New guy with yet another 85 720 (MetalFab Build Thread)

[Aven]

Thanks.

Any thing else I should look out for? How long should it take?

[breadbox]

oh nice. a teacher at my university drove a nice VW wagon.

[MetalFab]

Didn't take but an hour with a drill press and a light grind, the biggest pain in the butt was hammering/prying it off the steering box.

I've a blue manual 69 wagon I really want to restore, but it's pushed back to a 10 year plan lol. Nissan first, then the 79 620, then the stepside, then.. I think I'll stop there But I'm totally into a truck phaze. Seems like every time I leave the house I'm carrying something that wouldn't fit in a car. The options that this nissan project opens up is endless with that flatbed. But I need to get crackin on this motor and front end asap, thinkin wednesday+ I can get on it, after Visio's ride is set in stone, er.. metal

[breadbox]

Visio's truck is gonna be able to do some crazy haulin. Time for you to get a blazer swap next.

[MetalFab]

If I were to put a v8 in anything sitting in my yard it would be the 620 or the vega, but, I'm more of the conservative type.. Or that might just be my wallet talking! I'm more interested in gears. I want to sas this truck, find another bed, cut out the back of the cab, shorten the frame and blaze some trails, perhaps even a bit of light crawling. Guess I steer away from having anything powerful on the street because of the law.. lol and while it's fun watching drag cars on the strip, I just don't see the fun in it, I'd rather be racing lights and endangering innocent bystanders =O

Anyway, I got my motor and trans pulled and got some side by side differences between 85 2wd and 4wd and only see 2 so far, one being the oil pan and likely the pickup tube, the 4wd pan hugs the crank closer, and sticks out the passenger side quite a bit to clear the front axle. the other would be a hole in the 2wd transmission for the spedometer cable, I didn't go tracing the cable in my truck, but I'm sure it goes to the transfer case, going to fill the hole with a compression plug and call it good. Other than that it looks like the 2wd transmission is exactly the same as 4wd, the xfer case is divorced, I'm just hoping the spline is the same.

For now I'm just waiting for my school grant to roll in like usual, 1-2 weeks. School starts monday, and I'm limping around in a ford with a brand new fouled carb which I paid 200 bux for and lost the reciept to.. >.< not sure exactly how I'm going to handle commuting in a truck that runs out of gas if I more than crack the pedal at cruising speeds. I've plenty of pressure after the fuel pump, but the float bowl drains faster than it's letting fuel in, I have a restriction in the carb that comes and goes, and I can't quite figure it out. I'll be happy to tear it apart, or find a new carb to put on it once I have this nissan running, and not have to worry about having it back together the next day. The funny part is it's still driveable.. if I drive like an old man. and add another half hour to my commute. /sigh.. soon!

Good news is this project has been pushed up to priority #1.

[MetalFab]

Update:

Visiotech rolled up tonight with a bunch of goodies, oil pan gasket, filter, oil, and not only helped finish off the swap, but climbed all over and under my rig to help me get the motor/trans installed! Got a few more things to tidy up and she'll be ready to fire. Found out my power steering leak wasn't the hoses, but a crack in the casing.

Tig'd on some brackets/mounts on visio's all aluminum racing radiator yesterday, can't wait to see it mounted, and how modded the hood will have to be to fit it xD

Looks to be another 5 hours of sleep tonight, but sooo worth it.

Thanks a ton bro.

[MetalFab]

Moving along on this project. Suspension is together, vac-delete, all new fluids, new clutch slave, motor/trans is all together, new radiator, hoses, and belts. Got the stock 215 75 15's on it for now until I get the alignment dialed in. Paying registration on monday and I'll give it a good once over again tomorrow and I'm going for a test drive.

It's been a long haul so far on this project, but it'll be nice to drive her again. Pics to come.

[MetalFab]

Fired it up tonight! Motor idles a bit high and I'll test for vac leaks tomorrow then tune the carb down. I have a short somewhere, although thinking back on it now it might have been the dome light with the door cracked (I havn't had a dome light in aaaages!!! lol) running tail lights don't work, havn't checked the brake lights yet. I quit 10 minutes after firing it up, opting for a shower instead. I threw my old alternator on it since I don't feel comfortable splicing the wires for the newer alt. The batt light in the cab glows dimly, and it ran when I pulled the pos cable off yet died after I gave the gas pedal a bump. I'll be ordering a new alternator tomorrow.

