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Post by volvo544special65 on Apr 10, 2016 1:51:45 GMT -5
 Since I am always into something that requires cargo room, I felt that I really needed a pickup truck. Since I live up north in Sweden, 4x4 is a really good thing too, and I've always been interested in offroading, and now at 30 years of age, I realized that I needed to buy a car that is running if I ever should get a chance to drive. So I bought this Datsun 720. The frame is very nice, just some surface rust, which is quite rare those days. Will run it as a project that still can be daily driven from now. It has the SD25 engine (72 hp 4-cyl diesel, no turbo), slow as a tractor.... Got some nice studded 31" for winter use, but since the summer tyres are shot, I ordered some 31" Cooper Discoverer STTs that I got cheap.  (Borrowed pic) To be continued |
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Post by harron68 on Apr 10, 2016 9:36:10 GMT -5
Good project, and more practical than model trucks. First thing I noticed were the truck's tires, then scrolling down I saw the ones you hope to put on it. Good idea, and the diesel will help get good mileage. Good luck to you!
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Post by Mr.409 on Apr 10, 2016 15:47:50 GMT -5
Pickup is a really good way to deliver parts and accessories and that Datsun looks pretty solid, as most of those are quite rough and have pretty much rust. Good luck with it, I bet it's a neat car!
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Post by volvo544special65 on Apr 10, 2016 21:25:57 GMT -5
Yes, the front tyre on the pic is bald, however, it is one of the summer tyres, just used as a spare since one of the winter tyres were leaking (fixed now). Feels like it is a very bad idea to engage 4WD with different sized tyres up front.      Gave it a wash yesterday, unfortunately now it is possible to see all the fix that is needed, the mud was hiding everything very well.  I don't think that those seats are original? Are they out of a Mazda 626 possibly? They do look familiar.... The steering wheel is one of the ugliest in the world IMO and will be swapped out for a Grant as soon as my hub arrives.  There is loads of home made wiring.... For example, for the glow plugs. The relay was bypassed and there was a button in the car for glowing (which the red wire was connected to), that stopped working. But when I disconnected the red wire, the relay started working when I turned the key to glow position......sigh. Though I don't know how good the plugs are.  The not-too-ugly alloys that is going to get the summer tyres soon. |
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Post by volvo544special65 on Apr 13, 2016 13:13:54 GMT -5
It almost passed the safety check, just a fail on high beams that didn't work and too weak rear brakes, not bad for a vehicle that has been standing for a couple of years.
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Post by volvo544special65 on Apr 13, 2016 23:51:53 GMT -5
 Ooops, the wiring to the starter was almost tangled in the flexdisc on the steering column, so I had to do a quickfix with zipties...feels like that could have been a nice fire... |
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Post by volvo544special65 on Apr 17, 2016 16:42:46 GMT -5
 I need to do something about the stupid trailer hitch, since it works as a plow when trying to pass ditches.  One more thing, the exhaust system is completely rotten under the bed, so I am going to build a sidepipe, so I won't have to worry about crossing the rear axle and such.  Here is the first muffler and so far so good.  I have this Mercedes W123 muffler lying around, and since it is flat and short, and has quite a good shape of the inlet tube, it will be easy to mount.  I realize now that my sketch is mirrored, so try to ignore that. My theory is to connect the MB muffler to the datsun one, then go with a bend to pass the spring bracket and finally use a Volvo 740 tailpipe to route it around the spring bracket. Then I feel that it will be quite protected from rocks and such, if you smash up the exhaust system, you would have been stuck on the spring bracket anyway and to do so, you have to drive stupid.. ...am I thinking right? |
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Post by volvo544special65 on Apr 22, 2016 18:05:55 GMT -5
 The new tyres arrived some days ago.  Was playing a bit in some decimeters of snow, still with the M+S tyres....well, it worked OK but I think snow chains would have made things better.  Completed the sidepipe. I routed it on the other side of the spring bracket so it would be more protected.... Very quiet now compared to the rusted out original system, used the huge Mercedes muffler straight behind the stock first muffler, and went with a bend from that out through the spring bracket. |
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Post by volvo544special65 on Apr 23, 2016 11:50:14 GMT -5
  Looking a lot tougher with the new tyres, and they do work great. Tried them in about 3 dm of snow and they had a better grip there than the studded Discoverer MS tyres. Anyone that have tried to run Discoverer STT in the wintertime? Are they bad on ice / hard snow since they are studless?  Trees are tough... Time to build a brushguard! |
