Changed the head gasket on my 2.4, and I now have to take off the front cover to back off the tensioner to get the cam pulley back on. Need to know the size of the crank pulley bolt so I can get the correct socket. BTW: is there a guide here on how to go about doing this project? And, one quick question. When did Datsun become Nissan? My 85 has Nissan badging. (720 King Cab)

I believe 1983 was the year that the Nissan badging became standard on NA products. Regarding your bolt size, I want to say its a 27MM. I just pulled mine last spring, but can't be certain since my manual is at my shop at the moment.
~Peter

Hit the pawn shops last night, and scored a 24mm, 27mm socket. Darn near every socket they had (a LOT) were all SAE 1'' and under. NO Metric to speak of. Found one 26mm, but it had a 3/4 drive.

3/4" drive is such a pain. Impact wrenches are usually 1/2", but most stores insist on carrying 3/4" for whatever reason. Hope it works for you, you'll also need a puller of some sort to remove the pulley, either that or use a crowbar and potentially risk tweaking it. :/
~Peter

Hoping that someone gives me a definitive answer on the size of the bolt, so I don't have to make two trips to the auto parts store for the correct size socket. Rained out today, will work some more on it tomorrow. Going to take it slow and easy. No rush.

Here's confirmation that the crankshaft bolt is 27MM.
http://www.that dead forum/hb-truck/17 ... chain.html

Sorry for linking to another forum-site, I swear I'm not advertising. :/
~Peter

Ditto on 27, did that last sunday.