WhangareiKE70

Hi guys, Looking to put a VG30De Nissan V6 in my Datsun 720 ute. Besides the other multitude of complications associated with putting a big engine in a little ute, I am having trouble finding a gearbox to suit. My budget won't (currently at least) stretch to Fairlady manual gearboxes, i.e. 1k+ easy. I am thinking about potentially making another gearbox work. How would I go about this/what do I need to look for in a good substitute gearbox? Can I get an adapter plate made up or what? It is also probably important to note that it only needs to be RWD not 4WD as the transfer case in these is divorced from the gearbox. Any advice would be helpful. Cheers. P.S. While my mechanical knowledge is currently limited my old man is willing to help and is an experienced mechanic. Just thought I would ask you guys as well.

Dredge from page 7... =/ As you can see I didn't post pics of spares. But you all know what spares look like. Lost my license today for 6 months. So silver lining is lots of time to work on the ute while I am stuck with no social life due to not being able to go anywhere. Haha Pulled down most of the front end the other day. Left bonnet on too protect engine in leaky carport. Found rust. Haven't got close ups but it's a lot better than it looks in the below picture (it looks really bad in that picture). Left the valance on so I can lever out a dent with it in place. It's the one slightly to the right of the centre at the bottom of the valance in the picture. Anyone know someone who can rip out a windscreen in Whangarei for cheap? Also the other day I took the ute into my church as part of the display for the end of year dinner. Partially because it's old and 'retro' (it was op shop themed) and partially because it ws the skinniest vehicle there, and fitted through the doors (with about 3mm to spare on each side). Was LOL. That's me looking retarded in the drivers seat. Have purchased a large can of Hammerite and will be stripping down the rust, welding in patches with new mig welder (early Christmas present), and sparaying hammerite everywhere that won't be seen. Hopefully updates should be more regular now.

Hey bro, Just something to think about, if it's been leaking through the seal for a while rust may have started to form around your windscreen. I'm not a glazier so I'm unsure if the screen has to be removed to fix that up, but if it does and there is rust it has to be fixed up before the screen can go back in. When I was doing panelbeating work Smith and Smith would send cars to us almost every week with some form of work needing to be done around the windscreen so a screen can be re-installed. Just something to consider with regard to how long it will take/how much it will cost. Sorry for down buzzing. Haha Chur as car though!

YAY! WARRANT! Will get photos tomorrow. All legit now, will be driving around as the daily now, while the ute finally gets some work done on it. Chur. May look at slam some time in the near future depending on whether or not I can find a job now that my current one is over (end of school year).

Warrant list is as follows: All tyres except R/F (lol) (Not as lol when they cost you $420. All new nice and new though. Haha, Cheers MACKAZ/Deon for the hook up, GC) Hi-stop to work (simple fix, don't think I plugged it in or something, maybe a bulb). (Light is on but dim, will check the bulb to make sure it's a 12V.) Secure R/F brake hose (Easy fix). (Getting brake hose retaining clip tomorrow arvo from pick-a-part across from work) Gearbox mount fractured (not an easy fix. Waaaah). (Actually easier than I thought, but about another $100) Replace rear disk pads (will try and get that done this weekend, have the pads already). (Done) R/F top shock mount cracked (looking into getting some struts from a guy in Auckland, he says he has the fronts but has to find them). (Ordered a new top hat for the strut, but not paid for yet.) Untwist R/F seatbelt (easy, pop off cover and untwist). (Done) Fit rear centre belt (doesn't have one, will buy one). Reduce handbrake cover travel (Goes up too high, will need adjusting, will do that while I have it jacked up for rear pads). (Will do tomorrow) Tighten power steering belt (easy). (Done) Updated warrant list above.Will be ready for a re-check once I get enough money to buy those last few bits. GETTING THERE.

Warrant list is as follows: All tyres except R/F (lol) Hi-stop to work (simple fix, don't think I plugged it in or something, maybe a bulb). Secure R/F brake hose (Easy fix). Gearbox mount fractured (not an easy fix. Waaaah). Replace rear disk pads (will try and get that done this weekend, have the pads already). R/F top shock mount cracked (looking into getting some struts from a guy in Auckland, he says he has the fronts but has to find them). Untwist R/F seatbelt (easy, pop off cover and untwist). Fit rear centre belt (doesn't have one, will buy one). Reduce handbrake cover travel (Goes up too high, will need adjusting, will do tat while I have it jacked up for rear pads). Tighten power steering belt (easy). So a bit of a list. Haha. That shock and the gearbox mount are going to be my biggest problems because of money. Will hopefully get it done in the next month, cash dependent. EDIT: Also picked up a new (second hand) windscreen for it while in Auckland yesterday for $50. Old one has a big crack in it, warrant guy was going to let me off, but seeing as it was cheap and flatmate starts work at Smith and Smith monday, I though why not.