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Post by volvo544special65 on Apr 28, 2016 7:19:30 GMT -5
 Was playing around a bit offroad when I suddenly thought that a halfshaft was shot, since I heard a knocking noise, that got worse when I was turning, nope, just a piece of the inner fender that was bent and rubbed against the tyre, so time for some trimming!  I think that the source of the non working high beams are here..... I was looking at the original wiring for the lights and came to the conclusion that it is mostly intact, just cut off and replaced with this mess...... sigh. Everything seems to be working like it should, but the lights are wired a bit odd, with constant + to the pin that normally are used for ground, and a switching relay on the ground side that is flipping the ground between low and high beams..... |
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Post by volvo544special65 on Apr 30, 2016 16:39:21 GMT -5
 Highbeams working again, feels good!  What's not so good is that I due to bad threads in the wheel nuts lost a front wheel today, I can say that a 31" with a little speed can travel very far without stopping, I'm lucky that nobody got hit by it... Although I think that the old man that was walking alongside the ditch needed some new pants after being passed by the wheel.... No damage on the car except for a wrecked flare, so I guess that I have to find some aftermarket flares now. |
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Post by volvo544special65 on May 3, 2016 14:36:40 GMT -5
 I had this steering wheel hanging on a nail on my fathers garage door for years since the foam was in such good condition. What happens? I opened the garage door to get some fresh air into the garage for a day, with the result that the birds picked on the foam enough to make the damage very visible, sigh....well, I guess I can wrap it in leather or something...  Rusty spokes.  Some steel wool and chrome polish later most of the rust are gone, and the rest are just patina I guess.  The stock steering wheel is what I like the least about the car. Not only is it ugly, but the sharp edges on the horn button are snagging in the clothes in turns sometimes, making it almost dangerous....  So I think that this will be better after all, if I only get my hub. It is only slightly smaller than the stock wheel, which is a good thing since I don't have power steering, and it is quite shallow, like the stock wheel, that I still think are too close to the arms when my feet reach the pedals. |
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Post by volvo544special65 on May 9, 2016 17:05:58 GMT -5
 Got a good deal on these Hella 3003 HID lamps.... I like to see where I am going and the woods are dark... |
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Post by volvo544special65 on May 10, 2016 15:27:25 GMT -5
 It took some work to get the steering wheel to work with the horn etc. but now, finally, it is in place, and it is so much better than with the stock one in every possible way! |
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Post by volvo544special65 on May 30, 2016 19:46:06 GMT -5
Boy, what a friday it was.... Or rather, everything started last thursday. Had to tow it home from work, didn't start, and finally the starter gave up too. Tried pumping the hand primer, it was stuck, appears like the fuel filter was clogged so I ordered a new one. A friend working at the local junkyard told me they had a 720 diesel starter in stock, so I got that one, left work early a beautiful friday afternoon and tried to swap the starter. Well, a 30 year old Hitachi unit is a bit bigger and heavier than new chinese crap, so it took a while to install it. Then I swapped the fuel filter, tried to pump the hand primer but there was no fuel coming. Seems lik there was a hole for some kind of plug in the bottom of the new filter. There was none in the old filter, neither in the box... So I had to look for a bolt to fit in the hole and try to seal it... I pumped, fuel came, I bled the system and it worked, so when I was trying to start the engine, the battery was dead. Got in my W123 to try to jump start the 720, but forgot that I had a pile of gravel in my driveway and managed to get stuck on that one. Removed the battery from the Benz to install it in the 720 instead, then the bolt for the battery bracket snapped. When I finally installed the Benz battery in the 720, the starter only cranked for a while but started to slip so I guess that the starting gear on the flywheel is bad. Went away to get my father to pull the Benz from the gravel, so we tried to tow the 720 to see if it should start, yup, no problems! Drove it some kilometers, lifted the bonnet to see if there was any diesel leaks, nope, it wasn't....there was just a lot of coolant everywhere, and a big hole in the radiator! I couldn't even get angry anymore by then....  So, time for some wrenching  Out with the engine....  Guess I can clean up here now too...  Nice pressure plate, huh?  Ugly flywheel thanks to a slipping clutch....probably time to change the whole flywheel if I can find one...  The leaking radiator, probably possible to solder this.  Wrapped the superior wheel in hockey tape for better grip some weeks ago btw... |
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