Fabulous Sparkly Posted February 10, 2019 Report Share Posted February 10, 2019 Greetings and hello. A few weeks ago I rescued a 1985 Nissan 720 King Cab from a junkyard/scrap yard. I just got it running a couple of days ago. So far I've done the following to the truck: * Replaced starter * Replaced ignition relay (was a pain in the butt to find someone who sold it) * Replaced fuel filter and fuel pump * Replaced distributor cap * Put in a few gallons of fresh gas * Air filter What I know that needs to be done: * Rust repair in a lot of places (frame is amazingly not rusty) * Brake booster * Tires (lined up to get tires just have to do it) * Weber carb swap * Spark plugs and wires * Reupholster the driver seat, maybe both, replace interior carpet * Steering wheel replacement (still functions) * Figure out why the signals don't work at all * Wipers * Deep cleaning * Replace stereo and speakers, maybe add a subwoofer? * Brakes * Exhaust * Paint * Rear bumper * AC and interior blower fix (it's rigged to a switch and hardwired to the battery, AC may work, not tested, probably doesn't work) * Trans oil, coolant flush, brake flush * Figure out where the power steering is leaking and fix it Overall, she runs pretty good, clutch seems good, and it drives fairly nicely. I'm still not totally sure where I want to go with it, but for now, I'm just getting it running and driving and going to daily it. It's approaching 200K miles, can't remember exact mileage. It lived in a junkyard for a year or so and the bed was used to rebuild transmissions, luckily on top of a plastic bed liner. It was parked due to issues with running off and on. After I got it home, I found one issue to be the wiring near the battery. I really need to find replacement connectors. Might need to eventually get a new fuse panel as the one in it got a little melted around the ignition relay but it still works, just ugly. I'm toying with the idea of swapping in either a small block V8 or maybe a Honda engine, but no idea yet. Not sure what will fit or how much the stock trans can handle before exploding. It seems the gearing ratio is 3.7 if I'm reading the sticker in the door right. Seems the transmission is FS5W71B. Model KNL-TUF. z24 engine. I'm very glad this forum exists because there is a lot of very useful information for this truck. In the junkyard Still in the junkyard Still still in the junkyard Found the owners manual in the dash Engine bay at the moment 2 Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted February 11, 2019 Report Share Posted February 11, 2019 5 hours ago, Fabulous Sparkly said: Greetings and hello. A few weeks ago I rescued a 1985 Nissan 720 King Cab from a junkyard/scrap yard. I just got it running a couple of days ago. So far I've done the following to the truck: * Replaced starter * Replaced ignition relay (was a pain in the butt to find someone who sold it) * Replaced fuel filter and fuel pump * Replaced distributor cap * Put in a few gallons of fresh gas * Air filter What I know that needs to be done: * Rust repair in a lot of places (frame is amazingly not rusty) * Brake booster * Tires (lined up to get tires just have to do it) * Weber carb swap * Spark plugs and wires * Reupholster the driver seat, maybe both, replace interior carpet * Steering wheel replacement (still functions) * Figure out why the signals don't work at all * Wipers * Deep cleaning * Replace stereo and speakers, maybe add a subwoofer? * Brakes * Exhaust * Paint * Rear bumper * AC and interior blower fix (it's rigged to a switch and hardwired to the battery, AC may work, not tested, probably doesn't work) * Trans oil, coolant flush, brake flush * Figure out where the power steering is leaking and fix it Overall, she runs pretty good, clutch seems good, and it drives fairly nicely. I'm still not totally sure where I want to go with it, but for now, I'm just getting it running and driving and going to daily it. It's approaching 200K miles, can't remember exact mileage. It lived in a junkyard for a year or so and the bed was used to rebuild transmissions, luckily on top of a plastic bed liner. It was parked due to issues with running off and on. After I got it home, I found one issue to be the wiring near the battery. I really need to find replacement connectors. Might need to eventually get a new fuse panel as the one in it got a little melted around the ignition relay but it still works, just ugly. I'm toying with the idea of swapping in either a small block V8 or maybe a Honda engine, but no idea yet. Not sure what will fit or how much the stock trans can handle before exploding. It seems the gearing ratio is 3.7 if I'm reading the