bottom, Used a nutsert thing I found in my hardware can (See a theme developing?). It was originally destined for some kind of military vehicle, but it will work here. I drilled the OUTSIDE part of the hinge .010" undersize of the nutsert and pressed that bitch in. I then drilled the inside about .015" over. Loose enough to move easily, but tight enough to not be sloppy. Notice that the nutsert requires both hinge pieces to be together during time of assembly. Also Red locktite on the bolt ensures that the door won't fall off.

 

Bolted the hinge up loosely first, then tightened the door bolts, closed the door most of the way, took a #2 flathead screwdriver to prop the door off the striker (to allow for sag), tightened the cab bolts, remove screw driver, shut door. Like a boss.

 

Now is a good time to look and see how rusty your shit is. I didn't want to take pictures of mine, lets just put it that way. Also at this time, take your drill and run it through the threads that I'm sure look like shit, and while you're at it, get them bolts you broke out. A pair of Channel locks on the back side ought to do it. Can't get to the back side? Just drill out and re-tap. Oh, and check for a hid-a-key on the inside of the fender.

 

 

Who woulda known. Well, now you can put your junk back together and enjoy your door shutting correctly. Oh happy days.

 

Almost forgot, I finally got exhaust put on Saturday morning. I bought the muffler and the cat came with the truck, so all told I have about $130 in the exhaust.

 

 

 

 

[Skulptr]

can you make a video of how that sounds? i had a cherry bomb on my 86 and it didnt sound as good as i would have hoped, but i also had a turn down right after the muffler infront on the axle. i'd love to hear it with the rest of the pipe on there

[Smyrna720]

can you make a video of how that sounds? i had a cherry bomb on my 86 and it didnt sound as good as i would have hoped, but i also had a turn down right after the muffler infront on the axle. i'd love to hear it with the rest of the pipe on there

 

Yeah man, I'll try and do that tonight if I can.

 

Another thing... I'm having second thoughts about swapping in my new black dash. I kind of like what I have, but I dunno. I can't decide, this:

 

 

Or this:

 

 

Opinions?

[Skulptr]

I like the bottom one, paint it black and meet yourself in the middle

[Smyrna720]

Well, still haven't had a chance to get a recording of the exhaust, but I'll try to do that soon. I did however get back to the junkyard and got some of this...

 

 

Lets see, here we got a power steering pump, lines, brackets, crank pulley, box and pitman arm. Also, I snagged the oil pressure sensor and pigtail for my gauge I got the last time I was there. Got the HVAC trim to match the rest of the black stuff in the interior, as well as shifter hole piece to swap for mine since the new shifter has a round boot, and I currently have a square hole. Not pictured, the black piece of cardboard that sits behind the seats so if you have bucket seats, you don't have to look at the back of the cab.

 

Yup, still no parts put on though. Between work, school, wife, kid, mowing grass and Nat'l Guard drill, I have no freaking time. Hell, last weekend I had to go do this:

 

 

 

 

 

Oh wait, that was something I actually wanted to do.

 

Well, maybe next weekend.

[Tryin2layadime]

And the saga continues! I got an email Friday from Pull-A-Part saying that they had gotten an 84 720 in, so Saturday morning, I went to check it out. It was a fairly decent looking KC, so I RAPED IT! Here's what I got.

 

Tons of stuff. Lets start with a minty fresh black dash. Tilt column with intermittent wipers switch. Half console thing with gauges. Shifter. CARPET! Cardboard kick panels. Interior door handles. Door lock pulls. New plug wires and brand new NGK laser plugs. Rotors with new studs. Rear roll pan. Bucket seat seatbelts. Haynes manual. Not pictured: new wire brush and some electrical connections

 

Total expenditure: $130 out the door.

 

Hells yeah.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My truck for whatever reason, didn't come with a roll pan so some idiot could install this gay looking rear bumper so I'm gonna install this bitchin lookin rear roll pan. I'll also try and rig up my receiver hitch that's been sitting under my bench for the last 3 years.

.

Not sure yet. I have some options. There are a metric shit ton of Neons at the yard, and a couple 720's, so that's a start. I'll probably just start grabbing seats from all kinds of cars and throwing them in the truck to see how they fit, and how I sit in the truck with them.

 

 

 

man i gotta know what your gonna do with your bumper and whats left on that 720 at pull a part im in columbia about an hour from smyrna. i need a bed and that bumper since mine doesnt have one. lmk man. nice thread btw very informational oh and if you have a extra headlight switch id like it too. just lmk pricing.