The truck is on non-op atm, and rolls over to the new year on the 30th, so instead of paying for 2 years I'll just wait 3 days and register it on friday. Perfect for enjoying the weekend washing and cleaning this rig out, then making her pose for a few centerfolds =) Ok well, perhaps she's not that pretty.. but she's mine.

Thanks for all the help guys, it's been a long 5 years planning her resurrection, and a long year getting the resources together to get things done. Big thanks to Visio, who played a major role with the powertrain and parts, and who kept pushing me to get this project finished.

[MetalFab]

Fuel pump quit, ran it for 5 minutes lastnight and no go today, tested the lines back to just before the pump and all was good so I yanked it and tried it on the battery.. toast. Guess I should have expected this as it has been sitting for some time. Traced down the fuse plug powering the system that is shorting, 20 amp fuse 3rd from the back. Not sure what it's powering just yet but something inside the dash clicks when I connect the batt terminal.

Looks like 7-8 shims behind either bolt is what it's taking to get the left tire somewhat plumb, wtb SAS =)

[MetalFab]

Went for the first test run today, 40 mile round trip with no issues at all other than a leak in the power steerting pressure hose which I knew before hand, and will arrive at the local napa on tuesday. Still trying to get into the hotrod shop for 10 minutes to weld one seam on the exhaust. Still need to get upper bushings for the right side. And I'm still tracing down an electrical short, I thought I had it, but I've since pulled all the fuses one by one with a test light between the ground terminal and cable and the key out of the ignition. None of them make it flicker. Had a buzzing relay on the passenger wall that wouldn't shut up, said something like.. in tank fuel pump relay, well I don't have a pump in tank, and my external has already been wired into the ignition so it got unplugged. Something still doesn't seem to be right though, the battery light is on in the dash with the key out o.O Installing a battery disconnect for now so I don't kill it.

Here are a few pics of the truck in town, washed with a quick crappy wax job. Seems to be a ritual for me to wash and vac out a rig once I get it running. Rigs don't really get much cleaning from me otherwise Especially if they are like my stepside and run for 10 years with nothing done but maintenance.. Poor dirty truck.


Had to get some side by sides with Visio's ride. Not sitting very tall for a 4x4 on those 215's.




I'm keeping my eyes open for a toyota front end, or maybe even a matching jeep set under 200 bux. I'm not sure if I'll ever get the allignment right with shims, How many do I have to throw at it? I have 6 on either bolt and it still looks like it can come out upwards of an inch on the top bracket. There is no adjustment to the bottom control arm that I am aware of. I still plan on making upper control arms while I'm waiting for solid axle parts, although, I think I've found a new footnote "Disclaimer: All thoughts subject to change until written in steel, yet even then they are still not safe!"

[MetalFab]

Threw more shims behind the upper control arm on the left side, I'm now up to 10 1mm shims on either bolt, at more than 2 bux a piece!! >.< I should have just cut up some washers. Anyway, it drives WAY better now, and the tires don't squeal around corners anymore. Still can't get to a mig welder to fix the exhaust so it still sounds a little loud, hissing/spitting sound behind the cat.

Installed a sterio which I ninja'd out of Visio's Baja-Bug =) So now I got tunes. Just need to fab up some lockable boxes to store under the bed and get my tools out of the cab. Then I will look into making a sub box/arm rest between the seats. I have a sheet of 1/2" or so MDF and need some ideas. There is only about 8 inches between the seats, perhaps I could sit a sub sideways facing the passenger, with a grill to protect it.

I don't want this project to be done, then I'd get bored with it =) Laters.

[MetalFab]

I love my truck.

[MetalFab]

Ordered the full suspension package from 4x4parts as I've come to the conclusion that my torsion bars are hammered and the cheapo shocks I got are being destroyed by my driveway already. The truck leans so hard on corners that the opposite rear tire spins going up the mountain (Buckhorn pass.. several miles climbing from roughly 1k' to 3200') The website boasts 30% better than stock. And I've already shown how badly this trucks been beaten, not to mention the difference between my ride and Visio's.. his front end barely flexes at all and it has a v8 in it!

So on the list of things ordered and soon to come

New:
Torsion bars
Add-a-leaf
Upper control arms and bushings
Rancho shocks
Rancho steering stabilizer

oh.. and I got some 5050 LED strips to play with some lighting. Blue for under the dash wired to the door switch and waterproof white going under the top bars of the lumber rack on a toggle. If you havn't seen 5050 led's.. They are bright!!

