First post 720 question?

[Lilford84]

Hello everyone new to this forum but great to see it is available for help and guidance I am buying a 720 pickup with the 2.4l 5 speed in it 2 wheel drive for $800, the gentleman has noted that truck started to overheat 3 years ago and has been parked ever since the motor and trans have 225,000 on them and the body is in great shape no rust from pics I have seen it's all there and really don't see much if any rust but I would rather restore vehicle adding a few upgrades and rebuilding motor and getting truck back to is yesteryear I'm curious is it an expensive job to have the motor and possibly trans rebuilt? Is there a decent amount of places out there to find replacement parts for truck and is there actually a decent amount of upgrades/mods available to use on truck? Thanks for any help 

[datzenmike]

Probably the head gasket has blown, this was common every 100K. You won't know until the head is off, the problem may be that the coolant has leaked into and rusted the cylinder. If plans are to rebuild then this isn't a problem. I would bore out to the next over size piston and ring set available, new main and rod bearings, new timing chain, guides and tensioner and an engine gasket set. If you take the engine out and apart and assemble... probably $1,200- $1,500. If the head looks ok and checked for flatness, I would run it with new valve seals, and if later it is deemed as needed, have new valve guides and seats put in. A head rebuild is $500 and up. 

[Lilford84]

Mike if I take motor out but have someone else disassemble motor and have everything you listed done what do you think a shop might charge for that? I've read a few post on here about changing the motor out for a ka24de with doing that is that an expensive route to go or would completely rebuilding the old motor be the more expensive route 

[banzai510(hainz)]

He listed the price above and maybe more if you get the wrong guy plus’s price of parts. be ezer to find another truck unless this is pristine

 

 Behonest just past this one up  or offer him 200$ and buy a book on how  to work on them .but really I hate later year Nissans as the emissions are horrible.start with A early Datsun truck as they easier to work on for a entry level mechanic 

[captain720]

1 hour ago, banzai510(hainz) said:

He listed the price above and maybe more if you get the wrong guy plus’s price of parts. be ezer to find another truck unless this is pristine

 

 Behonest just past this one up  or offer him 200$ and buy a book on how  to work on them .but really I hate later year Nissans as the emissions are horrible.start with A early Datsun truck as they easier to work on for a entry level mechanic 

If you are already going into the motor to the degree of a head gasket repair I wouldn't worry about emissions at all. It's just a few bits and bobs you remove and with a proper Weber carb it's not even worth thinking twice about. The EGR is easily resolved with a block of plate and either a plug in the exhaust manifold, weld the exhaust manifold, or get a already plugged manifold.

 

I have gotten a rust free truck with blown up motor and trans for $350 but that's a good deal, 800 is honestly fair and if it's a 5 speed the trans might not even need done maybe just throw a new clutch and some bearings/shift fork at it.

 

Any Datsun you get is gonna need work so either pass it up or find a better one it doesn't matter that much and if it's a "just for fun" and you have a daily already I say go for it

 

 

Hainz not arguing with you, just a different opinion and my 2 cents

[datzenmike]

1 hour ago, Lilford84 said:

Mike if I take motor out but have someone else disassemble motor and have everything you listed done what do you think a shop might charge for that? I've read a few post on here about changing the motor out for a ka24de with doing that is that an expensive route to go or would completely rebuilding the old motor be the more expensive route 

 

If not doing yourself get a running engine. Shops will charge by the hour on top of what I said, so thousands of dollars. For $1,500 you probably can by a re-conditioned short block from an engine builder company like Jasper, if they are still around. https://www.jasperengines.com/gas-engines

 

The KA is not a drop in so a garage with no experience doing this will over charge and do a crappy job. If you have never done this don't start.

[banzai510(hainz)]

Naps head gasket is just bad news to start with unless you know how it was handled.maybe head warped ect.

a lot depends on your ability.some on here can get this going In a week.others tear it apart and we never see them again.

Edited April 18, 2020 by banzai510(hainz)

[Charlie69]

21 hours ago, banzai510(hainz) said:

Naps head gasket is just bad news to start with unless you know how it was handled.maybe head warped ect.

a lot depends on your ability.some on here can get this going In a week.others tear it apart and we never see them again.

That is how I buy most of my trucks torn apart and lost interest.

[captain720]

43 minutes ago, Charlie69 said:

That is how I buy most of my trucks torn apart and lost interest.

Same here buddy! Sometimes you can get cool parts like Weber carbs and things that somebody just gave up on when you buy a whole truck for a couple hundred bucks. You just have to be resourceful and determined, not everybody is these days.

[banzai510(hainz)]

Sometimes it better if I tear them apart before the priviouss owner looses half the parts /bolts ect.....

Edited April 19, 2020 by banzai510(hainz)

[captain720]

1 minute ago, banzai510(hainz) said:

Sometimes it better if I tear them apart before the priviouss owner looses half the parts /bolts ect.....

Or you just buy 2 trucks hehe. I have a oraginzer bin full of all the bolts needed to make a Z24 sorted by size and use case, cylinder heads on a shelf, blocks, carbs and manifolds all ready to rock and roll so I think in both my case and Charlie's we just don't care if the owner lost half the parts so long as we have something to work with but we are anomalies and not everyone should or even would want to buy somebody else's problems. 

 

I wouldn't want to buy a Ford somebody ripped apart because I don't know how everything goes for example

[Charlie69]

9 hours ago, captain720 said:

I wouldn't want to buy a Ford somebody ripped apart because I don't know how everything goes for example

I would not want to be a ford period, no matter what shape!