[Smyrna720]

man i gotta know what your gonna do with your bumper and whats left on that 720 at pull a part im in columbia about an hour from smyrna. i need a bed and that bumper since mine doesnt have one. lmk man. nice thread btw very informational oh and if you have a extra headlight switch id like it too. just lmk pricing.

 

Well, as far as all my parts, I'm gonna hang on to them until I decide what I'm going to do with them all, then it's probably going to be a fire sale. I may have an extra column that's complete, and probably a dash too. Depends on if I can get some time do do some damn work. Been so busy lately it's been hard to do anything.

 

As far as what's left on that other 720, the motor, tranny, transfer case are all there. The body is mostly complete, and I think I might go back and snatch the hood. Mine has a couple "been leaned on" dents, but I haven't really looked at the other hood to see if it's good.

 

Now, I finally did get an exhaust clip. It's a cold startup with the high idle, then it idles down. Also, you can hear the rocker arms just clattering away. Adjusting the valves and re-torqueing the head bolts is on the to do list too.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GWpaiJnEFU&feature=colike

 

 

Now I have a question.

 

Are the 2wd and 4wd power steering boxes the same? Are the Pittman arms the same also? I have looked in the parts manual and can't find different part numbers for either. Anybody have any experience?

[Tryin2layadime]

sounds good just let me know on the parts. the headlight switch is a major one i want. i might go look at that one soon i need to redo my bed floor on mine since they cut it all out (previous owner)

 

video sounds good.

 

 

and power steering ha whats that im my own power steering in my 720 lol. thankfully i have low profile tires so it makes it easier to steer.

[Skulptr]

power steering is just a box that takes place of your steering gear box. all the lines bolt right to the core support and run up to the pump. i can try to take pictures the next day i have in the day light, but if you get the whole system from the pump down to the box you will be fine. 2wd and 4wd make no difference. and if you come across one with everything but the pump, you can grab a pump from a hardbody with the z24i or ka24.

[Smyrna720]

sounds good just let me know on the parts. the headlight switch is a major one i want. i might go look at that one soon i need to redo my bed floor on mine since they cut it all out (previous owner)

 

video sounds good.

 

 

and power steering ha whats that im my own power steering in my 720 lol. thankfully i have low profile tires so it makes it easier to steer.

 

I'll let you know about my parts when I finally get them swapped out. Also, the bed at the pull a part is definetly worth taking a look at. I seem to remember the floor being in pretty good shape. The truck had a topper on it so it wasn't all beat up BUT, it was an 84. Bed is totally different, on the outside anyways.

 

power steering is just a box that takes place of your steering gear box. all the lines bolt right to the core support and run up to the pump. i can try to take pictures the next day i have in the day light, but if you get the whole system from the pump down to the box you will be fine. 2wd and 4wd make no difference. and if you come across one with everything but the pump, you can grab a pump from a hardbody with the z24i or ka24.

 

 

Already got it, stem to stern. I got all the brackets for the lines, the crank hub and everything.

[Smyrna720]

Hey, I finally got an entire WEEK off from school and work so it's allowed me to catch up a little bit. There's been quite a few things on my to do list.

 

#1. Adust valves.

 

 

No problem.

 

#2. Replace lower ball joints. There were a few problems here. First, couldn't get the cotter pin out of the nut. Had to take my die grinder and a carbide burr to grind it out. PITA.

 

 

Here you can see how I took the entire steering arm off, took the ball joints out of the arm and spun it all around so I could work on it.

 

 

#3. Install power steering. Holy shit. Hang on for this one.

 

Ok, well, to start, I guess the pump, lines, and box all bolted on no problems. Lets see what caused issues.

 

Pittman arm. They are different between 2wd and 4wd. Here you can see the differences. 4wd on top and 2wd on bottom.

 

 

I was sweating it weather the arm would go back on the box or if the output shafts would be different or not. Luckily, no issues. Except unless you count getting the pitman arm actually off the box. 30 mins of PB Blaster and propane torch to get each off. Oh, and all that time swinging a 2 1/2 lb sledge trying to knock that sucker off. Hard damn work!

 

Then, there were the parts I didn't get from the junkyard when I grabbed all the PS stuff. Like the idler and the steering shaft. So, we had to improvise. We'll start with the idler pulley. I couldn't find one off a Z24, so I found me a single cam KA in a 240 SX and swiped that one. BUT that pulley. was for a small serpentine belt. I then went to a V6 pathfinder, and swiped the v-belt pulley. I THEN had to drill out the center out bigger to fit around the bigger KA adjuster hub. Thing. Whatever. Money in the bank.