[MetalFab]

I've been lazy with the lift kit install, got the rear together and I don't notice that great of an improvement. I think I'm missing a spring though to distribute the arch of the add-a-leaf to the whole pack. I'll look for a S-10 set of rear spring packs which supposedly have some serious arch to them and see what I can put together. I'd really like to see a few more inches. As it sits it's almost level now. The flatbed has to be a few hundred pounds heavier than the stock bed--especially when the 2x6 boards soak up winter precipitation. I'd take pics now but I have the wheels off for a tire swap. More to come as I see if I can get this truck up on 31-10.5's.

The new torsion bars are powder coated red and match the truck. I'm stoked! Hoping to get it completed during Christmas break.

I should have gone with the solid axle swap.. would have been cheaper >.<

[MetalFab]

Lookin for a cheap KC 4x4 720, doesn't have to be running. There's just not enough room in this truck for me to drive comfortably, or even realistically consider it for a sas'd crawler rig. Still havn't finished the lift kit install but plan on doing it in the 3 weeks I have left for xmas break. Visiotech has moved up here--I'm not sure exactly how long he intends to stay, but I hope we bust out some projects soon. He has his heart set on a big blocked 520. Thats visio for ya, always wanting to do the impossible, I can't wait!

[breadbox]

Nice.

[MetalFab]

Making progress. The entire front end is tore down now. Tomorrow I'm heading to town to have the upper control arm bushings pressed out so I can use the bracket on my new upper control arms. Ran into a problem with the torsion bar brackets being rust-welded on. One manual says there's a retainer clip in there, the other doesn't show a snap ring at all, there are no dust boots in the back, and it's seen weather for 26 years now. I'll be pressing those out as well. Every nut and bolt has to fight all the way to the end of the threads even with the PB blaster I've soaked them with multiple times over the last few months.

I've installed a new rancho steering stabilizer, which is 3x the size of the stocker and comes with some nifty brackets. The only thing out of the 4x4parts.com kit I've found that doesn't work is the u-bolt for the steering stabilizer bracket is supposed to be square, and it's round. I think it'll hold but I'll be looking for the right hardware next time I'm in town. I'd rather not fuss with calling them up and complaining and waiting for the part when it's probably 5 bux at napa. I've also replaced all the steering joints, the idler is solid and the steering box/arm is firm.

The lower control arm bushings are about the biggest pain so far. they're made out of 3 parts, metal sleeve inside, wrapped in rubber, with a metal coating outside. Well the inside metal has been flopping around for who knows how long gouging out the rubber, and the outer layer is now solidly rust-welded to the frame. I spent a few hours yesterday trying to chisel the outer sleeve out of the frame with no progress at all. I plan to gently sawzall through it without cutting the frame and then peel/chisel it out from there.

My bro Visio is hookin me up with some 33-12.5's no idea what kind of wheels, only they're off a toyota. I want to stuff em! I'll cut the fenders out and build my own flares if I have to. But it'll be sitting on 31's by next weekend.

Tons of pics to come (camera is full of em--I'm just too lazy to upload)

[flinterman2000]

Tons of pics to come (camera is full of em--I'm just too lazy to upload)

Yeah. Its happened to me lots of times. Can't wait to see them though.

[Dloghead]

My stock 720 on 31x10.50 makes humvees look stupid at the proving grounds. Just saying. They are badass little trucks from the factory once you put some shoes on them. The dunlop mud terrains are tits!

[MetalFab]

I went firewood hunting/trail riding/log pulling this fall with this rig and I'm really impressed with it's 4wheel capabilities. It's definitely par with my jeep if not better traction stock vs stock, only thing lacking is power. Might have mentioned it above but when I was pulling logs this little truck acted like it had a posi up front, once I bound a 30' log on another tree I gave it alittle gas and slipped the clutch and the whole rig stood up and started hopping sideways. Can't wait to see what it's like with a locker or posi in the rear. So far in the snow the only limiting factor has been running street tires. lol I'll have to post pics of my driveway sometime!

Was able to pull the brackets off the torsion bars by heating up the bracket with a rosebud and using an air chisel on the bar with the bracket in a vise, then after messing with the upper control arm bushings again (messed with them in the vise for over an hour lastnight, and these were the bushings I just installed a few months back) I then realized I was going to toss them anyway and just torched them in half to get the piece that mounts to the frame. Quick and easy.

