Larry's 1978 K10

Larry

Bigassgas Explorer
While Juan the Nissan was in the surgery center, Bill and I ran out to the ranch to retrieve Wong. When I got to Bill’s house to pick him and his trailer up he already had it hooked up to the big red Waggy so we ended up taking his instead, which turned out to be a good thing because right after we got the white Nissan loaded the Waggy decided not to start. The starter died right there in the middle of the road but a few good whacks with a 2x4 got one more start out of it. The reason it was lucky it happed right then was he and his girl friend were getting ready to leave for Denver later that day for a dinner date. He also got lucky as a week prior he and Rob @zoomad75 were having fun in the middle of nowhere Southern AZ….That would have been a bad place for the truck not to start.

This is Wong... Wong the Nissong
52005103092_468eb6e0a7_c.jpg


On the way back to my house we stopped by Napa and picked up a new starter (just left the waggy running while we went in...blocked it in with my Waggy). Ironically, the Napa starter died a few weeks later…..no surprise from Napa parts lately (Napa = ??:poop:)
52006378299_af9be661d1_c.jpg


52046312740_0c2d792b1d_c.jpg


A lot of years of barn dust
52006126456_91c0160304_c.jpg


Andy’s dad said it was knocking and he wasn’t joking either. I tried to start it one day but its pretty much done. It wouldn’t start but it knocks hard with just spinning it with the starter motor. Something in there wants out bad! After the things I learned with the Z24i in Juan, I quickly decided that I wasn’t going to sink a dime in to this Z24i so I started combing Craigslist and Marketplace for a 1990+ Hardbody with the better KA24E port fuel injected engine
52006383569_7d8ec6a74e_c.jpg


A quick search pulled this gem up for a few hundred bucks. Its still not clear how this poor Hardbody acquired such character but it really didn’t matter because it had a good running KA24E, a title and the price was right….plus it would give me what I need to put power steering on 2wd Juan
52006616095_998ed2a1ec_c.jpg


Rob now lives in the Denver area so he ran some cash over to the guy and picked up the title then it just so happened Bill was going to Denver the next day so he picked it up for me and drug it back to Pueblo. Its been handy having Rob up there lately....he has found a ton of good parts like a passengers window and hood vents for the Hardbodys as well! (y)
52006352644_1181e98454_c.jpg



Bill’s special delivery
52006655770_f7892d09fb_c.jpg


My wife was less than impressed that I went from 0 Nissans to 3 Nissans in the matter of a month so I had to process this parts truck quickly and get it out of here. This is how you unload a dead truck on an uphill driveway alone. The truck ran but only if you spoon fed it carb cleaner as the fuel pump was dead Fred and it didn’t have brakes
52005116812_fecddebb6e_c.jpg


52006393484_5d0ca42c57_c.jpg


I gave it a good washing before plucking the engine and harness. Filled up 3 large totes with Nissan parts from this guy
52006394084_e1597bda1e_c.jpg


I started on a Friday night and loaded the carcass back on the trailer by Saturday afternoon picked clean of all the parts I wanted. I was kinda in a hurry because I didn’t realize my wife wanted to have an Easter afternoon gathering with friends and family in the garage so the pressure was on! This is the main item I wanted from the donor truck as well as the harness. This is the later generation 2.4L with port fuel injection (KA24E engine) where as the Z24i engines in Juan and Wong have throttle body EFI and the goofy distributors, cylinder head with 8 spark plugs. The KA engines have a tad more power too and parts are much more plentiful as the KA engines had a long production run compared to the 4 year run of the Z24i.
52014538892_4e702766a0_c.jpg


First thing Monday morning it got delivered to the scrap yard
52024085202_22aa7b058e_c.jpg


I'm really starting to wish I kept the rear axle as it appears the driveline shop goofed up Juan's RR axle shaft last week when they pressed on a new bearing :rolleyes:
52025638155_270b759e4d_c.jpg


When it was said and done, and after selling the carcass for scrap, I got the engine, trans, harness, 3 good tires, power steering gear box and countless small bits for $232.00. That was a good deal until I spent the next several days looking for a $100 Fenix flashlight that I apparently left in the damn truck :mad:….so I didn’t make out as good as I originally thought but still better than paying a junkyard $800 for a used engine alone without a harness.