 

 

 

You can see the part of the bracket bolted to nothing.

 

 

 

 

 

Steering shaft next...

[Smyrna720]

Well, turns out the input shaft for the seering box is different between power and manual, so you'll need the rubber coupler. I couldn't find one that would work, so I had to make one work, Also, the steering shaft itself was too long. I swiped one out of a PS equipped D21. Everything is different, so I just took the inner shaft and one part of the coupler.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really hope you guys can figure out what I did, because it would take me forever to explain it. If you have questions, I'll explain, but probably next week.

 

NEXT!

 

Pack the bearings and put my new hubs on. HOLY SHIT look what I found.

 

 

 

Bearings fried. PO apperently couldn't pack bearings.

[Smyrna720]

Roll pan installed. Awww yeah.

 

 

Why'd I need to put those new hubs on? For my new wheels!

 

 

 

 

 

Giggidy. Yeah, they rub. They're 16x7 wheels as seen in my earlier posts, with 225/60R16 tires. A little too tall I think. They rub in the back on the lip of the wheel opening, I'll trim that and it'll be fine. On the front, they rub in the back of the wheelwell, like where your feet might be, the plastic wheel wells have to come out, and the bulge for the power brake booster needs beat in because it rubs there too. Other than that, I think it looks good.

[Smyrna720]

Just a few more pictures, I promise.

 

 

[poopypants720]

lookin sick on those new wheels!

 

Whats your plans for paint/colors?

 

 

btw, I for one quite enjoy all the pics ;)

[Skulptr]

good job on the p/s conversion. coulda told you it was gonna be a bear.

 

and if you want to get a pulley that actually fits that belt, look in my p/s thread, i went round and round with schmucks until we found the right one.

 

 

valve adjustment, something i need to do. but, of course, i have no clue. can you provide any insight? my shyt's clickin like mad

[Smyrna720]

lookin sick on those new wheels!

 

Whats your plans for paint/colors?

 

 

btw, I for one quite enjoy all the pics ;)

 

Thanks man, I appreciate it. IF it gets painted painted, it'll be back blue again. I like that color. That's if it gets a real deal paint job. Chances are it'll just stay a cool looking faded work truck though.

 

 

good job on the p/s conversion. coulda told you it was gonna be a bear.

 

and if you want to get a pulley that actually fits that belt, look in my p/s thread, i went round and round with schmucks until we found the right one.

 

 

valve adjustment, something i need to do. but, of course, i have no clue. can you provide any insight? my shyt's clickin like mad

 

Hell, if I'd have had all the parts I should have grabbed in the first place, it wouldn't have been hard at all. The hardest part was routing the lines, and if you push up the fittings to the box first, then the pump ends, they go right up. The only problems I had at all was #1) finding a pulley setup I could use, which I did and #2) shortening the steering shaft to the length needed, and that was pretty easy after making a couple simple measurements. As far as the pulley working correctly, that pulley works just fine. It's a V belt pulley and it works just like the factory one would have. It just positions the idler in a little different spot and it required a little shorter belt than it should have. No biggie.

 

The valve adjustment was easy too. It's all about feel. Take a dial caliper and set it at, say, .008. Then, take an .008 feeler guage and slide it in. Slide it out. That's the feel you should have when you slide the feeler guage between the rocker and the tip of the valve. Use an OFFSET BOX END COMBONATION WRENCH AND A GOOD FLAT TIP SCREWDRIVER. The offset wrench will save your knuckles and the good screwdriver will save you adjusters. If you've never done it before, find yourself a youtube video on how to do a generic valve adjustment. Adjust on the base circle of the cam. Don't take a chance and chance the rocker not being totaly on the BC. I have a ticking rocker to show for my chance taking. Take your time. Don't drop anything in the motor. Follow that, and you'll be okay. Good luck BTW.

[Smyrna720]

Just a little checking in here...

 

Well, Thursday, I pulled the valve cover because I thought the rockers were ticking and I wanted to check the valve lash again. They weren't really, which leads me to believe I have an exhaust leak, but that's not what I want to talk about. When I went to slide the feeler gauge in, it felt for lack of a better term, not smooth. I pulled one of the adjusters all the way out to look at it and it had two distinct wear patterns on it. One from the I'm assuming factory adjustment and one from my adjustment. The valves on the other had looked good. I needed to restore a convex surface to the tip, and I had an idea. I took a terry towel, folded it over twice and set it on the bench. I then got me a piece of 600 grit sand paper and hosed it down with WD40. I chucked my adjuster up in my cordless drill and went to town. Swirling the drill in different directions on the soft surface gave me my convex surface back and got rid of the wear marks. Repeat 7 more times and I was home free. Soaked them in acetone to break up the crud on the threads and back on they went. This time all adjustments went smooth as silk and those valves are as quiet as they can be. Sorry about no pictures, I was in a bit of a hurry since it was a week night.