So today was a success, I'm turning in early tonight to get some much needed R&R and attack those lower control arm bushings in the AM.

[tfred1313]

how much of a lift well you get from the kit you bought?

[MetalFab]

They say 2-3 inches, which you could do yourself by cranking the torsions and throwing a block in back. YET the kit comes with new upper control arms that corrects the geometry and adjusts the angle of the balljoints so they aren't maxed out and less likely to pull themselves apart. Also my torsion bars were hammered and seriously saggy compared to what I saw in visio's 2wd pickup. He lowered his truck and it still felt stiffer up front with the small block chevy and 4 speed than my truck felt after cranking the torsions up a few inches.

Difference in the upper control arms, the new ones are pretty nice.



Here's some more of my parts. The big bag of red bushings are for my rear springs, I ordered those after installing the add-a-leaf out back and realizing my rear bushings were blown as well.



You can see here the difference in thickness. The red powdercoated torsion bars are supposedly 30% stronger/springer than stock (and I estimate my old torsions are 50% weaker than stock lol)



More parts minus the shocks and add-a-leaf already installed on the rear. New steering joints, ball joints, shocks.



Steering stabilizer and the bracketry that comes with the kit. Note the large round ubolt which should be square to match the frame--Only thing I found wrong with the kit. The lift kit and stabilizer kit come seperately.



My lower control arm bushings are just hammered to hell, here's a pic after a few hours of trying to chisel them out. I should make better progress on them this afternoon.



And here's a pic of my mess and my dog Keena, who doesn't fetch tools but takes off with all my shop towels!!



More pics to come as I piece it back together.

[MetalFab]

I never want to press a set of lower control arm bushings again.....

[tfred1313]

lol they are a pain in the butt arent they

[MetalFab]

Snapped a 1/2" bolt I used as a makeshift press, stripped the threads on a larger bolt, then eventually made it work with a 3/4" bolt and a couple hours of blood, sweat, and curses. This is one situation where I doubt air tools would help. I used anything I could find about the garage, eventually used a huge 33mm socket on the back side to allow room for the inner sleeve of the bushing to press out the back side. ~.~ next time I'll pay someone to do that job.

I'm getting down to the end of this install, going to pull an all-nighter until it's done. Gives me time to scrounge around for tires tomorrow and take it for a test run.

The upper control arm bushings are poly I think, and I can already tell that they're going to drive me insane while squeeking on every bump or corner. Does anyone know of a good fix for squeeky poly bushings? Maybe a certain type of grease to lube them up? I'm thinking about backing the nuts off some to see if it'll ride right but I'm concerned with the nuts spinning themselves off entirely. One would think the inner metal sleeve is what it's supposed to be rotating on. I think I've gotten something wrong--missing washers perhaps?

Any info is greatly appreciated.

I'll get some daylight pics. Still need to find a set of 31's that are roadworthy. I've seen several sets on craigslist for next to nothing, yet they always pop up a week before I get paid then craigslist dries up completely lol.

[MetalFab]

Alright, here's what those bushings should look like, and what mine looked like when I was done with them.. This was the source of most of my alignment issues, and the reason I was wearing new tires down to wires in weeks.



I used anything I could find to get these pressed in, anchor bolts, washers, even an old wrench, anything that would put the compression force on the outer layer of metal instead of prematurely blowing the bushings by compressing the inner sleeve first.



All back together (yea I know I'm missing a nut on the upper control arm, I left it at the other shop 20 miles from here lol >.< visio pocketed it for me though, what a guy!)



And finally! still have 215's on the rear lol, so no full shots yet.



Took it for a spin part way down the road and back, if a half dozen water bars doesn't settle out a suspension, nothing will. Can definitely see I'll need some more adjustment to the torsions.



Better yet, the manufacturer recommends setting the gap between the limiting pad to 1/2" and no less. Looks like I will be gaining yet another inch. I'm stoked! and I'll take every bit of lift it'll give.



