First Time Poster, Short Time Lurker.

[Whycantipwn]

Hello first time posting. Wanted to get some questions answered.

I saw this posting on craigslist for a Datsun 720 and was wondering if the price he was charging was justified.

Also I was wondering if this would be a good car for daily driving for someone with little experience with manual and little automotive experience?

Link to Craigslist: https://stockton.craigslist.org/cto/5500849417.html

[datzenmike]

 

 

 

The guy to talk to is wayno, he has a 720 diesel.

 

 

Looks nice but a bit much for someone with not much mechanical experience. Couple of minor things to fix. Four inch lowering you may not like if not done well. Straight pipe even with a turbo may be annoying when commuting. On the face of it, yeah, probably worth it. The thing is, is finding out if there is anything not mentioned that's wrong with it.

[Draker]

Looks like a nice truck. The problem is.. it will break.. and if you don't know how to fix it.. you better know someone that can. Also.. will that thing pass smog? Seems like it's been modified from stock a bit.

 

Nice truck.. but some experience is recommended.

[flatcat19]

I'll give him 2500, he can keep the motor and I'll put a KA in it with remaining cash.

 

 

For a rookie, may not be the best choice.

But damn, it looks cool.

[Whycantipwn]

I'm not a 100% sure if it needs to be smog since it is a 82 Diesel where I read that any car older then 89 Diesel does not need to be smog. What are the general problems with trucks like this? Also what problems should I be looking for ? Also where would be a better start point? I like the style and a nice small truck would be fun to drive around in.

 

Also thanks for all the comments.

[Lockleaf]

The fact that it is a (1) modified (2) uncommon (3) diesel engine makes it a difficult vehicle to deal with when something goes wrong, even for a person with experience in those kinds of things. Breakdowns, and it will break down, could easily take weeks to find parts or diagnose issues due to the modifications.

 

Find a gas version that hasn't been heavily tampered with. If you like that look, save the pictures. We will help you build one. It will be one you know inside and out, plus drivetrain parts will be MUCH more available so fixes can happen faster.

 

That is a cool truck, but it's the wrong truck for a beginner.

[Charlie69]

This could be a nice truck if it was done correctly.  If it was done half assed then it will be a nightmare!

 

The Nissan diesels are not easy to locate parts for.  Like Mike suggested try to talk with Wayno, he is very knowledgeable on the Nissan diesels.

[Rhino13]

Yeah it's not worth $5500 at all in my opinion. I'd probably pay $2500-$3000 with the motor, if he included everything but the motor I'd pay $800. Don't waste your time on it if you don't know how to fix it, like everyone else said, it's going to break and you'll have to be inclined enough to figure it out. That being said, if you want to get into cars I'd be on the lookout for a stock 720 that's gas instead of diesel. You can find them for dirt cheap and then put your own style into it, all while learning how to work on it. Lowering costs about $30-40, you can swap certain engines in without changing the mounts or trans, and all the parts are really easy to come by for pretty cheap.

[Whycantipwn]

I was interested in the diesel version because I believe it's non smog in California. I'll probably pm Wayno and see if its a good idea.

 

Gas version wouldnt be a bad idea but I'll probably have to keep a stock engine since smog but I'm still very uneducated.

 

Thanks for all the replies again

[wayno]

It would be interesting to know if it actually runs properly, I wonder what injection pump it has, inline or VE?

The stock 2.2 diesel pistons were never made with a turbo in mind, but that doesn't mean that turbo pistons could not be found, while all 2.5 diesel engines had turbo pistons.

I have only had mine up to 11psi a couple times, right now I am running 8/9psi max and average about 5psi.

 

If you don't know a lot about the diesel engine and how it works, it's probably not a good idea to buy this truck, but if you are wanting to learn about them, well what better way to dive in.

Keep in mind that it is not easy to turbocharge a 2.2 diesel with an inline pump, so if it has an inline injection pump, you really need to know it has been done right, I would want to know what the EGTs are at when climbing a long up hill grade, if they get above 1200 degrees easily, then forget it, run away.

 

I just recently got my turbocharged 2.5 720 diesel to daily status, it has an inline injection pump and had lots of issues, at first it was running way to hot(EGTs), so it sat for a year while I thought about it, then I changed everything the previous owner had done and now it runs alright, I had to invent a valve for it to work though, as the valve I needed is not out there.

I would really like a bunch of photos of that engine/turbo setup just to see how it was done.

This is mine before I made a vacuum release valve.

[Whycantipwn]

Dang Wayno you blew my brain for a sec with all this new info. Thanks for all the helpful info and questions I should ask the guy. I'm kind of on the fence about running away from this purchase cause of the difficulty that everyone had bought up. But I just emailed the guy about the EGT temp and if possible to get more pics. Still trying to figure out something that I want to work on, I'm very fearful of smog and doing swaps and stuff but I'm willing to learn but scared of failure. Complicated first car purchase.

[wayno]

You need to keep in mind about people trying to sell things and what they will admit, the guy I bought this turbo engine from made this turbo package, he said it ran great, but in fact it ran way to hot, and he likely never took it over 55mph because it didn't want to go faster than that anyway, he said it ran great, I say it didn't come close to running great.

I got it running pretty good now, it doesn't over heat anymore unless I try to over heat it by flooring it on a hill, I can say this for sure, it could not go up the grapevine entering the LA area without getting to hot, but my inter-cooler is not hooked up at this time, that may help, but likely I would have to go up that hill below the speed limit, when I talk about overheating, I am talking about the EGTs(exhaust gas temperatures).

I would be interested in more photos of the engine compartment.

Ask him what the highest EGT temp he has seen ever, don't suggest a temp, ask what the highest temp he has seen was.

My SD25 engine had a lot of miles on it before it was turbocharged, so the former owner suggested not going above 10psi, I don't know if it could take a lot more for an extended period of time, I have seen mine go to 11/12psi once, it didn't seem all that powerful, but I might still have issues though, I don't believe I am getting enough fuel, I have not worked out all the bugs yet, but I am working on it, as I get more fuel, my EGTs will go up, and hopefully the power will increase also.

You say this is a first time vehicle purchase, I am not sure this particular vehicle would be a good choice, it would be a good second vehicle to play with, but when it breaks down, you will need to have a good tow policy, or you will need to fix it along the side of the road, it is a lot more difficult to fix a diesel along side the road than it is to fix an L20b along side the road, first thing is knowing what went wrong, it's a lot easier to figure out on a gas vehicle.

 

Dang Wayno you blew my brain for a sec with all this new info. Thanks for all the helpful info and questions I should ask the guy. I'm kind of on the fence about running away from this purchase cause of the difficulty that everyone had bought up. But I just emailed the guy about the EGT temp and if possible to get more pics. Still trying to figure out something that I want to work on, I'm very fearful of smog and doing swaps and stuff but I'm willing to learn but scared of failure. Complicated first car purchase.

[xsdg]

BTW, I'm down in Santa Clara.  I get up to the city every now and again, so if you end up with a Z24, I might be able to drop by to offer suggestions or lend a hand.  I'm running the stock Hitachi carb and got my truck to legit pass smog with flying colors, even though it was trying to stall at every stop light back when I first bought it.  I know next to nothing about the L-series engines or the diesels, though.