 

Now, This weekend I finally put in the black interior I had pulled out of the junkyard a couple months ago. I do have pictures for that.

 

First, everything came out. I didn't take any pictures of that because I already had picture of that earlier when I had it out the first time. I did take pictures of my floor though. A couple of holes. I also found a patch panel on the driver side. Probably a rust repair from a previous owner. If you look earlier there are other patch panels in the back of the cab. Also probably rust repair. Typical Datsun rot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carpet, seats, seat belts, shifter and new tilt column in.

 

 

 

You might notice that the heater box and fan assembly is out. I took the time to replace all the foam inside the box so now my heat/ac positions work like they should and the trap doors can seal. ALSO, for some reason, on rainy days, I would end up with a passenger side floor full of water and the fan box would have water in it too. I tracked it down to be above the fan motor. There is a standpipe type thing right above the motor that is supposed to keep water out. Turns out water was getting through the seal between the pipe and the cowl under the cowl. It's kind of hard to describe unless you've taken it apart. Stupid me, didn't take pictures of that. I ended up using RTV to seal on the inside of the stand pipe. Shouldn't have any more leaks, but we'll find out next time it rains. Pics of the heater box:

 

 

 

 

 

Heater box in.

 

 

Gauge console in.

 

 

Now here is where it gets real fucking interesting.

 

Tilt column swap. Do your research. Swap electrics year to year. This means, if you've got an 85 truck, you need an 85 TILT headlight switch. I got my column from an 84. The turn signal was the only thing that didn't plug in. Well, the 84 hazard switch didn't work either, but I just used my old one.

 

The tilt column is BIGGER AROUND. You can't use your standard column switch, even if you Dremel out the center, because on the tilt switch, they put the wiper lever down lower on the switch. You can't get the column surround on. WTF right? So, that leaves me with only the 84 switch. I had to get real fuckin' creative with my die grinder and managed to get the 85 turn signal guts into the 84 housing. They don't work real smoothly, but they work. Next time I'm at the junkyard, I'm going to hit up some of the later model trucks and see if'n I can find something that will work. I'll have updates if I do find something.

 

Here you can see what I had to do to get the wheel off. My regular wheel puller wouldn't work, so I had to make a plate to make it work.

 

 

 

 

Here's a couple finished pics.

 

 

 

 

I took the time to repaint my needles on my gauges since I was in there too.

 

Next up: New carrier bearing. Again. I got a good deal on just the rubber piece from rock auto, and it's already on my spare drive shaft. Maybe next weekend.

 

Also, If I can find me some place to get some pleather, I'll be making some door panels out of 3/16ths MDF. Good thing I grabbed those black door handles out of the yard! I also need to source some of the plastic clips that old them on. I'll probably get enough material to make me a bed cover too. While the door panels are off, I'll probably tint the windows too. Why the hell not.

[Smyrna720]

You have got to be shitting me...

 

Last night on the way home on the interstate, I heard a ping, clunk then my charge light came on. I figured it threw the fan belt or something. Fuck no it didn't. The crank pulley fell off!!! WTF? I have never seen anything like this on anything, ever.

 

 

You can see how it bent the alignment pin when it broke off. Looks like 4 of the other bolts either fell out or didn't get put back after somebody had it apart. I don't know. Then, the last 2 bolts just broke off. Luckily, the 2 hubs just fell down into the belly pan and I didn't lose them. The belts more or less just stayed where they were minus the pulleys.

 

Either way, here is me, at 1AM in the parking lot of a truck stop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyways, I have no idea what the hell those bolts are made of, because I broke 4 drill bits trying to drill a damn hole in this thing and failed miserably. Looks like it's off to the JY this weekend to get me a new hub. Oh, and I get to resolder the radiator bracket back to the tank on the passenger side. Has anyone ever seen this happen before?

[poopypants720]

wow.... thats a new one for me!....

 

I hate that experience though... driving along and hearing something fall off is always bad.

 

I did however have my bearing seize up in the front left spindle/hub one time and pull me into the next lane while screetching me to a stop. Just lucky no one was driving next to me or right behind me.

 

Had to yank and replace the entire thing, was just easier.