sticker in the door right. Seems the transmission is FS5W71B. Model KNL-TUF. z24 engine. I'm very glad this forum exists because there is a lot of very useful information for this truck. I see several thinks mentioned that could have a single cause. Fix the cause fix several problems. To test brake booster... pump brakes several time to empty the booster of residual vacuum. Press down on brake pedal and hold. Start engine and observe that the pedal drops slightly. If so booster is working normally. Signals not working. A common problem on the 720 is the 4 way emergency switch. Turn key and signals on. Move the 4 way emergency switch slowly towards ON. When the turn signal starts working, stop. If reverse lights are working it's not the fuse. Wipers not working? Replace fuse #6 from the left side or swap with #5 fuse to see if that's it. Doing the following often solves many running issues. Use only NGK plugs. IMPORTANT!!!! BPR6ES for the intake side and BPR5ES for the exhaust side. Timing is 3 degrees BTDC +/- 2 degrees. Valve lash 0.012" on a HOT engine. Use an oil high in ZDDP content like what uses to be around when the 720 was new. For this, (although there are other brands very much as good or oils marked for racing like Valvoline VR-1) I use Shell Rotella T4 15W40 although there is a 10W30. It's a diesel oil with the same zinc anti scuff additives as the old oils from the pre 90s days. Chevron Delo 15w40 is also good. I would avoid the extreme cost of synthetics as it's over kill on these old engines and it will often leak past old seals. You simply don't need it. Get a QUALITY filter like WIX or NAPA Gold and NOT Fram no matter the price. 1 Quote Link to comment
Fabulous Sparkly Posted February 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2019 4 minutes ago, datzenmike said: I see several thinks mentioned that could have a single cause. Fix the cause fix several problems. To test brake booster... pump brakes several time to empty the booster of residual vacuum. Press down on brake pedal and hold. Start engine and observe that the pedal drops slightly. If so booster is working normally. Signals not working. A common problem on the 720 is the 4 way emergency switch. Turn key and signals on. Move the 4 way emergency switch slowly towards ON. When the turn signal starts working, stop. If reverse lights are working it's not the fuse. Wipers not working? Replace fuse #6 from the left side or swap with #5 fuse to see if that's it. Doing the following often solves many running issues. Use only NGK plugs. IMPORTANT!!!! BPR6ES for the intake side and BPR5ES for the exhaust side. Timing is 3 degrees BTDC +/- 2 degrees. Valve lash 0.012" on a HOT engine. Use an oil high in ZDDP content like what uses to be around when the 720 was new. For this, (although there are other brands very much as good or oils marked for racing like Valvoline VR-1) I use Shell Rotella T4 15W40 although there is a 10W30. It's a diesel oil with the same zinc anti scuff additives as the old oils from the pre 90s days. Chevron Delo 15w40 is also good. I would avoid the extreme cost of synthetics as it's over kill on these old engines and it will often leak past old seals. You simply don't need it. Get a QUALITY filter like WIX or NAPA Gold and NOT Fram no matter the price. I'll have to try the brake booster test. All I know is the brakes work, but the pedal is hard to press, very hard. The signals, they do absolutely nothing. The emergency flashers don't work, the turn signals don't work, not a peep. Only lights that work are the headlights, brake lights, and dash lights. No fuses blown. Wipers work, I meant to say I needed to change the blades, they're pretty shot. When I did the oil change, I put in Chevron Delo 400 15w something, can't remember at the moment. Probably 15w-40. I haven't done the plugs yet since the engine does run now. It's on the to-do list. Thank you for the input and information. 1 Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted February 11, 2019 Report Share Posted February 11, 2019 Hard is bad and a good sign the booster isn't doing anything. Check the hose is secure and the one way valve not stuck closed. You should be able to suck through it from the engine side but not from the booster side. I left a hose off once for the winter and a spider or something slept in there. In the spring the pedal was like abrick under it. Changed the valve and all good. Check along the steering column under dash for the two flasher units, small walnut sized aluminum cans. Maybe they are missing. I bought just the rubber refills. I detest those plastic things. 1 Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.