New World Datsuns...

So this is the first post, more of a place holder post if you will, in the build thread of a 1995 Nissan D21 being built for my son's first vehicle.

Specs:
1995 Nissan D21 "Hardbody" truck
KA24E
5 Speed Manual
White w/ Blue interior
Base model
160,000ish miles iirc

95's are kinda cool for the older looking exterior, but newer rounded more ergonomic dash.

Currently the only worthwhile pic to post that I've only got is from the first night I got it home. I picked it up for $1000 off of Craigslist. Runs great, fairly straight, mostly complete, perfect for a first truck.



As purchased, it was lowered by the standard D21 practice of turned down torsion bars and redrilled and shaved leaf perches, with a twist of stupidity...the rear shackles were also pushed up to the frame and the leaf springs welded to the frame side of the shackle mount. Unfortunately the only pics I had of it are stuck on a phone that died a painful death leaving them irretrievable.

This lowering method also did a number on the carrier bearing with the horrendous angles it created. It had fully disintegrated to the point that one side of the rubber covering had left the housing and was floating around the front half of the driveshaft. The elliptically spinning driveshaft led to a failed rear trans seal, also explaining the horrible stench of gear oil in the cab, lol.

The hood is still in the e-coat primer and needs to be prepped and painted soon before that coating fails. The passenger door has been replaced, fortunately with an already white door, although there are some hard tape lines where some pinstripes had been removed. The tailgate is also replaced but rattle canned in white, so not too bad looking. It did have 4x4 fenders on it already in good paint which was a plus, one less thing to have to buy.

Bottomline, he's stoked to have it as his first ride even if it was stock, let alone when I'm done modding it.

It's a great start! I would have been stoked to have that for my first ride.

definitely cool for a first truck. looks like a solid start.

I forgot to mention that the overall build plan is to have a smooth riding, static dropped truck that has more in style than in performance. So a huge deviation from normal minitrucker ideals, lol.

It was bought last summer and we started planning and stacking parts since then, the real work started on it about 3 months ago. I started removing the more ridiculous stuff the PO had done or caused, and concentrated on the front suspension to start.

I'll have more pics in the next post to show what has been done up front but, that'll have to wait until tomorrow.

Very cool. The hardbody came out when I was first starting to get in to cars and I've always kind of wanted one. You guys are definitely headed in the right direction.

I had a 95 and it was one of the absolute best vehicles I have ever owned. I agree, I like the interior better that the squared up mess earlier.

I dig these trucks,really have a voice in the back of my head telling me to one day buy one,drop it(as in way low) and drive it

A few more pics of the progress it's made. But first a pic of that demolished carrier.




And now the front suspension.






Nothing super fancy up front. Just BellTech spindles and a bunch of shiny new parts. And thanks to mklotz, a pair of Toyota rotors to change it over to the 5 x 114.3 pattern. The truck already had some shorter shocks that are still decent up front.

Are those EBC green stuff pads? if so, nice.

The rear suspension is where I've been working most.

As I said in the opening post, the PO did some funky shit so I started by removing most of it.



Then started fitting and welding in the new rear slider shackles and new OEM front perches.









The rear also uses a set of the BellTech drop leaves. To me they are worth the money. I used them on another D21 I had way back when and loved the smooth ride they gave without the block axle wrap issues.

Laecaon » Wed Oct 28, 2015 9:53 pm wrote:Are those EBC green stuff pads? if so, nice.

Yes they are. I like them mostly for the lack of brake dust in this application. They are used quite regularly by the VIP guys for the same reason.

Bonus is, you stop better too, lol

The bit I've been working on at the moment is the Toyota rear axle swap, again, just for the lug pattern.



Had a little trouble getting the driver side drum off...



These drum comparison shots might explain why.

Passenger


And Driver

This is where I left it tonight.



I'm going to wrap the welds on the alignment correction plate now that the backing plates aren't in my way, haha. They are there to make up for the 1/2" narrower Toyota spring pads.




The backing plates are removed for the new rear disc brakes going on. It's a kit from Little Shop Mfg. http://www.littleshopmfg.com/toyota-79- ... sc-brakes/

I'll be swapping in a brand new 240sx brake master as well so the proportioning is somewhat handled already. Might still need some fine tuning with an inline adjuster but I'm hoping not.

That's it for now, I most likely won't have time to do much on it tomorrow but I'm hoping to get at least some progress made on Friday before I head out to help a friend, which is mostly just standing around drinking and making general observational suggestions, wanted or not.

Ive installed a set a Belltech leafs on a newer chevy once. Definitely a decent ride, but kinda defeats having a fullsize truck...

I am currently making those backing plate replacements for my goon as I am doing disc brakes on it.

What was the gear ratio change going from the Nissan to Toyota?

Nissan HF35 = 3.54

Toyota F302 = 3.73

Using online calculators, with the OD of the tire/wheel we're looking at the rpm's will bump up by approximately 175 at 70 mph. It said 3268rpm with the 3.54's and 3443rpm with the 3.73's.

Had some more parts I ordered show up over the last couple weeks, hopefully get to install some here and there this week.

Still torn on whether I'm going to go with a custom fuel tank to keep it above the bottom edge of the frame rails or just mod the mounts of the OEM one for only a little higher of a mounting position.

Really looking forward to driving this truck for a bit as I work out the kinks and do some final adjustments.

Ended up not having as much free time as expected last week but did have some forward progress.





Determined that I have to roll the axle rearward a bit to get the lower caliper bolt in due to the use of the dropped leaf pack. Will make for a PITA during future rear brake maintenance but racecar.

wow!!! Love it, keep going lol. This is coming along very nicely. Those brakes will make you happy. Love what I'm seeing.

Got the rear discs all buttoned up.

After finishing the brake line reroute to accommodate, finished installing the 240sx brake master. Now on to bleeding the system.

With the rear brake setup done I was able to bolt on a set of wheels and set the truck down on them to get the accurate measurement for the hybrid Nissan/Toyota driveline. Should be getting it back on Monday.

Not a whole lot has changed visually, so no new pics yet.

The c-notch and new rear gas tank mount crossmember should be the last of the welding and fab work needed, then it's on to the easier bolt on stuff like HID's, aftermarket steering wheel, new taillights, etc.




On a sidenote, I had planned to have it driving for a gathering with friends this weekend but had a little hiccup in that plan.



That is the 2mm kidney stone I passed yesterday morning at around 7am after a 2am visit to the ER. Not my first one, so I knew what the pain was and that it was going to require pain meds lol. It'd been about 8 years since the last one and after a CT scan they tell me I have 3 more in there, happy happy, joy joy. Needless to say, it put a damper on activities for a bit and I fell off schedule but should be back on it next week.