I wonder if you have driven one of these with a CA18E and auto. Haha don't think I will be getting close to 130km/h often. =P Also after 100km/h that stupid little bell in the dash starts going 'ding, ding' and so as well as being dangerous it's plain annoying to speed in these. But yeah, got to get it on the road first anyway.

That would make sense. However they lead to nowhere. Which is what makes me think that the bottle is missing. Just don't know where it would go though, there isn't a whole lot of room where the hoses lead.

As luck would have it, turns out my neighbour had a spare. Just put it in, plugged it in and tensioned it up. Obligatory FU old alternator pic. New alternator in place. Gave it a jump (because the old alternator ran it flat). All good. Still have to look at whole windscreen washer bottle thing though. I have the Haynes Manual at my place now though so make look through and see if I can suss where it is/should be Also I think the battery may be no good. Will try it again tomorrow arvo with the battery from my ute. Gutted as it' basically new (reconditioned second hand). Been dead flat a few times though, and when I turned it off after running it for 20 mins or so it didn't even have enough juice to crank. Will give it a good charge tomorrow night however after I borrow my Dads battery charger. If I can sort out those two problems I will take it for a WoF this week.

Hey Taistorm, Cheers for that, my neighbour said he has some in his workshop so will go have a look and see if any of them are suitable. otherwise will have to go to a wreckers or something. Joy of joys. =P haha

Bugger. Seems I spoke too soon about it being all simple as go get it a WOF and drive off into the sunset. Alternator crapped itself today. Sooooo... need another one of them to continue. Also it doesn't seem to have a windscreen squirter bottle under the bonnet, does anyone know if they are hidden somewhere sneaky on these or is mine just missing? Also need two front tires but will just get second hand cheapies as they will be replaced when new wheels happen anyway. Waah. Hoping to get it road legal ASAP so I can start work on the ute, after that will look into low + wheels. THEN just drive and enjoy. Anyway, questions. 1) Can I swap another alternator from a different car on? Will one from a CA18S likely fit? (the carby version of my motor). 2) Is there places other than under the bonnet where I should look for the windscreen washer bottle? Please help. If I can sort out those two problems I will hopefully be sorted for a WOF next week.

So, the Bluebird is no longer here... Because it goes! Sunday saw the gearbox all back in as well as all the ancillary bits back on the engine. Gave her a service with new oil, filter and ATF. Started her up and she ran. Will be doing coolant, spark plugs and fuel filter (bought one but was the wrong type) now that it's all good. Also may need a water pump in the future but not urgent. Only minor problem is a slightly slipping power steering belt, just needs tensioning. At this point Mum said dinner was ready (and you don't turn down free food) so i only took it for a quick test drive and she goes super chur. :happy1: Anyway after dinner I had to go back to my place in the ute as I had to get it home somehow. This is where it sits now. Will hopefully be getting it a lift out to their place tonight which means I can drive it back in, and start looking at getting it a warrant. After that's all sorted it's just rego and insurance. Chur.

Auto is fixed. Just put payment through for it on Friday, but they aren't open on weekends at all, so will be picking it up next week and taking it out to my parents where the car is. Should be in come next weekend. Then will bring it back to my place and get it a warrant hopefully on the Monday. Also got the front indicator lense and put it in. Boring but it's all progress. No pics of anything important so here's one of me using the bonnet of my ute as a workbench for fitting the speaker spacers.

Fixed that for you. Urban dictionary/Google is your friend.

Yeah! It's just a pity it's so rusty in the sides, beacuse the bottom of it is pretty much rust free. The most important bit is that the shapeof the corrugations is the same all over so I can use the good bits from the centre of the parts tray to patch the bad bits at the side of mine. I could really start getting stuck in from now on, but not having a welder is really holding me back.

Juddie aka adjustie aka adjustable suspension. Haha, you've got to learn the Whangas lingo.

