Mrjeep88 Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 First time posting here but I have a 1980 720 4x4 with a l20b that's bad has a hole in the block and I can't find one locally but I have a 98 Nissan frontier with a ka24de 5 speed that's wrecked I would like to swap the ka in the Datsun but I don't know what to do about the oil pan clearance issue Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 Impossible to blow an L20B up. Maybe you bought it this way??? Quote Link to comment
Veraciousreasoning Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 How the hell did that happen? I have a L20B and these things are sturdy as hell Quote Link to comment
Mrjeep88 Posted February 16, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 I got it with a bad engine I don't have any money in the truck right now just some labor for fixing another truck for the previous owner not really sure how he blew it up but it was being used by a construction company he owned Quote Link to comment
bottomwatcher Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 How are you fab skills? The oil pan is a frankenpan using the LB sump on the KA pan. I paid a shop $150 to make my 2 pans one. Redeye sells engine mounts and the can am box by icehouse simplifies the wiring. There are lots of nits to pick after that. Power steering, radiator hoses and countless headaches trying to get everything to work. A couple grand in cash. There are good documentations on the swap on these forums. Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 6 hours ago, Mrjeep88 said: I got it with a bad engine I don't have any money in the truck right now just some labor for fixing another truck for the previous owner not really sure how he blew it up but it was being used by a construction company he owned I'll tell you about company trucks. No one is responsible for maintaining it, oil levels and changes ignored. Run it out of water and over heat? Shrug not my problem. Drive the shit out of it shrug. Not my problem. Well see what ]2eDeYe says about the pan. The KA transmission is slightly shorter than yours so the primary driveshaft to the transfer case will need lengthening. You'll need a high pressure fuel pump. Were you going to run the EFI? Quote Link to comment
Mrjeep88 Posted February 16, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 I am pretty good at fab work just a picky with how it looks so hopefully I can make it look good and yeah keep the EFI I have the whole other truck with the ka in it still so I hoping to use all I could from it as far as fuel pump and stuff like that but the 720 is manual steering so I won't have to worry about that if it was a domestic vehicle I would have already had it going this is my first Datsun so still learning about them Quote Link to comment
Crytek89 Posted February 17, 2022 Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 Just updated the KA swap thread the other day to add some clarify so good timing! Thanks for linking it @bottomwatcher! Quote Link to comment
Madkaw Posted February 17, 2022 Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 Is any of the Z motors a good option ? Might be easier to find . It would be nice to make use of the trans , it’s a 71C Quote Link to comment
Mrjeep88 Posted February 17, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 I thought about a Z motor but the main reason for using the ka is I already have it just sitting around in a wreaked truck and they are plentiful locally for me so I thought why not a friend of mine said he knew where a L18 is but he doesn't know the condition of it as it's been sitting roughly 20 years I also talked to the previous owner of my truck he said the air filter got left off and water got into the my engine and hydro locked it is what blew it up I don't know for sure though Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted February 17, 2022 Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 Impossible. If hydro locked you can't turn it to start. Take apart and you'll find a spun rod bearing but first check the oil level. Bet it doesn't even read on the stick. Quote Link to comment
bottomwatcher Posted February 17, 2022 Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 9 hours ago, Crytek89 said: Just updated the KA swap thread the other day to add some clarify so good timing! Thanks for linking it @bottomwatcher! I will have to check it out. You have the most comprehensive swap thread out there. Others appreciate the effort because documenting makes the project take so much longer. MRJeep88. The fact that you have a complete donor vehicle already makes this doable. Still going to take some cash but you have almost everything you need. Is the frontier 2wd? 1 Quote Link to comment
Mrjeep88 Posted February 17, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 Yes the frontier is 2wd and only has 120k miles on it the guy I bought from was very religious with his maintenance so it was well cared for until I rolled it so I guess this weekend I will begin pulling engines and transmissions and doing a lot of reading on the swap guide you guys posted above I greatly appreciate all of the info Quote Link to comment
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