Here's the truck when I went to pick it up from the seller's house locally in Lubbock, Texas
I first started by removing those ugly dual exhaust pipes out the back; they weren't true duals, just a splitter behind the cab that ran into two obnoxiously loud resonators at the rear... Super annoying, so I stopped at my muffler shop on the way home and had them go back to a stock-style exhaust system.
Step one for me was heading to the local Wrench-A-Part for some much needed pieces to get it on the road again. I found a nice 1983 King Cab and promptly robbed the the gauge-cluster, interior package tray, and a dealer-installed rear bumper from a dealership here in Lubbock, Texas.
I was able to combine the original gauge-cluster with the one from the parts truck to result in having the optional tach and clock. Of course, being 1980's electronics, neither one works, but at least the dash looks more "full" now.
Next, I needed wheels and tires; the old ones were badly weather-checked and out-of-round. I read on here about how the user named Smyrna720 was able to make 2001-2003 SIlverado rims work on these trucks and I followed in his footsteps. His thread can be found here: my-i-bought-this-720-and-its-a-pos-so-l ... 50047.html
So, after locating a set of free rims from a Chevy guy upgrading to huge wheels, I had my local Firestone shop install a set of Firehawk tires. I combined this with a pair of 2" lowering blocks in the rear and releasing the front torsion bars a comparable amount.
It was at this point that I really started driving the truck every single day and it started to come out of its slumber. It seemed to perform okay, but the original drivetrain seemed a tad anemic. One night, I was driving home and all of a sudden I hear a sound like metallic pop-corn coming from the motor; it subsequently started to misfire and stumble and I knew something was not okay. I pulled it into the shop the next day and began disassembling the top-end of the 2.2 Liter engine.
Hmm, upper valve-train seems fine. No damage, sludge, or broken timing chain.... Let's pull the head off.
I don't believe that valve should be out that far, nor should there be a twisted spark-plug head in the number 2 cylinder. A quick inspection of the cylinder discovered this bugger:
Somehow, this piece of metal had gotten into the engine and had smashed my spark plugs and bent the valves in the #2 cylinder. No idea how it got in there since I'd only had the air cleaner off once for like 2 seconds while inspecting the filter condition when I bought it. I believe that whatever it was had fallen into the intake awhile ago and got stuck in the bottom of the intake manifold until it got sucked out while I was driving and wound up in the cylinder chamber.
Luckily, no damage to the piston, but that old head/valve was shot. I was able to find a rebuild head on eBay for super cheap and had ordered one and we promptly installed it, as well as a complete upper gasket set. New oil pump and timing chain were also installed at this time.
I'd taken the opportunity to order a Weber carb kit as well as some Pacesetter headers so I installed those while I had the truck torn down this far:
While pulling all the emissions stuff off, I wondered how much of it was actually necessary for the truck to function... Some research online led me to some sources on how to de-smog my truck for a more powerful and impressive engine. Afterwards, it looks much cleaner under the hood and the vehicle now breathes very nicely thanks to the new carb and headers.
Back on the road again, the truck now performs even better and I've instantly seen a 4-5MPG increase in mileage as well as the added power available.
But, I couldn't leave it alone for long. The stock bench seat was far from comfortable or stylish, so I began researching around the internet for some replacement options. I read on several different bucket-seat installations, but I didn't like that most were junkyard quality cloth seats, so I went looking for some vinyl/leather buckets to install. That's when I found a 1976 Datsun 280Z in the Wrench-A-Part and I knew I'd found my next project.
The old materials were super raunchy and worn-out so I took advantage of a clearance sale at The ZStore and picked up an uphostery & foam set and redid the seats over a weekend. The turned out super nice and mounted in with little modifications.
I also re-upholstered the hideous door panels that had previously been done in grey cloth, ugh.....
It was at this point that the truck became more than simply an everyday driver, and is now my baby. I feel the urge to make it the best possible Datsun that I can. So.... I decided to custom fabricate a set of panels to hide the rear of the cab in the interior. Usually, this wouldn't bother me, but I wanted to finish out the interior.
Some sheet metal got bent and molded to fit the cab:
I upholstered them to match the door panels
The end result was then attached to the rear of the cab with industrial Velcro to enable ease of removal if needed.
I also added a center console out of the aforementioned 1983 King Cab parts-truck at this time and I've now also added custom pedals and also some racing stripes. I ended up removing the rear bumper because it made the rear-end seem "heavy".
Future plans include working out some bugs with the front suspension and brakes. May end up tearing into that this winter.
Otherwise, I hope this has been informative. I advocate for sharing as much information regarding these trucks online so that new owners, such as myself, can learn how to best work on them and improve them. If anyone has questions or needs help with their 720, I have a plethora of pictures of engine teardown, wiring harnesses, and interior assembly. I will continually update this thread as I move forward.
Remember: No matter what you do, do it in a Datsun!
Cheers,
Peter