I heard a slight clunk in the steering on my test drive almost at the end of a hard left turn. I'll go through it again tomorrow to make sure everything is tight and get those torsions dialed in. Next on the list is pulling apart the hubs, replacing rotors, studs, bearings, seals. replace the boots on the cv's, and replace a broken snap ring on the driver side cv. Then I'll address either rebuilding a weber or buying one new. I'm having some seriously whacky issues with this carb. Also sooner than later I'll have to tear my exhaust out again, this time all the way up to and including the collector and welding the piss out of every leak I can find. I'm contemplating on double mufflering this truck unless I can find a really quiet muffler. It's not a v8, nor can it tack out at 9k rpm, nor can it beat even a stock volkswagen bug in a race so I don't see any reason for it to be noisy, and it gets old fast when you have over an hour commute morning and night.

Hope to have some pics soon on 31's all the way around.

[MetalFab]

I'm so tickled. Got the torsions cranked up a bit more, scrounging almost new 31's off the back of my ford and I'll have em mounted tomorrow afternoon between classes. I'm missing 1 wheel to both my 8 inch sets of wheels >.< Hate running mismatch wheels. And it should be fun driving 40 miles to town with 31's on the front and 215's on the back. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do. It'd look natural the other way around but I had to see what it was like with em up front, and there's no way I'm switching them just for looks. The guys at Big-O are gonna lol though.

I'm having issues with the carb again. I'm not sure if the choke is staying on but the engine falls on it's face while pulling a hill unless I get the rpm's up over 3500. It'll stutter and cough and I gotta hold the pedal down about half way until it clears up, back it down on a flat and attempt the hill again. Seems to do this only when it's cold. I'm thinking a new weber is coming sooner than later as there is no way to adjust this carb? None of the adjusting screws make a difference period. Anyway, just bringing it up again as I'm still unsure exactly why it idles at 2500 rpm on one side of town and then 700-1500rpm on the other. I've done a vac delete. Last time I pulled the large multiple wire plug to the carb I ended up stalling out in the middle of an intersection and almost got plowed by a semi Alright, 'nuff said. Get a f'kin Weber.

[tfred1313]

what motor you have in that? i live in chico,ca and i have a brand new weber that i would be willing to sell you.

[MetalFab]

Just the stock z24, would definitely be interested in a newish 32/36 w/choke but I'm out of real funds for this truck until mid feb. I'm fighting just to keep rubber under her right now. Got 31's all the way around but my fronts are a bit dry-rot riddled, right side is wore past the wear bars and the left has a 2 inch chunk coming off the sidewall. All I can do is drive with a spare 215 and hope it doesn't let loose around a corner on the mountain. Slow driving with both hands on the wheel lol. Just need to make it a couple more days and then hit up every salvage yard and tire shop in town. And like usual craigslist dried up. I'll try to remember to take a few pics tomorrow and show how she sits now, just leaning very slightly to the rear but not very noticeable.

I bolted my right rear mudflap back on. It tore off ages ago and has been sitting behind the seat waiting for me to get around to it. I went through and started re torquing bolts and noticed one of my upper control arm bushings had worked itself halfway out, with no nut to be found! I pulled it apart and spent a good 20 minutes trying to get the bushing to go back in. Even went and salvaged a new nut off one of my 620's kicking around out there (don't think the thread pattern is exactly the same) Anyway, after making little progress with a hammer and old socket I finally slipped the bushing in far enough to find my nut still there! Apparently the old bushings were solid 2 piece but made to not come apart and only had washers on one side of the truck. The new bushings are very much 2 piece. This is what I get for finishing up my truck at 6am after a full night of wrenching. I blame the beer =) At least I didn't have to learn the hard way this time.

Alignment is still off, something is not quite right. I can let go of the steering wheel on a flat and the truck barely pulls to the right sometimes. Pulls to the right when I hit the brakes, and it wants to continue steering around corners. As soon as I replace the bearings, seals, rotors, pads, reboot the axles, and get the right steering arm (3 were right, 4th one wasn't happening) I'll get a professional alignment. Hope to have all this done by the end of the month, and move on to getting a carb, new tires, and perhaps a new exhaust if I can't get this one to stop forming cracks in new places after I weld up the previous ones. Like my wheel studs (I've broken 3 now, replaced 2 >.<) some things just need to be completely replaced.

Just happy to be making progress.

[synack7350]

hey metal fab did you freeze the bushings before you pressed em? I know it works for bearings. put em in the freezer for a few hours warm the portion to receive the bearing or bushing (with a oxy torch). then press. gives you a couple thousandths of an inch to play with. doesn't sound like much but it makes a difference.