So, all those stories catches up everyone with what's been happening around here at the Bigassgas Garage. I probably won’t start working on 4x4 Wong until later in the summer as I need to get back on the K10 to get it Desert Trip 2022 prepped ?‍?
 
Last edited:

zoomad75

K5 Camper guy
Never ever in my mind could I have imagined two Nissans in that garage with a third outside on standby. But I can tell by our conversations you are enjoying the hell out of the difference in wrenching on the little trucklets. That's really all that matters is having fun playing with trucks. I get to cruise around sketchy neighborhoods and facilitate the transaction and keep an eye out for Nissan parts while digging around the local pull and pay for my junk too. I can say that side of town the topless wonder came from was sketchy when I felt the need to lock my truck while I pumped gas in it. It's all part of the adventure!

When Wong is ready we need to plan that get back to basics wheeling and fishing weekend with our little wheelers. Your 4x4 Hardbody against my ZR2 dime. See how are skills work in basic rides with no lift, no lockers, and no winches. I think it will be a fun time.
 

Larry

Bigassgas Explorer
Never ever in my mind could I have imagined two Nissans in that garage with a third outside on standby. But I can tell by our conversations you are enjoying the hell out of the difference in wrenching on the little trucklets. That's really all that matters is having fun playing with trucks. I get to cruise around sketchy neighborhoods and facilitate the transaction and keep an eye out for Nissan parts while digging around the local pull and pay for my junk too. I can say that side of town the topless wonder came from was sketchy when I felt the need to lock my truck while I pumped gas in it. It's all part of the adventure!

When Wong is ready we need to plan that get back to basics wheeling and fishing weekend with our little wheelers. Your 4x4 Hardbody against my ZR2 dime. See how are skills work in basic rides with no lift, no lockers, and no winches. I think it will be a fun time.
Ya, me neither! I’ve always been more of a Toyota guy than Nissan but I’m also too cheap to pay the Toyota tax to get into an older Hilux like I had in college. I’ve been watching rice burner trucks for a while on CL and Marketplace and followed an old Mitsubishi Mightly Maxx 4x4 around as it went from owner to owner. Nobody could get it to run and the price kept coming down with each new owner but the timing wasn’t right. When Andy came up with these, I thought to myself “Looks like I do Nissan engine swaps now ?‍??"

I appreciate you doing all the ghetto shopping for me up there! I’m sure there will be more bits and pieces that will be needed as Wong progresses.

We definitely should do a mini wheeler trip once they’re road ready. It will be like the broke college kids days all over again ? . I often miss my old gutless 1990 Hilux
3130663047_9e4013a089_c.jpg


3130663273_6047beda3b_c.jpg
 

zoomad75

K5 Camper guy
Ya, me neither! I’ve always been more of a Toyota guy than Nissan but I’m also too cheap to pay the Toyota tax to get into an older Hilux like I had in college. I’ve been watching rice burner trucks for a while on CL and Marketplace and followed an old Mitsubishi Mightly Maxx 4x4 around as it went from owner to owner. Nobody could get it to run and the price kept coming down with each new owner but the timing wasn’t right. When Andy came up with these, I thought to myself “Looks like I do Nissan engine swaps now ?‍??"

I appreciate you doing all the ghetto shopping for me up there! I’m sure there will be more bits and pieces that will be needed as Wong progresses.

We definitely should do a mini wheeler trip once they’re road ready. It will be like the broke college kids days all over again ? . I often miss my old gutless 1990 Hilux
3130663047_9e4013a089_c.jpg


3130663273_6047beda3b_c.jpg
Those pics are from Medano pass when we did that in college. That was actually the first time I did any off road driving. I drove Al’s solid axle ‘84 yota with the stiffest springs known to man on it. Either that trail has changed a lot or my inexperience made it seem a lot harder than it really was.

it seemed like the east side had more rocks and less dirt than now. The creek crossings were bigger dropping down the banks too.

Whatever it was I was hooked.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,527
Messages
2,875,534
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top