Auto has been pulled apart and diagnosed. Wsa only a minor problem so I gave them the go ahead and they will be fixing it, should be done by the end of the week. My wallet is sad, but I suppose I'm mostly happy that it was only a minonr problem and can be repaired for about the same price another auto would have cost me if I had ever managed to find one, and this way I get peace of mind too. Will be buying the indicator I need off TM this week as well, and probably ordering the seatbelt too. Waah waah wallet. Other than that I will take it through warrant and hopefully it will go smoothly. Technically it should fail on the ctack in the windscreen (bottom corner on the drivers side, will get aphoto next time I am with the car) but if he lets it sneak through I know of a replacement screen in Auckland for a lot cheaper than buying one locally. So will drive it down and get it installed down there/bring it home, whatever's easiest. Because picturelss updates are lame, here is a picture of a chur Nissan 910, because it is impossible to find a picture of a slammed U11 (I would appreciate it if someone could, for motivation). They are basically the same shape.

Small update. Haven't done any work on the engine as of yet, am focusing my time and money on the rust work and Bluebird at the moment. I did buy my self a few goodies though the other day. Fuller sheet metal snips, set of 3 (straight, LH curve and RH curve). And some sheet metal. Not much, just enough to make small patches. A lot of the big patches will be coming directly from the tray of another rusted 720, which still has a solid tray. Also went and got a whole lot of parts today, almost everything I need, as well as some other bits for spares. Will post pics of them tomorrow.

Advanced Automatics didn't get it checked over by Friday in the end. Apparently the guy that was meant to look at it Friday took the day off so it didn't get done. However, I do have assurance that it should be done by Tuesday at the latest if not tomorrow (hopefully I can trust them). After I hear back I can decide whether or not to repair, if not I may have to look more seriously at a manual conversion as autos just aren't available. Though this seems the logical first choice I am not 100% sure on whther or not my knowledge and skill levels are sufficient to pull it off just yet. Also, have found a replacement indicator lense on TM and should be finding out about the seatbelt tomorrow. Lame update.

+1

As I said in apost ages ago, I have the auto out. Here's proof: More to the point, I dropped it off at Advanced Automatics in town on Monday, they said they wil be back to me by Friday as to what the problem is. This was meant to go in a while ago but things that wanted my money more kept popping up. Anyway, once they get back to me I can decide whether or not to repair it/get it repaired/whether or not it's even worth repairing. Speakers in the rear: Also re-assembled the rear seat after those pics. All done basically in the interior, apart from getting the headunit to sit in right which I will do once it is off axle stands as it's awkward to get in under the dash at the moment with the car being in such a confined space in the shed. It won't go all the way in to the dash pocket which I'm 99% percent sure is just becasue of interference from wires and stuff at the back of the headunit. Still need to suss a passenger front bumper indicator lense (will just hit up wreckers) and a rear middle lap belt, the one out of it as been 'borrowed' for use in another vehicle by the previous owner while this was sitting unused in his shop. Pretty sure they are universal in all cars but one out of a U11 would be choice to match. Once I have this whole gearbox saga sussed out it should be all go from there.

Went to Auckland today and picked this up: VG30DE. As in last post, in need of a rebuild, has an apparent run big end. Not sure if it has oil in it, didn't really get to spend any time with it today other than picking it up and getting it home and off the back of the ute. Either way will probably drain the oil tomorrow, take the filter off, cut it in half and have a look. Will also get the old man to have a look when he is in the country next. Pretty tops. Am also 99% sure it is a factory manual, and came with some good bits like uncut loom and the ECU. Also came with engine mounts and rubbers (one of these is rooted but oh well), which I didn't realise, was stoked as that will help heaps with mocking stuff up. EDIT: Need to know where I can get the sump modified so that it is even and centralised, I heard that the un-evenness of these in a 720 puts it to one side and interfers with the brake booster. Also looking at potential brake upgrades, want to stay 6 stud, so thinking adapting a rear LSD diff and front brakes from a D22 Nav, that way I get stronger brakes and disks all around. Do I need any extras besides the brake booster? Any other ideas? Comments/ideas: viewtopic.php?f=18&t=30255 Unsure on how useable it will all be, time will tell when I found out what is wrong with it. That's all for today folks.

I like the stripe kit in black idea. Was cool to see this in person recently too. Looks awesome, even if it was mostly hidden under a cover.

Tuff-decks are where it's at, I would get one if I could. I don't have much of a choice with mine, have to fix it really, as there isn't exactly a whole lot of spare trays around for 720s.

Had a whole bunch of this crap in the tray of my ute covering rust. Pissed me off so much to find all of it. It's as if they thought it would just disappear if they covered it and ignored it.