80 720 4x4 engine/possible swap question

[dicknixon]

I recently got a 1980 720 under the impression that it would run with a little work.... well it has the hood vents the carb and the old lady i bought it froms son, left the air cleaner off and rain got in it and for however long it was open siezed the engine, i thought i had everything good to go after i got it and i could hear the starter try, but it wouldnt turn over, so i tried to turn the engine over with a breaker bar and just ended up turning the nut even after repeated treatments with pb blaster in the cylinders , so i pulled the carb off it was rusted shut and there my adventure began....

I have been looking for a relatively easy and definately cheap swap, i saw a guy had two 2.4s from an older z with a dual webber carbs for a good price, it is the straight six version its a l24 and if it is it should bolt right up to the l20 trans etc except the mounts will need to be relocated and an electric fan set up , that is all i should need to do for a swap like a l2.6 and l2.8 in a 720 right?

I have also been considering if my head is still good on the l20 i could do a lz swap with the head of the 2.0 and the rest from the 22, i have read alot on here, and there are soo many different ways to do every one thing, but like i said i will have to pull the old motor to see what is good on it for the latter swap.

and for a real backwoods way.... this is simply to cure my curiosity, but someone said something about beating the pistons down with a block of wood and running it like that... would it even run, im sure it would run like total crap if it did and circulate crap through the system and eventually die.. like i said just for my curiosity, it doesnt make sense to me

sorry for the long post but any info would greatly be appreciated.
Thanks.

[PEZi]

it seems like you got everything covered... the only other thing you might need is a custom driveshaft

welcome!

[dicknixon]

as you could tell i am leaning towards the L24, so you think it will work like the L26 and L28 engine, and why might i need a custom driveshaft, it should bolt up to the l20 transmission etc right or will i need the transmission from the 24, the guy has that as well
Thanks for the response and greeting.
Like i said before, this is an amazng site.

[PEZi]

i'm not as keen on L series engines as i should be. i want to say it would work but can't be sure. the custom driveshaft is to make up for the transmission length between the 720's stock trans and that of a Z car

[Visiotech]

easiest way to get that motor to turn over...Marvel Mystery Oil. pull the plugs and dump 1/2 cup in each cylinder and let it sit for a day or 2. MetalFab did it to his and it worked fine. Then turn it over by hand. If the cylinders are pitted from the rust then take it apart and hone it w/ a ball style hone. I you still have pits the you'll have to take it to a shop and have it boed out.020-.030 then new rings installed. Oh damn... That would make it have more cubes... SHUCKS!