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720 project.


Zlich

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hey guys havnt been posting alot havnt had money to get anywhere on my project. so heres the start to my project list with my 81 datsun KC 4x4 has anyone made some fender flares that look good for a 720 4x4? also want to know what offset i would need so my tires stop rubbing. as for things iv done to the truck its got a 2" straight pipe to a glass pack that goes to 3" pipe. stock carb and some 31'tires on it. my plans are to get a 32/36 weber for it maybe some headers and im gunna build a back tube bumper and a rollbar/roof rack. havnt figured out how to post pics from my phone yet.

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Locate some stock 4x4 flares....actually there was set 4-sale here a while back.

Z22?

I might go for the 38/38 and jet it accordingly.

Advance the cam to No3 position to 'improve' bottom end and help turn those 31s.

Don't waste your money on a header

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The maximum tire size for the 720 4x4 without (too much) rub is 29". Up from the stock 27". You'll have to live with it or maybe a 3" body lift??? You've done just about all you can for the exhaust. The Z series head is the biggest drawback to exhaust flow and a header is over kill as you won't be moving enough exhaust to need it. Use this money saved for your 32/36. And get a new one from Redline that has everything needed. Be sure to get automatic choke and idle cut solenoid on it.

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Locate some stock 4x4 flares....actually there was set 4-sale here a while back.

Z22?

I might go for the 38/38 and jet it accordingly.

Advance the cam to No3 position to 'improve' bottom end and help turn those 31s.

Don't waste your money on a header

The maximum tire size for the 720 4x4 without (too much) rub is 29". Up from the stock 27". You'll have to live with it or maybe a 3" body lift??? You've done just about all you can for the exhaust. The Z series head is the biggest drawback to exhaust flow and a header is over kill as you won't be moving enough exhaust to need it. Use this money saved for your 32/36. And get a new one from Redline that has everything needed. Be sure to get automatic choke and idle cut solenoid on it.

sealik its a z24 and it spins the 31's like there nothing. datsunmike i want to do a suspension lift i know the hardbodys came with them but they are a different wheel well sizes i have a pathfinder that has them stock.
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Ah, fooled me. Z24 is much better. The 720 that had the Z24s were burdened with a 4.11 differential ratio making them sluggish and worse with larger diameter tires. The '81 has 4.375 ratios and is much better.

 

A suspension lift would simply mean turning the torsion bars up slightly. Perhaps a spacer between the bottom of the leaf springs and the axle.

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Another trick is to loosen fully, pop the torsion bar back, to disengage the front spline in the lower control arm, and reposition the torsion bar so that it has more adjustment on the anchor bolt. This is also called indexing it. Have a care, as the stock camber is affected the further you raise or lower from the designed stock location.

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For your setup, I agree with everything but the header... the header is a waste of money on these as the stock manifold flows plenty good enough, and the header will never see the rpm it needs to function properly, you may even lose some valuable bottom end torque with a header.

 

For the carb, the 32/36 performs well in these but you may need to fatten up the fuel by going up a size or 2 on the mains and especially the idle jets, and go down a size or 2 on the air correctors, with the money you save by not buying the header, you can get yourself a wideband so you can accurately tune and jet the carb for each upgrade. the 38/38 might work good on yours since you got an early model with the lower gears so keep that in mind when selecting the carb.

 

The stock cam works well in the 4x4 but indexing it to the #3 position will give it a bit more punch on the bottom end and you'll never miss the top end power you'd be trading it for, the bottom end torque in these trucks is far more valuable than a few extra horses above 5k rpm...

 

As far as lifting your truck goes, doing a 3" body lift will allow you to use 31 or 32" tires without modifying the front suspension, you may want to crank up the torsion bars to level everything out, which could be done without giving up too much camber. If the front torsion bars are still too low, then you'll need to re index them to get enough adjustment range. Just do any torsion bar adjustments on a level surface and count the number of turns so you can adjust each side the same, then drive the truck a little and put back on level surface and check that the truck stands level (visual inspect, and if anything looks off, then measure from the bumper corners to the ground), in some cases you may need to tweak one side to bring everything level after an adjustment but that rarely happens unless ya lose count on how many turns you did to one side or the other. Cranking up or indexing the torsion bars is a low risk operation and a quick youtube search will give you good instruction as the process is pretty much the same for all brands.

 

Another note on body lifting a 5 speed truck is that you'll need to modify your shift boots and may need to do some trimming on the center console so the stick doesn't hit. I had to do some mods to mine to keep the shifting perfect by installing a new inner shift boot upside down, bending the stick in just the right place, and trimming the opening on my center console. the transfer case selector doesn't have these problems with a 3" body lift.

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what if say i had another z24 that i blew a main bearing in and wanted to "build" it up before i drop it in the truck? and also would finding a 4 or 5 spd and putting that in with it be better? im really just trying to make it a good street legal offroad truck if that helps any. some roads i have to hit like 55mph but the ones i drive on are mostly 45 and lower. total random add guys. most people i talk to about this dont know as much or just say how much of a pos my truck is so its nice to talk to people that know about the trucks and nissans. hahaha

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If you drive mostly in town then stick with the 4 speed. The 5 speed is to reduce slightly, the highway cruise RPMs and gain a slight increase in fuel economy. A 5 speed won't make your truck accelerate faster or go faster top speed.

 

A frankenmotor or hybrid or LZ motor is, among other options, an older better breathing L series head bolted to a Z series block. In your case a Z24 with and L head. You would need an L head, it;s intake and exhaust manifolds and down pipe, a carburetor and different throttle linkage, motor mounts, oil pan, modifies front timing cover from an L series, an L series transmission.

 

Usually this is done to vehicles that already have an L series motor and the Z block just replaces the L series. If you have a Z series motor you have to basically convert everything over to make it an L series. A lot of work.

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oh okay what all can i do to a z24 internally to boost proformance? i have one i have to replace the main bearing and i have a running (barley) motor in my truck. i was thinking about building up the motor before i put it back in and put a 4 spd behind it. right now i have a 5 spd and i hardly even use 5th

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