What hard-to-find parts should I stash?

[seattle smitty]

While I work on getting my '81 720 5-speed gasser King Cab to the point of maybe running for a while (cylinders were full of water, rings seized), there's another with a blown engine I can pick parts from.  So far I got a slip-clutch fan on a water pump (my fan is old-fashioned no-slip), the motor mounts, wiper motor. The engine supposedly has a broken rod.  I'm going to pull the pan and see how banged up things are. Might save that block to re-machine and have ready to replace my beater-motor. Somebody here reported a steering box issue; perhaps I should get that if it's like mine. What else should I save from the donor,  what's NLA for 720s?

Edited August 2, 2018 by seattle smitty

[MaxChlan]

I've heard CV axles for the pre-1983.5 trucks are hard to find; might be worth your while to take a look at the donor truck and see if they're worth removing. Other than that, interior pieces are obviously not available, and taking the easy things out of the engine bay will make it cheaper for you to swap parts later (stuff like water pumps, various hoses, maybe even a radiator if yours is rusty). 

[datzenmike]

An entire truck? If build date Oct '83 or newer there were many changes notably the Z24 engine, vented rotors and larger calipers, dash gauges are now round and not really compatible with the early dash gauge panel unless you change the whole cluster. It might have power steering. Grab the distributor, alternator, rad, keep the head and intake and carb (same head but the intake ports on it and the intake itself have slightly larger, squarish runners.  

[seattle smitty]

Thanks, MIke and Max. The donor is an '81, missing the head and a couple of other items. From considerable recent browsing of this site, I'm aware of the newer/bigger brakes, but already have a whole set of NOS '81 brake components, so I'll install them for the time being.  The donor has a good windshield, which I think the owner will keep, and a sliding rear window like mine, which I don't expect to need, since when I get the truck going I will build a "headache rack" with some expanded metal screening that should protect the glass and my head (not sure which is more valuable).

Max, what is a CV axle?

[MaxChlan]

CV stands for constant velocity, and they're the axles in the front. I'm not super knowledgeable on what exactly they do, but from my understanding they're used in independent suspension applications to allow for decreased friction and for transmission of power in 4x4 applications. Here's a little write-up on how they work.

[G-Duax]

On ‎8‎/‎2‎/‎2018 at 10:36 PM, datzenmike said:

An entire truck.....

 

[thisismatt]

CV's replace U joints, especially on steering axles, because U joints don't have constant angular velocity when out of equal & opposite alignment, which your steering axles are quite a bit.  U joints are fine for driveshafts because they stay equally and oppositely aligned for the most part.

[seattle smitty]

Oh, THAT "CV."  Sorry, shoulda specified this as a 2WD truck. Not thinking, I  had a notion you were talking about the rear axle in a 720,  and wondered what is this? Of course, these days nearly any kind of car might have CV shafts and joints.  The '90 Geo Metro I got for temporary use while working on the 720 and another car has 'em at both ends, total of four shafts, eight joints.  They're all worn out, especially the fronts, so this little heap has a ton of driveline snatch.  OTOH, last I checked it was getting 45.1mpg, mostly highway, and that was before I changed the plugs that must have had 50,000 miles on them. Let me tell you,  you do the math and come up with a figure like 45.1 mpg, and it can make you start reconsidering what kind of car you really want  .  .  .  .

Edited August 5, 2018 by seattle smitty

[MaxChlan]

My mom bought a '95 Geo Prizm brand new from the dealership up in Bloomington; I wish she wouldn't have totaled it because those cars were sweet runners. Her's was an LSi with the 5 speed, and I shit-you-not she went over 150k on the original clutch. 

[datzenmike]

28 minutes ago, MaxChlan said:

My mom bought a '95 Geo Prizm brand new from the dealership up in Bloomington; I wish she wouldn't have totaled it because those cars were sweet runners. Her's was an LSi with the 5 speed, and I shit-you-not she went over 150k on the original clutch. 

 

I don't know what the upper limit is for clutch wear. It accumulates differently for every driver. (we all abuse them differently) 150K is probably twice the average.

[MaxChlan]

12 minutes ago, datzenmike said:

 

I don't know what the upper limit is for clutch wear. It accumulates differently for every driver. (we all abuse them differently) 150K is probably twice the average.

I think she had lots of freeway miles, but also a fair bit of traffic miles (she worked in St. Louis Park which is a solid half hour from where I grew up). She still drives stick to this day. I learned how to drive stick on her Mazda 626, and since she's had a 2012 VW Passat TDi, a 2013 Passat TDi, and now a 2016 Jetta TSi. Those emissions-scandal diesel engines were the best. Fast for what they were, and decent on the highway; we got 48 MPG driving 80 MPH from Minneapolis to Omaha one time. 

Edited August 6, 2018 by MaxChlan

[datzenmike]

Other than roll coal fat assed Dualy Dodges.... are any cars stick these days? I mean cars not Mustang GTs and shit.

[MaxChlan]

14 minutes ago, datzenmike said:

Other than roll coal fat assed Dualy Dodges.... are any cars stick these days? I mean cars not Mustang GTs and shit.

I've done a fair bit of research into that surprisingly... I believe the only manual transmission truck that you can buy new is the Toyota Tacoma (I believe just the TRD Off-Road package, not the TRD Pro ☹️). You can still get a Subaru Impreza in any trim, the Ford Focus ST and RS, Honda Civic Type-R, some VWs like the Jetta and Golf, Nissan 370'Zs, and I'm pretty sure that's about it. I might be missing a few offerings from Kia or Toyota though. Dual clutch gearboxes seem to be the go-to in supercar applications these days; they're even starting to trickle down to the average-joe cars. I went to a VW/Skoda/Porsche dealership when I was living in Cologne, Germany and they had Jettas and Passats on the floor with DSGs in them. 

 

Edited August 6, 2018 by MaxChlan

[Lockleaf]

You are missing Mazda.  They have a company goal of offering "sporty" sedans and continue offer the manual trans in both the 3 and 6 i believe

[seattle smitty]

Putting an '81 720 together; engine was frozen, had to pull head, did a valve job.  Just to show I don't know what I'm looking at, it took me a little while referring to photos and drawings in Haynes to realize that this seems to be a California engine, with its two air tubes across the front, rather than one.  But the other day, setting up the timing chain and bolting on the timing chain cover, I'm wondering if some long-ago owner replaced the original Z-22 with a (taller block) Z-24.  My guess is based on the fact that this timing cover has four bolts at the very top, where the gasket set came with two sets of gaskets, one with the four holes at the top, the other set shorter and with only two holes at the top.  Have I guessed right? 

If this is a Z-24, it might explain the water filling one cylinder, frozen engine, etc., since you guys have clued me in to the extra care that the Z-24 requires to maintain a good head gasket seal  .  .  .  . 

FWIW, I have always preferred to torque a head down (in stages) and if possible let it sit and compress the gasket for a few days, then re-torque (ignoring the claims for 'Non-Re-Torque" gaskets),  and then re-torquing again after having run the engine a time or two.

Edited August 23, 2018 by seattle smitty

[seattle smitty]

Thanks. But I discovered the pads on the block with the stamped I.D.; says Z-22. Maybe the extra gaskets are for L-motors.

Now I find that there were two distributors for 1981 720 King Cab Z-22s, one (my truck) with a snap-on cap, the other (donor truck) with a screw-on cap.  (EDIT)--maybe the dist. on the donor truck was a transplant from some other year;  Rock Auto shows only the snap-cap for this year.

Edited August 29, 2018 by seattle smitty